March Project PLN: The 21st Century Library

Hot off the press, the March issue of Project PLN is here! This month we focused on reading, we got fantastic posts about reading, 21st century libraries and media specialists.  This is a fantastic issue packed with great ideas and a clear passion for literacy.  We hope you enjoy the March issue and will contribute to the April issue!

For the April issue: Mistakes. We have all made them. Sometimes it is easy to forget about them and move on, but we feel that mistakes are an important part of what makes an educator. We tell students to learn from their mistakes because it will help them grow as a person. Educators are not different. We love to share are greatest success with the world, but sometimes our slips can provide support for all of the teachers out there who think they are the only one to make a mistake.  Share your learning with all of us by sending your posts (remember these can be re-posts you have already written.  Send us what you’ve got to projectpln10@gmail.com


projectpln10 – The March Issue – The 21st Century Library

Create Your OpenZine

 

Once again, thank you to all who contribute and help Nick (@thenerdyteacher) and I pull this off each month.  I feel so lucky to be working with Nick to pull these outstanding posts together into one magazine that I get to share with all of you!  It is fun to meet more of our PLN up-close and personal.

HIP2B²: Science/Math edutainment magazine and videos

What it is: HIP2B² is an edutainment site that aims to show students that subjects that are generally labeled as “difficult” or “hard” can be fun and are important to our future success. HIP2B² is a website, digital magazine, and TV show that work to equip learners with vital life skills including analytical thinking, problem solving, and a curious mindset.  The goal is to encourage curiosity in science and math in everyday life.  The magazine is a high-quality quarterly publication that is free to view online, the magazine uses the Issuu platform for the digital viewing.  You can see an example of the digital HIP2B² embedded above. The TV show can be viewed online, powered by YouTube.

How to integrate HIP2B² into the classroom: The HIP2B² videos and digital magazine are a fantastic way to invigorate a sense of curiosity and discovery in your students.  The digital magazines are really well done, students will eagerly read through them.  Each of the digital magazines is focused on a science or math topic such as mysteries, senses, the environment, technology, origins, animals, safety, food, intelligence, and much more.  Students can view the digital magazines all the way back to June 2007.  Use the digital magazines as inspiration for science and math inquiry.  Students can read through the digital magazines on a classroom computer set up as a reading center, as a class using an interactive whiteboard or projector connected computer, or individually in a lab setting.   Do your students get silent reading time in class? Allow them to use the computers to read through the HIP2B² digital magazine.

In the video section, students can learn about “tricks” of science like invisibility cloaks and floating paperclips or more serious science like nanotechnology and extreme weather.  These videos can be used to introduce a topic or science/math concept or to illustrate a concept.

Are your students working on science and math that encourages analytical thinking, problem solving, and curiosity? Why not have them create their own HIP2B² inspired digital magazine.  Students can put together their own magazine using any word processing or publishing program and upload the finished product to Issuu to share with the world.

Tips: For those of you who don’t have access to YouTube in your building, you can still use these awesome videos in your classrooms with a little bit of pre-planning.  Download and save YouTube videos so that you can show them at school without accessing the YouTube site. UseKeepVidYouTube DownloaderHDKick YouTubeSaveVid, or Zamzar.  Some of these tools will even let you download at school if you know the YouTube url.  The downloaded video should have no trouble playing at school!

Please leave a comment and share how you are using HIP2B² in your classroom!

LEGO Education Magazine-Free!

What it is: LEGO Education has some truly fantastic resources for classrooms.  LEGO Club In-School Edition Magazines are free to schools and designed for first, second, third, and fourth grade students. The 2011 LEGO Club In-School Magazines have two themes: Ancient Egypt and Space Exploration.  The magazines can be ordered in two versions.  For first grade students, LEGO Club Junior includes puzzles, easy-to-read comics, and fun building challenges.  For students in second, third, and fourth grade, LEGO Club focuses on basic reading, critical thinking games, and building ideas.  Each magazine comes with a custom teacher’s guide that include fun hands-on activities, classroom tidbits, and articles about how to create a LEGO Smart classroom for your students.

How to integrate LEGO Education Magazine into your curriculum: These fun magazines will have your students learning about and exploring Ancient Egypt and Space Exploration in new hands-on ways.  Your students will love the building challenges, comics and reading material, and activities that pique their curiosity.  Use the LEGO Club Magazine as an introduction to a unit on Space or Ancient Egypt, or offer the activities in the magazine as extension activities.

Tips: Magazines are packaged in groups of 50, 100, and 200. Consider ordering the magazine for the entire grade or school.

Please leave a comment and share how you are using LEGO Education Magazine in  your classroom!

Project PLN

Finally the wait is over!  Today was the revealing of #ProjectPLN.  In case you missed the build up, @ProjectPLN has been slowly releasing videos for the past few weeks leading up to…well no one really knew what until today at the 7:00 #edchat.  The wait is over, Project PLN is out of the bag and I don’t have to keep the secret any more!

A few months ago Nick (@thenerdyteacher) ran an idea by me to start a PLN magazine.  I immediately said yes, I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to be a part of something that highlights the awesome educators in our PLN.  My hope is that this magazine will introduce you to members of your PLN you might not be familiar with, share and celebrate the amazing work and voices of the PLN, and encourage teachers who don’t yet have a PLN to build one.

Each month we will release a magazine (both available online and off) that centers around an educational topic.  Nick and I will choose “articles” that are submitted, a re-post of a blog post, videos, photos, and Tweets related to the topic.  We are using an online tool, Openzine, to put together the magazine each month.  We aren’t sure how Openzine will be able to take all of the traffic on their servers so we also have the magazine on Slideshare where it can be downloaded and printed out to share with your staff.

Send colleagues the link, print it out and put it in everyone’s mailbox, leave a copy in the teacher’s lounge, or RT on Twitter.  We hope that you will help us spread the word so that we can grow our PLN!

Below is this month’s ProjectPLN magazine, check out the Openzine version for videos and extras!

iLearn ezine debut

Well, I had planned to have this issue of iLearn completed months ago….better late than never!  This issue has articles about 21st century literacy, iPods in education, technology lesson plans, 100+ of the best FREE educational apps for the iPod, and tips for managing a computer lab.

iLearn Ezine

I have been working on a special project the last few months.  Introducing iLearn ezine.  This is an online education magazine for Mac users.  The magazine is 26 pages, full color and includes articles about Mac OS Leopard in education, time saving tips, a lesson plan, iPods in education, and more.  The ezine cost $1.00 and includes 3 templates to accompany the lesson plan.  You can purchase the ezine at my new online store .  But wait, there is more!  If you are one of the first 10 to send me a request email, I will send you the iLearn ezine for free!  Just send the request to ktenkely@chcc.org.  Happy reading 🙂

Time for Kids

 

What it is: Time for Kids is an outstanding current events magazine for kids but did you know they also have a great website? On www.timeforkids.com students can read current events, play games, and get homework help. Games are all current events based and fun to play. Homework helper provides students with rapid research help, writing help, and facts from around the world. The teacher section of the site is amazing. You can find worksheets, mini lessons, and graphic organizers. They are separated by grade and subject making the site very easy to navigate.

How to integrate Time for Kids into your curriculum: Use Time for Kids to teach students current events in a fun, different way. The games on the Time for Kids site will motivate students to dig deeper into current events. Use the worksheets, awesome mini lessons, and graphic organizers in conjunction with the site. If you already subscribe to the Time for Kids magazine, this is the perfect extension for students.

Tips: Do not miss the teacher portion of this website! These resources are unbelievable and best of all…free!

Please leave a comment and share how you are using Time for Kids in your classroom.