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!

News Around the World

I've mentioned in an earlier post that my students love Current Events Friday!  All week the kids watch the news and keep up with local, national, and world events.  Two students sign up to present two articles every Friday.  We put the desks in a circle to create more of a discussion than a presentation.  I like the comfort level this naturally creates.  When each presenter is done with an article, he or she asks the class if they have any questions which they should be prepared to answer...as best they can!  I'd rather they admit that they can't answer a question and then have someone in the class grab a laptop to learn more.  Once all of the presentations are finished, we open the floor to anyone else who would like to share a news story, and then we watch the news and discuss stories that interest us.  The kids love it! 

One thing that I require of each presenter is that at least one of their stories is an international event.  This can sometimes be a challenge for middle level students, not only locating these stories but also making sense of their context.  I have shown them how to use Google News effectively, but yesterday I found something that will be an extremely useful tool for next year. 

With this website, Newspaper Map, one can find newspapers from around the world plotted on a map.  Now, it couldn't be easier to find international stories.  The best part is that they are color coded by language, and if a newspaper is not printed in English, Google Translator will translate it into English (or any language of your choice) with the click of a button!  I love a site that truly connects the world.

Student-Questioning Resource

I love me a good resource!  Not one that is hidden behind a lot of theory and data...just stuff you can use!  My friend @JohnMVenner retweeted this gem today.  Right now, my building is focusing heavily on questioning.  Not just teachers asking the right questions, but getting students to ask effective questions.  Here is a beautiful resource with graphic organizers and short descriptions for how to help students generate their own questions.  These particular examples are designed to use with newspapers, but these tools can certainly be fixed to fit all of your questioning activities.
Essential Question Resources

Google Differentiates!

If you go back and read my very first blog, you will find a super-ambitious goal that I set for myself...one post a day on this here blog.  So, 2 months and only 7 posts later. here we are.  Thank goodness @khornberger got me back on track.  How about a new goal?  2 per week?  That may be more realistic for now.  

So on to the post...

The trouble with setting students loose to do research on Google is that while it can be exciting, it can also be risky.  While I am all for free exploration, there are some difficulties that arise when a student is left to his or her own devices.  Of course there's the dreaded adult sites, ads, junk sites, and of course, long boring text without pictures...but what about sites that students just can't understand?  Or, what about sites that don't challenge those advanced readers? 

Google has managed to be awesome again.  Within their advanced search options, you can search by reading level!  I know this is nothing new, but it is worth mentioning. 

I have used this to differentiate reading material for students of different reading levels.  What's more impressive is when students use this search feature themselves and challenge themselves to intermediate or even advanced readings.   When you are entering your search fields, you can use the drop down menu to either choose a specific reading level, or you can choose for the search to specify the reading levels of the filtered resources.  This is something worth checking out when planning lessons, research projects, or directing the students to find resources for themselves.  

Gotta love Google!

If I Were Born In...

I love when you stumble upon a hidden gem on the web.  The Lottery of Life wandered into my world a few weeks ago and I thought it was awesome way to encourage kids to see the world from another person's shoes.  Make sure you have your sound on!

The site takes a looong time to load.  You'll know it's ready when a little arrow pops up on the upper right side of the wheel that says Spin the Wheel.  Then it will load again.  ...I've been lucky and had quick loads here and there, but I have also had to wait quite a bit. 

Anyway, you'll spin and spin and then land in a setting.  A baby will cry (that's you) and it will tell you where you were born.  There will be a list of problems that exist in your country, as well as links where you can learn more about your country.  By clicking on the problems, you can learn more about them and also see what is being done to solve those problems. 

The students love this site because they talk about where they were born and then exchange stories about what life must be like there.  It is amazing to see their level of engagement and excitement.  They ask questions and eagerly further their research.

I used this site within our Human Rights unit.  On our class blog, I asked the students to write one well-written reply to the question, which human right is most valuable to you?  Then, after the spun the Lottery of Life wheel, they have to write a second reply to the same question but this time from the perspective of a child from the country that they landed on.  The last step was for students to respond to one another.  This piece was invaluable because it created a lot of, "really? that happens?" realizations and other rich dialogue.  Something else I observed was that students who don't typically do homework were asking if they could finish the assignment at home, since the website took so long to load.  I told them that they would have time in class the next day, but who am I to tell a student that he/she can't go home and learn???  By all means, I said.