Olympic Studies

I always become very interested in the Olympics and end up becoming mesmorized by events I'd normally pay no attention to.  I also become fascinated by the athletes and their stories and countries.  So, it's very likely that our students are also involved and engaged by the Olympics.  It makes sense to connect some learning with the current world event.  Mr. Byrne at Free Technology for Teachers highlights some resources worth checking out in his post, "Exploring the Olympics on Google Earth and Google Maps."  You can take Google Earth tours of the competition sites and view maps of the medal distributions.  It'd be a great way to tie in some geography. 
In first grade, we teach a lot of sportmanship/teamwork as well as patriotism so the Olympics would be a great way to tie in those concepts.  I wonder if there are apps of sites that would be good for connecting those topics?

Cell Phone Handout

We all know how popular smartphones are these days and we've heard of college professor and some high school teachers embracing the use of them with their students, but have you heard of colleges giving their incoming freshmen free smartphones?  Well, that is what Seton Hall University is trying.  Ryan Lytle detailed the initiative in his article "Free Cell Phones for College Students."  The goals are that freshmen will be able to connect with each other and their teachers, that they will stay engaged in school from wherever they happen to be, and that they can be taught how to use the phones professionally and productively.  Because students are so familiar with using smartphones, the school's vice president thinks that having them for educational purposes is a great way to keep the learners engaged.  While college instructors have mixed feelings about smartphones in the classroom, many teachers are using it to their advantage in helping students connect with the real world and engage in more meaningful learning.
I just wonder if the phones will then be used strictly for educational purposes or if students are allowed to conduct all of their "personal" business on them as well.  Will students no longer go to college with their own cell phones?  Do you think this type of initiative will take off among other colleges?

6 Web Tools Worth Exploring

In the article "Summer School for Teachers" on Edutopia, Nicholas Provenzano discusses 6 web tools that he thinks teachers should take the time to explore.  He listed If This Then That, Livebinders, Prezi, Glogster, Evernote, and edshelf and gave descriptions of each.  While I have heard of a few of these, many are new to me.  Prezi is something I've seen before and I know several teachers who use it, but I haven't tried it out yet.  I'll have to give it a shot this year.  Evernote is one that caught my interest as it is a way to organize your teaching materials!  The author said he went from 3 filing cabinets to just one half filing cabinet when he started filing all his stuff with Evernote. 
Have you guys tried any of these web tools?  What are your favorites?

Connecting the Community with Live Streaming

Principal and blogger, Joe Mazza, posted a story on Edutopia about how live streaming can be used to broadcast school events to family and community members.  Free tools like UStream make it possible for far away relatives or busy parents to virtually attend everything from graduations to band concerts to PTA meetings.  Several schools have decided to embrace this type of connection and ensure they prepare the appropriate technology before events.  Through this live streaming, schools have seen their meeting attendance rise and parents are even able to contribute their thoughts and questions and participate in online polls.  Integrating live streaming is just one way technology is helping connect home and school.

Student Blogs

This post is great for anyone who is still hesitant about starting a blog with your class.  Mrs. Patton at www.pattonspatch.blogspot.com wrote an entry called "Blogging with students? Yes please! (Even the little ones!)."  She attended a conference about using technology to support good teaching and was very impressed with Kathy Cassidy's session on blogging with students.  Mrs. Cassidy's Classroom Blog is such a great example of how useful blogging can be.  I'm very interested in letting my students have their own blogs for this upcoming year and her site is very inspirational in how to make that happen effectively.  Mrs. Patton discusses how the blogs can be set up and how Mrs. Cassidy ensures student privacy is protected while still letting people all over the world see their digital porfolios.  Getting comments from parents, other students, and random people from around the world would be so motivational to my students and I know it would enhance their writing and effort.  I really hope I can make that happen this year, so if any of you want to stop by our blogs and leave comments, that would be great!  Check out Mrs. Cassidy's blog for some wonderful ideas and examples and head to Mrs. Patton's blog too for a nice summary.

Overlap Maps

Mr. Byrne at Free Technology for Teacher highlighted a website that could be great for social studies/geography lessons.  His post discusses some of the features of OverlapMaps.com.  The site lets you compare the size of two places (countries, states, bodies of water) by having one overlap the other.  A lot of times, my students have trouble visualizing differences in size and viewing it on an ordinary wall map or globe doesn't always help much.  This site lets them easily compare the size of places and could be a nice addition to any study of places.  It could even work for comparing settings in stories or birthplaces of famous Americans.  You might as well use it in math too when discussing measurement topics like size and distance.  It is a relatively simple tool, but I think kids would enjoy it and benefit from what it shows them.  Plus, it is easy enough to do whole group or for the kids to do on their own. 

Best Apps for College Students

Allegra Tepper wrote an article for USA Today titled "10 apps for the connected co-ed."  The article highlighted some of the best and most useful apps for kids who've gone to college and are suddenly out on their own.  She discussed apps for fitness, budgeting, cooking, and planning, but the one that intrigued me the most was the free app called gFlash+ Flashcards & Tests.  It sounds like it's a better, high tech version of the traditional index card.  With the app, you can download and create flashcards that also include pictures and videos.  There is a way that you can sort them for what you know and what you don't know and you can sync your cards with your classmates' through Google Docs.  It seems pretty handy and like something I probably could have benefitted from when I was in undergrad or high school even.  I wonder if this app could be used in the classroom at the elementary level?