Mr. Shippy's Blog

Monday, May 3, 2010

2010-05-02T19:42:00.000-07:00

What did you enjoy most about the field trip and would you like to see changed?

Daily Geo. 3: Friday, February 12

2010-02-11T03:58:00.000-08:00

2-12-10

Name the country slightly larger that Arizonia located at 42.5ºN, 12ºE.

Daily Geo. 3: Thursday, February 11

2010-02-11T03:48:00.000-08:00

2-11-10

Name the country slightly larger than West Virginia located at 56º N, 24ºE.

Daily Geo 2: Monday, December 14

2009-12-14T05:17:00.000-08:00

12-14-09

Why is Europe considered a "peninsula of peninsulas"?

Welcome to my Master's Blog

2009-07-15T09:28:00.000-07:00

I am towards the end of my Master's Program! I have learned so much about technology in education that I can bring to my classroom from all of my classmates and instructors.

If any of you read this let me know what you are excited about in education and technology. I am always looking for new ideas! Thanks and keep on blogging!

Comic Strip Makers

2009-02-26T19:45:00.000-08:00

http://www.adrianbruce.com/homework/language/comic_strip/funny_jokes.htm

Blog that lists comic strip makers.

http://www.makebeliefscomix.com/

http://stripgenerator.com/

http://www.stripcreator.com/make.php

Easy simple graphics. Only 3 panels.

http://www.readwritethink.org/MATERIALS/COMIC/

From 1 to 6 panels. Good backgrounds.

http://www.pimpampum.net/bubblr/

Use photos from flickr and add text bubbles.

http://pixton.com/

http://www.comicstripcreator.org/

http://www.chogger.com/

Need to sign up but looks good.

Geothentic

2009-02-26T19:24:00.000-08:00

http://www.ltspaces.com/geothentic/

When it goes live, look out. The modules are very excited. Great way for students to problems solve using real world resources.

Thirst

2009-02-26T19:21:00.000-08:00

http://www.slideshare.net/jbrenman/thirst?type=powerpoint

Every one should think over and preserve water for the cause of living. Great presentation.

Museum of Online Museums

2009-02-26T19:19:00.000-08:00

http://www.coudal.com/moom/

Welcome to the MoOM. The galleries are updated continuously, and new exhibitions are hung each quarter.

Free Photo Reference Archive

2009-02-26T18:52:00.000-08:00

http://www.morguefile.com/archive/

The morguefile free photo reference archive provides the public and creative community with a repository of free raw photo materials. These images can be used in your commercial or private projects. If you have any questions, read the FAQs, if you can't find your answer or are having technical difficulties, submit a trouble ticket to the help desk Search or browse the archive below. If you would like to contribute photos, please register first. Please be sure to consult the terms and conditions of the site.

"Making History" Game

2009-01-17T10:41:00.000-08:00

http://www.making-history.com/hq/

MAKING HISTORY® is a series of counterfactual turn-based strategy games in which players apply their strategic skills to lead their chosen nation through real-world periods of conflict. The goal is not to replay history exactly as it happened, but rather to operate in an unpredictable, player-driven world. Virtually any country is playable across a variety of the game's bundled scenarios, and players can use the MAKING HISTORY® Game Editor to create new scenarios of their own, offering endless hours of gameplay.

Lure of the Labyrinth

2009-01-16T14:19:00.000-08:00

http://labyrinth.thinkport.org/www/index.php

Lure of the Labyrinth is a digital game for middle-school pre-algebra students. It includes a wealth of intriguing math-based puzzles wrapped into an exciting narrative game in which students work to find their lost pet - and save the world from monsters! Linked to both national and state mathematics standards, the game gives students a chance to actually think like mathematicians.

Presidential Inauguration Lesson Ideas & Resourcs

2009-01-16T12:50:00.000-08:00

http://theinnovativeeducator.blogspot.com/2009/01/ideas-for-active-viewing-by-students.html

Lesson plans and resources to use while students watch the Presidential Inauguration.

http://www.freetech4teachers.com/2009/01/inaugural-addresses-eisenhower-through.html

Inauguation addresses from the past.

Book Review: Tony Wagner's -The Global Achievment Gap

2009-01-16T12:28:00.000-08:00

http://taffee.edublogs.org/2009/01/07/the-urgency-to-stay-the-same/

Interesting review of Tony Wagner’s The Global Achievment Gap: Why Even Our Best Schools Don’t Teach the New Survival Skills our Children needs - And What We Can Do About It (Amazon Citation). It is also a companion to the popular 2008 book Disrupting Class.

Government Games & Simulations

2009-01-15T23:22:00.000-08:00

Three Branches of Government Games and others
http://www.trumanlibrary.org/whistlestop/teacher_lessons/3branches/3bgovt.htm

http://www.texaslre.org/branches_game.html

http://gruebs.com/vscentral/irontrianglesimulation.htm

http://www.congresslink.org/print_teaching_relatedlessons.htm

http://www.boogaholler.com/myusrep/
Role play your favorite(or not so) House of Representative and help them become more popular! Based on real voting data, My US Rep allows you to discover your Rep's hopes and dreams within an engaging game experience. Help your Rep become the most popular, look for bills to vote on, interact with in-game characters, collect cash and buy media time.

Nation States: Run the government in your own country.
http://www.nationstates.net/page=welcome

Cyber Nations: similar to Nation States
http://www.cybernations.net/default.asp

Game of military and economic warfare in the Iraqi Desert.
http://oilempires.itch.com/?source=Adwords&gclid=CP_xxIXLkpgCFQHHGgodkRrmnQ

Tribal Nations: 15th century American tribes competing against each other.
http://tribalnations.acclaim.com/tnlanding.html

Go 2 Web 2.0

2009-01-14T20:02:00.000-08:00

http://www.go2web20.net/

Incredible way to keep up with all the latest applications that people are putting out for other to uses.

Naomi's Blog

2009-01-14T19:46:00.000-08:00

http://ie20-naomi.blogspot.com/

Great resource for the latest in technology for SMART Boards and other 2.0 sites.

Smart Board Resources (more)

2009-01-14T16:56:00.000-08:00

http://www.internet4classrooms.com/

Tons of websites to use with the SMART Boards in your classroom. Many subject areas.

Smart Tech

2009-01-14T16:18:00.000-08:00

http://smarttech.com/

SMART Board resources for k12 teachers.

Childtopia

2009-01-13T18:19:00.000-08:00

http://www.childtopia.com/index.php

The vast number of interactive resources makes this one of the very best sites available for the SMARTBoard on the Internet.

Cool Tools for Schools

2009-01-10T20:06:00.000-08:00

http://cooltoolsforschools.wikispaces.com/

A great wikispace that has a lot of tools for teachers to use. If you don't see one on there you can email them and they will put it on for you. A great collaboration wiki for educators.

Redistricting Game

2009-01-09T09:13:00.000-08:00

http://www.redistrictinggame.org/index.php

If you are interested in Redistricting, there's a great RedistrictingGame from the USC Annenberg Center that you should check out.

One word of caution regarding using The Redistricting Game with students - it does have a forum section with many inappropriate posts ...

Readicide

2009-01-08T20:21:00.000-08:00

http://teacherleaders.typepad.com/the_tempered_radical/2009/01/reviewing-readicide.html

Interesting review by Bill Ferriter of the Readicide book by Kelly Gallagher. Are we really doing the right things with students and reading in our classroom instruction? Might have to purchase this book and see for myself.

Grammar Nija

2009-01-08T04:04:00.000-08:00

http://www.kwarp.com/portfolio/grammarninja.html

This is a fun game for students to brush up on their grammar skills.

Flowing Data

2009-01-07T18:10:00.000-08:00

http://projects.flowingdata.com/walmart/

Data visualization continues to grow online and in the real world. It exists as masterful art pieces and amazingly useful analysis tools. In both cases though it brings data.

Teachers TV Geography

2009-01-07T18:01:00.000-08:00

http://www.teachers.tv/geography

Teacher created videos for geography and other subjects.

Digital Storytelling with Photo Story

2009-01-07T17:55:00.000-08:00

http://www.np.k12.mn.us/TechIntegration/tipprojects/PhotoStory/photostory.html

Steps in creating a digital story and other resources

How to Embed Almost Anything in your Website

2009-01-07T17:52:00.000-08:00

http://www.labnol.org/internet/how-to-embed-in-html-webpages/6365/

Learn how to embed almost anything in your HTML web pages from Flash videos to Spreadsheets to high resolution photographs to static images from Google Maps and more.

5 Trends to Watch in 2009

2009-01-05T18:43:00.000-08:00

http://www.eweek.com/c/a/Midmarket/Five-Tech-Trends-to-Watch-in-2009/

With IT budgets expected to be tight this year, small business owners must make wise investments in order to stay competitive. While most analysts believe some cutting-edge trends, like mobile advertising, are still half a decade away from offering immediate ROI to small and medium-size businesses (SMBs), technologies such as virtualization and the burgeoning proliferation of portable, Internet-connected devices can be well suited for midmarket companies.

10 Time Saving Websites Blog

2009-01-05T18:38:00.000-08:00

http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/10-web-tools-to-save-your-butt-in-school/

10 websites geared toward college students but can still help you to make school a little easier.

50 websites Blog

2009-01-05T18:36:00.000-08:00

http://www.curiousread.com/2008/12/50-websites-youll-wonder-how-you-lived.html

50 great websites posted on a blog that you should check out if you are not familar with them.

Teachers First

2009-01-05T18:34:00.000-08:00

http://www.teachersfirst.com/index.cfm

TeachersFirst is a rich collection of lessons, units, and web resources designed to save teachers time by delivering just what they need in a practical, user-friendly, and ad-free format. We offer our own professional and classroom-ready content along with thousands of reviewed web resources, including practical ideas for classroom use and safe classroom use of Web 2.0. Busy teachers, parents, and students can find resources using our subject/grade level search, keyword search, or extensive menus.

Spelling Games

2009-01-05T18:18:00.000-08:00

1. Spelling Wizard from Scholastic.com lets you create your own word search and word scramble games to play online.

2. Word Wizard asks students to select one of four books that they have read or have had read to them. After selecting a book the Word Wizard creates a simple online spelling exercise based on the words in the book chosen by the child.

3. Spell Bee allows students to play spelling games in a head-to-head format. Spell Bee allows teachers to create accounts for students so that teachers can track student progress.

4. MSNBC has an interactive spelling bee There are three games to play and the words get progressively more difficult the longer you play. The words are read to students who then type the word into the spelling box.

5. Spelling Bee The Game select an avatar, then students hear words read to them and have to type the correct spelling in the fields provided. If a student spells a word correctly, they move on to the next level. If a student does not spell a word correctly, they are given an easier word to try. If students need help spelling a word, they can hear the definition read as well as hear the word used in a sentence.

6. Kids Spell provides eight free games that help students learn to spell more than 6,000 words.

7. Spin and Spell asks students to select a picture and then spell the name of the item. Alternatively, students can have word select for them and then identify the correct corresponding image.

8. GamesGames.com offers sixteen free spelling games. Most of the games seem to be designed with grades 3, 4, and 5 in mind.

9. Spelling City offers games and the capability for students to type a word and hear it pronounced.

10. Catch the Spelling offers more than two dozen categories of spelling games.

Stories Online for Children

2009-01-03T20:56:00.001-08:00

http://www.speakaboos.com/

Listen to children's stories online or create your own. Great for elementary students.

Translator

2009-01-03T20:53:00.000-08:00

http://www.jollo.com/

Another language translator to use for the Geo Fair Language Charts. Students always seem to be interested in how to speak words from other languages.

Wiki Tools and Resources

2009-01-01T20:06:00.000-08:00

http://mashable.com/2008/12/31/wiki-resources/

This has hundreds of wiki tools and resources posted on this blog. It has a wiki site for whatever use you have a need for. Check it out if you want to start are wiki or improve on an existing wiki.

NCS Tech Blog

2008-12-30T09:32:00.000-08:00

http://www.ncs-tech.org/?p=2329

A mix of K-8 educational technology resources, commentary, lesson ideas and more, for members of my school community & the world.

Featured post:
How to create a survey form using Google Docs.

Translator

2008-12-28T20:51:00.000-08:00

http://www.nicetranslator.com/

NiceTranslator is a fast, easy to use online translator designed with simplicity and functionality in mind.

Free Music!!!

2008-12-28T20:46:00.000-08:00

http://www.tunerec.com/

All music available to you on demand. Free, legal and easy.

http://mixturtle.com/

Music search engine. I just like the look of the turtle! Check it out!

95 Old School Games

2008-12-23T23:49:00.000-08:00

http://amog.com/tech/gaming/oldschool-videogames/

I know it is not educational but sometimes you need a little study break.
I love playing 1942 as a kid growing up!

12 Day of Christmas for Ed Tech

2008-12-23T07:52:00.001-08:00

http://thecleversheep.blogspot.com/2008/12/twelve-ed-tech-lists-for-christmas.html

Ed Tech resourses with a 12 days of Christmas themes from the following categories:

Twitter people to follow
Google Apps
Mac Apps
Social Media tutorials
YouTube Videos for Educators
iPhone Apps
CBC Podcasts
7 Super CBC Podcasts
Media Archives
Video Streaming and Conference Resources
Sources for Motivational Speakers
Sites to store and share media files
Top Tool for managing Twitter feeds

Krunchd

2008-12-23T05:03:00.000-08:00

http://krunchd.com/krunch

This site allows you to crunch an entire list of URLs into one short URL with a unique name that you create. This is an interesting tool that could really oganinze a series of sites under one URL for the students to go to. I will have to try it sometime.

Twitter and Government

2008-12-23T04:56:00.000-08:00

http://tweetcongress.org/

This shows who in our Congress are on Twitter, who is twittering the most, who is being followed the most on Twitter and lots of other information. I am a big Twitter user because I get so many great websites from others. This is another one that I can potentially use in my Governement/Civics classes to have students follow Congressmen to see what they are doing and saying.

Google Docs for Teacher Ideas

2008-12-23T04:48:00.000-08:00

http://docs.google.com/support/bin/answer.py?answer=134592

I haven't used Google Docs a whole lot but it has a few examples here about Teacher Ideas with Google Docs.

Blogger Templates

2008-12-23T04:32:00.000-08:00

http://mashable.com/2008/12/22/blogger-template-resources/

More than 30 templates to choose from to help your improve the look of your blog. Also there are a lot of other resources and tricks that it give to enhance your blogging experience. I hope I have time to go through and use some of these. They look great!

Spinscape

2008-12-23T04:26:00.000-08:00

http://www.spinscape.com/

Spinscape is an exciting, dynamic web application for mind mapping and visual collaboration.

With a FREE Spinscape account, you can create interactive maps that allow you to organize the huge volumes of information and data you’re faced with daily. Upgrade to Premium and you can allow others to brainstorm with you, edit the map and even chat as you're creating it! It’s a completely new way of discovering, managing and sharing information by enabling people to collaborate over the web in real time.

Alltop: Education Blogs

2008-12-22T06:16:00.001-08:00

http://education.alltop.com/

Lots of education blogs that are range from education K-college to tech. ed. I know that I will need time to sift through them and choose the best ones that apply to me. There is little something for everyone on this site who is interested in education and/or technology.

Storyline Online

2008-12-21T19:36:00.000-08:00

http://www.storylineonline.net/index2.html

Lou Diamond Phillips reads one of my son's favorite Christmas movies, "The Polar Express". There are four other books read by actors that your might recognize. Great concept, I hope they have more of them down road.

Time Warp Videos

2008-12-20T22:28:00.000-08:00

http://dsc.discovery.com/tv/time-warp/video/interactive/interactive.html

These are just some interesting video clips form Discovery Channel that are fun to watch and potentially do at home. Well, not all of them. I think the students would think they are interesting. I will have to share some with them in advisory sometime.

Track Star

2008-12-20T17:07:00.000-08:00

http://trackstar.4teachers.org/trackstar/index.jsp

This seems to be a lot like http://www.jogtheweb.com/ which I really like using. It is always nice to have a couple different formats for doing things like this.

TrackStar is your starting point for online lessons and activities. Simply collect Web sites, enter them into TrackStar, add annotations for your students, and you have an interactive, online lesson called a Track. Create your own Track or use one of the hundreds of thousands already made by other educators. Search the database by subject, grade, or theme and standard for a quick and easy activity. There is a fun Track already made for each day of the year, too!

Lit 2 Go

2008-12-20T17:04:00.000-08:00

http://etc.usf.edu/lit2go/

Lit2Go is a free online collection of stories and poems in Mp3 (audiobook) format.

You can:

1. Download the files to your Mp3 player and listen on the go,
2. Listen to the Mp3 files on your computer,
3. View the text on a webpage and read along as you listen,
4. Print out the stories and poems to make your own book.

There are four ways to get started with Lit2Go:

1. Browse by Author. You can pick your stories by the author's last name.
2. Browse by Title. You can pick your stories by title.
3. Search Database. You can search the collection by title, author, keywords or reading level.An abstract, citation, playing time, and word count are given for each of the passages. Many of the passages also have a related reading strategy identified. Each reading passage can also be downloaded as a PDF and printed for use as a read-along or as supplemental reading material for your classroom.

4. Launch iTunes. If you have iTunes software installed on your computer, you can download many of the selections directly into your iTunes library. The free iTunes application for either Macintosh or Windows computers may be downloaded directly from Apple, Inc.

Global Conflicts

2008-12-19T20:42:00.000-08:00

http://www.globalconflicts.eu/gcla/downloads.php

I have always been interested in social studies simulations and games. I am wondering how I can afford the Palistine and Latin America games in order to make them work in the classroom. Can I use one copy of this on my SMART Board with the whole class and not bore them to death? I will have to see. Check out there product.

Mathematics in the Movies

2008-12-18T03:47:00.000-08:00

http://www.math.harvard.edu/~knill/mathmovies/index.html

I normally don't post things that other than social studies tools and technology tools for my classroom. But this site by Harvard University is just too good to pass up. Little movie clips that deal with math and then there is also a description of what math concepts the movie clip is talking about. What a great way to introduce or close a math lesson.

Picture Trail

2008-12-16T05:14:00.000-08:00

http://www.picturetrail.com/

Interesting way to present pictures. Below is an explaination and review of the website.

http://www.ncs-tech.org/?p=2197

2008-12-15T20:19:00.000-08:00

http://www.teachers.tv/

Like youtube, it has thousands of videos and other programs that teachers can use.

Web Resource Games

2008-12-15T20:13:00.000-08:00

http://www.webresourcesdepot.com/25-amazing-javascript-games-some-fun-and-inspiration/

Fun games to play using Java Script.

Instructables

2008-12-15T20:07:00.000-08:00

http://www.instructables.com/

Cool crafts that you can make. Great ideas for your advisory to make.

Wordle

2008-12-15T20:03:00.000-08:00

http://www.wordle.net/

Wordle is a toy for generating “word clouds” from text that you provide. The clouds give greater prominence to words that appear more frequently in the source text. You can tweak your clouds with different fonts, layouts, and color schemes. The images you create with Wordle are yours to use however you like. You can print them out, or save them to the Wordle gallery to share with your friends.

21st Century Pedagogy

2008-12-15T19:55:00.000-08:00

http://www.21centuryconnections.com/node/653

Even if you have a 21st Century classroom (flexible and adaptable); even if you are a 21st century teacher ; (an adaptor, a communicator, a leader and a learner, a visionary and a model, a collaborator and risk taker) even if your curriculum reflects the new paradigm and you have the facilities and resources that could enable 21st century learning - you will only be a 21st century teacher if how you teach changes as well. Your pedagogy must also change.

Middle School Technology Integration

2008-12-15T19:53:00.000-08:00

http://integratingmiddleschooltechnology.blogspot.com/

Good blog to follow. The name says it all. Lots of good ideas for integrating technology inton the middle school.

2008-12-14T20:57:00.000-08:00

http://serc.carleton.edu/sp/library/google_earth/index.html

Lots of information on Google Earth. Also idea, resources, and activities to use in the classroom for geoscience.

Converting Media Files

2008-12-14T10:53:00.000-08:00

http://www.media-convert.com/

http://www.zamzar.com/

Great way to convert your files to different formats using web-based converters. These are the two I used when I took my podcast class for my masters. Both are good but I prefer

Timeline Makers

2008-12-13T05:28:00.000-08:00

http://www.timerime.com/

http://www.xtimeline.com/

Create and share timelines with others. I look forward to using these in my geography and civics classes.

WP Clipart

2008-12-13T05:24:00.000-08:00

http://www.wpclipart.com/browse.html

WPClipart is a collection of high-quality public domain images specifically tailored for use in word processors and optimized for printing on home inkjet printers. There are thousands of color graphic clips as well as illustrations, photographs and black and white line art.
Nearly all are in lossless, PNG format.
As of Saturday, 12/13/2008 there are 23,932 images.
I really like the geography and American history images.

Talking SMART Boards

2008-12-11T20:46:00.000-08:00

http://annemarie80.edublogs.org/

This is a teacher who posts many great activities that can be done on a SMART Board. I will have to keep an eye on this blog to find some resources and ideas to use with my SMART Board. Right now it looks like a lot of elementary education resources but I will continue look at this.

The 39 Clues

2008-12-11T19:51:00.000-08:00

http://www.the39clues.com/

Scholastic is linking a new book series, The 39 Clues, with a web-based video game. Interesting way of trying to get students interested in books. I guess we will have to see if this idea catches on or not. Here is a link to the story:

http://abcnews.go.com/WN/story?id=6442233&page=1

Free Tech 4 Teachers: Blog

2008-12-09T18:52:00.000-08:00

http://freetech4teachers.blogspot.com/

This teacher has posted many great sites and tools that educators can use for free. His blog is sort of what I want mine to be like, a place where I can access internet resources and share with other also. This blog has great possibilities!

Secret Builders: Virtual World

2008-12-09T18:46:00.000-08:00

http://www.secretbuilders.com/home.html

Like other virtual world environments, Secret Builders allows students to create their own avatars and interact with others. Secret Builders is marketing itself for use by students under age thirteen therefore it does not ask for any personally identifying information. It does require that parents confirm, via email, permission for their children to use Secret Builders.Applications for EducationSecret Builders has a good list of recommended classroom activities including drama performances, publishing stories and poems, and puzzle solving. Click here to see the full list of educational uses for Secret Builders.

Learn Outloud

2008-12-09T14:40:00.000-08:00

http://www.learnoutloud.com/

LearnOutLoud.com is your one-stop destination for audio and video learning.Browse over 15,000 educational audio books, MP3 downloads, podcasts, and videos.

Teachers Love Smart Boards

2008-12-09T03:37:00.000-08:00

http://smartboards.typepad.com/smartboard/

This is a great site if you have a SMART Board in your classroom and are looking for new ideas.

Big Huge Labs

2008-12-09T03:31:00.000-08:00

http://www.bighugelabs.com/flickr/

Just a great way to take pictures and use them in many differents ways. The students love it too. Great for projects.

Flashcards

2008-12-06T13:01:00.000-08:00

http://quizlet.com/

Quizlet lets you:

Study vocabulary
Create your own flashcards
Share flashcards with your friends.

The Story of Stuff

2008-12-06T10:20:00.000-08:00

http://www.storyofstuff.com/

This is a great site that I use with my consumption and globalization unit. I also made it part of an online discussion board activity with my students.

Tel * A * Vision

2008-12-06T07:52:00.000-08:00

http://telavision.tv/

You have hopes. Dreams. Wishes. Desires. And Big Plans. Put them all together, and you’ve got yourself a vision. TEL·A·VISION has the technology to bring your vision to life—via a powerful combination of words, imagery and music—and the Website to share your Vision Video with the world.

There are four basic steps to creating your own Vision Video:
Identify up to 10 specific goals you have for yourself, your community or even the world. For instance, jot down where you want to go to college, what sports you’ll play, what your career will be, what inventions you’ll create, which diseases you’ll cure, what city you’ll live in, etc.
State each of your goals from above in the present tense, as though you’ve already achieved them. For example, instead of saying, “I hope to be a Pediatrician,” state, “I am a successful Pediatrician.”
Find photographs and imagery that correspond to each of your goals.
Choose music tracks that you find inspirational, emotional or other words that end in “-al” that would make a great soundtrack for your Vision Video.
That’s all there is to it. Just four easy steps! We’ve even created some TEL·A·VISION tutorial videos to help you get started on your own three-minute Vision Video. When you’re ready to begin, click on the “Create” button at the top of this page.

Snag Films

2008-12-06T07:31:00.000-08:00

http://www.snagfilms.com/

What’s This Snag Business All About?
Want to put a movie theatre in your page? Share a favorite documentary with your friends? Snagging lets you do just that!.
See those two movies above? Those are widgets. That means you can grab that piece of our website and stick it in your facebook or myspace page, your blog, website, or just about any web application you can think of.

ePals eFilms

2008-12-06T07:29:00.000-08:00

http://www.epals.com/blogs/efilms/archive/2008/11/26/national-geographic-human-footprint.aspx

ePals brings free eFilms to you and your classroom. Check out the featured eFilm below or browse through all of the eFilm titles on the right. Interact with other ePals educators to exchange thought-provoking questions about film topics, share ways to integrate the films into subjects you teach, and suggest other helpful resources. Come back often to view the latest eFilms!

Discovery Education - YouTube

2008-12-06T07:28:00.000-08:00

http://www.youtube.com/discoveryeducation

Powered by the number one nonfiction media company in the world, Discovery Education combines scientifically proven, standards-based digital media and a dynamic user community in order to empower teachers to improve student achievement. Already, more than half of all U.S. schools access Discovery Education digital services. Explore the future of education at discoveryeducation.com.

Presidential Elections Game

2008-11-30T20:23:00.000-08:00

http://broadband.ciconline.org/elections/

This is a great game that is set up like the game of LIFE. My students really enjoyed playing it and learned about the steps of the presidential election. To be successful you have to really strategize when using the electoral college map and hope for a few fundraising breaks along the way. The best part of this game is that it is free and online (no download)!

ANIMOTO

2008-11-30T19:56:00.000-08:00

http://education.animoto.com/

This is a great, easy to use tool to create videos to introduce a new unit or to promote events in school. They keep adding on new features that betters the videos all the time. Now they have it set up for educators to use with students. Take a look at the link and let me know what you think.

Summer

2008-06-20T11:40:00.000-07:00

Well it is summer and I am enjoying time with my son. I am currently using www.twitter.com to connect with others with similar interests in social studies and education technology. Still thinking about using a blog for discussion questions with students. My school wants me to use SharePoint but it is not user friendly at all. Have to see what happens.

I completed my second online class and it was demanding and interesting at the same time. Looking forward to my iPod Touch class on the 27th! Can't wait to throw all my music in there and learn how to use the iPod in the classroom.

Online Class development

2008-04-27T20:34:00.001-07:00

Next week I will be starting a class that has us create an online class. I am a little nervous about this because I have only taken one online class and now I have to create one! If anyone has any websites of examples or resources let me know. I want to include Web 2.0 tools into the online class. I will have to wait and see what happens.

Portfolio for Domain 1

2008-03-11T19:58:00.000-07:00

I am going to post my portfolio on this blog to get at Charlette Danielson's Domain #1 Component E. This will include a "harvest" of things I have done this year to get at this Domain/element. I will explain the items used and how they show competency in the in is area. This is new to me so I hope it will work.

2008-02-08T19:19:00.000-08:00

So I am busy getting ready for the Geography Fair that will be held on Thursday, March 27th. I am trying some different things with the student's country projects. One thing that I am trying is having them put their projects on a Google Page. The students that are trying it are having fun and really taking off with it. I did link all of my project assignment to my Google Page website. I am still developing all of this but it has been fun. http://shippyj.googlepages.com/home

Eventually I want them to put a majority of their information on Google Earth. It would be great to have a huge Geo. Fair kmz file of all their countries on Google Earth.

Google Earth Presentation

2008-01-24T19:43:00.000-08:00

I gave a presentation to about 40-50 area teachers on Google Earth. I realized after doing the presentation that it would have gone better if every teacher was on a computer to "play" with Google Earth. I also didn't know the level of expertise of the group either. I think that I could split my presentation into two sessions. The first session being an introduction to Google Earth, know how to navigate and what the layers have to offer the user. The second session would be more application. How I have used it in the classroom, teacher resources, creating a placemark and entering in pictures, links, and video. I will be presenting to my own district on Feb. 18 for a staff development day. I think I am going to give the more application type presentation.

If anyone has any great ways they have used Google Earth with their students in the classroom, please let me know.

Assessing Political Boundaries Lesson

2007-09-15T11:22:00.000-07:00

http://www.nationalgeographic.com/xpeditions/lessons/03/g68/index.html

Students will
determine the role of geography in establishing and maintaining political boundaries;
analyze changes to political boundaries in Asia over time;
analyze the effectiveness of various kinds of political boundaries; and
infer possible long-term effects of changing political boundaries on the consciousness of people living in various contemporary Asian nations.

Related Links:
Asia Society's Ask Asia
National Geographic Magazine: Chasing the Wall
National Geographic: MapMachine Student Edition—Deserts
National Geographic: MapMachine Student Edition—Khmer Empire
National Geographic: MapMachine Student Edition—Mountains National Geographic: MapMachine—Physical Map of Asia
National Geographic: Photo—Angkor Thom
National Geographic: Xpeditions Atlas—Asia
University of Texas at Austin: Historical Maps of Asia

Level: 6-8
Subject: Social Studies-Geography
Title: Political Boundaries-Asia

Europe Geography Games

2007-09-15T11:16:00.000-07:00

http://www.sheppardsoftware.com/European_Geography.htm

Develop a mental map of Europe, its countries, capitals, and geography through these amazing games! Great for differentiation of all skill levels! Great as a individual review or to use as a group review using a SMART Board.

Level: 6-8
Subject: Social Studies-Geography
Title: Europe Map Games

The Middle East: Land in Contrast Lesson

2007-09-15T10:51:00.000-07:00

http://school.discoveryeducation.com/lessonplans/programs/middleeast/

Students will
review Jordan's location and geography;
work with partners to learn about a monument in Petra, Jordan's ancient city; and
create a class "slide" show about ancient Petra.

The following Web sites may be helpful to create a side:
American Museum of Natural History: Ancient City of Petra
Petra: Photo Essay
Petra
Pool Complex at Petra
Great Temple Tour
Temple of the Winged Lions (See "About Petra")
The Complete Petra
World's Monuments: Petra (article and 3 pictures)
Petra: Jordan's City in the Rock
Tour of Petra
Petra: The Great Temple Excavation
Google: Petra Links

Grade Level: 6-8
Subject: Social Studies-Geography
Title: Middle East: Land in Contrast