AirServer: Project your iPad screen

If you are using iPads in your classroom, whether you only have one for yourself or you have iPads for your students as well, you have probably wished you could display the iPad screen using your projector. AirServer is an inexpensive way for you to do just that. It is a software application that you install on your computer (Mac or PC) so you can send your iPad display to the computer and from there to a projector or interactive whiteboard.

You can model for students and display your content, but you can also quickly and easily share content from students. AirServer supports multiple connections at one time, so you can have more than one student sharing ideas and/or work with the rest of the class.

Other features that you will appreciate include a true full screen display (Reflector, a similar software application, shows a wide border around the display when mirroring content), optional password protection (useful to prevent teachers/students in nearby classrooms from accidentally sending content to your computer), and the ability to easily identify your computer on the network.

AirServer offers a free one-week trial. The application costs $11.99 for 3 licenses or $3.99 each when purchased in groups of 10 or more. For more information, visit airserver.com.

Blogs vs. Wikis

As many of you think ahead for the up coming school year, one thing that teachers who are wanting to explore something new in their classrooms is an online tool that their students can use.  We hear the buzz words of different tech tools all the time, and blogs and wikis come up often.  What's great about both of them is that they are simple tools to use and have longevity of use...a project could last as short or long as you want them.  So what are the differences?  Which one should you use?  Rather than explain it to you through written text, try checking out the videos below and see how they are demonstrated.  Also, why reinvent the wheel, right?

 

 

What is a Blog?What is a Wiki?Also, check out this blog post on " 5 Ways You Can Use Wikis With Students"

 

 

It’s Project Season – Find some Inspiration to Update Your Projects

In this blog post access my interdisciplinary end of the year project (U.S. History and English) lesson plan here and the tech tools I would use to update the project if I were in the classroom today. 

Nearing the end of the year students are ready to make the connections between concepts they’ve been learning all year, and across subjects. I teamed up with my grade level teachers to create interdisciplinary projects. Most of the students were ready to choose their own projects and partners, and I provided project selection oversight based on their needs. We created the project with student input and offered several choices in their mediums. I’m attaching the project directions my colleague and I created, which include objectives, options, rubrics, and daily progress monitoring checks. 

If I were in the classroom today I would allow my students to create an online project (which I would add to my instructional resources for the following year) using the following content creation tools:

For the Presentation Portion (Powerpoint is so old school):

Online:

Xtranormal – Turns your words into 3D animated movies.

Prezi – Non-slide platform that transforms presentations into stories or conversations.

 

Apps:

Video Scribe HD  A unique way to create engaging animated videos quickly. To see one that I created select the following link: http://youtu.be/fifWcNfFwyc

StoryKit - Create an electronic storybook.

Haiku Deck - a free presentation app for iPad, makes presentations simple, beautiful, and fun.

 

For the Visual/Poster:

Online:

Glogster - Interactive posters loaded with text, graphics, music, videos, and more.

Thinglink – Interactive photographs

Apps:

Phoster: Make your own poster.

For Review Games:

Study Stack - Create online flashcards and find flashcards for subjects already made.

Jeopardy Game – Online creation of this game

Who Wants to be a Millionaire  - Online creation of this game

 

For the Quiz Portion:

5 Online Quiz Generators

 

Blabberize it!

Looking for a new way for students to showcase their biographies or a creative way to present their research? Blabberize.com is a great tool that will allow students to do just that.

This site allows students and/or teachers to upload a picture of one to multiple people or animals, record their voices, and create mouth movements to match the voice of the recording.  It's an engaging way for students to speak as if they are a historical figure or an endangered species...and so much more.

Check out this video tutorial on how to use this tool:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FEtUu1r8Pe4

 

 

Get Your Shmoop On!!

This Wednesday we were very lucky to have a Shmoop representative visit our district.  We held a parent/student Shmoop information night on Wednesday and had a wonderful turn out! It was at least 35 families!! The students and parents were very excited about Shmoop's test prep sections!  What is Shmoop you ask? It is a digital publishing company that adds pop culture to content!  They also offer test prep for SAT, ACT and AP!  There are so many great resources in Shmoop that you really have to have a look for yourself!!

Shmoop college readiness lvusd 2013 from klagola

Visit Shmoop's website and Get Your Shmoop On today!  Shmoop.com!

To set up a teacher account download these directions.Welcome to Shmoop-Las Virgenes Unified School District!

Student Webpages for Portfolios & More

Student webpages can open up a world of learning for you and your students. During my first year teaching I piggybacked on the work of a colleague who had students create webpages with links to all of their classes to showcase their work. I continued this practice throughout my time in the classroom as I saw few projects bring a greater sense of accomplishment and pride than their webpages.

Through Google Sites I created a homepage as an example for my students, but it has transformed over the years. I started posting assignments, videos and pictures related to the class or my students on the website. I used the student webpages to show exemplar work, generally yielding better student projects. (Through Google Analytics I have discovered that people all over the world visit my webpage! My entrepreneurial spirit wonders how I can capitalize on this.) Now my webpage is a home to some professional documents and resources.

When I helped my 11^th and 12^th grade students create the pages I taught them about cyber safety and encouraged them to use their online portfolio as they started applying for jobs and to colleges. Students also used their webpages to complete group projects, and were able to collaborate on their assignments real-time, even if they couldn’t get together by using Google Drive.

Webpages aren’t only for secondary students. Last year Round Meadow’s George Hees had his students create webpages through Weebly. The privacy feature that requires a password to enter the students’ site is one of the features that appealed to him about Weebly over Google. He too has created his own page, which he uses as an alternative to the teacher webpages provided by the district, to communicate to his students and their families. Check out some of the student’s webpage below at the end of this post.

The student directions for creating a webpage either through Google, or Weebly are attached. You will likely need to change the directions to fit your class. (Thank you for sharing George!)

*Note: If you decide to have your students create webpages you may want to inform their parents.

                

Student directions for creating a Weebly.

Student directions for creating a Google Site.

New Engaging Election App on Edmodo for grades 6-12

The Study Sync Votes 2012 Blasts App on Edmodo allows you to explore the presidential campaign with your students, and allow them to be a part of a national conversation with thousands of their peers. There are several differentiated lessons, that inform students on important issues in the upcoming election. New topics are released weekly. A few of the topics are the economy, money and politics, Iran, and powering America.

Components of the lesson: neutral overview of topic and how it relates to campaign, research links across broad spectrum of sources, writing assessment 140 characters long, read and rate other students, poll of students across the country.

Haven't used app's before, or want a little help with this one? We got you covered, click here for a Quick Start Guide, or watch the tutorial below:

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MEgDMJKG9ko

Making Progress: Rethinking State and School District Policies Concerning Mobile Technologies and Social Media

Please read the article linked below. I think COSN has developed a balanced discussion on Social Media resources. I look forward to your thoughts on using these resources in our curriculum.

http://www.cosn.org/Default.aspx?TabId=12543

Phil Scrivano
Chief Instructional Technology Officer

 

Teacher Drop In Inservice May 2, 2012

Here is the list of workshops for this Wednesday's workshops. All workshops are from 3:30-6pm at the district office. Please bring your teacher laptop with you.

Gradebook - both secondary and elementary
Zimbra- includes briefcase, calendar, and tasks
MicroSoft Office- 2010 version
Shmoop- Special guest will show you ways to use Shmoop in the classroom! For middle and high school teachers!

We look forward to working with you.

Your EdTech Team

Flipped Classrooms

Within the last couple of months “flipped classrooms” has become a buzz word. So what exactly is a flipped classroom?

Simply put, a flipped classroom shifts the place for direct instruction from the classroom to home, and homework to the classroom.  Students watch 5-7 min. videos on a subject created by the teacher, or another teacher, at home. Then during class the students apply the new content through engaging activities.

For example, a biology student could watch a video on photosynthesis for homework and come to the classroom the next day to complete a lab.

There are several benefits to this model, some include: greater differentiation in the classroom, appeal to multiple learning styles, and helping the student that would give up on their homework because they can’t get their question answered at home.

Here is a link to my Evernote notebook on Flipped Classrooms. This includes articles and webpages on best practices, free tech. resources for flipped classrooms, experiences of teachers implementing the classrooms, a guide for administrators and more: https://www.evernote.com/pub/jenpeyrot/flippedclassrooms

Here is a 13 min. segment from 60 Minutes on the Khan Academy and flipped classrooms. You will hear the story about how Khan Academy, and essentially flipped classrooms, was started.

 

 

VesselTracker.com

Hi Team,

Port Hueneme near Oxnard and Ventura is the only deep water port between LA Harbor and San Francisco. Cargo ships carrying fruits and vegetables and cars are the most common. Dole has a big presence along with BMW, Mini Cooper, Kia, and Range Rover.

I started tracking the cargo ships in and out of our local port using a website called Vesseltracker.com. The purpose of the site is for businesses to be able to track these ships and inventory. There is a free subscription that gives plenty of data. Using cargo ships is one of the worlds cheapest ways to move inventory. Watching these ships come and go, I cannot help but think there are may lesson plans for math, science, economics, and social studies that can be developed using this information.

If you are interested in working this type of information into your curriculum let me know. I would be happy to assist in lesson plan design and implementation.

Phil