Stretch to Music

Brain research shows that the brain needs a balanced of focused attention and nonfocused down time. One strategy that we used today was to get up and move to music. It's fun and refreshing. Learning occurs in chunks. Jennifer shared that for adults the appropripate length of time for a chunk is 20 minutes. For children it's their age minus 2 or 3. At fourth grade that would be about 7 minutes max! She had a great song for this. I think it's called "Brainbreak". I'm going to search itunes for that.

We were able to go to different sessions that other Cadre members presented on a cool web tool that they were working with. I went to the following so far!

Terra Clues
  Is a site that has scavenger hunts that are integrated with google maps. Interactive and fun! You can also create your own scavenger hunt!


Cool Tools for Schools
 Awesome list for web 2.0 tools. It has it in a format that is easy to navigate and has it broken down into skills and applications. Check it out!

Simply Box

http://www.freetech4teachers.com/2008/10/simply-box-helps-you-organize-web.html

This looks like a great web-site for young and old alike. It' s a visual version of delicious. let me know what you think.

More brain strenghtening

Today's activity involved throwing a balloon to another person in your group while calling their name. As you know, throwing a balloon is not an easy activity. The follow-up was to tap the balloon to another person while calling thier name and telling them what they had to tap it with (hand, nose etc.). A good way to work both sides of the brain, get the body moving and provide some laughter.

I Need My Teachers To Learn...video

Check out this video....

Venn Diagram activity

We were given three websites to pick a Venn Diagram tool to create a comparison of Student Learning vs. Adult learning. We did used Class Tools to create our Venn Diagram. Here is ours below! Other tools included ReadWriteThink and GraphJam.

Venn Diagram comparing Learning

Social Networking in the Classroom Using a Ning

I am in a group that is exploring how to use a social networking tool (Ning) in the classroom. We spent most of our time together exploring how to use/manage the Ning. Then we shared ideas with each other about how we are using a Ning for professional development and/or in the classroom with our students. Several members of our group are concerned with the safety of a social network being used in a school setting...myself included. However, I think that so many of my students (junior high age) are already using a social network that it may be a good idea to incorporate one into the classroom setting so that I can teach appropriate use of this tool that is so widely used today. There is even concern with age and using a social network, is it o.k. to use a social network with student younger than 13? Any thoughts? Here is a link that someone in our group discovered to a Ning that talks about the guidelines of using a Ning with students ....http://education.ning.com/profiles/blogs/guidelines-for-using-ning-in-a

New site for me

Hello in working on an assignment for Cadre I was introduced to a new site called bighughlab.com. I haven't explored all it can do but I will be using it to make a picture Mosaic.
Have a good day.
CarolAnn

Interactive Globe

The globe in the Washington Education Center is awesome.
I created a short video of the demonstration using
my flipcam. I apologize for the sound, but you can see
what it looks like. It's huge and can display all kinds of
information.

Brain Strengthening Activity

The last activity we did today dealt with making connections between the right and left brain. According to research this activity is best done right before or after a challenging activity. Have 5 or more people stand in a circle. One person starts acting something out (ex. riding a bike), the person on the left says, "What are you doing?" The person acting out riding a bike has to say something different like.."Biting my toenails." Then the person who asked has to do what that person said. The next person on the left says, "What are you doing? The person biting toenails, then says something different like, "Milking a cow.".... Not only is it a 'thinking' activity, but it produced many laughs.

Screen Jelly

Learned about a new screencasting tools! Screen Jelly! You can use it to post to your Twitter, or even email...check it out! Also another one called Screen Toaster!

Working with our personal learning networks!

I am part of a mixed group of learners. We are all learning something a little different. Three of us chose Twitter.  We are finding ways to use Twitter in education, and to also integrate the other web 2.0 tools from our other group members chosen web 2.0 tools. Some of the other group members are researching flickr, youtube, art sonia, and diigo. We have found Twitter applications for most of these. Here is a link to our Twitter wiki with all of our information so far! It is being changed and updated by our group members, so keep checking in for the updates!

Twitter Wiki

ArtPad

Hello we just learned a new tool called ArtPad. We had to draw a picture that represented our learning style. My style was "Professor". We used ArtPad to illustrate our style.
More to come.
CarolAnn

ART PAD

Hello from Cadre,
We are having a great time learning in a new technology building on the U of M campus. We just explored a really fun tool. Go to artpad.art.com and try it out. You can draw pictures and play. If you want to create a link to your picture, if you click on save and send and then on click here. It will give you an url. Be sure to save it.
Linda

Wordle

One of the first things we did was write down our thoughts about technology. Then after doing some ice-breaker activities, we found a different table and summarized key words. The instructor typed all the key words into Wordle (the more times a word is put into Wordle, the larger the word becomes). Then as a group we shared ideas on how Wordle is used in class:
Have students write I believe....
Brainstorm characteristics of a novel
Type in vocabulary words..then on SmartBoard have students circle words while giving a definition or sentence
Another had students copy and paste a paragraph into Wordle to see what words are used to much...great Word Choice activity.
www.wordle.net

Learning styles

There is discussion of learning styles and our school has recently been trained in Quantum Learning. Through this all of our students grades 3-12 took a survey and learned their styles. I did some searching and found the following website that has some great sites based on learning styles...check it out!

 Websites for learning styles

Phyllis J Washington Education Center

The new education center is quite nice. It includes several open "lounge" areas with flat screens, rolling furniture and technology compatability. Anyone can plug in computers, flipcams, etc. and present on a big screen. One advantage of the set up is it provides a flexible classroom - teachers/students can rearrange the space to suit their needs. A second advantage is that passersbys can see what's going on, possibly become curious and want to join in. The show piece of the new facility is a projection globe (one of 15 in the country?). It can project such things as cloud movement, tsunamis and color-coded world language maps. It even has sensors built into the viewing benches that will make them vibrate to simulate motion. The globe is open to teachers and their classes by reservation.

using a wii remote to simulate a smartboard

I'm going to learn how to simulate a Smartboard using a Wii remote, a projector and a special infrared pen. Brook's husband Dean is going to help me build it tonight! Anyone interested can join us. Maybe we can video or screencast it for everyone! Brooks thought there should already be some videos on the web. I'll see what I can find and let you know.

Twitter and Cadre

Hello!

Well I have to say the Cadre was awesome and learned tons. Nice to see Jason and Mike there too! I left there feeling overwhelmed with tons of information, but also rejuvenated to find and implement new technologies. I am realizing too that it is the little innovations and implementations that can excite kids in our classroom and spark creativity and learning.

I left the Cadre with a learning task...find an implementation or application in Twitter that may make it useful in education or classrooms. I have to admit that Twitter is much more than I thought and have even learned a few things from it so far. I am now a "follower" to Will Richardson, Wesley Fryer, and a few other big names in tech. I am surprised at how much you can also search and find for in Twitter. I am a Twitter beginner and cannot say yet that I am "twitterpated" with Twitter quite yet. I will keep you updated and any ideas on how to use Twitter or any cool applications that you know of please pass on!

It's a Wrap

Today we worked on our project. We added chat to our Cadre group site. Then we played with some web 2.0 tools. We did a phrer project. It was simple but fun. You can try it.

Here is the site - www.pimpampum.net/phrasr

Cool 'make a simple video' Site

We summarized what we learned these past two days by creating a simple video. You have to go to www.xtranormal.com to check out this fun tool.

Google Sites

Today our group is working on setting up a classroom website using Google Sites. I am on information overload mode. I created a blog for one of my classes (I want a place where they can display their work to a larger audience than just the teacher. I'm hoping the students will begin to take a little more pride in their work knowing that a large audience is able to view.) However, then the questions popped up on how do I get around the students not having email. So after brainstorming with my group, gaggle.net email platform was suggested. Therefore, I am heading to this site to read about the controls that I can place on my students that will hopefully apease my administrator. I'm finding impossible to use these cool tools without email accounts.

What did you learn today?

What is a new tool that you learned about today and how would you use it in your classroom?

Wallwisher.com

This afternoon we watched several videos about social networking, then we defined what is was as a group. The purpose of spending time defining new concepts supports the brain research that states in order to learn we need to attach the new concept with prior knowledge. The next step was getting into groups of 3 and go to www.wallwisher.com and create at least 6 'post-it-notes' about our thoughts. Finally, we organized our thoughts into categories, since brain research shows this is how our brains work to retrieve information. It's a cool and easy site to use...check it out:)

Savanger Hunt

We just finished a very fun activity. It was a savanger hunt. We used our computers to find locations from clues we got as text messages on our phones. We texted our answers. If we were correct, we took photos of ourselves there. It was a little frustrating but it was a good way to get up and moving and get to know more Cadre members. How do you think you could implement a savanger hunt in your classroom?

Cadre groups

Everyone has joined learning groups to focus on different social networking sites. These include facebook, twitter, wordpress, google sites, ning and one called mixed bag. The latter will include wetpaint, livestream, diigo, flickr, artsonia, ccmixter and you tube. Everyone will be exploring these sites and will report back throughout the year on their usefullness in the classroom.

Some Blogging Tips for the Cadre Folks

Great Start to your blogging.  Here are a few things I am seeing that we need to fix:

1)  Always add a title to a new post

2)  If you are replying or adding to an existing posts content, add a comment - not a new post

3)  Make sure you add at least one label to your post so it is searchable

4)  When adding a link in a comment section you need to add a little HTML code. Here is an example:


The area in the pink is the actual web link.  The text after the "> tag is the text that will appear linkable.  In this case ">Strawberry label

Social Networking

Focussing on social Networking sites today. First to learn, then to utilize in the classroom. Just yesterday I saw Facebook used to book a flight, ask for help on what sites were good to book trips on, and I even made my hair appointment on Facebook! So yes, these sites can be used for awesome sharing of information, as well as for entertainment and staying connected socially.

So now on to Wall Wisher. See the link below!
http://www.ncs-tech.org/?p=3275

The video Crystal refers to points out that wikipedia has more entries and is more accurate than Britannica - a change of view from the old"don't trust Wikipedia."

Just watched a cool video on social media!

This morning we did an opening activity where we worked in groups to create an ad about one of the objectives of Cadre. The activity was fun and helped us get to know each other and build on prior knowledge. Jennifer said that brain research supports the idea that we remember more when emotion is attached. What kinds of opening activiites do you have your students do that allows them to link emotion to learning?

Hello,
We just had a great lunch and are getting ready for a busy afternoon. Before our break, Jennifer our instructor had us brainstorm and share ideas on our learning environment for Cadre meetings. We could either say it aloud or type it on the message board. Participants were able to state things such as temperature, not liking it when little conversations are taking place when the instructor is speaking, having a couple of options to retrieve website URLs (in case computers aren't cooperating at the time).... This empowered the participants to feel like a part of the learning environment. I'm going to try to use this democratic strategy when introducing the working/learning environment for using the mini-computers in our classroom.

What activities are you doing to create an engaging learning environment in your classroom?

Good morning all!

good morning all! Looking forward to a great day.

Cadre

Looking forward to seeing you all tomorrow!!

Cadre

I, too, am looking forward to next weeks "gathering." turner

Cadre

I am looking forward to going to the Cadre meeting next week.
Linda

Welcome PROTECS bloggers!

You have already passed the first step...you found the blog.  The directions for this blog is that are Cadre members will be creating posts as they learn and reflect on their teaching.  It will be the job of the rest of you to make comments to posts.  In turn, Cadre members reply to a many comments as possible and let's see where the discussions take us... Happy Blogging! :)