Wikipedia at a Glance

Wikipedia is an information wonderland. But is it good information? Wikipedia gets a bad reputation at times because of how it's set up: with anyone having the ability to add and edit entries. However, Wikipedia isn't just a nonsensical website. It has things in place and set up to help the information seeker find quality, trusted sites.  So instead of shunning wikipedia immediately and outlawing it as an option for researching, teach kids good digital citizenship and show them how to look for and analysis wikipedia articles for their quality and trustworthiness.

Padlock: there is a padlock on some wikipedia entries. The meaning of these padlocks can be found HERE. Padlocks restrict who can make an entry and who can edit an entry, making it a much more trusted source of information.

Stars: Some articles/entries are starred, which means they are "Featured Articles" aka best articles Wikipedia has to offer.

Good articles: Articles with a green plus sign in the middle of a circle are considered "good articles" and can be trusted.

Student Presentations

Having students present is something that has been done for along time and will continue to be done going into the future. It's good for students to get the experience and opportunity to show what they know and practice talking in front of people. Giving the students a chance to perform should never go away. What should go away is students standing in front of the class and reading a bunch of text off their power point slides. When this is done, the students are not presenting, they are just reading to the class. They are not showing evidence of learning/understanding if they are just reading. We want our students to present! A big myth is that power point is dull and boring and shouldn't be used. The tool is NOT the issue, it's what's on the slides. Some of the best presenters I have seen recently use power point. They are awesome at presenting, not because the tool, but what they have on the tool and, more importantly, what they say/how they say it. There are lots of presentation tools out there, some more "exciting" than others, but it still boils down to what's on the slides and what the students say. 

A few years ago, I wanted to go in a better direction for student presentations so I implemented the TED format for student presentations. If you ever watch TED videos, there's very little text on the slides. Just some images or talking points. You will NEVER see a TED presenter read off their slides, so why should we allow our students to do that?  

My recommendation for Student presentations:

*1-2 words per slide only. NO EXCEPTIONS (unless it's a poignant quote)

*No note cards or paper for the student to read off of

*Use insightful pictures to help tell the "story" of what the student is presenting on.  

Forcing students to these guidelines will increase rigor, thinking, learning and their ability to present thoughtfully and creatively.  

Perhaps it's time, for TimeMaps

Looking to add a little spice into your students' map use? Not happy with the maps in your boring, paper atlases? Well, then maybe it's time you try TimeMaps. 

This free site provides you with tons of interactive maps of World History. You can hit "play" and watch how things change/progress over time. On the map, you will find images to click to get further detail/info about that particular region/time period. There are over 1,500 maps, historical overviews, and in-depth articles, images, etc.  This is more than just maps. It's a maps website with power. You can zoom in and out to get the viewing experience you want. 

This could be a major element of a lesson, or simply provide the link to your students for them to have an opportunity to discover something new and share it. 

Get more out of YouTube Videos

YouTube is an immense collection of videos, we know that. We also know that YouTube is a wonderland for educators to find quality, interesting videos to help teach a concept or illustrate a topic. But, what we may not know is EDpuzzle. Edpuzzle is a tool that lets us get more out of youtube videos. It beefs them up, it gives us options, it gives us the ability customize the video viewing experience. Instead of simply watching the video, or watching the video and answering questions, Edpuzzle allows you to orchestrate a dynamic viewing experience. Free of charge, Edpuzzle allows you to set up a class with a "class code" so your students can join with their Google account. With your students joined in, you can assign videos for them to complete--whether for reinforcement, learning, review, etc. 

As mentioned, Edpuzzle allows you to create a more dynamic viewing experience. It helps you get more out of the video. Here's the deal: Get a Youtube video that you want to show. "Upload" it into Edpuzzle and from there, you can choose what the students do while watching. You can ask them MC questions, open ended questions, or have them comment. You can add a "voice track" which is a audio recording of yourself explaining the video the student is watching. You can also trim the clip to focus on just the part you want.
You assign these to your class so you can see how your students did on the questions, comments, etc. so it is a quality formative assessment piece. You can also share it with the world with the link, though you do not get individual results unless they are part of your Edpuzzle class.
Not only can  you use YouTube videos, but you can search for other videos from Khan Academy, TED, Vimeo, National Geographic, and many more. You can search these other video sites from within Edpuzzle.
Check it out! I think it could be a great piece to add to your classroom puzzle.

Great Google Trick!

Have you ever heard of a Google Easter Egg? Well, Google is quite clever. They like to have fun with their product and one example of that is with "Easter Eggs." Like the name suggestions, these Easter eggs are like what you do around Easter: hunt for hidden eggs. Google has hidden tricks and fun things throughout Google.com for people to find.  I was preparing something the other day and I needed a picture of Atari's "breakout" so I google imaged it and all of a sudden, before my very eyes, the google image screen turned into a game of Breakout! 
So, if you go to Google and image search "Atari breakout" (or click "I'm feeling lucky") the actual game will begin and you can play it with the mouse. Give it a try! It's kinda fun. 

Google Docs: Simple Navigation

I find it annoying to scroll through Google docs. I feel like sometimes my scroll wheel is going to wear out! It is because of this feeling that I set out to find a solution. Some google docs are not that long, so it's not a big deal. But others can get to be quite lengthy and constantly scrolling through the doc is not an effective use of the small amount of time we have in life. The solution I found is "table of contents" and "bookmarks." Both fairly similar, but each add their own unique advantage. 

Bookmarks: You can attach bookmarks anywhere in a google docs for fast, efficient navigation. When you add a bookmark, you can then "link" a word to that bookmark, so when you click the word, it brings you to that spot automatically. Here's an example: Mesopotamia Closure. In the example, I didn't want my students to have to scroll through everything every time. I wanted them to be able to click the task and be brought right to it. 

Table of Contents. Table Contents works much the same way--creating words into links that you can click and quickly move to that spot. With table of contents, you need sub headings. So when you type out a word, you need to change it from "normal text" to a "subheading." Once you have all your subheadings done, go to "insert" -- "table of contents" and a table of contents will appear for easy navigation. Example Here. (This is a demo created just for an example) 

Save that Tab! (Google Chrome)

NOOOOO!!! I needed that tab! But I accidentally closed it because I have too many tabs and the area to select a tab is so small that I accidentally hit the 'x'!!! I don't know about you, but I tend to have a ton of tabs open when working in Chrome. When this happens, it is extremely likely that I accidentally hit the 'x' instead of the tab itself. This could be very bad! You may really need that tab and not remember how to get to the site you were on! Well, rest easy, my friend because Google has a solution to this problem. In the event you close a tab by accident, simply hit Ctrl + shift + T (though you don't need caps) and it will reopen the tab, along with browsing history so you can still go "back" if you need to. Handy tip, huh??

Ctrl + Shift + T (windows)

Command + Shift + T (Mac)

EdCamp Harrisburg

Ever been to an "Edcamp"? Well, if you have, you probably know the benefits of going and connecting with other passionate educators from around the area. If you have not gone, I highly recommend giving it some thought. Edcamp is like a "unconference," which means people show up for the "conference" and then decide what the conference will be about. In the morning, the "edcampers" discuss what sessions/break outs they want to have and who will help facilitate. It is not sit and listen to presenters the entire day. It is a come as you please, interactive day. For example, let's say there's a session on differentiated instruction. You can attend, listen and when you feel like you've had enough, simply move on to another session (perhaps GAFE or project based learning, for example.) What sessions will be offered will not be known until the day arrives, after it's been decided by the attendees. This is a great opportunity to learn and grow professionally. Also, it's a chance to connect and share ideas. AND, it's FREE! 
Door prizes, doughnuts, coffee, pop, food, etc. It's all free! 

Event Website
Click to Register for Edcamp Harrisburg (it's Free)

October 18th, 2015. Harrisburg South Middle School
Schedule for the day

8:30-9:30 - Breakfast/Mingle/Build Schedule -Come when you please... We just hope everyone is there around 9am

9:40-10:30 - Session 1

10:40-11:30 - Session 2

LUNCH  - Give aways and Game time! 

12:50-1:40pm - Session 3

1:50-2:40pm - Session 4

2:45pm - Wrap up/Reflect on the day

iMovie Tutorial

Link to Slideshow

Spice Up Your Text Message Game with "Bitmoji"

Looking to add a little spice to your text messages? Feel like your texting game as gone bland? Well, maybe what you need is "Bitmoji." 
Bitmoji is an app for Apple and Android that gives you a ton of new emoji's. What's even better is that you can customize the emoji's to look like yourself! Once you edit how you look in the app itself, you can select bitmoji's to use in your text messages. There are a wide variety of bitmoji's so you are sure to find the perfect emoji for the situation. 
Here's how to do it:
-Go to App store and get "bitmoji." 
-Open "bitmoji" app and customize what you look like.
1. Go to "settings"
2. Go to "general"
3. Go to "keyboard"
4. go to "keyboards"
5. touch "Bitmoji--bitmoji"
6. Turn on "access allow"
7. Use it! In a text message, click on the icon (looks like a globe with lines) in the bottom left to access the bimoji's.