One of the exciting ideas I picked up at a summer technology conference is the Global Read Aloud Project. Member teachers can find a partner classroom, choose a book, choose a start date, and hold discussions either virtually or live (through SKYPE for instance). They are just getting started and it will be terrific to see how the teachers and students respond to such a wonderful opportunity! I hope I can introduce their idea to HRS faculty and maybe find a few brave souls to dive in.
Engage imaginations! The web site Storybird has a framework for writing short illustrated books. It is a delightful site that creates a wonderful parent (or grandparent) and child activity. Collaboration can be done sitting next to each other or by taking turns working on the online project from across the country. Here’s the amazing part - the site provides fantastic, inspirational art. Building a story only needs drag-and-drop for the pictures and typing for the story. The book format turns the pages with a click.
When you arrive at http://storybird.com, read the stories others have written. You can sort for stories by age group if you like. Browsing through the art is an experience to be enjoyed, too. If you want to know more about how it all works, click on the “tour” button and watch the video which shows how to build your online book. A login is necessary (another reason to have the adult along), and the service is free. The storybooks are purely digital at this point, and the site implies it will provide a way to print eventually.
The holidays ahead might include some sweet moments for making and sharing stories. I hope you enjoy this site, together.
Posted
by H. Below
on Tuesday December 1, 2009 at 10:10PM
Parents often stop by to ask if I could recommend any web sites that children might enjoy during their free time at home. I usually fumble around trying to think of what to tell them, since if I find anything exceptional I want to hoard the URL so I can use it in my classes. Still, there are indeed some good sites that I don’t use, so I guess I should share some of my toys.
Please remember to vet these sites before sending your child. Are there ads, and are they OK by your standards? Do kids have to join? Is it a social network and does it ask for a membership? Is it free throughout, or is the good stuff by subscription only? I won't be checking up further on what I'm listing here, so be sure you do.
BTW, for 3 - 5 families, TypingPal can be used at home, though all 3 - 5 kids should practice without staring at their fingers. Your student will use the same login she/he uses at school. Email me if you need login/password (they won't need the access code). http://school.typingpal.com/index_ecole.asp?ROYCROYC
For really high quality online free time, I suggest choosing a subject that lights up your student. Then help find good sites for kids on the topic. (You might want to search on your own ahead of time...) For instance, search for “kites for kids” or “knitting for kids” or “hikes in the Bay Area for kids” or “chess for kids” or “crafts for kids.” You’ll have to comb through the commercial sites, but it would actually be a great way to teach kids about positive and useful ways to employ the free information out there.
Good luck, and have fun!
Posted
by H. Below
on Sunday November 15, 2009 at 08:10PM
In celebration of the presidential inauguration, our Lower School 'family' groups discussed citizenship, the office of the president, and the children's hopes for the nation. Volunteers dropped by the computer lab over the following week to record their ideas and hopes for President Obama. Three Lower School band members brought in their instruments to record their parts in "Stars & Stripes" to help set the tone. You can hear our podcast here.
Posted
by H. Below
on Monday January 19, 2009 at 09:02AM
What’s a blog? What makes a good educational/school blog? Blogs now may include not just a journal of private thoughts and readers’ responses, but photos, videos, links to other blogs, wiki resources, networks (sometimes called Nings), and so much more. It’s getting harder to define just what blogging is and the good that blogging can do. One way to learn about blogging is to check out a few truly excellent blogs.
In the educational world, where learning and creativity are paramount, blogs that share ideas and resources abound. Recently a blog host site called “edublogs ” have announced the winners of the “2008 Eddies ” - the best educational blogs of the year. These are exceptional and creative blogs with much to share. Several contests were very close and the other nominees are also fabulous.
The best library blog, “Heyjude ,” has an interesting video at the top right now, called “A Lesson Worthy of an ‘A’.” The first minute or so after the credits is irresistible, and may entice you to watch for the cello lesson later on. Other blogs in the list celebrate English, Science, free resources, and learning/teaching strategies. Take a look around and think about what you might learn or share. Clearly not all blogs are loaded with special effects (uh, say, this one), and many of us are just getting started.
You might guess “where” the Eddies were awarded... (Ask and I’ll tell you!)
While we may not “need” blogs to be good teachers, reading blogs about one’s profession is becoming part of literacy and opens us to enlightening possibilities.
Posted
by H. Below
on Thursday January 1, 2009 at 03:35PM
One of the great joys in teaching is collaboration among teachers. Having the time to work, rework, launch, discuss, revise, and realize curriculum makes our labor of love truly rewarding to teachers and for students. Additionally, it models collaboration for students, and from what we all see and hear, skills in this area are becoming invaluable for our children's futures. This video from Pixar, via Edutopia , shows how clearly a company defines collaboration and prizes it in their employees.
Posted
by H. Below
on Thursday December 4, 2008 at 09:46PM
Of interest to educators looking to the future of pedagogy are virtual learning environments found in such places as “Second Life.” There a person signs up to join the web site’s world, is given a character called an “avatar,” and must spend a little time learning how to direct the avatar’s movement and speech so he/she can interact with other avatars and the places in the virtual world. Once that is accomplished, the avatar may be directed to visit a wide variety of virtual locations, including educational sites. In “Second Life” the real estate is divided into islands, and an entire island might belong to a school or a teacher or a subject area.
The further possibilities for virtual learning are very exciting and certainly not limited to science topics. Currently virtual worlds are starting up in many places on the web, and while a few can be considered high quality educational experiences for high school and college students, I haven’t yet seen anything truly useful (high in quality and safety) for our elementary children. Still, the the experiences can go beyond what even the best field trip can supply, and the motivational factor runs very high! Just imagine what could be available to learners!
Posted
by H. Below
on Sunday November 9, 2008 at 10:41AM
In our on-going efforts to guide our children to become responsible digital citizens, Ms Price Patel and I gave a presentation to our LS Faculty on the use of online images and creative works. Here are our notes from the session.
Best Practices Guidelines for Using Digital Images
It is important to teach our children to acknowledge the authors of all creative works used in school projects. Lower School students should follow these guidelines when using other people's images:
1) First, use databases to search for images. We have paid subscriptions to these services and they are much less likely than outside sources to contain objectionable items. School databases available through the HRS Library website.
"Kids InfoBits" is in Gale Databases (good “image” tab option) Login information is in the school phone book.
Another good place for info and images: Encyclopedia of Life: http://www.eol.org/
3) ALWAYS give credit to your sources using an appropriate format:
Grades K-3: "Thank you to ______________ for this image."
Grades 4-5: Use standard citation format - Noodle Tools or any provided citation
Posted
by H. Below
on Sunday November 9, 2008 at 09:29AM
This month:
Third and fourth graders have been champs as they worked on our second podcast, especially after losing several recordings in an iBook hard drive crash. Ms Price-Patel and I are learning so many things about putting the shows together, and I’m very grateful for the help of three delightful eighth graders who come down to our lab twice a week and help with editing. Also amazing is our new Snowball microphone which brings a much richer sound, and much less clipping, to our recordings.
The Bay Area tech teacher network has been buzzing about Flip cameras, and last week a surprise Flip arrived in the lab! A group of fifth graders had a ball with it at recess - it is so easy to use! The flip part of the Flip is a spring loaded USB connector that delivers the video to the computer with very little effort. It will be a great tool for everyone.
Second graders made a wiki worth of spider facts, first graders animated their names, and groups of third graders animated the water cycle. I hope to have the finished projects available on a FinalSite page for parents in November.
Posted
by H. Below
on Sunday October 26, 2008 at 10:10PM
