technology – Page 6 – iLearn Technology

Top 10 Technology Tips for New Teachers

June 8, 2009December 20, 2010Kelly TenkelyLeave a Comment2294 views

Yet another article that I wrote for http://theapple.com This article has been a popular one, it had the most views EVER on TheApple in one day! I wrote these tips for new teachers but the tips are valid for those of us who have been teaching for years as well. Enjoy!

Kelly Tenkely | TheApple.com

Being a first year teacher can be overwhelming to say the least. There is new curriculum to learn, unfamiliar school policies, classroom management challenges, and new teammates. Technology can help to ease some of these first year growing pains.

1. Develop a Personal Learning Network (PLN) on Twitter.

Twitter is an excellent place for new teachers to connect, collaborate, share ideas, and struggles with educators around the world. When joining Twitter, make sure to fill out your profile with information related to education. This will help others in education find you. Visit http://twitter.com to create an account. Visit http://twitter4teachers.pbworks.com to find other educators that teach in the same content area(s). Be sure to add your Twitter name to the appropriate list so that other educators can find you.

2. Keep students engaged.

Always have engaging activities on hand to keep your students on task and learning. Students will misbehave if they have nothing to do, don’t give them the opportunity to be bored. Technology is a great way to fill those extra minutes with critical thinking and problem solving activities. Keep a list or bookmark folder full of great online logic puzzle and problem solving websites for students to refer to when they have extra minutes. List ideas on 3×5 notecards that are kept next to the classroom computers. Students can select a card for an engaging activity any time they have a few extra minutes. Here are some suggestions for great engaging websites:

Fantastic Contraption- http://fantasticcontraption.com/

Super Thinkers- http://www.enlightenme.com/enlightenme/superthinkers/pages/index.html

Toy Theater- http://www.toytheater.com/index.php

Science Museum Launch Ball- http://www.sciencemuseum.org.uk/launchpad/launchball/

I Know That Thinking Games- http://iknowthat.com

Zoops Games that make you think- http://www.zoopz.com/zoopz/zoopz2.html

Light Up Your Brain- http://lightupyourbrain.com/

3. Take charge of professional development.

Just because you have a degree doesn’t mean that you are finished learning. A good teacher is continually learning. Technology makes it easy to extend your learning by offering professional development on demand. Professional development will keep your teaching fresh, current, and will remind you of what it is like to learn something new. Teachers who are continually learning make empathetic teachers, they understand how frustrating it can be to learn something for the first time. These are great places to continue your learning:

Learner.org – http://learner.org

Thinkfinity- http://thinkfinity.org

Tapped in- http://tappedin.com/tappedin

Teacher Tap- http://eduscapes.com/tap

Edutopia Instructional Modules- http://www.edutopia.org/instructional-modules

4. Involve parents by creating a link between home and school.

It is essential to build a strong connection between what happens at school with what happens at home. Students shouldn’t stop learning when they leave your classroom. Keep parents informed so they can be advocates for their kids education at home. There are a few ways to keep parents involved and informed:

Build a simple website to share classroom policies, unit overviews, homework, newsletters, calendars, and links to helpful websites. These websites are as easy as 1-2-3 to create and will keep your parents in the know. Check out the following free website creators:

Wix www.wix.com

Weebly www.weebly.com

Bloust www.bloust.com

Yola www.yola.com

Lunar Pages http://wiki.lunarpages.com/Free_Education_Account

Create a classroom Twitter account (http://twitter.com) and invite parents to follow the class on Twitter.

Throughout the class day invite students to post short updates about learning on the classroom Twitter account. Examples would be: “Yikes, about to take a pop math quiz!” or “Reading chapter 3 of Wayside School, can’t wait to hear what happens next.” This keeps parents updated with exactly what is happening in your classroom throughout the school day. When students get home parents can ask about specific activities that happened throughout the school day instead of getting the standard “nothing” answer when they ask what they did that day. This is also a great place to post homework. It is fast and gets students and teachers thinking about and reflecting on the learning of the day.

5. Keep yourself organized.

During the first year of teaching you will find a lot of new great resources, keep track of all these great finds in one easy to manage location. Delicious.com is a bookmarking website that allows you to bookmark and organize websites and webtools as you find them. Bookmarks can be collected and shared with others educators through Delicious. Be sure to install the Internet browser plugin so that you can easily bookmark a site with the click of a button.

6. Find educational blogs to discover new ideas, encouragement, and educational news.

I have found some educational blogs written by other educators that make me laugh, keep me current, and encourage me on tough days of teaching. Below are some of my favorite blogs, you can find other great blogs by clicking on the links in each bloggers ‘blog roll’. These are the blogs that the blogger is reading.

NCS-Tech- http://www.ncs-tech.org

Three Old Farts- http://threeoldfarts.com/

Cal Teacher Blog- http://calteacherblog.blogspot.com/

Always Learning- http://mscofino.edublogs.org/

Once Upon a Teacher- http://onceuponateacher.blogspot.com/

Regurgitated Alpha Bits- http://regurgitatedalphabits.blogspot.com/

Smart Education 1 to 1- http://smart1to1.blogspot.com/

The Cornerstone Blog- http://thecornerstoneforteachers.blogspot.com/

The Strength of Weak Ties- http://strengthofweakties.org/

Bestest PE- http://bestestpe.blogspot.com/

Confident Teacher- http://confidentteacher.blogspot.com/

iLearn Technology- http://ilearntechnology.com

7. Get to know your students.

Nothing means more to a child than getting to know them individually. Find out about their likes, dislikes, family, pets, friends, and hobbies. Technology can make it easier to get to know your students. Sign up for a classroom http://think.com account. Each student will get a protected web space. Here they can create school related web pages, and interact with you and other students in the form of debates, votes, blog posts, and online collaborative projects. Pose questions on your think.com space for students to answer. In my experience, even shy students are willing to share with you in this type of environment.

8. Work smarter not harder.

Use websites like Scholastic’s Book Wizard that will help you work smart and maximize your time. Scholastic Book Wizard helps you to find just the right books for your students. Level your books, find booktalks, author information and lesson plans. Search books by level, author, title or keywords, or find similar books at the reading level you need. http://bookwizard.scholastic.com/tbw/homePage.do?ESP=TBW/ib/20081222/eng/tbw_logo///thlp/img////

9. Don’t reinvent the wheel.

There are a number of free lesson plans available online for every topic and grade level. These can be excellent, creative supplements for school curriculum.

Scholastic Lesson Plans- http://www2.scholastic.com/browse/lessonplans.jsp

LessonPlanz- http://www.lessonplanz.com/

Hot Chalk’s Lesson Plans Page- http://www.lessonplanspage.com/

Teachers.net – http://teachers.net/lessons/

Lesson Plan Central – http://lessonplancentral.com/

teach-nology- http://www.teach-nology.com/teachers/lesson_plans/

A to Z Teacher Stuff- http://atozteacherstuff.com

10. Always be prepared.

Plan out lessons, and keep them organized. Discovery School has a great online lesson planner where you can create and store your lesson plans. Lesson Planner lets you edit, print or download your lesson plans while linking to puzzles, worksheets, and quizzes that you have created with the teacher tools on DiscoverySchool.com. http://school.discoveryeducation.com/teachingtools/lessonplanner/index.html

It’s Not All About the Technology

May 21, 2009May 25, 2009Kelly Tenkely1 Comment8978 views

Another article written for The Apple. If you aren’t part of this teaching community, you should be! Sign up today and be sure to add me as a friend ktenkely.Kelly Tenkely | TheApple.comThis may seem like a strange title coming from a technology evangelist and integration specialist. But it is true, it isn’t all about technology in classrooms. Don’t get me wrong, technology can and will do amazing things to increase student learning, differentiate instruction, and meet students where they are. Understand, technology alone can’t do this, it isn’t the golden ticket that when plugged in solves all educational problems. I see many schools who purchase the latest-and-greatest technology, software, and infrastructure only to have the technology collecting dust a few years later when it didn’t solve the education problems of the school. This isn’t the technologies fault, it doesn’t mean that the technology has failed to deliver. What schools often miss is that it isn’t really about the technology at all. There is a foundational level that needs to be addressed in schools first.Many classrooms still look the way they did in the 19th century. The teacher is at the front of the classroom giving students facts to memorize, rules about grammar, math, and science. The role of the student is to take it all in, memorize, and regurgitate the information back in the form of an essay, worksheet, or test. The teacher marks up the student work, puts a grade at the top, and returns it to the student. The process repeats itself as the teacher works to squeeze in all of the curriculum before the end of the year. Technology can’t improve this learning environment. In fact, technology will feel forced and unnatural in this classroom model. Technology invites students to problem solve, create, think critically, and collaborate. The focus is not on memorization and testing but on discovery and creativity. In this classroom model, technology may be used to replace the chalk board with a PowerPoint presentation. This may be more visually appealing, but it doesn’t change how students are learning. The teacher is still the center of the classroom and students are still taking it all in and regurgitating back on worksheets and tests. Learning hasn’t really changed so the results continue to stay the same.Students learn by doing. Students learn through making connections to things they already know. Students learn through discovery. Students learn when they are the center of their education. Technology lends itself naturally to this type of classroom. Technology enhances learning exponentially when introduced into a classroom where students are at the center of learning. Think about the most popular technologies with students today outside of the classroom. For elementary students those that top the list are Club Penguin and Webkins. For secondary students they are Facebook, Myspace, YouTube, and Twitter. What do these have in common? They are all social. Each of these tools invites communication and collaboration. Students aren’t interested in technology for the sake of technology, they are hooked by the increased ability to communicate ideas and work together. In the traditional classroom students complete work for one person: the teacher. There is very little communication after the paper has been handed back. What can technology do to make learning more of a collaborative effort? Web 2.0 tools (those online tools that invite communication and/or collaboration) make learning collaborative.Blogs, wikis, videos, slideshows, and websites can be used in the classroom as a place for students to create and share their work with a wider audience. This audience could be as small as a classroom and parents, or as large as the whole world. These online spaces make students the ‘experts’ and put them in charge of their own learning. They have a sense of ownership in their education. It isn’t about the teacher, it’s about them. Technology invites students to discover learning. Students today find very little value in memorization. It is no wonder that this is the case, many of them walk around with smart phones in their pockets. At any given time they can Google anything and be given thousands of resources that will answer their question. This introduces a new requirement of education. We must teach students to think critically about the information they find. Yes, they can Google anything, but will they know what information is factual and what information is bad? Technology allows students to experience things that they may not other wise have the opportunity to experience. For example, taking a virtual field trip to Egypt to see the pyramids, hear an archeologist speak, and ask the archeologist follow up questions. These experiences help students to make connections to their own lives that would not have been possible with note taking followed by a quiz.Technology alone will not change education and student learning. First, the classroom environment needs to change. We need classrooms that value student centered learning, collaboration, critical thinking, problem solving, and creativity. We need classrooms that value learning. Our goal as teachers should not be to get our students to pass a test, but to teach them how to learn, unlearn, and relearn. Regardless of the technology being used in the classroom, students need these foundational skills to succeed in life. When partnered with this type of classroom, technology will increase student learning and performance. Before any school looks at hardware or software for the classroom, they need to set up a solid educational foundation. The expectation needs to be set that students will no longer be memorizers, they will be thinkers and creators.

Ideas to Inspire

March 30, 2009Kelly TenkelyLeave a Comment2434 views

What it is: Ideas to Inspire is a truly wonderful site and wealth of resources for teachers. On this site you will find a collection of Google Doc presentations that include a number of ideas for engaging lesson activities in a variety of curriculum areas. The collection comes from inspiring teachers from around the world. You can find Ideas to Inspire on Writing, Interactive Math, Incredible Science, Amazing Art, Marvelous Music, and learn interesting ways to use Google Docs, Pocket Video Cameras, Interactive Whiteboards, Google Earth, Twitter, Netbooks, Webcams, and Visualizers. Ideas to Inspire also has great tips for non-techy teachers (I remember being one of those once-upon-a-time). Ideas to Inspire is very easy to navigate and each presentation is jam packed with truly inspiring ideas.

How to integrate Ideas to Inspire into the classroom: It happens to the best of us, we get settled in our ways and fall into a teaching slump where we can’t come up with a creative lesson idea to save our lives. Sound familiar? Ideas to Inspire is the place to go, here you will find inspiration, helpful tips, and get those creative juices flowing again! Take a few minutes and look through some of the presentations, you will be happy you did. 🙂

Tips: This is my last post for the day, head over to Ideas to Inspire and be inspired today!

Leave a comment and tell us how you are using Ideas to Inspire in your classroom.

Virtual Apple 2: Oregon Trail

March 13, 2009Kelly Tenkely4 Comments7128 views

What it is: Those of you who were in school or teaching just as schools were starting to get computer labs will appreciate this post. Remember Oregon Trail? The original Oregon Trail? It still exists!! Virtual Apple 2 has an online space where you can play games from the Apple 2 days. I loved Oregon Trail as a student and now it is back in all of its glory. No need for a mouse you type in a number to make selections, or “Y” for yes and “N” for no. I can’t tell you how excited I was to find this great game just the way I remember it! For those of you not familiar with Oregon Trail, this is a game designed to teach kids about pioneer life. The player assumes the role of wagon leader and builds a team and purchases supplies that will help to make it from Independence Missouri to Oregon by way of covered wagon in 1848. It was a great role playing game that had a lot of learning packed in!

How to integrate Virtual Apple 2: Oregon Trail into the classroom: Students today aren’t nearly as impressed with this game as I was/am. At first, they will not appreciate playing the game for the sake of playing the game. In my classroom, I like to introduce this site to students to give them an idea of the history of technology and what computer graphics and games looked like when I was a student. They enjoy comparing and contrasting Apple 2 Oregon Trail with the games that they like to play today. This site is a great way to start discussions with students about where technology has come from and where they predict it will go. (What will games look like when they have kids?) After knowing the history of this game, my students appreciate it SO much more. They really get into it and ask the same questions I asked as a kid, “what is yellow fever?”. The difference being that today they can go to Wikipedia or World Book Online and discover their own answers.

Tips: Virtual Apple 2 has all of those games that you remember playing when having a colored screen instead of orange or green was really something. Take a look through and re-discover those games again!

Leave a comment and tell us how you are using Oregon Trail in your classroom.

GE Smart Grid Augmented Reality!

March 9, 2009March 9, 2009Kelly Tenkely8 Comments2825 views

What it is: Okay, sometimes I just have to share things because they are off the charts amazing. Augmented reality is something I was introduced to by my graphic artist husband. Until I found this GE Smart Grid site, I wasn’t able to share it with others and let students play with it. What is augmented reality? Basically you print off a sheet from the website that has a bold graphic on it. When you hold up this graphic to a web cam, a 3-D model is produced on screen, by moving the paper you can look at different views of the 3-D model, zoom in and out, and in some cases cause the model to react to other inputs (like blowing into the microphone). The GE Smart Grid Augmented Reality shows a digital hologram of smart grid technology in the form of wind turbines and solar energy.

How to integrate GE Smart Grid Augmented Reality into the classroom: I am introducing this site to my students as a discussion starter for where technology is going and brainstorming what augmented reality could be used for. The Smart Grid site can also be used when teaching students about alternative energy sources like wind turbines and solar energy. They can actually see 3-D models of each and interact with them. This would be a great introduction and attention grabber for an energy unit in science classes.

Tips: Augmented reality is still relatively new technology, it is starting to pop up in the advertising world and in baseball trading cards. Hopefully the education sector will jump on this technology, how amazing would it be to hold up a science worksheet to the computer and be able to see a 3-D model of a skeleton, or a beating heart?! (I’ll see if I can talk my husband into working on a few augmented reality education goodies). 🙂 Mac users, if you can’t get it to pick up your camera, ctrl + click on the popup window and choose the USB camera option. Enjoy!

Leave a comment and tell us how you are using GE Smart Grid Augmented Reality in your classroom.

SM@RT Education Technology Services Inc. Education 1 to 1

March 6, 2009Kelly Tenkely5 Comments16139 views

What it is: Today I was truly inspired by a fellow blogger. Mike Summers is relatively new to the educational blogging scene and even relatively new to the education scene, but as I read his posts I was inspired for change. Mike has written 23 posts and after I read his first three I couldn’t help but spend the next hour (and every 5 min. break between classes) to read all 23. As I read the posts on his blog, SM@RT Education Technology Services Inc. Education 1 to 1, I kept saying aloud, “exactly! This is right on with what I have been thinking, this is what keeps me up at night.” After getting through about half of the posts it was time for lunch, I joined my colleagues in the teachers lounge and reiterated what I had been reading. It started an amazing discussion with those who were present. When I finished reading I was ready to take on the world. If there are so many like-minded educators and people who are passionate about education succeeding, why are we stuck in the rut we are in?

How to integrate Education 1 to 1 into the classroom: This is a blog that you should take the time to read and respond to. I am passionate about technology and technology integration in the classroom, but I know that putting the best technology in the world into the classroom is not going to change education. Education needs to change on a foundational level. We need to transform the way we are teaching from the 3 R’s “RAM, Remember, Regurgitate” and teach our students how to think critically, creatively, and collaboratively. We need students who are problem solvers. Technology is always going to feel forced in the traditional classroom because it invites students to create, solve problems, and work together. In the traditional classroom technology acts as a replacement for a chalk board but does essentially the same old thing. It may be more visually appealing but it is not transforming our students. (More of this in my next issue of iLearn ezine…taking longer to complete than expected!) Read Mike’s blog, it will inspire you, it will change the way you approach technology, your students, and your classroom. Next, start a conversation with other educators. There has got to be a way that we can change education and shape it into something that we can be proud of. Something that will benefit our students and make them better human beings. Isn’t that why we entered education in the first place?

Tips: I would love to hear from those of you who read Mike’s blog, what do you think, did it start conversations?

Leave a comment and tell us how you are using Education 1 to 1 in your classroom.

FETC Virtual Conference ’09

January 13, 2009Kelly Tenkely4 Comments7525 views

What it is: Save the date! FETC is having a free virtual conference on April 23, 2009. The virtual conference is ideal for k-12 educators and technology staff exploring the most important issues related to 21st century skills. Topics will include career and technical education, the Obama administration’s global workforce development agenda, and digital teaching methods and tools. You will learn about the latest in 21st century skills from engaging speakers. FETC Virtual Conference is offering a virtual networking lounge to expand your network of k-12 educators and technology experts, access to other participants through instant messaging, and free content downloads and presentation to go. You will also be able to virtually attend technology product and service demonstrations and Q&A sessions with technology experts! This is a completely FREE event, you can go as a staff!

How to integrate FETC Virtual Conference ’09 into the classroom: FETC is one of the leading technology conferences in the country. With budget cuts this year, you may not have the option to attend the full FETC conference. This free virtual conference is an outstanding opportunity, be sure to take advantage of it! You will learn from some of the best educators and are sure to get practical technology integration tips, tools, and ideas. See you there!

Tips: Register today at http://virtual.fetc.org.

Leave a comment and tell us if you will be attending FETC Virtual Conference.

Custom Guide

January 8, 2009Kelly Tenkely2 Comments3975 views

What it is: Custom Guide is a website that offers free quick reference cheat sheets for using technology (operating systems and applications). The guides are two sided and remind me of Cliff Notes. Custom Guide allows you unlimited distribution rights and they make great support handouts. References include: Microsoft Access, Excel, FrontPage, Internet Explorer, InfoPath, Office, OneNote, Outlook, PowerPoint, Project, Publisher, SharePoint, Visio, Windows, Appleworks, Mac OS, Entourage, Acrobat, Dreamweaver, Fireworks, Flash, Photoshop, Elements, and Firefox. My one problem with Custom Guide is that it is REALLY outdated for Mac guides. I suppose that for some schools this would be okay since it can take a while to adopt newer technology and some of us are working with dinosaur computers and software, but for me it is no good. Custom Guide also offers free online learning with interactive tutorials and you can even create your own custom courses.

How to integrate Custom Guide into the classroom: Custom Guide would be very useful for the computer lab setting. Print out and laminate the most used applications and operating system sheets. Bind with a single ring and keep next to each computer. As students have questions or issues, they can consult their cheat sheets for the answers first. This is also nice for non-computer teachers who are using the computer labs or classroom computers with students. The cheat sheets give them an added level knowledge quickly and easily. If you are a computer teacher or a teacher who is known for using technology in your classroom, you undoubtedly get frequent questions about how to use applications from your colleagues. I don’t always have time to sit down and give mini lessons, having these cheat sheets on hand could be a big help for those times.

Tips: Even though the Mac Custom Guides are a bit outdated, the guides they do have are very handy. When you sign up for a free account, you can ask for updates to be sent to you when they add a new guide. In the mean time, Apple has some great support guides for their products.

Leave a comment and tell us how you are using Custom Guide in your classroom.

The Cool Teacher Podcast

November 5, 2008Kelly TenkelyLeave a Comment2311 views

What it is: The Cool Teacher Podcast is a podcast by educational technologist Chris Haskell who is an instructor for pre-service teachers in methods and applications of technology integration in the classroom (notice any similarities to iLearn Technology?). The podcast “delivers cool tools, techniques, and tactics to transform your teaching.” In episode #7 that came out yesterday, Chris gives a shout out to iLearn Technology’s post on Glogster (thank you Chris!!). The podcasts are very entertaining to listen to and give great ideas for using technology in the classroom!

How to integrate The Cool Teacher Podcast into the classroom: The Cool Teacher Podcast is a wonderful stop (in addition to iLearn Technology) for great ideas and tips for integrating technology into your classroom. You can find the Cool Teacher Podcast at the links here as well as on iTunes in the iTunes store (it is free to subscribe to). Listen to these great podcasts while you are grading, on the drive home, or while you are cleaning up your classroom for the day…just be sure to keep a pad and pencil handy to jot down the great ideas you are sure to hear!

Tips: Chris also has a blog related to the podcasts, you can check that out here. Thanks again Chris!

Leave a comment and tell us how you are using The Cool Teacher Podcast in your classroom.

K12 Online Conference 2008

October 20, 2008Kelly Tenkely1 Comment3374 views

The K12 Online Conference 2008 officially kicks off today! This is a great FREE online conference to attend. Not only is it convenient for your schedule (you can attend sessions at your convenience online), but you will learn and be inspired by the speakers and presenters. I highly recommend attending as much of this conference as you can! You can get involved in the conference in several different ways, as a viewer of each strand, with the blog, wiki, interactive fireside chats, Twitter, Google maps, and an Elluminate event called When Night Falls. Topics include the ReadWriteWeb Revolution, Free tools for Universal Design for Learning in Literacy, Assessment, Google, Delicious, Primary Access, History, Tech Integration, Reading Revolution, Video Conferencing, Blogging, Photostory, Games in Education, Emerging Technologies, Wikis, Video Podcasters, and much more. The conference runs from today, October 20, to Next Saturday, November 1. Even if you can’t fit it all in during the next two weeks, you can come back later and visit the sessions that are of most interest to you. There is professional development and credit options available for attending this conference so be sure to look into that as well.

What sessions are of most interest to you? What have you learned as a result of the K12 Online Conference?

“See” you there! 🙂