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What Will it Take?
11/01/07
In Greenwood School District 50 from January to June
2006, teachers received new laptop computers, and classrooms received
projectors. Today, we still have
laptops and projectors that get very little use. Why do you think that is the case? If you use the technology you have, why do
you use it? Did you discover that
technology is an excellent tool for teaching and learning? If so, please share what you’ve learned
with a colleague.
If you
are an infrequent technology user, what will it take for you to become a
frequent user?
Maybe you
just need some ideas. For starters,
look at past issues of TWTW; there
are lesson ideas in every issue. Next
go to the Instructional
Technology Resources page. There
are resources there by subject area.
In math, check out the Java
Applets on Mathematics for visual, interactive representations of
concrete and abstract concepts; for South Carolina History, check out SCIway News; for landforms in science and
geography, go to Google Earth to get
the “lay of the land;” and to introduce, reinforce, or review a topic, use a
lesson from BrainPop. Write your lesson plans using Microsoft
Office Word. Save your plans so that
you can update them each year. Insert
the links to the URLs you plan to use into your lesson plan. Keep your laptop and projector connected
and keep your lesson plans readily available on your laptop. Doing this will place the links you need
close at hand. These are some simple
suggestions that can help to move you from an infrequent to a frequent
technology user.
Helpful
Hint: Dust the screen of
your laptop with a used dryer sheet.
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Important Teacher Notes
Teachers’
Little Helpers:
· Education World
http://www.education-world.com/
“Education World's goal is to make it easy for educators to integrate the
Internet into the classroom by way of a search engine for educational Web
sites only, lesson plans and practical information
for educators, site reviews, teacher and principal profiles, Wire Side Chats
with the important names in education, and employment listings.
·
EduHound
http://www.eduhound.com/
“EduHound is a highly
specialized educational directory with built-in resource links offered free
to educators, students and parents. EduHound.com seeks to harness the vast
information resources of the Web, while enabling educators to use the
Internet as a classroom tool.”
·
International Society for
Technology in Education
http://www.iste.org/
ISTE
is the trusted source for professional development, knowledge generation,
advocacy, and leadership for innovation. A nonprofit membership organization,
ISTE provides leadership and service to improve teaching, learning, and
school leadership by advancing the effective use of technology in PK–12 and
teacher education. Be sure to review
the “Educator Resources” tab.
·
TeacherTube
http://www.teachertube.com/index.php
TeacherTube “provides an online
community for sharing instructional videos.
[It] fills a need for a more educationally focused, safe venue for
teachers, schools, and home learners [by providing] anytime, anywhere
professional development with teachers teaching teachers. Teachers can post videos designed for
students to view in order to learn a concept or skill.” Can’t find just the right video to
reinforce a concept? Go to TeacherTube
to look for your topic. Don’t
“recreate the wheel.” Once you become
adept at using TeacherTube, create your own videos.
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Spotlight on Scientific Method
From EduHound Weekly
10/18/07:
§
MythBusters:
Scientific Inquiry
Learn from the MythBusters, who use the scientific method to prove or
disprove common beliefs about physical science.
§
Introduction
to the Scientific Method
This resource provides information on the scientific method.
§
A Valid Conclusion? Testing and Reporting
on Hypotheses Using the Scientific Method
In this lesson students explore the importance of
accuracy in reporting, focusing particularly on articles documenting
scientific discoveries.
§
Scientific
Impressions
Throughout the duration of the three lessons, students use scientific methods
and analyze featured artists and their works.
§
The
Science Spot: Scientific Method & More
Features a variety of lessons and activities to introduce students to the
process of scientific inquiry.
§
Steps
of the Scientific Method
Contains a detailed introduction to the steps of the scientific method.
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Site Survey:
Websites that
Educate, Enlighten, Entertain, and Engage
·
izzit
http://www.izzit.org/index.php
Created by television producers, izzit provides daily current
events with questions designed to
encourage critical thinking, challenge assumptions, and provoke lively classroom
discussion.
·
Veterans’ Day: November 11, 2007
http://www.free.ed.gov/subjects.cfm?subject_id=198&res_feature_request=0
Free government resources for teaching students
about Veterans’ Day.
·
Statistics Online Computational
Resource
http://www.socr.ucla.edu/
“SOCR offers portable online
aids for probability and statistics education, technology based instruction
and statistical computing. SOCR tools
and resources include a repository of interactive applets, computational and
graphing tools, instructional and course materials.”
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