"The Times, They Are A Changin"

To borrow from good ol' Bob Dylan, the times, they are a changing here for me. I have moved from the Deuel School District. The experience to work in such a progressive school has shaped the way that I think about education, teaching and administration. Creative budgeting and progressive teaching strategies have kept this school at the forefront of education in the State and I'm glad that I was part of it.

Now, I am moving on to a new adventure at one of the TOP 4 Two-Year Schools in the Nation! At Lake Area Technical Institute, I get to be an Educational Technology Specialist and work with instructors to integrate technology into their already very successful classrooms and labs. I em excited for the challenge and I am excited for the change of pace! Lake Area Tech has also been named by The Chronicle of Higher Education as one of the Top Colleges to Work For for multiple years in a row! It doesn't get much better than that!

As all of this is happening, we are living in what will soon be a very critical time for many occupations in our country. We are already experiencing workforce shortages across the State in many different areas. For example, I toured the amazing Electronics/ Robotics classrooms this week at LATI and the Department Head/ Instructor said that he had employers contact him with over 150 job openings and he only had 9 graduates from his program last year! The job openings range from local South Dakota jobs to opportunities across the Midwest. LATI's Aspen Institute Awards have really opened up opportunities for graduates, too!

This is the picture of his "jobs" board in the classroom. I should have taken a picture of all of the amazing projects he has going on in the classroom, too. He has everything from educational robots to industry-grade robotics in this classroom. Wow! He is also going to do a "Community U" program this year so that anybody can build their own 3D Printer. I definitely plan on working that into my schedule as that is some of the coolest technology I have ever seen! 

Back to the Changing Times... well, as I move out of K-12 education, I think I will miss a lot of things, but most of all I will miss the kids. Getting to know the kids and helping them decide on careers and post-secondary choices was the best opportunity I could have had to know first hand how the world we live in is changing. I would like to say I'd do it differently if I was a 2014 High School graduate, but I don't think I would. Education is where I am supposed to be, how that career shapes is yet to be seen. I can't wait to see where this opportunity at LATI will take me! 

Basic Elementary Site from a Template

Tomorrow I get to present to the Elementary Staff at our school about a Basic Google site for parent/teacher/student communication enhancement! I'm really excited and wanted to share the presentation with you!

 

10 Apps for Tuesday

I found some great free apps that I had to share! 1) Click on the link below 2) Click on View in iTunes and iTunes will open for you 3) Click on Purchase and put in your password. If you have any questions about downloading, please let me know and I will stop down and help.

1) https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/endless-alphabet/id591626572?mt=8 The Endless Alphabet App is an interactive 'monster app' that has almost like alphabet flashcards and upon selecting a flashcard a word starting with that letter comes up. Students have to plug in the letter and as they drag the letter it makes it's sound. So cute! It is updated on a regular basis with new words. 

2) https://itunes.apple.com/ca/app/hudsonalpha-icell/id364882015?mt=8 HudsonAlpha iCell App is an interactive app to travel through plant, bacteria, and animal cells. It is color coded and I wish I would have had this when I was in science classes! 

3) https://itunes.apple.com/app/powers-of-minus-ten-bone/id591722396?mt=8 Power of Minus Ten- Bones is an app to show you the inside of bones, a broken hand bone and how it heals. You can zoom in both ways and has scientific names with explanations. 

4) https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/disney-fish-hooks/id550005327?mt=8 Disney Fish Hooks App looks a lot like just a game, but it cleverly disguises critical thinking and process skills as learners have to get the fish out of the bubble at the top of the screen to the aquarium tube by carefully angling series after series of logs with the correct angle. I thought it looked easy until we got to the higher levels and then, it got really fun. It reminded me of a Rube Goldberg machine. 

5) https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/gesundheit!/id591696651?mt=8 Gesundheit! is the app of the week on iTunes and, again, at first looks like a game, but to get your "guy" from place to place, you have step on levers, get fruit, and... okay, fine. It's more of a game, but fun to learn how to use the multitasking gestures on the iPad with short tutorials coming up when needed. Not to mention, it has fun flute music. 

6) https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/wheels-on-bus-all-in-one-educational/id543545550?l=es&mt=8 The Wheels on the Bus Activity Center has counting, racing games with spelling, puzzles, and other fun activities centered around transportation. The full version has more, but this is free and has quite a lot. 

7) https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/toontastic-free/id404693282?mt=8 Toontastic was mentioned in a past email, but it keeps getting better with updates. You can have students create their own cartoon based on many fun characters, backgrounds, record their own narration, and it even coincides with the traditional plot diagram with a story arc. I can see a lot of possibilities for Elementary all the way up to Middle School. Even if you do not have an iPad right now, stop in and use one for a day or so to check it out and use them in class. The iPad checkout is located here: http://tinyurl.com/deuelipad

8) https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/language-development-preschool/id554622105?mt=8 iLearn with Boing has multiple apps, but you can only do the "words" portion of each app for free. The words portion allows you to take the seals (in the ocean app) and move the letters in the order of the word. There are many other iLearn with Boing apps too.

9) https://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/geodash-wild-animal-adventure/id573679651?mt=8 GeoDash combines a Mario World type game with learning animal characteristics and specific animals in different biomes. As it is a National Geographic sponsored app, it has a lot of great information read aloud to the students as they go through the game. 

10) https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/where-do-i-go-group-match-words/id499190609?mt=8 The Where Do I Go? App is a fun way for students to learn how to group and classify animals, food, geography, climate, and home. It is fun to watch as they are given a theme and have to choose all of the applicable items in that category. 

I'll stop at 10 for today, but had to share some of the latest. Also, a new update is available for iPads as of yesterday. Go to your Systems App, General, Software update and tap install. You cannot install software using the school's wireless, but you can at home. I can also do this install when I hook iPads up to the MacBook Pro in my office that does not use the wireless. If you need help with this process, let me know. 

Have a great day! 

MS/ HS Tech Tools Presentation

Here is the copy of the MS/ HS Tech Tools Presentation. We went through some great ways to integrate video in the classroom, ways to store useful classroom videos on playlists, as well as many great FREE video resources.

Projects vs. Project-Based Learning

Although the "discovery" lessons that I had to do while at SDSU were by far the most challenging of any lesson for me, once I got into the classroom the concept of Project Based Learning was something I was able to really enjoy. But, it made more sense to me when I was actually in the classroom. It was still very challenging to "let go" and "give the reigns" to the students and I surely made many mistakes during the process. Some technology resources, though, really allowed me to set up the Project-Based Learning Plan more easily.

So, I start today with a chart that you may want to check out: http://www.friedtechnology.com/2012/11/whats-difference-between-doing-projects.html 

The chart talks about the difference between "Projects" and "Project-Based Learning". Here are some examples that were most interesting to me: 

Projects:                                                                Project-based Learning: 

Are closed: every project has the same goal. (As in the example above, the end result is always The Alamo.)	Is open: students make choices that determine the outcome and path of the research.
Cannot be used in the real world to solve real problems.	Could provide solutions in the real world to real problems even though they may not be implemented.
Are not particularly relevant to students’ lives.	Is relevant to students’ lives or future lives.
Do not resemble work done in the real world.	Is just like or closely resembles work done in the real world.
Do not include scenarios and background information or are based on events that have already resolved.	The scenario or simulation is real or if it is fictitious, is realistic, entertaining, and timely.
Are sometimes based around a tool for the sake of the tool rather than of an authentic question. (Make a Prezi.)	Use technology, tools, and practices of the real world work environment purposefully. Students choose tools according to purposes.

Are often graded based teacher perceptions that may or may not be explicitly shared with students, like neatness.

Is graded based on a clearly defined rubric made or modified specifically for the project.

---

Here are some resources that may help you to accomplish Project-Based Learning (or possibly create your own Common Core Performance Tasks as well): 

1) Google Sites (https://sites.google.com/) will allow you to create your own site and have links, videos, images and other information online for you to direct students toward. You can also have students create their own sites to store and share information during a project. If you are interested in setting up your own Google Site, please let me know and I will be happy to help.

2) The Open Culture Free Resource List (http://www.openculture.com/free_k-12_educational_resources) completely made my day. What is better than an organized, free list of resources? These would be great resources to share with or link on your website for students to use.

3) The National Archives is a regular on my Google Reader with the Historical Document of the day, but there are also more resources on there that are great for interactive learning through historical documents. (http://docsteach.org/tools) This site will allow you to create your own account, build an activity for comprehension, analyzation or connection building with historical documents. Also, do not limit this to Social Studies class, you can find historical connections about theories, events, or scientific discoveries as well. Don't forget, if you ever need to find a primary document to delineate, the National Archives probably has a copy for you. 

 4) EasyBib (http://easybib.com/) is a way for students to create MLA Style Bibliography pages to document all of the resources used in the project. We all know there is a lot of bogus information out there... Have you ever heard of the Tree Octopus? (http://zapatopi.net/treeoctopus/)  And, EasyBib may not tell students for sure if a resource is legitimate or not, but it will surely make them think more about it as they put in the publisher, date and author and create a Bibliography while working on their project.

5) iPad Apps for creation at the Elementary Level are also great for project-based learning. I reviewed many last Friday, so I will include the link to these again. goo.gl/kCp9m These are apps that are on the iPads right now for you to use. If you have questions, please let me know and I will be glad to help. If you have any more, please share with us! I would like to add as many great apps on the iPads as possible. 

6) Rubistar http://rubistar.4teachers.org/ is a great resource when you are stuck on a rubric idea. I am a big fan of rubrics and I think that as we head toward project-learning and common core performance tasks, they will be even more important to the classroom. 

---

I hope you have a great day and please let me know if you have any questions or I can help you try something new!

Get out and VOTE!

We are all busy with Homecoming this week, but here are a few resources to check out. As you can see... I am a bit biased and think that casting our vote for President is pretty important, so there are a lot of resources for you to check out there. 

Let me know if I can help with anything and have a great day!

Samantha 

---

1) I will readily admit that I am very opinionated on many political issues, but more than anything, the fact that everybody needs to become an informed voter. So, I will get on my soapbox for a bit and list a few resources that may help you to integrate "Decision 2012" into your classroom. 

• http://www.nbclearn.com/portal/site/learn/decision2012 
• http://magazines.scholastic.com/election-2012
• http://learning.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/02/28/election-2012-teaching-ideas-and-resources/
• http://www.teachervision.fen.com/elections/teacher-resources/6615.html
• http://constitutioncenter.org/education/educators/learning-resources/election2012/
• http://www.c-spanclassroom.org/Lesson/659/Featured+Lesson+Idea+Primaries+and+Caucuses.aspx 
• http://www.c-spanclassroom.org/Lesson/658/Featured+Lesson+Idea+Road+to+the+White+House.aspx
• http://www.livingroomcandidate.org 
• http://www.nwp.org/cs/public/print/resource/2642

2) http://www.wordner.com Wordner is fun, online game that is like Apples to Apples. You can create a free account (or a more generic student account) for students to play. I also like that you can create and print out your own cards too. 

3) https://docs.google.com/present/embed?size=l&id=dhn2vcv5_8323t58h3ft Here is a Google Doc on using Google Docs in the classroom that was created by somebody else, but free to share. I am hope you take some time to look through some of it and then insist on trying it out yourself! Let me know if you are interested and I can help, too! 

4) http://www.timetoast.com Timetoast is a site to make online timelines and share them as well. You can sign up for free and see other examples of timelines and also assign students to make one themselves. 

5) http://www.pimpampum.net/bookr/ Bookr is a free, online book creator. The student indicates a 'tag' for the photos or a 'user' (like NationalGeographic or China) and hits go. They simply drag the picture up to the book, add titles, captions and drag the page over to go to the next page or add content. When complete, hit Publish this book! Here is an example: http://www.pimpampum.net/bookr/index.php?id=41035 

Welcome back! Week One

The summer ended quickly and soon we will be back to the classroom. I have been given a wonderful opportunity to be able to come into your classroom to help with technology integration. Next week at in-service I will have some time to visit with each group (Elem, MS, and HS) about what you would like me to do for you this year and I am excited to hear about your ideas. 

So, to start of the year, here are a few technology ideas for you: 

Every email I send out or handout I give out at any in-service will be archived at my blog. Here is the link: http://teachertechweekly.blogspot.com/ 

http://www.math.hmc.edu/funfacts/ 

The fun math facts listed here and each fact has a problem, diagram or short explanation of a fun math fact. This may be a good opener for class and most can be adapted for upper elementary through high school. 

http://www.mathlanding.org/
Math landing is a great K-6 database of math lesson plans and most of these plans you could find through other places on the internet, but this site has them all stored for you to search.
http://visual.ly/
If you like Pinterest, you will like this website. Almost all of the great graphics you pin are cataloged here and you can even make your own! You could find a great graph or chart to display population, election coverage or current events information in visual format is a great way to target visual learners. You could also take your own to teach many graphic concepts.

http://scistarter.com/
Sci Starter is a database of science projects/ lessons that are categorized by topic, but you can search by key terms as well. You can also search by topics that are free/ low cost, have teaching materials available or feature projects.
http://freemusicarchive.org/
Napster and Limewire are long gone and it is hard to justify spending money on music to narrate a school project. This archive will give you a great place to download a genre-searchable database of music.

http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/studyblue-flashcards/id323887414?mt=8 

"STUDYBLUE Flashcards" iPad/ iPod Touch app is a FREE flashcard app that requires an account, but it can be created after you download the app. Always on the lookout for great flashcard apps, this one heads to to the top of the list because of the collaboration element. For lower grades, it might be teachers creating the flashcards and sharing or upper grades, the students split the material and collaborate for a great review tool. 

http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/using-i-and-me/id493067783?mt=8 

"Using I and Me" is a great app for iPad/ iPod Touch users with pre-made flashcards with pictures of situations using I and Me properly. As a former High School English teacher, I will attest to the need for this app for just about every student, even me sometimes!

Quick Tip: 

Have you ever shortened a URL to make it easier for students to type in? You can do this with ANY web address. There are many options, but I like to Google route because it will save all of your past shortened URLs for you when you are signed in with your Google ID. Here are the steps: 

1) Copy the URL you want to shorten. 

2) Open up this link in a new window or tab: http://goo.gl/

3) Paste the URL you want to shorten in the box. 

4) Click on the blue button, shorten URL. 

5) Your new URL will appear in the box and look something like this: http://goo.gl/3w5qc 

Please let me know if you have any questions and I will do the best I can to help you. Have a great weekend!