Powerful Video!

Hi Everyone,

If you want to gain more understanding on how students learn - watch this video

http://www.teachertube.com/view_video.php?viewkey=d02fda0fe3f9a3e7b89f

Scott

Happy 4th! Three New Websites Added

I hope everyone is taking a minute to look at the responses to the postings. Celinda had some very good information she shared with Scott and I wanted to make sure everyone got to see the web addresses so I posted them with the others off to the left. I haven't had a chance to look at them closely yet, but just scanning them I will jump at the chance to look them over more closely tomorrow morning when I'm a little more alert.

Add Websites from Conference Sessions

Any one of you, please add websites for sessions that were of interest at NECC. The more the merrier. I have only added two so far, but hope to get more up as we go along. They appear on the lefthand side of the window under the heading, "Websites collected from NECC." To add, go into post and choose template. Once you are in the template you will see a small rectangle with the words "Websites collected from...," click on edit and then add the URL and name of the site. Don't forget to save it so it will appear on our URL list.


It is great to see that Anne D. has joined in the conversation. I may have to send out another invitation in a couple of weeks for those who have not gotten online, just so they don't forget we are out here in cyberland.

another adventure!

Hello all!

This is my first attempt at blogging - hope I'm doing it correctly! Scott, I think we could start small with the iMovies and teach kids to teach other kids as they are ready. Fran, thanks for taking the initiative to get us back "together". I had a great time at the conference and I'm still processing all I learned - and lamenting at what I still don't know :) (like how to make a proper smiley guy).

Anne D.

Quick and Easy Computer Activities for Science and Social Studies

I was amazed at this presenter's use of Powerpoint in a truly innovative way. She whizzed through numerous examples and you knew she had many more. She had ways to make sure students didn't just cut and paste information into a PowerPoint from a website. By having students combine what they have learned with a simple but interesting final product, such as an acrostic done on PowerPoint, students are unable to just copy and paste information into the program. I am posting Tammy Worcester's website which has examples of some of these activities and information from the presentations she offers. It also has information on purchasing her books.

Making iMovies in Milwaukee

I too was very impressed with the Mabry student made movies - participating in the production certainly is an engaging experience for students. One boy said "Making a movie is like learning on steroids!" That pretty much says it all. Their topic choices are very relevant and the messages are indisputably sincere.

But, that being said - Milwaukee isn't Marrietta!

Several years ago I tried making iMovies with students and found out that for the most part they were very motivated with the idea, but they lacked the self discipline and ability to stay on task required to storyboard, shoot, edit, modify, re-shoot, and complete an iMovie. It ended up being another very time consuming adventure, not too fruitful, just adding to my already overloaded schedule.

Even so I am thinking about giving iMovies another chance. If I can find the right group of students, and have the time and energy, I believe I'll give it another go. Pertinent topics might include: Bullying, Coming to School on Time, Taking Responsibility for Your Actions, etc.

Scott

Start adding the websites collected at NECC

I have added the website of Dr. Tim Tyson's Mabry Middle School. We were all very impressed with his accomplishments with the students there. I visited his website and decided to post it to this blog. I also went on the Scholastic "Schools of Distinction" website to get a differenct view of the school. It did say that Mabry has a 5% poverty rate and they have a professional adman guiding students in the production of their videos. The poverty rate is far below what we experience in MPS, but I believe our students would be very motivated by a similar experience and I'm willing to give it a try. The following paragraph was taken from the Schools of Distinction website.

"Budding filmmakers may want to get their parents to pull up stakes and move to Marietta to enroll them in Mabry Middle School. Here, sixth through eighth graders can take home an “Oscar” for their work producing movies for the annual Mabry Film Festival, now going into its fifth year. The video project was developed to address many areas of higher-level thinking, according to Tim Tyson, the person who thought up the moviemaking and who has been Mabry principal for the past five years. These days, a local adman responsible for the 1982 “Coke Is It” commercials works with the kids to refine their key points, scriptwriting, and visual ideas." http://www.scholastic.com/administrator/schoolsofdistinction/ti_mabry.htm