Mrs. Olivieri-Barton's Blog for Integrating Technology in the Classroom

Starting 3rd Week Teaching HS Tech

2009-08-31T08:10:00.001-07:00

Many things to teach these kids. In two weeks, we have hit on Google Docs and Spreadsheets, Google Sketchup, Email, Cyber-Bullying, Microsoft Excel, Typing and reading the book "A Whole New Mind". I feel like I have to slow down a little for some and speed up for others. I think Google Sketchup has been the biggest hit so far.

Another Photo

2009-06-24T14:25:00.000-07:00

Click the title above to get to http://pics4learning.com/

Pics4Learning is a copyright-friendly image library for teachers and students.

The White House Flickr

2009-05-04T13:26:00.000-07:00

The White is using Flickr. This combination could be very to history teachers and students alike. The photos are great access to the White House and it is very interesting to see what people are thinking about some of these photos.

Lists of Tools

2009-04-27T11:50:00.001-07:00

Many times you see great lists of tools that you want to save well here is one more.

This is a tech-savvy teacher who shares it all: 122 for You

The FETC Virtual Conference

2009-04-24T14:27:00.001-07:00

This week a colleague of mine sent me to a link for this conference. It was all on-line and had an exhibit hall and lounge. I wasn't fully able to take advantage of all of it, but what I saw was incredible. The ideas are great and lots of interesting weblinks. There is almost all downloadable PPTs to remind you of what they are conferencing on.

So far, my favorite has been discussions in many of the sessions for the need of Professional Development to change. Teachers must have play time to use the new technology. Teachers must be encouraged to go to all training. Training should always be in small groups of 15 or less. I would encourage you to attend the conference when you have time, it is up until July 23rd, 2009.

Brain Neurologist/ Middle School Teacher

2009-04-21T09:53:00.000-07:00

This is a very interesting post about Top Ten Necessities for Educational Reform

FETC Conference

2009-04-17T08:41:00.001-07:00

I just signed up for the virtual FETC conference. Click link above to sign up.

Eyes on Art

2009-04-12T18:09:00.000-07:00

AT&T has some incredible lesson plans. I love this one on Art. Click title above to get there. It talks about the appreciation of Art which a lot of students might not be learning.

Marzano at CUE

2009-04-07T07:49:00.000-07:00

This link above (if you click the title) should get you to Marzano speaking at the Computer Using Educator (CUE) Conference. He has some great insight.

Our next tech fair

2009-04-06T11:17:00.000-07:00

Getting ideas for our district tech fair and I am thinking of doing a SPEED GEEKING. This works just like Speed Dating. But with people sharing their technology.

Great Video about our Amazing Lives

2009-03-30T07:22:00.000-07:00

Click on the title link above for an interesting youtube video about our amazing lives.

Pixton Comic about Technology Spectrum

2009-03-19T20:25:00.000-07:00

Comic Life Example

2009-03-19T08:43:00.000-07:00

I created blank Comic Life strips for teachers to use as a last minute project. Ask the kids to explain a lesson using the printed comic strip.

Cameras

2009-03-17T10:47:00.000-07:00

Ordered 12 new Flip Videos for school today. YEAH!!

How do you get current information?

2009-02-27T18:59:00.001-08:00

How do you get current information about ISTE? They are on twitter. Sign up now and you can follow ISTE's hottest news.

Media Literacy

2009-02-26T09:51:00.001-08:00

I really like the above link (click on the title). It shows kids lots of information about Media Literacy.

Concept Mapping

2009-02-25T11:44:00.000-08:00

Here is a concept map you can use with kids to get them to organize their notes.

Brain Games are always fun

2009-02-18T14:16:00.000-08:00

Here is a link to a fun brain game site:

www.happy-neuron.com

Teacher Portal - THINKFINITY

2009-02-17T19:22:00.000-08:00

This is a teacher portal where you can find lesson plans and activities for all sorts of topics. Click the Title to go to Thinkfinity.org to check it out.

Spelling City

2009-02-09T13:48:00.001-08:00

Do your students need to work on spelling? Click Spelling City to find a site that could help you and them.

Royalty Free Photos

2009-02-05T13:04:00.000-08:00

When you want to get a fast picture with no strings attached (copyright issues), go to google and add the phrase "royalty free" to your search.

Social Studies Ideas

2009-02-02T07:12:00.003-08:00

Do you want to look at the front page of big newspapers? click the title above.

Scientific Method

2008-12-04T11:48:00.001-08:00

Topic :: SCIENTIFIC METHOD

* TIME for Kids: Scientific Method
Students will identify steps of the scientific method in a news story.
http://etgredirect.1105web.com/redirect.aspx?id=1057
* The Science Spot: Scientific Method & More
Features a variety of lessons and activities to introduce students to the process of scientific inquiry.
http://sciencespot.net/Pages/classgen.html#Anchor1

* Steps of the Scientific Method
Contains a detailed introduction to the steps of the scientific method.
http://www.sciencebuddies.org/mentoring/project_scientific_method.shtml

* MythBusters: Scientific Inquiry
Learn from the MythBusters, who use the scientific method to prove or disprove common beliefs about physical science.
http://school.discoveryeducation.com/teachers/myth-busters/

* Introduction to the Scientific Method
This resource provides information on the scientific method.
http://teacher.nsrl.rochester.edu/phy_labs/AppendixE/AppendixE.html

* A Valid Conclusion? Testing and Reporting on Hypotheses Using the Scientific Method
In this lesson students explore the importance of accuracy in reporting, focusing particularly on articles documenting scientific discoveries.
http://www.nytimes.com/learning/teachers/lessons/20051220tuesday.html

* Scientific Impressions
Throughout the duration of the three lessons, students use scientific methods and analyze featured artists and their works.
http://artsedge.kennedy-center.org/content/2461/

School Tube Website

2008-11-20T13:21:00.000-08:00

SchoolTube provides students and educators a safe, world class, and FREE media sharing website that is nationally endorsed by premier education associations.

Looking for Photos

2008-11-20T11:38:00.001-08:00

Search millions of photographs from the LIFE photo archive, stretching from the 1750s to today. Most were never published and are now available for the first time through the joint work of LIFE and Google

Basic Troubleshooting Info

2008-11-18T08:58:00.000-08:00

Google Apps Information for MSMS Students

2008-11-18T07:34:00.000-08:00

How to Use Google Docs

To get to the Google Page for Middle School

1. Go to: http://partnerpage.google.com/student.mssd14.org. This link is also at the bottom of the MSMS website.

2. Log in: User name (first initial middle initial last name)

3. Password: (first name followed by the last four digits of the student ID)

4. On the top left, click the Green tab which reads “Google Docs”

5. On the top left, click on the Blue tab which reads “New”, then you can choose “Document”, “Spreadsheet”, “Presentation”, “Folder”

6. Click on the white “File” tab on the left hand side, and click “Rename” to name it.

7. To share with your classmates, click on the blue-grey tab on the right hand side named “Share”.

8. In the area that states “Invite People”, click in the white text box and type in their username@student.mssd14.org. Press the Return/Enter key on the keyboard to add more than one. Make sure to add the teachers e-mail, i.e., nmorath@mssd14.org. Then click “Invite Collaborators”

9. The website will ask “Are you sure you want to invite someone outside your domain?” Click “OK” button. A message can be added to your invitation.

10. When you are done inviting people, click on “Back to Editing”

Creating a PDF on a MAC

2008-11-13T11:47:00.001-08:00

If you want to send a file to someone and need to make sure that they get credit for it, you need to go to the File, Print. At the bottom, click on the PDF button and click Save as PDF. All computers can open a PDF file.

Keystrokes for Firefox

2008-11-13T06:56:00.000-08:00

New Tab
Command + T

Open Location to get to the address bar
Command + L

Reload
Command + R

Zoom IN
Command + +

Zoom OUT
Command + -

Comic Life

2008-11-12T20:24:00.000-08:00

Comic Life is licensed to Manitou Springs School District and anyone can use it. Read this article about why you should incorporate it. Comic Life Article

Ms D'Agostino just used this in 6th Grade Science. You could also print out your own forms for a sub to use as an assignment.

Internet Browsing

2008-11-12T19:51:00.000-08:00

* You can tap the Space bar to scroll down on a Web page one screenful. Add the Shift key to scroll back up.
* You don’t have to type “http://www” into your Web browser. Or the ".com" or other extension. Example, if you type in google in the address bar it goes straight to www.google.com
* When you’re filling in the boxes on a Web page (like City, State, Zip), you can press the Tab key to jump from box to box, rather than clicking. Add the Shift key to jump through the boxes backwards.
* You can enlarge the text on any Web page.On the Mac, it’s the Command key and plus or minus.
* When you’re searching for something on the Web using, say, Google, put quotes around phrases that must be searched together. For example, if you put quotes around “electric curtains,” Google won’t waste your time finding one set of Web pages containing the word “electric” and another set containing the word “curtains.”
*On the computer, * means “times” and / means “divided by.”
* You can switch from one open program to the next by pressing Command-Tab (Mac).

Look at the Voki idea. . .

2008-11-11T10:15:00.001-08:00

Get a Voki now!

Ms Collopy's Sites for November

2008-11-10T07:00:00.001-08:00

POETRY WEBSITES

Poetry 180
- 180 poems chosen by a former poet laureate, Billy Collins

http://www.pbs.org/newshour/extra/poetry/
- Entry point for the PBS poetry focus

http://www.poetseers.org/themes
- notable poems by contemporary and historic authors

http://www.pbs.org/wnet/foolingwithwords/main_poet.html
- Some notable modern poetry

http://www.poets.org/page.php/prmID/58

- Scroll down to find lists of popular contemporary poets and lists of popular historical poets

http://www.hti.umich.edu/cgi/t/text/text-idx?page=browse&c=amverse
- only use this site if you know the name of the poem or author

QUOTATION WEBSITES

http://www.quotationspage.com/subjects/

http://www.famous-quotations.com/asp/categories.asp

http://en.proverbia.net/citastemas.asp?letra=F

http://www.inspirationalquotes4u.com/
- scroll part of the way down the page to see quotes organized by subject/topic

http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/topics.html

http://www.quoteworld.org/browse.php

http://www.quoteland.com/topic.asp

http://www.famousquotes.com/by_category.php?letter=a

http://www.quotationreference.com/subject_index.php

http://en.thinkexist.com/topics/

21st Century Skills

2008-11-07T12:59:00.001-08:00

21st Century Skills by Apple

Background as to why to move to 21st Century Skills are in this video:
http://www.teachertube.com/view_video.php?viewkey=8416a242f40fb7d7f338

Facts
• The number of text messages sent and received today exceeds the population of the planet.
• There were more than 2.7 billion searches performed on Google. . . this month 2,700,000,000.
• More than 50% of US 21 year-olds have. . . created content on the web.
• More than 70% of US 4 year olds have. . . used a computer.
• Our kids are entertainment technology savvy not educational technology savvy.

What are 21st Century Skills:
• Figuring out the right questions and using skills to solve new problems
• Working in teams
• Working across disciplines
• Learning how to find, communicate and apply information
• Initiative and leadership in "flat" organizations and taking responsible risks
• Managing time and commitments - prioritization and flexible time
• Interacting in a multimedia, graphics-based environment
• Working with left and right sides of the brain together
- Tony Wagner, Harvard

Virtual Field Trips

2008-11-04T10:13:00.000-08:00

Here is a great site to look at Virtual Field Trips.

http://www.edutopia.org/virtual-field-trips