Not necessarily new Information, but new to me.

iPad:  Did You Know. . .
. . . when reading your email or website and you want to save a pdf file you can download it to iBooks? Simply touch the upper right hand corner of the ipad and select iBooks. This is where your pdf will be downloaded and stored. Then, open your iBooks apps, select collections, (next to store button) select pdfs. It's slick and saves paper.


Web Tools of the Week:

CK-12 - A great site for free digital textbooks that are aligned to state standards.I searched science middle school and I found a great book with videos and images of what students were studying. I am using that chapter this week with my students.

PaperRater -  Free site that grades and checks for grammar, spelling, proof reading, and plagiarism for specific written work, for example: lab reports, expository, persuasive, book reports, movie reviews. . .  Simply copy and paste your written work, select the education level of your student's paper and then the TYPE of paper to be analyzed. It will display the grammar, spelling, word choice and it will assign a grade for high school level and above. Furthermore, it gives comments and advice on how to write the paper better.

Apps of the Week:

from the Simplek12 webinar

TED is a nonprofit site devoted to Ideas Worth Spreading. There are a lot of videos with excellent interviews, educational information, and world events on this site.

hudsonAlpha iCell 
There are 3 cell options: plant, animal or bacteria. One can move the 3D cell and view organelles where the structures are labeled and function explained. The best part is that it has 3 levels of information, basic, intermediate, and advanced.

  

Web 2 and Classroom Instruction that Works

Our school district uses Classroom Instruction that Works and I want to add a professional development page onto my wiki that includes web 2 tools that I use and can facilitate in a workshop. I found while searching wikipedia that this was already created on http://www.web2thatworks.com/index.php?title=Classroom_Instruction_That_Works.
Can I use most of the text in my wiki with the creative commons license and siting the sources?

wikispaces in education

Today I added science pictures from flickrstorm to my wiki page that represents visually what my student will learn this year. I asked them to try to figure out what each of the pictures represents. I sent them each a postcard to visit my wikipage. Now I think I will add podcast welcoming them to our classes wikipage. I am very excited about this connection with my students before school even begins. Hook them early, and often.

I know there is a tremendous advantage to blogging in science. Does anyone have any ideas where to start?

tags: middle school blogging, david jakes, blogging in science,

What have I learned from Web 2.0 Tools?

I think back to Monday morning through today, I learned how to create, respond, comment, edit, and post blogs. I learned to communicate with twitter, add or delete friends, find fast answers to questions. What I really found useful was the delicious site which allows me to network resources, and piggyback off others tags. Mostly, though, I enjoyed Pageflakes and Bloglines which allowed me to place all these tools in one place for me to see. This is sooo cool!!

Pageflakes vs. Bloglines

I am a newbie to each of these tools. I have added many flakes and posts to my pages, what is your best use/flakes/posts that works for you?

Response to How would I use Blogging as an instructional tool.

We have teaching teams at AFMS, in which I am apart one in the 7th grade. I can effectively use one hour of team time and get all the 7th grade teachers to begin a blog site. I have 1/6th of the 7th graders for six weeks intervals in my technology class. I will be able to have the students respond to the teachers blog. Once they are ready, they can create one of their own and by the end of the year, I will have taught the proper/best practice to blogging to all the 7th graders.
125 students and 9 teachers

As I set my colleagues up with blogs, I will have them post essential questions regarding their curriculum. Therefore, the students will benefit from reflective learning and teachers from reflective teaching.

As a classroom teacher, do you think there would be a problem with only some students learning how to blog at a time and not all will know how until the end of the year?