NWEA Spark Community

I recently came across the SPARK Community - http://community.nwea.org/

The SPARK Community is where NWEA partners and educators from around the world share ideas and resources, collaborate on education topics and issues, and discover new ways to advance kid-centric learning.

SPARK Resources is a growing library of educational and instructional tools like lesson plans, parent resources, learning documents, web sites and more. Resources are contributed and rated by the Community, and are available to current NWEA Partners.

It is free to sign up. 

An an example of something that was shared within the SPARK Community:

An educator created Interactive Games Website Listed by RIT Score

Please let me know if you have any questions.

Google Art Project

I recently came across the Google Art Project - http://www.googleartproject.com
Art Project-How to use the site (YouTube Video that explains how to use the website)

How you can use it in Social Studies:

• Use the search function (upper right hand corner) and search for country, topic, etc.
• Further explore artifacts/artwork mentioned in textbook

From the website:
What is the ‘Art Project’?

The Art Project is a collaboration between Google and 151 acclaimed art partners from across 40 countries. Using a combination of various Google technologies and expert information provided by our museum partners, we have created a unique online art experience. Users can explore a wide range of artworks at brushstroke level detail, take a virtual tour of a museum and even build their own collections to share. ...many more can enjoy over 30 000 works of art from sculpture to architecture and drawings and explore over 150 collections from 40 countries, all in one place.

What does the Education section consist of?

A dedicated Education section has been created to provide simple tools to learn about the artwork featured on the Art Project. Dive into the Look like an Expert sections and test your visual acumen or get creative with the DIY projects. Want to learn more? “What’s Next” will point you to some of best art and art history tools on the web. Get started–but don't keep all the fun to yourself. Make your own quizzes, and share your User Galleries and your DIY creations on social networks.

Please let me know if you have any questions.

BrainPop is back!

Good news....

BrainPop is back!
http://www.brainpop.com/

If you need the username/password, please email or see me.

That Quiz

On Saturday, I attended EdCamp Milwaukee.  A FREE "Unconference".
Participants were encouraged to come with an idea for a session to lead in anticipation for a full day of learning.  A session could potentially explore anything related to education.  A session might explore a technology tool, a discussion about best practices or a collaborative presentation with multiple facilitators. 

That Quiz was shared by one of the participants:
http://www.thatquiz.org/

What is That Quiz?

• A free service for teachers who want to replace paper tests with online testing.
• An online grade book providing fast analysis of class and individual student progress.
• An exchange for teachers to share the resources they create.
• A skills site for students, especially useful for math practice and testing.
  

To get started using That Quiz all you have to do is create an account for FREE.

Please let me know if you have any questions...

Film English

Film English
http://film-english.com/

An English teacher in Barcelona created Film English. 
The three main objectives of Film English are:

• promote the critical and creative use of film in the language classroom
• promote cineliteracy, the ability to read critically and evaluate moving images, in the language classroom.
• promote creativity amongst both teachers and student

Each "entry" give a link to the film along with ideas for using the film in your classroom.

Interactive Language Arts

I recently came across this blog:
Interactive Language Arts
http://interactivelanguagearts.com/

Interactive Language Arts is a blog dedicated to presenting the best resources for integrating technology into middle and high school Language Arts classrooms–for blending traditional literacy instruction with technology literacy

instruction

Technology is embedded in the Common Core.  I believe this website/blog will be a valuable resource in moving forward with Common Core. 

You are Your Words

Great website shared on Twitter today:
You Are Your Words
http://www.youareyourwords.com/

Description from the website:  The American Heritage Dictionary invites you to create a self-portrait using your words.
The words that tell the world who you are. That make you, you. It's easy to do.  Create a unique image that can be shared and saved and will remind everyone that You Are Your Words.

It is a busy site, so I would recommend write words before going to the site then cutting and pasting.  (They need a minimum of 400 characters.) 
The image can be uploaded or can be taken on the webcam. Then the final image can be downloaded. 

How Small is an Atom

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yQP4UJhNn0I&list=UUsooa4yRKGN_zEE8iknghZA&feature=plcp

The Spangler Effect - Cool Science Experiments

http://www.stevespanglerscience.com/the-spangler-effect.html

About the Show

He's the science teacher you always wanted to have in school. Things just happen to fizz, pop, smoke and explode, and before you know it, you're a part of his learning experience. His passion is to find the most creative ways to make learning fun. His methods might be unconventional, but the goal is to turn ordinary science experiments into unforgettable learning experiences. And when it happens, it's called The Spangler Effect.

It's a series about a group of people who are passionate about finding cool ways to make science fun. They turn ordinary do-it-yourself science activities into extreme experiences that spread like a virus, make noise (literally) with crazy science challenges, produce "no way!" revelations and the occasional explosion, and help parents and educators find creative ways to get kids excited about learning.

Make it big, do it right, give it class - that's The Spangler Effect.

You Tube Channel:
http://www.youtube.com/user/TheSpanglerEffect?ob=0&feature=results_main

Khan Academy

60 Minutes last night had a segment on Khan Academy:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zxJgPHM5NYI&feature=youtu.be

With the backing of Gates and Google, Khan Academy and its free online educational videos are moving into the classroom and across the world. Their goal: to revolutionize how we teach and learn. Sanjay Gupta reports.

Math Topics include:

• Arithmetic and Pre-Algebra
• Algebra
• Geometry

Science Topics include:

• Biology
• Chemistry
• Physics

Social Studies Topics include:

• History
• American Civics
• Art History

For a list of videos currently available on Khan Academy visit www.khanacademy.org/#browse (Note...videos are being added weekly.)

Coaches, parents, and teachers
Coaches, parents, and teachers have unprecedented visibility into what their students are learning and doing on the Khan Academy.

• Ability to see any student in detail
• A real-time class report for all students
• Better intelligence for doing targeted interventions

How it works for students
Students can make use of our extensive video library, practice exercises, and assessments from any computer with access to the web.

• Complete custom self-paced learning tool
• A dynamic system for getting help
• A custom profile, points, and badges to measure progress

A Direction Sheet on setting up Khan Academy for teachers (coaches) and students.
Khan Academy can be found at: www.khanacademy.org
Please let me know if you have any questions and/or if I can be of any assistance.

Math in Google Docs with Built-in "Equation Editor"

Google Docs has an easy to use equation editor that offers a convenient way of inserting mathematical notation and maths symbols into a document

This blog post gives directions on accessing and using the Equation Editor:
http://paulhami.edublogs.org/2012/02/11/math-in-google-docs-with-built-in-equation-editor/

Internet 4 Classrooms

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

Physics in Real Life

A fantastic resource provided by PBS to help kids understand Physics in real life (or at least in the circus)
http://www.pbs.org/opb/circus/classroom/circus-physics/

Bookwink

http://bookwink.com/index.html

Below is from their site: 
Bookwink's mission is to inspire kids to read. Through podcasting and web video, we hope to connect kids in Grades 3 through 8 with books that will make them excited about reading. The videos are approximately 3 minutes long and are updated monthly. Each video booktalk is about a different topic, and additional read-alikes can be found on the Bookwink website. You can look for books by subject, grade level, author or title. We are constantly updating the book lists with our newest favorite books.  

Tip: To view video full screen, click the arrows in the bottom right-hand corner of the video.

Word Hippo

http://www.wordhippo.com/

Enter a word and it will find its definition, similar words, opposite words or words which rhyme with that word.