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Persuasive writing - Resources - TES Lots of ideas for teaching persuasive writing. It is important to have students write about the things that are of interest. This is why blogging is such a great platform - typiclaly first person is allowed students can share their opinions. tags: education engchat teaching writing Post 16: German: Grammar: Verbs and Tenses: Passive Voice teaching resources - TES Some lessons to teach students about the passive voice (in multiple langages.) tags: engchat education teaching grammar Top Tips for Teaching Practice - Resources - TES A collection of top tips for teaching including startres assessm...

Social Media Outposts (Photo credit: the tartanpodcast ) I think Paul Barnwell in his Education Week Teacher Article has some great points: " If it’s simple—even mindless—to use or create with new technology, then we must question the pedagogical value of what we are doing. That said, I don’t regret using Poll Everywhere and experimenting with class blogs several years back. After all, as educators we must be willing to test out, and sometimes adapt to, evolving opportunities to teach and engage students. I’m still trying to figure out my curriculum, and will continue to test out new programs and technology applications to enhance the course. But until I'm convinced that cell phone and social media applications truly support deep thinking, my students will keep their devices in their pockets and backpacks." However, his Title " Why Twitter and Facebook Are Not Good Instructional Tools " is entirely misleading. I left a comment there and have pasted...

Top Tips for Teaching Practice - Resources - TES A collection of top tips for teaching including startres assessment and more with free resources from teachers. tags: education news teaching Is This Your Kid? The Bottom Half of the Bell Curve | CSD Blogs and Opinions This article goes further on to describe bottom students who don't engage and go to school to get a degree, not an education. "Discussion with award winning professors still in the classroom finds another trend. They have experienced the “class of the night of the living dead,” characterized by blank stares and little interaction. These students often ask the professor to tell them what will be on the exam so they can pass the class. Too many young people are going for an expensive education to obtain a degree rather than an ed...

Gaming: Leveling Up Global Competence - Global Learning - Education Week How to improve global competence. This excellent set of articles is written by Flat Classroom Certified Teacher Honor Moorman who is excellent at collaborating and understanding the pedagogy of global collaboration and teaching global competence by living it. tags: education flatclass news Posted from Diigo . The rest of my favorite links are here .

Mozilla Thimble Teaches You How to Code with a Side-By-Side HTML Editor I'll be using this Mozilla coding tool to teach HTML this fall. It is worth a look. tags: education teaching edtech html webmaster DRAW SOMETHING spelling activity - Resources - TES This activity is for an interactive whiteboard (I believe it uses Smartboard's Notebook program) and is a spelling game based upon the "Draw Something" app that is so popular. It is called "spell something" and could be a fun end of year or review activity when energy is lagging. tags: education teaching news spelling Angry birds themed plenary quiz - ...

Offline Editing Coming to Google Docs In June We'll be able to edit Google Docs offline in June. This is big news as the word processing wars heat up. There are some issues still with Google Docs that make it usuitable for formatting an MLA or APA properly but I would think that would be resolved at some point if Google continues to be serious about education. Publishers still want everything in Word, but then again, Google docs can be saved to word. tags: education news google Gaming: Leveling Up Global Competence - Global Learning - Education Week How to improve global competence. This excellent set of articles is written by Flat Classroom Certified Teacher Honor Moorman who is excellent at collaborating and understanding the pedagogy of global collaboration and teaching global competence by l...

Conversation with Vicki Davis - Cool Cat Teacher, Blogger and Tweeter Online Class by Dr. Nellie Deutsch Tomorrow at 10:30 am eastern, I'll be speaking with Dr. Nellie Deutsch in the WizIQ platform as we have a conversation about teaching This will be an open conversation where we interact and talk not as much a formal discussion. I look forward to learning about WizIQ and talking with you. tags: education flatclass news Posted from Diigo . The rest of my favorite links are here .

syria war - Google Search This is the Google news search about the current events in Syria. As you teach students about how to build a PLN, creating a Google news search (and subscribing to it through an RSS reader) are vital for students to understand. Click on this link to see the current news and click the subscribe button at the bottom to determine how you want to subscribe to the link and which RSS reader you'd like to use (if you don't already have an RSS reader.) I use Google reader, but my students use iGoogle. tags: education currentevents syria news teaching Teaching Resources, Classroom Resources & Lesson Plans - TES Resources D-Day is June 6. Here are some lessons and presentations you can share with students to help them understand the meaning behind ...

Geological Society of America - Educational K-12 Teacher Resources The US Geological society has an incredible set of experiments, lessons, and activities to talk about weather in the classroom. tags: education weather flatclass How Do the Seasons Change in Each Hemisphere? This Internet research activity has students looking at different points on the globe and finding out about weather in that area. I like the grid that this activity uses. You could also integrate this into an Excel activity. tags: education weather flatclass 5 Fun Games that Teach the Weather This website has 5 games to teach the weather. It starts with an activity that has a world ...

syria war - Google Search This is the Google news search about the current events in Syria. As you teach students about how to build a PLN, creating a Google news search (and subscribing to it through an RSS reader) are vital for students to understand. Click on this link to see the current news and click the subscribe button at the bottom to determine how you want to subscribe to the link and which RSS reader you'd like to use (if you don't already have an RSS reader.) I use Google reader, but my students use iGoogle. tags: education currentevents syria news teaching In the news - United Nations in last-ditch attempt to prevent all-out war in Syria - Resources - TES The situation in Syria is grave and many are trying to prevent war. If you're discussing this situ...

Pollution From Asia Affects US Climate - Slashdot We are interdependent on this planet.This is no surprise that they are finding that the pollution in China and India are affecting the climate elsewhere - like here in the US. When I went to Beijing last year, I came home and my hair started falling out. I wasn't sure if it was related but I did find the correlation suspicious. We've seen this for years - we would outlaw chemicals that my Dad could use on his US based farm only for grocery stores to start buying produce and crops grown in other countries with that very same chemical used on the crops. This inconsistency not only hurts the US economy but in the long run hurts the world. We need to be responsible stewards of our planet. tags: news environment Posted from Diigo . The rest of my favorite links are here .

Bullying quiz This is an activity to help students roleplay and discuss bullying situations. Prepare and plan ahead to create awareness in your school but also note that you should understand the definition of bullying. Every time someone yells at another- it is NOT bullying behavior. Bullying implies unequal power in a relationship and relies on intimidation and is unfair. When two "equal" parties disagree you have a disagreement, usually. I do think that often the term bullying is overused to talk about tough circumstances that may or may not be bullying at all. tags: education bullying news cyberbullying World Environment Day collection June 5 is World environment day. Here are some lessons and resources that you can use to talk to students about maintaining a healthy, susta...

I'm a celebrity French Version - to practice past - Resources - TES There are some fantastic MFL (modern foreign language) resources that you can use - here's a celebrity gameshow to play in French class. tags: education teaching lessonplans World Environment Day collection June 5 is World environment day. Here are some lessons and resources that you can use to talk to students about maintaining a healthy, sustainable world. tags: education teaching news environment green African Music PowerPoint - Resources - TES Another nice music powerpoint slide - this one on African drumming and music which includes some rhythm game...

Cool Cat Teacher Blog: 10 Tips for Getting the Most Out of Your Summer Break I wrote this blog post about how to get the most out of your summer break. Here are some tips.  and am getting ready to make my "goal poster" for the summer. (I have goal posters from the last 5-6 years in my office - love looking at them.) Someone tweeted me that she was getting ready to make her goal poster and I thought I'd share this post with you for those preparing to "get out." tags: education news teaching 7 Ways To Use Pinterest As A Writer This post has some information on how you can use Pinterest. If you're a company or organization supporting educators and want to dissect that pin and know how to get the word out about what you're doing, here are some tips. ...

Cool Cat Teacher Blog: 10 Tips for Getting the Most Out of Your Summer Break I wrote this blog post about how to get the most out of your summer break. Here are some tips.  and am getting ready to make my "goal poster" for the summer. (I have goal posters from the last 5-6 years in my office - love looking at them.) Someone tweeted me that she was getting ready to make her goal poster and I thought I'd share this post with you for those preparing to "get out." tags: education news teaching Special Educational Needs resources, SEN resources, lesson plans, TES Resources Those who work with kids with special needs will appreciate this organized list of resources that you can use with students. Bev Evans, one of the lead curators, is a teacher and Mom with a heart for kids with s...

Desmos | a beautiful, free online graphing calculator Such a great online graphing calculator. Desmos.  I like how you can draw things and add interesting shapes to them. tags: education news eduapp math Posted from Diigo . The rest of my favorite links are here .

I woke up at 3:37 am this morning, the last day of school. Now, in the den at 4:32, the word "last" has hit me. What is the last impression I'll leave the kids of this school year? I'm so exhausted right now, how can I possibly last in this profession? I am now one year closer to my last year of teaching (whenever that is) and I wish I could do this forever. I have too much to do -- how can I last? Reciprocity As I ponder the word "last", "reciprocity" hits me as an apropos word for today as well. An excellent school year -- one that lasts in the hearts and minds of a student and the teacher is one where both of them learned from each other and gave energy and effort to each other. A great relationship of reciprocity emerged in a great school year. This year has been another great one but in my exhaustion this week some moments I wonder, "why do I do this?" "Does it mean anything?" "Do I make a difference?...

PodOmatic | Podcast - Eracism project Italian students have conversations (in Italian) about their participation in the Eracism project and what they have done. These three podcasts are recorded in Italian (and some English). tags: education eracism flatclass Posted from Diigo . The rest of my favorite links are here .

Math Teachers are asked to review their textbook for the first TeacherView Report Card There are ideas whose time has come. Amazon is a great site because of the ratings and reviews by readers. Even when I'm shopping in the mall, I look up Amazon on my phone to get the reviews.  In fact, the new Kensington iPad2 Keyboard Case I'm using to type this post onto my iPad is a result of my husband using those same reviews to find me the perfect iPad keyboard. I can now type and work all the way to church and back (a 30 minute ride each way.) My life is better because real people took the time to say the good and the bad on products. Where are the rating systems in Education? But, thus far, education has no real ratings system. Reviews for apps are just hit or miss with many reviews being written by fanboys and fangirls with a bias towards positive ratings (in my opinion.) Right now there is NO mechanism for evaluating educational textbooks used at the K12 level. In some wa...

The Plenary Producer - Resources - TES A Plenary producer, here is a set of 130 ideas for classes and lessons. You'll find something you can use these last few weeks of school in the northern hemisphere. tags: education teaching lessons The Differentiation Deviser - Resources - TES 80 strategies for differentiating instruction in this guide. tags: education teaching differention pbl Teacher Development: Starter Kit for Teaching Online | Edutopia If you want to teach online, here's a starter kit from Edutopia. My sister teaches remotely and it isn't the cushy, relaxing job that many describe. It may have flexibility but it is ver...

Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishers Files Chapter 11 Bankruptcy This is a pinch that textbook companies are just beginning to feel. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt files Chapter 11 Bankruptcy. It has a little over 40% of the k12 textbook market. With textbook money being shifted elsewhere, companies that don't understand how the textbook must evolve are going to have problems. It is a shame because they are so close and could be useful if they'd build networks to connect those using their books.  "IN the Speak up 2011 report, students say that 46% of them have used Facebook to collaborate on school projects. Interesting report that also shows the flip side where 65% of principals say they will not allow personal devices in the next school year. (What is odd is a study I shared a few weeks  a go on my blog says that almost 50% of students are receiving text messages during class NOW in schools where cell phones are BANNED so really, this i...