twitter – Page 3 – iLearn Technology

#NTchat & the history of iLearn Technology

October 7, 2010Kelly Tenkely7 Comments4248 views

Yesterday I was the guest moderator for #NTchat on Twitter. For those of you who are unfamiliar, #NTchat is a chat held on Twitter. The chat happens weekly on Wednesdays and is geared toward New Teachers. To participate in the chat, anyone who wants to join in uses the hash tag #NTchat at the end of their tweet. @teachingwthsoul asked me to talk about how new teachers could utilize iLearn Technology. You can see the archive of the chat here. As I started tweeting, I realized that many of my readers probably don’t know the history of iLearn Technology. For those of you who are interested, this is how it all started…

Out of college, I taught in a second grade classroom. As a new teacher I had very few resources (no file cabinets full of lesson plans and activity ideas), very few learning games, few books in my classroom library, and as a newly wed out of college, very few funds with which to purchase said items. I was also frustrated, it wasn’t fair for students in my classroom to have fewer resources available to them just because I was a new teacher. In college, I stumbled upon abc Teach and Teach-nology. That first year of teaching, I frequented both sites regularly for printables, games, and lesson ideas. A few months into the year, I read my students Jan Brett’s The Mitten. They were enamored with the book and I wanted to take advantage of it. I didn’t have any resources to accompany the book so I wandered online to see what I could scrounge up. I found Jan Brett’s website and couldn’t believe what I found. She had SO many printables for the classroom, from bulletin boards to flash cards, and calendars. She also had a teacher’s kit and sent my students monthly postcards about new projects she was working on.

I quickly realized that the Internet had a lot of resources that could help me through my first year. One night I was on the hunt for some additional phonics resources that I could print out and use with my students. A Google search introduced me to Starfall. I was gobsmacked. I couldn’t believe the printables, activities, games, and online stories available. It was truly like finding a treasure trove! Back in the day, Starfall would send their work journals and cut-up books for FREE along with Starfall pencils and stickers. I ordered enough journals and books so that every student could have their own. My students really enjoyed the print materials from Starfall, I knew they would love the online books and activities as well. I was lucky enough to have two computers in my classroom. They were old and didn’t do much outside of run a word processor, but they were connected to the Internet. I couldn’t wait to show my students Starfall. I wish that I could have bottled up their excitement over Starfall. They were thrilled to be using the computers and loved the fun stories and activities on Starfall. My students that were struggling with phonics seemed to suddenly get it, Starfall made it click.

This was the beginning of my addiction to the Internet. After seeing what Starfall did for my students, I was eager to find more sites that could make learning fun and engaging. I found Gamegoo and Book Adventure and soon had my students cycling through those two computer centers throughout the day. My students were eager for literacy every day and couldn’t wait for their rotation through the computer center. As the year progressed, I added a few new learning sites each month as a center in my classroom. I saw the impact that technology made on student learning. I saw how excited my students were about learning.

The following year, I took a position as a computer teacher at a local private school. They were desperate for a computer teacher, and I was eager to learn more. I spent my summer creating a scope and sequence (there was no computer curriculum), writing lesson plans, and searching for resources. I had a handful of ideas based on what I had done with my students the previous year but knew it wouldn’t carry me through the whole school year. As I was searching for online resources, I discovered that there were excellent lists of websites that could be used with kids. The problem was that they were literally just lists of links to sites. There was no description, no organization, it was cumbersome and took a long time to find the really good sites. I started collecting sites in iKeep Bookmarks, writing detailed descriptions and ideas I had for using the resource with students. It was my husband who suggested that I start a blog of all the sites and ideas for their use. If I couldn’t find one comprehensive collection that was well-organized and had clear descriptions, chances were that others had run into the same. I didn’t really think anyone outside of myself and maybe a colleague would ever use the site. It really was a place where I could keep track of everything for myself. Several thousand resources later and here we are 🙂

If you are looking for a resource that will fit your specific needs, you can search iLearn Technology in a few ways. The first is by using the search tool bar in the header. Enter any subject or keyword related to your needs. I try to tag each post with keywords that I would search if I were looking for the resource. The second is to use the multi category search in my sidebar on the right. You can choose a category from each drop down or choose from only a few categories. For example you might be looking for a science resource for your 2nd grade students. You could choose “science” from the subject drop down and “Primary Elementary” from the Grade Level drop down. Every resource on iLearn Technology that matches that search criteria will be displayed.

If you aren’t currently involved in Twitter education chats, I recommend you choose one to participate in. They are always a source of great conversation, thinking, and camaraderie. Check out @Cybraryman1′s Twitter Chat list here. Find one of interest and join in the conversation!

iLearn Technology Edublogger Alliance #2

June 14, 2010June 14, 2010Kelly Tenkely8 Comments3939 views

Setting a deadline at the end of the school year was a BAD idea. It seemed feasible when I set the deadline but soon I was packing away 7 years of classroom… stuff, and sorting through 7 years of digital mess. Alas, the release of the second edublogger alliance is a little later than I had hoped. Better late than never, right? (If you joined the alliance and didn’t receive an email from me today, I have an email address from you that is invalid. Send me an email through my contact form with your correct email address so that I can re-send that email.)

As I compiled the second alliance and sorted through blogs, I was again reminded of the greatness I am surrounded by in the educational blogger community. Every time I read your blogs, I am overwhelmed with a sense of hope that together we can solve the problems of the educational system. With amazing educators like you there is nothing stopping us!

If you aren’t currently reading and following educational blogs, I highly recommend it. Nothing will boost your learning, enthusiasm, and professional development like subscribing to some good educational blogs. To subscribe, simply click on the link below and then choose the “subscribe” button. The blogs will be added to your Google Reader account.

Edublogger Alliance #2

The Original Edublogger Alliance

If you are new to Google Reader, here are some great keyboard shortcuts that will have you navigating quickly through those blogs in no time:

n- view the next post

p- view the previous post

v- view the original post (this is helpful when you want to comment on the post)

s- stars an item for your favorites

shift d- share the item with a note

r- refresh

a- add a subscription

If you come across a blog that is in another language, you can easily have Google Reader translate the subscription so that each time you get a new feed, it is automatically translated. To translate a blog, click on “Feed Settings” and choose “Translate into my language”. Easy!

Finally, the educators who participate in the educators blogging alliance are also great Tweeters. You can follow the educators who participate in the alliance by following these Twitter Lists

edublogger alliance 2

edublogger alliance

Thank you for all who are participating and to those who join us as readers. If you are wondering how you can encourage an educational blogger, there is no higher praise than Tweeting about our posts or leaving us a comment!

TED Talk Tuesday: Bring on the Learning Revolution

June 8, 2010Kelly Tenkely13 Comments3345 views

Since I won’t be with the CHC staff hosting Webspiration Wednesday lunches, I thought I would institute TED Talk Tuesday and share an inspiring TED Talk each Tuesday with all of you. TED has a great tag line “ideas worth spreading”. This non-profit brings together people from Technology, Entertainment, and Design. (The scope of the talks is actually much, much wider.) TED.com is a free collection of the very best talks with new talks are being added all the time. TED believes “passionately in the power of ideas to change attitudes, lives and ultimately, the world.”

Todays TED Talk Tuesday is dedicated to Sir Ken Robinson. You may remember this Webspiration Wednesday sharing of Sir Ken’s Schools Kill Creativity. This is Sir Ken Robinson’s newest TED Talk, Bring on the Learning Revolution.

Sir Ken Robinson has such a way with words, the message he shares is profound. I agree with the summation that reform is of no use, the evolution of a broken model isn’t going to get us where we need to go. We need a revolution where education is transformed into something else entirely. I have watched this video several times since its release, about a month ago, and each time I am struck by something new. This time what stood out most for me was the talk about innovation. Innovation is hard because it means doing something that is challenging, it isn’t the easy or obvious solution. It challenges what we take for granted, things that seem obvious. Just before beginning this post, I read an excellent article by Blogging Alliance member Chris at EdTechSwami. He writes: What Educators Can Learn From Steve Jobs. I think Chris makes some excellent points in his post, it all comes back to innovation. Apple doesn’t usually do the expected, in fact sometimes they purposefully step away from what is expected and what seems logical. The reason is that they are finding new solutions and even creating new problems. They are looking to the future and anticipating what is coming next. Sir Ken helps us to see that innovation is difficult because there are so many things in this life that we take for granted. We don’t even think about them any more because they are the way that we expect them to be. It is only when someone comes along and points out a new way of doing something that we realize we have been taking it for granted. In schools we take for granted that there is a linearity to education. We start in kindergarten and move through until we reach the 12th grade, at which point we are encouraged to attend college. What else do we take for granted in education? Classrooms, grades, tests, desks, handwriting, curriculum, blackboards (IWB’s), policy makers, NCLB…

Today I was able to join in on the midday Twitter #edchat discussion. The topic was reform in education and how teachers could be a louder voice. The discussion was a great one with a number of good ideas. I wonder if we are approaching the topic in an innovative enough way? We tend to frame our answers with what we think might be possible. We frame our answers so as to play nice in the policy makers game. What if we didn’t do things their way? What if we came up with a new way? What if we taught kids how to be advocates for their education and learning and gave them a voice? I threw this out there during the #edchat and @bliarteach reminded me of the big push there was for learning about recycling in school. Kids became passionate about recycling and saving the earth, they took it home with them. Soon families were recycling and changing their garbage habits. This worked. I was one of those kids who made my mom wash every piece of aluminum foil so that I could bring it to school and add it to our big ball of recycled foil. I was the kid who was adamant about separating plastic, glass, and paper. I became the adult who still does this. Involving kids in advocating for their own education and learning has the added benefit of helping them to realize the importance of their education. Suddenly they aren’t learning because we tell them to, they are learning because they believe in learning. They have a pride and ownership in their own education. The great thing about involving kids in the discussion is that they don’t take so much for granted. They ask questions and challenge the way that we think.

So, lets figure out all the things we take for granted in education. When we have a clear picture of those things, lets work together to find new solutions. Lets revolutionize education together, lets make the revolution viral. If you can think of something that we take for granted, leave it in the comments below.

(Raise of hands, how many of you are wearing a wrist watch?) 🙂 Yeah, me too.

Webspiration Wednesday: Virtual PLN Hugs

April 29, 2010Kelly Tenkely16 Comments4397 views

I’ll be honest, yesterday was not a very inspirational Wednesday. I didn’t get to hold my regular teacher gathering for inspiration because I was in a meeting. It seemed like everywhere I turned, discouragement was waiting to stare me in the face. So, what do I do when I am feeling discouraged? I look to my PLN, of course. You all are a constant source of inspiration and encouragement for me. From my Twitter friends to my blogging alliance bloggers, they are a constant source of sunshine. So, for today’s (late) Webspiration Wednesday, I am sharing the blogs that make me smile, and offering you another opportunity to jump into Twitter and join our PLN (personal learning network).

This Week in Ed Tech

The Book Chook

My Integrating Technology Journey

Classroom Chronicles

Bits and Pieces Place

Bits ‘n Bytes

Blogging About the Web 2.0 Classroom

Education as a Portal

EDucation ToGoBox

Educational Technology and Life

EduNut

Integrating Technology in the Primary Classroom

It’s Elementary!

Learning 2.0

Living and Learning Together

Realizing Your Personal Legend

Techno Constructivist

Technology Figuring Out How the Pieces Fit

Tech for Your Content

The Education Technology Blog

The Interactive Classroom

The Learning Blog

The Missouri FCCLA Blog

The Nerdy Teacher

The Pursuit of Technology Integration Happiness

The Techie Classroom

World Languages Technology Consultant

This Swiftly Tilting Planet

Vanessa Cassie: Sharp’s Audio/Visual

What Ed Said

ZarcoEnglish- Tool of the Day

Reading Teachers Online Arsenal

Suzanne’s Blog

I get a daily dose of inspiration from my Blogging Alliance and Twitter friends, but in the past day they have spoiled me with extra acts of friendship. After I posted a discouraging tweet, I immediately got several encouraging messages from my PLN friends. This morning I woke up to more support and encouragement. @woodenmask sent me this: http://soytuaire.labuat.com/ and a gift song on iTunes The Roses of Success (from Chitty Chitty Bang Bang). @lamoureuxr sent me this: Don’t Stop Believing Kid’s Choir. @TheNerdyTeacher included me in his tribute to Snick post that made me laugh out loud. To my PLN, thank you for the smiles and virtual hugs today. They were felt loud and clear.

If you haven’t joined Twitter and started building your PLN yet, let me encourage you to start by following these incredible educators. Jump in, you won’t regret it!

15 Tools to Help You Go Paperless

October 21, 2009Kelly Tenkely11 Comments4712 views

Cross Posted at The Apple

Kelly Tenkely | TheApple.com

Schools are notorious for enormous copy budgets. Between parent/home communications, student work, and staff communication, schools are drowning in a sea of paper. Transforming the school into a paperless environment is eco-friendly, budget friendly, and can increase productivity. With all of the free online options, going green is easier than ever.

Paperless students and teachers:

1. Spelling City www.spellingcity.com

Spelling city is a free online environment where students can practice and study spelling words. Instead of handing out a paper spelling list at the beginning of each week, give your students a link to Spelling City where they can find the weeks spelling words. Sign up as a Spelling City teacher (free) and enter spelling lists. Students can get onto Spelling City and find spelling lists by searching the teacher name. Spelling city will teach your students the spelling words by saying the word and then using it in a sentence. Students can practice their spelling words by playing games with the words, there are several games to choose from. Spelling city will even give practice spelling tests to students. For a small fee, teachers can set up record books and give the final spelling test online. Put an end to copies of spelling lists and send your kids online. You will save trees and students will get great practice with their words.

2. Tut Pup www.tutpup.com

Every month teachers all over the world print out hundreds of fact practice worksheets. Tut Pup is an outstanding free math-fact practice website. It is a competition between students from around the world. As students practice their math facts, they can see how they measure up with other students, motivating them to work at their math-facts and speed up. Students are matched up with other students from around the world where they play fact games and compete in real time to see who best knows their stuff. There is nothing more motivating than a little healthy competition! The site doesn’t collect any personal information from students, they are provided generic login information. Tut Pup helps students build math fact skills in the areas of addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, algebra, or a mixture of those skills. Tut Pup is highly motivating, takes into account different learning levels, and builds a variety of math-fact skills. Each student can work on math facts at their ability level. Lower level students are engaged and feel successful, and higher level students are challenged. This site will have your students asking, “can I play this game at home too?” When have you ever had a student ask to practice math facts at home? Students truly love the competition of this site and get the added benefit of increasing their math-fact recall skills without running up the copy quotient.

3. Popling www.popling.net

Popling’s motto is “Learning without studying”. This website allows you to create virtual flash cards that pop up on a computer screen every few minutes (teachers determine how often) while students work on the computer. Classroom computers can be set up with Poplings about any subject. As students are working on the computers they can also be practicing math facts, vocabulary, geography, etc. These flash cards are a great way for students to study without creating sets and sets of 3×5 notecards.

4. Knowtes www.knowtes.com

Knowtes is a flash card based learning community that allows teachers and students to build flash card decks online. The flash cards can then be studied online. When cards are added to a Knowtes deck, it becomes due at optimized intervals. The Knowtes ‘Adaptive Learning Engine’ adjusts how frequently cards should be studied based on how well students know them. Knowtes decks can be easily shared between teachers, students, and peer groups. Each student gets their own study room where they can organize their decks and study. The study rooms include helpful tips for studying. Cards can be created with text, images, audio, and video. This is a great way for students to study sans 3×5 note card. These are truly smart flash cards, if a student consistently gets an answer wrong, it requires them study it more than those that they consistently get right. What paper note card can do that?

5. Soshiku www.soshiku.com

Soshiku is a web tool for students that helps them manage their assignments. Soshiku keeps track of when assignments are due and can even notify students by email or SMS (text message). With each assignment students can save notes, manage tasks, attach files, and share messages with assignment partners. Soshiku is organization for this generation, paper planners are so 1996.

6. mySchoolog www.myschoolog.com

mSchoolog is a free web-based application that helps students organize their school life easily. Students can organize and share notes, to-to lists, appointments, store documents and files, and add lessons. Students learn valuable responsibility and organizational skills without toting around extra papers and purchased planners. Students won’t have the “I lost my planner” excuse any more!

7. Live Binders www.livebinders.com

Live Binders is an online 3-ring binder. It allows students and teachers to combine web content with PDF and word documents in an online binder. The binder can be organized into tabs and subtabs and be embedded on blogs and other websites, or downloaded to a computer desktop. Live Binders can be used as an online digital portfolio for students. Because the Live Binder is online, students can access their binder from school, library, home, or any Internet connected computer. Teachers can use Live Binders to create classroom ‘textbooks’ that combine relevant online content, teacher created worksheets, and notes. Assignments can be added to classroom Live Binders that contain all of the instructions, related materials, and links to related content. Students can easily access the binders from home, no more lost papers or assignments turned in looking like they went through World War III. Students can create a Live Binder to keep themselves organized as they complete a research project. When the project is finished, students can turn in the final project as a Live Binder that includes all web research, notes, and the final written work. School handbooks for staff and parents can be saved as a Live Binder. Rather than making paper copies of school handbooks, they can be distributed by a single link and easily updated as needed.

8. Zoho www.zoho.com and Google Docs www.google.com/docs

These online services allow teachers and students to create and share documents online. They also provide the ability to collaborate on documents. Online document creators are fantastic for student writing and lesson planning. There are no papers to store and sort through, and they can be easily accessed by any Internet connected computer.

Paperless communication:

9. Sign app now www.signappnow.com

Sign app now makes it easy for schools to create online signup sheets. The site is so simple to use; in 3 easy steps teachers can create signup sheets for classroom volunteers, field trips, lunch orders, school duties, committees, and a myriad of other tasks that require a signup. Create a sign up sheet by giving the sign up sheet a name, filling in the email address that the signup sheet should be sent to, and your name. Sign App Now creates a unique link that can be emailed to everyone that has the option to signup. When parents or other staff members receive the form, they click on the link and fill in their name. That is it! An email is sent back to the signup sheet creator with those who have signed up. No more shuffling paper signup sheets around!

10. R Campus www.rcampus.com

R Campus is a great one-stop shop for everything school related. R Campus is a collaborative environment that utilizes the Open Education Management system that makes it easy to build personal and group websites, manage courses, e-portfolios, academic communities, build rubrics, connect students with tutors, and host a book exchange. All of these tools are completely free for students and faculty to access. R Campus is an excellent way to organize classroom life and to help keep students organized. Everything in R Campus is integrated, making management seamless. Students stay well informed and communication opportunities grow…all without paper! Students can showcase their learning with the e-portfolios. Teachers can easily communicate, assist, and assess throughout the year as the e-portfolios grow. Rubrics creation is fast and can be shared online with both students and other teachers. This collection of resources is excellent for communicating with parents and students, grading, and organizing your classroom without hundreds of copies.

11. Twitter www.twitter.com

Twitter has become more popular lately with the addition of tweeting celebrities. Twitter can also be used as a communication tool between home and school. Create a classroom Twitter account where students and parents can quickly get information about your classroom. Tweet homework assignment directions, reminders about upcoming class events, short memos about the happenings in your classroom, etc. Twitter should put an end to the little paper notes that travel between school and home. Those little notes often get lost in the shuffle anyway! Twitter is also an outstanding place for teachers to build a network of educators that share ideas and best practices in the classroom.

12. School Notes www.schoolnotes.com

Teachers can use School Notes to quickly create notes for homework and class information and post them on the web in seconds. Parents and students view notes by entering the school zip code. This is a great way to stop the flow of little notes that get sent home for daily updates.

13.Qlubb www.qlubb.com

Qlubb will change the way you communicate and interact with parents. Qlubb is a free site that features event calendaring, signup sheets, to-do lists, automatic event and task reminders, photo sharing, member rosters, and a bulletin board. Everything is very intuitive to use, parents and teachers will have no problem jumping in and using Qlubb for home/school communication. This all inclusive communication site will keep you from sending papers home.

14. Shelfari www.shelfari.com

Shelfari is a virtual bookshelf where teachers can recommend books to their students. Instead of sending home paper reading lists, create a virtual reading list with a virtual bookshelf. Shelfari goes beyond book recommendations, it is a great way to discover new titles, discuss books, start an online book club, and share what you are reading with others. Teachers can share lists with students. Students can create bookshelves of their own where they can display what they are reading, leaving comments and a rating for the book. Shelfari is the perfect place for students and teachers to connect about reading without paper reading logs.

15. Engrade www.engrade.com

Engrade is a free online gradebook and record keeper that allows teachers to manage their classes online as well as post grades, assignments, attendance, and upcoming homework for parents and students to see. The Engrade suite provides a gradebook that automatically calculates grades and provides tools for custom grading scales and weighting assignments, an attendance book that automatically emails parents with absences, a homework calendar for students and parents, and online reports where students can view their grades, homework and attendance in real time. With paper versions of gradebooks, assignment and attendance keepers, the printed copy is the final word. Because Engrade is web based, teachers can update grades and homework assignments from any Internet connected computer. Less to carry between school and home equals happy teachers. Engrade is a secure, password protected site so there are no concerns about privacy or security of grades.

Going paperless doesn’t have to be a chore, in fact these tools will make classroom management and communication significantly easier to keep track of.

How do you go paperless? Share your ideas below!

Related Articles:
5 Best Virtual Field Trips
10 Technology Enhanced Alternatives to Book Reports
Top 10 Technology Tips for Teachers

Science Bob

September 9, 2009Kelly Tenkely2 Comments2633 views

What it is: Science Bob is a great resource library for the elementary science classroom. It is an excellent place for students to explore science concepts. Students can get some fun science fair ideas, experiments (that can be done offline), research helpers, science questions/answers, and science videos.

How to integrate Science Bob into the classroom: Science Bob is a great anticipatory site to use with students. Videos can be watched as a class to introduce a new science topic or just to build a little excitement in the science class. Let students explore the experiment section and choose an experiment to perform. Each student can choose a different experiment to test at home. Hold a class science day where students can share the experiment with the class. Let them be the science ‘expert’. As students conduct experiments, they can practice going through the scientific method. Science Bob is a great stop for parents and students looking for science fair projects. Start each science class with a fun science fact in the science question and answer section. This is a great site to get your students excited about science and ready to learn more.

Tips: The “research” section of Science Bob is packed full of other amazing science websites. They are organized by topic for simple searching.

I am often asked where I learn about all of these educational websites. I have a variety of sources (RSS feeds, searches, books) but my favorite source is my OUTSTANDING PLN on Twitter. If you aren’t on Twitter, I highly recommend it. I have created a page where you can see all of the wonderful people in my PLN on Twitter. This is a great place to start your own Twitter powerhouse.

Leave a comment and tell us how you are using Science Bob in your classroom.

Ideas to Inspire

March 30, 2009Kelly TenkelyLeave a Comment2645 views

What it is: Ideas to Inspire is a truly wonderful site and wealth of resources for teachers. On this site you will find a collection of Google Doc presentations that include a number of ideas for engaging lesson activities in a variety of curriculum areas. The collection comes from inspiring teachers from around the world. You can find Ideas to Inspire on Writing, Interactive Math, Incredible Science, Amazing Art, Marvelous Music, and learn interesting ways to use Google Docs, Pocket Video Cameras, Interactive Whiteboards, Google Earth, Twitter, Netbooks, Webcams, and Visualizers. Ideas to Inspire also has great tips for non-techy teachers (I remember being one of those once-upon-a-time). Ideas to Inspire is very easy to navigate and each presentation is jam packed with truly inspiring ideas.

How to integrate Ideas to Inspire into the classroom: It happens to the best of us, we get settled in our ways and fall into a teaching slump where we can’t come up with a creative lesson idea to save our lives. Sound familiar? Ideas to Inspire is the place to go, here you will find inspiration, helpful tips, and get those creative juices flowing again! Take a few minutes and look through some of the presentations, you will be happy you did. 🙂

Tips: This is my last post for the day, head over to Ideas to Inspire and be inspired today!

Leave a comment and tell us how you are using Ideas to Inspire in your classroom.

Shahi

March 25, 2009Kelly TenkelyLeave a Comment2481 views

What it is: Shahi is a mashup of Wiktionary (a Wikipedia type dictionary) and Flickr. This visual dictionary is a great way for students to look up definitions and get a visual representation of the word. Students can choose for the images to come from Flickr, Google, or Yahoo. I find the most reliable image results come from Flickr.

How to integrate Shahi into the classroom: Shahi is a neat mashup of two tools. Having a visual dictionary is great for every student but especially useful for your visual learners. Beyond using Shahi as a dictionary, this is a perfect site for teaching your students the parts of speech. Because pictures acompany the definitions, students can “see” that a verb is an action word. Use Shahi as the base for a part of speech game with the whole class and a projector. Choose a word from reading, spelling, etc. and have students ‘guess’ the part of speech based on the pictures. This is a great way for students to learn the parts of speech through inquiry and problem solving. Shahi would also be a useful tool for ESL or ELL students. Bookmark Shahi on your classroom computers as a resource during reading/writing time. Look up a spelling word on Shahi and have students journal about one of the accompanying pictures. This site could be very useful for writing prompts. Shahi would also be wonderful in the science classroom, students can look up difficult words or concepts and immediately have a good visual representation to aid in understanding. In the geography classroom, students could search places and get a collection of images that will provide them with additional insight into the place. Cool!

Tips: I learned about this site from activeducator on Twitter. If you haven’t yet, sign up for Twitter today, it is a great way to network and learn about education (or anything you are interested in). Don’t forget to add me as a friend, ktenkely! A word of warning with this site: sometimes images will be inappropriate on this site because of the tags people put on their pictures in Flickr. For example “berry” brings pictures of fruit berries but also scantily dressed women named “Berry”. For elementary students, pre-search words you will be using with the class for appropriateness.

Leave a comment and tell us how you are using Shahi in your classroom.

The Tweet to Beat: Paying $3 per Twitter Follower

March 18, 2009Kelly Tenkely3 Comments1580 views

What it is: Twitter is an amazing networking tool. If you aren’t currently using Twitter, today is the day my friend! If you aren’t familiar with Twitter take a look at my prior posts here or watch the Common Craft video above. The Tweet to Beat: Paying $3 per Twitter follower is an “ethical bribe” to get people to follow Tim Ferris on Twitter. Here’s how it works: for every new Twitter follower Tim gets before March 23, 2009, he will donate $1 to Donorschoose.org. An anonymous supporter will then donate $2 for every dollar that Tim donates. This means that for every follower of Tim, $3 are donated. What is the donation going toward? US Public School classrooms! The goal is to directly help 25,000 US public school students in low income and high need areas in two weeks time. I LOVE this idea! After seeing what is happening with our stimulus money (going to AIG for bonuses and cutting back on education), I think creative ideas like The Tweet to Beat are going to be the catalyst for change in this world!

How to integrate The Tweet to Beat: Paying $3 per Twitter Follower into the classroom: This is such a simple idea and yet the impact could be significant. You can integrate Tweet to Beat into your classroom in a few ways. First, if you are on Twitter, follow Tim today (go ahead you can do it right now, I’ll wait). Second, if your students are on Twitter, encourage them to follow Tim. Third, use Tweet to Beat as a real world math problem. Ask questions such as how many followers does Tim need to raise $50,000? $150,000. Last, give older students (who have Facebook accounts) a homework assignment to post this story on their Facebook page to get others involved.

Tips: Twitter is a great way to communicate with families, build a personal learning network (PLN), communicate with other students around the world, and network. You can follow me on Twitter by clicking here.

Leave a comment and tell us how you are using The Tweet to Beat in your classroom.