Student Portfolios

Students in ED 510 have learned about a LOT of new technology resources. Enjoy the following student portfolios, featuring many of the resources they created for the course*

• A Craddock
• W Davidson 
• M Jude 
• J Minyard 

*Featured portfolios do not necessarily meet all project requirements

Web 2.0 Teaching Resources

Students in ED 305 just completed projects about Web 2.0 teaching and learning resources. Student submissions were outstanding! I have featured a few stand-outs below -

• B Godbee - Augmented Reality
• B Cothren - Pinboards
• G Crouch - Teaching with Movies
• C Everidge - Polling
• B Whitbech - Virtual Field Trips
• C Wooten - Learner Analytics

Free, easy-use tools for bridging the gap between busy teachers and tech-savvy students

This coming Tuesday, June 10, I am conducting a professional development session for K-12 teachers. The following is information related to the session.

Session Overview

Every year students become more tech savvy. And every year teachers struggle to keep up. It’s hard to take time out of busy schedules to learn how to create a class Web page and keep it up to date with a calendar of events, homework assignments, class projects, useful links and other important information.

Fortunately, the latest communication and collaboration tools are far more natural to use than traditional Internet technologies. These tools provide teachers with an effective way to bridge the technology gap and embrace the kinds of tools their students already use.

In this two-part, hands-on session, attendees will create classroom resources and activities with easy-to-use, engaging communication and collaboration tools.

Session Objectives

Part 1: Attendees will be guided through the step-by-step process for building an easy-to-use and easy-to-manage classroom Website and blog, providing a new resource for communication.

Part 2: Attendees will create classroom activities using a wide array of simple-use tools, delivering interactive and engaging contexts for communication and collaboration.

Session Resources

1. Session pretest
2. Wendy Cowan's Symbaloo Link: http://www.symbaloo.com/mix/wendycowanspdmix
3. The Teacher Website

Turning Teacher-Student Roles Upside Down

So you've probably heard of the "flipped classroom" approach - which is known for its teacher-made video component. Related to the flipped approach, but reversing the teacher/student role, is the "Upside Down Academy" which is a new non-profit organization, created by Jared Cosulich, that promotes the students making the videos instead of the teacher.

Once the student has mastered the material, they create the video. Cosulich stated "learning is a lot more effective when you're not just trying to consume information, but turning around and producing it as well."

Benefits associated with this method include (1) students must understand a subject well enough to "teach" it to others; (2) provides teacher with insight into a "different" way to present the material that might be beneficial to future students and; (3) while not mentioned in the article, this approach enforces the 21st century skills of communication and creation.

Read the full article for more information.

If an educational act is to be efficacious, it will be only that one which tends to help toward the complete unfolding of life. To be thus helpful it is necessary rigorously to avoid the arrest of spontaneous movements and the imposition of arbitrary tasks.

                                                                                                                         ~ Maria Montessori

James 1:2-4 ESV 

Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.

I humbly thank my wonderful family for their support in all that I do. Robert Robbie Cowan, Robert Drew Andrew Cowan, and Hunter Cowan Hartselle, Decatur, AL

SimCity goes Common Core!

With the move to Common Core, we are seeing an abundance of resources emerge that will help teachers successfully integrate these standards into their existing curriculum AND develop new and more innovative 21st century curriculum. One example of this is SimCityEDU that will be launched this March - this common core enhanced version of the SimCity virtual reality game may be coming to a classroom near you!

Get an early sneak peek by signing up for the SimCityEDU beta!

What an exciting time to be a teacher - and an even more exciting time to be a student!

If an educational act is to be efficacious, it will be only that one which tends to help toward the complete unfolding of life. To be thus helpful it is necessary rigorously to avoid the arrest of spontaneous movements and the imposition of arbitrary tasks.

                                                                                                                         ~ Maria Montessori

James 1:2-4 ESV 

Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.

I humbly thank my wonderful family for their support in all that I do. Robert Robbie Cowan, Robert Drew Andrew Cowan, and Hunter Cowan Hartselle, Decatur, AL

3D Printed Clothing Hits the Runway at Paris Fashion Week

I thought it was exciting to think about the impact that 3D printing could have in the classroom - but now I'm blown away by the other possibilities of this new technology - how cool to "print" out your "going out" outfit!

3D Printed Clothing Hits the Runway at Paris Fashion Week

If an educational act is to be efficacious, it will be only that one which tends to help toward the complete unfolding of life. To be thus helpful it is necessary rigorously to avoid the arrest of spontaneous movements and the imposition of arbitrary tasks.

                                                                                                                         ~ Maria Montessori

James 1:2-4 ESV 

Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.

I humbly thank my wonderful family for their support in all that I do. Robert Robbie Cowan, Robert Drew Andrew Cowan, and Hunter Cowan Hartselle, Decatur, AL

Educational Technology

Think the minor in educational technology isn't necessary for today's teachers? Well, I beg to differ - check out this great infographic from Learn Stuff - which illustrates the integration of technology into the lives of children as young as  two years of age...

Quoted in the infographic - "Today 70% of children between the ages of 2-5 can operate a computer mouse, but only about 11% of them can tie their own shoes." Amazing! Who  knows where we're headed!

For more information about Athens State Universities minor in educational technology, contact Wendy.Cowan@athens.edu

rew Andrew Cowan, and Hunter Cowan Hartselle, Decatur, AL

If an educational act is to be efficacious, it will be only that one which tends to help toward the complete unfolding of life. To be thus helpful it is necessary rigorously to avoid the arrest of spontaneous movements and the imposition of arbitrary tasks.

                                                                                                                         ~ Maria Montessori

James 1:2-4 ESV 

Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.

I humbly thank my wonderful family for their support in all that I do. Robert Robbie Cowan, Robert Drew Andrew Cowan, and Hunter Cowan Hartselle, Decatur, AL

Space Lab

If you want a fun and exciting boost for your science class, be sure to visit the YouTube Space Lab Channel - not only do they have some really great videos, but they also challenge students (people) to participate in making their channel even better. Its a great channel for anyone, but a super addition to science classes.

If an educational act is to be efficacious, it will be only that one which tends to help toward the complete unfolding of life. To be thus helpful it is necessary rigorously to avoid the arrest of spontaneous movements and the imposition of arbitrary tasks.

                                                                                                                         ~ Maria Montessori

James 1:2-4 ESV 

Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.

I humbly thank my wonderful family for their support in all that I do. Robert Robbie Cowan, Robert Drew Andrew Cowan, and Hunter Cowan Hartselle, Decatur, AL

Simple K12

SimpleK12 is a great resource for teachers. They create lots of great training videos that include best practices, how to use certain technologies & some that are designed for student instruction. They also produce some really great ebooks & webinars. If you haven't joined their mailing list, you should!

Check out this great plagiarism video produced by SimpleK12 - there are lots of other great ones on their YouTube channel (to which you should also subscribe!).

If an educational act is to be efficacious, it will be only that one which tends to help toward the complete unfolding of life. To be thus helpful it is necessary rigorously to avoid the arrest of spontaneous movements and the imposition of arbitrary tasks.

                                                                                                                         ~ Maria Montessori

James 1:2-4 ESV 

Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.

I humbly thank my wonderful family for their support in all that I do. Robert Robbie Cowan, Robert Drew Andrew Cowan, and Hunter Cowan Hartselle, Decatur, AL

Education Portal - A great resource for teachers!

If you haven't been using Education Portal to help you prepare curriculum, you are missing out. I just received the following message from Education Portal - read it - visit - and use these great available resources!

As you prepare for the upcoming school year, I'd like to share a free instructional supplement that you may find useful. Education Portal Academy's collection of free online lessons has grown a lot over the summer! We now have over 400 lessons in math, science, English, history, business and psychology, and celebrated our highest traffic yet this June with over 200,000 visitors.

We've listened to all of the feedback we've received and have recently published new lessons in some of our most-requested topics, including Shakespeare, DNA, probability mechanics and many more.

Check out our progress:

• Calculus (103 lessons published) http://eduport.al/Kz2qQ0
• Psychology (103 lessons published) http://eduport.al/KscJ3T
• Biology (81 lessons published) http://eduport.al/HdduPs
• College Algebra (36 lessons published) http://eduport.al/JQizM8
• English Literature (23 lessons published) http://eduport.al/IFFOYr
• College Composition (8 lessons published)http://eduport.al/KMfaDg
• Western Civilization (20 lessons published) http://eduport.al/IkPibj
• Principles of Marketing (9 lessons published)http://eduport.al/PauNVZ
• Educational Psychology (11 lessons published)http://eduport.al/LVkAOi
• General Chemistry (9 lessons published)http://eduport.al/SD01oR
• U.S. History (9 lessons published) http://eduport.al/MrsF9L
• Macroeconomics (5 lessons published) http://eduport.al/KNRfyd
• Principles of Management (5 lessons published)http://eduport.al/LyhbU0

We'll also launch College Mathematics, Pre-Calculus and American Literature before the school year begins and have many more course topics in the works! You can view all of our free lessons here: http://education-portal.com/academy/course/index.html
I hope you'll share these free resources with your students. Anyone can access our free lessons at any time -no strings- to supplement their classwork or to tackle a new subject on their own. Don't see your discipline? Reply to this email and let me know what lessons and topics you'd like to see!
Best regards,
Stacy Redd
Education Portal Academy

If an educational act is to be efficacious, it will be only that one which tends to help toward the complete unfolding of life. To be thus helpful it is necessary rigorously to avoid the arrest of spontaneous movements and the imposition of arbitrary tasks.

                                                                                                                         ~ Maria Montessori

James 1:2-4 ESV 

Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.

I humbly thank my wonderful family for their support in all that I do. Robert Robbie Cowan, Robert Drew Andrew Cowan, and Hunter Cowan Hartselle, Decatur, AL

QR Code Crazy!

Got QR Codes? If not you are missing out on a really fun way to add a lot of great content to your PE class. And it's FREE and EASY!!! Here's how:

1. Download an app that scans QR codes - there's lots of them that are free

2. Create the QR codes @ http://qrcode.kaywa.com/

3. Paste the QR codes to the content

4. Students scan and learn!

           

If an educational act is to be efficacious, it will be only that one which tends to help toward the complete unfolding of life. To be thus helpful it is necessary rigorously to avoid the arrest of spontaneous movements and the imposition of arbitrary tasks.

                                                                                                                         ~ Maria Montessori

James 1:2-4 ESV 

Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.

I humbly thank my wonderful family for their support in all that I do. Robert Robbie Cowan, Robert Drew Andrew Cowan, and Hunter Cowan Hartselle, Decatur, AL

Get your students talking outside of class!

Are you a Google docs user? If not you're missing out on a really great (and FREE) resource for student collaboration. In addition, Google forms is great for creating evaluations.

How to get started? Create a Gmail account and log in. Go to Google Docs and start creating!

Here's a couple of examples of documents I've created - feel free to add to them!

1. Google Docs Document
2. Google Docs Slide Presentation 
3. Google Docs form - embedded below!

Use Polleverywhere.com to create live class polls that can be published to your website, blog or linked to in an email. People can respond to multiple-choice style and open-ended questions. http://www.polleverywhere.com/free_text_polls/LTk4ODIzODE5MA

James 1:2-4 ESV 

Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.

I humbly thank my wonderful family for their support in all that I do. Robert Robbie Cowan, Robert Drew Andrew Cowan, and Hunter Cowan Hartselle, Decatur, AL

Use Voicethread to create asynchronous discussions in your classes. Post the voicethread to your website or blog where people can respond via video, text and voice recording. 

If an educational act is to be efficacious, it will be only that one which tends to help toward the complete unfolding of life. To be thus helpful it is necessary rigorously to avoid the arrest of spontaneous movements and the imposition of arbitrary tasks.

                                                                                                                         ~ Maria Montessori

James 1:2-4 ESV 

Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.

I humbly thank my wonderful family for their support in all that I do. Robert Robbie Cowan, Robert Drew Andrew Cowan, and Hunter Cowan Hartselle, Decatur, AL

Animoto rocks Drew's graduation

If you haven't already created an Animoto account, I highly recommend it! It's certainly worth the $39 yearly fee to have the ease of creating really great videos, simply! Also, you can now download the Animoto app to your phone and make and share videos directly from your iPhone - awesome service by Animoto!

If an educational act is to be efficacious, it will be only that one which tends to help toward the complete unfolding of life. To be thus helpful it is necessary rigorously to avoid the arrest of spontaneous movements and the imposition of arbitrary tasks.

                                                                                                                         ~ Maria Montessori

James 1:2-4 ESV 

Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.

I humbly thank my wonderful family for their support in all that I do. Robert Robbie Cowan, Robert Drew Andrew Cowan, and Hunter Cowan Hartselle, Decatur, AL

Clothing Based Bias

This is a great activity used to help your students discover their biases. It was copied from the Teaching Tolerance website, which is an awesome center with lots of great resources.
I used this activity in my class - and it was great - the students really discovered things about themselves of which they were not aware.

In this lesson, students will explore the way clothing can influence our perceptions of one another.

"Who you are is more important than what you wear."
— Kenneth Cole, designer
Objective:
Students will find they impose stereotypes based solely on how someone dresses.
Materials:

• Handout: See this website: Teaching Tolerance website

Step One: Split your class in half, with half facing one side of the room and the other half facing the opposite side. Give the first half the Santa cap image and the second half the turban image.
Step Two: Ask the following questions out loud and have students write answers on their handout.

• What kind of emotions instantly come to you when you see this picture?
• Where do you think you learned about this individual?
• Who taught you about this individual?
• What did they teach you?
• How has the media (TV, movies, books, stories) shaped your image of this individual?
• How long have you known about this individual?
• Have you ever personally seen this individual?
• Have you ever seen someone dressed like this individual?
• Have you ever personally known someone who looks like this individual?

Step Three: After students have quickly jotted down answers, have students to share their responses and record them on opposite sides of the board.
To help you do this, and to help differentiate the two groups' responses, have a volunteer from each side of the room come up to record answers on the board. One side will be all Santa hat responses and the other side will be all turban responses.
Be prepared for students to be confused at the bizarrely differing responses to the image they believe all students are sharing.
Step Four: Hand out the page showing both Santa and the man in the turban. Ask the following lead questions and allow for discussion:

• What is different in the two images?
• Looking at our responses we've recorded on the board, what is similar or different about them? Why?
• Does it matter that most of you have had some experience with Santa during your lifetime? Why or why not?
• Would your responses to the image of the turban change if you knew someone personally for many years that wore one?
• What do you think we can learn from what we've done here?

Step Five: What are other groups of people we judge based solely on what they might be wearing?

If an educational act is to be efficacious, it will be only that one which tends to help toward the complete unfolding of life. To be thus helpful it is necessary rigorously to avoid the arrest of spontaneous movements and the imposition of arbitrary tasks.

                                                                                                                         ~ Maria Montessori

James 1:2-4 ESV 

Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.

I humbly thank my wonderful family for their support in all that I do. Robert Robbie Cowan, Robert Drew Andrew Cowan, and Hunter Cowan Hartselle, Decatur, AL

Kiddie Klan - race relations activity

A great activity from the Legacy of Hate website

Objective: To use a visual image to inspire discussion about race relations

Audience: High school students and adults

Materials Needed: A large copy of the photo (or photo can be projected), copies of discussion questions, and writing utensils

Time Required: 30 – 60 minutes depending on length of discussion

Required materials are on the Legacy of Hate website

If an educational act is to be efficacious, it will be only that one which tends to help toward the complete unfolding of life. To be thus helpful it is necessary rigorously to avoid the arrest of spontaneous movements and the imposition of arbitrary tasks.

                                                                                                                         ~ Maria Montessori

James 1:2-4 ESV 

Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.

I humbly thank my wonderful family for their support in all that I do. Robert Robbie Cowan, Robert Drew Andrew Cowan, and Hunter Cowan Hartselle, Decatur, AL

Who wants to join the Klan?

A great classroom activity from the Legacy of Hate website -

Objectives: To illustrate how easily people might be lured into joining organizations that promote prejudice and intolerance.
Audience: High school students and adults
Materials Needed: Copies of the questionnaire and writing utensils
Time Required: 30 – 90 minutes depending on option chosen and length of discussion
This teaching tool can be used in two ways. Read over the directions and questions in both options and decide which option will work best for your class.

Edutopia recently released this video, which is part of a series taking a look at high-achieving education systems and model schools around the world. The series is co-produced with the Pearson Foundation. For more information see <a href="http://www.edutopia.org/education-everywhere-international-finland-video" target="_blank">Edutopia</a> or Pearson's "<a href="http://www.pearsonfoundation.org/oecd/" target="_blank">Strong Performers and Successful Reformers in Education</a>" page.
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If an educational act is to be efficacious, it will be only that one which tends to help toward the complete unfolding of life. To be thus helpful it is necessary rigorously to avoid the arrest of spontaneous movements and the imposition of arbitrary tasks.

                                                                                                                         ~ Maria Montessori

James 1:2-4 ESV 

Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.

I humbly thank my wonderful family for their support in all that I do. Robert Robbie Cowan, Robert Drew Andrew Cowan, and Hunter Cowan Hartselle, Decatur, AL

Google launches redesigned education site

Google is one of educators best friends - and once again, they have stepped it up and continue to provide great tools and resources used for student teaching and learning.

Recently Google redesigned their education site. New features include:

1. News and Calendar - listing dates and deadlines for Google education endeavors
2. Google in Education: A New and Open World for Learning - an online booklet that lists the company's education related initiatives and programs
3. Reorganization of the Google in Education page/links
4. The Teachers site leads to many of Google's education apps as well as providing lists of professional development links
5. The Student Showcases link lists student-created materials 

Read more about the many changes and updates to an already great education site!

If an educational act is to be efficacious, it will be only that one which tends to help toward the complete unfolding of life. To be thus helpful it is necessary rigorously to avoid the arrest of spontaneous movements and the imposition of arbitrary tasks.

                                                                                                                         ~ Maria Montessori

James 1:2-4 ESV 

Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.

I humbly thank my wonderful family for their support in all that I do. Robert Robbie Cowan, Robert Drew Andrew Cowan, and Hunter Cowan Hartselle, Decatur, AL