This summer I’ve decided to take a mini break from Dubai’s 120 degree heat to spend some time doing technology trainings in the Caribbean and US. At the moment I am at the National Education Computing Conference in DC and with the 80 degree heat, I must say, it feels like winter!
If you are at NECC and have an interest in free literacy tools for your classroom, make sure to stop by NECC Unplugged at 11:30am EST (Wednesday, July 1). If you can’t make it to DC, you can sign into Elluminate and watch online (for more details on this, click here). I’ve posted my presentation on Slideshare and below. Feel free to take a look! Afterward, make sure to spend some time playing with FreeReading, Curriki and the other open education resources mentioned below!
Cheers,
Anna
PS To follow live coverage of NECC (through tomorrow), take a look at Curriki’s tweets with the tag #NECC09. We’ve been busy tweeting a number of links to literacy and technology tools for the classroom, as well as articles on open education.
Ever since I met the two founders of Flocabulary (Blake and Alex) in 2007, I’ve been a huge fan of the guys, their company and their mission.
Flocabulary helps teachers use hip hop and rap music to teach their students ELA, social studies. math and science. The Flocabulary site states:
The idea for Flocabulary first came to founder/lyricist Blake Harrison in high school. A good student who still struggled to memorize facts for tests, he wondered why it was so easy to remember lines to his favorite rap songs but so difficult to memorize academic information. Blake realized that if a rapper released an album that defined SAT vocab words, students would have a fun and effective way to study for the SAT…
Curious? Take a look at the video above and make sure to visit Flocabulary’s website after!
I just finished listening to “the Last Lecture” by Randy Pausch. After seeing the book in airports and bookstores across the Middle East, Europe and the States, I figured that I might as well see what all the press was about, not to mention all of the hype on You Tube.
So, prior to my journey last week to give technology trainings to teachers in a small village in the mountains of the UAE, I downloaded the audio book to pass the car ride along—desert, followed by rocks, followed by jagged mountains amidst 120 degree heat and haze.
In a nutshell, the book left me thinking for hours, reminding myself of life’s pleasures and priorities and the gift and responsibility teachers have of inspiring, challenging and enabling young (and old) minds to achieve their dreams, imagine, think big and do.
On September 18, 2007, computer science professor Randy Pausch stepped in front of an audience of 400 people at Carnegie Mellon University to deliver a last lecture called “Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams.” With slides of his CT scans beaming out to the audience, Randy told his audience about the cancer that is devouring his pancreas and that will claim his life in a matter of months. On the stage that day, Randy was youthful, energetic, handsome, often cheerfully, darkly funny. He seemed invincible. But this was a brief moment, as he himself acknowledged.
Randy’s lecture has become a phenomenon, as has the book he wrote based on the same principles, celebrating the dreams we all strive to make realities. Sadly, Randy lost his battle to pancreatic cancer on July 25th, 2008, but his legacy will continue to inspire us all, for generations to come.
Pausch for the most part tells us the lessons he wished he could teach his kids if he were around to watch them grow into adults. His messages are simple, easy to relate to and grounded in a ton of Disney World metaphors and examples (one of Pausch’s dreams was to become an imagineer—a dream he accomplished), making the book very digestible across a wide variety of audiences. Perhaps it is his simple lessons and prose that make the messages so sticky (see Will your lessons stand the test of time?).
In the addendum of the audio book, there is a live interview with the real Randy Pausch (the audio book of course was read by someone else) in which Pausch is asked, “What inspired the topic of your lecture?” Pausch responds, “A list that I made at the age of eight, ‘My Lifelong Dreams’”.
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As you think about topics to teach this summer or next fall, consider having your students write or create a multimedia response to the theme, “My Dreams”. While you’re at it, take a moment to recollect yours.
Happy Dreamin’!
From Dubai,
Anna
P.S. My favorite quote from the book, “Brick walls are there for a reason. And once you get over them – even if someone practically had to throw you over – it can be helpful to others to tell them how you did it”.
Tomorrow I will deliver a professional development session on technology tools for the classroom to Fujairah teachers. One of the topics we will cover is classroom blogging.
Classroom blogs are an excellent tool for motivating students to read, write and share their ideas. To learn more about classroom blogging and to view sample classroom blogs, make sure to review my previous post, “Helpful Resources for Finding and Creating Classroom Blogs“.
To learn how to set up your own classroom blog on WordPress, watch this slideshow:
Chip and Dan: Explanation 1: A pomelo is the largest citrus fruit. The rind is very think but soft and easy to peel away. The resulting fruit has a light yellow to coral pink flesh and can vary from juicy to slightly dry and from seductively spicy-sweet to tangy and tart.
Question: If you mixed pomelo juice half and half with orange juice, would it taste good?
Anna: Not sure? How about now?
Chip and Dan:Explanation 2. A pomelo is basically a supersized grapefruit with a very thick and soft rind.
Anna: Now, let’s revisit: If you mixed pomelo juice half and half with orange juice, would it taste good?
Tomorrow I will lead a workshop at one of the UAE Higher Colleges of Technology titled, “Technology Tools for Early Childhood Instruction”. During the workshop, participants will have a chance to use Curriki and other open education resources to to find free materials (lessons, simultions, games, etc.) for their early childhood classrooms.
As my good friend once told me, “You can’t learn to drive, without getting behind the wheel”.
In that spirit, learn how to find free and open education resources for your classroom by participating in this Curriki Scavenger Hunt.
The knowledge and resources you will find… PURE GOLD!
Anna
P.S. Thanks to clevercupcakes for creating and sharing the delicious looking cupcake above!
of literature, history, poetry and life (or so the website claims)…
Shmoop is what I like to call CliffsNotes with panache!
Take a stroll through the literature section of the site and you’ll find countless study guides and resources to help you and your students discover and explore classics like Beowulf, the Pearl and Brave New World.
Click on Shmoops guide to The Great Gatsby and you will find an intro, summary, themes, quotes, plot analysis, study questions, characters, literary devices, trivia and more…
What I love about Shmoop, is its emphasis on the “Why should I care?” of literature. For example, why should a student of the 21st century take time out of his/her busy schedule of family, friends, Facebook, text messaging, sports, music, etc. to give Fitzgerald’s work the time of day? Shmoop writes:
The Great Gatsby is a delightful concoction of MTV Cribs, VH1’s The Fabulous Life Of…, and HBO’s Sopranos. Shake over ice, add a twist of jazz, a spritz of adultery, and the little pink umbrella that completes this long island iced tea and you’ve got yourself a 5 o’clock beverage that, given the 1920’s setting, you wouldn’t be allowed to drink.
The one thing all these shows and Gatsby have in common is the notion of the American Dream. The Dream has seen its ups and downs. But from immigration (certainly not a modern concern, right?) to the Depression (stock market crashing? We wouldn’t know anything about that), the American Dream has always meant the same thing: it’s all about the Benjamins, baby.
Yet Gatsby reminds us that the dollars aren’t always enough…
I’m skippin’ MTV today. Pass the F. Scott Fitzgerald please!
Anna
P.S. Don’t have a copy of The Great Gatsby on hand? Here is a free e-book. Thanks Shmoop!
P.P.S. Thanks zenera for creating the picture above!
It’s about 100 degrees in Dubai, which means that summer is right around the corner! As you plan for June, July and August, take a look at these literacy and technology tips and resources from around the web!
For the young ones—As always Reading Rockets has a fabulous list of summer learning ideas and activities. For example:
Or, if you are looking for ways to combine summer movie time with educational and active follow-ups Kids Off the Couch is a must-click!
For tweens—The best way to encourage young teens to read is to provide them with books that peak their interest. Take a look at AdLit’s themed booklist for books that hit the spot!
For young adults—Since Facebook and YouTube are most certainly going to factor into your teen’s summer plans, why not encourage him/her to write and direct a short film to post on his/her social networks? Short Film Central is a nice resource for budding directors and/or young adults that are interested in global film developments.
For adults—Summer is a great time to brush up on your technology skills and to build your digital education portfolio. Take a look at Curriki’s latest blog post for links to free professional development opportunities and resources.
At the moment, I am working with Curriki on a number of open education initiatives in the Middle East and abroad. Today a post went live on the Curriki blog that I think many Literacy is Priceless readers will find of interest–a post regarding the use of Twitter in and out of the classroom. To see the original post, click here. I’ve also pasted a copy of the post below.
I would love to hear your thoughts about using Twitter for within the classroom. Feel free to share your comments here or on the Curriki blog!
Recently there has been a surge of interest around the use of Twitter and other social media tools in the classroom. As this article points out, educators are increasingly experimenting with Twitter as a teaching tool in and out of the classroom to share resources, increase communication and prepare their students with skills for the 21st century workplace.
For Curriki members that have heard of Twitter, but don’t quite know what it is… Wikipedia states:
Twitter is a free social networking and micro-blogging service that enables its users to send and read other users’ updates known as tweets. Tweets are text-based posts of up to 140 characters in length which are displayed on the user’s profile page and delivered to other users who have subscribed to them (known as followers).
As you explore ways to effectively use Twitter for educational purposes, take a look at this presentation by Tom Barrett titled, “Twenty-Two Interesting Ways to use Twitter in the Classroom”. For example:
Idea #1: Student can use Twitter to gather real world data up-to-date data by posting questions to fellow tweeters about location, historical facts, temperature, etc.
Idea #3: Students can use Twitter to summarize their opinions or topics they’ve learned in class.
Idea #10: “Word Morph”. Students can use Twitter to ask peers for synonyms and other word-related information.
Idea #17: Students can use Twitter to communicate with experts.
As you explore the use of Twitter in your classroom, we welcome you to post your lessons and ideas on Curriki. In addition, feel free to follow our tweets here. Curriki uses Twitter to share information about education technology, to highlight resources contributed by the Curriki community and to connect and solicit feedback and ideas. See you on Twitter!
WebQuests are a wonderful way to build your students’ critical background knowledge, reading and technology literacy skills. As stated by Wikipedia, “A WebQuest is a learning activity used by educators. During this activity learners read, analyze, and synthesize information using the World Wide Web”.
To learn more about finding, creating and sharing WebQuests, I highly recommend that you visit WebQuest.org. If you are interested in the research that supports using WebQuests in the classroom, click here.
Using the “Find a WebQuest” feature on WebQuest.org, I found these WebQuests about my favorite topics:
Using the search term “books,” I found this WebQuest for ESL students where they get the opportunity to research comic book characters, design their own, then make a sample comic book.
If you find other WebQuests of note, please feel free to share them here!
Tomorrow I will give a presentation on “Open and Collaboratively Developed Education Resources” at the 2009 Gobal Forum on Innovation and Technology in Teaching and Leading in Dubai. So that presentation attendees don’t have to take copious notes (and so that others can benefit as well), I’ve decided to post links from my presentation here!
Just in case you’re wondering what open education resources (OERs) are… Wikipedia defines OERs as “educational materials and resources offered freely and openly for anyone to use and under some licenses to re-mix, improve and redistribute.” I like to think of OERs like a delicious cookie recipe–Sara passes her recipe to Michiko. Michiko decides to add dark chocolate chips to the recipe and passes the recipe along to several people over the Internet. Mustafa gets a hold of the recipe and decides it would benefit from some rock salt and an egg yolk. He then posts the recipe for others to see… and so on! Just replace the cookie recipe with a lesson plan, an educational video or a collaboratively developed unit or other resource and you’ve got yourself an OER!
There are several fabulous OER projects that are 100% worth checking out if you are looking for lessons, eager to share resources or interested in collaborating on education projects with people around the globe:
FreeReading–a K-3 open source literacy curricula program and community
Curriki–a community of educators that share K-12 multilingual OERs with people across the globe
MIT Open Courseware–with over 1000 free college courses online, this one is NOT to be missed
Open Learning Initiative–sponsored by Carnegie Mellon, take a look at the site’s tutors, virtual labs, intro courses and more!
Connexions–Based out of Rice University, the site contains content in the areas of arts, business, humanities, math and tech and social sciences
CK-12–if you are look for free full textbooks, this site is a must-bookmark!
OER Commons–more wonderful K-12 and higher ed OERs! Do a search for OERs and you’ll find a ton of useful background information on using and finding OERs
Finally, if you are interested in finding teachers to collaborate with on OERs or other cross-border initiatives, make sure to spend some time on:
PS Don’t forget to think about copyrights when you use and post OERs! To find a flexible license for your intellectual property, take a look at the Creative Commons!
While we all wish we had more time to find the perfect Internet resources and audiovisuals for our lessons… The reality is, there just aren’t enough hours in the day to do so! Luckily, the eMints National Center, has put together a wonderful website with themed Internet resources by grade level here! Many of the resources are even linked to state standards to boot! Woohoo!
Looking for first grade-friendly Earth Day materials? (Click here.)
Is your third grade class studying barn owls? (Click here.)
How about 6th grade materials on Ancient Rome? (Click here.)
Creating a classroom blog is a wonderful way to help your students develop their reading, writing and technology literacy skills. As an education consultant and trainer based in the Middle East, I work with teachers both locally and abroad to develop and incorporate technology tools into the classroom. Below is a document I put together this afternoon for a training session I am delivering next month. Feel free to use the document and share it with friends! I welcome you to share links to your own classroom blogs in the comments section of this post! To view the original document I posted on Scribd, click here.
P.S. To view a large size copy of the handout below, click the gray/white box on the upper right-hand corner of the Scribd toolbar. When you mouse over the gray/white box you should read “toggle full screen.” Click that!
The summer is a great time to catch up on books, sleep and the beach. That said, why not pick up a little extra cash this June, July and August while helping educators around the world to boot?!
This summer Curriki is sponsoring its annual Summer of Content initiative:
Paid Summer Lesson Writing Opportunity
Do you have an instructional unit or course you’re proud of that you’d like to publish and get paid for?
Interested in earning money this summer to develop a new unit that will be shared with a global audience?
For our Summer of Content initiative, Curriki is soliciting elementary and middle school content in ELA, math, science, and social studies. Apply by April 15th, 2009. For more details, click here.
About Curriki
Curriki is a social entrepreneurship organization that supports the development and free distribution of open source educational materials to improve education worldwide. The online community gives teachers, students and parents universal access to a wealth of peer-reviewed primary and secondary curricula, and powerful online collaboration tools. Curriki is building a unique web site that offers complete, open courses of instruction and assessment. Founded by Sun Microsystems in 2004, the organization has operated as an independent nonprofit since 2006.
Curriki originated from the idea that technology can play a crucial role in breaking down the barriers of the Education Divide – the gap between those who have access to high-quality education and those who do not. The initial focus is on primary and secondary curricula in the areas of literacy, mathematics, science, technology, language arts, and foreign languages. The site has already been translated into Spanish, French, German, Hindi and Indonesian Bahasa. Moving forward Curriki aims to become a vital resource of Arabic language reading and curricula materials as well. To learn more about Curriki please visit the site and watch this video.
Hope to see your ELA lessons on Curriki! Regardless, please visit the site to find thousands of free lessons and learning objects. You won’t be disappointed!
Anna
P.S. I am quite enjoying Curriki’s tweets on Twitter. To follow Curriki, click here.
Help your students understand the stories they read at a whole new level with Google Lit Trips!The site states, “Using Google Earth, students discover where in the world the greatest road trip stories of all time took place… and so much more!”
Imagine teaching Make Way for Ducklings with a tool that enables your students to visually follow the journey of Mr. and Mrs. Mallard as they look for a safe home for their family. Using Google Earth, students can track the Mallard family as the travel from the Public Garden to Beacon Hill to the State House and more! When students click on each location on the Make Way for Ducklings Google Earth file, they can see real pictures and learn factual background information about every place in the story!
This is an incredible tool for helping students visualize and learn about the places they encounter in stories! To get started on your journey with Mr. and Mrs. Mallard and other characters from famous children’s novels:
Download Google Earth (click here to download the program for free)
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