All the Web 2.0 Tools you’ll ever need in one blog post!

I think you will enjoy discovering all of the new tools that these web sources will present.  I guarantee that you will find something new that will amaze you as you explore.  So get ready to dive into these web 2.0 treasure troves!

1) Cool Tools for Schools Wiki- http://cooltoolsforschools.wikispaces.com/

This amazing Wiki presents scores of web 2.0 web tools that can enhance you work with kids.  The cool thing is that they are organized by the jobs they do.  For example, the left menu organizes links in categories like presentation tools, video tools or slideshow tools.  It is really easy to get straight to a resource that can transform a lesson!

2) 100 Web 2.0 Tools Every Teacher Should Know About
http://edudemic.com/2012/05/best-web-tools-slides/

This web site organizes 100 Web 2.0 tools in rank order.  I really like the way it opens up by sharing the 5 top sites, 5 most surprising and 5 little known.   For example, have you heard of Mahala, Knol or Lino?  Me neither.  Let’s get our geek on and find out what they do!

3) Here are 101 site to troll!  http://www.goedonline.com/101-web-tools-for-teachers

This list lists sites in order again but is really a hit parade.  I know MANY of the listed sites but am always surprised when I encounter one new gem.  I think this is worth perusing as you seek the Web 2.0 site of your dreams.

4) The Super Book of Web Tools for Educators
http://issuu.com/richardbyrne/docs/super_book_of_web_tools_for_educators/1

Here is a free on-line book chock full of web resources to explore by educational category.  If it’s free, it’s for me.  I hope this one is for you too.

5) EdTEch Tool Box Ultimate Web 2.0 list
http://edtechtoolbox.blogspot.com/p/web-20-tools_04.html

This alphabetic list is almost ridiculous in length.  Talk about one stop shopping!  Have at it.

I hope that this post puts a few new arrows in your quiver.  At the very least you can blow your peers away in the staff room with your absolute command of the Web 2.0 edu-verse!  Happy Surfing!

Free apps to find more free apps!

With over 500,000 apps in Apple’s app store how do you find the app to fit your needs without breaking the bank? Here is a list of apps that either offer reviews or give you free apps for the day.

Autism Apps Free. for the iPhone or iPad. Autism Apps is a comprehensive list of apps that are being used with and by people diagnosed with Autism, Down syndrome and other special needs. The app are broken down into paid, free, iPad, iPhone, price and rating.

Free App Genie Free for 30 days. Powered by AppTrakr, it reaches out across the inter-web and shows you all of the app information that you’d see if you were in iTunes, so you don’t waste time bouncing back and forth between the app and the app store. It also sorts the free apps by category, then by app popularity.

Free app tracker Free. Tracks and displays thousands of apps that were paid but are now free or lower in price.  Share app price drops with friends through email, Facebook and Twitter.

Free magic app 2012 Free. Every day, MagicSolver selects three apps on the App Store and offer these apps, which are usually paid, totally free for users to download.

Free app finder Free. Receive free app alerts and app ratings everyday.

Appsgonefree Free. Receive an alert on your iOS device to find out which apps are free. Apps are handpicked and reviewed to help you decide if the app is right for you.

Now that you have saved your money, you can get ready for the iPad 2S/iPad 3!

Flipping out? What you need to know about the “Flipped” Classroom

10 things you need to read if you have considered Flipping your classroom.

1.  Good visual. Maybe for a teacher(s) website for families. Link
2. Khan’s TED talk about flipped classroom –  Link 
3. Khan and Beyond: The Many Faces of the Flipped Classroom – Link
4. New York Times – Online Learning, Personalized – Link
5. Edutopia’s search for “flip” (good stuff!)- Link
6. Livebinders – (3 ring binders for the web) – Link 
7. Life is too short. Stop repeating yourself. Flip your classroom! Link
8. Why I Flipped My Classroom – Link
9. Math Group Paper Slide – Link
10. Flipping out? What you need to know about the Flipped Classroom – Link 

Technology Through the Years!!

Tips for Using Games in Class

Experts on issue-oriented computer simulations (games) offer advice on how to do it right.

BY KARA PLATONI

We asked some serious-game experts about how teachers can get the most out of them in the classroom. Here’s their advice:

Do a Dry Run

First, give yourself some gaming homework. Familiarize yourself with the game’s rules, strategies, and keyboard commands so you’ll be ready if someone accidentally hits the wrong key and needs a rescue. On game day, try using a projector or an interactive whiteboard to give the whole class a demo before letting the students take over.

Let the Kids Go Nuts

Make sure the students get enough time with the game to thoroughly explore different scenarios and make their own mistakes. “Get the heck out of the way,” urges high school social studies teacher Scott Deckelmann, who uses the game PeaceMaker in his classes. “Don’t be afraid to let them totally fail and try again.” If the classroom smart alecks want to push the simulation to its limits — Deckelmann says his students always spend the first round of the game trying to blow up the Middle East — that’s fine, too. Ultimately, they’ll figure it out: “It ends the game, which is no fun,” he explains. The class will wise up and move on.

Have a Postgame Plan

“No matter what the game or the subject, the important thing to do is to use the game as a catalyst for something else,” says Ian Bogost, associate professor of computational and digital media at the Georgia Institute of Technology, who is also an adviser for the Serious Games Summit at the annual Game Developers Conference. “There is some natural learning that takes place on its own within the game, but unpacking that is the job of the teacher; the kids can’t do it themselves.”

Help students link the game’s content to events in the real world with classroom talks and writing assignments or by providing other media, such as documentaries and news clips. Some games now offer free downloadable curricula or discussion guides, or you can create your own.

Deckelmann and colleague Karl Atkins help their students explore cause and effect by having them create charts that record the choices they make while playing PeaceMaker and the results of each decision. They then use an analytical yet creative writing assignment — such as having students take on the role of a secret adviser writing a memo about how to resolve a real-life international conflict — to wrap up the unit.

Encourage Open Conversation

Let free debate reign in postgame chats as long as students support their arguments with evidence. “When kids are talking about their experiences with the game but feel like the teacher is lecturing them, or they can only agree with the teachers’ perspective, or the teacher doesn’t really care about their perspective but is just focused on facts, then that will hurt,” says Joseph Kahne, dean of the School of Education at Mills College, in Oakland, California, and an expert on the social side of video games.

He adds, “For young people, one of the most important things from a civic standpoint is to feel that there is an open climate for discussion.”

For more information about serious games,

• read about the learning value of social-issues simulations.
• read about studies that gauge the link between how teenagers play computer games and their real-world behavior.
• learn more about some of the best serious games.

New Policy for PLC!

There is no agenda! This time is for you to try new things. Websites, apps, games, programs, downloads. ALL THAT HELP US AS TEACHERS!

January 24,2012 Agenda

IN NO PARTICULAR ORDER!

1. Google Docs

2.  Online Opportunities. A few resources that are out there. How to find and use others.

Academic Earth

• academicearth.org
• Take FREE classes from Universities around the world.

Annenberg Project

• http://learner.org/

Open Source Software

• http://www.osalt.com/
• http://sourceforge.net/
• openoffice.org

Presentations:

• prezi.com
• glogster.com

Online Images:

• Flickr - http://www.flickr.com/

Youtube.com

Vimeo 

Go 2 Web 20

• http://www.go2web20.net/#

Common Craft

• http://www.commoncraft.com/

iTunes U

• iTunes U
• http://www.apple.com/education/itunes-u/whats-on.html#itb-topten

What is a PLC?

• What is a PLC?
  • an ongoing process
  • educators work collaboratively in recurring cycles of collective inquiry and action research
  • to achieve better results for the students they serve

• the key to improved learning for students is continuous, job-embedded learning for educators.
• The fundamental structure of a PLC?
  • collaborative teams of educators
  • working interdependently to achieve a common goal
  • members are mutually accountable
• PLCs are collaborative teams within a single grade, course, or interdisciplinary program with an ongoing focus on these four questions:

1. What do we want our students to learn?
   1. The team identifies the essential, guaranteed, and viable curriculum.
2. How will we know they are learning?
   1. The team creates or procures common interim assessments to measure all students’ learning
   2. uses the results from the assessments to inform and improve team members’ individual and collective professional practice.
3. How will we respond when students don’t learn?
   1. The school orchestrates timely, directive, and systematic interventions for students.
4. How will we respond when they do learn?
   1. The school orchestrates enrichment and extension of learning for students who have reached proficiency.