My Beauty Best Teacher

Since I'm an elementary + secondary English person, I focus a lot on tools that can be used in reading and writing. Science-y tech tools are pretty easy to find, but I've found that, in general, I have a lot harder of a time finding technological math tools. One of my good friends teaches Algebra, and she is working hard this year to incorporate more technology into her classroom. When I stumbled onto Khan Academy, it immediately made me think of her because of the math possibilities on this website. But if you teach science, history, or any type of financial or economics course, Khan Academy would be good for you, too.

Khan Academy offers FREE videos to the public over the subjects mentioned above. There are over 2,000 videos available for viewing, and they seem to be adding more!

A really cool math feature: math exercises are offered, one-by-one, at whatever level of difficulty you need. Users work the problem out step-by-step before being taken to another equation generated by Khan Academy. The website can remember progress students have made while doing equations, and can e-mail the teacher statistics of each student's work.

While Khan Academy doesn't follow any state's specific standards, it does hit concepts commonly referenced on ACT, SAT, AP exams, and other standardized tests. I assume it would be easy to find a video to fit a particular objective since the videos are clearly labeled. 

You can watch the videos for free and without doing anything to register, but if you want Khan Academy to remember any progress, produce any charts, etc. you must sign up for a free account. If you want your students to use this and be tracked individually, each student must have his/her own free account. I know it sounds like a hassle, but the rewards are steep! On the plus side, anyone can use their Google or Facebook account to sign in quickly and easily to Khan Academy, and almost everyone has registered for at least one of those websites!

If you only look at the subject list, it may appear as though Khan Academy doesn't offer much. But that's an illusion. They focus mainly on math and science, but their collections of videos in those two subjects are quite extensive. For instance, in the math section, there are the following categories: arethmetic, developmental math 1, developmental math 2, core pre-algebra, worked examples 1, brain teasers, worked examples 2, worked examples 3, worked examples 4, core geometry, trig, probability, statistics, pre-calc, calc, differential equations, and linear algebra. And then each of those categories hosts a plethora of video options. For instance, in the "core algebra" category, there appear to be about 100 videos!

The videos appear as YouTube videos, but since they're shown through the Khan Academy website, you shouldn't have any problems with filters, even if YouTube is blocked at your school.

Here's an example of a video. This one is titled "Algebra: Slope."

Although I believe that teachers should do the teaching in their classrooms, I do understand that sometimes videos are necessary. Videos taught by a person other than the teacher can give students a look at someone else's teaching method, which may increase understanding. Videos can also provide supplemental information (particularly at home) or can be something to show in a pinch when you need emergency lesson plans in preparation for a substitute.

Whatever your intention, maybe Khan Academy will help your students grasp a better understanding of its featured subjects.

Have you ever:

• wanted to show your students what a college-like lecture class is like?
• wanted "a break" from explaining a certain subject?
• wondered how a college professor would explain your topic to the class?
• taught and re-taught a subject, only to have a student who just couldn't understand what you were talking about? And you wanted someone else to teach that student the concept because obviously, you weren't getting the job done?

I might have a solution for you.

Academic Earth is an educational website that hosts a videos from college professors over a variety of subjects. I have to admit that there aren't that many videos yet, but if my class was doing a study over, say, Dante's Inferno, this video could be a wonderful addition to my class:




Math teachers, you aren't left out! There are about 25 videos over mathematics. Maybe you (and your class) could benefit from one of them! What about the geometry of linear equations?




I love that anyone can view these videos, that you don't have to register to use the site, and that everything I've seen so far is free!

The Zimmer Twins website has a bit of an elementary feel to it, but you could easily use it for junior high kids or even the more immature secondary folks.

Although there are several activity tabs on this website, the main feature I'd like to discuss is the movie maker option. 

It's free to create a movie, and you don't have to register if you don't need to save your creation. In order to share this movie with you, however, I had to create a profile. It's free to join, but you can always upgrade your account by paying a little more. I really like the security features, too.

Uses
1) Summarize a plot
2) Create a story
3) Create a movie to go along with a story you've already written

My brain juices are running a little dry this morning since I've been blogging for a few hours straight, but I know the possibilities are endless! There are lots of customization tools students can use, such as adding text, adding characters, adding scenes, etc.

Unfortunately, I can't embed the video into this blog post, so a still picture and a link to the movie will have to do!


This is a screen from when I'm actually playing the movie. The "movie making" screen looks pretty similar, but of course, there are lots more options because you're making a movie! :)

Check out the movie I created and tell me what you think of it and Zimmer Twins!

In case you're not familiar with Skype, it's a video service available over the computer and an internet connection. Users sign up and create a free account. Once you know someone else who uses Skype, you can "call" them on your computer. Skype shows a video of the person you're talking to (similar to FaceTime on Apple's newest iPhone), so it's the closest thing to a face-to-face conversation you can have via technology.

I've brainstormed a few ideas on how to use Skype in schools:

1. A group of students could Skype with penpals instead of just communicating by traditional letter.
2. Perhaps the teacher could contact a famous author or motivational speaker to Skype with her students. This could even work for "career talks" -- feature a professional in a career of your choice to speak to the kids about his job.
3.  Maybe things like academic debates, speeches, and group collaborations could be done via Skype...?
4. If a speaker is needed for a school-wide assembly, but the speaker's schedule conflicts with the meeting, fire up Skype! The speaker may not be able to see the entire student body via web cam, but at least the students could see the speaker and still hear the message.

 At school, you would need an internet connection, the Skype account, a web cam (which comes with Apple computers and some PCs), and speakers.  ...Plus, you know, internet access for all students! :)

Eventually, wouldn't it be cool to be able to broadcast information to all students on snow days?! Skype may be a way that we can do this.

Animoto is a picture/video service. Anyone can make a free account, but to access certain features, you have to pay an upgrade fee. However, educators can get a free version of this updated account by simply verifying that they work for a school system. Hooray for websites that value educators!! :)

After creating an account, Animoto users submit a series of pictures to the website. Users can customize the video and add music (either your own tunes or stuff sponsored by Animoto). When you submit a project, Animoto turns the photos you submitted into a video by shuffling the photos creatively and adding the music to the background. The result is a very professional-looking photo video!

It's SO simple to make an Animoto video, so I definitely encourage all to at least try it!

As a teacher, you can take pictures of your students and turn them into an Animoto video for the class website or for parent/teacher conference night. You could also compile pictures from your last year in class and create an Animoto video for the first day of school so your new students know how much fun is about to happen this year!

On the student side, there are a few things kids could do:

1. In an English class, students could pick out a character from a novel they're reading. Then they could collect Google images that depict that character's personality, and add music to complete the video.
2. After reading factual material, students could collect Google images that depict the main theme of the text. 
3. If a video camera isn't available for recording projects, students could take pictures of each other performing a project/skit, and then compile the pictures to form an Animoto video. 

The Animoto site has a page full of sample videos you can view, and here's a screen shot of one of the vids:


As you can see, not only can you add pictures and videos, but you can also add slides of just text. This has so much potential for classroom use!

Although I'm wary of this link simply because it has the word "wiki" in it (I'm mostly wary because my kids just got done doing a research paper, and can't remember how many times I said, "if the web address has 'wiki' in it, it's not a good source!"), some good can come from this site in the classroom.

Mostly, I see Qwiki as a great anticipatory set (motivator, pre-lesson intro...whatever you want to call it). I think teachers could use Qwiki to show a quick reference video to students before starting a new lesson or unit. Teachers might also ask that their students build their own Qwiki presentation. Perhaps your math class is having trouble understanding a concept. All great teachers know that a person doesn't really understand material until he/she can teach it to someone else. That math teacher could use Qwiki to have her students teach the concept to millions of other Internet users by creating their own learning video of the concept!

 Qwiki lets you to search for almost anything in the world (your hometown, a rockstar, a specific fish, etc.), and then it shows you a narrated video that tells some facts about that topic. It's an overview, obviously not too in-depth, but would be good for introducing things.

As with Wikipedia and other "wiki" sites, users can create an account and log on to edit Qwikis at their leisure. That's the negative part of a "wiki" sites if you're relying on it for a steady stream of useful and accurate information. But as long as you screen the videos for accuracy before playing them in class, I don't see a problem with utilizing Qwiki videos in the classroom!

 Here's a screen shot of a Qwiki that played when I typed in "education:"

The Mayor Is Out Of Control !

Norm at Ed Notes on Line has an excellent piece on mayoral control titled: Barron, Klein, Spellings, Sharpton Confrontation: New Video by Angel Gonzalez. I wanted to share this with my readers here in Washington, DC. I believe Norm's piece deserves front page billing. Even though the subject of Angel Gonzalez's video is about NY public schools - it sounds eerily familiar to what is happening right here in the District of Columbia Public Schools . I can't say that that NY parents and teachers didn't warn us before DC Mayor Adrian Fenty started down this very slippery slope of mayoral control of our public school system. I encourage you to watch closely this must see video.

There are many similarities of mayoral control of public schools gone bad in NYC and DC. They include: waiving public school superintendent's credentials, pitting charter schools against public schools, blaming teachers, failing to be transparent as promised, disenfranchising parents and other critical stakeholders, dumbing down the curriculum, teaching to the test/creating test taking mills, and blaming schools when they fail after they have not received required funding , etc. For example, when 31 of DC Public Schools did not receive the funding they were due in SY '08-09, DC Schools Chief Financial Officer , Noah Wepman said that it won't happen AGAIN next school year. Oh Really? It's hard to believe this especially when a plan was not immediately developed by Fenty, Rhee or Wepman over 1 year ago and only some adjustments were made. It wasn't until 1 year later after the release of the study by Mary Levy on DC public school funding was featured in the March 28th WaPO article by Bill Turque titled, "Study Questions Disparities in Funding Among Some Schools"did the general public learn that there was such a problem with funding. This is just not acceptable from an 'administration that vowed transparency' to the DC community.

Courtesy of Ed Notes on Line & Angel Gonzalez: "In a brilliant new video, Angel Gonzalez of ICE and the Grassroots Education Movement exposes the hypocrisy of mayoral control and the phony mantra that their critics are all about adults and they are all about children." Here's Angel's introduction :

4-3-09 "Sharpton-Klein National Action Network / Education Equality Project Forum with pro-mayoral control and pro-charter school panelists from across the US. NYC Councilman Charles Barron condemned their privatization of public schools agenda. After protests from the NO Mayoral Control Coalition, Sharpton conceded Barron's address prior to the speeches of the panelists. Barron condemns the profiteering & the educational devastation promulgated by the Bloomberg/Klein Dictatorial Control of public education in NYC. "- Angel Gonzalez (Posted by The Washington Teacher)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ntbFiTXD4Og