Keynote at the 2013 CUE Conference

This morning is starting out with the keynote speech by Sir Ken Robinson, PhD, an inspirational speaker on innovation and education. I've seen some of his speeches on TED so it's very exciting to see him in person. Well, technically on a screen from the overflow room, but close enough. :)

I appreciated his focus today on the uniqueness of each of our lives and the unexpected ways our lives can change and progress. At four, he got polio and was sick for many years. He said he was the most unlikely candidate to be successful and to have the life he's had. It's so important to remember that the current circumstances don't dictate the future for us or our students.

I'll write more later as I'm off to a Moodle workshop, but I'll end with this quote that inspired me from today's speech. It's an old quote, with an unknown author, but it hit home on a topic I've been pondering lately: the urgency of now and the brevity of life.

"Don't regret growing old. It is a privilege denied to many."

2013 CUE Conference

I am so excited to be at the annual CUE Conference in Palm Springs, CA for the next 3 days! It's great to be surrounded by bright minds, tons of tech (I'm toting 4 devices at this moment) and brilliant ways of engaging students in learning through technology.

There is so much to learn in the world! Wish I had the time and capacity to know everything.

I'll be posting some updates as the day goes on about new and interesting things in the EdTech world!

Tablets in the Classroom

I have an exciting new project! Well, exciting and a little scary! I've been given some extra-duty work to help find a tablet for our incoming 9th graders next year. Our school district has plans to transition to a one-to-one program for the freshman. Each student will be given a tablet to use for the year in class and at home. Their textbooks will be accessible, as well as work assigned in class, books, educational apps, and their own content.

The trick is finding the right tablet! The more I research, the more I find that this is really an emerging field for education. Most of the companies seem to view the tablets as a side project. After spending hours trying to track down someone at Google to discuss the Nexus 7, I was told there are no salespeople for the device because, "The Nexus 7 sells itself." I believe that is true, but the reality is that since Google subsidizes the device in hopes of recouping the investment with apps from the Google Play app store, they don't have much motivation to sell the device in bulk. I was referred to the manufacturer, but that has been a disappointment as well. The price is higher in bulk than the local brick and mortar store!  

I met with a Lenovo representative on Thursday, and I have to admit, faced further disappointment. The product line was clunky, boring, and over-priced. Sometimes I look at technology and wonder why so many companies leave aesthetics out of their consideration. Don't they understand? Technology is no longer simply a means to an end, a necessary evil, or a simple tool. It is a part of life, the key to knowledge, the sparker of interest, the connection to friends, family, books, photos, music...it is loved, valued, and more a part of daily life than almost anything else we buy. Don't leave out beauty, appeal, and intuitiveness! Aesthetics are a huge consideration when we pick a house, a car, our clothes, even possibly our partner. Why wouldn't looks, ease of use, and appeal be a consideration when designing a device?

I tried to text type using the Lenovo Windows 8 tablet, and it was a disaster. Held it landscape and there was no way to type using just thumbs. When I held it portrait view and tried to thumb type, the tablet was so long and heavy, I couldn't hold it in my hands. It's almost like they designed it for a generation of people who don't want to transition to anything other than traditional forms of entering information. (Note to manufacturers: design your product for users who will actually use it.)

Of course there is the gold standard, the iPad, but price rules it out for us for now. I dream of their easily reachable and dedicated educational sales representatives, and the education discount (albeit small), the ease of transferring information, and hundreds of thousands of apps and 1.5 million books. I dream of iBooks Author, of Photo Stream, and of the 8 megapixel camera. However, that dream is on hold due to price...right next to my dream of seeing every country in the world. :)

So far the Nexus 7 seems like the best of the options, given the budget. Other than the fact that I keep searching for the home button like the one on my iPad, I seem to be figuring it out without too much trouble. It's not elegant, but it's colorful, functional, and fun. My heart was slightly swayed by the fact it comes preloaded with Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, although I am trying to focus on the specs, and not merely shiny distractions. It has 16GB of storage standard, Google Play seems to have a good selection of apps, and even my Apple brain is figuring out how to navigate the device without too much trouble. It feels good in my hand, it does what I need it to do, and I want to use it. There is a connection to the device and that's what I want for me, and for my students. Because, after all, even the best tool is useless if it's not used!

If you have any suggestions or recommendations I'd love to hear them! This device search is definitely a work in progress.

Part I: Edcanvas

I don't know if it's just because I'm attached to my iPhone, which makes tasks so effortless, or if I just inherently crave ease, but I am always looking for ways to make the classroom more efficient and productive. Last week I decided to try something new, and I'm implementing it this week. I'll let you know how it goes and if the students like it! The first part of it has to do with Edcanvas.

Edcanvas is my new favorite toy/website. It's pretty amazing. The way it works is that you set up a canvas (basically a template) and from there you can drag and drop pictures, video links, Word documents, PowerPoints, Prezi links, YouTube videos...pretty much anything you want! It's something I always wanted for my students, but didn't know existed. The reason it is so wonderful is that you can have all your resources in one place for students, and easily share them. If a student is going on independent study, or he or she wants more extension activities, or if another teacher wants to see your resources, everything is available from one link.

I use resources from many different sources during my classes. I typically have a PowerPoint open for my standards and learning targets, a CD with the reading, a PowerPoint or Prezi for the content questions, and possibly a short video clip to introduce the material, to name a few of the resources. This can be confusing and hard to switch between seamlessly, especially if something goes wrong and I have to restart the computer! Edcanvas makes it easy to have almost all my resources just one click away, and anywhere I go with internet access.

One of the best things about Edcanvas is its easy share options. It only takes a click or two to save the automatically generated QR code (more on that in my next post!) or to share via Edmodo, Twitter, Facebook, or email. I love the design of the site, the ease of use, and the possibilities to make my life (which is far too full of both electronic and paper files!) easier.

Here is the link to my canvas on Holt's American History textbook chapter 11 on the North prior to the Civil War:

http://edcvs.co/W0i6Bk

CNN Student News

Have you ever wondered how to get your students excited about current events, or how to spark an interest in reading and listening to the news? CNN Student News is a great program that provides a quick 10 minute overview of the news, including important international and domestic events from the day before, as well as some light news. The program engages students with a bit of humor and short quizzes, and brings in topics that relate to students' interests.

I've been using it often in my 8th grade class, and the students really enjoy it and have become more informed about current events. They now tell me about news that they read or watch at home, and are growing a larger knowledge base about the world. It was particularly useful for 8th grade American history during the election cycle as it explained all about the Electoral College and detailed the campaign, election, and inaugural process.

Since there's never enough time in any given day, I use it sparingly, however I do feel like it is a worthwhile use of time. I signed up for the daily email, and that has been very helpful. The night prior to the broadcast, they email with the content of the show, so I can see if it relates to a 7th or 8th grade topic.

In addition, they have some literacy materials that go with each lesson, so this can be a great way to add some discussion or writing to the lesson. The "Media Literacy Question of the Day" along with a short quiz can be found on the main page and can be printed out as well.

Let me know if you find it useful, or have any other tips for engaging students in current events!

How to Create Easy, Memorable, and Secure Passwords

Since so much of our personal information is now online, it is crucial to create secure, but memorable, passwords. It's also important to teach our students how to protect their online information with a strong password. The best passwords have 8 or more characters, at least one number, and both upper and lower case letters. This can be a challenge, but here is an easy way to create a perfect password!

First, choose a favorite song lyric to turn into the password. For example, if you took the song lyric, "Mary had a little lamb, its fleece was white as snow," you would take the first letter of each word, and you would have "Mhallifwwas." Of course, you need to add at least one number, so in this case I would turn the first "l" into a "1" and voila! a strong, secure, unguessable password that is easy for you to recall: "Mha1lifwwas." Remember, there is no need to write this down, so the password stays only in your head. For a password hint, you can just use the first word, or the artist's name, and that will remind you of the lyric and the password. 

Let me know if you have any other password tricks!

Doodle for Google: $50,000 Technology Grant

http://www.google.com/doodle4google/resources/history.html

You probably already know that Google's search box usually has thematic art for special days or to commemorate an event in history. I always enjoy seeing the creativity displayed with the Google logo. I also enjoy seeing some of the past Google art at the Doodle History page. Well, now there's something even better: the chance to win $50,000 in technology money for your school!

The contest is called Doodle for Google, and is open to students from kindergarten to 12th grade, and there are categories for the various ages. The first place winner receives a $50,000 technology grant for his or her school, a $30,000 college scholarship, a trip to the awards ceremony in New York, a Chromebook laptop, a tablet, and a tee-shirt with their design, in addition to their doodle being featured on the Google homepage on May 23, 2013.

There are also national and state winners, with a variety of prizes. The Google Judging and Prizes page has all the information about the number of winners.

Google even has a page for educators with information on how to help your students get started, an educator guide, a classroom poster, and an informational pamphlet. Here is the link to sign up for periodic emails for deadline information.

Travel Opportunities for Teachers!

Monument in Gettysburg National Park

As we know, teaching can be hard. You give your time, your focus, and your energy to your students all year long, and often there are not many immediate rewards. One major benefit of being an educator, however, is the opportunity to travel and gain professional development during the summers. Many of these programs are free or come at a nominal cost for educators.

I have gone on several trips through a TAH grant program I was a part of for four years, as well as through the Gilder Lehrman Institute for American History. 

Our GLI group at Gettysburg College

Train station where Lincoln came in to give his Gettysburg speech

The GLI summer seminar I attended was at Gettysburg College in Pennsylvania. It was wonderful to meet teachers from all over the country, get the chance to work together, and to learn from an expert in the field. I came back from the week-long seminar feeling excited about teaching about the material I learned, and invigorated as a teacher!

Location of Lincoln's Gettysburg Address in the cemetery

                                                                                                 

It is inspiring to meet other teachers from other states, and hear about their challenges and successes. It also helped me feel less isolated in my little school, in a little district, in Southern California. 

The deadline for the Gilder Lehrman seminars is February 15, 2013, but I advise applying early. Everything is done online, and it only requires your personal information and a 500 or less word essay stating your goals for the seminar. 

Bust of Lincoln at the Gettysburg Cemetery

The seminars are located all around the United States and a few are in England. I applied for The Age of Lincoln seminar at Oxford, UK for the summer of 2013. I will be thrilled if I get it!

I have never been on a National Endowment for the Humanities seminar, but I have heard great things about it. They have seminars and institutes all over the world! This application takes a little more time, as it requires cover sheets from the site, a resume, a 1-4 page essay, and 2 letters of recommendation, but the travel stipend is generous. The deadline for the application is March 4, 2013.

Let me know if you apply for any of the trips, or if you know of other programs for teachers!

Powerful Prezi = Student Engagement

Rights and Responsibilities of Citizenship

If you haven't used Prezi before, now is a great time to start as they just did a revision to make it more intuitive. I have to admit, the first couple times I tried it, the perfectionist side of me took control, and it took far too long to create one presentation. The interface was quirky and creative, but a little confusing. Now there are many new templates, and a new and easier interface. 

Prezi is wonderful for the classroom for a variety of reasons. First, students can create a free account for presentations, and everything is online. This means there are no concerns about flash drives or getting files from one place to another. Also, with free accounts, all Prezis are public, so you can search for them in the database. Teachers are able to get a free account with the ability to make Prezis private.

In addition, Prezis are a fantastic way to increase student engagement with a lesson. Both the movement of the screen and the ability to insert video clips and photos help students understand the lesson and stay focused. If you're not quite ready to make your own, try using one from the PreziU section, where other teachers post their Prezis on educational topics. 

Tips: 

* I suggest watching the tutorial lessons on the Prezi website before trying to create your own. They are short and really help understand the many ways you can use the program. 

* Check out the "Explore" tab at the topic of the page to search for a topic from millions of Prezis created by others. 

Here are a few of mine:

Rights and Responsibilities of Citizenship

Family History Project

The Early Americas

I love Khan Academy!

Recently I began teaching GED and CAHSEE prep classes at night for adult students who needed to earn their high school diploma or equivalent. Since I have a master's degree in education, and two single subject credentials in social science and English, I felt confident with anything English or history related. The math, however, was another story!

In high school I enjoyed math and the satisfaction of solving equations that initially seemed impossible. I went through trigonometry and pre-calculus with enjoyment. However, I realized once I was faced with questions from the students, I even had a hard time with equations involving fractions! I guess high school is further away than I'd like to admit.

To fix this, I decided to use Khan Academy, my favorite go-to site to learn just about anything. A quick review brought back from the recesses of my mind the order of operations, equations for rate, time, distance, and setting up word problems correctly. I wish I had this site when I struggled with concepts in high school and college! The wealth of information and the ease of access is amazing. It has also been a great resource for my students in the class, as they can learn almost any concept for free from home.

Khan Academy has started to add some history videos that can be useful in the classroom or for personal learning, but the scope is much smaller than for any topic science or math related. I plan to eventually set up and learn the coach's dashboard where you can manage a class's progress through the topics. Let me know if you have success using the site in your class!

Photo Credit

My favorite: BrainPOP

BrainPOP is my all time favorite website for introducing new topics to students. If you follow the CGI (Cognitively Guided Instruction) method, BrainPOP works wonderfully for the "Orientation" part of the plan. The videos are short, usually between 3-5 minutes, and give a great overview of a topic. You can sort movies by topic, standard, or key word.

I use them to introduce a topic, such as the Black Death in world history. First, I briefly explain the context of the movie, then we watch the movie. Finally, we do the quiz at the end. In order to get maximum student engagement, I have taught the students basic sign language for A, B, C, & D. All the students participate in the quiz and I call on one using my Rick Morris Classroom Cards app to call on one student to answer. My students really enjoy watching the movies, and like the friendly banter and humor of Tim and Moby.

There are also worksheets and graphic organizers that go with the movie, but in my effort to cut down on paper, I usually only use those for independent study packets or Saturday school.

Why a Blog?

Being an educator is not for the faint of heart! There have been many times that I've thought, "This is too hard, I can't do this. This is not what I signed up to do for the next 35 years." However, I always come back to the fact that teaching is a challenge, and that can be an exciting thing! 

Challenges are even better when you have people traveling alongside you, discovering solutions, and sharing knowledge. I'm creating this blog to discuss the tricks I've learned, to share the experiments that work, and the ones that fail, and to learn from other teachers as well. Let's begin!