The Dream Team…

Kelly Tenkely5 Comments on The Dream Team…2118 views

This marks the week before the first week of school.  The school I’m starting. Wow, weird to say.  I’m can’t promise a solid week of posts as we scramble to get everything squared away.  In the mean time, I thought I would “introduce” you to the Anastasis Academy dream team.  They are a seriously incredible group!

Stand Again (click here to meet the team!)  Stand Again is the official Anastasis Academy blog.  We chose Stand Again because it is what Anastasis translates to in Greek.  You may also see the team using the #standagain hashtag on Twitter to tell of our adventures, it is the quickest way to see what we are up to. 🙂

I hope that those of you who are starting back to school this week have an incredible year ahead of you!

#RSCON3 Reflection Party Save the Date!

Kelly TenkelyLeave a Comment on #RSCON3 Reflection Party Save the Date!1120 views

You are cordially invited to the official #RSCON3 Reflection Party on Saturday, August 13th at 8am LA time, 10am Houston, 11am NYC, 4pm London, 11pm Perth! Check more time zones here, http://bit.ly/rscon3partytimezones
We will raffle the rest of the prizes including the iPad 2!

Here is the room link, https://sas.elluminate.com/m.jnlp?sid=2008350&password=M.0743256FB7C4BCBCBFA7D1BB923C68

We will see you there!

Sincerely your organizers,

Shelly Terrell, Clive Elsmore, Kelly Tenkely, Chris Rogers, Lisa Dabbs, Melissa Tran, Mark Barnes, Ian Chia, Cecilia Lemos, Kyle Pace, Jerry Blumengarten, Chiew Pang, Greta Sandler

27 Days of Professional Development: Day 3 Short History of Finnish Education

Kelly Tenkely3 Comments on 27 Days of Professional Development: Day 3 Short History of Finnish Education4789 views

I’m continuing to spread the Reform Symposium inspiration and professional development through a blog post series here!  Today I’m sharing a fabulous opening Keynote from the Reform Symposium about the history of Finnish Education by Timo Ilomäki and Aki Puustinen.  I continue to be amazed at the educational approach and model in Finland.  If you aren’t familiar with Finnish education I urge you to view the recorded keynote and follow-up with some Googling of “Education + Finland”.

The keynote was really fantastic.  I loved catching a glimpse of what education looks like in other parts of the world and this was no exception.  We have so much to learn from and with each other.  My favorite portion of the keynote was when one of Timo Ilomäki and Aki Puustinen’s students answered questions from educators around the world.  Even if you can only catch part of the keynote, definitely make sure to catch that portion at the end!

To view the keynote click here: Short History of Finnish Education

This will download the recorded Elluminate session to your computer using Java so that you get the full effect of video and chat box during the keynote.

Math Pickle: Put your students in a pickle encouraging genuine problem solving!

Kelly Tenkely8 Comments on Math Pickle: Put your students in a pickle encouraging genuine problem solving!11370 views

 

What it is:  Math Pickle is a FABULOUS site for mathematics inspiration that I learned about from @davidwees Reform Symposium session.  Math Pickle features mathematics videos for students in kindergarten through twelfth grade.  The videos feature real students engaging in inspiring math problems and puzzles.  The videos often speak to unsolved math problems throughout history that students work to solve.  In the unsolved problem, students must use developmental level appropriate math to work out the problem.  Math Pickle is the brain child of Dr. Gordon Hamilton who wants to abolish elementary mathematics as a subject and push the idea that problem solving is at the very heart of mathematics. The videos featured on Math Pickle do just that, put your students in a math “pickle”.  If you think about the purpose of mathematics, this makes perfect sense.  What we really want is students who are great problem solvers and can use mathematics to help solve those problems.

How to integrate Math Pickle into the classroom: Math Pickle is the most excellent mathematics inspiration I have come across.  It approaches mathematics from the standpoint of a problem solver instead of from the standpoint of a rules follower.  Already that shift in thinking makes my brain happy.  Brilliant.  Math Pickle has problems and videos for every grade kindergarten through twelfth.

Use these videos to pump some inspiration into the way you approach and teach math or show them to your students and encourage them to continue solving the problems.  Don’t forget to film your students working through their own math pickles!

The Inspired page of Math Pickle is a must see.  Students can take a look at what mathematicians do in real life.  They can also learn about the source of Math Pickle problems.

Tips: Be sure to check out Muse, news and reviews for additional ideas, puzzles and reviews of math products, puzzles and games for the classroom.

Please leave a comment and share how you are using Math Pickle in  your classroom!

27 days of professional development: Day 2 Multimedia and Interactivity in Mathematics

Kelly Tenkely3 Comments on 27 days of professional development: Day 2 Multimedia and Interactivity in Mathematics4884 views

To keep the Reform Symposium learning and inspiration going I decided to do a 27 days of professional development series.  Day 1 was my Keynote about how a blog post and a Twitter conversation started a school.  Today is Multimedia and Interactivity in Mathematics by David Wees.

In this session, David examined the role of multimedia and interactivity in mathematics education.  I love the way that David looked at how photography can make such an impact (particularly for visual learners) in the math classroom.   Capturing math in the world around us can help students view math differently.  Toward the end of the session I asked David if he had created a Flickr group for math photos…working on twisting his arm to start that one for all of us.  🙂

This was a fantastic session!!  During the session, David mentioned Math Pickle.  Math Pickle is such a great math website that I’m going to do a second review post just for it.

To view David’s session, click the link to the right: Multimedia and Interactivity in Mathematics*

*This link is to an Elluminate recording, it will ask to download the session to your computer and requires a Java plugin to run.  Well worth the effort to open it because you get to see everything (chat included) as it happened live!

 

Keynote: how a blog post and a Twitter conversation started a school #RSCON3

Kelly Tenkely5 Comments on Keynote: how a blog post and a Twitter conversation started a school #RSCON33119 views

Last week at this time I was getting ready for my Reform Symposium Keynote.  It was fun to share with everyone but what I really enjoyed about the weekend was learning from everyone else!  The Reform Symposium recordings are now live!  To keep that learning going I’m going to do a 27 days of professional development series.

For the next 27 days in addition to sharing a tech tool, I’m also going to share one of the Reform Symposium sessions.  Last weekend was such an incredible time of learning and sharing that I want to keep the momentum going.  It is also a GREAT excuse for me to attend all of the sessions I missed out on during the conference.

If you missed my keynote last week about how a blog post and a Twitter conversation started a school, you can view it here.  This is a link to the Elluminate session (a Java download).

Below are the slides I used in my Keynote.  For those who asked, I made the slides using Apple’s Keynote.  I just drew a timeline, inserted some pictures, text and voila- timeline!

 

 

Moneyville: Economics and money virtual world for elementary students

Kelly Tenkely2 Comments on Moneyville: Economics and money virtual world for elementary students2540 views

What it is:  Moneyville is a fantastic site I learned about from iLearn Technology reader Tania.  This is an impressive site from the UK that teaches young kids (5-9 years old) about money and economic principles.  Moneyville is a fun interactive environment/virtual world where students can explore where money comes from, what money is worth and how they can prioritize spending and save (perhaps the US government should be playing this game?).  Throughout the game, students are asked to make a number of decisions that can affect their finances for the year.  In Moneyville students can make money by picking apples and selling apple juice, work at the post office to sort packages according to value, work at the city gates where they can earn money by painting, purchase items for their virtual room with the money they have earned, visit with a wizard who can reveal a secret treasure and add items to a wish jar where students can place items they are saving for.  Students will also find a time machine in Moneyville where they can journey to ancient Rome, ancient Egypt, the Middle Ages, or to the time of the dinosaurs.  The money in Moneyville is generic so it can help students of any country the principles of where money comes from, how to prioritize money, the value of money, and why it is important to save.

How to integrate Moneyville into the classroom: Moneyville is a fun way to help young students understand the basics of money and economics.  The site is a fun way for students to explore economic principles.  It provides a great place to start discussions about what it takes to make money (work), why money is important, why saving is important and how the economic cycle works.  Moneyville would be a great site for students to play on individually in a lab setting at the beginning of a money/economics unit.  Expand the game into other disciplines.  Students can learn about persuasion and advertising by creating advertisements for their businesses in Moneyville using a paint or word processing program.

Don’t have time/resources at school for students to play Moneyville in the classroom? Introduce them to the game using an interactive whiteboard or projector-connected computer. This is the type of site that my students begged to be able to continue on at home.  I never made it homework but rarely had a student who didn’t play at home!  If you do have an IWB or projector, create a class Moneyville account.  Let students take turns making decisions in Moneyville and talk as a class about the consequences (and unintended consequences) of those decisions.

Tips: Students create a username and password so that they can play in Moneyville with all of their progress and money saved.

Please leave a comment and share how you are using Moneyville in  your classroom!

Project PLN is Back! Be a part of #projectPLN this year with a post

Kelly Tenkely4 Comments on Project PLN is Back! Be a part of #projectPLN this year with a post4986 views

Project PLN is on it’s way back! @thenerdyteacher and I met on Skype today after our brief summer hiatus to plan the upcoming year of #ProjectPLN.

For those of you who are unfamiliar with Project PLN, it is an online magazine that publishes articles from members of our personal learning network from all over the country and world!  Project PLN is totally free to you but the ideas, inspiration and people you will meet as a result…well that is just priceless.  Each month the editors (that is me and @thenerdyteacher) choose a topic for the next issue.  We ask our PLN (that is you) to share their thoughts in the form of an article (or blog post you may have written).  We publish every post we receive as an article and put it in one convenient location where we can then share with the world.  My favorite part of Project PLN: being introduced to new educators and ideas from around the world.

Last year we used Openzine to host our magazine. We had such and incredible response that sometimes we caused some Openzine fails.  This year we are moving the whole operation to WordPress.  You can find the new site for Project PLN at http://projectpln.com.  We are still playing with the layout and formatting so you can ignore the mess while we are tinkering.

And now to announce your part in all of this: we are accepting posts for the September 2011 issue!  Our theme for the September issue is getting started.  We would love to hear from you about how you get started for the school year.  This could be activities you do with your students, staff development, classroom decorations, or even how you pump yourself up for a new year.  There are so many creative ways to get ready for a new year and we want you to share yours with the rest of the PLN!

Here are the bits you will need to know to be included:

Please send the post to ProjectPLN10@gmail.com

Please provide a bio of yourself to be added at the end of the post, this should include where you are in the world, your Twitter ID if you have one, and a link to a blog, website, etc. if you have one.

Please include a picture with your post (it makes them so much more appealing!)

Please send us your submissions by Friday August 26th.

If you have questions you can always send us an email, contact us on Twitter (@ProjectPLN), or find us on Facebook.

 

I cannot WAIT to share what we have cooked up for October-December.  It is going to be fun!

Don’t hog all of the fun to yourself, share with the rest of your PLN.

Kelly and Nick

Editors-Project PLN

Science Toy Maker

Kelly TenkelyLeave a Comment on Science Toy Maker2448 views

What it is:  Science Toy Maker is a teacher-created website with fantastic instructions and ideas for science toys and projects.  These are mysterious, kinetic, noisy, do-it-yourself science projects that spur scientific investigation.  The science toys and projects are inexpensive (seriously so cheap that anyone can make them!) and don’t require special skills, tools, materials, or work space.  Each toy or project has a “more about” page that includes explanations, historical context, related activities, and high-quality links for more research.  Each toy/project also has a clear step-by-step video directions or text instructions with helpful pictures.  This is a GREAT resource for the classroom, for students interested in science and for parents.

How to integrate Science Toy Maker into the classroom: Science Toy Maker is a fantastic place to visit for fun science projects and inspiration.  These simple toys/projects demonstrate powerful science concepts and can be used as an introduction to a new concept or an illustration of a concept.  They are easy enough to follow for kids to do them independently making this a great stop for a center activity.

Do you have students who just can’t get enough science?  Send them to Science Toy Maker to continue that passion inside and outside of school.  Parents will appreciate the resource to keep their kids learning and students will enjoy the continued exploration and creating.

I love sites like this one, it may not be the most visually appealing site, but the content and ideas behind it are wonderful.  Why not have your students create their own science experiment site?  Throughout the year, students can record science experiments with photos or videos and add information and research they have gathered.  This can be added to a class wiki for reference later in the year and to share with other students.

Tips: The most developed projects and toys are at the top of the site with those that are still a work in progress toward the bottom.

Please leave a comment and share how you are using Science Toy Maker  your classroom!

Pinterest: My new obsession

Kelly Tenkely33 Comments on Pinterest: My new obsession7586 views

What it is:  Pinterest is a new obsession of mine.  I signed up for the invite-only version a while ago but hadn’t done anything with the service since.  In between Reform Symposium sessions I wandered back on to check it out.  Wow. I know there are other tools out there that do what Pinterest do but none that are so immediately user friendly and visually appealing.  I am impressed and addicted.  Pinterest lets you “pin” things from around the web on virtual pin boards.  You can create as many boards as you want and share them with others.  Each time you pin something you can give it a description and tags if you want. Pinterest does the rest and automatically cites the source and provides a trail to get back to the original.  As a teacher I love Pinterest for pinning all of those great ideas I find around the web visually.  I can write a quick reminder to myself about what I was thinking when I pinned it or how I want to use the tool.   SO great!  A lot of times I come across some random craft or picture that spurs an idea for something I want to do for the classroom.  Because it isn’t a tech-tool or related to education it often gets lost.  Pinterest is helping me grab all of those ideas and keep them around so I actually put them to use.  Very nice.

How to integrate Pinterest into the classroom: Pinterest is a great way to organize yourself as a teacher.  Gather up all those ideas you see online and then share them with other teachers (who may or may not be Pinterest users…it really doesn’t matter).

Because you can share Pinterest boards with non-Pinterest users, this is a great way to share things with students.  The resource could be anything- pictures, a website, a video.  Create a board for every unit that you do and share those boards with students so that they can continue exploring and learning.

Students can use Pinterest too, invite young students to help build boards in a class Pinterest account.  Create a board for every letter of the alphabet and let students add pictures that they come across to the letter board that it matches.  Pinterest has a bookmark tool that you can put in your bookmark bar to make this as easy as one click!  Students can put their first name in the description so you (and other students) can keep track of who found what.  Like a year-long web scavenger hunt!

Older students can create their own Pinterest boards.  Pinterest would be a great place for them to collect images that they feel say something about them-an identity board.  These boards can be shared with others and added to all year.  Not only will you get to know your students better, but other students will find connections they didn’t know they had.

Pinterest is a nice visual way for students to share their web findings.  Pinterest even lets students decide if they want to be the only contributor to their board or if they want to open it up for collaboration so others can add their findings to the board.  Way cool.

I have two Pinterest boards that may be of interest to you, one is Classroom Inspiration where I am keeping ideas of things I want to do with students or for our classroom.  The other is School Design where I am collecting inspirational designs that I want to see in our school when we build our own building.

Tips: Right now Pinterest is an invitation only site.  You can sign up to receive an invitation (I received mine in about 10 min) or you can let me know you are interested in an invite and I can get you on the list.  See that? It is worth reading to the bottom of posts- VIP access! Leave a comment if you want an invite and be sure to use a real email address because that is how the invite gets to you.

Please leave a comment and share how you are using Pinterest  your classroom!