Meghan's Students' Literacy Project

Here is the video of Meghan's students reading their stories.

Another Example of a Creative Presentation via Prezis

John D. McCarty's Digital Resume on Prezi

This one illustrates how a teacher used Prezi to create a digital resume.

Outstanding Prezi

I found this Prezi on the Ning Integrating Technology.  The Prezi was created to capture the teaching philosophy of an award-winning University of Pittsburgh's Professor, Katie Phelp.  I'm posting the display because it is one of the best examples of a Prezi that I found. Most of the Prezi displays I have seen are bits of text and pictures zooming in and out with an occasional YouTube video embedded.

This example takes full advantage of the tool to communicate a vital message about how one professor approaches teaching. Although she did not create it--a student in the tech area did--the final presentation exemplifies that a powerful Prezi is a labor-intensive project.

Leave some comments after going through the display. What do you think of Professor Phelps' teaching approach? What was your response to the techniques used in the Prezi? View the display in full screen to see all the features!

Katie Phelps: Teaching Connections on Prezi

Empowering Students with Google Docs

The Ning Classroom 2.0 featured a video of an 8th grade language arts class using Web 2.0 tools to engage and empower students and promote literacy skills.

I have embedded the video because it offers firsthand experience of what the students are doing in the classroom and in particular how they use Google Docs to enhance their literacy skills.

What is your response to the video?

Find more videos like this on Classroom 2.0

Using Glogster with Middle School Students

In his blog, principal Eric Sheninger from New Milford High School, NJ, has a guest post from a middle school special education who describes how she has uses Glogster to engage students in reading, writing, and critical thinking.

When asked to create a Glog of their "bucket list," after reading a book, students came up with a variety of examples. Here are a few of their examples.

Amazing Facade of a Public Library

Just had to share this picture of a facade in front of the parking garage near a municipal library. It is the Kansas City Public Library.

Going Mobile

This powerful video reinforces the inevitability of mobile devices in the classroom and what both the present and future holds. Leave comments after watching it.

Are Standardized Tests Valid?

In an era where standardized test not only drive the curriculum, but also affect teacher performance appraisals and what students are promoted, we need to worry about the validity of these tests. Do multiple choices really serve to tell us who the best teachers are, or what students can accomplish?

A recent press release about an invalid question on the New York State exam has raised the issue of not only the absurdity of one test question, but other test questions as well. 

The controversy has surrounded a reading passage, "The Hare and the Pineapple" and the multiple choice question that followed. These screen shots are from The Washington Post story listed below.

Here are links to some of those stories.  I found this group on Larry Ferlazzo's Best Posts of the Day:

The Pineapple Story Tests Us: Have Test Publishers become Unquestionable Authorities? is from Anthony Cody at Education Week.

Daniel Pinkwater on Pineapple Exam: ‘Nonsense on Top of Nonsense’ is from The Wall Street Journal.

State Scraps “Pineapple” Test Question is from The New York Times.

When Pineapple Races Hare, Students Lose, Critics of Standardized Tests Say is the New York Times’ “take” on it.

Putting Daniel Pinkwater to the Test is from Wired.

‘Talking pineapple’ question on standardized test baffles students is from Valerie Strauss at The Washington Post.

Now that you have reviewed these articles, how do you weigh in on the issue?

Photo Story Tutorials

I have been practicing with what I hope is an easy-to-use tutorial site that allows you to create tutorials with text, images, and video in a step-by-step process. Below is a hyperlink to access a tutorial on the site that I just created about how to use PhotoStory.

Let me know if the tutorial process on Tildee works for you. Did you find it easy to access the tutorial at the site? Did the videos about PhotoStory help you learn about the software, or were you already comfortable with it?

If you have a chance to create one of your own tutorials with Tildee, let us know how you found the process.

Also, try blogging about the process of creating a tutorial with site, and then make a link to the tutorial in your blog post. If you click Share in Tildee after creating your tutorial, look for Blogger as an option and select it. Your blogger account should automatically open for you to write your blog post, with the link to the Tildee tutorial already posted inside the blog post window for you. What could be easier? Just try it out. If you don't want the tutorial in a blog post, you can share it in other ways through the options offered at Tildee.

Photo Story on Tildee

http://www.tildee.com/qKTGAd&m=1#.T3iGOUGvQqI.blogger

Tips to Enhance PowerPoint Creations

PowerPoint remains a stable for augmenting presentations. However, a poor PowerPoint can detract from your overall presentation. We have all heard of by now the phrase "Death by PowerPoint." The problem is not the tool, but people's understandings of the features in the software. People tend to mimic what they see modeled. As long as people continue to see poorly designed PowerPoint presentations, the more the vicious cycle of boring, ineffectual presentations will continue.

On the other hand, I have seen several presentations with tips for making engaging PowerPoint slide shows to augment one's presentation. Although this one is not my favorite, it still makes some good points and offers helpful advice, including how to work with color schemes and where to find acceptable use images.

10 Tips for Making Beautiful Slideshow Presentations

View more presentations from Edahn Small

What ideas did you pick up from going through this slide show? How might you now be able to enhance your own presentations?

You might also want to check out Doodleslide's Advice on PowerPoint for additional points about creating and delivering effective presentations. 

80 Alternatives to YouTube

80 Alternatives to YouTube is an e-book, which its author, Med Kharbach, has made available for sharing. I will embed the ebook below, but you can also access it as Google Doc if you prefer to review the book in that way. After skimming through the book and options explored, let us know which of these alternatives you have used, which you want to explore, and which you think you might want to use in your teaching.

Use the forward > mark or the scroll bar to advance through the book. 
Use the magnifying icon to enlarge the image and text.

Google Forms

This is a sample of a Google Form. It is very rough, but it is to give you the gist of how to show others in the class how to access and use the form you created. You can also share the form with others by sending it to them using email. Their email is available in the class contact form.

Here is a link to the simple form I created.

I have also embedded the form into the blog, using the embed code that is available from the More Actions options in Google Docs.





By the way, I found an example of an excellent way in which one school is using Google Forms to get feedback from students about books they would like to see the school library stock as well as other information. Once the forms are created, they are embedded right into a wiki where students can submit their replies. Check out this blog post about the project:

Community Conversations Using Google Forms, Docs, and Wiki to Connect Outside of Your School

Image from: http://www.thedaringlibrarian.com/2010/09/community-conversations-using-google.html