Dreams of Education
Today had me thinking about the structure of school and learning, from that thinking evolved the following posts:
On Creating Robots: Standardized Curriculum
What are your thoughts on standardized curriculum and grade levels?
Category: Resource type
Webspiration Wednesday
I learned about Guy Doud in one of my education courses in college. We listened to a tape of a keynote speech he gave and read his book as part of the course. Guy Doud was the Teacher of the Year in 1986. He is an inspiration in education, even today. I had the privileged of presenting at a conference where Guy was the Keynote speaker. He is still an incredible voice in education.
Unfortunately I can’t offer you a full view of Guy’s speech (I have it on DVD only), but this clip should give you a look into this teacher of the year, and will, perhaps, encourage you to pick up his book: Guy Doud Molder of Dreams.
Guy Doud speaks about the focus of education: children. When we get right down to it, isn’t that what we are all in this for? He talks about the challenges that children face before they even step foot in a classroom. He speaks to fostering the heart of children before we try to foster learning. A child who is being abused, is hungry, is grieving the loss of a parent, has failed at life, really isn’t interested on your perfectly tuned lessons on superlative adjectives. Whether we like it or not, we are in the heart business. Teachers are called to be all things to the hurting kids who walk through our door. Sometimes we play nurse, other times counselor, and sometimes even social worker. Guy has an incredible rapport with his students and each of them leave his classroom knowing that they are important, that they matter, that they aren’t failures. Watching Guy renews my spirit and gives me the inspiration to love those students who are hard to love. To remember to get down on their level. Many of our students have already been convinced that they are failures. It is up to us to be their cheerleaders and let them know that they are uniquely gifted for a special purpose. Our job is not just to teach and grow learners, our job is to assure students that they matter.
What’s Your News?
What it is: What’s Your News is an online newsroom staffed by ants. Complete with anchormen and a studio, What’s Your News is a “news show” aimed at 4-7 year old students that introduces them to the wider world. The news covered is kids news, and it comes right from their homes (or classrooms). News stories could be anything from the arrival of a new pet, to a lost tooth, or being able to play a new tune on the piano. Students can submit their own Breaking News with the help of a teacher or a parent. There are fun games to play that teach students about how news gets reported. Learn about all of the characters by visiting them backstage. Watch fun clips from the What’s Your News Nick Jr. TV show. Print some fun activities including a make your own newspaper, build a What’s Your News studio, or download a special reporter pack that helps your students become roving reporters.
How to integrate What’s Your News into the classroom: This site is just so cute, you can’t help but fall in love with it (and the characters). What’s Your News is perfect for a communities/neighbors unit. Students will learn about what is happening from news reports created by other kids. I love the way this site involves kids in sharing news. It would be fun to share classroom news on What’s Your News each week. Download the special reporter pack for your students and have them put on their own weekly news show for your classroom. Introduce your students to the wider world through this kid-friendly news show.
Tips: Before you post student pictures online, please make sure that you have school and parent permission to do so. If you can’t post students pictures online, consider taking pictures and reporting on special class projects, a class pet, or a science experiment.
Please leave a comment and share how you are using What’s Your News in your classroom.
Magic Tree House
What it is: The Magic Tree House is a popular book series for kids that teaches them about history through fun adventures that take place with the help of a time traveling Tree House. Now students can take their love of the Magic Tree House Books online with the Magic Tree House Website. Here, students can enter the Tree House and collect stamps for their passport by answering questions about each of the books. Students can learn more about the Magic Tree House books, even reading excerpts from the books. There are fun online games and printable activities for students to play and screen savers and wallpapers to download.
How to integrate Magic Tree House into the classroom: This is a great site for those students who are reading the Magic Tree House books. The quizzes are a fun way for students to check comprehension and reflect on what they have read. I love the passport that gets stamped each time they finish a book. If you are reading the Magic Tree House books to your students, create a class passport for the year, your whole class can help answer the questions to earn the stamps. The site is geared toward encouraging reading and a love of reading. It just doesn’t get better than that!
Tips: Be sure to take a look at the Teacher Tree for some great reading suggestions and lesson plan ideas.
Please leave a comment and share how you are using Magic Tree House in your classroom.
Google Search Stories Video Creator
What it is: Do you remember Google’s advertisement at the 2010 Superbowl? It was called Google Search Stories and showed a story of Parsian Love through a series of Google searches. Brilliant. Now you and your students can create your very own Google Search story with Google Search Stories Video Creator. There are three steps to creating your own Google Story: 1. Write the story, 2. Add Music, 3. Preview and Upload. As you write your story, you can choose to search by web, blog, images, maps, news, product search, and books.
How to integrate Google Search Stories Video Creator into the classroom: Google Search story is an innovative way for students to display understanding or tell a story. This tool teaches students to get to the heart of the story and tell it in a new, creative way. Students can demonstrate their understanding of history, current events, a book that they have read, or a math sequence.
First, students come up with 7 events to search, paying close attention to story structure. They should consider mixing web, images, maps, and blogs. This will make the story more interesting. Next, students choose music to fit the theme of their story. It can be comedic, dramatic, romantic, country, horror, family, or sci-fi. Finally, students can preview their story and share it with the world.
Think about sharing the life of a historical figure, or the story of Romeo and Juliet, or the scientific method in an experiment, or the story of their digital footprint, or a fictional story that the student created. Instead of writing out a traditional outline for a story, why not turn it into a Google Story? The possibilities of this tool are nearly endless! If you are introducing new information or learning to your class, consider doing it through a Google Story. Watch the story as a class and find out what your students already know, what they need to learn, and what they want to know. You could also create a Google Story as a class after new learning. As you teach, ask students to jot down thoughts about what they could add to their search story to sum up the learning. This will keep students engaged and thinking critically about the new material. After the video has been completed, students can access it from home as an outline of what they learned in class.
Tips: Check out the Tips offered for starting a story, these tips will give you, and your students, a great jumping off point.
Please leave a comment and share how you are using Google Search Stories in your classroom.
Ollie’s World
What it is: Earth Day is April 22nd, Ollie’s World is a fantastic place to begin the celebration early. Here students will learn about the 4 R’s: reduce, reuse, recycle, rethink as they apply to the 5 action issues of waste, water, energy, air, and biodiversity. The site is packed full of games, puzzles, information and projects. Students can create web pages using a free (downloadable) version of WebEasy. The information section has kid-friendly reading about the 4 R’s and 5 action issues. In Ollie’s clubhouse, students can play games and work on puzzles. Students can also watch the Mis-adventures of Ollie, 3 animated videos about Ollie and his friends, dealing with issues of sustainability (currently there is only 1 video available). In the movie section, students can watch short flash movies about important environmental issues. This site is loaded with information, games, and video.
How to integrate Ollie’s World into the classroom: Ollie’s World is a nice introduction for students learning about their ecological footprint. Starting out in info, students can read about the 4 R’s and how they apply to the 5 action issues. Students can watch videos and play games that reinforce the lessons they are learning. You can use the videos as discussion starters in your classroom. Download WebEasy to your classroom computers where students can build a webpage about their new learning.
Tips: Check out the educators section of Ollie’s World for professional development opportunities, lesson ideas, and project instructions.
Please leave a comment and share how you are using Ollie’s World in your classroom.
We Are the People We’ve Been Waiting For
What it is: We Are the People We’ve Been Waiting For is an inspiring documentary film that explores education in the UK and challenges us to dream of something more. Big names (Sir Richard Branson, Germaine Greer, Henry Winkler, Bill Bryson, and Sir Ken Robinson) share their experiences with education and offer new ideas for how education can be done. If you are in the UK, take advantage of the free DVD offer and get the full documentary to share with your students. Those of us not in the UK can enjoy clips of the film on the We Are the People We’ve Been Waiting For website. There are several clips from the documentary and each of them will leave you inspired and thinking about how education can be transformed. The site also features some excellent games for students to play. The first game is called “The Test You Can’t Fail”. This little quiz asks students a variety of questions and gives them creative career paths to consider based on their interests. Many of these your students may not have considered and will give them insight into the places they shine. The second game is called “Future Me”, it is a Bebo App that lets students predict their friends future.
How to integrate We Are the People We’ve Been Waiting For into the classroom: If you can get the documentary for your classroom, do so. Be inspired by the documentary as a teacher, but also share it with your students. They need some inspiration for their education and future. This film is sure to offer plenty. If you aren’t in the UK, share the webisite clips with your students. Challenge them to think differently about education. At first, they may struggle with this task (the way my students did), they expect that there is one right answer. This is a sad statement about what education has been up to this point, we have primed them to believe that there is only one right answer with a myraid of tests and worksheets that have told them it is so. Have your students take “The Test You Can’t Fail” quiz, it leads them through a variety of questions and activities. Students tell what their favorite subject is, swat or save a fly, order grocery items in order of price, connect a video game to the Internet and TV, choose what to do when they get lost, design a t-shirt, memorize a phone number, and arrange a computer desktop. When students are finished they are given a list of things they are good at, some surprises (things students may not know about themselves), and thoughts about possible career paths. It seems to work well, my results were education, computers and IT. 🙂 So I guess I am on the right track! Talk with students about their results. Do they agree/disagree? Were their items on their list that they hadn’t considered? It is good to dream with students, it gives them aspirations and goals for the future and lets them know that they aren’t the only ones dreaming.
Tips: In the “About the Film” Section, students can watch videos and read bios of the students that star in the documentary.
Please leave a comment and share how you are using the We Are The People We’ve Been Waiting For in your classroom.
The Stacks
What it is: Scholastic has so many fantastic resources for the classroom. There is a new addition to the Scholastic website called The Stacks. The Stacks is currently in BETA but is already packed full of goodies that will have your students excited about reading. The Stacks is a place for students and their friends to connect around reading. The site is geared toward 9 to 15 year old students. Students can check out and discuss the various books that they are reading. This is a great place for students to discover new books that they may enjoy, or to connect over books that they have already read. Most of the books featured in The Stacks have an accompanying website where students can read what other students thought about the book, play related games, and take quizzes. These mini sites are very well done and so engaging. When I was in elementary and middle school, I often wished that my favorite books wouldn’t end. I remember getting toward the last pages of the book and feeling disappointment over having to say goodbye to the characters I had come to love. I would have been ecstatic over the mini websites that kept my favorite characters alive, making the book last and last. Students can also learn more about the authors of their favorite books in The Stacks. Students can play games that are related to the books they are reading. They can choose from arcade games, quizzes and polls, puzzle games, make your own games (including choose your own adventure virtual stories), writing games, ecards, and downloads that can be printed for offline play. Students can create their own profile on The Stacks, allowing them to customize their profile and background.
How to integrate The Stacks into the classroom: The Stacks will have your good readers excited to read more, and your reluctant readers enthusiastic about reading. Allow your students to use The Stacks to find new reading material, and to interact with other students about the books they are reading. Many of the activities would make nice extensions to your curriculum. The choose your own adventure game would be fun to play as a whole class on the interactive whiteboard. If you have clickers (student response systems) have your students vote on the choices throughout the story. The writing games will lead your students through a variety of writing exercises teaching them how to build a story, write a report, write journal entries, and create their own comics. The Stacks has some great offline activities for your classroom. Print out crosswords, connect the dots, coloring pages, word searches, calendars, trading cards, and more. All of the printables tie in directly to the books students are reading. This is a FUN social media site centered around reading and books. The books are familiar and popular reads for students and should create a reading buzz in your classroom.
Tips: The Stacks does not require a login unless students want to create a profile. When students register for The Stacks, they are not asked for any personal information or email, making it appropriate for even elementary students.
Please leave a comment and share how you are using The Stacks in your classroom.
Poetry Idea Machine
What it is: April is national poetry month, the Poetry Idea Machine is sure to help you infuse your classroom with some inspired poetry writing. Students learn about different kinds of poetry by selecting from Haiku, Limerick, Cinquain, or Free Verse. The Poetry Idea Machine takes students through the steps of making each type of poetry. The Poetry Idea Machine makes an excellent introduction to types of poetry and will have your students writing their own in no time.
How to integrate Poetry Idea Machine into the classroom: The Poetry Idea Machine does a fantastic job of introducing students to different kinds of poetry. After students learn about the poetry, they have a chance to create their own poem with the Poetry Idea Machine interactive. In my classroom, I use the Poetry Idea Machine with the whole class using the interactive whiteboard or projector. I invite students up to create their own poems as we talk through the process. Choose one type of poetry each week so that students have an opportunity to practice writing the poems. During the week, give your students time to write their poems, allowing them access to the Poetry Idea Machine on classroom computers as an idea center. Let students work in small groups to create unique poems using the Poetry Idea Machine.
Tips: Read poems by Jack Prelutsky, Karla Kuskin, and Jean Marzollo for inspiration. Ask students to determine which type of poem each is based on what they have learned with the Idea Machine.
Please leave a comment and share how you are using the Poetry Idea Machine in your classroom.
The World of Peter Rabbit
What it is: Beatrix Potter has captured the imaginations of countless children with her classic Peter Rabbit tales. The World of Peter Rabbit is as enchanting as the stories, bringing Beatrix Potter’s incredible artistry to life. The whole site is fashioned into a virtual popup book where students can meet the characters, watch videos of the stories, play games, and find fun things to make and do offline. Students can play a game of find Peter (before Mr. McGregor does!), take part in an Easter egg hunt, collect snowflakes to earn special downloads, help Peter find his way through a maze, and play a vegetable picking game. Students can read character descriptions of each of Beatrix Potter’s characters and even watch video clips of Peter Rabbit. Students can also create their very own interactive Peter Rabbit puppet show. They can star in the puppet show by uploading a picture of themselves or a favorite pet.
How to integrate The World of Peter Rabbit into the classroom: I can’t remember the last time I was so utterly captivated by a website. The site is absolutely beautiful and true to Beatrix Potter’s classic characters. If Beatrix was still alive, I imagine this is the site she, herself, would have built. Introduce your students to the classic Peter Rabbit tales with this site. My students fell in love with the characters and were eager to hunt down the books in our library. Invite your students to star in their own puppet show, each show will be unique as students make decisions about what will happen to their characters. Allow students to view each other’s puppet shows. After reading through character descriptions, students can write their own Peter Rabbit tale, staying true to the character traits they read about on the site.
Tips: Students can learn more about Beatrix Potter by visiting “The World of Beatrix Potter“, they can even explore her home in the Lake District with an interactive map. Beatrix Potter would make an excellent subject for an author’s study.
Please leave a comment and share how you are using The World of Peter Rabbit in your classroom.