Catching the iPad wave

One of the most important points driven home at the NETA12 conference last week was the continuing push for mobile learning.  Those heavy backpacks stuffed with papers?  Simply relics of the past, due to be swept away by the rising tide.

I'm in the process of assisting my parents set up their new iPad 2, and I've learned there is an overwhelming abundance of helpful- and not-so helpful- information out there.  To help our staff and students find what they need, I've started an online resource at http://opsdipad.blogspot.com/.  It's just a start, but I wanted to get it out there for those of you beginning to work with iPads for the first time.

I hope to continue adding content to help you surf the iPad wave, so be sure to sign up to receive email updates. 

OPSD Representing at NETA 2012

This week several OPSD faculty will be headed to the Nebraska Educational Technology Association conference in Omaha. Actually, OPSD has a list of presenters for this year's conference:

Cheri Maupin (OHS SPED): Teaching Special Needs Calendar and Time using multiple technology

Jo Brown (Elementary Admin.) & Nancy Armstrong (Curriculum) along with several elementary staff: R.E.D.U.C.E.: Recycling every day unveils a clean environment (poster session)

Loree Cain (OMS Spanish/Journalism) Susan Krab (IT), and Danielle Helzer (OHS English): Creating and Utilizing Online Professional Learning Networks (see presentation embedded below)

So...if you're at NETA this week, check out our sessions! 

Google Alerts

When's the last time you Googled yourself (...that phrase sounds a little funny, eh?!)? Do you know what would come up in a Google search with your name as the keyword? If not, you should. Most of us don't even think about this---but, I ran across Google Alerts today on Richard Byrne's blog, Free Technology for Teachers. After checking it out, I signed up to receive Google Alerts for my name.

Essentially, Google searches the interwebs for your designated search term--and when new hits are found, they are sent to you in an email or through an RSS feeder like Google Reader. When signing up you can specify how often you want to receive these messages. I started with once a week. You can also eliminate certain high-traffic sites like Facebook and Twitter from the search if you want.

Not only is this an excellent way to keep track of what's "out there" about you, you can also sign up to receive alerts about topics that strike your fancy. Say I'm interested in banjo picking techniques---I can enter this search term into Google Alerts, set up the frequency (how often I want to be informed of what's new in Google Land regarding this highly interesting topic), and then bam: I'm swimming in a sea of banjo bliss!

It's actually pretty nifty and easy to set up. Check out the Getting Started page for the basics!

Instagrok- Find & Organize Internet Info!

The Internet is a busy place. Don't let your students be run-over by information overload! Instagrok allows students to type in a subject and instantly get a "Word Map" that includes related topics. Key topics, websites, images and videos are also listed. A perfect first-stop on the information highway.

That's just the beginning of the Instagrok journey, however. Using the slide bar at the top, your students can adjust the complexity of the results to suit their needs. They can also keep track of the sites they've visited and the information they've found by "pinning" to a Journal. As an instructor, you can create a class (for free). Your students can register as a student using that class name; they won't have to put in an email address AND you'll be able to see a history of the sites they are visiting.

As a side-note, "grok" comes from Robert A. Heinlein's Sci-Fi "Stranger in a Strange Land" and has been adopted by hackers/geeks. When you don't just know something, when it's become a part of you or enmeshed in your being, then you have grokked it. (Thank you, Wikipedia).

Instagrok does work on iPads, but not with Firefox. You'll need to use Safari or Chrome.

Should teachers be disciplined for online lives?

Should teachers be disciplined for online lives? What a question! This contentious issue was one of the topics on NPR's Talk of the Nation today. Two college professors, Jonathan Turley (Prof. of Civil Law) from George Washington University and Elizabeth Meyer (Asst. Prof. of Education) from California Polytechnic State University, discussed the issue with callers on today's program. I listened to the podcast of the episode today and found it incredibly relevant for teachers even in a small, rural district like ours.

As the title implies, teachers across the nation have been disciplined for online activity. One teacher was disciplined after he posted a blog entry containing his opinions on the topic of gay marriage (by the way...he was awarded Teacher of the Year in Florida prior to this blogging incident), others have been let go for posting photos on social networking sites of themselves drinking alcohol, and the infamous Philadelphia teacher who blogged about her students being "rude, disengaged, lazy whiners" was also fired. Though this may seem to some like immoral behavior, as one caller (a pre-service teacher) points out, it's all perfectly legal and within each teacher's right as an American citizen under the first amendment.

"Teachers are denied the full range of freedoms adults have" states Turley. Turley's argument throughout the show is that teachers work long hours for low pay, and they should be allowed the full freedoms that every other citizen is allowed. Meyer argues that there is no separation between a teacher's career life and his/her personal life. "Schools are public compulsory, therefore it's essential that teachers are held to a higher standard," she states.

There's no doubt that teachers should model social media responsibility, but should they be held to higher standards than every other citizen? Should districts include morality clauses in teacher contracts? If so, who gets to decide what to put in the clause? Where do we draw the line? It's a touchy issue for sure; listen to the podcast yourself to decide if you believe teachers should be disciplined for their online lives....and you might want to think twice before you tweet, blog, or Facebook!

Organize yourself with Evernote

My desk tends to be covered with sticky notes. Sometimes when I'm ambitious, I color code them. Sometimes when I'm scatterbrained (which seems to be most days), I forget the color-coding system. Sometimes the sticky notes lose their stickiness and then float off my desk never to be seen again. It's really quite a flawed system. Solution? Evernote.


A few summers ago I was introduced to this amazing program at the Nebraska Writing Project's three-week Technology Institute, and I've been hooked ever since. In its simplest form, Evernote is a place you can keep notes and archive them using a series of labels and notebooks. You can sign up for an Evernote account that is stored on the cloud, downloaded to your computer, and any mobile devices you want. Once signed up, you can create "notebooks" to organize your notes. So, I have a notebook for each of the classes I teach, a notebook for recipes, a notebook for technology related items, etc. etc. Then whenever I want to remember something, instead of writing it down on a sticky note that will probably end up stuck to the back of some random kid's paper, I open up my Evernote account, click "new note," type it up, and drop it into the appropriate notebook. You can even tag your notes to organize them more. So in my English 9 notebook, I have my notes organized by units.

A screen shot of my Evernote account.

I have the Evernote app on my iPhone as well, so I can add something to my Evernote account on my phone, and it will sync automatically to the Evernote app on my computer. I can also email and text notes to my Evernote account. When you download Evernote to your computer, you also then have the opportunity to take a screen shot of a webpage and save it into Evernote. Evernote also has amazing text recognition. Once I was in a meeting and didn't have my phone or computer, so I scribbled a note on a napkin. Later I took a picture with my phone of the napkin-note, sent the photo to my Evernote, but forgot to title it. Later when I opened my Evernote account to try and find the note, I typed in my search bar a word that I remember writing on the napkin, and guess what...Evernote found the note for me in my account that contains hundreds of notes! Basically, you're streamlining and organizing your notes.

Educational applications:

• Helps keep students organized: Last spring my seniors were required to complete a weekly blog post about a socially relevant topic every Friday (one of the blog posts would eventually become their end of term research paper). Each day I gave them time to browse through news sites, blogs, and other articles, so anytime they found something they liked that might make for an interesting blog post, they saved it in their Evernote account as way to keep track of all of their good finds. I had them write short notes about each item they saved to remind them of why they saved the article---it was almost like an annotated bibliography by the end of the semester. Click here to read more about Evernote for schools.
• Helps keep yourself organized: Keep track of all of those wish-lists, resources, websites, notes, etc. Sure you could bookmark these on your web-browser, but you can't access those bookmarks on any computer or device. Using Evernote allows you to access your items in your account from ANY computer or mobile device because your account is stored in the cloud. 
• Check out these GradHacker posts featuring Evernote. The writers share some practical ways to use the program. 

Check it out. If you're interested in setting up your account but would like some guidance, shoot me an email!

"What Teaching Means: Stories from America's Classrooms"

A colleague of mine from the Nebraska Writing Project who teaches English at Ralston High School is currently working on editing and publishing a book--alongside his wife--to be released this April called What Teaching Means: Stories from America's Classrooms. Dan's an incredible teacher, and though I haven't met his wife, Marni, from what I know of their work on this book, they're quite the dynamic duo. I'm impressed with all they're doing in order to humanize students and teachers in a society that treats both more like machines. Not only did they commit to organizing, editing, and then publishing this book (with Rogue Faculty Press), but they're also organizing a series of readings across the country. The book's contributors span a wide geographical area stretching from Oregon to New York. I know they have a reading planned in Omaha, one in the works for the Ft. Collins area, and last I heard possibly one in Wisconsin. I don't know how they raise kids, stay married, teach, take classes, and work on a book together. They inspire me to be better, to teach with passion, and to work through the ugly days.

Dan and Marni created and maintained a blog to publicize the book where they feature snippets of essays featured in the book, a beautifully written preface, as well as reviews of the collection. You can also order a copy of the book from their blog. If you care at all about the state of education in our country, order a copy of What Teaching Means; you'll be encouraged by the stories.

Get more out of your students' internet searches.

We all know that when our students need an answer, they usually simply "google it". What am I saying... I do it all the time too. But don't discount your students' (or your) google searches as meaningless. A lot of great, meaningful research can be had on google.

Below are some great tips and tools for you and your students to BETTER your google searches and get more out of Google!. Print it out and post it in your room as a handy reference, or just remember that it's on your helpful PLN!

If you want to take it a step further, here's a lesson plan from the New York Times Learning Network devoted entirely to developing internet research skills, titled "Google It". It might be a good idea to check it out before you embark on a project with your students that involves some internet research.

Created by: HackCollege

Short and Sweet

The elementary students begin to type.
"W" (pause). "W" (pause) . "W" (pause). "Dot" (pause).
The teacher slowly spells out the long address, the odds of success dropping with each character she calls out.

Do you think Tweeters, limited to 140 characters, are the only ones who benefit from link shortening services? Anytime you need to pass along a link, short and sweet is the best way to go. To easily share a link, just shorten it up. Simply highlight the whole address, right-click, and copy. Next, paste it into a "shortening service"- there are hundreds out there.

I tend to use bitly.com (no www), simply because I can shorten AND customize if I sign up using my Twitter account; one click and I can transform "en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coptic_monasticism" into "bit.ly/egyptmonk." I used to use tinyurl.com- it's been around since 2002- but wanted to get rid of that extra character for Twitter posts. Other popular services include Google's goo.gl, Twitter's t.co, and for those long Youtube addresses, youtu.be.

Use these services and make sharing your links short and sweet.

Kony 2012: A lesson of justice

Back at the beginning of the semester, my English 9 students learned of the Invisible Children organization in a TED Talks video (another great resource for the classroom!) and of Joseph Kony. Last week a student sent me an email with this link and insisted I watch it. So I did. And then I showed it to my students....

If you listen to the news or have Facebook or Twitter, you've probably heard about Kony 2012. The video went viral shortly after it was posted on YouTube. It's extremely compelling and explains the movement in a way that a four year old can understand. My students watched it today and were engaged. We're studying social change and injustice/justice right now, so it fit in perfectly with our unit. But I also used it as a way to teach writing tips. The video is compelling for many reasons, but we talked today about how it's compelling because it's honest, it's current, and it includes what we call in room 116 'power lines.' These all happen to be marks of good writing, too!

I noticed today that the New York Times Learning Network also created a blog post about a few different ways to include this video in your lessons. It's probably not appropriate for elementary aged students (though....I don't see a problem with a parent showing this to his/her own elementary aged child), but it's definitely appropriate for upper middle school and high school students.

Check out the video and the NYTimes blog to inform yourself and your students!

Draw a Stickman

It's the Monday after the switch to Daylight Savings Time, and you may be in need of a pick-me-up. Go to Draw a Stickman and, well, draw a stick man in the white space and enjoy!

Sweet Search- a Search Engine for Students

Are you tired of having to cross your fingers each and every time you have your students do an internet search, worried they're only one click away from an inappropriate site that has somehow slipped through the filter?

Direct them to SweetSearch.com and relax.

SweetSearch is a search engine in which every single web site has been evaluated and approved by a real person. The site also features a helpful web research tutorial and a special sections for Biographies and Social Studies Searches.

So have your students try it out- see how sweet a successful search can be.

Cool Tools for Schools

If you've ever tried in desperation to hammer a nail with a shoe or tighten a screw with a butter knife, you understand that the right tools can make all the difference.

Web 2.0 Cool Tools for School is perhaps the most comprehensive listing of technology tools I've seen, broken down into categories like "Music," "Writing,""Presentation," and 'Collaborative." The "Creativity" category, for example, is broken down into subcategories like Games, Simulators, Classroom Activities, Animations and even "Create-your-own-Activity."

If you've been trying to include more differentiated instruction into your classroom, these sites will prove invaluable. Your high-ability learner will find endless, challenging activities (Scratch computer programming, anyone?). Perhaps a resource student would like to see her work turned into a 3-D online book? There is also an excellent Teacher Resources page.

The only drawback is the sheer number of incredible tools available- I believe there are over 100 (!) Imaging Tools alone. The site provides an A-Z listing of the tools and links, but needs to allow a way to more easily search for what you need.

As it stands now, you'll want to allow yourself an hour (or ten?) to explore all the site has to offer. It will be time well spent.

An Introduction to Plurk

Need an excuse to "plurkratinate"?" Plurk is the newest so-called microblogging social network. Imagine Twitter but with a timeline layout and the ability to allow users to easily follow 140 character conversations and "plurk" their own updates. The service has been marketed as an alternative to Twitter and is growing in popularity in the Far East, especially Taiwan. Accounts are quick and easy to set up- just go to www.plurk.com.

A social network, Plurk is currently blocked by our filter; it's still a good idea for you to be aware of the next up- and- coming thing, though. And to know what students are talking about if you ever hear them mention that something is "plurkworthy."

Online Classroom Through Edmodo

Screenshot of our English 9 Edmodo Page

When our server went down before Christmas break, our online classroom at the high school (Sakai), also went down with it. I relied heavily on Sakai to post classroom documents, have discussions, offer online quizzes, etc. that I scrambled to find an equivalent site that I could throw together quickly. My solution: Edmodo.

Last year a colleague and friend from Lincoln Public Schools introduced me to the site. It's been an incredible tool in my classroom. It looks very similar to Facebook, so it's easier for me and the kids to navigate. And because of its resemblances to the popular social media site, the kids were excited to give it a whirl.

What can you do with Edmodo?

• Create multiple pages if you have several different classes
• Create a library with folders for individual units and then post links, documents, etc. for students to access
• Have online discussions
• Use for students to turn in assignments
• Connect parents with the class with Edmodo's parent code feature
• Create a calendar of events for students to access
• Keep track of grades
• Create a multiple choice, true/false, fill in the blank, or short answer quiz for students to take
• Post updates or notes to groups, classes, or individual students/parents

Edmodo is easy to use for both teachers and students, and it's not stored on the school's server...so in the event of another server crash, you could still access this site. The site also allows teachers to have a great deal of control over student access; teachers can limit individual students' access if need be. Here's a link to the help center that has many useful tools for getting started with Edmodo.

List of Web 2.0 tools

It is always a treat to find links to great web 2.0 tools that are first and foremost, easy to incorporate into class, and secondly, easy for me and my students to use.

I came across this first short list of Web 2.0 tools, broken out by grade, that are specified for the English and Language Arts realm (K-12) and thought I'd share. Of course you don't have to be in those content areas to use and benefit from them though!

I liked the bubbl tool for online brainstorming - easy, fun, and worked well with my kids!

The Acapela tool/site would be great for an English OR foreign language class...

For those of you who are looking for a more extensive list, here is a link to the top 100 Web 2.0 tools of 2011, according to edudemic.com

I KNOW there are some tools on there that you can use in your classroom. Give some a try!