Technology Training for Teachers

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The Cool Cat Teacher, Vicki Davis, has posted an article about expecting teachers to use technology but not providing them any technology integration classes. She starts with the premise that we wouldn’t ask teachers to teach something that they have no background or expertise in, yet we really do that all of the time. She claims that no states require technology integration classes. I don’t personally know if that’s true.

I would agree that we sometimes think that the younger teachers have more technology expertise than the more veteran teachers. Yet that isn’t always the case. It is surprising, in some cases, as to what  people know and don’t know.

The issue may be even bigger though. Do we really agree at what good “technology integration” looks like, feels like and is? Would every principal agree on “technology integration”?

Her point is well taken. However, I would take it even further. Too many teachers coming out of college don’t know the difference between summative and formative assessment. Too many teachers coming out of college have been trained for what was – not what is or what will be.

Yes, technology integration is important. So is the bigger picture.

http://coolcatteacher.blogspot.com/2010/10/unrealistic-expectations-wanting.html

MSM- 137 Title: Better late than never …

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Jokes:

Said the officer to the soldier, “Private, why did you salute that refrigerator?” The soldier replied, “Because it was General Electric.” “And that jeep?” the officer asked. Replied the soldier, “Because it was General Motors.”

On Our Mind:

Standardized Testing

Middle School Science Minute

by Dave Bydlowski
2 big events:
Earth Science Week – Oct. 10th – 16th
National Fossil Day – Oct. 13th

From the Twitterverse:

*colwar Colin Warren
twitter’s like being at a parade & catching s(t)weets thrown into the crowd. Some we pick up, some we miss, but there’s always more. #yam
*phsprincipal Dave Meister
RT @bhsprincipal: RT @web20classroom: Some Cool Lesson Plans Using Various Google Apps: http://bit.ly/98cSUR Nice! #PCHS
*RichWhite Rich White
Design Blocks is a lot like MIT Scratch but in the browser … http://www.designblocks.net … Dan Green shared with me today #Scratch
*phsprincipal Dave Meister
RT @bjnichols: Challenge/Competition Resources… 21 Century Skills and PBL For All Subjects… Part One http://bit.ly/bLPLfw #PCHS
* ipadeducators iPads replacing paper for German parliament (schools too!): http://www.9to5mac.com/29571/ipads-replacing-paper-for-german-parliament
* mbteach  @chrislehmann @BeckyFisher73 I wonder why they don’t hold themslves accountable 4 not hiring these ‘amazing’ teachers they want in 1st place.
* mischakrilov  Warning, puns can cause physical damage: “England doesn’t have a kidney bank; but it has a Liverpool.”
* jutecht  What Administrators Need? I Need Teachers Who Think like Distance Runners http://bit.ly/amutPL

Advisory:

How do people spend their money?
http://www.creditloan.com/infographics/how-the-average-consumer-spends-their-paycheck/

Tera & Bella

An elephant and a dog become best friends. We use it to talk about how people might be different, but can still get along.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s0TjfOKnF-c
The follow up:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ljcfWFZaYzs

Tech Tools:

Visual Words

Here are six visual dictionaries and thesauri that can help your students better understand the meanings of words.
From Free Technology for Teachers.

  1. Snappy Words
  2. Visuwords
  3. Lexipedia
  4. Merriam Webster’s Visual Dictionary
  5. Wordia
  6. Got Brainy

http://www.freetech4teachers.com/2010/10/six-visual-dictionaries-and-thesauri.html

Quiz Break

What is QuizBreak!?
QuizBreak! is a highly flexible program that allows teachers to create fun, Jeopardy©-like games for the language classroom.
QuizBreak! allows you to:

  • Write clues in any script (left-to-right, right-to-left, and non-Roman scripts will all work)
  • Add images to clues
  • Record or upload audio and/or video clues

Program Features

  • User-friendly editing interface for easy category-creation
  • Prize amounts can be displayed using any currency symbol
  • Multi-platform program works on PCs and Macs

http://clear.msu.edu/quizbreak/

Webspotlight:

BBC News: Faces of the U.S. Civil War

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-11470304

OK, this one is just silly- but with a good cause behind it. The idea plays off of the talking baby meme. You can type in up to 600 characters, pick a baby and listen/watch the fun. The cause supports no baby born with HIV by the year 2015. Check it out.
http://www.one.org/international/actnow/babyprotest/widget.html

How to be a Good Commenter:

Karen shared her Paper Blog activity with me a few months ago and I’ve used it with my students to get them ready to blog with the “real thing.” My students have practiced writing and most of all commenting appropriately.
http://macmomma.blogspot.com/2010/10/how-to-be-good-commenter.html

7 Delightfully Nerdy Apps for Math and Science Geeks

  1. Celestia
  2. Stellarium
  3. OSXplanet
  4. Smell-O-Mints
  5. GNU XaoS
  6. Eigenmath
  7. Magic Number Machine

http://mac.appstorm.net/roundups/utilities-roundups/7-delightfully-nerdy-apps-for-math-and-science-geeks/

ISTE 2010:  Steve Hargadon’s “Birds of A Feather” Session

Website for this session:  www.tinyurl.com/iste10crb and http://tinyurl.com/isteclassrom2-0
Note:  It looks like the links are broken …
Format:
Ask a question, take two or three answers from the audience.
Show a site or something online that you like.
Posterous will upload anything for free.
Pearson will sponsor a NING, but it’s limited and you’re tied to the vendor.
Topos will transition stuff from NING to another site.
Site Show Off:
Scientists Space (NING)
Click on members
Kids took on the persona of a scientist and they worked on the project in groups of three.
They could use any number of Web 2.0 tools to show their understanding of the content.
Wordle
Graphics
Music
Kid who posted it is below grade reading level.
These were SPED kids who put together the Mendeleev page.
Question:  For the scientist site:  They’re using a gmail hack (cheat).  Use a gmail account with a + but all the email account escheats+(scientist name)@gmail.com
Web demo:  TypeWithMe  (www.typewith.me)
Web demo:  WallWisher
Post a question and get responses.
Is there a way to merge the stickies?
It’s designed to be strictly online.
Software:  Microsoft Mouse Mischief
Instead of the wall wisher website.
Does work with wired mice.
Highest number mentioned so far has been six mice at a time.
Site Show Off:  www.historyplace.com/speeches
Use with www.wordle.net
Tagxedo is a Wordle in a picture/art work form.
Note:  Tagxedo is a pay site.
Just for fun:  Copy and paste a school policy into Wordle …
Jen Wagner is posting a puzzle called “Guess the Wordle”
jenuinetech.com/gtw
Put people’s tweets in there to see what their interests are.
General Question:  How do you avoid teacher burnout?
Look at what you are teaching first and then look to apply the tool.
Quizlet.com
General Question:  How do you define Web 2.0?
Ask Todd Williamson
Website:  www.voki.com
Create characters that talk.  Speaking avatar for everyone (free).
Site Show Off:  National Lab Day
Scientists commit to help out for a day.
e.g. Civil war Sally
e.g. Madame Curious (Madam Curie) and sent her around the world to different scientists and had them use the “doll” like Flat Stanley.
Site Show Off:  Adobe Connect Now
Polling system.
Twitucate:  designed for classrooms.
Edmodo
Global Education Conference.com   www.globaleducationconference.com

Events & Happenings:

Calendar of Events:

NMSA News:

Other News:

  • ISTE Eduverse Talks are the recorded sessions held on ISTE Island every week. Join ISTE in their Second Life conference location for their weekly talks on education.
    • The ISTE Special Interest Group:  Virtual Environments is holding meetings on Mondays from 4:00 – 6:00 pm (SLT) on ISTE Island.
  • The Ohio Middle Level Association will hold their annual conference February 17 – 18, 2011.
  • Second Life:
    • Regular Tuesday meetings are scheduled. See the board on the ISTE Island for up to the minute details.  Check frequently this week as the ISTE Annual Convention is this week.
    • Video: Educational Uses of Second Life

MSM- 136 Making Google Stuff Work For You.

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Jokes:

Wrong Ends
A contractor hired two brothers to install home siding. He demonstrated the process and sent them off to their first job. Things were going smoothly when the older brother saw that his younger brother was throwing nails away. He asked, “Why are you throwing those nails away?” The younger brother replied, “The heads are on the wrong end.” The older brother laughed, “Those are for the other side of the house.”

Languages
A Swiss man, looking for directions, pulls up at a bus stop where two Americans are waiting. “Entschuldigung, koennen Sie Deutsch sprechen” he asks. The two Americans just stare at him. “Excusez-moi, parlez vous Fracais?” he tries. The two continue to stare. “Parlare Italiano?” No response. “Hablan ustedes Espanol?” Still nothing. The Swiss guy drives off, extremely disgusted. The first American turns to the second and says, “Y’know, maybe we should learn a foreign language.” “Why?” says the other. “That guy knew four languages, and it didnt do him any good.”  (If you liked that one . . . try this!)

What did one math book say to the other?  I have so many problems . . .

On Our Mind:

NMSA is a month away . . .

Middle School Science Minute

by Dave Bydlowski

From the Twitterverse:

** shannonmmiller  Need inspiration for your career? icould includes 1000 films of personal career stories, across all occupations. http://ow.ly/2JFYR
** willrich45  Need examples…schools/teachers that intentionally help students publish online with full names to prepare for global interaction. Anyone?
** paulawhite  RT @mikecrain: Want to teach your students about plagiarism? Here’s a Youtube video: http://youtu.be/Mwbw9KF-ACY
** kevcreutz  Resources for teachers who are new to twitter http://bit.ly/bKQ4vY
** brasst  Math teachers – great Order of Operations shirt on Woot® today – shirt.woot.com – especially if you like smores 🙂
** shannonmmiller  Super Teacher Tools http://ow.ly/2JLmq #vanmeter
** shannonmmiller  Make your own magazine – OpenZine.com http://ow.ly/2JLeb
** kellyhines  RT @joevans: 20 Google Doc Templates for use in Science and Math Classrooms http://ow.ly/2JLnb
** web20classroom  The Teacher’s Guide To Everything Google Sketch Up: http://bit.ly/b6CrXc
**web20classroom Blogging With Middle Schoolers-First Steps and Frontloading: http://bit.ly/aIuLlc <-Good tips for any level
* appleplaza  Report: Slimmer Apple iPad with Mini USB, Camera in 2011 http://sns.ly/stZ53
* gtoppo  RT @MarcusLeaver: Today is the 568th anniversary of the first printed book. Thanks Mr. Gutenberg.

Advisory:

Small Spaces

What if everything that you needed had to fit through a small space?

This would be a discussion centered around the trapped minors. The focus of the conversation could be around what it would be liked to be trapped for months.

  • What is the difference between a need and a want?
  • What can you “make do” with?

The link has a visual of the size of the whole which everything must pass to get to the minors.

http://www.newsweek.com/2010/09/13/back-story-think-of-the-miners.html

Quadruple Amputee Swims Across English Channel

Philippe Croizon, who lost his limbs in an electrical accident, swam across the English Channel. Nice story about what determination can do. The video is 1 minute and 40 seconds long. It includes quotes from Philippe. (Could also discuss the difference between a quad amputee and a quadriplegic).
http://www.newsy.com/videos/quadruple-amputee-swims-across-english-channel/

Tech Tools:

Educate
Educate helps you keep track of student data on your iPad.
http://www.ikonstrukt.com/educate.php

ManyEyes

Data visualization. Great for those who see in pictures.
http://manyeyes.alphaworks.ibm.com/manyeyes/

Webspotlight:

YouTube Channel: RobbWorld’s Channel

Many people are unaware that YouTube has “channels”. Channels are essentially the videos from a particular user. At least one trick is that these can be subscribed to. That means that you’ll get notification when a new video is uploaded.
Mr. Robb’s Math Videos is all about, well, math. Most of the videos are around 5 minutes.

DocsTeach

Great site from the National Archives Experience. Includes both Activities and Primary Resources.
http://docsteach.org/

26 Keys to Student Engagement

by Angela Maiers.
http://www.scribd.com/doc/37782099/26-Keys-to-Student-Engagement

WorldMapper

Worldmapper is a collection of world maps, where territories are re-sized on each map according to the subject of interest.
There are now nearly 700 maps. Maps 1-366 are also available as PDF posters. Use the menu above to find a map of interest. To learn a little more about this and other map projections read this: Worldmapper and map projections.
We recently added a new series of maps of the world’s population using a new mapping technique: Worldmapper Population Atlas
http://www.worldmapper.org/

Schoolwork

by Nicholas Lemann
An interesting article about education. A different perception than we are used to.
“We have a lot of recent experience with breaking apart large, old, unlovely systems in the confidence of gaining great benefits at low cost. We deregulated the banking system. We tried to remake Iraq. In education, we would do well to appreciate what our country has built, and to try to fix what is undeniably wrong without declaring the entire system to be broken. We have a moral obligation to be precise about what the problems in American education are—like subpar schools for poor and minority children—and to resist heroic ideas about what would solve them, if those ideas don’t demonstrably do that.”
http://www.newyorker.com/talk/comment/2010/09/27/100927taco_talk_lemann

Creating self Graded Google Forms

by Mark Wagner
“For this video I cut right to the chase and did my best to explain the IF formula for beginners… while keeping under a 5 minute time limit. I hope it’s helpful for you and your colleagues and I hope you’ll let me know what you think.”
http://edtechlife.com/?p=2600

Listener Question for Troy via Twitter:  From @Mthman: @MSMatters Help me to understand a procedural Q…do the teachers in your building need guidance w/advisory lesson plans? Mine do!!!  (Listen to the show for the answer!)

News:

MAMSE 2011

2011 Michigan Association of Middle School Educators Presenter’s Application now online.  Propose early!  Propose often!

Other presentation opportunities:
North Carolina Middle School Association:  Presenter Application

ISTE 2010:  Steve Hargadon’s “Birds of A Feather” Session

Website for this session:  www.tinyurl.com/iste10crb and http://tinyurl.com/isteclassrom2-0
Note:  It looks like the links are broken …
Format:
Ask a question, take two or three answers from the audience.
Show a site or something online that you like.
Posterous will upload anything for free.
Pearson will sponsor a NING, but it’s limited and you’re tied to the vendor.
Topos will transition stuff from NING to another site.
Site Show Off:
Scientists Space (NING)
Click on members
Kids took on the persona of a scientist and they worked on the project in groups of three.
They could use any number of Web 2.0 tools to show their understanding of the content.
Wordle
Graphics
Music
Kid who posted it is below grade reading level.
These were SPED kids who put together the Mendeleev page.
Question:  For the scientist site:  They’re using a gmail hack (cheat).  Use a gmail account with a + but all the email account escheats+(scientist name)@gmail.com
Web demo:  TypeWithMe  (www.typewith.me)

Web demo:  WallWisher
Post a question and get responses.
Is there a way to merge the stickies?
It’s designed to be strictly online.
Software:  Microsoft Mouse Mischief
Instead of the wall wisher website.
Does work with wired mice.
Highest number mentioned so far has been six mice at a time.
Site Show Off:  www.historyplace.com/speeches
Use with www.wordle.net
Tagxedo is a Wordle in a picture/art work form.
Note:  Tagxedo is a pay site.
Just for fun:  Copy and paste a school policy into Wordle …
Jen Wagner is posting a puzzle called “Guess the Wordle”
jenuinetech.com/gtw
Put people’s tweets in there to see what their interests are.
General Question:  How do you avoid teacher burnout?
Look at what you are teaching first and then look to apply the tool.
Quizlet.com
General Question:  How do you define Web 2.0?
Ask Todd Williamson
Website:  www.voki.com
Create characters that talk.  Speaking avatar for everyone (free).
Site Show Off:  National Lab Day
Scientists commit to help out for a day.
e.g. Civil war Sally
e.g. Madame Curious (Madam Curie) and sent her around the world to different scientists and had them use the “doll” like Flat Stanley.
Site Show Off:  Adobe Connect Now
Polling system.
Twitucate:  designed for classrooms.
Edmodo
Global Education Conference.com   www.globaleducationconference.com

Events & Happenings:

Calendar of Events:

NMSA News:

Other News:

  • ISTE Eduverse Talks are the recorded sessions held on ISTE Island every week. Join ISTE in their Second Life conference location for their weekly talks on education.
    • The ISTE Special Interest Group:  Virtual Environments is holding meetings on Mondays from 4:00 – 6:00 pm (SLT) on ISTE Island.
  • The Ohio Middle Level Association will hold their annual conference February 17 – 18, 2011.
  • Second Life:
    • Regular Tuesday meetings are scheduled. See the board on the ISTE Island for up to the minute details.  Check frequently this week as the ISTE Annual Convention is this week.
    • Video: Educational Uses of Second Life

Education Nation

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Lots has been posted over the yesterday and today about “Education Nation”. That is the, the federal government’s emphasis on education. This is an interesting post on how the issue of poverty was glossed over and ignored. Add this article about Snooki and education, and, well, you’ve got a few things to think about.(Quote: When we talk about teachers, and we try to lay all the blame on them and we say, ‘why can’t that teacher get that kid’s score up,’ watch Jersey Shore. Watch it. And tell me what teacher could possibly have reached anyone of them, to get any one of their scores up, in any subject.)

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/answer-sheet/race-to-the-top/the-elephant-obama-lauer-ignor.html?wprss=answer-sheet

http://www.mediaite.com/tv/lawrence-odonnell-has-the-last-word-on-snooki-and-education/

New Teachers Needed?

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I remember back a few years ago (OK, quite a few years ago), when “they” were saying that Michigan would need a large number of teachers. I was happy as I was just graduating. However, the number of teachers needed never really materialized. I thought of this with the recent articles on how the retirement incentive didn’t work out as the legislators had predicted (that was a real surprise-um, not really). Now comes an article from Rhode Island about how they graduate more teachers than they need. Every year, they graduate about 1,000 teachers. In a good year, they hire 200-250. The teachers who are graduating are specializing in elementary education. Fewer than 50 specialized in math. They are cutting back due to economic pressures and a declining population. Interesting. In light of President Obama’s chatting today, I wonder how many times we are going to hear about the lack of teachers.

Some interesting numbers from the article (http://www.projo.com/news/content/teacher_glut_09-26-10_KEJUER0_v247.1fc0ad5.html):

BY THE NUMBERSR.I.’s teachers

50,000+

Approximate number of adults certified to be teachers in Rhode Island

15,000

Total number of certified teachers currently teaching in the state, both public and private schools

12,000

Number teaching in R.I. public schools

1,000

Approximate number of graduates from the state’s eight traditional teacher training programs each year

390

Number of graduates who specialized in elementary education in 2008-2009

49

Number of graduates who specialized in math in 2008-2009

44

Number of graduates who specialized in secondary special education, mild to moderate in 2008-2009

19

Number of graduates who specialized in biology in 2008-2009

4

Number of graduates who specialized in chemistry in 2008-2009

3

Number of graduates who specialized in physics in 2008-2009

Source: R.I. Dept. of EducationTeacher training in R.I. — A snapshot

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