An Article To Read

A colleague at work sent this NYTimes article out. It doesn't connect to technology, but it certainly related to our broad discussion. Check it out...

Website Number Three

Julia's reference to the BBC in class reminded me of a site we used school-wide last year. During the weeks leading up to the 10th grade MCA-II Reading Test, we needed to help students review. The block schedule means that some students take English in the fall & winter terms, so by April they can be a bit rusty. Our Reading Specialist found the BBC Skillswise site, which has "factsheets, worksheets, quizzes and games to help improve your [English and maths] skills." 

• It is simply, yet interactive. 
• It can be used by the whole class via an LCD projector, or students can spend time working on their own. 

As I haven't used the popular Study Island software, I don't know if this site would be "up to snuff" in comparison, but I like it. Besides, it exposes kids to the fact that education standards are global, not local. It also, at least for English, shows students that vocabulary (math vs. maths) and spelling vary from region to region. They need to use context clues to understand language in all settings, not just in the classroom.

A Related Book

Do a quick Google search for Clay Shirky's book Here Comes Everybody. I read a short review of it in this month's edition of Wired today, and it sounded right up our alley. Check it out!

Website Number Two

As I researched my project topic, I came upon tinyurl.com, which appears potentially useful. If you're teaching a lesson in a lab and want students to go to a specific site, you could create a shorter address for them to type. Granted, I tend to send my kids to my (teacher) homepage and then click on the link I previously added. This site is very limited in its information, which makes it seem less credible. All of the links on the side of the page are for the single page that you could scroll through. Other than the contact button, none link to a new page. Furthermore, as more people use it, the "short" URLs will become longer and more random. This presents clarity issues: my new address contained a z, k, e and s--all hard sounds to clearly communicate aloud to a group. I'm not sure that I'll find a direct use for this in the classroom, but it does bring up some ideas. We'll see....

UPDATE 7 April: I received a Tiny URL link from my tech. staff at work today! People are using this handy, if random, site!

Website Number One

Webquest Project

This is actually a link to a page of my own that has several related links. Each of the sites already contain casual evaluations, designed to help focus research for a project my 9th graders complete during our unit on the novel To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee. I came across the various sites primarily through an undergraduate reading course that contained a "technology and reading" lesson. One of the original sites disappeared, so I went hunting for a replacement, which is when I found the "Reminiscence" site.

My students often struggle with pulling information from the two "Growing Up" sites, as the content is dense and unfamiliar. However, the audio clips on the "Federal Writer's Project" site grabs their attention. The material they pull is not as helpful, but their engagement in the site helps lead them to a basic understanding of life in the '30s.  If others have sites containing primary source information about this era, I'd love to expand the project's possibilities.

An aside: I created my site using iWeb, after I found out that I would be changing schools. The site existed through my first district's server. The transition from one system to another provided an excellent chance to update and revamp the project. At some point, I'd like to create a new domain, one that doesn't connect to my personal site (which is password protected, currently).

First Go

The initial process was a bit confusing, so I ended up loosing my "offical title" for class. Therefore, I took advantage of my unique name and used it for my URL. I'll see if I can fix that later... As I tell my students, something is better than nothing and you always need to do more than one draft!

Granted, the unusual insomnia could be a contributing factor to the initial difficult; I'm not generally up doing "homework" at 2 AM. Perhaps, now that I've run my brain through a few academic paces, it will shut down and allow sleep to settle over me. Thank goodness tomorrow (today, to be precise) isn't a school day!