Primary Source Material

If you teach Social Studies/History in middle or high school, you should take a look at these two sites. They provide resources & lessons for using primary sources material with students.
They are:
The Primary Source Librarian: http://www.maryjjohnson.com/primarysourcelibrarian/
and EDSITEment from National Endowment for the Humanities: http://edsitement.neh.gov/
Try them. You'll like them!

Portals - Pop Culture

A portal is a collection of related activities or information on one web site. One that you might want to check is Professor Garfield. It's designed for kids, K-6. Included are fun activities related to reading, math and science as well as music and art. It also provides tools for students to create a comic strip and/or a graphic novel. Haven't used it a lot but it seems well designed.
I'm beginning to notice a number of sites that offer links to what I'd call "pop" culture. If you are interested in exploring the integration of popular culture with school, I would also recommend Making Curriculum Pop, a site which facilitates teachers discussion on a variety of "pop" topics.

Skype, Edmodo, Reading sites

In response to some of your interests, I've put together a list of some Internet sites that you might want to explore.
Noah requested info on Skype, a computer based telephone service, which can be used with a webcam to see people as you talk to them. Lots of projects for schools. One of the best Skype intro sites is listed here. It's from the Cool Cat Teacher Blog, which we'll look at next week.
http://coolcatteacher.blogspot.com/2006/10/using-skype-in-classroom-or-just.html
Jess requested info on Edmodo http://edmodo.com
I have not used it, but it seems to be a place to create teacher blogs and teacher conferencing groups. Take a look if interested.
Several of you have an interest in reading, preschool or primary sites, including stories with audio. A good place to start is Page 2 of my home page: http://theteachersnet.org/edmat518.htm . Have fun!

Wonderful World of the Internet

Welcome to the wonderful world of the Internet!
We have: Web 1 and Web 2; i-pods, i-pads, i-phones; laptops, netbooks, e-books; cable, wi-fi, 3G, 4G; blogs, Facebook, Twitter, NINGS; virtual things, virtual places, virtual people, and virtual worlds. The Internet IS wonderful, but it often seems to be moving so fast we can't keep up.
Welcome to class. This class offers you a time to take a look at this exciting, dynamic resource. We'll try some of the new tools, explore a few of the old, develop new techniques for your class, and have some fun. I'm glad to have you here. Mary

Shift Happens -Kids present

Tina has found another, newer variation of the info in Shift Happens/Now You Know videos. This one uses students in the presentation and is only about four minutes. You might want to take a look at it if you are considering using the info. Find it here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_A-ZVCjfWf8

Now You Know - 2009

An updated version of Shift Happens (titled Now You Know-2009) is available on UTube. This program has current statistics, but is not as related to schools as the original. It's still worth viewing.
Now You Know -2009

Bugscope

Tina passed on some information from her son (U of Illinois) that might interest some of you. The University is providing the opportunity for some schools to use their scanning electron microscope to enhance school studies of bugs. Check out their website if interested.
http://bugscope.beckman.illinois.edu/
I enjoyed our time in class and hope that you came away with at least one technique or bit of information that you can use in class. Happy rest of the summer. Mary

We were HOT!

Still recovering from the heat this morning, and I'm sure all of you are also--especially Sarah, whose comment said simply "85 degrees". Thanks for your blog comments. Next class will take us into new territory -Web 2.0. It promotes collaboration and sharing, and has a number of new and different applications including blogs, wikis, RSS feed readers, and social bookmarking sites. Several of these are used to create and store information, and others are used to keep track of that info. This is my favorite lesson, and I hope that you find it just as interesting as I do. I look forward to seeing your lessons.

Internet Issues

The Internet provides access to information, expertise, tools, and world-wide communication that was unheard of even five years ago. It also provides unprecedented challenges to teachers and schools. We'll look at some of the concerns that accompany the use of the Internet with students, in particular, safety, plagiarism and copyright issues. The Internet is an increasingly important part of students lives. It is the school's job to provide the information and techniques to enable students to use it safely and productively.

Summer 2010

Welcome to class! Thanks for sharing some of your summer with me. We'll spend some time looking at sites, examining issues such as safety and copyright, and then, exploring some of the Web 2.0 applications such as blogs, feed readers, and wikis.
Technology has changed how people play, work and interact, and our students are experiencing one of THE most rapidly changing eras. Studying these technology changes is both fascinating and challenging, and also necessary if we are to use it effectively with our students.
Students in this class bring very different tech backgrounds and interests. I look forward to sharing our expertise.

Wikis

Wikis allow us to collect information and share it with others. We'll take a look at how teachers can use this rich resource to enhance existing lessons, and to find new resources and techniques for presenting information.
Your lessons were great. I hope all of you are planning to use the lesson that you created sometime soon. It always interests me to see the variety of subjects, and the variation in presentation for different age students. This time our lessons range from 2nd grade level to adults, from a lesson on bats to advanced math.
If you have pre-school children at home or little ones in your family, take a look at the preschool/primary site list on my home page (theteachersnet.org). If you only have time to examine one, check out Ziggity Zoom. Have a restful week-end -you deserve it. Mary

The New Web

The next class is my favorite. We'll take a look at Web 2.0 applications, and some ways in which teachers are using them. Blogs, RSS aggregators, and wikis are some of the new tools that are enabling us to communicate, organize, share and access information in ways that were not possible even a few years ago.
Kathy, Gloria, and Theresa, thanks for your blog comments. Everyone else still needs to submit a comment. Remember to sign your first name to the post, and send it as Anonymous.
I hope your lessons went together quickly and easily. I look forward to seeing them.

Glad You're Here

Technology and the Internet have become an integral part of our lives. For many kids and teens, though, it's the way they live. They use it to communicate, to socialize, to learn, and, it changes how they see the world. This course will provide you with some time to explore the 'Net and the ways in which can enhance learning. I hope that you'll be able to find sites to use in your teaching, to identify resources, to understand both the "Net's potential and challenges, and to realize that, because of technology, the future will be different. I am very glad that you're joining us. Have fun exploring. Mary

Blogs

Today, blogs serve as personal communication, information sources, immediate news vehicles, and platforms from which to influence world-wide opinion . There is as much variety in the blogosphere are there are individual perspectives on life and the world. When you examine our collection of blogs, pay attention to the blogroll, the list of additional sites found on most sites. This list can be as valuable as the post. Mary

Wecome

I am so glad that you have joined our group today. I hope that you'll become familiar with the "new" web, learn some techniques that you haven't used before, and come away with some applications that you continue to use, either in your classes or to gather information. Web 2.0 has changed the way the world communicates. Hopefully, it will also change the way you communicate. Mary

Update of Shift Happens

Twenty First Century Skills. Everyone knows that technology has recently produced dramatic changes in how we communicate and learn. Everyone supports teaching 21st Century skills, tech skills for the future. Beyond that, however, there isn't much agreement.
Shift Happens, a video originally published in 2006 for a teachers' conference, was an attempt to inform educators of the rapid changes that are taking place in the world today, and what these changes might mean for our students tomorrow.
In sifting through all the versions to find one that is current, I am recommending for general viewers: Did You Know 5 2009 by Dr. Howie DiBassi, and for teachers/administrators, Shift Happens 2009 . This version (Karl Fisch/Scott McLeod) is close to the original 2006 presentation, but updated.
If you haven't yet seen this video, pick one and watch. I think you'll find it thought provoking.