Education Tricks 'n Treats

Friday, January 15, 2010 at FETC
What an AWESOME day!! Met so many great people and attend some really good sessions today. Here is the information from today…

“Popcasting” Using Podcasts and pop culture to motivate and inspire our learners. By Megan Allen, Florida Teacher of the Year

**Beloit College Mindset List**

Benefits of Podcasting:
-Cheap is Good   (Audacity & Garage band are free)
-Creative and Fun
-Higher level thinking skills
-Global Audience
-Motivational – for kids, by kids
-Student Needs
-Student Interest
-Active Learning
-Meets ALL student needs & learning styles
-Learn real world skills
-Builds Background Knowledge
-Can give you real world, right now information that is very valuable

“Kids On-Live”
-An Inquiry based podcast news program for kids, by kids
-Reading and discussion
-Writing the podcast
- Practing word fluency and read-aloud
-Students broadcast (some audio some video podcasts)
-Watch 2x – one to listen, once to grade themselves using a fluency rubric
-Track learning, set goals for class and individuals

Are We There Yet?? – Build Background Knowledge
-Not enough money for fieldtrips?  Want to bring an expert into the classroom?
- Go to iTunes U and show a video or audio podcast

Building Literacy
-Increase fluency and comprehension
-Kids can create podcasts to improve reading skills
-Teachers can provide podcasts for students to use at home
-Big Heads Vocabulary in iTunes U

FCIT Lit 2 Go (University of Southern Florida)

Student Created Material
-Rewrite song lyrics
-Explain math concepts
-Advertisements / Commercials
-Virtual Tours, diaries, oral histories
-Imagine the Power of podcasting with ESL students
-Create podcast projects

Engage in Literacy-Book talks
-Book circles / Lit circles
-Read alouds – pass the book, adopt a chapter
-Reader’s Theater
-Reading, writing & poetry – venue for publication
-Storytelling
-Interviews
Resources – go to for a whole list of podcasting resources:
Red Headed Teacher Blog

Session two of the day…

iTunes – iPod Touch / iPhone

Entire presentation can be seen on YouTube
Lessons In-Your-Pocket

Apps to get:

Ewok Grade book app $ – NEW  (track student behaviors, grades, SPEC students, staff development, staff evaluation & more)

Flashcards Deluxe – create flashcards for students

Notecards Lite – build the cards on the website and then download – allows for collaboration

Multiply Free
Math Free
iGrade for Teachers – can be found on the web, too
Math Formulas – Free
History Maps
Arithmitic – lower grades
Math Tricks Lite
Math Magic
Quick Graph
Kids Math
Simple MInd “Inspiration” type app
Backpack – Student Planner
January 14, 2010

Made it through the first (full) day at FETC here in Orlando, FL.  What a day!! There are hundreds of sessions to choose from (most lasting 45-50 min).  In between sessions we had time to chat, meet new people and take a stroll through the exhibition hall where there are another several hundred vendors.

My morning started out attending “SIMPLE” where the presenter shared many different websites and ideas for use of Web 2.0 Tools.  Second, I attended a cool session on how to use a GPS system to teach math, science, social studies / history, mapping skills, and many more concepts.  Other sessions I attended included Steve Katz talking about effective video activities with students and Lee Kolbert with Carol Lane sharing more Web 2.o tools during “The Biggest User”.

Cool ideas…

• Have you used your cell phone to: send a text message wake-up call and inspirational quote to your students, take pictures and/or video to then send or post later, use the timer feature to time students in a math fact test or for fluency in reading?
• What about using a GPS to teach math, reading, research, mapping, social studies, history, teamwork and MORE – like tracking Santa, going on an Easter Egg hunt, finding national monuments, parks, or historical landmarks.
• Use a digital camera for students to take pictures for a vocabulary scavenger hunt (any subject area)
• Use the voice memo app on iPhone / iTouch to record a student’s reading, have them graph, listen, grade with a rubric and send message to their parents. (NEW App page to be created soon).
• Showcase students in an iMovie or Movie Maker using a popular or common song to demonstrate an concept or lesson
• Can’t use Skype in your classroom due to IT blocking it? Try tokbox or oovoo instead.
• Like the idea of a wiki but want to try something else? Try Buzzword and collaborate with others.

I have added a list of all the cool websites that were shared today in a new category that you can find to the right.  Just look under FETC 2010 Links.  Some may be duplicates to sites I have listed under other categories, but that just means they really are worth looking at.

My other big accomplishment for the day, besides visiting tons of vendors to see the new tech toys from Mimio, Epson, Promethean, SMART, Scholastic, Microsoft, hp and hundreds more, I was able to meet up with some really awesome educators that I tweet with (some “old” and many “new”).  I love the collaboration that occurs on Twitter and the sharing of all the cool tools. In fact, I have more tools BECAUSE I was on Twitter throughout most of the day.  Thanks to my special friends @stephenveliz @SteveKatz @TeachaKidd @shoewee @_happygolucky_ For the great times together!

January 13, 2010

Here I am!!! Orlando, Florida! We are getting ready to head over to FETC very soon.  Keep tabs on all we find both here and at our wiki.  Check out http://orangetree2010.wikispaces.com for some fun updates from our Marian Univ. tech group.