Teachers: Tinkering

We've just returned from the Mid-South Technology Conference. The speakers were very thought provoking on a variety of topics, and I'd like to share some of the ideas with you.

Tinkering

Have we lost a connection to learning through child’s play? When we think back to how we learned as children, wasn’t it hands-on trial and error for a lot of things? John Seely Brown, the Independent Co-Chairman of the Deloitte Center for Edge Innovation, describes this as "Tinkering". Pulling things apart and then putting them back together in various ways, learning what works and what doesn’t, talking with teammates about different ways to connect things to create a new entity.

All of the above is Web 2.0. transferring ideas, remixing, experimenting, participating, interacting, explaining things to each other, creating, sharing, integrating with others’ ideas.
By setting up collaborative groups and incorporating the curriculum topics of the day, students can experience this type of learning through free tools on the Internet.

Here are some resources that Internet4Classrooms.com would like to share with you:

• VoiceThread is an excellent choice for a beginning class project. The students insert pictures, either drawn or by digital camera, and insert voice to explain the pictures. These can be shared with parents, students, or the world! They can also be made private so just friends can view it.
  
• xtranormal is a more advanced piece of moviemaking software. They can create an animated movie about the topic of study and share it.
  

Hall Davidson, from Discovery Education Network, also mentioned at the conference that we are living in a non-linear world with digital resources. Students interact with these resources to gather information and "remix" them in their minds. New technologies are critical part of this learning age and the stand-alone method of read/discuss/write doesn’t work anymore.

To summarize, by using web 2.0 tools that are free on the internet, we can help students achieve "tinkering" skills they will need in the 21st century. They are not only consumers of information on the Internet, but also become producers of information from which others may learn.

Other Web 2.0 resources can be found on Internet 4 Classrooms at http://internet4classrooms.com/web2.htm

- Susan

Parents: Helping with Homework

We receive correspondence from parents and teachers worldwide on a variety of topics. One topic that is of concern to both parents and teachers is homework. While Internet4Classrooms.com is a great resource for learning, parents must provide their children with the necessary support and structure, so that they can complete their assignments at home.

Here is a great resource for parents that clearly spells out a plan for helping your child succeed.

• http://www.kidsource.com/kidsource/content/homework.html

The following subjects are addressed:

• Why Homework is a Concern for the Whole Family
• How to Help - Showing that You Think Education and Homework are Important
• How to Help - Monitor Assisgnements
• How to Help - Provide Guidance
• How to Help - Talk with Someone at School to Resolve Problems

It also includes a Checklist for Helping your Child with Homework.

Remember, if you are doing your child's homework or struggling to get him/her to complete assignments, you are not alone, and there are resources to help manage this available to you.

Happy Holidays!
Susan

November Flu Update

H1N1 influenza virus is still affecting many schools across the world. School age children have been disproportionately affected by this virus, so staying informed is critical for both teachers, school officials, and parents.

What You Can Do to Stay Healthy

Stay informed.
The American Academy of Pediatrics is maintaining an information portal on H1N1 flu. Also, check your state's Department of Public Health website for more localized information on the spread of the virus. Another informative website is the Centers for Disease Control's website which maintains the latest online information on the outbreak.

Vaccinate.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends the H1N1 vaccine for the following groups:

• pregnant women
• people who live with (or care for) children younger than 6 months old
• kids and young adults between the ages of 6 months and 24 years old
• people ages 25 to 64 with chronic health conditions or compromised immune systems
• health care and emergency services personnel

The H1N1 vaccine does not protect against seasonal flu, so it's also important that kids also get the seasonal flu vaccine as well.

Take everyday actions to stay healthy.
Influenza is thought to spread mainly person-to-person through coughing or sneezing of infected people.

1. Cover your nose and mouth with a tissue when you cough or sneeze. Throw the tissue in the trash after you use it.
2. Wash your hands often with soap and water, especially after you cough or sneeze. Alcohol-based hands cleaners are also effective.
3. Avoid touching your eyes, nose or mouth. Germs spread that way.
4. Stay home if you get sick. CDC recommends that you stay home from work or school and limit contact with others to keep from infecting them.
5. Follow public health advice regarding school closures, avoiding crowds and other social distancing measures.
6. Call 1-800-CDC-INFO for more information.

Find healthy ways to deal with stress and anxiety.
Not only are you worried about the spread of this virus, but chances are that depending on your child's age, she/he is aware that people all over the world are being affected.

1. The American Psychological Association has a great article on managing your anxiety about H1N1.
   
2. The National Association of School Nurses has released an article for parents on how to talk to your children about the flu. It includes tips on what is age-appropriate information to share and suggested points to emphasize.
   

Here are some more links for you to get more information about this virus:

1. What Parents Need to Know - from WebMD
2. Centers for Disease Control
   
3. Official H1N1 Information - from the U.S Department of Health and Human Services

Remember, it is never too early to teach your children good hygiene. Here is a simple 1-2-3 "Hands, Mouth and Table Game" to teach your children healthy habits that will help keep them well.

Digital Natives

Meet Jacob. A very technology savvy 5th grader with an iPhone, an XBox and a Wii. He is comfortable writing reports on a laptop, chatting and doing research online. Jacob is a "Digital Native". He has never known a world without technology.

Enter the phrase: "Dial a Phone"

I asked Jacob if he knew why we say we "dial a phone number" and he had no clue. So, for his 11th birthday, I went on eBay and ordered him a "Classic Rotary Phone", the Model 500, to be exact, which was in production from 1949 until 1984.

He got the iPhone first, and I waited until he had it all synced up with his MacBook Air, songs loaded, and the "wow" factor had worn off and it was just another device to him.

Then I handed him the box. We opened it. There was an information card explaining the history of this phone, which was made in the US and Canada, not China. It was a heavy metal object, and he asked me to explain to him how it worked. I showed him the wheel on the bottom to make the ringer louder and softer, showed him the plugs and then explained how the phone works. After we plugged it in the wall in the kitchen, he made his first phone call, actually dialing a number.

He said, "This is so cool. I'm dialing." Because it was. It was different to him. It wasn't wireless. There were no buttons to push. It was solid and old, and most importantly, still functional.

This really got me thinking about how children today are being conditioned to a "push the button and something will happen quickly" mentality. I'm not saying that this is a bad thing. But, they don't have a lot of exposure to mechanical devices. Even money to them is really digital math. They rarely handle currency, except when brought from the tooth fairy, making it a special event.

I'll save the story for opening the lock on a backgammon set for another day.

Do you have any similar stories to share?

How do we keep up with all of these new technologies and ways of learning, but at the same time instill in our students and children the value of the past as stages on the journey to the world in which we now live? The rotary phone episode brings this to life.

Thanks for reading!
Susan

Assessment Testing

Is it ever too early for teachers to think about and begin to prepare students for assessment testing?

Tell us how you integrate preparation for assessment testing into your early school year lesson planning.

We will be featuring your responses in our upcoming newsletters.

In the meantime, be sure to visit our assessment testing resources for grades K-12. We have links to released tests, standards information from various states and PLENTY of interactive skills activities for all grades.

Thanks,
Susan

Free Wipes for the Classroom - Promotion Ended

Thank you to all of the teachers that sent us their contact information for the Clorox promotion. We will be forwarding your mailing information to Clorox this week.

We are glad that we were able to help those of you that had difficulty registering for the wipes directly on the Clorox site. However, this promotion is now over. If it is extended, we will post that information to this blog.

Keep checking internet4classrooms.com for the best K-12 educational resources on the web and other teacher/education related promotions! Don't forget to follow us on twitter at internet4classr as we also post resources to the educational communities there.

Best,
Susan

Free Clorox Wipes for your Classroom! - Ended 9/5

Updated: 9/8/09
Unfortunately this promotion is now closed. See latest blog post for information on fulfillment.
____________

We've recently learned that a number of teachers attempted to register to
receive free disinfecting wipes for their classroom from Clorox and were
told that supplies had run out for the day.

We've made a special arrangement with Clorox for users of
internet4classrooms.com who are unable to register for the free wipes.

Please copy the following information into an email and send to:
info@internet4classrooms.com

Name:
Address:
City:
State:
Zip:
Email Address:
Parent? Yes__ No __
Teacher? Yes __ No __
Grade(s): ___________
Subject: ____________________________


We will forward this information to Clorox and you will receive your coupon in the mail.

Again, thank you for your support of internet4classrooms.com. Please feel
free to post any comments, concerns or suggestions or email us directly.

Email from Teachers

On which state is your standards information based?

Internet4Classrooms.com's standards pages are based on the newest 2009-2010 standards from Tennessee. However, during the history of this site, while looking for resources for each skill and communicating with teachers all over the country, we have discovered that most states teach the same concepts during the school year. Although the standards may be worded a bit differently, the concept that is being taught is exactly the same. Therefore, our standards sections can be used throughout the country

Why have you reorganized the skillbuilder content?

We have also reorganized the activities and added descriptions to our skill-builders section so they are concept focused.

http://www.internet4classrooms.com/grade_level_help.htm

Select your grade and the topic your class is studying and choose from the selection of links on that topic. In the standards section, just click on the area of focus, then select the individual sections that deals with your topic.

You may also want to use our search functionality, found on the top right hand side of our pages or at the bottom of our pages. Just enter the grade and the topic, and a list of pages that are relevant will appear in the search results. You may also want to look in our Links for K-12 section in the Subject Areas for additional activities.

http://www.internet4classrooms.com/k12links.htm

If you need any help finding a specific topic, please do not hesitate to contact us and we will guide you to the appropriate activities.

Thanks for your support of our site!
- Susan Brooks

What is in a Name? or It's All in Their Name!

According to Wikipedia.org, a name is:

"A name is a label for a noun, (human or animal, thing, place, product [as in a brand name] and even an idea or concept), normally used to distinguish one from another. Names can identify a class or category of things, or a single thing, either uniquely, or within a given context.

A personal name identifies a specific unique and identifiable individual person."

Let's stop there.

School is starting shortly and teachers need to quickly and correctly learn their students' names. It is one of the first things that they do to welcome children into the classroom and make them feel part of the class. It doesn't matter if you are teaching kindergarten or at the college level. Using names is a basic way to connect with a student.

Here are some resources to help:

• KinderKorner - This site is geared towards teachers of younger children, mostly pre-school through primary. Includes songs and fun names activities for the entire class.
• VirtualVine.com - This site is nice for elementary teachers, as it contains many activities reinforcing phonics, literacy and graphing for learning names.
• TheApple.com - Quick tips to learn names quickly, adapted from the 'First Year Teacher's Survival Guide'.
• TeacherVision from the Family Education Network has a huge resource page for Personalizing the Secondary Classroom.
  
• The National Teaching and Learning Forum discusses the importance of learning names in the higher grades and has activities for the classroom. There is also a focus on peer-peer interaction to foster a learning environment in classes that may be very large and the student may just feel like another "number".

Hello, Andrew. My name is Mrs. Brooks. Welcome to YOUR classroom. We are going to have a wonderful year together.

Knowing the Facts Regarding H1N1 Virus

As your children are attending summer camps or you are starting to think about the beginning of the school year, H1N1 (formerly called the "Swine Flu") is a concern in all of our communities across the world. School age children have been disproportionately affected by this virus, so staying informed is critical for both teachers, school officials, and parents. The main thing to remember is that although a global pandemic has been identified, it is a reflection of the spread of the virus, not the severity.

What You Can Do to Stay Healthy

Stay informed.
The American Academy of Pediatrics is maintaining an information portal on H1N1 flu. Also, check your state's Department of Public Health website for more localized information on the spread of the virus. Another informative website is the Centers for Disease Control's website which maintains the latest online information on the outbreak.

Take everyday actions to stay healthy.
Influenza is thought to spread mainly person-to-person through coughing or sneezing of infected people.

1. Cover your nose and mouth with a tissue when you cough or sneeze. Throw the tissue in the trash after you use it.
2. Wash your hands often with soap and water, especially after you cough or sneeze. Alcohol-based hands cleaners are also effective.
3. Avoid touching your eyes, nose or mouth. Germs spread that way.
4. Stay home if you get sick. CDC recommends that you stay home from work or school and limit contact with others to keep from infecting them.
5. Follow public health advice regarding camp/school closures, avoiding crowds and other social distancing measures.
6. Call 1-800-CDC-INFO for more information.

Find healthy ways to deal with stress and anxiety.
Not only are you worried about the spread of this virus, but chances are that depending on your child's age, she/he is aware that people all over the world are being affected.

1. The American Psychological Association has a great article on managing your anxiety about H1N1.
   
2. The National Association of School Nurses has released an article for parents on how to talk to your children about the flu. It includes tips on what is age-appropriate information to share and suggested points to emphasize.
   

Here are some more links for you to get more information about this virus as the summer progresses:

1. What Parents Need to Know - from WebMD
2. Centers for Disease Control
3. Official H1N1 Information - from the U.S Department of Health and Human Services

Remember, it is never too early to teach your children good hygiene. Here is a simple 1-2-3 "Hands, Mouth and Table Game" to teach your children healthy habits that will help keep them well.

Have a safe and healthy summer!
Susan

We love Wordle, but....

In our search for internet resources that are suitable for use by students in the classroom and at home, we really love Wordle as a tool. The visual display of words really gets across the main idea in a number of ways. In fact, we are using a Wordle of our blog as our display background on our Twitter page.

However.

Yesterday, I was speaking with my niece, who was going to use Wordle with her 2nd grader to display information about the State of Indiana for his end of year Social Studies project.

The conversation went something like this.

"Aunt Susan, be very careful in recommending Wordle on your site for use in the classroom. I was sitting at the computer with Jack. We did an amazing Wordle on the Indianapolis Colts, and then decided to look through the gallery. We went to the home page and I almost slammed the laptop on his fingers, because there was a featured collection of very, very obscene words."

Ouch.

So I went to the FAQ for Wordle and found this:

"I'm a teacher, and I'd like to use Wordle in the classroom or send my students to use it at home. Can you filter or moderate Wordle's content?

Wordle, as it stands, is inappropriate for classroom use. This is because I do not censor the content that appears on Wordle (I couldn't possibly; there are thousands a week), and, therefore, it's possible to find images in the public gallery that are entirely unsuitable for younger users.

I saw an obscene Wordle. Could you take it down?

I cannot moderate or filter Wordle, as many thousands are created each week. I also cannot become an arbiter of decency. Therefore, unless someone has exposed your personal information (such as your name and phone number), I'm not going to take it down."

Teachers and parents, please keep this in mind as you use Wordle with children. You may want to link to Wordle's "Create" page, instead of the home page if you intend to use it in your classroom or at home.

Please feel free to share your thoughts, or email us directly.

Best,
Susan

“The Home Stretch” or Keeping Your Students with Spring Fever From Looking out the Window

Spring has finally sprung across the nation. Most states have completed their end of year assessment testing and parents, teachers and students are starting to look forward to the summer.

One question that a teacher may ask herself is, “How can I keep my students engaged and focused on the curriculum for the rest of the school year?” or parents may wonder, “How can I keep my children engaged in school, when all they want to focus on is the lure of their summer activities?”.

Just as Internet 4 Classrooms provides the best sources on the internet for various activities and resources, here are some links to information that will help you address “Spring Fever” whether in the classroom or at home.

1. Keeping Students on Task as the Weather Warms Up!
2. From a Homeschooling blog, an article about “Spring Fever” offers some ideas about getting the kids outdoors and engaging them in fun projects.
3. Read about the importance of having a little fun and rewarding hard work, great article for high school kids and college students.
   

Also, check out Summer Teaching Opportunities for Teachers to help you plan for your summer.

Feel free to comment and add sources to this list and share the strategies and activities that you use to keep your students engaged.

All the best,
Susan

Tennessee Really IS the Volunteer State!

As many of you know, we are in the middle of redesigning our website in order to make it easier for you to find the resources that you need in your classrooms or for your own learning.

One of our main content areas is based upon the State of Tennessee Standards with corresponding exercises and activities for each standard. We have both the current 2009 standards, as well as the prior standards on the site. Because Social Studies is still following the old standards, Internet4Classrooms Co-Founder, Bill Byles put out a question on a Tennessee State website to get some feedback about organizing the information, because he did not want our current standard listings to be misleading. The responses that he received were very thoughtful, thorough and extremely helpful to us in presenting this information in a clear manner.

Thanks to all of the Tennessee teachers that participated in this discussion. It is by using your feedback that we will be able to keep the site as user friendly as possible. We hope that you will continue to engage us in dialogue on this blog by asking us questions or leaving relevant comments.

Internet4classrooms is a Teacher Driven Site

What does " teacher driven site" mean?

Our site was created while Bill and I were both tech coordinators working beside teachers who needed help with technology resources. If they needed a resource, it was put on a site where all the other teachers could see the resource and use it in their classrooms also. As a result of this, teacher requests drove the site to become what it is today.


Today we receive many emails daily from teachers asking for resources on various topics. We do everything we can to help find these resources for their classroom needs. We post them on the site so that other teachers who teach the same concept can benefit from that teacher's request. Many new areas of the site were developed because of teacher requests.

Internet4classrooms' mission is finding the best free concept specific Internet resources available to assist teachers in their job.

If you have a need that we are not meeting, please do write and request resources for the concept you are working on in your class. We would love to help you out. By helping you out , we will also assist thousands of other teachers.

Thank you so much for your kind words of encouragement over the years. We will continue as we embark on our new redesigned site to meet your needs and your students’ needs.

Susan

Search Strategies for Classroom or Home - Part 2

Continued from: Search Strategies for Classroom or Home - Part 1

Step 5. If you feel comfortable as an Internet sleuth, move on to discover how to evaluate web sites.

The University of California, Berkeley has an exercise in evaluating web sites. Essentially a WebQuest on evaluating sites, this activity is used to show UC Berkeley students why it is important to evaluate the source of information on the web. Try the activity yourself.

Step 6. Teach your students to think as they search the Internet.

Alan November asks, "Is your high school teaching students to access the Internet for research?" If so, he points out that "it is essential that students also learn how to validate the information. The Internet is a place where you can find 'proof" of essentially any belief system that you can imagine. And, for too many students, 'If it is on the Internet, it is true.' " Read his entire article, titled Teaching Zach to Think [Note: this link opens on a new page]. Alan wrote this for the September 1998 issue of High School Principal Magazine.

Step 7. Learn to use Boolean Logic in your searching

"Boolean searching is named after George Boole, a British mathematician (1815-1864), who wrote about logical ways to formulate precise queries using true-false connectors or "operators" between concepts. The true-false nature of Boolean logic, as this system is commonly called, makes it compatible with binary logic used in digital computers. It has become the conventional basis for searching most computerized systems." Quoted from Joe Barker (jbarker@library.berkeley.edu) from “Best Stuff on the Web” – Copyright 2002 The Teaching Library, University of California, Berkeley, CA. See a two-page .pdf document about using the primary operators.

Step 8. Use four Nets for better searching

Dr. Bernie Dodge, co-developer of the WebQuest concept, suggests using NETS as an acronym for remembering a way to improve your search results. The NETS acronym comes from his suggestion to: "start narrow, use exact phrases, trim the URL, and seek similar pages." For a more complete explanation of this suggestion, see his page posted on the San Diego State University domain.

For more information regarding searching the Internet - click on http://www.internet4classrooms.com/search.htm

Search Strategies For Classroom or Home - Part 1

Step 1. Choose a few search engines, and learn how they work

Find 3 - 4 search engines that you are comfortable using and do most of your searches with them. This tutorial will use Clusty, which sends search queries to several search engines and then clusters the results. I have found that Clusty consistently gives me good results. If you wish to use a different search engine check out this list. There is also a list of Kid Safe Search Engines.

Tip: Do not search with the button. Go to a search engine's homepage, not where the browser sends you.

Step 2. Searching for pictures

Ditto calls itself the premier visual search engine. If you are searching for an image, you will probably find it here. Several search engines offer graphics search capability. In the list above they are identified by the camera icon - (Caution: Image search pages on search engines are blocked by many state filters.)
Internet4Classrooms.com has a collection of graphics links with a section on picture collections found on the Internet.

Step 3. Search for sounds on the Internet

FindSounds.com is a search engine for finding sound effects on the Web. Search the Web for sound effects and sample sounds. Take a look at the types of sounds you can find. This is a partial list. Many more sounds are available. You may also find a large number of sound files of all types at Partners in Rhyme.

Step 4. Let the purpose of your search determine the search engine to be used.

Take a look at the list provided by Debbie Abilock titled "Choose the Best Search for Your Information Need." For example, you might "have a broad academic subject and need pointers to quality sites." If so, Debbie suggests that you go to Librarians' Index to the Internet or Infomine. On the other hand, if you need to see relationships among ideas, she suggests that you use KartOO or Web Brain. This is a great site, check it out!

For more information regarding searching the Internet - click on http://www.internet4classrooms.com/search.htm

Welcome to Internet4Classrooms

Over a decade ago (February, 1997) Susan Brooks and Bill Byles began a collaborative effort to extend assistance to fellow teachers. In November of 2000 that project expanded to the web as Internet4Classrooms.com (i4c). The web portal which we call I4C is free to anyone who wants to find high-quality, free Internet educational resources to use in the classroom or at home. Our resources are organized by grade, by subject area, by technology, by educational standard, and the list goes on. The portal is used by people on six of the seven continents (there are not many classrooms in Antarctica) and is available to anyone with an Internet connection. To find out more about Susan and Bill, please go to our short bios.

To stay current in a now Web 2.0 world, over the coming months we are embarking on new ways to share what we have learned with teachers, parents, students and anyone who would benefit from the information that we have gathered over the years. Stay tuned as we embark on our new site re-design, social networking feeds, blogging, Twitter, newsletters, and so much more!