You might have heard of You Tube or Google Video. If you have been reading this blog, you’ve seen some examples of videos from those sites. There is another video source for teachers out there: TeacherTube. The good news is that Teacher Tube is directed at teachers, which means that most of the content there should be appropriate for teachers. The one drawback is that Teacher Tube has yet to find a way to interface neatly with edublogs (like You Tube and Google Video) but some other sites will allow you to embed the video directly in your page. Click here to see a list of some of my favorites.
Category: Salem City Schools
Explore Planet Earth
Have you heard about Discovery Channel’s new 11 part mini-series event called Planet Earth? It airs on Sundays at 8PM e/p. You can check out information on the show here. Those of you who know me well know that I rarely watch television. I don’t have anything against it, but I just can’t sit still long enough to actually watch a show (unless I’m doing something else at the same time). Now, interact with video? I love to do that…and Planet Earth’s web page allows just that. And the added bonus? They even provide a tour of some of the places on the show with their Video Tour of Planet Earth using Google Earth. Watch video, explore scenes, view pictures….it’s awesome. I could see kids really getting into these features too, especially if you are doing a project or report on animals or habitats.
(Big thanks to Steve Dembo at Discovery Education for tipping me off to this awesome resource. )
Resources from TTI
Pam Palmer and I had the chance to attend the Teacher Training Institute (Put on by the Blue Ridge PBS and Blue Ridge East Technology Consortium) in March. One of the requirements for attendance is that we share what we learned. We’ll be glad to talk to you one-on-one (and have already shared some info individually), but thought it might be nice if we posted some of the info for future references. Pam helped me write this post…
Digital Storytelling:
One of my favorite sessions was done by Meg Collins, an ITRT from Roanoke County. I probably should write an entry JUST on digital storytelling…it’s such a great way to get kids thinking and writing and using 21st Century Learning Skills. Here are some quick links to give you an idea of what it’s all about:
- Photostory 3 (free program for Windows XP)
- Movie Maker (free program for Windows XP)
- Meg’s Portaportal (check out the Digital Storytelling Section)
Advanced Smart Board:
Check out all the great Smart Board Resources on Elizabeth Cox’s Smart Board Portaportal!
United Streaming:
Did you know that the teacher section of United Streaming has a bunch of really cool resources? You can build quizzes, writing prompts, and assignments, search by themes, find lesson plans and more. It’s a great resource!
Lessons:
We had the chance to sit in on some demo lessons by Master Teachers…you can find a bunch of ready-to-go lessons on the NTTI site.
Miscellaneous Notes:
- Copyright–Tom Landon, from Blue Ridge PBS, has a portaportal with great resources about copyright. You can read detailed information about copyright here.
- Internet Safety–Joe Showker, an ITRT in Rockingham County, has a portaportal with Internet Safety Resources.
Photo Fun
I couldn’t resist! I remember the good old days of egg dye and colored fingers! This is much neater–no water, no dye, no glue, not even an egg…just a picture of the Forsythia bush in my yard!
If you like this chick, check out Dumpr. It allows you to do other neat things with your pictures, like create jigsaw puzzles, turn your pictures old, and create amazing circles.
Why blog? (An incredible classroom blog example)
I’ve been watching Kathy Cassidy’s Classroom blog a lot lately. I am so impressed! She is a grade one and two teacher in Canada…and she has used her classroom blog to really open the world for her students. I ran across this interview with her on You Tube…and just had to share.
In her video, Kathy talks about blogmeister, a blogging site created for teachers by David Warlick. You can create a site for your class there or with another blogging engine (like 21 classes or edublogs). Start small, as Kathy said, and then as you feel comfortable, you can add more features later.
Teaching with Technology 