The screen shot is from a workshop that the elementary teachers had with teacher and author Stephanie Harvey on non-fiction reading and writing. The tech teacher would go to every link that Stephanie talked about and by the end of the presentation, she was able to send us the personalized link to Harvey’s resources that she mentioned in her workshop.

We’re trying this with 8th grade science next week where the students will read an article on the hoopla of the 2012 end of the world prediction based on the Mayan calendar, and the students will go to the share tab site to find other science web sites that will debunk the myth with scientific facts.

It’s free, it’s simple, and it will save everyone time so that more teaching can focus on the basics like how to read a website, and what the different entry points are to non fiction writing.

Here’s the link to take you to Darrell’s blog for directions: Embedding Voicethreads post

He’s just more eloquent. And while you’re there, check out Liana’s papa mālaaʻo a voicethread. Cute kēia.

Advantages of wikispaces:

• students can be the authors of their pages while you still hold administrative power
• videos (imovies, voicethread, flip camera quicktime movies, recordings from photo booth) are all simple to upload to a wikipage
• ohana and other students can c0mment directly on voicethreads from the wikispace rather than sift through drafts of presentations on the voicethread site
• the site is as private as you want it to be
• if someone inadvertently erases some content, it’s easy to fix, as the program tracks who changed what and when
• wikispaces, unlike your school blog, can be worked on from home

Check out the wikispaces sites of some of your colleagues, and if you’re ready to add to your repertoire, I’ll be happy to help you set up a site.

Jerelyn’s grade 8 social studies

Mele’s Papa Nohona Hawai’i

If students are visual learners this is a great site for learning vocabulary. Not only does the site give a daily word, it also gives a visual, a sentence, a definition and information on the root of the word.

Why I like this: the more exposure students have to vocabulary, the more chances they have to learn new words. Also, by giving a visual picture, students have more ways to learn a word.

PBS online has a new website (new to me) up called Poetry Everywhere

There are 34 animated films made by students working with docUWM, a documentary media center at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, and the University’s creative writing program, in association with the Poetry Foundation.

As a perk, they also have teacher resources for the poems/poets.

• Coleman Barks
• Lucille Clifton
• Billy Collins
• Emily Dickinson
• Mark Doty
• Robert Frost
• Robert Hass
• Edward Hirsch
• Jane Hirshfield
• Marie Howe
• Yusef Komunyakaa
• Ted Kooser
• Stanley Kunitz
• Philip Levine
• Naomi Shihab Nye
• Sharon Olds
• Linda Pastan
• Adrienne Rich
• Charles Simic
• Gerald Stern
• Mark Strand
• Walt Whitman
• W.B. Yeats
• Kevin Young

If you at least know what these tools are, then you are well on your way to understanding the digital natives that are sitting in your classroom.

Who are they? According to John Palfrey, author of Born Digital, digital natives:

1. were born after 1980
2.  have access to technology and are networked
3. have the skills to use these technologies.

Three myths about digital natives

• Digital natives are a generation – digital natives can cross generations.
• Digital natives are more likely to be in danger -
  • young people need guidance from their parents and teachers to navigate the digital landscape and learn to protect their personal information
  • digital or not, it’s sometimes hard for young people to make rational decisions, so they need adult mentors
  • help young people engage in life online in constructive ways, grounding them in common sense
  • provide opportunities for them to go online in a safe, secured environment first

• Digital natives are less intelligent and less informed – (the “dumbest generation” premis) – The truth is that they learn/interact differently. The challenge for educators is to help them make sense of these new contexts and think synthetically and critically, rather than letting them lose their way.

Feeling the almost Spring Break blues? Discovery education has a free site (http://school.discoveryeducation.com) with loads of resources that can be used for anchor activities, supplemental information, contests, etc.

Goodies include a puzzlemaker, a lesson plan library on almost every subject (except Hawaiian) for grades 6-8, worksheets to go, contests, grants and other resources for new and experienced educators.

Check it out this spring break.

‘Here they are!! Part 2‘ )

Are you feeling isolated by the walls of your classroom? The time before Spring Break is often a lonely time for teachers, especially new teachers. The end of the year is looming, and as a reflective practitioner, it’s really crunch time. The doubts set in. Have I accomplished enough so far? Will I make a difference in these last weeks? Will the students exit my classroom better because I’ve taught them?

This quick slide is a short presentation on you as a 21st century teacher, and it shows that you are not alone. There are many people to support you if you just reach out. Enjoy.

The 21st Century EducatorView more presentations from Kim Cofino. (tags: educator k-12)

Today is inauguration day, and sometimes it seems that it’s only historical for adults, and that students can’t feel the full weight of the importance. We should try to convey the importance anyway. That’s what teachers do. Using pictures and video may be an easier way to do this for our students.

News websites with Inauguration photos:

• Time Magazine
• Boston Globe (inauguration preparations)
• Wall Street Journal
• msnbc
• NY Times
• ABC News

Obama’s inaugural speech.

Use the photos for journal prompts, discussion, comments, etc.

Students are asked to choose a photo. I was a little disappointed that there’s just one photo per topic, but when you see the depth and breadth of each photo task, then it’s still a marvelous tool.

Once students choose a topic (I chose industrialization), then they are prompted to start by posing a question. Just like historians, students will pose questions, but there are actually several questions available as samples. The first is simple and descriptive, while the others call for more interpretation; you may want to direct younger children to the first, and older children to the second or third. Students can also pose their own question – and can change their questions as they dig deeper.

Students choose an option above to get to the next stage: gathering clues.

Next, students will scan the picture, looking for details that intrigue them. The yellow boxes highlight areas that might be of interest – students can choose whichever they want. In the pop-up box, encourage students first to describe what they observe, without making any judgement. Then encourage them to speculate about what the detail might mean — to make intelligent guesses just like historians do. Clues are saved and the students must title or categorize each clue. They continue to observe and create clues.

Historians filter what they see through a vast amount of background knowledge — of the period, of similar documents, and of arguments about the past. Children’s prior knowledge is far less – but they can use what they DO know very effectively. Ask students “What do you know about this?” “How is this different than what you’d expect?” Students can also read a little background about the picture and the time period by clicking the button.

Students draw their conclusions on this page — really, their speculations or intelligent guesses. Encourage them to cite reasons or evidence for their ideas, as well as new questions they have.

Finally, students can see their conclusion and compare it to different write ups from historians, middle school students, high school student, and teachers. Students are encouraged to note similarities and differences between their thinking and others’, and use these insights as they tackle more interpretations.