Clif's Notes

Reflecting on Field Trip to an Assembly Line

Our oldest’s class went on a field trip to the Brim’s Snack Foods manufacturing facility to learn about assembly lines and mass production. As both a parent and a teacher I’m very pleased with what he learned from this trip. I assure you he can talk in much greater detail about the processes involved in manufacturing cheese puffs and popcorn than he is able in this short interview. He seems to have absorbed every word, action, machine, procedure, etc. that he heard and observed during their visit. Hahaha!

• Kids Get Creative with AudioBoo
• Creating an AudioBoo: A Quick Demonstration
• 3 Questions with Drew Polly
• 1 Thing to Consider at the Beginning of the Year

Bookmarks for 03/11/2010

• Music Bakery

  Royalty Free Music Downloads & Royalty Free Music CD Buyout Production Music Libraries

  tags: Audio, Music, Podcasting, Copyright=Royalty-Free

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

• Bookmarks for 01/17/2010
• Bookmarks for 03/09/2010
• Diigo Notes for 05/07/2009
• Diigo Notes for 05/24/2009

Suggested Reading for 03/09/2010

Building a Better Teacher – NY Times

US DOE’s new National Educational Technology Plan – US DOE

TN DOE Prepares New Assessment – Tim Childers

I Don’t Think Blocking Networked Learning in Our Schools Is an Option – Darren Draper

Using Maps in an Elementary School Math Lesson – Richard Byrne

Use Drop.io’s Upload Widget to Collect Student Work – Richard Byrne

• Suggested Reading for 11/18/2008
• Suggested Reading for 02/21/2009
• Suggested Reading for 09/22/2008
• Suggested Reading for 11/20/2008

Bookmarks for 03/09/2010

• National Lab Day

  An initiative to build local communities of support that will foster ongoing collaborations among volunteers, students and educators. Volunteers, university students, scientists, engineers, other STEM professionals and, more broadly, members of the community are working together with educators and students to bring discovery-based science experiences to students in grades K-12. When an educator posts a project, our system will help them get the resources needed to bring that project to fruition.

  tags: Math, Science, Network, Networking, PBL, Technology, Technology-Integration

• Hannah’s Homework Help Station

  Research Skills and Search Engines. FREE Presentations in PowerPoint format, Free Interactives and Games

  tags: Games, PowerPoint, Presentations, Research, Search, Free

• Greta’s Game Station

  FREE Games for Kids. Math, Science, Reading, Grammar, Art, Music, Social Studies, and more

  tags: Games, Math, Science, Reading, Art, Music, Social-Studies, Geography, Lesson-Plans, Resources, Free

• Pete’s Power Point Station

  Collection of FREE Presentations and Games in PowerPoint format for K-12 Teachers and Students

  tags: Games, PowerPoint, Presentations, Elementary, Middle, Secondary, Resources, Lesson-Plans, Teaching, Skills-Practice, Math, Social-Studies, Geography, Language-Arts, Science

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

• Bookmarks for 03/11/2010
• An Introduction to Presentations 2.0
• Diigo Notes for 05/07/2009
• Prezi

Free PBS Webinar: Copyright and Fair Use in the Art World and the Classroom

Computers, software and even cell phones have radically altered our relationship to mass culture and technology, providing consumers with the tools to become producers, or “remixers,” of their own media. But long before everyday people began posting their video mash-ups on the Web, hiphop musicians perfected the art of audio montage through a sport they called “sampling.” “Copyright Criminals,” a documentary by Benjamin Franzen and Kembrew McLeod, examines the creative and commercial value of musical sampling, including the ongoing debates about artistic expression, copyright law and (of course) money. (Source)

Wednesday
March 10, 2010
8:00 PM — 9:00 PM EST
Full Webinar Details here

• Webinar: Web 2.0 in K-12 Classrooms
• A Lesson in Copyright and Fair Use
• NECC This Afternoon
• NCTIES Conference

Bookmarks for 03/05/2010

• Read the Words

  Free text to speech voices.
  –Alternative methods to process written information.
  –Can be used to assist non-readers/struggling readers.
  –Helpful in ESL/EFL classrooms

  tags: 2.0, Video, Audio, Dual-Coding, Language-Arts, ESL

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

• Bookmarks for 01/09/2010
• Diigo Notes for 03/03/2009
• Diigo Notes for 12/24/2008
• Diigo Notes for 07/15/2008

Web 2.0 Technologies for Elementary and Middle School Classrooms

These are the slides for today’s presentation at the NCTIES Conference. Examples of how both teachers and students have used these tools are included. The full set of notes and resources from this session are available on the wiki. Thanks to everyone that attended, participated, tweeted, shared resources and ideas, etc.

• Multiple Representations of Understanding through Digital Media
• Multiple Representations of Understanding with Technology
• Planning District-Wide Technology Professional Development
• Day 2: MECA 2010

Together We Learn More

I encourage new visitors to the website and blog to join our professional learning network (PLN) via Facebook and Google Friend Connect so that we can all engage in more active and collaborative ways. I hope you’ll join our educational community (click on the buttons below) and let’s have fun learning together. Please feel free to invite other educators, preservice teachers, homeschool families, and anyone with an interest in education and technology, too.

• Using Facebook Pages
• New Diigo Group: Mobile Technology and Education
• Ning for Teacher Educators
• New Diigo Group

Multiple Representations of Understanding through Digital Media

I’m enjoying the North Carolina Technology in Education Society’s 2010 Conference in Raleigh, NC. I’m excited about being one of the featured speakers and having opportunities to work with and learn from classroom teachers, media specialists, administrators, and more.

Today I’ll be sharing a pre-conference workshop on Multiple Representations of Understanding through Digital Media. This energetic session will demonstrate that with freely available digital technologies students can demonstrate their understanding of course content in multiple ways (images, audio, video, presentations, artwork, and more). Each student’s end product (learning artifact) allows them to personally self-express their understanding/mastery of the content/skills. Although teachers may not be comfortable using all of today’s technology it is important to consider allowing students to use it to communicate their understanding as they are often more naturally able to more fully express themselves with digital media. The PowerPoint presentation is below and the full workshop notes are available on my wiki. Note that the links and logos in the PowerPoint presentation are clickable.

• Multiple Representations of Understanding with Technology
• NCTIES Conference
• Day 2: MECA 2010
• Games and Simulations in Education: A Resource List for Newbies

Today Is World Math Day

Today is World Math Day. Unite with students and schools from around the world to set a new world record! This year’s challenge – to correctly answer more than 182,445,169 questions in 48 hours. Please participate and be part of the new world record.

• Today Is World Math Day
• World Math Day 2009
• What Is Effective Technology Integration?
• Did You Change the World Today?