Category: Service

Must See TV

Five children with life-threatening medical conditions, whose unique sports-related wishes were granted by ESPN and the Make-A-Wish Foundation, will be chronicled in the “SportsCenter” “My Wish” series. Their experiences will be the subject of “SportsCenter” feature segments airing June 29 through July 3. — from ESPN.com

These life-affirming stories always provide me with a better perspective on life. I encourage you to try catching them during Sports Center this week or by watching the stories online. Trust me, you’ll be glad that you did!!!

P.S. — Please let me know if you find a way to embed these videos and I’ll post them here. They are just that good.

Newsletter on Educational Technology

Throughout the years many of the preservice and in-service teachers in my classes, workshops, and presentations have requested that I start an email newsletter. They indicate that in addition to this blog they would like to receive occasional emails sharing rich resources related to technology integration. I’m excited to announce that I have answered these requests.

Clif’s Newsletter on Educational Technology focuses on the effective integration of technology with teaching and learning. Subscribers of this free service will receive occasional emails providing valuable resources and information about lesson plans, activities, technologies, research, etc., related to educational technology.

OPEN TO PUBLIC
Subscription to this newsletter is open to everyone. You are encouraged to share this with everyone with an interest in education (teachers, administrators, homeschooling families, friends, classmates, co-workers, etc.). Everyone is invited to receive this free newsletter.

PRIVACY POLICY
Your email address will never be shared with others. You may unsubscribe at anytime.

MANAGING SUBSCRIPTIONS
You may subscribe or unsubscribe to this newsletter as you wish.

1 Thing

I’ve added a new feature to Clif’s Notes called 1 Thing. This special section is an area where guest bloggers can communicate “1 thing” they would like to share, suggest, say, demonstrate, etc. about a particular topic. This section will forever be a work in progress, so feel free to suggest guest bloggers and topics anytime. You can easily access this section by clicking on the 1 Thing link in the main menu.

Being a Friend to the Widowed

Meriam Neff writes, “…there are many ways individuals can encourage widows on their journey. But it’s often hard to know what to say, for fear of making things worse. So let me offer some “Please do” as well as some “Please do not” suggestions.” This 2 minute read is pointed, honest and informative.

Consider also reading Neff’s article The Widow’s Might in which she states, “My husband’s death force me to change in ways that I never wanted to.”

Hat tip to Mike Cope for this information.

Teaching and Learning with Squidoo

*DISCLAIMER: I’ve hesitated to share this resource because of the advertising and economics tied to it. I have given it a quick test and think that all of that stuff remains invisible. I’m sharing this resource because, in the right context, I see true potential in its integration with teaching and learning.

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Have you seen Squidoo? I would roughly describe it as a means of mashing up information from a variety of resources into a lens (as in the eye of a giant squid; fancy word for webpage). This is accomplished through customization and pulling together a good number of RSS feeds, favorites, bookmarks, page rankings/voting, etc. Lenses are ranked, money is given to daily winners, etc.* You can actually earn money for charity or for yourself just by using the service.* I have browsed through many of the existing lenses and been impressed by their quality. I am guessing that the whole free market competition model encourages quality effort as those with lenses with the highest use and approval are rewarded. Most of the ones I reviewed were by doctors, therapists, professors, etc. and all seemed well-credentialed. It is likely that you will find some lenses that you can use in your own classroom.

I haven’t completely made up my mind about what I think of Squidoo (I found it very, very late last night) but it has certainly given me some things to consider. Ideas for integrating it with learning and instruction have flooded my mind. In the right context it would be an interesting tool for teachers and learners to use for webquests, research, scavenger hunts, presentations, cooperative learning, online classes, a Web 2.0 activity, etc. Additional ideas and strategies are very end of this post.

There is also a section called Hey Monkey Brain where students can pick, research and debate a topic. Again, in the right context this feature has several positive educational implications.

I joined and threw together my own lens on the topic of educational technology. Take a look…

You can setup your own free account using here.

Integrating Squidoo

I thought it might be helpful to all of us if we brainstormed ways to integrate the use of Squidoo with teaching and learning. Here are some of the ideas (classes, lesson topics, activities) that came to me.

  • Business
  • Economics
  • Research
  • Writing and editing
  • Information design
  • Current events
  • Math/ science/ health news and research
  • Travel planning/ virtual field trip scenarios
  • Marketing
  • Student designed and developed webquests
  • Homework helper
  • Tips for parents
  • Book reviews
  • Debate/ critical thinking/ persuasive writing
  • Newsletters
  • Service learning/ moral education
  • Instructional design/ lesson planning
  • Online/ web-enhanced learning
  • Focus on composers, painters, or sculptors
  • Communicate information and resources to teachers about particular special needsMuch of the above can be modified for use in foreign language classes

Did You Change the World Today?

Gadberry asks the important question, “Did you change the world today?” So many teachers go into the profession with the genuine intention to positively impact the world. Unfortunately, many of us allow lesson planning, grading, IEP meetings, curriculum standards, meetings, sports, tv, errands, etc. to fill the bulk of our schedules and crowd out any possibility of changing the world. You know exactly what I mean, so I won’t insult you by pontificating on the obvious.

I haven’t positively changed the world today, but I still have about 7.5 hours to work on it. I assure you I will.

Now it’s your turn. Did you change the world today? (Please share in your the Comments below.)

Related Resources

6.3 Earthquake in Nevada

An earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 6.3 shook Northeastern Nevada this morning at 6:16 AM. The quake was reported to have been felt in California, Nevada and Utah. Full details are available here.

Consider integrating this current event into your class. Off the top of my head there are good math, science, research, writing and service activities related to this event.

Classroom Resources

Service Opportunity

The following comes from an email message that one of my students sent me. I’m posting portions of that message with permission.

Wanted to let you know that Hands On Disaster Response is deploying volunteers for three weeks to Gassville, AR to help with relief efforts there. Here is the website for more info: http://hodr.org.

This is the group [we] traveled to Peru with. Some of the most hard working (and hard playing) folks you will ever meet. If this is something you would be interested in, let me know. I am going to organize a trip over for a weekend. (about a 4 hour drive…leave on a Friday, return on a Sunday)

Since we worked so hard with some of these folks in Peru, it is really touching to have them head this way when needed. Hopefully we can have a big turn out of Memphis folks to welcome them!!