Ideas to share

Larry Ferlazzo is the author of the blog Lerry Ferlazzo's Websight of the Day...for teaching ELL, ESl, and EFL. Larry's blog is one of my favorites to check.  In fact he is in my top three edtech bogs that I read. He takes inspiration from many different places and incorporates it into his classroom.  Even if you are not an ELL teacher many of the things her posts a bout can be used in your classroom. Below are two recent posts of Larry's that enjoyed and thought would be helpful to other educators.

NPR’s Robert Krulwich Provides Another Excellent Idea For A History Lesson

I Tried One Of Robert Krulwich’s Ideas In Class Today…

Social Responsibility Online

Nothing I am going to say in this post is ground braking or new information but simply some reflection on things that have be going in on social media for sometime.  This is one of those moments of thought that comes to all of us in our own time even when other people have been talking about it for months.

This morning I was listing to NPR on the way to work.  Of the top of my head I can not remember exactly what the story was about but they started talking about a gentlemen posing on Twitter about his experience in his country as they where under attack and they interviewed the gentlemen via Skype.  This is when I started thinking about the social and political impact that social media has had on the world.  I started think about the occupy movement, the events in Egypt, and the other events that have been fueled by social media. The more I think about it the more questions I seem to come up with that have no good answers.

Who teaches the youth how to be responsible with social media?
I think we have seen this falling on the schools for the most part but is that where it needs to be taught?  In this era of No Child Left Behind do we have time to be teaching it? When it comes right down to it schools are expected to teach the students to be safe online and how to be responsible developers/protectors of their digital footprint. If we don't let students use social media in schools how can we assess what we have taught them? Is taking a test over the responsible use of social media really an effective assessment? We all know that kids say one thing and do another. I feel that this is kind of like teaching a kid to run a mile and then having them take a test over how run the mile instead of having them run. (OK that may not be the best comparison but you know what I am getting at).  Then we run into the question is having social media in the schools a good idea?  I still don't know how to answer that question.

What if Doogie Houser had Face Book?
I know that may people my age have had this thought.  There are even several funny things online about it. I am sure that if Dr. Houser had posted his journal on Face Book or a blog, not just a word doc, that he would have inspired many people.  Here is the thought that crossed my mind today. What if Hittler had a Twitter account? I know you just cringed when you read that. Think about the influence that Hittler had on the world and think what could have happened if he was able to reach us all with Twitter and Face Book? Maybe we would have been able to intercept the ideas that Hittler was putting out there and change the direction things where going....but maybe not.

So there is my non-answer to the question I posed.  Just some general, maybe not so thought out, observations.  I think we are all still struggling with the best practices with social media education and implementation in education. There are so many things to take into consideration with these topics it is hard to know where to start....but it will be interesting to see where we end up.

Introverts

Any of you that read my blog on a regular bases know that I spend a lot of time listening to NPR. With a 40min dive both ways every day there is a lot of time to listen.  On my way home yesterday there was a story called Quiet, Please: Unleashing "The Power of Introverts" Any other day I would have thought it was an interesting story and dismissed it to some extent but yesterday it stuck with me. At a meeting on Monday morning we were talking about Differentiated Instruction. It made me think about how there a lot of things in a child's education but does the fact they are an introvert or extrovert ever come into play? Take the quiz in the story and see if you are an introvert. Just in case you where wondering I took the quiz and I am an extrovert.

MLK - Remember

In remembrance of Dr. King I wanted to share the resource that I used the most to teach about him.  NPR aired this story on April 4, 2008.  The name of the story is "Sanitation Workers Remember King's Last Stand".  I used this when I was teaching middle school and it was an eyeopener for my students and my self.  Even if you don't use this in class you need to listen to it yourself.

How Productive are you?

This story was on the Market Place report on NPR the other night.  The story looks at making professors more productive --- how would you stack up?

One week down!

This is the end of my first week of school (Ok it was 4 days).  As normal there was lots to do and I am tired.  On my drive to school there was a story on NPR about a family that teaches together.  The husband and wife are in one room and the son is across the hall.  Made me think about how the words we use effect our students.

A Family That Teaches Together Talks Shop

Technology in The Music Classroom

iTunes

When I finally got an old blue iMac in my vocal music classroom in 2009-2010, I was so excited!  I did not have much on it but it did have iTunes.  Not being a very good pianist, this was a life saver.  I used an audio in/out cable to hook the iMac up to my stereo so I had the sound that I would need. 

I used the Get America Singing series with my 6th and 7th grade general music classes, and I had purchased the CDs that went with them.  After putting all the songs on iTunes, I made a playlist for each class.  One student would get to be my assistant and run the iTunes for me.  I used this as an incentive for behavior and participation and it worked wonders.  I had kids singing that normally would not! 

We also did daily listenings and journal work in the 6th and 7th grade class as well.  I had a playlist with all of the works from all of the different CDs that I used.  I would often misplace the CD I needed and have to hunt for it...but not now!

I also had my wonderful accompanist record the accompaniments for all of the 8th Grade Choir Songs and then imported them to iTunes.  The 8th Grade Choir playlist let us run the songs "with the accompaniments" even though she could only come once every other week.  The kids that were taking solos to contest also had the accompaniments for their songs on a playlist.

The best part of iTunes was when I had a substitute the kids could still have class!  I had students in each class that knew what needed to be done. For 45 min of the 90 min block my kids would teach class.  If it was contest season, the remaining 45 min the students with solos got on with headphones and could listen to the accompaniments and "sing" in their head. It may not have been the best rehearsal but they still got to go over what they knew and the substitutes loved it.

Google Images 

If you have a projector or an interactive white board in your room, Google Images is the best! When we would talk about instruments, I would just project the image on the board.  It was so much better than the posters that I used when I taught K-5.  I had multiple images of the instruments and we could write "on them" as we talked about them. 

 We also could look up maps and talked about where composers lived.  Lots of times I could find a map of what the country looked like then and now. I also would show the kids images of what the composer looked like. 

Google Images would also come in handy when talking about the history of a song.  The one that I remember best is when we talked about the song Erie Canal. I was able to find maps and images of the canal being built and used.  The kids enjoyed it and I think remembered a lot more than in years when I did not have the projector. 

Music Tech Teacher

I was lucky enough to have a projector in my room that was hooked to a iBook.  The kids and I enjoyed doing was playing the games on musictechteacher.com On this page, Ms. Garrett, a instrumental music teacher at a public elementary school in Birmingham, Alabama, has several games and quizzes.  They are a fun way to get the kids to review.  We would break up in to teams and play as a class.  She also has lesson plans and worksheets available as well.  

National Public Radio

I know this is not the first place most music teachers would look for things to use in class.  Many times there are stories on NPR that work with what I am teaching.  When we would talk about the song MLK by U2 we listened to the story "Sanitation Workers Last Stand".  It had direct accounts of what Dr. Martin Luther King's last speech was like and the conditions the sanitation workers had to deal with.  This is first hand information that otherwise I would never be able to give the kids. There is also a great story about how life in New York City paralleled West Side Story when it opened on Broadway. Now with the music blog on NPR there are lots of resources you can use with your class. 

Youtube

I would have liked to use Youtube more than I did, but it was blocked at school.  I did download lots of things and then use them.  When we talked about organs there was a news report about the Wick's Organ Company in St. Louis that we would watch. In my 8th grade choir classes,we would watch other choirs perform and critique them.






Hilary Myers is in her first year as a 3rd-5th grade Technology Instructor in Missouri.  Prior to her current position, Hilary spent eight years in the general/vocal music classroom mostly at the middle school level.  Hilary is currently working on her Masters in Education and just completed her thesis Six Elements of an Effective Technology Professional Development Program. You can follow Hilary on her blog, Tips 4 Tech, or on Twitter @musictech02. 

Flipped out

I was sad to read this story about the end of the flip camera. I have used one several times and enjoyed it. Will this mean that more schools will let students use smartphones for school?  Will school use the iPad 2 to help fill this void?  I guess only time will tell.  What to see what people are saying check the #flip on Twitter

The Flip Flops: Smartphones Helped To Kill The Little Video Camera

The Eagles are Viral!

Last month I did a post about the Decorah Eagles on Ustream.  I have two friends that have be addicted to watching them for the last several weeks.  Well my friends are not the only people watching. Today NPR reports that 11 million people are watching!  Checkout the NPR story.

'Eagle Cam' Soars With Millions

Look how far we have come.

NPR's Blog The Picture Show has a photo history up right now called On Apple's Birthday, A Brief History Of Computing check it out.

KC Kansas gets the NEW Google Fiber Network

Kansans City, Kansas is the winner of the Google Fiber Network.  If you do a Google search about it you will get lots of links to the news media covering this event.  On the way home last night I was listening to All Things Considered on NPR.  During the interview they asked the question why do we need this?  They likened it to the switch from dial-up internet to broadband. We did not know how that was going to change the way we used technology and it has made a huge impact on how we live our lives and teach our students. You can read, and listen, to the full NPR story and check out the video below for more information. 

CoMo Teacher

The NEA Member Benefits Award for Teaching Excellence for this year was awarded to Kathy Steinhoff.  Kathy is a math teacher at Jefferson Junior High in Columbia, MO.  The local NPR station, KBIA, news program EXAM did a story on her. The link below will take you to the audio file and a photo.  Kathy is using her SMART Board and clickers in the story.

Exam: March 28, 2011

Browser

                      

What browser do you use?  Most schools use Internet Explorer but is it the best?  At home we are a mixed browser family.  I love my Google Chrome with my extensions for Diigo and Blogger and my TweetDeck application. My husband runs Fire Fox and thinks that all my Google stuff is silly.  But no mater how much we like our browsers we still have to default back to Internet Explorer when we want to do grades at home!  If you have a webpage or blog remember the importance of checking what it looks like in different browsers.  I found out that the background that I had on this blog did not show up on Internet Explorer so I had to pick a new one.
Check out the NPR story Assessing The Browser Wars, And Why They Matter.   

Is the cloud safe?

This is just another reminder that you need to back files up even if they are on the cloud.  Last week 40,000 Gmail users had no emails in there account when they logged on.

Listen to the NPR story How To Keep Data From Disappearing In The Cloud.

Check out the Google Gmail Blog post from Feb 28.

Good Reason To Be A Tech Geek!

Check out this story from NPR's Morning Addition.  It made me think about how important it is that we not only teach with technology but tech our students to use technology.

Want A Job? You Ought To Be A Tech Geek

American Space Program Interactive Timeline

This is a cool interactive time line of the American space program posted by NPR. It starts in 1960 and goes to December of 2010.  It has good photos and information.  It would be a good addition to any lesson on space for any age group.

American Space Program Interactive Timeline

Kindles For Kids

The Central School District in Park Hills Missouri has adopted the "Kindles for Kids" program for the 2011-2012 school year.  Their goal is to give each student in the district a Kindle eReader to replace their text books. The catch is the district will not be paying for them. The program will only work if they can get funding for or donations of Kindles for the students.  Check the links below for more information.

FOX 4:
http://www.fox4kc.com/news/sns-ap-mo--e-readersforkids,0,4380659.story

NPR Morning Edition:
http://www.npr.org/templates/archives/archive.php?thingId=3