This is an example of  a mind map found on the website  http://www.text2mindmap.com

Concept maps can be very useful  for students.  This map was fairly easy to create. It is an outline for a case study assignment.  The site allows one to indent subtopics in levels of branches. One can change colors of the levels and the entire map. Classes could use concept maps to show what needs to be included on a project or used for studying.  The mind map can be saved as a jpeg.

This tool is user friendly.  I think middle and high school students would find this useful. I think students could complete a mind map for studying for tests.  I would use this in a classroom. Older special education students may even enjoy creating this tool. It would b a nice assignment to be handed in before a research paper. Students could use this site to create an outline for many different assignments.

Here is a link to my glogster
Glogster is an online communication tool. It is a personal poster. This is a great tool  for students to use to learn about their classmates.

http://bookwhittle.edu.glogster.com/bookwhittle/

I made a chart plotting scores on the TORC-4 with  Chartgo. This student is not a real student.  There is no issue with confidentiality.  This tool was very user friendly. I think teachers could make use of this website. All grade levels could make use of this tool.  This tool could be used in RTI to increase students achievement. Students might like to see their progress in a chart.  I think I would use this tool in a case report. I think parents would be able to understand the score better. Granted these are normed scores and the raw numbers are not true depictions of actual scores.

This better shows his progress using percentile ranks

Webquest on Anne Frank using the Graphic novel
https://sites.google.com/site/annefrankgraph/

Here is my webquest.

Go Animate I made a cartoon highlighting the importance of school libraries http://goanimate.com/videos/0NV2Wv01uDOE?

Mindomo

This is an interesting site to map information.

October 11th 2012
http://www.scoopit.com

This is an interesting tool. I did not think it was to user friendly but I did find some amazing information. This grade level would be high school. I think teachers should use this website.

Professional blogs, or organization blogs do provide valuable information. I always wondered how people found them.
I do not think they replace scholarly articles.

I started to read a blog  from Sopris Learning, entitled Edview360
Here is the citation.

Allain, J., & Chapel Eberhardt, N. (2012, June 12). RTI and the Common Core: A golden opportunity, not just one more thing to do! Part 1. Edview360. Retrieved October 11, 2012, from http://soprislearning.wordpress.com/2012/06/12/rti-and-the-common-core-a-golden-opportunity-not-just-one-more-thing-to-do

I am following Sopris Learnings blogs
This blog had a great thought that RTI is the structure within which to implement the common core.
I am writing a paper on RTI and do see this. A special education teacherI know  feels that there are time constraints with the common core and that RTI may not allow some students to get all the curriculum  that is required.

Both thoughts are interesting

The skills would be to determine if the authors of these blogs are professionals in the field. I may not use this in the classroom with students because it is difficult for students to determine if the authors are reputable. I would rather spend my time teaching about EBSCOHOSt. I guess that is my library training.
It is very useful to show to colleagues

Evernote
http://evernote.com

I downloaded the software and started to use evernote. I wrote some notes about a paper I am starting.  I downloaded  a picture and a word document. I  think this site is a great alternative to using google as email.  When you want to save a document or picture or note one can just do so on evernote.

The software was easy to download.  I think this tool is very friendly. This tool would be useful for middle and high schoolers.

Students could take notes in the classroom. They could use evernote every day in class instead of a notebook. Or instead of emailing your word document or research project  evernote is a great alternative. I think this tool could increase student achievement. Students can learn typing and use evernote for content assignments. I think it is a timesaver.

I think I would use it in the classroom. I only hope that I can work in a school in my lifetime that has a computer or ipad requirement for every student.

I love the fact of no more notebooks.

http://www.brainflips.com/

Brain Flips

This website   allows a   teacher or student to make flashcards  or use the flashcards that others have made.

The tool is friendly. The website required one to register although it is free to use.  You need to activate an account and sign up with an email account.  There is some advertising on the site that is annoying.

Many grade levels would benefit from this tool. The flashcards are  great study tools and can be used for many subjects.  I found flashcards already available dealing with Research Methods and Statistics. The flashcards that are shared run a wide range of disciplines and age levels.  You can view the flashcards in 3 ways. The introduction mode has the question and answer side by side.  The traditional mode first you see the question and then the answer. The challenge mode you have to type in the answer. They all can be used for study guides. The challenge mode could be given with an LCD or smart board as a final assessment. The introduction mode could be given as a lecture.  I think it is worthwhile. I am going to show it to my son who uses print flashcards for Spanish.   I think this website can be used to increase achievement.

 

www.readwritethink.org/

ReadWriteThink, is  created by the International Reading Association and the National Council of Teachers of English,  and provides instructional practices and digital resources that support effective reading and language arts instruction for all learners

This site is very useful to teachers

I found  the Point of View Lesson Plans. Students will learn in these lessons  that characters in stories have different points of view. Learning this will help students to better comprehend the text and appreciate literature.

Point of View is  the importance of the character’s role in telling the story

Before we read the story the teacher would talk  about point of view with the class. People or animals in the story are the characters. Think about the characters in the story . The narrator is the one who tells the story The point of view is the way the author allows the reader to see and hear what is going on .The person telling this story is in the story.

 This site is a great resource for lesson plans.  Point of View is a popular topic and is part of the common core curriculum.

These were the two lesson plans I found on this web site.  These lesson plans are not activities but true lesson plans with Objectives and Goals and Instruction and Resources. I love this site and would recommend it to colleagues.

             Henry, L. (n.d.). The Big Bad Wolf: Analyzing Point of View in Texts. - ReadWriteThink. Retrieved from http://www.readwritethink.org/resources/resource-print.html?id=23

Morris, S. (n.d.). Teaching point of view with two bad ants. - ReadWriteThink. Retrieved , from http://www.readwritethink.org/classroom-resources/lesson-plans/teaching-point-view-with-789.html

http://www.thinkfinity.org/bookmarks/12759
I went on this site that is a project  of the Verizon foundation. At first I was not finding much but than I  learned the Smithsonian Institute  has posted exhibits on the site as lesson plans.  I visited a lesson, All the President's Children and found it very interesting. One had to match the children's faces to the descriptions of the children of the presidents . I also enjoyed reading the letters that children wrote to the Presidents

Julia Child's Kitchen at the Smithsonian  is on this site. Julia Child  actually talks about donating her kitchen to the museum . You can learn all about her life and food.  Children would enjoy looking at the kitchen.

This site contains historical gems. I love this kind of information. I even saw Abraham Lincoln's top hat.

I was impressed with the site and  would never think that the Smithsonian Institution's exhibits would be found  on this site.

Children would find this site 's lessons very interesting. I think they would see that history can be engaging.  The Smithsonian information is  buried on the site and  I am glad I found it.
History classes would find this site useful.

puzzlemaker

http://www.discoveryeducation.com/free-puzzlemaker/?CFID=740857&CFTOKEN=91912841

 

Assessment

D A S F N F A R J N N C X V D

D X F E O A F X F O R I L R E

R W P E R C E N T I L E P T V

A E O C M O O Z T T L A N K I

D K F I S R C E S A A E M U A

N S T E D U R S W L M K F R T

A O M I R I J E S E R R E T I

T Z N V O E C K V R O D U O O

S A E N M N N E T R N P N S N

L C L R A A I C V O P D A I H

D D O I R H H S E C N F E S S

A N R R C S D R A D N A T S W

P A O A E H S T A N I N E S U

V W V M U I D E M E D O M M S

D R A N G E G X C I V W I O R

 

ACHIEVEMENT

CORRELATION

CRITERION

CURVE

DEVIATION

KURTOSIS

MEAN

MEDIUM

MODE

NORM

NORMAL

NORMS

ORDINAL

PERCENTILE

RANGE

RANKS

REFERENCED

SCORE

SCORES

SKEW

STANDARD

STANDARDS

STANINES

VARIANCE

I made this word search with my assessment vocabulary. This puzzlemaker site is very interesting.  It can generate puzzles, word games, math puzzles and more

This is a very friendly tool. I think this woul be great for grade 3 on.  This tool can be integrated into the classroom. It is a great lesson plan   for a substitute teacher before vacations or at the end of the school year.  The fact that you can print out the answer is nice. I copied the word search that I made and it was very easy to do.   Students can learn  vocabulary lessons in any class with these word searches.  Students can even make their own word searches or puzzles and swop them with their friends worksheets.   I would use this in the classroom. I think this website will increase achievement.

 

I made a wordle from words that I defined in my assessment class. The wordle came out great. I saved the wordle and then found it and copied the tags. I then made a second wordle and did a print screen and then saved it to paint. Personally I find saving the wordles labor intensive and not intuitive.

I think that classes would love wordles for spelling words. The wordle would be great practice. Also for any class that has definitions. This could increase student interest in defining terms. The students would learn html tags and the paint accessory .

I do find that saving the wordle is labor intensive and would like to find out an easier way to save the wordle. Children would enjoy creating wordles in any discipline.

First Post

I have had a very limited experience with blogs and wiki's. I did set up a wiki for scheduling library instruction at Newfound Regional HS. It was a pb works wiki. When the district went to  using google sites we gravitated to google calendar and did not use the wiki.  The wiki could have been used for library assignments but teachers did not use it. It was great for scheduling.

Blogs have only one author and are not interactive.  They are useful for news. Blogs  can be useful for classrooms. Wiki's are interactive. Blogs are a wonderful tool to inform the class about websites and  review web 2.0 tools.

A Wiki would be useful for a librarian who needs to post links to databases and websites and library catalogs.
Teachers could use a wiki for homework assignments.
I have used  Nancy Keane's podcasts . Ms. Keane  is a middle school librarian in Concord who has fantastic podcasts for young adult literature. I just found a great series of podcasts entitled Cliff Notes Cram Casts that would be useful for students and special education teachers. There are times when students need to review the book they have read or need an alternative to  differentiate  instruction.

All of these web 2.0 tools encourage active teaching.