My Beauty Best Teacher

According to Niall Ferguson (a British historian who teaches at Harvard), the defining characteristic thus far for Obama's foreign policy is "not just a failure to prioritize, but a failure to recognize the need to do so." In other words, Obama has no foreign policy, is making it up as he goes, is reading the polls to try to figure out what the right thing to do, is behind the curve on world events, and doesn't know up from down, and the saddest thing is, he doesn't even know it. He is in way over his head, dangerously incompetent, damaging our foreign policy the mere fact of his presence, like Jimmy Carter, except without Carter's work ethic or willingness to seek out help. He has surrounded himself by few foreign policy experts, few business experts, and no conservatives, instead preferring to surround himself with liberal Chicago politicians who can hold his hand and tell him everything is going to be okay as long as he fools you or your husband or your wife or your kids or your friends into voting for him. This Niall Ferguson fellow is a whole lot smarter than me, and he agrees with my points- watch him tear the old media liberal types up on this enjoyable and informative clip:

Originally via theblogprof, where I commented "I love how uncomfortable the MSNBC people look during this video- it is like reality is intruding in on their happy-nice sunshine naive idiot view of the world. Fergusan pounds on them, and they are stunned by how easy it is for him to do so. Towards the end the MSNBC hosts desperately turn to the 'yeah, but Bush was worse' meme- that's classic too!"

Fore more on Fergusan, check out The Ascent of Money: A Financial History of the World, Colossus: The Rise and Fall of the American Empire, or Empire: The Rise and Demise of the British World Order and the Lessons for Global Power.

Tagxedo is pretty much like Wordle...except a little cooler and a little more convenient for education. If you're a Wordle/word cloud fan, you definitely want to keep reading!

Basically, you use words to create a "word cloud" (clusters of important words). But with Tagxedo, you can specify a particular shape that you'd like those words to form...that's one of the cool parts! There's a lot more customization than there is with Wordle -- you can play around with more fonts, colors, and, of course, shapes.

One of the huge pluses is that you can save these images as files to your computer (without having to take a screen shot) so it's a lot easier to make this into an assignment without wasting the computer lab's ink! Students can save the image to the computer and then attach it to an e-mail and send it to the teacher. Just looking at the gallery page today, I've seen Abe Lincoln, the Mona Lisa, Anne Hathaway, a globe, the UT logo.... there are a ton of options, which is always nice!

I may be turning to Tagxedo instead of Wordle now, for all my word cloud creations. Refer to my blog about Wordle to get some of my ideas on how to use Tagxedo in the classroom. Since they work in the exact same way, the ideas will work for both. :)

This link will give you some more interesting ways to use Tagxedo.

Although I'm most familiar and comfortable with Wordle and Tagxedo, here's a list that contains 8 other word cloud generators...you know, in case you like to have some options. ;)  

Here's a Tagxedo I made for my English class:

Yeah, yeah...we all know what Google is and how it can be used in the classroom. Students and teachers alike can use it to do unlimited amounts of research. But did you know there are off-shoots of Google that are even more interesting for classroom use?

1. Google Scholar. This acts like a Google search engine, but provides more scholarly, reviewed articles over any topic. This site could be used for any subject. 
2. Google Earth. This allows students to see any part of the world with just a click. Users can zoom in and see what pictures satellites have taken of the Earth -- they can even find their own school or house! A few questionable images have been captured on Google Earth, but I understand it's fairly rare, so it's not really something I would worry about. Geography teachers could use this to get an up-close and personal view of places they're studying in class and literature teachers could use this to show real-life settings in books. 
3. Google Body. Check out the human body in a digital form. This one's for you, science teachers. I think it's the coolest thing ever. It shows all kinds of intricate details of the workings of the human body. Check it out:

Spelling City, while a bit juvenile for older students, can be a great resource. Teachers can sign up and place the spelling list onto the web. Teachers can upload a number of different lists. For instance, when I taught 2nd grade, we had 3 spelling groups: red, blue, and green. I uploaded 3 lists to our Spelling City website labeled red, blue, and green, and students could log on in the evenings and study at home -- all they had to know was the color of their spelling group.

Spelling City also allows students to play some cool games. In addition,  teachers can print off some nifty worksheets. This "worksheets" are more like games: crossword puzzles, word scrambles, etc. It takes what some kids perceive as "not fun," and suddenly makes it just a little bit more enjoyable. (I'm always looking for a way to make learning more fun. Thanks, Spelling City!)

Obviously, this website is pretty limited in that it can only be used by teachers who teach spelling in their classrooms. I guess you could put vocab words on there, but the site wouldn't provide any definitions (which may be a blessing in disguise).

If you teach spelling in your classroom at all, definitely look into Spelling City. It may be help you and your students a lot! 

Pic Lits is another website where kids can do some creative writing with the added element of visual pictures.

Go to the Pic Lits website and notice the moving stream of pictures flowing across the top portion. Click on a picture from the stream, and it will appear, enlarged, in the middle of the page. Then you can drag-and-drop words from the bottom of the page or write your own directly onto the picture.

Just quickly brainstorming ideas, these are the lesson plans I've come up with:

1. Quick write: students pick the first picture they see and write something creative as the caption. 
2. Novel summary: students choose an image that depicts the main theme of the story, and then inscribe the theme onto the picture. 
3. Lecture summary: much like #2, but this ideas opens the project up to all subjects -- not just English. 
4. Getting-to-know-you project: Students choose an image that describes themselves, and then writes words to further describe themselves. Perhaps you could display these around the room or on the class website?
5. Bellwork: this bellwork might take a little longer than the "normal" bellwork, but it might be worth a shot maybe once a week. Students choose the first image they see and write whatever pops into their heads. This could be used a little bit like "OneWord," but it includes pictures!

Future Me is a website intended for e-mailing oneself...in the future.

Source

I've actually used it several times. It's pretty cool, especially if you forget about writing it!

 Basically, you log on to Future Me and write a letter to yourself. It can be about anything you want. Then you tell the website which address to send the e-mail to, and you give it a date in the future. Future Me requires you to pick a date that's more than 30 days in the future, saying that it's not a reminder service.

I've written e-mails to myself after hard days, particularly good days, or after winning a "battle," and reminded myself how much I've gone through and how tough I am. Sounds cheesy, but it's inspiring and motivating when you get the e-mail from Future Me!

I was thinking that teachers could actually use this in the classroom. Maybe all the students could sit down and write themselves an e-mail through Future Me on the first day of school. They could write about what goals they have for this classroom, what goals they have for this school year, what post-high school goals they have...etc. (I'm focusing on writing goals, but I'm sure there are other cool uses, too!)

I'd have the students set the e-mail date for sometime during the last few weeks of school. Then, maybe as a final assignment, students could read the e-mails they sent themselves on that first day (or week) or school. They could analyze the goals they set for themselves and how those goals panned out over the course of the year. They could also note any changes they see in themselves (do they spell or write better? Are they more mature?) and reflect on those changes.

Super cool. Check out Future Me and let me know how it goes!

This seems like it would work wonderfully as a bellwork assignment!

At this website -- OneWord -- students are shown one word on the screen. Students get 60 seconds to write as much as they possibly can about that one word.

Source

 I think the site features the one word each day, but I haven't visited it often enough during the course of just one day to figure this out yet (shame on me!). After you're done writing, you add your name and e-mail address, and submit your work. Students have a chance to read things other students have written after they submit their work. One of my philosophies is that people get to be better writers by reading other people's work, so I think this could work out nicely!

I'm still playing with this one and trying to figure it out, but it looks very promising! My main concern at this point is grading (my current students hate when I ask them to do something but don't take a grade for it!). I'm going to play with it and see if I can figure something out!

OneWord would make great English/writing bellwork. It could also be an outside of class quick-write assignment (on a blog, maybe?) if we can figure out some way to grade it!

Flickr is a pretty well-known photo-hosting website. It's free, but there are limits as to how much you can post in a certain period of time. I personally used Flickr very briefly when I was younger, but no longer use it.

However, Flickr could be a great tool for classroom use. If/when you take pictures of students in the classroom, you could upload them all to your classroom Flickr for safe-keeping. Only the people you WANT to see your pictures will be able to, so privacy isn't such an issue.

But really, the purpose of this post is to tell you about Five Card Flickr, which is this new game I just learned about. Basically, you start by going to this website. You're given a row of 5 random pictures, and this call this "draw 1." Click on a picture to save it to your "deck." You get to draw pictures a total of 5 times. After you've chosen all 5, you have to create a story that ties all 5 pictures together!

English teachers, do you see where I'm going with this? :)

Students can pick this random "deck" of pictures and then create a story to go along with it. When the story is finished, students can save it by clicking the bottom "save" button. The next screen gives students a permanent link to their story and "deck" of pictures.

I think this sounds like a fun, creative project that would boost writing skills while really making kids think! I'd love to use this in the classroom!

UPDATE: Just kidding. There is no good reason why Stabenow should be re-elected to the US Senate. She does a poor job advocating for Michigan, she is consistently ranked as one of the weakest politicians in Congress, and according to the National Journal Group she is the most liberal member of the Senate and thus more liberal than any of her constituents in this fine moderate state of Michigan. If she were a run-of-the-mill liberal who did a good job helping constituents and was chair of a powerful committee than I could see her winning re-election, but that describes Senator Carl Levin (D-MI), not her.

UPDATE II: According to the latest poll from RealClearPolitics, Stabenow uses the reasons listed above to surge to a 2 point lead over former US Congressman Pete Hoekstra. Expect her to wage a tough re-election campaign based on anything other than issues, votes, hard work, vision, responsibility, or reality.

Over the last two weeks in Libya, important events were occurring. There was an important revolt against a ruling power, a revolt that was inspired by events in nearby nations and that was driven by forces including a desire for more liberty, a desire for better protection of property from takings by the government, and a desire for more protections of life. Of course there are other forces swirling around too in Libya- the whole life, liberty, and property line also needs to have added to it tribal, religious, and other overtones- but the idea is that there is an important revolution occurring in Libya today.

Opposing the revolutionaries are those who like the status quo in Libya, those who are part of the tyrannical government system, those whose livelihoods are based on the looting of their fellow citizens, those who feel that elites and overlords and government agents should control what people do in their lives, and those who abuse human lives with cruel and unjust judicial systems. These people have important skin in the game too- if the tables are turned on them, they die and their way of life dies, and so they are going to fight tooth and nail and to the last bloody body to keep their unearned gains.

And then there is probably the most important group in Libya, that of the middle. Everyone always remembers the American revolutionaries and the British and Loyalist forces, but few ever think about the great percentage of people who sat out the opening rounds of the American Revolution and watched events before deciding which way to commit. There is a large number of people in Libya who are on the sidelines, watching- although they might agree with the revolutionaries, if the revolution is successful, they may not gain personally and they may have less wealth or power, or although they might agree with the established power, but they may live in an area where the revolution is doing well or may think that long term the revolution will be successful. There are a great number of people in Libya sitting on the sidelines- generals, political leaders, business leaders, and teachers- who are trying to figure out which way this whole thing is going to break so that they can be on the winning side.

The United States had the opportunity two weeks ago to put pressure on all three to achieve some sort of an outcome, and because of the incompetence of its primary political figure in charge of international events, the President, it has failed to do so and only now, several weeks later, is it finally making weak policy decisions on this important event.

This is an important event, you see- Libya is a significant oil producer, Libya has over 6 million people in it, Libya is in a strategic area of the world, and Libya has been a thorn in the side of the United States for years as an active supporter of worldwide terrorism. It is a nation that could be better- it could be a more reliable producer of cheaper oil for us, it could be a nation that has fewer human rights abuses and more political freedom and happiness for its own people, it is a nation that could serve as important source of stability and support in the region, or it could be simply removed from being a thorn in our side and stop supporting worldwide terrorism.

It isn't guaranteed, of course, that these positive events can and will happen- one must always weigh the possible positives of the future with the current situation- but as Libya was a 'bad' nation who wasn't our ally, it can't get much worse (this contrasts to my position on Egypt which was that it was a 'not totally bad nation who was our ally and could get worse').

When this revolution started up several weeks ago, there was every possibility for the United States to put pressure on all three factions working in Libya. Now, of course that pressure needed to be subtle and applied in the right manner by the right people, but I think my case has been laid out strongly that some action should have been taken in some way as soon as possible in this revolution in Libya.

All three factions- the revolutionaries, those in power, and the significant middle in between- could all have been acted on. The revolutionaries could have been provided with support- moral, international, actual arms and weapons, etc. Those in power could have been pressured through sanctions, embargoes, stern words, seizure of assets, or threats of more by moving military assets into the area, and this may have moderated its response and taken off of the table such actions as bombing civilians or hiring foreign mercenaries. And the moderates and those who hadn't decided which faction to support would have observed these reactions and made the call that the winning side and stronger horse to bet on in this revolution was the revolutionaries, thus swelling their ranks and leading them to quicker and less bloody victory.

But Democratic President Barack Obama did not act quickly, surely, or strongly. Other nations did- the British seized assets, the Chinese moved warships into the region, the French acted diplomatically- but not the world's greatest superpower and the one with the most capacity to act in a positive manner. Instead, Obama did nothing, he dithered, he went to basketball games and concerts, and he did not exercise the leadership that was so critical during this timer period.

His failures resulted in a longer, more drawn out, less sure conflict, one in which the moderates saw the President of the United States doing nothing and so decided to support the established powers, one in which the revolutionaries saw their morale drop due to lack of support, one in which the established powers in Libya believed that is was okay to use deadly force and hire international mercenaries to keep control.

The fact that Obama is acting now to issue weak international language condemning Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi does not improve my regard for him or his actions; it instead makes me regard him worse. If Obama was going to oppose Qaddafi, he should have opposed him- if Obama was going to support Qaddafi, he should have supported him- but instead it appears that the leader of the free world and commander-in-chief of the greatest military force ever was a confused, unprincipled, weak, inept, and incompetent moderate who is simply waiting on the sidelines trying to look good in the end rather than being a strong, principled, competent leader who takes action, even if that action is a strong no-action.

President Barack Obama must be removed from office sooner rather than later because he is not a good leader and is incompetent and his failures are leading to a world that is less free, less secure, and more dangerous to the living. He may be a fine father and a good person and a great community organizer, but it was and continues to be a mistake to have him as President of the United States.

UPDATE: Something about this subject must inspire deeper thoughts about the President and what sort of person should occupy that office, because Richard Fernandez over at Belmont Club has also penned a great editorial on this very subject titled The Root of All Evil- check it out!

Although Obama might not view what is happening in the Middle East as all that important- he is going to basketball games and concerts and instead directing attempts to riot in WI- I think it is very important because the Middle East region sits on a very important resource- oil. So for fun, I put together a graph this morning to demonstrate the amount of oil production that is affected by the crisis in the Middle East. The graph shows oil production by country based on the most recent data I found in the CIA World Factbook, and shows each nation currently in crisis or about to be in crisis, and then the gray area represents all other nations not currently affected.

Any change in oil production likely will cause the price of gasoline to go up, and as you can see, a large percentage of the world's oil comes out of this affected region, although if Saudi Arabia stays stable, then the percentages is considerably less although still significant. In my amateur opinion, gas prices are going to rise, the economy will dip again, and Obama will react to this all by supporting our enemies and lowering our oil output. Here is the graph:

Today as I was waiting to catch a plan to DC to talk to some people about education policy I ran into Karl Rove waiting to catch a flight. He was in town recently for the Livingston County Republican Party' Lincoln Day Dinner, which also attracted such notables as Attorney General Bill Schuette, State Senator Joe Hune, State Representative Bill Rogers, State Representative Cindy Denby, blogger Wendy Day, and many others.

Knowing that Mr. Rove is a friendly and verbose guy, I sat down with him for a minute and asked him his thoughts on the upcoming 2012 race for the President. According to Karl Rove, in order for Republicans to beat Obama and retake the White House the GOP will have to nominate a candidate who can do 3 things:

1. Write a narrative- articulate their vision of the world, their views on policy, where they have come from and where they see our nation going, and explain why voters should vote for that person over anyone else
2. Seize the moment- there will time a come in every campaign when the candidate will have to stand up and take command of the situation- Reagan did it in a debate with HW Bush, W Bush did it in a debate with McCain, Obama did it in a debate with Clinton- at some point the candidate will be challenged and will have to rise to the challenge and show voters that they can fight
3. Unite the nation- this election will not be about Republicans turning out to vote but rather about getting Democrats and independents to cross over and vote for a Republican who strongly articulates Republican views. Obama campaigned as a moderate force of change and bipartisanship and won (turns out that was a bold faced lie though) and Reagan had Reagan Democrats- our next President needs to be a uniter and not a divider.

Karl Rove is a pretty smart guy and came to these conclusions after talking with many other pollsters and consultants, so let's run with these ideas for a minute. Let's take a look at the top contenders for the GOP nomination and speculate if they meet all three criteria:

• Sarah Palin- she is writing a narrative (TLC show, book, etc) and is tough and strong, but is just too divisive (because strong women who love life and liberty represent a threat to many on the left and lingering sexism in other groups)
• Mitt Romney- he is trying to write a narrative (he has a book out- anyone read it?) but his vision is muddled by his support for Romneycare, he was unable to seize the moment last time he ran for office and looked timid and unsure at times, but he does have the potential to be a uniter (competent, moderate, measured, experienced, etc)
• Newt Gingrich- he has a narrative and a vision, he has been able to sieze moments in the past (1994), but he is not a uniter- his personal life, his writings, and his personal style divide people too much
• Rudy Giuliani- he needs to develop a narrative and a vision- yes, we all remember him from 9/11 and from his work in New York, but he needs to move beyond that and become something more, and I don't know if that is possible, he obviously can seize a moment (9/11), and he could unite America around the memory of 9/11- but can he do more than that, I wonder
• Tim Pawlenty- he needs a national narrative and vision, something that will catapult him to the Presidency, he probably could stand up and be tough and have a moment, and I get the feeling that he could unite America behind him if only he could tell a better story- he comes off as cold and distant
• Donald Trump- he doesn't have a vision, although he will have moments of toughness (you're fired!) and America could unite behind him (change and hope and stuff)
• All others- I simply don't know enough about them, which means they haven't articulated a strong vision, they haven't had a moment, and I have no idea if they can be a uniter

Let me know your thoughts- who do you think meets Rove's criteria for being the next President of the United States?

Beijing, China - 5:21 am, 2/24/2011
4:21 pm EST - USA 2/23/2011



Why China? Why was the first one held in Qatar? Why India last year?

Some has to do with sponsorship - finding innovative schools. But a lot has to do with living it.

You don't have to teach ABOUT China if you can live China. Some of you will participate virtually in the conference and see the sites go up and down, the teachable moments, you'll understand it better because you were either face to face and lived it or because you were virtual and lived it.

I have been living China for almost a week. Just now I'm able to get back on this blog even through my VPN. There are things I have to be wary of discussing even as I type that could cause sites to be blocked or for me to be viewed unfavorably. I am living it.

My students are living it (as you can see in the photo album.) The students who went last year with me to India are comparing and contrasting India and China in many powerful ways. They live it.

I'm living it to. The struggle of getting money into China. The struggle of the time zone differences with the US. The struggle of the ability to communicate with you back in the US. The tears.

Yes, we have a vision, but making visions happen comes at a price. It has been at a price and continues to be.

James Paul Gee has an excellent MacArthur report paper where he talks about that New Digital Media and Learning as an Emerging Area and "Worked Examples" as One Way Forward. The summary of this work says:

"He argues that DMAL will not evolve until a real coherence develops through collaboration and the accumulation of shared knowledge. Gee offers a concrete proposal of one way scholars in DMAL could move the area forward to a more cohesive, integrated, and collaborative enterprise: the production of what he terms "worked examples."

In Gee's sense of a worked example, scholars attempting to build the new area of DMAL would publicly display their methods of valuing and thinking about a specific problem, proposing them as examples of "good work" in order to engender debate about what such work in DMAL might come to look like and what shape the area itself might take. The goal would not be for the proposed approach to become the accepted one but for it to become fodder for new work and collaboration."

This conference will produce 41 worked examples of how global collaborative projects (using Digital Media and Learning) can be used to improve education. (See http://conference2011.flatclassroomproject.org) - these projects designed by students and teachers and administrators with participation from virtual participants and people from diverse backgrounds can give us some great thoughts and discussion points for how we can truly integrate global collaboration into our courses in ways that add meaning and improve learning.


This is a worthy cause. We've worked very hard to get the best in the business who understand this model of action-based conferencing undergirded by meaningful actions and outcomes for the participants to come here and honestly, most of them are barely breaking even on the trip, if that. Julie and I do not pay ourselves anything. This method of conferencing is in its infancy but we believe it is an important method of professional development and hope that the conference itself becomes a working model of effective action-based professional development and learning for both students and educators.


WE're excited and the conference is going to be great, but I will tell you that it has been a huge strain pulling this together... especially on Julie but also on me as well. Any support you wish to give our nonprofit is appreciated as right now we are faced with US and Chinese banks that have not handled our money transfers properly.

So, please join us virtually if you wish by joining our Ning and Wiki and viewing the conference on our Taking IT Global  portal.


Oh, one great thing - I can now get on Twitter and Hootsuite again after beeing Tweetless for most of this week! It has been a struggle to communicate this week. (Wonder why? ;-) and yes I know why - just can't say it.) Will tell you more later -- right now I'm living it!


Join us and live it to. You can be part of something that people are willing to sacrifice for to improve education. You can be part of a wonderful vision that has teachers connecting directly. Yes, we have a nonprofit, but for the most part we're just moving forward with a ton of amazing volunteers who believe it is time to stop lecturing about "action based learning" and "global collaboration" and "digital storytelling" and to do it for a change.


The hypocrisy of a lecture about project based learning doesn't happen here - we're to busy working and teaching. Let the fun begin! Live the change!

As Admiral Ackbar once famously said "It's a trap!"

2012 isn't that far away, and it is becoming one of the most important elections in American history. In one direction America will continue to travel down the road to the gray mass of the rest of the world, losing its exceptionalism and becoming a Europe of favored ruling classes and slaves working for them. In the other direction, regardless of the nominee the Republicans choose, will be tough choices and grown-up decisions that are sure to anger and upset a lot of people but years from now grandchildren of an exceptional America of freedom and liberty will look back on and thank. Until recently, I could not imagine any way that Obama could be re-elected to the Presidency, but via memeorandum, I read this on Powerlineblog:

Obama's game is transparent, isn't it? He is playing a game of chicken. He puts forward a series of proposals that he knows are more or less insane; but he also believes that Republicans will come to his rescue. They, not being wholly irresponsible, will come up with plans to reform entitlements--like, for example, the Ryan Roadmap. Ultimately, some combination of those plans will be implemented because the alternative is the collapse, not just of the government of the United States, but of the country itself. But Obama thinks the GOP's reforms will be unpopular, and he will be able to demagogue them, thus having his cake and eating it too. Is that leadership? Of course not. But it is the very essence of Barack Obama.

This game is getting more transparent each day- the Republicans cut a measly $100 million from the budget for the coming year and Democrats are making noise about some sort of government shut down, Obama sends his minions and allies to Wisconsin to trash the capital and wave disgusting signs, all while the Middle East collapses and Obama is left steps behind admiring pictures of him shaking hands with these former dictators whose regimes are collapsing. Obama has got a game though- more elaboration on his game over at Chicago Boyz (please read the full thing- this is only part of the analysis):

Obama knows exactly what he is doing. Obama is setting up a confrontation and he plans to win.

Obama is betting that he can force the GOP to make their proposed cuts, which he can blame them for, which he can truthfully say he does not support. Then he can attack the Republicans for making the cuts. He will appeal to the people who are suffering from the cuts, and strip away GOP support. They will be angry and mobilized. Obama then plans to force the GOP into a funding crisis just as Clinton did. Obama plans to destroy the GOP reform wave of 2011 just as Clinton destroyed the GOP reform effort in 1995.

Obama’s team attempted to use the Tucson massacre in the same fashion that Clinton used the Oklahoma City bombings, to discredit the GOP. Obama is acutely aware of the Clinton playbook. This is another re-run.

If Obama wins, then the GOP / Tea Party effort is over and the Democrats have won the whole ball game. Obama gets reelected, the GOP is finished as a political party, and we have a mess for some number of years while a new party forms. But odds are it will be too late by then. A majority of people will be dependent on the Government.

It is that serious.

This is the game, people. It is a serious game with serious consequences. Recent polling in Wisconsin shows that 48% of the people of that state support liberty and freedom and private property rights and 38% support the rights of the privileged few to demand more benefits from taxpayers. Although the good guys are winning in that poll, it is not a majority- the day is fast approaching when democracy will rule and those who have political power will outnumber those who do not and will use the power of the state to steal from others and bring tyranny and injustice to America, as it is in every other nation in the world. This is a serious game- you all better be up for it. Obama is, and he won 2 years ago, and now our nation is trillions more in debt and weaker internationally, politically, and culturally because of it. Can we afford another 4 more years? I doubt it.

This isn't really a technology-in-the-classroom post; this is more of a teacher-resource post. But I have to talk about it because I think it is amazingly awesome! Teachers Pay Teachers (TpT for short) is, hands down, the best educational resource I've ever found. A mentor teacher introduced this website to me in 2009 and I have been using it steadily ever since. Seriously, I cannot say enough good things about Teachers Pay Teachers!

TpT

Teachers Pay Teachers is an online forum for teachers to sell and purchase classroom materials. These may be "real" materials (shipped to you), but most appear as digital documents that are usable as soon as they're downloaded. A ton of the downloadable material is free, but there are some documents you need to pay for. You can be choosy with what you spend money on (I certainly am!) and still get quality materials. There are exams and worksheets, of course, but there are also more creative documents, as well. I found several "character facebook page" assignments, literature BINGO assignments, in-class courtroom trial assignments..you name it! So it's not just "Turn to page 20 and decipher the meaning of line 19" kind of junk.

Another feature I love: you can become a seller in mere minutes. I used to be only a buyer (that account is free). But after I started teaching 8th grade ELAR, I realized that I made ALL of my own projects and worksheets, so why not post them and try to help out other teachers while simultaneously making myself a little ca$h? So I converted my buyer account to a basic seller account (also free) and began posting products. Teachers Pay Teachers takes about a 40% cut from your earnings on a basic seller account, but even with that being deducted, I've still made as much as $80 in a quarter! (Teachers Pay Teachers pays you 4 times per year unless you make an astronomical amount...then you get a check once your earnings hit x amount of dollars.) You can upgrade your seller account ($60 a year isn't bad!) in seconds and then take home around 90% of the earnings, so it's customizable in a way that I enjoy. Why don't you check out my personal TpT page to get acclimated with the site?


One more feature that is pretty nice: Lesson Plans On Demand (LPOD). Teachers post lesson plans (or unit plans) that they need quickly but aren't willing to create or track down themselves. If the lesson/subject suites you, you could create a LPOD for someone and make a pretty penny! If you find yourself in the middle of a planning pickle during the year, you can benefit from LPOD, too!  

If you make your own classroom materials, definitely post your stuff on Teachers Pay Teachers and make a little money off of it! (I mean, if you're going to make your stuff anyway, why not make some moo-lah, too?!)

If you're a person who is constantly looking for more materials (PowerPoints are available here, too!), sign up for a buyer account.

If you decide to sign up, I encourage you to use my referral link! http://tiny.cc/z02yp It helps me out a little. :)

You will not regret using this website!!



Source

iPods are pretty common these days. Most kids that don't have an iPhone have at least requested an iPod touch (which has the same capabilities, minus the calling feature). The newest toy is the Apple iPad, which is a tablet with unbelievable features. Depending on your students' socioeconomic statuses, you may see one or all three of these in your classroom. (And now the Blackberry has apps, too...there just isn't as wide of a variety of apps for the Blackberry yet.)

Since kids love to play with these toys, why not turn them into educational tools? Apple has a ton of apps that can be used for education at any age. It's definitely worth taking a gander on the iTunes application store page in order to find some apps that are tailored specifically to your class's age and subject.

Since I currently teach high school, I will focus mainly on educational apps for the higher-leveled student. Here are the neatest apps I've found so far:

• World Atlas by National Geographic -- $1.99.  Explore the entire world!
• Star Walk --  $2.99. Check out all the constellations
• iStudiez Pro -- $2.99 for the Pro version / FREE for the lite version. Keep track of all your classes, homework, etc. It's made especially for kids in classes. 
• Convert Units For Free -- FREE. This calculator converts units so you don't have to
• Dictionary/Thesaurus -- FREE. Have an entire dictionary at your fingertips. It also includes a thesaurus. 
• CliffsNotes -- [Do a search on "CliffsNotes" to get options of book titles] Most are $3.99. Get modernized summarizes of classic works of literature
• iElements -- FREE. Check out the entire periodic table of elements
• SAT Vocab Challenge -- FREE. Play a synonym/antonym game with SAT words
• Kindle/Nook -- FREE for both. Read books (both free and paid) on your device
• GoodReader -- $4.99.  Read PDF notes and have the ability to make notes, highlight, etc.
• GrammarApp -- $1.99. Learn common grammar mistakes and take a little quiz to test your knowledge
• Shakespeare -- FREE. Access a variety of Shakespeare's most famous plays for free
• Flashcards+ -- FREE. Access hundreds of flashcard decks from Quizlet.com or create a custom deck. You can make flashcards over anything you need (and the decks aren't limited to a certain number of cards), edit whenever is needed, and "check off" cards that you've obviously learned and don't need to practice. This makes me wonder if you can access your flashcards from the Quizlet website...?
• Cramberry -- $2.99 for FREE for limited version. Same deal as Flashcards+, but just a slightly different application. I heard somewhere that you can access these flashcard decks from any device with the internet, but I haven't personally tried it (yet).
• Sundry Notes -- FREE. Take some seriously high-tech notes! Add images you've taken with your camera or gotten off the 'net, add camera or YouTube videos, add symbols, type in notes, "write" notes with your fingertip...it's awesome!
• Writing Prompts -- $1.99. Powered by writing.com, this app gives you ideas for what to write
• WordDot -- FREE. Basically the same thing as Prompts, but with a slightly different look
• To Do -- FREE. Keep track of your to-do list virtually
• Notes -- $1.99. Type notes on various pages of a virtual notebook
• Skype/FaceTime -- FaceTime is FREE with the phone. Skype is FREE. Video chat with students from across the world
• Google Maps -- FREE with the phone. Type in addresses from around the country (White House? Disney World?) and be able to zoom in to see the latest satellite picture of this address. 
• WolframAlpha -- $1.99. An answer machine. Much more reliable than ChaCha. ;)
• iHandy Translator Pro -- $1.99 or limited version for FREE. Translate languages flawlessly
• The World Factbook 2011 -- $0.99. Gives information for more than 250 countries and territories
• Animoto Videos -- FREE. Submit pictures and create a customized (and fancy-looking!) photo slideshow set to music. 
• Graphing Calculator -- plot equations on the graph
• Wolfram Pre-Algebra Course Assistant -- $1.99.  Same as WolframAlpha, but geared toward algebra
• Fractions App -- $0.99.  Learn your fraction with simple, everyday objects
• Art -- $0.99.  Review tons of famous works of art. Comes with the ability to save directly to your device's picture album.
• Anatomy and Physiology -- $3.99.  Colored diagrams help you learn more about anatomy
• ASL Dictionary -- $2.99.  Over 4,800 American Sign Language signs at your fingertips (no pun intended)
• Mathemagics -- $1.99. Mental Math Tricks -- teaches people simple tricks for fast mental math
• 115-in-1 Math Solver -- includes algebra, geometry, statistics, and trig
• Dragon Dictation -- FREE.  Speech-to-text app that translates words to written word on the screen. Students could use this app before writing to get all their ideas out....or some could even use it as a note-taking tool in the classroom.  
• MyHomework -- FREE. Easily keep track of homework assignments and upcoming exams in a calendar view. 
• American Wordspeller -- $4.99. Phonetic dictionary. Great for little ones or students who have trouble reading/writing/spelling.
• InClass -- FREE. Organize schedules and share notes. 
• Words With Friends -- $1.99 without advertisements; FREE with advertisements. It is a game, but it's like virtual Scrabble. I can be on-board for games that help strengthen vocabulary!

And these aren't even all the available apps...these are just the ones I thought sounded really cool and educational! If you're wondering if there's an Apple app for your particular topic (even if it's not mentioned above), just search for it in the search bar! You can do this on Apple.com, in iTunes, or in the App store on your Apple device.

If you're an Apple-junkie like I am, you know that not all apps that work for iPod Touch are necessarily the greatest for the iPad, and vice versa. So here are some more ways to use iPod Touch in the classroom, and here are some more ways to use iPad. 

The great thing about Apple's apps is that they are always being updated...and there are always new apps being added. I believe Apple has truly revolutionized the way students these days learn and keep track of school obligations. Educators just need to utilize this.

::Edit:: Just stumbled onto the Show Me app, and I'm loving what I'm seeing so far! Click the name of the app to be taken to a website that has a nifty intro video. How AMAZING would this be for use in math or science classes?? I mean, really, all disciplines could probably find a way to use it, but math would REALLY benefit. Wow.

Looking for a way for everyone in the class to give ideas or opinions on a certain topic? Looking for a way to do this that's a little more fun than just an in-class discussion? Also looking for some technology to spice up the "cool" factor? Look no further. Wiffiti might be the answer for you.

Wiffiti users can project a "message screen" onto the wall via projectors, and students can use their cell phones to text information to the message screen. All answers are displayed on the screen so everyone has a chance to contribute. Kids who normally are too shy to allow their voice to be heard can contribute ideas without speaking up and/or being overpowered by the louder students. All it takes is a cell phone with text-messaging capabilities. (Standard text messaging rates do apply, but since most students have unlimited text messaging packages, this shouldn't present too big of a problem.)


A teacher can register and make his/her own "message screens." You can customize the backgrounds and make one for each section of your classes if you like. Once your message screen is posted, the you'll receive a text code (a 6 digit code that works like a phone number) connected to that screen.

Once in class, the teacher can pull up the Wiffiti "message screen" and pose an open-ended question. This may be as simple as "what would be a good discussion question over ___ material?" or something more specific to your subject/topic. Students will use the text code and the text messaging feature in their cell phones to send their answers to the message screen!

After texting to the message screen once, students are assigned a random screen name (usually an animal/color/number combo). Users have the option to change his/her username (so you, the teacher, can identify them), or they can give the teacher the random screen name that was selected by Wiffiti (for grading/accountability purposes).

Let's rewind for a second. As soon as the teacher poses the question, all the students will text an answer to the text code connected to the message screen. As soon as the text is received by Wiffiti, the message appears on the message screen being projected on the wall. These messages appear to "float" around on the screen, and are continually replaced by newer messages. The messages that appear on the screen are limited to the people who have access to your text code. The username is also connected to the "floating message," so there is some level of accountability in what students text to the Wiffiti screen. This accountability could be great (peer pressure could work to encourage a non-participating student to participate, or for the class clown to write something serious and of value). On the flip side, this could also be negative (the class clown could benefit by texting his clever jokes to the message screen because he knows that everyone in the room will see it).

Of course, there is a risk of students texting for the wrong reasons or misusing the screen and making vulgar language appear in huge letters... *sigh* But again, we're back to the paper-and-pen example I gave a few posts ago: students can do "bad deeds" with pens and paper, but teachers don't take those away! We simply teach the students the proper etiquette for using it, and then move on. Technology may be the same way at first. (Of course, if students start using technology in the classroom at a young age, then less "netiquette" needs to be taught in the higher grades, which saves time...)

Anywho, I'm very intrigued by Wiffiti. It has been used at concerts, bars, and conferences in the past. Only recently has Wiffiti been an option for the classroom, but I'm liking what I see so far.

Perhaps if we allow students to use their cell phones for a set amount of time in class (for educational purposes only, of course) for certain activities, maybe the students wouldn't be so anxious to access their phones for non-educational things during class. I mean, as a teenager, if someone told you not to do something, what did you automatically want to do? Right. And if your teacher or parent suddenly encouraged you to do something, that thing magically lost almost all it's "cool appeal." Maybe if we band together and encourage texting in the classroom for educational purposes, maybe the appeal of social texting during class wouldn't be as high...

Hmm. Just food for thought. Tell me what you think!

Voki is a free website that allows users to create a speaking avatar tool. At first glance, it may seem to be a bit of an odd tool, but it actually does have some uses in the classroom. What's more, Voki has a section on its website designed specifically for educators, so you always have other teachers' opinions and ideas at your fingertips, right on the Voki website.

You don't have to have a user account to create a Voki, but you don't really have access to your creation after it's been made/sent to someone, so I recommend signing up on the website.

You can create a character (anything you want: a "real" person, an animated character, an animal, an alien, etc.) of your choosing and customize the background to be nearly anything. Then you get to add words. You can make your character speak by typing in words, uploading an audio file, or even calling into the company and using your own voice (that part is pretty cool)! If you do the type-to-speech, you end up using a voice that's a little robotic, and you have to make sure to spell things phonetically so that the avatar pronounces the words correctly.

A friend of mine created a Voki for her 4th graders' first day of school. She did the call-in feature and made the avatar mimic her own appearance. This was her welcome message for the class: the students viewed/listened to this as soon as the bell rang. I've used it as a welcome message on the home page of my website. Some of the students think it's cool, but some find the robotic voice a little creepy, lol, so maybe it's best to use the call-in feature. :)

Uses for Voki in the classroom:

1. As a getting-to-know-you activity, all students could create Vokis to represent themselves. The Voki could speak essential information, favorites, etc. about themselves, and then all students could play their Vokis for the class. 
2. After reading, students could create a Voki to summarize what they read. This could be with a textbook or a novel -- it doesn't matter. 
3. After reading a story, students could pick their favorite character from the book. Then they could create a Voki that speaks from that character's POV.
4. On a similar note, students could create a Voki of a famous person or a historical figure ("I am George Washington.") and make the avatar speak facts about that person's life and achievements.
5. Instead of always posting things to your classroom website in words, you could create a Voki to get the information across. For instance, I have embedded a Voki into the class blog entry before, and used it to ask the blog questions for that post. I ended up including the text, too, because I was afraid students wouldn't have speakers available, but...in a perfect world...
6. For students who have just written a story, they could make an avatar of their choosing, and then use the call-in feature to read their story to the world!
7. Students could create a mini-lecture to teach other students the material from certain parts of the notes or text. (I feel like I'm grabbing at straws with this one...)

I'm anxious to search and hear more options for Voki in the classroom. I know there have to be more out there!



Here's an example of a Voki...this is the one that I created for my last blog post at FHS in 2011.

Prezi is a little like a PowerPoint presentation...but super-charged and modern! The first time I showed a Prezi presentation in my classroom, my kids were 100% attentive for the entire time, and they eagerly asked "how did you do that?!" when the presentation was over. I can get 100% on board with an online tool that helps make a presentation more entertaining!

Prezi is an educational-use only website. Teachers and students can create a username and password to log into their account. From there, you're taking to a unique Prezi-creating screen. It's free to use the basic version.

Prezi is similar to PowerPoint in that you can set it up to scroll through various screens/images/phrases with the click of your right arrow key. However, if you zoom all the way out, Prezi appears to be a gigantic poster board. You cluster things as closely or as far apart as you want, and just set up the Prezi screen to zoom in and out of the images and text you've supplied. The user controls definitely take some getting used to, but they are pretty easy (mostly because there aren't very many of them. hah). Prezi has a pretty good tutorial, and if you play with this tool for just a little bit, I'm sure you'll get the hang of it!

I created one about William Shakespeare, and another about common terms my kids needed to know before reading their first Shakespeare play. I had a few reactions from kids who rarely pay attention, and had some students tell me "that looked cool" so maybe it was a good idea. :) Prezi isn't anything particularly shocking, but it's got a different look to it that creates some variety in the classroom. Maybe that's all we need to keep kids engaged: a little variety!

Ideally, I'd eventually like to have students creating their own Prezis. I'd like to get away from me being the sole presenter of the classroom and let the students be free to create and explore. I currently don't know a lot about student accounts through Prezi, but the website is easy to understand, so I bet it wouldn't be hard to figure out!

Obviously, Prezi is an information-presenting tool. So you could use it to present information to your students, or the students could use it as a culminating activity...whatever. Besides the obvious reports and presentations, I've seen several Prezis with the title "30 Things About Me." Apparently, some teacher made it an assignment to log on and design a Prezi with 30 details about yourself. (It was a first-of-the-year project.) I thought it was a great idea, because kids get used to using Prezi with an easy topic (what is easier to talk about than YOURSELF?), and they can get used to presenting info to the class with that easy topic. It's a way for everyone to show off his/her personality and creativity! I like it.

This link also has some interesting ways to use Prezi in the classroom.

Shelfari is, in a word, a social networking site for book lovers. So if you're a book lover, you're going to ADORE this website. And even if you have students who aren't book lovers, this website might make reading (and the reports that inevitably follow) more bearable.

You sign up for an account using your Amazon username and password (or you can create one, if need be). From there, you build you profile just like you would for any other social networking site. The basis of this site is, obviously, books. So you built your virtual bookshelf to include books you've read, books you own, books you've loaned out, books you WANT to read...the list can go on and on.

I've created a profile on Shelfari and created a group specifically for my English students. I created it, so I created the welcome message that greets members of the group. (The welcome message basically just tells the students the expectations of the assignment.)

I'm going to use this website as a substitute for oral book reports. Currently, I ask my students to read 400 pages per semester (so they get about a month to read 100 pages) and report to me over each book they read. They can read anything they like, so long as it's on their reading level and doesn't double as a motion picture. When they're done, students must bring the book to me and just give me a summary of the pages they read. If I am skeptical of the student's truthfulness, I flip through the pages of the book and ask a few simple questions. If I believe the student read the pages, I give him/her the credit for the book.

There are some flaws to this process, though. For one, kids can lie pretty well if they want to. ;) For another, I'm not requiring my students to do any higher-level thinking skills. They don't have to do anything beyond simple recall, and anybody can do that! So the criteria I've set up for my English group (http://www.shelfari.com/groups/79058/about) is more in-depth: it asks the students to answer several questions about the novel. (Check out the link to the English group to see all the questions I'm asking of my students.) This not only reinforces typing skills and knowledge about literary devices and elements, but it also makes it less likely for a student to fake their way through this assignment (I think/hope).

I'm really looking forward to using this in the classroom! I think it will be a great on-going project for my students. Yay, Shelfari!

I am all about providing access to learning outside the walls of my classroom. As you know, there are lots of "educational resources" available on the web, but do any of them relate to your specific class's materials and needs? You can't get a personalized feel from a website unless you create it.

By maintaining a classroom website, you create a fabulous opportunity for students to access valuable classroom material outside the hours of 8:00 am - 3:00 pm on weekdays. I'm not suggesting that we bombard our students with extreme amounts of work and not allow them any time for their families or hobbies, but I do think that providing personalized educational resources outside of school can have huge benefits for your students.

What Can You Post on a Classroom Website?
The specifics vary, depending on which hosting site you choose, but with a little creativity, the answer is "anything!" Here are some examples of what I posted on my classroom website:

1. Contact information -- to the school and to myself. For myself in particular, I provided information on my e-mail address and phone number, as well as my classroom Twitter. Besides providing those specific contact avenues, I even included a "contact box," where people without e-mail can actually send me a message (via e-mail). There's no way for me to reply via e-mail if the sender doesn't have his/her own e-mail address, but this works great for just "leaving a message." It also works great if the computer network you're on when you're visiting the website blocks you from access your e-mail address. Case in point: a girl who has a Yahoo e-mail account was able to send me a message on the school computers, even though her Yahoo access was blocked. 
2. Syllabus, necessary supplies, and due dates -- I title this "essential info" on my website, but of course, you can name it whatever is best for you. This is where kids can go to obtain extra explanation and/or copies of any of that "essential info" that was presented at the very beginning of class. This comes in handy for my secondary English students, especially right before our bi-annual binder check, because they can download extra copies of the homework help groups and syllabus, which are mandatory for the binder check! 
3. Lesson plans -- Some teachers balk at posting their lesson plans for the community to see, but I welcome all families to read mine! I want everyone to know what's going on in my classroom. This isn't to say that I am able to always stay on schedule or that I always do things perfectly, but it creates a much more relaxed environment when everyone is on the same page. There is less confusion for the parents because, regardless of the child's lack of explanation or communication, the parent always knows what was taught and assigned that day in school. 
4. Due dates -- I embedded a calendar into my website and made sure to update it frequently with new due dates. Students could view this on the web or view the paper copy in class, but there was no excuse not to know what assignments were due at what times. 
5. Virtual refrigerator -- I love my virtual 'fridge page! It allows me an opportunity to post outstanding student work for the entire community to see! (Just make sure you white out last names for privacy purposes!) It's a great way to recognize effort for a student of any age, but it works particularly well at the secondary level, I've found. Kids of that age aren't eager to go home and talk to their families about school, much less are they sharing accomplishments with their peers. Posting work on my virtual 'fridge allowed my secondary students the opportunity to shine publicly and academically, and it helped make success in the classroom a little more "cool."
6. Learning links -- I have a resource section on my website, and it connects students and parents to all kinds of helpful websites that are "teacher approved." When I taught elementary, I mostly listed links to learning games online. I might also include links to "kid-friendly" search engines, which can be hard to come by these days! When I taught high school, I included links to research involving our classroom: SparkNotes and research paper explanations. I also included links to suicide help lines, child abuse awareness websites, etc. I probably won't ever have anyone admit to using any of these links, but it makes me feel better to know that they're there and available.

I'm on Board; Now How Do I Get Started?

Here are a few sites that will host your own website:

1. Consider using a blog. Blogspot actually has the capability to build up to 5 (I think?) pages. For those of you that don't plan on posting a lot, you can blog and post homework on the same website. 
2. www.weebly.com I love this website. It is SO easy to use. Its drag-and-drop interface is simple, even for the technologically-challenged. :) I built my English websites using Weebly. There are many design options, and, like I said, it's super-simple. One thing I don't like is that there are several components labeled "pro," which means you need to upgrade your membership in order to have access to them. But I managed to go a whole year without needing to use any of the "pro" elements. And, even if you decide to upgrade, it could cost you as little as $3/month. Not too shabby. You can incorporate everything from text and pictures to YouTube videos, Google maps, and your own blog (which eliminates the need for an external blog). There's also an HTML widget available for those of you that are a little more fancy-schmancy, but I use it rarely at this point. 
3. www.yola.com I used this to create my very first website for early childhood education. There aren't as many customizing options, but it has the same drag-and-drop set up. I set up a website here for my 8th grade language arts class, but moved to Weebly because I felt it looked cleaner and offered a little more. 
4. www.wix.com I love, love, love this website! This allows you to create flash websites for free! They're totally customizable, although there are plenty of template options to get you started. It may be slightly more complicated to work than, say, Weebly, but still employs the use of drag-and-drop components. Some of the things Weebly asks you to pay for (like an audio file) are available here for free. It does NOT have its own blogging option, but there are several good blogging websites, anyway, so it's definitely not a deal breaker. I did have a little trouble incorporating YouTube videos, but I'm sure that can be amended quickly. I've been a member of Wix for less than a month, and have already decided to switch my classroom website to this host for next year's class. That website isn't completely done yet, but the point is, because I knew the basic navigation (thanks to Yola and Weebly!), it was easy to figure this out site out. One cool thing: it's a flash website, so it naturally looks "fancier." It also has a little bit more available storage for the average user. One negative aspect: since it's a flash website, some computers aren't equipped to view the site! (I'm pretty sure it's free to download the component that helps you view flash, but you have to be an administrator in order to download it...so if you're on a public computer that isn't equipped with it, you're just stuck, unfortunately.) This may create a problem on school computers that haven't been updated recently or that have extreme filters, firewalls, etc. 
5. www.webs.com I remember signing up for this briefly, and then deleting it. It's basically the same as everything other free website. But I obviously found the above-mentioned sites easier to use, so I opted out of this account quickly. However, you may find it easier to use, so I'm posting it. :)
6. www.21classes.com I actually just found this one, but it seems promising!
7. www.classjump.com A colleague of mine reminded me of this one today. I signed up for it many moons ago and didn't like the layout, so I quickly abandoned it. It reminds me a lot of Blackboard or D2L, so if you're into that, you'll love Class Jump. I do like that it is simple and looks college-y, but I do enjoy my pictures, slideshows, videos, and more!
8. Classroom tripod. I just found this one (this is a product of a Google search). Not sure I would use it, but I want you to be aware of more than just my personal preference sites...
9. Teacherweb. Same ol' same ol'. 

OK, we all know these aren't all the ways you can build a classroom website. But it's nice to know of specific options. I think Scholastic has a teacher-website section, as well, if you want to check that out.

Depending on how proficient you are with HTML/CSS, you could make your own completely independent website (using something like Go Daddy). The possibilities are endless!