Category: For Teachers

Motivation for your Friday

Kelly TenkelyLeave a Comment on Motivation for your Friday2333 views

Today I spoke at the ACSI conference in Colorado Springs, it was a great experience and I really enjoyed connecting with other educators and sharing some technology resources that they hadn’t seen before.  (Wix site for conference)

The highlight of my day was hearing keynote speaker, Guy Doud.  In one of the education courses that I took in college we watched the video about Guy Doud called “Molder of Dreams”.  Guy was the 1986 National Teacher of the Year awarded by President Ronald Reagan.  Listening to Guy today, it is clear that he deserved the title of National Teacher of the Year, but really, he has been Teacher of the Year many years to those whose lives he has reached through teaching.  He is certainly an inspiration to me and reminded me exactly why it is that I started teaching.  I encourage you to enjoy some of Guy’s motivation for your Friday.  You can read Guy’s story here.  You can also download an mp3 audio version (outstanding because you can hear his story the way he tells it…very funny!)  If you are interested in Guy’s book, Molder of Dreams, or in his video, Molder of Dreams, check them out here.   (VERY reasonably priced and believe me well worth every penny!)   Do you have students in your classroom that reminds you of a young Guy Doud?  What teachers in your life formed your life and the way that you teach and relate to students?  Thank God for teachers like Guy Doud!

A few of my favorite things…

Kelly TenkelyLeave a Comment on A few of my favorite things…2082 views

No, I haven’t disappeared off the face of the earth!  I have been getting ready for a conference I am speaking at and it has consumed all of my blogging time this week.  I thought I would share with you what I have been working ont.  It is a collection of my favorite sites (by no means comprehensive…I had to narrow down from 5 pages of sites that I love to what I can fit into an hour of speaking).  I created a site using www.wix.com to share these sites broken down by school level.  Enjoy!  A few of my favorite things…

Fold a US Candidate

Kelly TenkelyLeave a Comment on Fold a US Candidate2558 views

 

What it is:  Fold a US Candidate is a fun site that has paper foldable puppets of the US candidates for the 2008 election.  (I am very entertained by this right now!) Both presidential nominees are featured as well as their wives.  There is also an election day count down on the site to let your students know how many days, hours, minutes, and seconds they have to wait before the big day.  This is a fun site to get your students interested in the upcoming election.  

 

How to integrate Fold a US Candidate into the classroom:  Students of all ages are sure to get more involved and interested in the election after visiting this site and making their own president puppet.  These would be fun to use as you are discussing the upcoming election in your classroom.  While the site is chock full of facts about the candidates, the paper puppets would add to learning about the election and the different candidates.  Split your students into groups and assign each a candidate to study.  They can find out what the candidates believe about some key issues in the upcoming election.  Then they can have a mock debate using the puppets and the research they have gained.  

 

Tips:  Print out and fold your US Candidate today!  🙂

 

 

Leave a comment and share how you are using Fold a US Candidate in your classroom.

 

 

Free Federal Resources for Educational Excellence

Kelly TenkelyLeave a Comment on Free Federal Resources for Educational Excellence3602 views

 

What it is:  Free Federal Resource for Educational Excellence (that is a mouthful, hence forth shall be known as FREE) is a excellent resource for finding teaching and learning resources from federal agencies.  Resources are broken down in to subjects arts and music, health and physical education, history and social studies, language arts, math, and science.  Subjects are further broken down in to sub categories making it simple to find exactly what you are looking for quickly.  There is also a great section called U.S. Time periods where you can search US history resources by time period.  New sites are added to FREE regularly, you can get the new resources delivered to you by subscribing to the FREE RSS feed.  The teaching and learning resources linked to from the FREE site are valuable to your classroom and will save you loads of time in searching for quality resources.  

 

How to integrate Free Federal Resources for Educational Excellence into the classroom:  Use FREE to find quality online resource for any subject that you are teaching.  Some of the linked websites are specifically for teachers and some are activities and sites for students.  Use this as a first stop when you are creating new lessons or enhancing the good old standby lessons.  The FREEresources will enhance your lessons with rich content for your students.  

 

Tips:  Sign up for the FREE RSS feed for new resources delivered to you several times a week.  

 

 

Leave a comment and share how you are using FREE in your classroom.

 

Smile Box

Kelly TenkelyLeave a Comment on Smile Box4212 views

 

What it is:  Smile Box is a free application that I love.  The scrapbooker in me loves Smile Box for all of the digital scrapbooking qualities.  The teacher in me loves all of the classroom applications that Smile Box could be used for.  Smile Box is a free software that lets students combine photos, videos, and music into one amazing multimedia presentation.  Smile Box used to only be available for PC’s but now have a Mac version that is outstanding.  The Mac version integrates seamlessly with iPhoto and iTunes without any additional plugins!  Students can choose from over 700 design templates to use as a base to combine media.  The final Smile Box project can be embedded in a blog, sent via email, or printed.  

 

How to integrate Smile Box into the classroom:  Smile Box has many classroom applications.  The software is a great place for students to do some digital storytelling combining pictures, podcasts, and video.  Students could create a weekly paper about the happenings in your classroom, a memory book for each student for the end of the year, etc.  Smile Box is also a great place for students to make Mothers/Fathers day cards, Christmas cards, Happy Thanksgiving greeting, etc.  Students can also use Smile Box to create rich content reports.  For example, instead of writing a paragraph about what they learned while studying about Russia, students could create a media rich postcard about Russia.  

 

Tips:  Smile Box is simple to use and very intuitive.  Students will love creating with 

Smile Box!  

 

 

Leave a comment and share how you are using Smile Box in your classroom.

Google Election Tools for Teachers

Kelly TenkelyLeave a Comment on Google Election Tools for Teachers2721 views

 

What it is: Google has an excellent tool resource center for teachers and the newest addition is the Elections tools for Teachers section.  Google is partnering with the National Student/Parent Mock Election to get students of all ages excited about the coming election in November.  The tools and activities help teach students about the candidates, issues, and about the election process in general.  Tools include an electoral college map, journey maps, YouTube You choose videos, Election video search, Power Readers, letter to the next president, and more.

 

How to integrate Google Election Tools for Teachers into the classroom:  Google offers amazing tools to educators and the Election Tools for Teachers don’t disappoint!  Each tool on Googles site offers ideas for integration in the classroom and lesson plans.   This years election seems to be different in so many ways than elections of the past…our future presidents are using technology like YouTube, Facebook, and blogging to influence voters.  The Google Election Tools are a great way to examine this phenomenon more closely while teaching about the election process and about the candidates and issues.  Enroll your class in a Mock Election that will take place on October 30, 2008 and before your students cast their vote, use the Google tools to engage students in learning more about the candidates and issues.

 

Tips:  If you don’t have access to the election videos because YouTube is blocked at school, use a file conversion program like www.zamzar.com to download the video from home.  

 

Leave a comment and share how you are using Google Election Tools for Teachers in your classroom.

 

Flowgram

Kelly Tenkely1 Comment on Flowgram4285 views

 

What it is: Flowgram is a website that makes it easier to teach your students online.  Flowgram has a simple platform that makes is easy for anyone to package and share anything on the web.  Flowgram can combine slideshows, documents, pictures, screencasts, websites, audio, video etc. with your voice narration.  This makes it simple to teach any concept using the web.  Flowgram requires no download, it runs directly from your Internet browser.  Recipients of the Flowgram can fully interact with anything that is on the Flowgram (webpage links, video, etc.).  Flowgrams can be sent via email, linked to, or embedded in a blog or website for viewing.   

 

How to integrate Flowgram into the classroom:  Flowgram is a wonderful way to create interactive tutorials for students learning any technology concept.  Beyond that, Flowgram makes it easy for you to take your students on virtual field trips on any subject.  What I love about Flowgram, is that it meets individual student needs.  Students can work at their own pace and interact with any part of the Flowgram as many times as they need.  It would also be a great place to create reviews for tests, and perfect for students who have missed school.  Teach your students to make Flowgrams and start your own library of student created tutorials on any subject.  Students teaching students is powerful!  Because you can narrate Flowgrams, they are wonderful to use with students who struggle with reading and navigating the Internet on their own…it is like having you sit right next to them, leading with your undivided attention.  

 

Tips:  I have started creating a weekly Flowgram for teachers at my school called Tenkely’s Tips.  I will be creating a new page with a collection of the weekly Flowgrams.  Feel free to check them out! :)

 

Leave a comment and share how you are using Flowgram in your classroom.

 

 

The Common Craft Show

Kelly TenkelyLeave a Comment on The Common Craft Show3832 views

 

What it is: I love the Common Craft Show.  If you aren’t familiar with it, it takes complex ideas and breaks them down into something that is simple and manageable in video format.  The videos are short and sweet but you always finish with a more clear understanding of whatever it is that is being presented.  Videos on the Common Craft Show range from “Electing a President in Plain English” to “Wikis in Plain English”.  Most of the videos are related to technology that could be used in the classroom such as twitter, social networking, blogging, wikis, and RSS feeds.  The videos all have a common, fun to watch format.  As I said, I LOVE the Common Craft Show!

 

How to integrate The Common Craft Show into the classroom:  The Common Craft Show is a great way to introduce a complex technology tool like a wiki or blog to students.  The videos quickly break everything down into easily managed parts so that students (teachers too) can understand what the tool is and how it works.  The new “Electing a President in Plain English” video is extremely timely and will help your students understand how a president gets elected.  Use theCommon Craft Show as an example for students to create their own explanation videos.  Students can work in groups to explain a concept like “Multiplication in Plain English” that the rest of the class can watch.  

 

Tips:  These videos aren’t just for students.  Just heard about a technology tool you don’t quite understand?  Head over to The Common Craft Show and see if they have simplified it for you! 🙂

 

Leave a comment and share how you are using The Common Craft Show in your classroom.

 

The Great Plant Escape

Kelly Tenkely1 Comment on The Great Plant Escape4973 views

 

What it is: The Great Plant Escape is a wonderful interactive website created by the University of Illinois Extension for fourth and fifth grade students.  Every school that I know of teaches a plants unit at some point in the curriculum.  This is a great way for your students to interact with their learning in science class.  Each lesson in The Great Plant Escape introduces students to plant science.  Activities engage students in math, science, language arts, social studies, music and even art.  The Great Plant Escapeincludes six mystery cases that students must help solve.  They do this in a variety of ways depending on the activity.  This site can be played in English or Spanish making it great for your ESL or ELL students as well as those kiddos learning Spanish as a second language!

 

How to integrate The Great Plant Escape into the classroom:  The Great Plant Escape offers a lot of flexibility depending on your classroom setup and student abilities.  Students can work individually in a lab setting or in groups as a center in the one or two computer classroom.  This site would also be appropriate for whole class instruction with a projector or interactive whiteboard.  Each activity has an accompanying teacher section that will familiarize you with the material covered in that “case”.  Be sure to check out the Links page for some excellent resources for additional lessons and websites dedicated to teaching kids about Plants and life cycles.  This site is sure to add a lot of interest to your plant unit in science.  My students have really enjoyed it!

 

Tips:  Visit the Teacher’s Guide for a free poster for The Great Plant Escape for your classroom.  

 

Leave a comment and share how you are using The Great Plant Escape in your classroom.

 

Studio4Learning

Kelly Tenkely1 Comment on Studio4Learning11164 views

 

What it is: Studio4Learning is a great site for students in fifth through twelfth grades.  It provides students and teachers with free, high-quality videos that can be watched online.  There are ten categories of videos to choose from Math, Sciences, English, Languages, Social Sciences, Business, Arts, Test Prep, Find a Job, and Tutor Corps.  Each category is broken down into several sub categories.  Videos are engaging and teach key skills and concepts in a fun way.  Students can also use the sites search feature to search for a specific topic.

How to integrate Studio4Learning into the classroom:  Students can use Studio4Learning as a place to stop for homework help and to learn or review concepts learned in class.  Teachers can use Studio4Learning as a center, with a projector, or on individual student computers to illustrate new teaching or as a place where students can review information.  Studio4Learning is free to use, if students register (also free) they can bookmark videos.  Teachers can upload class topic videos to Studio4Learning, again free. (Are you seeing a theme here? It is all free!)  As an added bonus, if you have a class website or blog, you can embed videos directly into your site for students to watch on any subject you are studying in class.  


Tips:  Browse through a couple of videos on the site, I know you will be hooked!

 

Leave a comment and share how you are using Studio4Learning in your classroom.