Cell Phones in the Classroom

After listening to an ISTE podcast interview with Liz Kolb, educational technology instructor, I've been struggling yet challenged to find effective ways of using cell phones with grades k-5. I don't believe that we need to try every shiny new thing in the classroom, but I do believe in giving new technologies conscience thought on how it could potentially enhance learning, creativity or communication in a classroom. With children ages 5-12, teachers are communicating with their parents more often than with grades 6-12. I'm interested in trying the Remind101 website as a safe way for teachers to text messages to students and parents for free. This could be effective with field trip reminders, homework assignments, spirit days, etc. Especially if the school district doesn't provide and email reminder service. In the past I have used classroom responders (clickers) with students for polling or quizzing. Not all classrooms or schools come equipped with this type of resource. I like the idea of using cell phones as student responders for middle-high school age. But, I was recently in a 2nd grade classroom that had received a class set of ipod touches from a grant. You CAN text on an ipod. So, with that being said, there are several websites that allow cell phones and ipods to be used as student responders. Here are a few I've tried.

ivoted.com

Polleverywhere.com
Let'sGoVote.com

Still considering the rate of enhanced learning with this tool in a K-5 environment...

3.14

Today is my birthday! In the past, I've had fun with this day with my elementary students. First off, it is also Pi Day. So we would have a Pi Day party with my fifth graders. I love the Exploratorium's Pi Day resources.

http://www.exploratorium.edu/pi/

I would also share the book Sir Cumference and the Dragon of Pi (A Math Adventure)
by Cindy Neuschwander








For for a deeper look into pi, there is The Joy of Pi by David Blatner.










Or how about Pi Day online greeting cards- http://www.123greetings.com/events/pi_day/
To top off the day, we would celebrate by eating...pie.








image: flickr/djwtwo

So many fun resources online to celebrate Pi Day or my birthday.
(It is also Einstein's birthday, but that's for another post.)

Conversations about Ed Reform

I've been reading and listening to podcasts this week about the buzz on Education Reform brought about by NBC and Oprah. The opening of the movie Waiting for Superman has brought on a flurry of conversations and opinions. The President's speech on the State of Education only added to the pot. Charter schools. Bill Gates. Will this/he reform Education? Are teachers motivated by these conversations? Are teachers inspired by Oprah's interviews? Are teachers walking out of the movie pumped up for Monday morning? Probably not, because in a movie about education, we actually hear very little about reforming teaching and learning. You can throw money at it, change the name, bring in truck loads of technology, but if we're still teaching the same way we did 10, 20, 50 years ago.... nothing will change. Loved the inspiring article on changing the entire program with a new design model by Diana Rhoten at Startl. It's not the teacher's it the system.

Reflections on State of Education Interview

On Sept. 27, 2010, Matt Lauer interviewed President Obama on the state of Education in the Nation. There were many generalizations but the larger issues talked about were; removal of poor teachers, charter schools, math and science scores, longer school year, quality and preparation of teachers, parent accountability and more. See transcript- http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/39378576/ns/today-parenting/ Are we seeing true reform in any of these areas? I'm encouraged when I hear the President speak on education, but I want to see examples. Where are the charter schools making a difference? Why can't we model that? Why don't we remove poor performaing teachers? This is a complicated answer, I know. How about teacher's salaries? Good teachers don't stay because they are often tempted with a better paying job and can we really raise a family on a teacher's salary? I believe President Obama does have a good perspective on the state of education in our nation. Of course he doesn't have all the answers, but in the end he continues to talk about it and bring attention to the needs. Keep the conversations going.

Plants are Perfect!

Spring! What teacher doesn't love it? Days are getting warmer, flowers are blooming, we're getting closer to summer break....I especially love this time of year for teaching science. Get the kids outside and be environmentalists and biologists. I will admit, life cycles are my favorite units to teach. Here are some great interactive websites for teaching plant parts and plant life cycles.

1. BBC- Bitesize interactives- Parts of a Flower
2. University of Illinois- Trees are Terrific
3. WI.gov Environmental Education- Eek! Dichotomous Tree Key
4. For Interactive Whiteboards- Life Cycle of Plants
   

image- http://creativecommons.org/ http://www.flickr.com/photos/jenessalynn/990650008/

Digital Natives and Immigrants...Again!

In preparing for my M/AT, ED 5210 Educational Technology, I'm reading some articles and blog posts related to this discussion topic. After candidates read Marc Prensky's article that defined this issue, they investigate into other's opinions in the teaching/technology field. We look at Jamie McKenzie article "Digital Nativism" and find quite a contrast in thinking. I do this exercise with both undergraduate and graduate students. As you can imagine, the "older" group is typically highly agitated by Prensky's comments. I find myself agreeing with principal, Chris Lehmann, who responded in 2007, but is still applicable. How do we engage students to do hard work and think deeply? These are the questions good teachers should be asking.

Keeping Wordle Safe in the Classroom

After sharing Wordle.net with teachers in my preservice courses and at ICE 2010 conference, I've had several primary teachers ask how to make wordle safe and appropriate for their students. Here's a link to the blog of the creator of wordle.net, Jonathan Feinberg, where he answers that question.