Your Students Can't Google w/o Being Taught

Have you ever watched a student do a web search?  It is pathetic!  They use Google like they use people: they ask it a question.  

Even though Google is smart enough to figure out what they mean, it is still the wrong way to search.  I don't know about you, but in Indiana, I don't believe there are any standards on how to do a web search.  So its just one of those things they will need to know how to do, but schools aren't teaching.

Maybe you do the same thing?  Did you know all of the tips and tricks below for executing a web search?  I sure didn't know every single thing, but now I use most of them and can find just about anything I am looking for!  Give 'er a try!  (sorry for the size.  I am not a Blogger expert by any means and I'm not sure how to make it larger, but if you download it, it is pretty large!)

(h/t to HackCollege.com for the infographic I have used in class for the past two years.  They have other great stuff as well!)

Speed Dating Review Exercise

No no, nothing fishy going on here!  I found an idea from Twitter and decided to try it out myself in the classroom.

I am always looking for new ways to review material before a test.  Lots of stuff gets old really fast with as many tests as we give.  Fortunately, this is a new activity I like and the students like it too.  It is fast-paced and requires 100% engagement for it to work, so students that usually don't contribute are forced to on a smaller scale.

It is more of a "speed-networking" exercise, which is becoming more and more popular in the business world as a way for clients to meet a lot of prospective businesses at once.

Here's how its done:

1. Beforehand, use a bracket-generating site like challonge.com and create a round-robin tournament for your students.
2. Go here and download the accompanying sheet for students to use.
3. Come up with enough terms/information for students to research (1 per student)
4. Assign each student one term.  Give them around 8-10 minutes to create a 30-second description.
• Make sure they focus on putting their term in context of what you are studying.  Do not, I repeat, DO NOT just provide a definition.
5. Find a way to time each round.  I use online-stopwatch.com.  Set the timer for 1-minute rounds.
6. Project the bracket on a screen or find another way so each student can see the schedule.
7. Have students gather with their partner, and each of them have 30 seconds to "introduce themselves" to their "date".  I usually call out after 30 seconds so they know when to switch.
• Student A describes themselves while Student B writes lists them on their sheet.  When Student A finishes describing themselves, Student B will circle "yes" or "no", as in "Do you understand this material?"  Then, they flip after 30 seconds.
8. After the minute is over, repeat step 7 for the next rounds (however many you have).

It will get loud.  Students will be engaged.  It will be awesome. :-)

Other Video Hosting Sites Beyond YouTube and TeacherTube

Currently preparing to flip parts of my class next year, I was bamboozled by the amount of video sites there are out there!  Where does one start?  Which ones are best?  How do you choose?

I am currently falling in love with Knowmia.  They boast that they have over 13,000 videos.  Not only can you host your own lessons, but you can browse the lessons of other teachers.  

They also have a How-To Guide on making lessons.  Also, they have a great, FREE, iPad app (which I plan on playing around with A LOT this summer).  Plus, in addition to the video aspect of it, you can build interactive assessments and track students' progress in real-time.  

Also, Teaching Channel is becoming more and more interesting to me.  It seems to be like Knowmia with more of a social media aspect to it.  You can find certain teachers who teach certain subjects and "follow" them.  

Plus, they have great professional development videos on how to teach with video.  (Videos about videos...meta, anyone?)

TeacherTube never really pulled me in, and YouTube is blocked for students at my school.  But these two sites may just be what I (and you) have been looking for.

Great PSYC Videos for Review in Class

These psychology videos I stumbled across are fantastic!!  I am planning on using these as review videos before a quiz.  They are great for Introduction to Psychology classes, but they may be a little too easy for any AP PSYC classes.  We are discussing the history/approaches, so here is one about said topic:

There are plenty more of these videos at education-portal.com.  They have plenty of other subjects in the social sciences, math, physical science, etc.  I am going to be linking to these Psychology videos at my YouTube page for students to view.

Nice Flipped Resources

After doing some research over Christmas (excuse me...HOLIDAY break), I came across this really nice Flipped Classroom resource document.  Love love LOVE that it is in Google Docs as well. (h/t to Dan Spencer (@runfardvs) of Jackson (MI) County ISD for the link and the document.

Summer Book Club on Twitter #sschatbook

Some quick words of advice: if you haven't signed up for Twitter yet and you are an educator, do it. Start building your PLN. It was the best professional development I have ever done. I only wish it counted toward my Professional Growth Points as an Indiana educator. Sadly, they lag behind in the technology world.

Once you do get on Twitter, be sure to search for #sschat to connect with fellow social studies educators (there are also #histchat, #psychat, #mathchat, #scichat, etc. if you want to get more specific.). #sschat is having a book club this summer, and they are reading one of my favorites. I like it because it is essentially an educational psychology book, but it can be applied to everyday teaching!

Daniel T. Willingham's book "Why Don't Students Like School?" is a great look at how most teaching is not conducive to how the human mind works, and how to rectify it. I have read it before, but I plan to read it again as a part of this book chat. We are reading 1 chapter per week for 9 weeks. The first chat is on June 24th. See the promotional flyer on Google Docs.

Wordpress vs. Blogger vs. EduBlogs

As evidenced by my lack of a library of posts, I recently decided to begin a blog about education.  Currently, I am planning on implementing this task as a goal for my school next year.  I feel it will force allow me to stay current on trends in education, read/comment on other blogs about US History and Psychology, and be reflective on my own experiences in the classroom.  BUT...there are so many blog sites out there.  Which one to choose?


Steven Anderson (one of my favorite blog reads and Twitter follows) recently posted an entire article about it on his blog, which I found very helpful and motivational.  His first point of note confused me to no end, however.  I wanted to go with one of the big boys, but which would I choose, Blogger or Wordpress?  Plus, a Twitter follower told me he had recently started blogging on EduBlogs.


I decided to set up a blog on both of them and see which one I liked.  Here is what I found:

Blogger   

• Pros
• VERY simple to use (owned by Google)
• Already use Google a lot, so this fits in seamlessly
• WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) interface - no coding required.
• Completely free with the ability to monetize through Google AdSense
• Cons
• No official iPad application (but there is one for iPhone?)

Wordpress

• Pros
• New interface is very user friendly.
• iPad app is very useful
• Opensourced (if you're a techie and can use that stuff)
• Automatically link to social media accounts (Facebook, Twitter, etc) to write links to your newest post
• Cons
• HTML code is intimidating
• Basic service is free, but it costs $$$ if you want to upgrade (themes, no ads, etc. all will cost you)

EduBlogs

• Pros
• School friendly (could be used with students)
• Cool iPad app similar in design to Wordpress 
• Uses WordPress engine to run its blog.
• Cons
• Free iPad app won't let you post unless you are an EduBlog Pro user, which costs $$$

Even though Blogger does not have an "official" iPad app, I felt strongly enough to start my blog on that site.  But now, how does one use Blogger on their iPad?

Blogsy (available in the App Store for $4.99).  Time and time again, this is considered the best app for blogging on the iPad.  It has cross-platform capabilities, so even if you decide to go with another site to host your blog, chances are Blogsy will support it.

So there you go!  Now that I have settled on a decent space to write a blog, be on the lookout for more and more posts!

Technology for Technology's Sake

I recently came across this article regarding technology in my Zite magazine from Education Weekly by Paul Barnwell. I agree with its premise, but it brings me back to the old saying: “don’t throw out the baby with the bath water” (even though I can’t stand that phrase. Who would do that?)

     To me, teachers use technology to serve any of the three following purposes: 1) to enhance students’ learning. 2) to replace and/or make learning easier 3) to make learning “fun” and more interesting from their perspective.

1) Teachers that use technology to enhance student’s learning are the ones that get it. Finding interactive maps of the American Revolution will help a student understand the course of the war better than a map in a textbook. Using Twitter as a means to connect with students outside of the classroom for retweeting relevant content that connect with what you’re studying or what you have studied is a great way to bring the content you’re learning into their “stream of consciousness” mindset.
     This is where the article falters. This is what Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter are good for. While I absolutely would not recommend a teacher becoming friends with their students on Facebook (or follow students’ Twitter feeds), a teacher can create a fan page on Facebook to connect a class outside of school. I post my videos on YouTube for students to view as a refresher on a topic or to catch up if they were absent. These are both examples of moving learning toward being 24/7 and disproving the notion that learning only takes place inside of a brick-and-mortar building during certain times of the day.

2) Technology certainly makes learning easier, if you know how to use it. Those that move to paperless classrooms aren’t necessarily hampering their learning, but simply making it easier (and more environmentally friendly). I post many things on my Google Docs account for students to view if they forget a group they have been assigned or what their topic is. I then post the link on our class Moodle page. Always available, 24/7.

3) If teachers are only using technology for this purpose, be warned. Technology should not be a gimmick that grabs students’ attention purely for the sake of being the “cool teacher.” In Daniel Willingham’s book Why Don’t Students Like School, an excellent read, he states that

Whatever students think about is what they will remember…memory is the residue of thought.

     In the case of Mr. Barnwell’s article, will students remember the content they were have supposed to have been exiting with or will they be more enamoured by using their cell phones in class?

     One cannot simply say all technology is good or all technology is bad. Technology in the classroom is like fire. If one can harness its power and use it to enhance learning, it can be a very powerful tool. If someone uses it who doesn’t know how, they’ll end up getting burned.