Remembering 9/11 with Tagxedo

It's getting harder and harder to teach 7th graders about 9/11 because as each year passes, younger students remember less about that tragic day.  Lessons about the remembrance of 9/11 used to involve personal anecdotes and raw emotion.  Now, 9/11 lessons are consumed with misconceptions and other peoples' stories.  My 7th graders have a hard time remembering where they were when the towers were hit and why that moment is significant.  This requires a different kind of approach. 

I found an awesome lesson idea on the TCI blog that asks students to write about what they remember about 9/11 and then create a word cloud using Tagxedo that can be posted in the classroom. 

I love this idea, but like I said, it is becoming difficult to ask the students to write recall their own memories of 9/11.  I think this might be a great opportunity to practice interviewing skills.  Students can ask someone else, someone older, about their memories of 9/11.  As a class, come up with effective interview questions.  Then, students can either transcribe the interview into Tagxedo, or they can write a summary of the interview.  When they are done, they can create their word clouds and post them around the room.  I think the most interesting part would be to see which words are used most frequently.  What common themes run through all of the memories of that tragic day? 

Love a Resource Full of Resources!

I absolutely love a well-organized, user-friendly, visually appealing resource that shares links to new web tools and applications!  I found a gem.  eduTecher (no, that's not a typo).  Isn't it lovely?!  So clean and approachable.

Using this search criteria sidebar, you can narrow down your search by grade or subject if you're looking for something in particular.  Also, as you click, the results are modified instantly.  Each item has a detailed description, as well as options to share or comment.

 

I could honestly spend hours looking through these tools.  In fact, I found some great ones already that I can't wait to share with my students.

Ahead. is the new Prezi.  Not sure if it's as user-friendly, but neither was Prezi at first.  Ahead. is still in beta.  Might be a little much for middle school, but looks worthwhile.

Animaps is a user-friendly web-based program that allows you to make animated maps.  I love this for my 7th graders.  Much easier for them to create than Google Earth tours and they are more animated.

I've heard of CNN Student News, but stumbling upon it on eduTecher made me remember how great it is!  As a social studies teacher, with a curriculum that focuses on current events, this has great resources.  The news stories are appropriate for my middle schoolers, videos are accompanied by transcripts, and there are discussion questions and quizzes.  I think I will be using this much more in the coming school year.

Take some time to explore eduTecher.  Even if you don't find anything new, it may remind you of some useful tools that have been bookmarked and put on the back burner for too long.

Back to School...with iGoogle?

Welcome back to school!  I know I've slacked...can you call it slacking when you haven't even written 10 posts?  Let's see if I can be better about posting some resources on this little blog. 

Every year, I try to evaluate the technology I've used in the past and the technology I've bookmarked to use, and decide what will make the cut.  This year, I think I am making a full commitment Google.  I have a tendency to overwhelm my students with technology.  We dabble with this and that, and store things here and there.  I forget that even though they are digital natives, they do not have the developmental skills to keep all of these resources organized.  So this year, I want t make a change. 

My school has finally heard my cries and gave all of our students Google accounts!  Because Google is basically taking over the Internet, and also other facets of our existence, I am thinking I am going to Google-tize my students! 

So here's what I'm thinking...

• GMail accounts for email, obviously
• Google Docs...no excuses for lost work!
• Google Calendar for due dates and homework
• Google Task for their personal To-Do lists
• Google Notebook to...uh...take notes.  Paperless classroom?!?
• Google Blogger for a class blog, and create their own
• Google Reader to track all of these new class blogs
• Google Sites for student websites and possibly online portfolios
• GChat for collaboration
• Google Hangout for even better collaboration and global connections!

 The possibilities are endless!  So now the big question is, should each student design his/her own iGoogle homepage to store all of these gadgets for easy access?  I have a tendency of overwhelming kids with too many programs and applications.  Is iGoogle a solution or is it the same old problem???  I'd love to hear how other teacher keep their kids' technology organized.  And how far do you go with Google?

Happy start of the school year!