Using Glogster to Create Digital Posters!

As a PBWorks Summer camper we were challenged to embed a multimedia element into our wiki. So, I decided to create an online poster using Glogster. I have seen and considered using Glogster many times before, but just hadn't. For educators, Glogster EDU helps teachers avoid having to sift through inappropriate content by allowing them to create free student accounts.

Here's my glog:



Teacher Resources:
This Glog On! slideshare by Jan McGee is a helpful how-to resource that can be very useful for teachers.

Snowflakes and Winter Fun!

A couple of weeks ago I had my students to create snowflakes using the Make-a-flake website as well as view a free Brainpop video on Snowflakes. They really enjoyed this activity and came up with some really creative designs that demonstrated their mouse control abilities. Today I came across this list of Snow Day activities from the
Ideas to Inspire website that can be particularly useful on days when students are snowed-in(which rarely occurs in Texas, even though we were fortunate to see some snow this year-see pic :) )

Happy New Year 2010!

Happy New Year 2010!

Wow! I was excited to see that 93 visits were made to Winter Fun over the holiday break. I will try to make more resources available as I find them. My goal this year is to share more.

Also, I am noting that I am taking up a challenge that was initiated by Shelly Terrell's 30 Day blog carnival that will hopefully help boost my sharing efforts.

Teacher resources:
For those who are looking for ideas for a New Year's resolution check out this handy little New Year’s Resolution generator.



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New Media and Implications for Learning and Thinking

USC media professor, Henry Jenkins talks about the importance of developing new media skills in education. Jenkins discusses the participatory gap that exists due to the "new media disconnect" among teachers and students. Jenkins also stresses the importance of teachers using online networks to develop professional learning networks in order to keep up with the changing pace of technology. Jenkins states that teachers should use these networks to their advantage and "extend their learning" by connecting with other teachers who are more comfortable with using technology.

Interactive Christmas Book

In my search to finding useful websites for teachers related to various holiday activities, I came across this Interactive Christmas Book that I just had to share with everyone. The Christmas Book is full of interactive Christmas activities that can be used to reinforce reading comprehension as well as English language learning. It even has an activity to help students learn about Boxing Day. Once you?re on the site click on the cover to see an index of activities.

"The Week in Rap"- An Educational News Summary

Thanks to Free Technology for Teachers I learned about The Week in Rap which is a weekly news summary in the form of a rap music video. This week's video included Texas' exciting snow appearing this week! Anyway, I just thought this was quite exciting... snow and an informative news summary all in one day! You can't beat that! Here's the video:

STEM Connect from Discovery Education

Discovery Education has launched the STEM Connect site in efforts to support STEM education. What is STEM? I had the same question! STEM stands for science, technology, engineering and mathematics. The STEM education initiative are efforts directed toward encouraging classroom instruction in these disciplines to hopefully peak students' interests in seeking jobs in these areas.

STEM education is designed to answer students who question "Why do I need to learn this?" and is as simple as bringing students' attention to jobs that are related to what they are learning in school. For example, the Technology content includes videos on careers as web designers/developers, computer trainers, multimedia developers, etc. that I will be sharing with students in my WebDesign class. STEM Connect is a great way to get students to start thinking about their future interests.