Elect to Elect

tips

Sunday Sit, Sip, and “Sync” ~ 11-4-2012

It’s finally here!

Election Week!

And I know we are all ready to have the phone calls, the advertisements, the yard signs, and the social media posts behind us.

With the entire negative, we can’t forget the wonderful privilege we enjoy living in a democracy where we have the freedom to choose our representatives.

I am often reminded of that when talking to my mother who experienced life as a very young girl in Germany during WWII.

She has shared countless examples of what their lives were like under the dictatorship of the Third Reich. She could hardly comprehend the freedoms she would have as she stood on the deck of the ship watching the Statue of Liberty come into view as a young war-bride in 1948. She “served” next to my father all through his long career as a soldier in the U.S. Army, and she loves being an American. She has already cast her vote.

As a teacher, I always vote early in the morning,
and wear my “I Voted” sticker to be that role model to my students.

And so it goes this week.

As fifth grade teachers, we often shared units of study, and for several years, I was given the task of explaining the “Electoral College”. Many of us struggle with this concept, and my lessons often included interactive pieces on the SMARTBoard paired with videos. I want to share two videos that I have used in the past.

We hope these help you, and more importantly we hope that they help your students have a better understanding of how our government works.

The last thing we can do is to encourage all of our friends to exercise the freedom that we should never take for granted.

Please vote.

Sharing Safely

classroom management tips

Monday Morning Message ~ 9-12-2011

You have just received a link to a YouTube video.

You watched it, enjoyed it, laughed, cried, or were moved in some way that you wanted to share.

Then you notice the comments below, or the sidebar with videos that were digitally linked…

and they are not things you want to share.

One solution is a website that allows you to share just the video.

SafeShareTV  provides a link that will place your video into a nice viewer without comments and without other videos.

In addition, you have the option of choosing a theme, setting the starting and ending point of your video, and editing the title.

Finally, there is an option to email or share your “Safe View” to all the major social websites.

Now, go and share something,

and have a great week!

We Love Interactive WhiteBoards but a Wii IWB??

SMARTBoard workshops

Wii Remote

Ok…I was curious.  I have seen the YouTube video of Johnny Lee.  I have had a SMARTBoard in my classroom for 4 years.  I know about school budget crunches.  All three of those reasons combined led Mom and me to attend  a session at the East Central IL Tech Conference on Friday entitled “Interactive Whiteboard (aka “SMARTBoard”) for <$100″.

It seems like this $100 Wii IWB thing is really starting to become a reality.  There are quite a few places online where you can purchase the light pens, as well as accessories for the Wii Remote to make it stand on a tripod as a functional piece of classroom equipment.  Software is available as a free download to get your computer compatible with the hardware.

Any surface can be transformed into an IWB. 
Even a table top. 
And with Multi-touch capabilities if you have more than one light pen. 
Wow…the opportunity to have a multi-touch table in my classroom in 2009?

Well…I have to admit.  I was less than thrilled with the functionality of the Wii IWB as a suitable means within a classroom. 
Sure, it would work….if you were using your IWB as a game board, or to write and wipe. 
But I think there are many folks who are beyond the “glorified whiteboard” idea.  At least we hope they are.  And if they aren’t?  Well, we can certainly help with that!

We have a multitude of ways that the SMARTBoard can be used within the educational setting from small individualized center activities, to whole group lessons, to alternative assessment tools, to differentiated instruction. 

I could never go back to teaching without my board.  Ever!