Middle/High School – Page 23 – iLearn Technology

Paper Toys: Architecture to print and build

September 12, 2011September 12, 2011Kelly Tenkely3 Comments4484 views

What it is: At Anastasis Academy we have several kids who are absolutely crazy for architecture. Not only can they emphatically tell you that they want to be an architect when they grow up, they collect architecture Lego models, will tell you how they wish they could go back in history to meet Frank Lloyd Wright and will build and draw models any chance they get. These are elementary students! Today when I came across these Paper Toy models of famous architecture, I knew I would have to share with our students and, while I was at it, would share with all of you who may have your own budding architects!

On Paper Toys you can find and print paper models for:

How to integrate Paper Toys Architecture Models into the classroom: In addition to instantly reaching hero status among your architecture crowd, the Paper Toys Architecture Models is a great addition to the math, history and art classroom. Students can put the models together digging into the different architecture styles, mathematical models represented by the architecture, and the history of the architecture. Students can print and build the models (a great exercise in patience, perseverance and attention to detail). Next students can attach their finished model to a base where they can surround it with math, art or history details they learned about the building to the base. If they really want to get creative, they can twirl and swirl the words around using different color markers to create an informative landscape.

Students can dig in further and map the various models on a Google map. If several students are creating models, they can compare and contrast architecture from different time periods, different geographic regions and identify the origins of the type of architecture.

Tips: Be sure to check out the other Paper Toy models. Your students can build cars, monuments and much more. New models are added every month!

Please leave a comment and share how you are using Paper Toy Models in your classroom!

Class Connect

September 1, 2011Kelly Tenkely6 Comments4131 views

What it is: Class Connect offers teachers a students everything they need to work in one place. Class Connect brings social networking to the classroom, it can do everything from giving you a place to manage your files in the cloud to building a full online learning community. Files can be easily shared with a drag/drop interface. All of your files can be shared with multiple classes without having to reload them. Teachers can create and deliver interactive lectures, starting from scratch or importing existing PowerPoint files. All content can be dragged and dropped. Mini quizzes can be added for presentations that require something of students. Class Connect also enables you to build up community within your classroom by posting messages for the class, receiving student feedback and encouraging student-to-student collaboration securely. The interface for Class Connect is intuitive and easy to master with built-in video tutorials that guide you through. The learning curve here is small!

How to integrate Class Connect into the classroom: Class Connect gives your students a virtual environment for sharing and collaborating. Extend the walls of your classroom by making documents readily and easily available to students. Post assignments, reminders, “wonders” (statements/questions to make your students wonder) and class announcements. Allow your students to work together and collaborate on projects in a secure environment where they can safely learn to use and manage their online communication. Create “live lectures” where your students can continue their learning, or catch up on learning. This is great for kids who have missed days-or months- due to illness or travel.

Older students will appreciate the calendar that allows them to set up reminders as texts to their mobile phone.

Tips: Those of you who use Google Docs at school will love this feature: full integration of Google Docs! Woo hoo! Attendance and gradebook integration are on the way…stay tuned!

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

Make your own iPad Stylus for less than 10 cents!

August 30, 2011August 30, 2011Kelly Tenkely24 Comments19997 views

We had an incredible first week at Anastasis Academy. It was amazing to see all of our hard work come together in the form of a student body. Walking through the classrooms this week it was obvious: this is a place of learning.

One of our first-week of school activities was creating our own iPad stylus. Since we are a one-to-one iPad environment, this seemed like a good beginning for everyone.

We learned that to make a stylus, we first had to find some soft, conductive material. A Google search informed us that we could use conductive foam (the kind that is used to pack electronics), conductive thread, conductive yarn (we thought this would be PERFECT for our pens but couldn’t get any delivered fast enough), or a Scotch Brite sponge. I was a little skeptical of the Scotch Brite (it just seemed TOO easy) but it worked like a champ!

The kids had fun exploring how the yellow, soft part of the sponge would draw on the iPad when they held it in their hands. Some of the kiddos were a little baffled when they put the sponge into the plastic pen body and they found out that it no longer worked. Students added a little wire and soon the pens were working again! It was a great way for all of the kids to experiment with conductors and insulators.

Below are the steps for making your very own $0.10 or less iPad stylus.

*I bought a pack of Scotch Brite sponges, cheap, penny pens from a local office store, and a small roll of craft wire. We made about 50 pens for $6.00!

1. Separate the Scotch Brite sponge from the abrasive green backing. Cut the yellow sponge remaining into small wedges.

2. Take the ink out of some cheap plastic pen casing. Drill a hole near the head of the pen with a small drill bit.

3. Cut 6 inches of wire.

4. Tightly wrap the wire around the small end of the sponge wedge.

5. Thread the sponge through the head of the pen (our pen head separated from the pen body).

6. Bend the end of the wire farthest from the sponge into a 90* angle. Thread this into the pen body and through the pre-drilled hole.

7. Pull the wire through the drilled hole and wrap it several times around the pen body.

8. Cut the exposed end of the sponge into desired pen-nub shape.

9. To use the pen, make sure that your hand is touching the wire at some point. Draw or write with your stylus!

The kids loved making their own stylus. There was a lot of talk about perseverance (when we tried to thread the wire through the small drilled hole), conductivity and exclamations of “I did it!”.

It was a wonderful exercise in frustration and success. Every student was proud of their finished product that actually worked! Students learned about conductivity, perseverance, insulation, and building with every-day materials.

One of our students, Benton, made a short stop motion animation with his pen…you can see it below:

Now for our next trick- working with @ianchia to figure out how we can construct conductive manipulatives that work with the iPad. Should be fun!

Make your own QR Code Scavenger Hunt!

August 22, 2011Kelly Tenkely35 Comments42982 views

Today was the first day of school. Ever. It was pretty epic. Since the students didn’t know where things were located in the building yet, I thought we would have some fun locating them with a QR code scavenger hunt. It was SO easy to do, I thought I would share the process here.

1. First I made a new website where each page of the website contained a clue. I made my site with Weebly.com because it is SO easy to use. I made the entire site in under 10 minutes.

2. Next I used goo.gl URL shortener to shorten the URL of each webpage and generate a QR code. Just copy and paste the long Weebly URL into the goo.gl shortener and voila. A short Googlefied (that is a technical term) URL. Click on “Details” next to the shortened URL to view your QR code. I just dragged and dropped these QR codes into a Pages document so that they were all in one place for easy printing/copying.

3. Print out QR code sheet and make enough copies for each classroom. Because we have a 10-1 student-teacher ratio, I made up 10 clues to find. Each student was in charge of one clue. I cut up the QR code sheet so that each student had a little QR code clue card.

4. Set students out on their mission. Each student takes a turn using the Scan app to uncover the clue. They read the clue out loud to their group and brainstorm what the answer could be. When they thought they had the answer, they went to that place and took a picture of it using the camera app. For example, one of our clues was: “The Grub Hub”, students went down to the kitchen and took a picture.

5. When all pictures have been collected, students gather and add up the points they won.

*Below is my example of the QR code and website they were connected to.

This was a really easy activity to prepare for from a teacher perspective. The impact was huge with the students. They had a great time with this!

We used this hunt as a way for students to familiarize themselves with the layout of the new school but it would also be a great activity for a math scavenger hunt “Find an item that represents three times four”, or colors in art “This is the color you get when you mix yellow and blue”, or literature “find an object that represents this character in our novel”. The list could go on and on if you use your imagination! The QR codes are so easy to generate, students could use these for almost anything!

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

August 9, 2011August 9, 2011Kelly Tenkely8 Comments12518 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!

Science Toy Maker

August 2, 2011Kelly TenkelyLeave a Comment3483 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

August 1, 2011August 1, 2011Kelly Tenkely33 Comments8841 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!

Visual.ly- Infographics Galore!

July 25, 2011Kelly Tenkely2 Comments3254 views

What it is: I am a geek for infographics. I love the way they convey ideas so clearly (especially for visual learners like me!). Visual.ly is infographic geek heaven. At Visual.ly you can search all the best infographics from the web in one convenient place. Do you (or your students) have infographics to share? Upload your infographics to Visual.ly and share them with others. Visual.ly even has a lab where you can create your own infographics! Way cool! Right now the create feature is limited to a Twitter infographic.

How to integrate Visual.ly into the classroom: Visual.ly is a great place to find infographics on any subject. Search infographics by subject or keyword. Use infographics to introduce new concepts, to begin a research project (is the infographic accurate?) or for review. Infographics are brilliant in the way that they help communicate complex ideas in a clear, compact and visually appealing way.

Visual.ly can help students better understand infographics so they can create their own. Right now Visual.ly only has the option for creating a Twitter related infographic (see mine below). This is great if your class has a Twitter account, students can see what their connections online look like (of course just part of the story!). You don’t have to wait on Visual.ly to finish their creation tool, use Excel, Numbers, Pages, PowerPoint, Keynote, etc. to create your own infographics! Any time data is involved (science, math, geography, economics, history, government) students can create an infographic to visualize the learning. It would be fun to create a class infographic bulletin board for the first weeks of school. Collect data about students and use picture, shapes, etc. to create a customized infographic. If you do this, come back and share pictures!!

Tips: Because infographics are user-created, some may not be appropriate for all classrooms. If your students are going to spend time on Visual.ly, make sure you preview first!

**By the way, Visual.ly if you are listening, it would be AWESOME if you had an education version!

Please leave a comment and share how you are using Visual.ly in your classroom!

Brown Sharpie: Mathematical Cartoons Inspired by Sharpie Fumes

July 21, 2011Kelly Tenkely2 Comments4846 views

What it is: Math geeks, eat your heart out…Brown Sharpie is for you! I found Brown Sharpie by accident today as I was perusing the app store in iTunes. Brown Sharpie is a collection of “mathematical cartoons inspired by sharpie fumes” drawn by Courtney Gibbons. Gibbons is an aspiring mathematician and the cartoons were created as she completed her undergraduate and graduate degree. Many of the cartoons reference higher math and may be too complex to use in the k-8 classroom. There are a few here and there that could be used with younger students with a little explanation. High school, college math students and math geeks are the main demographic for these cartoons. The cartoons are shared blog-style so you can search through them using the “next” and “previous” buttons or you can view by tags using the “view by…” word cloud in the right side bar.

How to integrate Brown Sharpie into the classroom: The Brown Sharpie cartoons would be a fun start to math class. Put a cartoon up on a projector-connected computer each day for a little math humor to kick off class. The cartoons will give you the opportunity to discuss current math topics as well as give an introduction to math concepts not yet touched on.

Why not hold your own Brown Sharpie day? Give each student a brown fine-tipped sharpie to create their own math cartoons? These can be shared on a class blog, website or wiki. This will help your visual learners and artists think about math in a whole new way! Students of any age can create a Brown Sharpie cartoon of their own!

In addition to the blog, Brown Sharpie is also a free app in the iTunes app store.

Tips: Some of the cartoons are PG-13 with alcohol or relationship references. Best to preview the cartoon before displaying before your class. 🙂

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

PBS Learning Media 14,000+ k-12 resources!

July 20, 2011Kelly TenkelyLeave a Comment3369 views

What it is: PBS Learning Media is a fabulous collection of 14,000+ resources that are separated by subject area. The collection reminds me a lot of the popular Discovery Streaming with one big difference- the resources on PBS Learning Media are free to use! Resources can be searched by grade level, media type (document, image, interactive or video), language (English, French, Spanish) and accessibility (caption, full mouse control, display, transcript). Resources include great descriptions of the resource, the grade level appropriateness and the ability to add the resource to your favorites. PBS Learning Media is a great stop for high quality resources that will meet the learning needs of your students. Many of the resources have associated support materials for both students and teachers.

How to integrate PBS Learning Media into the classroom: The resources in PBS Learning Media are wonderful for all grade levels. The site is easy to search and “favorite” so that the resources you need for your classroom are always at your finger tips. PBS Learning Media is a great place to find videos that enrich learning in the classroom, can be used for anticipatory sets to introduce a concept or to illustrate a difficult concept. The interactive resources are the high-quality games you find on the PBS and PBS Kids websites. Some of the games are appropriate for an interactive whiteboard or projector-connected computer and played with the whole class, while others work well in a computer lab or computer center activity.

PBS Learning Media would make a good media center on classroom computers for students to explore areas of interest in learning, research and make connections in learning.

Tips: If you don’t already have a PBS account, register for a free account to gain access to more than 5 resources at a time. 🙂

Please leave a comment and share how you are using PBS Learning Media your classroom!