Learning in the Lou

Source: edutopia.org via Angelina on Pinterest Any ideas on how you might share this information with parents?

Source: edweek.org via Angelina on Pinterest Ever thought about using Twitter in 1st grade? This teacher has the students post an update to parents summarizing their day of learning using her interactive white board.  Benefits for students: Helps children learn typing, spelling, and reading Children are motivated by an authentic audience Builds confidence  Helps children understand different social-media tools If you are looking for some additional ways to utilize Twitter in the classroom, check out this article, 28 Creative Ways Teachers Are Using Twitter.

What a great way to have students interacting with word patterns! For this activity, students had to create words using either the -un or -ug chunk. First they each decided on a word and texted it in. Then the teacher used the word seed feature to put their words on a flipchart. As a class, they sorted the words into the correct columns.

You have got to read this article from the New York Times !  How long before we see these everywhere in the near future?  I think this is very exciting!  The possibilities are.... (you finish this thought...)

Remember back in the day when you had that awesome Trapper Keeper? flickr - giveawayboy A LiveBinder is a Trapper Keeper for 2012. Spend 1:34 to watch this video that will describe what LiveBinder can do for you. This post has a few links to some nice examples of how a LiveBinder might be used in the classroom. How could you use this in your classroom? What about if the STUDENTS created the binder?  What are the possibilities then?  What if they created the binder for your next unit? What are your thoughts about this site?

I found a few things that blew my mind today.  Seriously! I know a bit about Evernote but opening it for the first time can be confusing.  I think it took me a year or two to figure it out.  I would play with it and then uninstall only to repeat the whole process over. Here are a few simple as pie posts that will help you understand the best app from a really great company.  (They do state this is the next 100 year company.  That is pretty impressive for a software company.  I do not think Facebook will be around even half that time.  Disagree?  Think back to myspace.) Many of us long for the days when there was a book we could hold in our hands that would describe the latest software tool.  There is one for Evernote.  The book is only $10.  You can buy it and print it out. 100 Ways to Use Evernote - This may seem like a lot but it gave me many ideas that I had not thought of.  There are a number of ways on how this ...

Failure is a great thing as long as you learn from it. I found this very short TED talk that describes how this guy failed about 32 times.  It is a very impressive story.  Take a look at this very short post from a teacher talking about failure in the classroom.

What does these three have in common? Each of these have moved mankind to a higher level.  The first two are pretty easy to identify.  You may be asking yourself about the sliced bread.  Have you ever had to carve out two slices of bread to make a sandwich?  I had to do this for years of my youth and I never was able to get to pieces alike.  One was thick and one was always too small. What about this Evernote thing?  This service is online, on your desktop and an app.  An app!  Every thing that is great these days is or has an app.  That alone puts it into a higher category. Teaching with Evernote - 6th and 8th Grade teacher Kevin Buran talks about how he used Evernote when kids were unable to reach school due to a small natural disaster.  He was able to put everything the students needed for class into an Evernote notebook.  He then put a link to the notebook into his moodle course. He used the web clipper to capture ...

When have you gotten this excited lately? **Note: after using this iPad for 24 hours, and $30 in apps later, I am still not 100% sure if this is the device for me.

Did you happen to watch 60 Minutes last night? They featured Sal Khan and his Khan Academy . Take 18 minutes to read and watch his interview. It will be 18 minutes of well invested time. (Click on the image to go to the 60 Minutes story.)  (Did you catch the Star Trek reference in the title of the blog? Pretty sweet!) His TED talk is pretty inspirational!

Your ActivInspire software has many drop and drag items just waiting to be discovered. This video will show you two examples of using these resources during your math instruction or independent center ti me. Attention! If you do not find these items in your Resource Browser then you will need to install this Resource Pack.  It will take several minutes to download. ActivInspire Subjects Resource Pack Download and install in your Shared Resources.  (It should do this automatically.) 

This video will demonstrate how to use a flipchart to help your students with the process of telling time.

Ever wonder how you can teach the skill of using a ruler to measure objects? This video will demonstrate how to use the built-in tools within the Promethean software to measure objects on the board. What do you measure? Draw lines on the board and use the ruler to determine how long the line might be.   Drag items from the resource browser and practice measuring the edges.

Using your ActivInspire software to teach a specific lesson has never been easier.  There are many hidden gems within the Resource Browser just waiting to be uncovered. Take a look at this video to discover using pattern blocks in your math instruction.   Attention! If you do not find these pattern blocks (unifix cubes) in your Resource Browser then you will need to install this Resource Pack.  It will take several minutes to download. ActivInspire Subjects Resource Pack Download and install in your Shared Resources.  (It should do this automatically.) 

Anyone want to guess what is happening here? Fb

Downloading Resource Packs from Promethean Planet is an easy way to add amazing effects to your flipcharts. Not sure how to do it? Take a look at this video.

What does this video make you think of?