IDEA: Need your help/feedback

As you know we have the make your own PD coming up. Sadly, we were unable to have Adam from edutecher present. With that said....

My idea: 10th period - Twitter for Teachers.

After the regular scheduled day, I would like to offer an extra session about the benefits of twitter. Hopefully, this would encourage more and more of us to adopt twitter as a source for PD.

Often other educators ask us "How did you find this website/webtool/idea?" Time and time again the answer is twitter. Imagine having the chance to pick who you stand around the watercooler with and from whom you can steal great ideas.

Would you be interested?
Do you think we could get anyone else to attend?
Any advice?

Web Wednesday wrap-up

Our first ever Web Wednesday saw eight teachers venture to the computer lab to share web tools and ideas. Although we had hoped for a bigger turnout, I was happy with how it went and thankful for those who did come. We sent out a follow-up survey to acquire feedback on how to improve for the next Web Wednesday and received some valuable feedback. One teacher suggested having short mini-lessons to show just how exactly to use a web tool in class. Another suggested that we all "bring a friend" to the next workshop. All in all, it was a positive experience. Thank you to those who came and shared ideas!

"Web Wednesday" Coming Soon!

As another initiative of LiME, we are trying to organize "Web Wednesday", a once-a-quarter collaborative technology workshop, for teachers by teachers. Click here for the invitation that we plan to send to the entire district faculty. We would like to get your input and comments on the whole idea before we send it to the rest of the staff.

-What do you think of this "Web Wednesday" concept?
-Does the invitation seem welcoming enough and provide all necessary information?
-Is the sign up link accessible enough?
-What tech tools would you be comfortable sharing?

LiME gathering, anyone?

Before Brad's schedule gets crazy with basketball (November) and before I leave to have a kid (January; I'm still not used to that idea!), I'd love to get together in person and have a technology share-a-thon.  I'm offering my place.  It's not super big, but it's in Bordentown and close to the school.  We can all bring our laptops, a dish of food to share, favorite beverage, and our best ideas.  Anyone interested, and, if so, are there any evenings in October that the interested parties are available?

"Reform is Happening": A message about TSETC from NMHS Principal Eric Sheninger

On his blog, "A Principal's Reflections", Eric Sheninger reflects on the Tri-State Education Technology Conference.

Hello! I wanted to share this lesson plan with you all (and the rest of the world). It is an outgrowth of my experiences at #TSETC. I am planning to share it with my twitter followers and anyone else for review. In Economics, I have a one prep class - this allows/encourages me to experiment more than my other courses.

STEP 1: Students will take practice quiz about demand from the book. They will work with a partner and have access to their top 12 slides from Monday. On Monday, they were given over 55 slides about section 1 on demand. They were asked to pick the 12 slides that should have made the "cut"; in addition I asked them to draw their 13 slide.

STEP 2: Then I am going to ask them to visit schmoop.com and take notes on there collectively using TitanPad. I will expect to see each person post 8-10 thoughts on Demand from that reading.

STEP 3: Students will visit a reading on economics and be asked to create a zooburst with 5 pages - one per determinant. The last step is to complete another practice quiz.

Please feel free to pick this apart and offer a few suggestions.

Thanks-

Brad

TSETC

It's Monday night and I'm still overloaded with inspiration from TSETC. Check out this Google doc for all TSETC resources. It's constantly being updated so check back frequently!

Lunchtime reflections at TSETC

TSETC is finally here!

Brad and I have just eaten a delicious lunch and are now in the "Bloggers' Cafe", waiting for our next session to start. Between the two of us, we've seen 4 different presentations this morning.

The morning started with a keynote speech by Lisa Nielsen. The title of her talk was "Thinking Outside of the Ban: Taking Risks to Prepare Students for Success". Lisa works for the NYC DOE and told us her story about the challenges she faced regarding using technology in the classroom. Lisa has been featured in the New York Times as well as countless education blogs. You can find her Prezi from this morning here. Lisa gave us a challenge for the day, to create our "sentence." Inspired by author Daniel Pink's video "Two Questions That Can Change Your Life". Brad and I are still developing our "sentences"!

The first session we attended was entitled “10 Web 2.0 Tools to Make Your Classroom Rock!” by EduTecher.net's Adam Bellow. THIS WAS AMAZING! Adam is brilliant and introduced us to 3x3links.com. To see the 3x3 he made for us today, go here. You will find INCREDIBLE websites from ZooBurst to Museum Box and PrintWhatYouLike.com.

Brad attended a session entitled "Digital Storytelling", presented by Samantha Morra. Her presentation can be viewed here. One site she highlighted was this cartooning site.

Meanwhile, I attended a session entitled, "“iGlobal Class Projects: Extending Learning Beyond the Classroom”, presented by Shelly Terrell. For this session, we Skyped with Shelly, who lives and teaches in Germany. Her Prezi can be found here.

We have many ideas to share with you and our other colleagues and still four more sessions this afternoon!

This is part of the Tri-State Education Technology Conference (TSETC) Blogger Café Contest sponsored by edSocialMedia. TSETC is brought to you by Schoology.

15 Back to School Apps for Teachers

There are some decent sites here. "Footnote" looks great for history teachers.

Teaching and Learning with The New York Times

Love the NYT Learning Network blog. A quick guide to what it offers.

Tri-State Education Technology Conference

This looks to be a very valuable conference. Brad and I are already registered. It's free!

Smart Notebook software benefits?

So... I'm hoping to get a Smartboard..... eventually. And I'm taking these free online classes from Smart. My big idea so far is to have the capability to instantly print off notes for students whose needs require it. But I'm still trying to figure out why I would use the Smart Notebook software instead of Powerpoint on the board. I'm beginning to think that Smart Notebook just does everything PPT does, and more, so I might as well use it instead. Is that correct? Do you have a smartboard? Do you like it? Is it more than just a glorified whiteboard to you? Does anyone just still use PPT, or do you stick with the Notebook program? Any thoughts?

I hope everyone is enjoying the summer!

GREAT poem about what teachers make!!

Taylor Mali: What teachers make | Video on TED.com

I think you will all love this one!

DINNER DELAYED

Like all of you - the end of the year has swamped me - I def. want to have a kick off dinner but now, I am thinking let's do it before next year...

Online quizzes for summer assignments

Hi, I'm modifying my summer assignment for AP Chem and I am having my students outline chapters from our textbook--material that they should have already covered in first year chem. I'd like to give them an online quiz but have never used one before and don't know where to start. I'd like it to be the type that doesn't allow them to go back to a question after they've already answered it and perhaps is timed as well. Any ideas?

No Smartboard in your classroom? Gotta Wii-mote?

Johnny Lee demos Wii Remote hacks | Video on TED.com

This is awesome... even if you already have a smartboard in your classroom, you could try this at home. It took a minute for my husband to do it with a wiimote and a regular tv remote control (which gives off the infrared light, since we didn't buy an infrared pen yet). Incredibly easy, cheap touch-screen solution. (I do not have a smartboard in my classroom so I might buying a wii-mote and a infrared pen (about $50 altogether to make one myself.)

Browse TED.com, there are so many interesting videos. How about math and some intense origami? Great for in the classroom or just for us to keep ourselves learning.

Ken Robinson says schools kill creativity | Video on TED.com

Ken Robinson says schools kill creativity | Video on TED.com

I think we actually saw this somewhere during one of the PD days, but it was interesting hearing it again.

As far as the tech-side goes, my husband and I have been browsing through www.ted.com, so I might be posting some of those here. They have nice 6-minute talks, too.

Lets Get It Started!

Hey! We are thrilled that we have found this many like minded educators! LiME is our chance to talk/support each other - please feel like LiME is your as much as anyone else. If everyone feel ownership of LiME it will be more successful.


Here are the first two "items":

1) I would like to host a LiME kick off dinner at my house sometime between now and the start of summer. How does June 16th look for everyone? Also, I know that we have some dietary concerns that I need to be aware of - If you have any - please let me know!

2) What web based things have you used this year? What level of success have you enjoyed with these tools?

I am looking forward to this process!

Counting seconds

I'm done with this year.  At least, that's what my brain tells me.  How do I stay motivated these last couple of weeks so that I don't lash out at students or dread coming to work everyday?  The idea of LiME is helping a bit, but I'm in the mindset that LiME and all other inspiration is for next year.  This year is done.  Ideas?

A Hint of LiME

Evolution? Revolution? I'm ready for a change...

Hoping that NBC LiME will get off the ground soon!