Useful Information In and Out of the Classroom 9/29/17

Here are some interesting sites that I’ve found this week, thanks to my PLN. As a teacher, I feel we have to keep up to date concerning research in our field and current issues in the education system. I hope some of these inspire you, inform you, and even have you asking questions. Thank you for coming by and visiting!

Note: Each resource is labeled with a level and subject area to make it easier to use.

Levels:  E: Elementary; M: Middle; H: High; G: General, all levels; SN: Special Needs; T: Teachers

Subject Areas: LA: Language Arts, English, Reading, Writing; M: Math; S: Science; Health; SS: Social Studies, Current Events; FA: Fine Arts; Music, Art, Drama; FL: Foreign Language; PE: Physical Ed; C: Career; A: All

Easybib – “Generate citations in MLA, APA & Chicago formats for your bibliography” (L:G ; SA:A)

Class Climate – “You now have a tool to quickly evaluate the mood in your class. View today's data, filter the results as you need, explore history records, and much more...” (L:G ; SA:A)

xtraMath – free; “XtraMath® helps students transition from counting or calculating the basic math facts to recalling them. Quickly recalling math facts, instead of calculating them, frees up mental resources for higher-level operations. XtraMath’s timed activities encourage students to answer questions as quickly as possible. When combined with the spaced repetition of problems, this efficiently develops recall. The three-second threshold is carefully selected to be long enough to type in a recalled answer but not long enough for the student to comfortably enter a counted or calculated answer. Students should have already learned the basic counting or calculating strategies, and be able to solve the problems without time pressure, before starting to practice an operation with XtraMath.” (L:E ; SA:M)

Taking the Mystery Out of Copyright – learning about copyright (L:G ; SA:A)

GameOn.World – geography game (L:G ; SA:SS)

Original photo by Pat Hensley

Are We Entertainers?

In Does Your Classroom Inform, Inspire, and Entertain? from @DavidGeurin Blog by David Geurin states,

“But I think all three are important, including an element of entertainment. It's probably more true today than ever. In fact, edutainment is a thing. Look at TED talks. They are extremely popular because they inform, inspire, and entertain. The most popular ones do this extraordinarily well.”

Yes, I believe as educators, we are also entertainers.

I can’t tell you how many professional development sessions I’ve been in but I admit that the best ones are the ones where I felt entertained. It put me in a positive mental attitude where I was more willing to learn. I believe I was more focused and engaged when I was entertained.

Since I know this, how can I not do the same thing for my students?

If my lessons aren’t interesting to teach, why would they be interesting to learn?

Maybe teachers used to call this something different and didn’t use the word “entertainment” but I believe that teachers have been entertaining since the beginning of time.

Now teachers have to find different ways to make learning entertaining. Teachers are competing with television, video games, and even virtual reality games!

Maybe I need to look at the characteristics of those things that seem to appeal to my students and then try to incorporate them into my lessons.

I believe teachers do that when they try to have new themes in their classrooms. Year ago when Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles came out, every classroom found a way to use them in lessons. Lately the Marvel Comics Super Heroes are the big thing and if you look around, almost every school has this as a theme in one way or another.

They are doing this because they know it appeals to their students. This is one way to make learning entertaining.

So, to all of those who are resistant to this idea of entertaining, I have to say that unless we figure out a way to be entertainers, we will have trouble engaging our students.

What do you think? Are we entertainers?

Day Off

I'm taking the day off today in honor of my birthday! In place of a post, I hope you enjoy the following pictures of birthday humor!

One of the Top 50

Last week I got an email congratulating me as my blog Successful Teaching had been selected by their team as one of the Top 50 Teacher Blogs on Shoutabout’s site. I always feel so honored when I’m chosen to be on someone’s list. I was also glad to see that many of the blogs that I like to read where also on the list. I feel so humble to be listed among them. I hope you get a chance to look at the list and consider reading some of the other ones that are there also. Thank you for reading my blog! 

Back of the Book Blurb #77 Challenge

From Sioux's Page, Sioux offers this challenge.

She posts a picture and you need to imagine it as a graphic for a book. You choose the genre and book title, and then write a blurb that might appear on the back of the book.

The blurb should be 150 words or less (not including the title). The genre is wide-open.

Each blogger should include their blurb on their own blog, and link back to this post. Have fun with it. Go to the other posts and comment on the other blurbs.  You can do fancy techy things with the photo.

(Join in if you dare...! It sounds like fun! I think this would be a lot of fun to do with students especially since they would be expected to write 150 words or less!)

The Big Bingo Ballyhoo

Irma has been playing bingo for over 50 years. She had her favorite seat at her favorite table where she has been sitting every Friday night for years. All her friends knew that was her seat and no one sat in that seat except Irma.

When Irma had to stay home to take care of her sick husband, chaos erupted. Her friends called her to say there was a young person who showed up and sat in Irma’s seat. They tried to tell her that no one could sit there but she ignored them. She refused to move and told them that she would get there early next week and sit there again!

Irma was livid!! She would show that young whippersnapper! Next week she was bringing her pistol to show her who would sit in that seat! Read more to see who got the best seat! (147 words)

Useful Information In and Out of the Classroom 9/22/17

Here are some interesting sites that I’ve found this week, thanks to my PLN. As a teacher, I feel we have to keep up to date concerning research in our field and current issues in the education system. I hope some of these inspire you, inform you, and even have you asking questions. Thank you for coming by and visiting!

Note: Each resource is labeled with a level and subject area to make it easier to use.

Levels:  E: Elementary; M: Middle; H: High; G: General, all levels; SN: Special Needs; T: Teachers

Subject Areas: LA: Language Arts, English, Reading, Writing; M: Math; S: Science; Health; SS: Social Studies, Current Events; FA: Fine Arts; Music, Art, Drama; FL: Foreign Language; PE: Physical Ed; C: Career; A: All

Purdue Online Writing Lab – The Online Writing Lab (OWL) at Purdue University houses writing resources and instructional material, and we provide these as a free service of the Writing Lab at Purdue. Students, members of the community, and users worldwide will find information to assist with many writing projects. Teachers and trainers may use this material for in-class and out-of-class instruction.  (L:G; SA:A)

Read2Me – “Instantly convert articles from your favorite websites or uploaded files into audio which you can listen to while you're driving, walking or chillin like a boss.” (L:G; SA:A)

Email Your Teacher with Captain Communicator – email etiquette when emailing your teacher (L:G; SA:A)

Front Row – “Front Row helps you deliver the perfect lesson to every student across Math, ELA, Social Studies and Science” (L:G; SA:A)

Kids Discover – free reference articles on a variety of topics (L:E,M; SA:A)

Original photo by Pat Hensley