Webspirations : Special Edition

Posted May 20, 2008

Special Edition - Personal Learning Networks

This final Webspiration of the 2007-8 school year is dedicated to setting up your own Personal Learning Network or PLN. A PLN can facilitate your efforts to monitor trends in education, provide insight into improving the craft of teaching, connect with other learners around the globe, and allow for reflection on our own practice. This Webspiration is based on a blog post by Lisa Nielsen, professional development manager for educational technology at the New York City Department of Education. http://theinnovativeeducator.blogspot.com/2008/04/5-things-you-can-do-to-begin-developing.html

1. Join an organization dedicated to improving the practice of teaching

Edutopia
Edutopia, sponsored by the George Lucas Educational Foundation, is the online companion to the Edutopia magazine. The site provides an “in-depth and interactive resource, with practical, hands-on advice, real-world examples, lively contributions from practitioners, and invaluable tips and tools.” You can read articles online, or sign-up for an email newsletter.
http://www.edutopia.org/

Classroom 2.0
Classroom 2.0 is a wiki-based resource for educators interested in new Internet tools for education. The site has articles and resources for those just getting started, and a forum for communicating with other teachers.
http://www.classroom20.com/

Open Educational Resources Commons
OER Commons is a global teaching and learning network of free-to-use K-12 resources. “The mission of OER Commons is to expand educational opportunities by increasing access to high-quality Open Educational Resources (OER), and facilitating the creation, use, and re-use of OER, for instructors, students, and self-learners.” Content is searchable by key-word, subject, or grade level. Members can submit their own content and links.
http://www.oercommons.org/

EduBloggerWorld
EduBloggerWorld, is “an international network for educational bloggers and friends. A meeting place, as well as a coordinating location for live face-to-face and virtual events.” This site is dedicated to facilitate connections and community among educational bloggers from around the world.
http://edubloggerworld.ning.com/

2. Read blogs from interesting people

David Warlick
Educational consultant and author, David Warlick speaks frequently on issues surrounding 21st Century Literacy. His Landmark for Schools web site (http://landmark-project.com/) provides resources from his presentations as well as web tools such as the Citation Machine.
http://davidwarlick.com/2cents/

Vicki Davis
Vicki Davis, also known at the Cool Cat Teacher, self-described teacher, entrepreneur, and freelance writer, is the author of the popular Cool Cat Teacher blog, covering topics from her conference presentations on innovative uses of web resources in the classroom. Vicki is also a frequent contributor to Ed Tech Talk podcasts.
http://coolcatteacher.blogspot.com/

Larry Ferlazzo
Larry Ferlazzo is a high school teacher English Language Learners. His blog specializes in web resources for teaching ELL, ESL, and EFL students. Larry is best known for his collections of “Best of” resources for everything from “The Best Websites To Help Beginning Readers” to “The Best Online Video Games For Learning Language & Content Knowledge” and more.
http://larryferlazzo.edublogs.org/

3. Listen to Podcasts and Watch Videos

EdTechTalk
Podcasts by educators for educators. EdTechTalk currently sponsors shows like EdTechWeekly (a weekly roundup of technology and education issues,) Teachers Teaching Teachers (hosted by teachers who mentor and teach other teachers,) and WOW2 (featuring women educators.) Episodes are broadcast live, and are also archived.
http://www.edtechtalk.com/

TeacherTube
TeacherTube is kind of like YouTube, but for teachers. Their goal “is to provide an online community for sharing instructional videos.” Videos are searchable and also organized into channels like Elementary, Middle School, and High School, as well as groups like Bilingual Parenting or the 505 Youth Film Festival. If you sign up for an account, you can also add videos to a list of favorites.
http://www.teachertube.com/

TED Talks
The TED Conference (Technology, Entertainment, Design) is an annual conference bring together some of the most significant voices from divergent fields from around the world. Short video presentations are available from people like Al Gore talking about global warming, Amy Tan discussing creativity, Malcolm Gladwell exploring the nature of intelligence, or Stephen Hawking posing big questions about the nature of the universe.
http://www.ted.com/

4. Get Organized

Keeping up with all these new sources of information can be a daunting task. To make this task simpler, learn to use RSS, also known as Really Simple Syndication. RSS lets you collect all of the updates from many sites in one place. Lee Lefever, on his Common Craft blog has a terrific video explaining how this is done.
http://www.commoncraft.com/rss_plain_english

5. Participate in the Conversation

EduBlogs
Create your own blog from EduBlogs.org. This free service allows you to start voicing your own thoughts and opinions. In some ways, learning is a conversation, and conversations work best when there is listening and speaking. Edublogs has easy to follow video tutorials on everything you need to set up your account, and start blogging.
http://edublogs.org

Twitter
Twitter is an example of microblogging, similar to texting from a phone, where members post short notices or links. These short posts, called tweets, are limited to a maximum of 140 characters. You can also follow other people who tweet. Start by selecting 5 well-known Edubloggers to follow and watch all the great stuff they have to share. Here are a few interesting educators on Twitter to get started.
http://twitter.com/

willrich45 (https://twitter.com/willrich45) / Will Richardson – noted edublogger
JLWagner (http://twitter.com/JLWagner) / Jen Wagner – creator of JenuineTech.com (http://www.jenuinetech.com/)
garystager (http://twitter.com/garystager) / Gary Stager – voted one of 20 education technology leaders to watch
kathyschrock (http://twitter.com/kathyschrock) / Kathy Schrock – noted educator and classroom technology pioneer
elemenous (http://twitter.com/elemenous) / Lucy Gray – Lead Technology Coach for Urban School Improvement at the University of Chicago
berniedodge (http://twitter.com/berniedodge) / Bernie Dodge – one of the original designers of the WebQuest

Posted April 15, 2008

Special Edition - Great On-line Educational Video Resources

This issue of Webspirations brings you five educational video hosting sites that offer excellent resources for classroom and teacher professional development uses. When you can find a few spare minutes, check out some of these sites.

TED
TED stands for Technology, Entertainment, Design. In 1984, the conference started by bringing together people from these three worlds. Since then, its scope has become ever broader. The annual conference now brings together some of the world's most fascinating thinkers and doers, and recordings of their presentations are posted on TED). This site makes the best talks and performances from TED available free to the public. Almost 200 talks from the archive are now available, with more added each week. These videos are released under a Creative Commons license, so they can be freely shared and reposted. Don’t miss the “jawdroppers.”
http://www.ted.com

Edutopia
The George Lucas Educational Foundation was founded in 1991 as a nonprofit foundation to celebrate and encourage innovation in schools. Since that time, they have been documenting, disseminating, and advocating for exemplary programs in K-12 public schools.
Their articles and video segments allow viewers to "see" best practices in action. The Video Library contains more than 150 short documentary segments. You can sort the videos by educational topics: assessment, emotional intelligence, project-based learning, and technology integration, or via a keyword search.
http://www.edutopia.org/video

TeacherTube
TeacherTube officially launched in March of2007 with the goal of establishing an online community for sharing instructional videos. Seeing the popularity of YouTube, the founders recognized a need for a more educationally focused venue for teachers, schools, and home learners.
TeacherTube was developed to provide anytime/anywhere professional development with teachers teaching teachers. Teachers can also post videos designed for students to view to learn a concept or skill. The service is free for everyone.
http://www.teachertube.com/

NECC 2007 Webcasts
NECC Live! is an Internet TV show broadcasting from the 2007 NECC (National Educational Computing Conference) Conference in Atlanta. Educational Technology evangelist, Chris Walsh (http://www.infinitethinking.org), hosts engaging discussions with leading experts on ways that innovative uses of technology are positively impacting education across the world.
http://www.kzowebcasting.com/necc/

Teachers TV
Don’t miss this extensive collection of topical educational videos from a British independent media consortium. The site is well organized and videos are categorized both by content area and by grade level and a search tool is also provided.
http://www.teachers.tv/video

Frontline
Since 1983, FRONTLINE has served as American public television's flagship public affairs series. Hailed upon its debut on PBS as "the last best hope for broadcast documentaries," FRONTLINE's stature over 25 seasons is reaffirmed each week through incisive documentaries covering the scope and complexity of the human experience.
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/view/

Posted April 1, 2008

Special Edition - Ten Amazing WEB 2.O Tools

This edition of Webspirations is all about the new Web2.0. If you don't know much about the "new web”, this issue of Webspirations will share some great Web2.O tools for you to explore and use with your students. Don’t be surprised if your students already use many of these tools. Disclaimer: As these sites are free to use for anyone, they are best used for creating content, not for searching for work published by others.

Sketchcast
You can “draw” on a whiteboard and record an audio explanation at the same time. You’re given a url for your creation and/or you can embed it into a blog. Great to use in demonstrating how to solve math problems.
http://sketchcast.com/

Footnote
Footnote allows students to access THOUSANDS of primary source documents and photos, and easily create online history reports. Student products can then be posted, and students can also leave comments on their peers’ reports.
http://www.footnote.com/index.php

CircaVie
After you create an account, this is a VERY easy on-line application for creating timelines and incorporating images. It can be used in any number of lessons.
http://www.circavie.com/

Don’t Forget the Milk
This free service is a simple way to manage tasks. To-do lists can be accessed in a variety of ways and devices, shared with others to help collaborate, and can be organized around a dates and times.
http://www.rememberthemilk.com/

Wridea
Organize your ideas with a free online tool to collaborate and capture brainstorming sessions. Wridea allows you to create multiple pages and categories.
http://www.wridea.com/

One True Media
This is a very easy way to create slideshows on the Web, and add text, music and images.
http://www.onetruemedia.com/otm_site/register?

Community Walk
Students can put many sites on a map with descriptions and images (which can be easily grabbed off the web). Students can use this to describe field trips, report on historical events, and do other mapping applications.
http://www.communitywalk.com/

Show Beyond
ShowBeyond is a multimedia slidecast creator, online publishing platform, and story sharing community. With ShowBeyond, you can easily grab your images, then add your sound and text to create multimedia stories.
http://www.showbeyond.com/show/home

Bookr
It would be difficult to create an easier application to make slideshows with captions on the web. The only drawback to it is you can only use images off Flickr, and not others on the Web, but that’s a small price to pay for such an accessible application.
http://www.pimpampum.net/bookr/

Tumblr
This “micro-blogging” site upgraded their service this year. It’s a great place for students to easily post a whole lot of their work. Students can have individual or group “Tumblrs.” A student can also share their password with a small number of students who can leave comments.
http://www.tumblr.com/

Posted March 11, 2008

Special Edition - Gaggle Student E-Mail

For the 2007-8 school year, DPS purchased a significant number of accounts in the Gaggle.net student e-mail system. In addition to email, Gaggle.net also provides student message boards, blogs and digital lockers for teachers to use with students. Gaggle.net is appropriate for use in a wide range of subject areas and grade levels. Gaggle has a human monitoring system that double checks all student e-mails that get blocked and sends the blocked messages to the school's Gaggle Administrator. Each participating DPS school chooses a Gaggle administrator from within the school to manage student accounts and collaborate with teachers on the students' use of Gaggle.

Gaggle is currently being used well and often by many DPS teachers with their students, but there are still accounts available for use by other district teachers who want to participate.

WHERE DO I FIND GAGGLE?

You can check out many curricular applications of student e-mail, blogs, message boards and digital lockers and log in to Gaggle at https://gaggle.dpsk12.org/.

Contact Erin_Daly@dpsk12.org or Dale_Downing@dpsk12.org in Educational Technology if you would like more information on how to get Gaggle going at your school

HOW COULD I USE GAGGLE IN MY CLASSROOM?

Some ideas for using student e-mail are:

Have students write e-mails to their friends or relatives but stipulate their emails MUST follow a formal or friendly letter format in each message-- including proper salutations, capitalization, usage and punctuation.
Once a day or week, the teacher checks one random e-mail from a student to assess and score via a rubric.
Set up peer editing between "writing partners" via e-mail. These partners can be in the same class, same school or at some other school in the district.
Math story problems can be delivered and collaboratively solved by students as they send step-by-step solutions back and forth to each other until the problem is solved.
Students and teachers can access "experts" in a field via e-mail or invite these experts to join a discussion on their class message board.

Some ideas for using student message boards are:

Teachers of younger grades can create a question and answer message board on a certain topic that is shared between their 2nd grade "novices" and 5th grade "experts".
As students read each other's posts they learn from each other and are more motivated to continue to share.
Message boards can be used for homework help so students post questions, read each other's questions, and the teacher can facilitate collaborative learning.
Students can take on a character via a message board and answer questions about that person in first person, as if they were "Ben Franklin", for example.
Some shy students can be more inclined to participate in a discussion held on a message board, rather than raise their hands to participate in an oral discussion.

Some ideas for using student blogs are:

Students can use their blog as their writing journal.
Students can check their blog entries with the "say it" tool before they post them, listening for fluency and mistakes they might have typed.
To stay informed about their students' writing skills, parents can have "read only" or "write" access to their students' blogs or the class' message board, if the teacher so chooses.
Students can use their blogs as a question and response venue for literature they are reading.

Some ideas for using student lockers are:

Students can store assignments and works-in-progress in their digital lockers.
Students can access from home (or via any Internet connected computer) work stored in their digital lockers.
Students can collaborate with classmates by making certain files downloadable for a project partner.

Need More Info?

See more ideas about how to use Gaggle with your students at https://gaggle.dpsk12.org . You can check out the Gaggle website at http://www.gaggle.net

Posted February 26, 2008

Special Edition - Question of the Day / Ask An Expert

This edition of Webspirations is all about the ol' Q & A! We are offering you resources to pose daily questions and resources for your students to seek answers. And who better to seek answers from than an expert! Below are links to free Questions of the Day and Expert Information links for both you and your students. Sites are identified by GRADE LEVEL

= Elementary | = Middle School | = High School | = ALL

General

Ask Dr. Universe

Try to answer the question of the day, or ask Dr. Universe a question you've always wondered about. Dr. Universe tackles all questions, not just science. She has a whole campus of experts to call on; experts in just about everything.
http://www.wsu.edu/DrUniverse/Contents.html

Encarta presents - Quizzes

Ninety quizzes on a large variety of subjects. Categorized for easy perusal.
http://encarta.msn.com/encnet/features/quiz/

Old Farmer's Almanac asks a question each day

Not only do they ask a question each day, they also have daily advice, puzzles, gardening questions and a featured word each day. Scroll to see the Question of the Day (QOD). They also have a seven day archive of the QOD (http://www.almanac.com/question/answer.php).
http://www.almanac.com/

Question of the Week

Don't expect a concrete answer to the question posed to the web site. One recent question was: "What would happen to the world if it never stopped raining"?
http://www.physics.umd.edu/lecdem/outreach/QOTW/active/questions.htm

SAT Question of the Day

More from the folks at Number2.com.
http://www.number2.com/exams/sat/daily/question/index.cfm?s=4zg5qaSrlPSQCYDbIy4vMvOT

SAT Question of the Day

From the College Board Online. You get an answer, an explanation of the answer and a rating of the difficulty of the question. Be sure to visit this site every day!
http://www.number2.com/exams/sat/daily/question/index.cfm?s=4zg5qaSrlPSQCYDbIy4vMvOT

SAT Test Prep Question of the Day

Questions provided by Kaptest.com. Site also provides a link to an SAT practice test and test taking tips.
http://www.nytimes.com/learning/students/satofday/

Language Arts

Analogy of the Day

From FactMonster. Hints and answers are provided. Their Language Arts page has more analogy sites (http://www.internet4classrooms.com/lang_gen.htm#analogies).
http://www.factmonster.com/analogies

A Word A Day

Each week they offer a different theme on daily vocabulary words and their definitions. This site provides a pronunciation of the word via a .wav file or a RealAudio file. You can also subscribe to the daily word by email.
http://www.wordsmith.org/words/today.html

Daily Buzzword

Come see what all the buzz is about at the Daily buzzword.
http://www.wordcentral.com/buzzword/buzzword.php

Daily Grammar

Daily Grammar no longer offers this daily service, but they still have their archive online.
http://www.dailygrammar.com/archive.shtml

Daily Spelling Bee

Every day three new words are offered to test your spelling skills. Warning! Some of the pronunciation clues are an attempt to lull you into a spelling error.
http://www.zdaily.com/words.shtml

Daily Vocabulary Quiz

Three new, often challenging, words offered daily to test your knowledge of word definitions.
http://www.zdaily.com/word.shtml

Daily Word Jumble

Four new, often challenging, scrambled words provided daily to test your skills at unscrambling and rearranging letters. (Each line of scrambled letters forms one word.) Average Puzzle Score=2 Correct
http://www.zdaily.com/jumble.shtml

English Daily

Free exercises on idioms, common abbreviations, slang, proverbs and much more.
http://www.english-daily.com/

Fake Out - The Definition Guessing Game

Three words are given for grades K-2, 3-5, and 6+. Another option is to choose one of the words listed and submit your own fake definition. Check back in two weeks and see how many people chose your definition instead of the correct one.
http://www.eduplace.com/fakeout/

FreeDictionary

Learn a new word for the day, an article of the day, history of the day, word game of the day, and more.
http://www.thefreedictionary.com/

Merriam Webster's Word of the Day

Learn a new word, see an example sentence and then learn about the derivation of the word. Webster will even email this to you on a daily basis. Enlarge the vocabulary of your high school level students.
http://www.m-w.com/cgi-bin/mwwod.pl

Rootonym

"Expand your vocabulary one root at a time!"
http://www.uclick.com/client/aap/tmroo/

Shakespeare's Sonnet of The Day

Discover a new sonnet everyday.
http://killdevilhill.com/shakespeare.shtml

Sound Puzzle of the Day

A new type of word game. Add the vowels and diphthongs and solve the phrase of the day. Includes class strategies to try.
http://www.soundpuzzle.com/index.html

Story of the Day

Hear a read-a-loud story everyday, from Read Me a Book.
http://www.readmeabook.com/audiobooks.htm

What does it Mean?

Word of the day, audio is provided for pronunciation, you're given another chance if choose wrong answer. Correct answer is displayed with full explanation. From Infoplease.com
http://www.soundpuzzle.com/index.html

Word Game contests

There are seven separate vocabulary quizzes and each one features a new quiz for each day of the week. That's 49 to choose from. These will tease your brain!
http://www.sheppardsoftware.com/vocabulary.htm#vocab

Word of the Day

From the folks at National Center for Education Statistics.
http://nces.ed.gov/nceskids/

Mathematics

ACT Question of the Day

From the folks at Number2.com, here you can find a question of the day (with solutions) for the SAT, GRE, and ACT future test-takers. http://www.number2.com/exams/act/daily/question/index.cfm?s=4zg5qaSrlPSQCYDbIy4vMvOT

Aunty Math

Every other week is a new math challenge for Aunty Math's niece and nephews. These challenges come in the form of story problems. Your class can post their solutions and strategies and look at other students' answers also. Past archives with answers are included. Grades 1-6
http://www.dupagechildrensmuseum.org/aunty/index.html

Math quizzes

There are four separate math quizzes and each one features a new quiz for each day of the week. That's 28 to choose from. These will tease your brain!
http://www.sheppardsoftware.com/vocabulary.htm#math

Nick's Mathematical Puzzles

The puzzles presented here are selected for the deceptive simplicity of their statement, or the elegance of their solution. They range over geometry, probability, number theory, algebra, calculus, and logic. All require a certain ingenuity, but usually only pre-college math skills. Some puzzles are original. Nick plans to add one new puzzle each week; there are already 70 to choose from.
http://www.qbyte.org/puzzles/

Platonic Realms

Features a daily math moment, historical fact and quotation.
http://www.mathacademy.com/pr/index.asp

Problem of the Week

For anyone looking for a challenge, Columbus State University's College of Education is now the home of the Problem of the Week math contest. Started in 1996 by David Rock and Doug Brumbaugh, these math educators also supply problems and answers that are part of the current White House Math Challenge, a presidential effort to boost interest in math and foster problem-solving skills. Visit their history page for more on these and the companion problem-solving sites here @ Algebra in Action, Middle School Madness and Elementary Brain Teaser.
http://www.colstate.edu/mathcontest/ http://www.colstate.edu/mathcontest/

White House Kids Math Challenge

Four categories; elementary, middle, high, and open.
http://www.whitehouse.gov/kids/math/

Word Problems For Kids

Hosted by St. Francis Xavier University, this site features about four dozen word problems, and solutions, for grade levels 5 - 12.
http://www.stfx.ca/special/mathproblems/welcome.html

Science

Nye Labs

Bill Nye (the Science Guy) offers a Question (and answer) of the week. Click on Qw (#2) to get to the Question of the Week.
http://billnye.com/

Physics Question of the Week

From The University of Maryland Department of Physics. Each week a new question will be posted and the answer for the previous Question of the Week will be shown. The questions involve real experimental physics, so part of the answers will be photographs and even short videos of the experiments carried out in determining the answers.
http://www.physics.umd.edu/lecdem/outreach/QOTW/active/questions.htm

Question of the Day

From PhysLink, physics and astronomy online education and reference (Actually, this is the answer to the question of the day.)
http://www.physlink.com/Education/AskExperts/Index.cfm

The Science Question of the Week

This site is designed to run only during the school year. These are high level questions designed for high school. The Science Question of the week is brought to you by Jim Foster of NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center.
http://www.gsfc.nasa.gov/science.html

Who Is That?

Students see a portrait of a famous scientist or mathematician and one to four clues, depending on the level of difficulty. This is one of the great games found at Funbrain.
http://www.funbrain.com/who/index.html

Social Studies

Geobee Quiz

Play the new GeoBeeQuiz! Show your geography smarts right here online. Each day five new questions from the National Geographic Bee will be posted. Come back every day for brand-new questions and another chance to beat the Bee!
http://www.nationalgeographic.com/geobee/

Geography Quiz

Weekly quiz with answers. Huge selection of archived quizzes.
http://geography.about.com/library/quiz/blpreviss.htm

Who Is That?

Students see a portrait of a U. S. president and one to four clues, depending on the level of difficulty. This is one of the great games found at funbrain.com.
http://www.funbrain.com/who/index.html

Who's Who and What's What

Current events quiz based on the NY Times. See what you know about the images. Each image relates to an article published on The New York Times website. There are links to the articles referenced in the quizzes.
http://www.nytimes.com/learning/students/quiz/index.html

Ask an Expert

Refdesk.com

The motherlode of expert connections!
http://www.refdesk.com/expert.html

Pitsco's Askanexpert.com

Askanexpert.com connects you with hundreds of real world experts in their respective files, ranging from astronauts to zookeepers. These experts have volunteered to answer your questions for free! http://www.askanexpert.com/
http://www.askanexpert.com/

The Community Learning Network of Canada

This site has a listing of "ask an expert" sites.
http://www.cln.org/int_expert.html

Ask an Expert Sources

Connecting your students to an expert in the field is an excellent way of expanding the students' horizons, while supplementing the curriculum with current information, and integrating Internet resources within your classroom. The sites on this page are links to experts in K-12 curriculum related topics.
http://www.cln.org/int_expert.htm

Posted November 6, 2007

Special Edition - Podcasting

Have you ever heard the word "podcast" and wondered what it was? Think of a podcast as a radio show. Each show consists of a series of individual episodes that you can listen to on your computer, using your MP3 player, or with just a web browser.

If you've never listened to podcasts, you're in for a treat. Sports, comedy, movies, food, politics, music, books, speeches, walking tours, whatever - you name the topic and you'll find podcasts about it. Not only do you have incredible choice, you can listen whenever and wherever you want!

You can listen to these episodes one at a time or you can 'subscribe' to the entire podcast series using software on your computer. When you subscribe to a podcast, all new shows will be automatically downloaded to your computer as they are published. And if you have an MP3 player, the next time you sync your device, your podcasts will be downloaded for listening on the go.

To start you on your listening adventure, we've provided you with some wonderful podcasts for teachers within content areas. Click on the hyperlink of your choosing and begin your podcast learning adventure.

Math

http://www.mathgrad.com/
From the website: Welcome to the home of the Mathgrad Podcast where we discuss everyday math for everyday people. My goal is to discuss the mathematics behind many real life topics in a way that even the worst mathphobe will gain some insight.
Topics will range from the math underlying voting schemes to the mathematics of loan payments, etc. We will explore the ways in which a little bit of math knowledge can become a very powerful tool in your life.

http://www.podcast.net/show/83323
From the website: The Math Factor is a brief, weekly math conversation and puzzle, airing on KUAF 91.3 FM, Fayetteville Arkansas. Send your answers, comments, questions, puzzles, or cash, to mathfactor@uark.edu and we'll send you some math fun!

Social Studies

http://www.pbs.org/newshour/rss/media/index.html
From PBS, subscribe to podcasts from such informational sources as Jim Lehrer's News Hour, Vote 2008, or Newsmaker Interviews, just to name a few!

http://www.nationalgeographic.com/podcasts/index.html
From the website: Download the latest nature and science news, eye-opening photography, audio travel guides, classic video clips, world music coverage, and wild animal adventures with National Geographic's free podcasts.

Science

http://www.dirpodcast.com/podcasts/index.php?iid=5571
Nova brings you hundreds of short audio stories from the world of science--anything from hurricanes to mummies to neutrinos.

http://www.discovery.com/radio/podcasts.html#faq
Discovery Channel has a rich collection of podcasts. From Discovery News, Animal Planet, and Science Channel (Greatest Discoveries and Science of Survival, to name a few!), this site will keep you listening for hours.

Language Arts

http://www.learnoutloud.com/Podcast-Directory/Literature#play23972
Learn Out Loud brings literature to life with its huge collection of podcasts. Listen daily, or whenever you can, to anything from World Literature to Short Stories.

http://www.npr.org/rss/podcast.php?id=510101
Each day, The Writer's Almanac features Garrison Keillor recounting the highlights of this day in history and reads a short poem or two. The Writer's Almanac is produced by Prairie Home Productions and presented by American Public Media.

Technology in the Classroom

http://www.newteacherhotline.com/
A Teacher's Toolbox (from the website): New teachers, pre-service teacher candidates, student teachers, substitutes, or any teacher seeking ideas and practical advice for using technology as a teaching tool will enjoy the humor and practicality of these podcasts by an experienced teacher and an experienced teacher/supervisor/administrator as they feature TeachersFirst Director of K-12 Initiatives Candy Shively and her "Tech Toolbox" segments. The Tech Toolbox has ideas for all teacher levels of technology expertise, including ideas for overcoming barriers to technology in your school and practical classroom management solutions for technology-based lessons.

http://www.k12handhelds.com/mashups/?cat=4
This site offers oodles of podcasts specifically geared toward staff development for K-12 educators and administrators.

SOME FAQs ABOUT PODCASTING

Q. What is podcasting?: A. Podcasting is a way for Internet users to receive audio files and listen to them from a computer or load them onto an MP3 player.
Q. How does it work?: A. You can always click the "Listen Now" button to play podcast episodes. If you want to keep the audio on your computer or MP3 player, you'll need podcasting software to begin. This software is free and will NOT harm your computer (see below). Once you've downloaded the software, click on "Subscribe to this podcast," and add to your player.
Q. How Do I Subscribe to a Podcast?: A. There are a number of ways to listen to podcasts. You will see somewhere on individual podcast pages "Subscribe to this Podcast" or clicking on the RSS symbol. Clicking on that link results in the download of individual podcasts, or subscription to the podcast which will allows new episodes of that podcast to be downloaded automatically into your "podcatcher" software (this is free software and will NOT harm your computer). That way, you don't have to continually return to the website to find out if they have a new podcast!

There are a number of other "podcatcher" applications out there that allow you different options for subscribing and listening. Here's a list of some of the most popular:

Juice
Doppler
iTunes
jPodder

One final note is that if you're interested in listening to an episode of a podcast without using a podcast program, look for links to download the mp3 files directly off our product pages (Note: These links only exist for podcast producers that provide them in their podcast feeds.) When you click on Download File you can choose to open the podcast with your computer's mp3 player or you can save the podcast to a certain place on your hard drive.

Posted May 15, 2007

Special Edition - Way Cool Science

Hello Folks,
My name is Scott Sala, host of Way Cool Science!! on channel 22 of the Denver Public Schools’ Distance Learning Network. This is my 20th year in the district and the folks in Ed Tech asked me to relate a few of my favorite websites.

Hey, I hope this helps. If you would like a website featured on the Way Cool Science!! program, zip me a line.
scott_sala@dpsk12.org

PICTURE-OF-THE-DAY WEBSITES

Astronomy Picture of the Day
Fascinating peeks into the mysteries of the universe.
http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/astropix.html

Earth Science Picture of the Day
Great explanations and links.
http://epod.usra.edu/

National Geographic Picture of the Day
Stunning photos, great for story starters.
http://lava.nationalgeographic.com/pod/?fs=www3.nationalgeographic.com&;fs=plasma.nationalgeographic.com

SPACE SCIENCE

The Denver Astronomical Society
These folks will help you set up star parties at your school and host nights at the Chamberlin Observatory.
http://www.denverastrosociety.org/openhouses.html

Sky at a Glance
A weekly calendar of notable astronomical events brought to you by Sky and Telescope magazine.
http://www.denverastrosociety.org/openhouses.html

Skymaps
Monthly star charts you can download.
http://skymaps.com/downloads.html

Space Day
Brought to you by Lockheed-Martin, great activities.
http://www.spaceday.org/index.html

The Hubble Telescope
Plans for building a model and much more.
http://hubblesite.org/

Earth View
A real-time satellite view of day and night on the planet.
http://www.fourmilab.ch/cgi-bin/uncgi/Earth/action?opt=-p

EARTH SCIENCE

Mt. St. Helen’s Cam
When things get active, check out the view.
http://www.fs.fed.us/gpnf/volcanocams/msh/

Big Hole
Answers the question, “If I dig a hole through the Earth, where will I end up?” Great fun.
http://map.talleye.com/bighole.php

Earth Science Week
Every October, packed website, great packet of materials for about five bucks.
http://www.earthsciweek.org/

World Water Monitoring Day
September 18th, lots of investigations.
http://www.worldwatermonitoringday.org/

GLOBE Program
One of the best programs with which you can get involved.
http://www.globe.gov/globe_flash.html

LIFE SCIENCE

Colorado Division of Wildlife Education
Great local source, check out the classroom kits.
http://wildlife.state.co.us/Education/

National Wildlife Federation Happenin’ Habitats
Plan a natural habitat for your school.
http://www.nwf.org/schoolyard/

PHYSICAL SCIENCE

The Exploratorium
Great San Francisco museum, check out these activities, easy to build.
http://www.exploratorium.edu/snacks/index.html

Paper Airplane site
The title says it all.
http://www.bestpaperairplanes.com/

The First Lego League
Student competition.
http://www.usfirst.org/what/fll/default.aspx?id=390

National Engineers Week
Lots of great investigations.
http://www.eweek.org/site/DiscoverE/activities/classroom_archive.shtml

OTHER

Science Notebooks
Get your students started now.
http://www.exploratorium.edu/snacks/index.html

Science News for Kids
A new Web site devoted to science news for children of ages 9 to 14.
http://www.sciencenewsforkids.org/

Posted May 1, 2007

Special Edition - Student Publishing

Publishing student work is an important part of the literacy process across the curriculum. Below are several resources and free options for publishing student work in a variety of media.

WRITING

Teen Ink
Teen Ink is a monthly print magazine. All material published in Teen Ink is submitted by its readers. Students can submit original writing, poetry, movie or book reviews, artwork, photography, news stories, or opinions. Suitable for anyone ages 13-19.
http://teenink.com

Lulu
Lulu is a self-publishing site that allows students of any age to create paperbacks, hardcover books, photo albums, calendars, brochures, artwork, video or audio CDs and DVDs, e-Books and more. Students can publish their work for free, allowing anyone to purchase them in a variety of costs and formats. Suitable for all ages.
http://www.lulu.com/

Make Beliefs Comix
Created by Bill Zimmerman, and Tony Bloom, Make Beliefs Comix is an online educational comic generator for kids of all ages. Students are presented with a blank three-panel comic strip and tools to add characters and word balloons to create their own original comic strip. Finished comic strips can be printed or emailed. Suitable for all ages.
http://www.makebeliefscomix.com/

Edublogs
Edublogs offers teacher (edublogs) and student (learner) blogs. Edublogs is a site run by teachers for teachers. It is free and has no advertising. Simple to set up and use, blogs allow students and teachers to publish their work and can allow for public comment. For additional resources about using blogs, see http://www.weblogg-ed.com/why-weblogs. Suitable for all ages.
http://edublogs.org/

PHOTOS

Flickr
Sponsored by Yahoo!, Flickr is a site where people upload, store, search, sort, and share their original photographs. Photos can be marked with additional information, called tags, that adds keywords to their pictures. Photo sharing can be open to everyone or limited to friends only. Children under 13 require a Yahoo! Family account.
http://www.flickr.com/

fd’s flickr toys
This site includes a number of different tools that start with an image file, such as a photograph or picture created with a drawing or painting program. Pictures from flickr.com can also be used as source material, or even images located anywhere on the Internet. Images can then be transformed to create photo walls, slideshows, movie posters, magazine covers, calendars, and many more. Different flickr toys are suitable for different ages.
http://bighugelabs.com/flickr/

TEACHER RESOURCES

Publishing With Students Online Resources
Publishing With Students, A Comprehensive Guide, by Chris Weber, published by Heinemann, ISBN-10: 0325002835 ISBN-13: 978-0325002835, also includes a companion web site with an extensive list of online resources.
http://www.publishingstudents.com/Online resources.html

Student Publishing
Sponsored by the Amphitheater Public Schools, this extensive list of online resources covers everything from poetry, art, science projects, student magazines, book reports and more.
http://www.amphi.com/~pgreenle/EEI/studentpublish.html

Indiana Student Publishing Ideas
Sponsored by the Indiana Department of Education Office of Learning Resources, this select list of online resources includes ideas on getting started in writing, examples of student writing, and places students can publish online.
http://www.indianalearns.org/readersstudent.asp

Posted April 17, 2007

Special Edition - Rubrics Across the Content Areas

SOME GENERAL THOUGHTS ON RUBRICS

According to Wikipedia, “In education, a rubric is a set of criteria and standards linked to learning objectives that is used to assess a student's performance on a paper, project, essay, etc.”

Particulary with performance tasks, teachers and students benefit from using a guide that provides reliable, fair, and valid descriptions for evaluating student performance. It is most often composed of a performance scale for each dimension with specified standards of performance.

Because rubrics are provided to students prior to the performance task, they are often used as a means for self-evaluation, reflection and peer review. Students know, in advance, the teacher expectations for quality of work. Teachers have a objective, consistent and defensible grading framework. Hence, the triangulation of data from a rubric should serve as a springboard for the teacher to proceed with subsequent teaching and the student to gain an understanding of their level of learning.

HOW TO CREATE A RUBRIC

These sites will walk you through the steps to creating a rubric from scratch.

http://intranet.cps.k12.il.us/Assessments/Ideas_and_Rubrics/Create_Rubric/create_rubric.html
http://jonathan.mueller.faculty.noctrl.edu/toolbox/rubrics.htm

RUBRIC GENERATORS

Looking to make your own but want some help? These sites offer easy-to-modify templates that simplify printing and saving online.

http://rubistar.4teachers.org/index.php
http://rubricprocessor.com/
http://www.teach-nology.com/web_tools/rubrics/
http://www.tech4learning.com/
http://www.ncsu.edu/midlink/ho.html
http://www.west.asu.edu/achristie/WQRubrics.html

GENERAL RUBRICS

Perhaps you’re looking for a general rubric, already designed with weights and categories and descriptions? Try one of these easy-to-search sites to find just what you are looking for.

http://intranet.cps.k12.il.us/Assessments/Ideas_and_Rubrics/Rubric_Bank/rubric_bank.html
http://web.ccsd.k12.wy.us/RBA/RBA.html
http://www.idecorp.com/assessrubric.pdf
http://www.middleweb.com/rubricsHG.html

SUBJECT-SPECIFIC RUBRICS

These sites offer rubrics designed for specific subjects and projects.

Collaborative Project: http://projects.edtech.sandi.net/morse/oceanhealth/rubrics/collrubric.htm
Comparison Project: http://www.psych.westminster.edu/inquiry1g/comparison_rubric.html
Cooperative Learning Rubric: Process: http://www.phschool.com/professional_development/assessment/rub_coop_process.html
Cooperative Learning Rubric: Product: http://www.phschool.com/professional_development/assessment/rub_coop_product.html
Early Development Rubrick: http://www.eed.state.ak.us/tls/frameworks/wrldlang/wlinstr3.html
Electronic Portfolio Rubric: http://www.phschool.com/professional_development/assessment/rub_electronic_portfolio.html
Graphic Organizer Rubric (Inspiration): http://www.uwstout.edu/soe/profdev/inspirationrubric.html
Instrumental Performance Rubric: http://wwwkms.bham.wednet.edu/orchestra/critique1.htm
Interview Paper Rubric: http://www.sdcoe.k12.ca.us/score/actbank/interview.html
Learning Skills Rubric: http://www.englishbulldogs.ca/scienceguy/pdf/Learning%20Skills%20Rubric.pdf
Learning Skills Rubric 2: http://www.parkview.ps.yrdsb.edu.on.ca/Rubrics.html
Library (Elementary) Rubric: http://www.kckpl.lib.ks.us/KCKPL/rubricelem.html
Library Media Center Rubric: http://www.nhps.net/curriculum/librarymedia-technology/assessment/assessrubric.asp
Library Media Program Rubric: http://www.mslma.org/whoweare/rubric.pdf
Map Assessment Rubric: http://www.phschool.com/professional_development/assessment/rub_map.html
NCREL: NETS*S Technology Rubrics: http://www.ncrel.org/tech/nets/rubrics.htm
Oral Presentation Assessment Rubric: http://www.phschool.com/professional_development/assessment/rub_oral_presentation.html
PALS: Performance Assessment Links in Science: http://pals.sri.com/
Poster Rubric: http://teacherweb.com/ME/JALeonardMiddleSchoolOldTown/Ecologywebquest/page3.htm
PowerPoint Rubric: http://www.uwstout.edu/soe/profdev/pptrubric.html
Primary Source Analysis Rubric: http://www.phschool.com/professional_development/assessment/rub_anaylyzing_prim_src.html
Professional Development Rubric: http://school.discovery.com/schrockguide/pdf/PDrubric.pdf
Project-Based Learning Checklist Creator: http://pblchecklist.4teachers.org/
Project Results Discussion Rubric: http://www.glenbrook.k12.il.us/gbssci/phys/projects/yep/endoyrub/resdirub.html
Research Project Rubric: http://mciu.org/~spjvweb/resrub.html
Rubrics for Web Lessons: http://webquest.sdsu.edu/rubrics/weblessons.htm
Scientific Report Rubric: http://edweb.sdsu.edu/triton/tidepoolunit/Rubrics/reportrubric.html
Scoring PowerPoints: http://fno.org/sept00/powerpoints.html
Secondary Assessment Tools: http://www.bcpl.net/~sullivan/modules/tips/assess_sec.html
School Technology Readiness Rubric: http://school.discovery.com/schrockguide/pdf/schooltechrubric.pdf
Student-Friendly Writing Rubric: http://www.middleweb.com/ReadWrkshp/RWdownld/MvaleRubric.pdf
Student Observation Rubric: http://ed.fnal.gov/help/97/sightsound/stdinfst.html
Student Oral Presentations: http://www.ncsu.edu/midlink/rub.pres.html
Timeline Assessment Rubric: http://www.phschool.com/professional_development/assessment/rub_time_line.html
Web-Based Learning Environment Assessment Rubric: http://discoveryschool.com/schrockguide/pdf/web_based_learning_rubric.pdf
WebQuest Assessment Rubric: http://bestwebquests.com/bwq/matrix.asp
Year End Project: Research Rubric: http://www.glenbrook.k12.il.us/gbssci/phys/projects/yep/endoyrub/yeprub.html
Biography Framework: http://712educators.about.com/cs/biographies/l/blrubricbio.htm
Body Paragraph of an Essay: http://712educators.about.com/cs/rubrics/l/blbdyrubric.htm
Compare Contrast Essay: http://712educators.about.com/cs/rubrics/l/blrubriccompare.htm
Debate Rubric: http://712educators.about.com/cs/rubrics/l/blrubricdebate.htm
Florida WriteCs - Expository & Persuasive Essays: http://712educators.about.com/cs/rubrics/l/blrubricflw1.htm
Expository Essay: http://712educators.about.com/cs/rubrics/l/blrubricexpos.htm
Persuasive Essay: http://712educators.about.com/cs/rubrics/l/blrubricpers.htm
Stand Alone Paragraph: http://712educators.about.com/cs/rubrics/l/blstdalnrubric.htm
Supporting Details: http://712educators.about.com/cs/rubrics/l/blrubricdetails.htm
Writing Prompts: http://712educators.about.com/cs/writingresources/a/writingprompts.htm

Multimedia Rubrics

Looking for a rubric for your students’ PowerPoint or Digital Story projects? Here are some popular rubrics that are versatile and comprehensive. Multimedia Presentation Rubric: http://www.ncsu.edu/midlink/rub.multi.htm
Multimedia Project Rubric with Self-Evaluation: http://www.ncsu.edu/midlink/rub.mmproj.htm
Podcast Rubric 1: http://sblogs.writingproject.org/filer/yvpBawpManilaWebsite/ejmaterials/schoolInTheCouleePodcastRubric.pdf
Podcast Rubric 2: http://www.beaut.org.au/podcastrubric3.pdf
Video Project Rubric: http://www.uwstout.edu/soe/profdev/videorubric.html
Video Project (iMovie) Rubric: http://www.nmcnet.edu/images/userFiles/GregF/iMovie%20Rubric%2Epdf

Posted April 3, 2007

SPECIAL EDITION - DPS Online Subscription Databases

If you aren’t familiar with Denver Public School’s online subscription databases, here is a great opportunity to learn of the valuable resources available to you and your students through the DPS Educational Resource Services Department. If you are familiar with some but not with others, take the time to get a quick overview of each and explore some new territory. You can find all of the usernames and passwords to access these databases here: http://lion.dpsk12.org/screens/ebsco.html

DPS Lion Quick Library Catalog Search
From this website you can do a quick search for a book, be it fromthe entire DPS collection or by school. You can also take advantage of the multiple tools listed in the left menu bar, including a DPS Book Reviews under “Other Resources”.
http://lion.dpsk12.org/

DPS Lion Online Databases
Multiple databases are available from this website to aid you in allof your researching needs.
http://lion.dpsk12.org/screens/onlinedb.html

EDUCATION REFERENCE SOURCES

Academic Search Premier
The world’s largest academic multi-disciplinary database, Academic Search Premier provides full text for nearly 4,650 serials, including full text for more than 3,600 peer-reviewed titles. PDF files dating back to 1975 or beyond are available for well over a hundred journals, and searchable cited references are provided for more than 1,000 titles. This database is updated daily via EBSCOhost.
http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/search?vid=1&;hid=4&sid=e2c2434a-a146-475c-b22e-a613fbd6a2e3%40sessionmgr3

ERIC
ERIC, the Educational Resource Information Center, contains more than2,200 digests along with references for additional information and citationsand abstracts from over 1,000 educational and education-related journals.
http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/search?vid=1&;hid=4&sid=4b5113a6-24d3-4afc-9857-00eef0c9b54a%40sessionmgr3

Professional Development Collection
Designed for professional educators, this database provides a highlyspecialized collection of nearly 550 high quality education journals, includingmore than 350 peer-reviewed titles. This database also contains more than 200educational reports.
http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/search?vid=1&;hid=4&sid=4f0c4371-486b-4eca-959c-3929c154bf44%40sessionmgr7

ENCYCLOPEDIAS

Britannica Elementary
Compton’s By Britannica (Middle)
Encyclopedia Britannica (High)

Check out the Encyclopedia Britannica Online School Edition. Use thispowerful resource to search or browse for information in encyclopedias, magazines,videos, and Web sites. You can choose a library appropriate for your grade level:

Encyclopedia Britannica for high school students and up
Compton's by Britannica for middle school students and up
Britannica Elementary for elementary students and up

You can search the chosen encyclopedia as well as magazines, web sites, andvideos. You can also explore Learning Materials, a dictionary and thesaurus,atlases, timelines, and other features--all at the appropriate grade level.
http://school.eb.com/

Funk & Wagnalls New World Encyclopedia
For students and adults alike, the Funk & Wagnalls New World Encyclopedia database indexes over 25,000 records, covering an array of topics. Full text for each record may be easily accessed by double clicking on the topic from the display. The database contains graphic images, offers brief biographies, as well as information in a variety of subject areas. This database is updated annually.
http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/search?vid=1&;hid=18&sid=0f27abff-c7b5-4fb1-b877-5a2c3eaf3db6%40sessionmgr3

GENERAL REFERENCE INCLUDING SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

Business Source Premier
Business Source Premier is the industry’s most used business research database, providing full text for more than 8,800 serials, including full text for more than 1,100 peer-reviewed business publications. Business Source Premier is superior to the competition in full text coverage in all disciplines of business, including marketing, management, MIS, POM, accounting, finance and economics. This database is updated daily on EBSCOhost.
http://lion.dpsk12.org/screens/ebsco.html#aph

EBSCOhost Databases
EBSCOhost is a powerful online reference system accessible via theInternet. It offers a variety of proprietary full text databases and populardatabases from leading information providers. The comprehensive databases rangefrom general reference collections to specially designed, subject-specificdatabases for public, academic, medical, corporate and school libraries.
http://lion.dpsk12.org/screens/ebsco.html#aph

FirstSearch
FirstSearch is an online reference search tool that delivers qualitycontent from WorldCat (http://www.oclc.org/worldcat/)and dozens of quality, respected databases of bibliographic and full-text content.
http://firstsearch.oclc.org/WebZ/FSPrefs?entityjsdetect=:javascript=true:screensize=large:sessionid=fsapp2-51530-ezihzm1m-2brwst:entitypagenum=1:0