Cool Cat Teacher Blog is at coolcatteacher.com

CDWG | Win a Wireless Lab - Home IF you want to register to win a free wireless lab. CDW-G and Discovery have a contest going now. tags: education teaching contest all_teachers Cross-curricular resources: 200 years since the birth of Charles Dickens - resources - TES Can you believe that Charles Dickens was born 200 years a go this February? Here are some ideas for introducing this classic author to your classroom. I also think it is important to share his writings about how children were mistreated in his time. It would make for a good cross curricular discussion. tags: education literature teaching lessonplans Search for australia teachin...

jazrob86's Channel - YouTube One of my favorite youtube channels for teachers and educators is from Jarrod Robinson "Mr. Robbo the PE Geek" from down under. He is helpful, loves kids, and has a unique understanding of engaging bodily kinesthetic learners in all subjects and a passion for mobile learning. tags: education qrcodes news edtech mlearning bestpractices Posted from Diigo . The rest of my favorite links are here .

 The Easy Assessment App was created by Jarrod Robinson, " Mr. Robbo the PE Geek " a self proclaimed "mobile fanatic" and creator of one of my favorite Youtube Channels for teachers . (See his blog post on this app.) Demo of Easy Assessment He's designed this for teacher and coaches to do a quick assessment on the spot. It is $1.99 in the iTunes store but I have 4 copies How to be selected to receive a free copy I'm giving away these codes to four lucky people (and am going to ask Jarrod to help me.) I'll pick the winners on Friday. All you have to do is to leave a comment or tweet a link to this post about mobile assessment and your tips and ideas for how you do it or why you think it is important. (Just link back to this post so I can find you.) Because Jarrod is a helpful person (see below) I'd like to give these 4 promo codes to people who are helpful just like him. So, help people understand mobile assessment through the me...

Written January 19, 2012.  What a day! I've spent two days explaining SOPA. I think schools across the country are now awake to the fact of just how much their students use Wikipedia! After running home to study with my fourth grader and then going to the dentist (yuck) - I jumped in the car to go to a basketball game. But to get the full story, let's back up till 10 am this morning. Photo Credit: Big Stock At 10am I was worn out. Tired. Maybe it was the 2.2 miles I ran Tuesday or the fact I was asleep last night by 9pm or the nailbiting game we lost in overtime  by 1 point Tuesday night but by this morning I didn't know how I could teach. Do you ever have those moments you don't know how you're going to make it?  How are you going to keep teaching? This morning was one of those moments. so, as I pondered at break how I was going to motivate myself, I heard myself and what I say to my ninth graders to help them set goals, "You are the greatest moti...

ClassroomWindow - Where The Best Solutions Win One of the biggest complaints many of us have about products and services used in education is that we don't really have apps and products that are rated by a neutral 3rd party. Is there such a thing? Well, for me,  knowing what a teacher thinks is important. I've been talking with Kirby from Classroom Window about what they are doing and am very impressed. It is launching public beta today and there is a sweepstakes for joining and rating products. I think that initially the launch will be simple but there is a lot of possibility for a social-media style rating system for software and classroom tools by teachers on a neutral site. I love the idea. tags: education news Posted from Diigo . The rest of my favorite links are here .

Cool Cat Teacher Blog: iBooks 2 and iTunes U: A Quick Review from a Teacher #edapp My review on iBooks 2 and some initial thoughts on iTunes U. tags: education edapp news Apple - iTunes U - Learn anything, anywhere, anytime. Apples overview of iTunes U with links and videos on how you can now build a course in iTunes U.  tags: education edapp news Posted from Diigo . The rest of my favorite links are here .

Chris Lehmann at the Guggenheim at yesterday's announcement from Apple The world is buzzing with the Apple announcements about their move into eTextbooks. As I listened to Leo LaPorte and Sarah Lane's podcast about the announcement in the car coming home from the basketball game last night, my son said, "Mom, don't just listen to what people are saying, but try it out yourself." Of course, he's right. I haven't had a lot of time but let's rundown the facts as I know them today and as I played with these tools. Just remember, that there are some great things but there is also a whole lot of commercialism in these new apps and ebooks for education. iBooks 2 This is an upgrade to the iBooks you already have. Update the app. Here is my live blog of my first experience with an interactive iBook, maybe it will save you some time. I downloaded the Beatle's Yellow Submarine Interactive book and it took 7 minutes to download. Expect intera...