Learning in Progress

Click on underlined text to follow links.   If you have trouble, email me and I’ll send you direct links. The power of # I tweet—sort of—mostly I just flitter around on Twitter and see what other people are doing.   Admittedly, I am not very good at Twitter, but it’s something that I believe is a good tool, and I have plans this summer to work harder at using it effectively. If you’re on Twitter—or even if you’re not but want to get started—it’s worth it to take a look at some of the incredible ways that you can use it to improve teaching and learning.   Trust me, I started sloooowwww and with a # to help guide me in figuring out who to follow and how to use it. A hastag (#) is a way to indicate a specific topic on Twitter.   It’s a searchable tag that allows other users to find people talking about their interests. I started with #tlchat (teacher librarian chat), and I can't adequately describe to you how the power of that one little hashtag has changed my outlo

Click on underlined text for links iPad App: Puppet Pals There are a number of storytelling apps available that allow your students to tell a story and record; however, there aren’t a lot that will allow you to   share the work they created on your own website.   Enter: Puppet Pals .   With the free version of Puppet Pals, students can choose up to 8 characters to include in their work—7 standard characters that are common to fairytales or fables with the additional option to create your own characters with photos from your cameral roll.   You also have the ability to choose from three backdrops and you can add backdrops from your own photos. The simple record and save features can be easily used by even the youngest iPad users, and with just one extra step to export, you can quickly have your feature presentation saved to your camera roll where you can access it for sharing via social media or your own website. For an additional $2.99, there is the option to purch

Click on underlined text to see links.   Stressing over the test?    From Flickr - Fort Worth Squatch http://www.flickr.com/photos/thedavisblog/2230010178/   Do your students have a lot of test anxiety when it comes to end of course or high stakes standardized tests? Helping students remember that they are prepared and of course creating a positive environment can go a long way in relieving anxiety and encouraging student success. Selina at Classroom Magic reads her students the story Testing Miss Malarkey by Judy Finchler Kevin O’Malley and discusses test anxiety with them (we currently don’t have this book, but it is in at the Newport branch of the public library). Then she uses the mnemonic SWEET ( S tay positive, W ork hard, E xamine the questions, E liminate wrong answers, and T ake all the time given) to help her students remember they are prepared. Another   mnemonic “ T hank G oodness I C an R ead B etter” comes from Scholastic’s “ Prepare