May 13, 2008
My favorite kind of classroom is one where, when I step through the door, all I see is student work, projects, and displays. I love it when the walls are covered, bulletin boards are done up, and projects are even hanging from the ceilings. Most teachers do their best to display the work of their students and now there is an outlet for you as teachers to share your displays with other teachers around the world.
Classroom Displays is a wonderful blog created by Linda Hartley, a teacher in the United Kingdom. In her words, The blog has been created to explore and celebrate the use of displays in classrooms all over the world. As well as sharing ideas and best practice I hope that by looking at, commenting on and tagging each other’s displays we can investigate what works and doesn’t in the classroom and explore some of the reasons.
Linda Hartley has set up a flickr group where members share their displays of student work as well as open comment lines on her blog and wiki. Please explore and maybe even join her flickr group and share some of your own great displays.
Posted in Ann, strategies, teacher opportunities 
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May 8, 2008
If you’re a music teacher on a limited budget (aren’t they all?) or just looking for a great Mother’s Day idea, visit the Historic American Sheet Music collection from the Library of Congress. Annie’s previous entry reminded me that our LOC offers so many documents that would be great for classrooms. For a fun idea this week, the Library’s Web sites are rich with images, posters, music and other items relating to mothers. The cover as well as the sheet music for “That Wonderful Mother of Mine” comes from the in the American Memory Web site of nearly 8 million digital items. And even though it’s from 2003, this list of resources has some other fun links. Here’s to all the Mother’s (and teachers) out there.
Posted in Laura, media, resources No Comments »
May 6, 2008
For those of you out there teaching Social Studies curriculum, or those of you that are just curious for a great websites or samples of Americana, then Our Documents is a great website for you to explore. Our Documents is a website hosting primary source images of the 100 milestone documents of American History. You can explore the history of these documents, find great teacher resources, and see images of the documents in their original form.
Want to study President George Washington’s Farewell address? Well what better or more cool way to study the address than to look at and read it in the former President’s actual handwriting?
This is definitely a website worth checking out. Visit Our Documents at www.ourdocuments.gov for more information and primary sources.
Posted in Ann, resources No Comments »
April 30, 2008
There are often times in a school year where as teachers, we need a little bit of help in our lesson planning. Be it because we’re a bit worn out, or because the students interest has peaked with regards to a current event or major political, social, or economic issues, but occasionally we need some lesson help. This is where the New York Times Learning Network comes in (www.nytimes.com/learning ). The New York Times Learning Network is an amazing resource and if you haven’t had the time to check it out, or didn’t know it existed, then it’s time you give it a look.
The Learning Network is wonderful for lots of reasons. Here are a few:
- Daily Lesson Plans complete with extension activities, curriculum connections, and the complete news article for students to read.
- Teacher, Student, and Parent Resources.
- Test question of the day, word of the day, science question of the day - all could be used for great bell ringer activities or a fun way to get the day started.
- Letters to the editor and Ask a reporter sections where students can feel a little more involved in what’s going on in the news today.
The New York Times Learning Network is definitely a website to keep in your teacher arsenal. You never know when you might need it.
Posted in Ann, resources No Comments »
April 22, 2008
Content Meets Technology
Almost $25,000 in technology prizes
This sweepstakes asks teachers and students to submit, using 250 characters or less, their vision of the role of technology in education. Those thoughts will then be posted to an interactive Google Map mashup on the eInstruction site. The “mashup” of Google Maps (technology) and the student/teacher collaborations (content) is designed to mirror the merger of eInstruction and Interwrite Learning. The student/teacher submissions, which will only be required for posting to the map, should highlight classroom achievements made possible by the use of technology or focus on the benefits of a technology-empowered classroom. The work, along with the name of the school, the grade, and the teacher’s name, will appear on a Google Map of the world on the sweepstakes’ web site.
Contact Information
Contact Website: http://www.contentmeetstechnology.com/
Posted in Ann, Grants No Comments »
April 18, 2008
Flickr is a world-wide photo sharing community, with about 3,500 images being uploaded from around the world every minute. This site is a great way to share images with family and friends, and a place to find images to use in your classroom. Well, realizing that the flickr phenomenon isn’t going anywhere soon, the Library of Congress now has it’s own flickr stream with images being uploaded weekly.
Currently, the LOC has about 3,300 images online as part of two collections, “news in the 1910’s” and “1930’s-40’s in color”. You can really lose track of time exploring these images and it’s certain that there is probably an image that can fit into your content and curriculum. You can download the images in various resolution sizes to your computer to use at school and you don’t need to worry about copyright - all the images that the LOC is putting on flickr seem to be part of the public domain.
So, spend some time exploring and look at some amazing images of America’s past.
Find the Library of Congress Flicker stream HERE
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April 14, 2008
What’s Your View? Was he America’s greatest poet?
Walt Whitman, 1870. Library of Congress
An idealist who lived through the most wrenching of American transformations — the Civil War — Whitman is often considered the quintessential American poet. Do you agree? If not, who do you think is more deserving of that distinction?
This week premiers the biography of Walt Whitman on PBS’s American Experience program. Walt Whitman offers insights into social studies topics including the Civil War, the impact of war on soldiers and their families, American literary history, the history of New York City, the role of creative expression in response to political and military events, and more. Students can explore a map of New York as it was in Whitman’s time, discussion guide, and for a short time, you can view the entire movie online. You and your students can join the discussion by posting your views online.
Related videos are also in UEN’s eMedia and CollegeMedia:
- The American Experience, New York
- Great American Authors, 1846-1855
- GED Connection: Reading Poetry
- Ken Burns: The Civil War
Posted in Laura, media, resources No Comments »
April 5, 2008
The company Tech Smith has release a new software in Beta format that is free. It’s called Jing. You want it, trust me. Jing lets you capture images from your computer, desktop, or internet. It also allows you to create 5 minute video tutorials on anything your heart desires. Did I mention it’s FREE? Yes, for now, the program is free and Tech Smith will host all your videos on their website. How cool is that?
Think about all the possibilities. Make a video about a project for students, daily class assignments, or truly animate a power point presentation. You could make a “movie” a day to post to your school website or your classroom blog to keep students current and up-to-date.
Go to the website, www.jingproject.com and download the program now, for your PC or your Mac.
Just try it.
You’ll like it.
I promise.
Posted in Ann, resources No Comments »
March 31, 2008
Scholastic’s Teacher Book Wizard can help you find the perfect book for each of your students. Just type the title of their favorite book in the “BookAlike” search engine and you’ll have a list of similar books that are at the same reading level. This is perfect for those kids that read the same favorite book over and over because they don’t think there are comparable titles out there. Give it a try!
Posted in Rob, resources No Comments »
