Second Life Lessons & Classroom Activities

There is a shift afoot in education. The wind is changing. This new digital wind is haling from a virtual world.

Students today need to be immersed in what they are learning - not dealing only with static things like pictures, books, and to some degree even movies. An immersive world allows the student to move, talk, build, and connect with the very information that they are learning - they can be surrounded by it and then they can contribute to it.

In real life (RL) you can’t take students out and let them swim in the ocean, listen to whales singing, touch sharks, see the Monterrey Bay Seashore National Park as only a few have seen it, but, in Second Life (SL) you can.

In RL, you can’t have a Native American come and talk to students, walk us around to all the different habitats, homes, and areas that they inhabit or did at one time, in Second Life you can.

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Word Magnets: Customize Online Literacy Exercises

Everybody loves to play with magnets. I still have my refrigerator covered with magnets although all the children are grown. You can bring that fun to your computer, your interactive white boards and your classroom with Word Magnets.

Find out how Word Magnets makes word walls, teaching with graphic organizers and improving students' higher level thinking skills much easier! Read more

Exit Slips: Effective Bell-Ringer Activities

One teaching objective frequently used by administrators and educational evaluators is the old adage “Teach bell-to-bell.” Sometimes, however, this wise advice is easier given than done.

Teachers find themselves with five or even ten vacant minutes at the end of class, and they ask themselves, “What now?” While some may opt to allow students additional “study time” or “early homework time,” such a plan usually goes awry, and students begin chattering, antagonizing one another, and generally become disruptive in the absence of an actual purpose.

A better answer to the “dead time” issue comes in the form of Exit Slips: Read more

Teaching Social Skills: A Relationship-Based Approach

For those of us committed to helping children overcome learning challenges, the quest to teach social skills is particularly important. Social learning impairments are associated with a wide variety of learning disabilities, although they are especially problematic for people with nonverbal learning disabilities (NLD), noted to have underdeveloped right-hemisphere abilities, including deficits in:

• reading facial expressions

• perceiving emotions
• using nonverbal communication (body language)

The constellation of social skills deficits often encountered in school age children are perhaps best described as pragmatic communication deficits, which encompass challenges understanding social conventions and applying social cognitive skills. On the next page you will find some common examples of pragmatic communication skills. This information is taken from my book, Boys of Few Words: Raising Our Sons to Communicate and Connect, © 2006.

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Top 20 Teacher Jokes

To get the last week of February started off right, I've compiled and concocted 20 side-splitting (and maybe a little corny) teacher jokes to laugh our way back around to the weekend.

*
What is a math teacher’s favorite sum?
Summer!

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Why does the principal keep talking to me about having more “arty eye”? I teach reading, not art.

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Interview with Ms. Cahill for Congress

"You can't run for office in this country unless you're a millionaire or you know a lot of millionaires." After her sixth grade student made this comment, Tierney Cahill assured her class that anyone can run for office. When they dared her to prove it, she did just that.

With her students managing the campaign, this single mother working three jobs got her name on the ballot, won the Democratic primary with little money and no connections, and inspired her students beyond her wildest expectations.

The book is a real inspiration to those teachers who put the extra effort into make a difference in their students' lives. I had the pleasure of interviewing Tierney Cahill about her campaign experience, her teaching philosophy and her newfound understanding of the American political system. Read more

TeacherTube: Video Tips for Multimedia Classrooms

More than 80% of teachers use non-traditional media, according to a new study of media use in the classroom.

One of the easiest and most inexpensive ways to tap into visual media is through video, but many schools and districts do not have access to YouTube. If you're searching for teacher and student-driven content, I've got a great alternative for you: TeacherTube!

Teachertube.com started out as a safe free place for teachers to upload and share instructional videos they were creating for their classrooms.Since 2007, it has expanded into a collaborative, comprehensive site for educators and their students to share multi-media. It's a great website to add to your toolkit of Web 2.0 tools.

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Re-Teaching the Teaching Cover Letter

Few professions require you to be as fearless as teaching - standing in front of a classroom of children, or worse yet, teens and try to share knowledge day in and out - yet many teachers fear the blank page that should somehow become the cover letter for their resumes.

Unfortunately, this is a necessary evil for teachers and a fear that must be overcome in order to get the desirable, or quite often better paying teaching positions that exists. If you are struggling with your teaching cover letter, here are four sure-fire cover letter tips that will get you an interview:

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How Do Holidays Always Sneak Up on Me?

Valentine’s Day has come and gone, and if you’re like me, major holidays sneak up on you out of NOWHERE!

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve written the date on the board and thought, “I can’t believe Valentine’s Day is tomorrow?!! What am I going to do?” Maybe you’re a better teacher than I, you love celebrations and are on top of your holidays. (And if you are this teacher, can you just give me a heads up on some of this stuff next year? That would be swell.)
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Top 12 Presidents to Influence Education

For better or worse, here are the top 12 presidents to impact American education.

12. Bill Clinton (1993-2001)

In 1994, President Clinton signed the Goals 2000: Educate America Act. The Goals 2000 plan was ambitious, setting targets such as the “United States students will be first in the world in mathematics and science achievement.” Although many of the goals set forth in the law have not yet been achieved, some experts feel that Goals 2000 a precursor to President George W. Bush’s No Child Left Behind program.

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Black History Month: Lesson Ideas Beyond MLK

Looking for a way to celebrate Black History Month without once again teaching kids about Martin Luther King Junior and Rosa Parks?

Searching for a lesson plan that honors the ethnic heritage of all your students?

Try these lessons that explore heritage and culture during Black History Month or any time: Read more

Are gay-friendly high schools a good idea?

This fall, Chicago public school officials voted on opening a gay-friendly high school to combat the alarming dropout and suicide rate of gay and lesbian students. The school didn't get enough votes to move forward, but it is an indication of future education trend.

At Social Justice High School - Pride campus, students would not have to be gay or define their sexuality to attend. The school is intended to be a safe place where students can avoid bullying and harassment because of their sexual orientation or perceived sexual orientation, says Josh Edelman CPS New Schools exec. officer.

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Contests & Giveaways for Teachers

I am happy to announce TeachHUB's Spring 2010 Contests and Giveaways JUST for teachers:
TeachHUB Spa Giveaway & School Spirit Contest !!!

TeachHUB Spa Giveaway
It’s that time of year when testing has teachers tense, students are trying your last nerve and the summer countdown hasn’t yet begun. To provide some much-needed stress relief, we are launching the TeachHUB Spa Giveaway.

Enter daily to increase your chances of winning $100 in spa certificates!

The winner will be chosen Monday, April 5. Enter Now!

School Spirit Contest
Get out your pom-poms and get ready to show off your best your rah-rahs and GO-FIGHT-WINs because it’s school spirit time.

Enter to win $100 donation to an extra-curricular program at your school!

To Enter: Email the photo, story, or video that shows off just how much spirit you’ve got! You can show off your solo-spirit or involve your fellow teachers, your team or club, or your entire school. Email entries along with name, school, address and phone number to acondron@teachhub.com by Monday, March 22, 2010.

Using TeachHUB’s patented spirit meter, five finalists will be chosen. Based on creativity and overall spiritude, TeachHUB visitors will have two weeks to vote on a winner. The winner will be announced Monday, April 5.

Prizes: All entrants will receive a prize, one per entry. In addition to bragging rights, the winner of TeachHUB’s School Spirit Contest will receive $100 donation to the school extra-curricular program of their choosing.
Enter Now!

For full details on all contests, visit www.teachhub.com/teacher-tips/contests

Using Skype in the Classroom

Imagine taking your class on an "around the world" field trip or having your favorite children's author lead today's read-aloud. You can do both of these and more without leaving your classroom thanks to Skype.

Skype is free communication software that allows you to make calls, instant message and video conference online. Here are just a few of the endless possibilities for using this ed tech tool in the classroom.

One amazing experience you can have with Skype in the classroom is a virtual author visit or other amazing guest speaker. Read more

Learning From Our Foreslackers

This year, my school will graduate our very first senior class. This momentous occasion is provoking conflicting emotions in the staff, from extreme joy and pride to extreme stress and frustration.

In fact, my colleague who teaches 12th grade English has taken to humming “Pomp and Circumstance” at least once a class to remind our seniors that graduation is around the corner and some of them have yet to get out the door.

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ELL Strategies that Work for the Whole Class

English-Language Learners are one of the fastest growing student populations in the United States: in fact, the percentage of ELL students grew 60% between 1995 and 2005, according to the New York Times.

Many teachers worry about effectively teaching English learners while still meeting the needs of their other students. Here are some classroom strategies are actually good for both types of students.

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Top 12 Olympic Lessons & Classroom Activities

To help you make the Olympics a learning experience in your classroom, I thought I’d share my favorite Olympics-inspired ideas for lessons, classroom management techniques and fun activities.

Olympics Poetry - Language Arts/ English

List 7 pairs of Olympic-themed rhymes. It could do with your sport, athletics, competition, international relations, patriotism, etc.

Use those rhymes to write an Olympic sonnet (14-lines). Remember that the last couplet usually adds a twist to the poem’s meaning.

Read the rest of the Top 12 Olympic Lessons & Classroom Activities

Super Bowl Special: Interview with 2x Ohio Coach of the Year Steve Specht

Cincinnati high school football coach Steve Specht has been with his alma mater St. Xavier for the last 16 years. After a winning season that brought them all the way to the Ohio regionals, Specht still strives to teach his players to become good men.

Coach Specht, considered one of the best all-around coaches in the country, was kind enough to share his insights what makes a good coach and a great teacher.

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Spice Up Your Class Rewards

Here we are- about half way through the school year and right smack in the middle of winter. This is the time of year when I routinely feel

a) so sick of inside recess and the resulting afternoon of madness that I could scream,
b) like I have million things to cover and oh-my-goodness where did the time go and
c) bored to death with my prize box.

I’ll let you in on a little secret. If you are bored by your routine, blah, been-sitting-in-the-treasure-chest-since-September prizes, so are your students.

Here are some of my favorite class rewards that won't cost a dime!
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The ABCs of Block Schedule Teaching

Among all the resources teachers wish they had more of, time is always on top of the list. How often do you get to a key point in a lesson – and the bell rings?

Block scheduling is meant to address those lost teachable moments that occur when students are shuffled to six classes a day. Sometimes called “modular scheduling,” this approach divides the school day into longer class periods, sending students to fewer classes each day.

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Get "Lost" in Your Lesson Plans

Lost is back and ready to bring some island mystery to your classroom!

In honor of the long-awaited last season of the hugely popular show, here are some Lost-inspired lesson ideas across grade levels and subjects.

Since Lost watchers are so passionate about the show, it seems like a fun way to teach a lesson that includes watching an episode in class (yay!), offering some extra credit to older students, or just using the get some thinking-outside-the-box lessons.
Get Lost Lesson Ideas

Tuesday Teacher Picks

This week's teacher recommended website, books and school supplies are....

Website: Big Huge Labs

See recommendation & details

Kids book: Groundhog Weather School by Joan Holub

See recommendation & details or Get Book (scroll down)

Classroom Management Tool: Kagan Selector Tools Software

See recommendation & details or Get Selector Tools (scroll down)

Instructional Tool: Place Value Decimal Cubes
See recommendation & details or Get Place Value Decimal Cubes (scroll down)

Find more of this week's Teacher Picks

Top 12 Tips to Improve Student Writing

As a student, staring at a blank piece of paper while you’re expected to write an essay can be very intimidating, especially during timed in-class writing and standardized tests. You can put your students at ease with these simple essay prep tips.

These tips will outline a simple and effective way to write a timed essay, as you might have to do for the WSAL, PSAT or SAT. This is just the tip of the essay-writing iceberg, but you can get the whole picture in my book, KISS Keep it Short and Simple.

Read Top 12 Tips