A Piece of My Mind

Secondary Science Teachers,

Looking for a great primer to warm up the science class?  Needing some quick supplementary media to add to your curriculum?  Or do you just want to know what is happening in the science world?  It is a struggle to keep kids excited about science when their main concern is passing the TAKS test instead of truly understanding the concept for something more than a multiple choice answer.  They must be engaged.

Well, 60 Second Science has just the ticket.  It is a part of Scientific American’s web presence.  You will find topics in categories such as animal and pet, archaeology, biology, computers, Earth science, environment, energy, climate, health, math, physics, and more.  You can visit their blog and read the short posts (which link to more in-depth content for further study), view videos, or even subscribe to their podcast via iTunes.

Some of their recent posts include:

• Little liver leaves big livers lively [podcast]

• A prototype of the Jetson’s robot Rosie has arrived and her name is Twendy-One

• Obesity: Bigger than terrorism?

• There’s lightning on Venus!

I would say some of this content can be used with elementary grade classes with the right modifications.  Some of the content just might be a bit over their heads.

Thanks to Tim over at Top 101 Web Sites for Teachers for the heads-up.  Keep up the great work, Tim!

Photo Credit: Me; my son “operating” on a frog in a dissection kit made with some type of Jello substance.

Technorati Tags: Scott_S_Floyd, science, 60_second_science

Love Earth is an organization located in the UK and part of the BBC.  Their work is geared toward educating the public about the earth’s systems and its inhabitants.  Loaded with beautiful still photos, videos, and blogs, this site is a powerful resource for any grade level science teacher. 

One of the cool things I found here is tracking animals and their migratory patterns.  Love Earth presents their data via Google Earth.  Key points in the pattern from the weekly updates have blog entries and other media to extend the experience for the user.  Take my advice, science teachers.  Check this site out.  The kids will absolutely love the experience it provides.

Technorati Tags: Scott_S_Floyd, science, Love_Earth

I found a neat collection of free videos that are online for streaming right to your PC/Mac for many purposes. Take a look at the following topics.

• Teaching Reading 3-5 Workshop- This video workshop will show intermediate elementary teachers how to help their students transition from “learning to read” to “reading to learn.” Supplemental classroom programs provide further exploration of each topic.
• Teaching Reading K-2 Workshop- This video workshop addresses critical topics in teaching reading for K-2 teachers.
• Teaching Reading K-2: A Library of Classroom Practices- This video library shows the teaching practices of K-2 teachers across the country as they introduce their students to reading through a variety of methodologies.
• Teaching The Children of Willesden Lane- This set of video and Web resources with curriculum guide helps middle and high school teachers teach the Holocaust-survival book The Children of Willesden Lane by Mona Golabek.
• Write in the Middle: A Workshop for Middle School Teachers- This video workshop helps middle school teachers learn effective practices and strategies for writing instruction.

Teaching Multicultural Literature: A Workshop for the Middle Grades- This video workshop introduces middle school teachers to ethnically diverse American writers and offers dynamic instructional strategies and resources to make works meaningful for students.

Annenberg Media

These are just a very few of the listed topics. They range from administrators creating great campuses to science(tons) to math (tons) to pedagogy to many literacy-based videos. The registration is free. Don’t miss out on this. There is a lot of great information provided here by Annenberg Media whose goal is:

Advancing Excellent Teaching in American Schools Annenberg Media uses media and telecommunications to advance excellent teaching in American schools. This mandate is carried out chiefly by the funding and broad distribution of educational video programs with coordinated Web and print materials for the professional development of K-12 teachers. It is part of The Annenberg Foundation and advances the Foundation’s goal of encouraging the development of more effective ways to share ideas and knowledge.Annenberg Media’s multimedia resources help teachers increase theirexpertise in their fields and assist them in improving their teachingmethods. Many programs are also intended for students in the classroomand viewers at home. All Annenberg Media videos exemplify excellentteaching.

technorati tags:literacy, video, professional_development, Scott_S_Floyd, math, science

Tim Wilson, a technology integration specialist from Minnesota, hosted a session at NECC last year (NECC will be in San Antonio June 2008). The audience put together a list of classroom uses for podcasting. Tim blogged about it and offers this list:

Collect field notes during a science field trip
Living museum, researching characters
“Radio shows”
Creating audio guides for local museums
Teacher powerpoints
Early language learners, (rhyming, etc.)
Staff development
Screencasts
Language learners recording assessments
Discovery Education videos
Science reports
Art projects
Digital portfolios
Weekly classroom news
Serial storytelling
Reflective journals
Summaries of school events
Broadcast school sporting events
Roving reporters
Capturing oral histories (family history)
Podcast vocab words and spelling lists
Flashcard practice with iFlash
Musical compositions
Soundseeing tours

Since podcasting is new to many in our school district, I thought I would offer this list up and see if anyone was interested in trying it out.  If you are, give me a call.  We have the equipment available for our staff to try these things out.

Any other ways to use podcasting that you can think of?

Technorati Tags: Scott_S_Floyd, podcasting

Arizona State University is offering science students and teachers a great opportunity.  Have a science question?  Post it and let them help you out.  They call the site Ask a Biologist.

While you are there, subscribe to their podcast.  You are going to find some great stuff here!

Thanks to the folks over at the Generation YES blog for pointing it out to me.

Technorati Tags: Scott_S_Floyd, science, asu

Well, there is a little work involved.  I would think it would be worth a try, though.  Besides, students are going to learn tons just thinking through the process.  It is being sponsored by National Geographic and combines literacy skills, photography, and a lot of thinking about their environment. Take a look:

Write an original personal essay in English, that is no more than 300 words telling us how you actively explore your world and the most interesting things you have found in it (“Essay”). Then take a photograph of what, where, or how you explore the subject of your essay (the “Photograph”). You must be the photographer. The Essay and the Photograph must each be a single work of original material created by the contest entrant. By entering the Contest, entrant represents, acknowledges and warrants that the submitted Essay and Photograph are original works created solely by the entrant and that no other party has any right, title, claim or interest in the Essay or the Photograph.

For the rest of the guidelines and information, check out their site here.  If you are in my district and need help with the technology side of this, you know how to get hold of me.  I am more than happy to help out. 

Thanks to Vicki Davis for the link via her Del.icio.us account.

Technorati Tags: Scott_S_Floyd, national_geographic, science

I recently came across several really neat podcasts that you might be interested in:

Science
60-Second Science - from Scientific American comes the latest science news each weekday

Spanish
Learn Spanish Survival Guide - self-explanatory

Geography
Travel with Rick Steves - 30 years of globetrotting for PBS has helped create this content

Language Arts
Grammar Girl’s Quick and Dirty Tips for Better Writing - one of the top podcasts regularly, great for everyone not just ELA teachers

To take advantage of these podcasts, do the following:
1. Open iTunes
2. Go to the iTunes Store (menu on the left side of screen)
3. Click on Podcasts in menu of iTunes Store
4. Click on Power Search in the right hand side of screen
5. Copy and paste the titles that are in bold print above into the Description box on the power search screen
6. Click the name of the podcast, and then click subscribe
7. If all else fails, call me to come help you out

If you find any great podcasts you want to share here, email them to me or leave the information about them in the comment field and I will make a post about it.

Technorati Tags: Scott_S_Floyd, science, geography, podcasts, esl, ela

If you are discussing the events of the California wildfires with your students, you need to integrate Google Maps into your lessons/conversations. Check out what folks are doing with this online tool and others to aid citizens and emergency staff here.

Take a look at the citizen pictures on Flickr.  Amazing!

Now that is harnessing the power of the Read/Write web!

Image by Google.

Technorati Tags: Scott_S_Floyd, geography, web2.0, online_tools, Google, Google_Maps, teaching

What else can I say about the technology sessions offered in the k12online conference? Check out the poster below, and then check out the site. This is your chance to learn new technologies and the pedagogy behind them without having a class full of people sitting around you. No pressure to move on until you are ready. Yet, there is a ton of free support offered in this as well, so you are not left stranded. The conference is one I highly recommend.

Oh, did I mention it is free?

If you need help getting an RSS feed reader set-up so you can follow the conference happenings easier, let me know. I am always more than happy to help out.

Technorati Tags: Scott_S_Floyd, k12online07

Now, we all know there are several great resources out there, but this one is SOOOOOO valuable to upper grade educators.

Hippo Campus has videos, both instructional and informational. These things ROCK! I realize you may not be as excited about it as I am, but cool, free, awesome resources are so needed with our curriculum these days. Kids can access these from the house for help with homework. They can use them to enrich current lessons or presentations. You can use them to give a twist to your lessons while letting the students know they are out there for reference. Your students will love it.

You are in luck if you teach one of these courses:

• US History (AP and regular)
• Algebra (Elementary, IA, and IB)
• American Government (AP and Regular)
• AP Biology
• Calculus (AP I & II, General, and Intro)
• Environmental Science (AP and Regular)
• Physics (AP B & C, College Prep, General, and Intro)
• Religion

Please check this site out. My post cannot do it enough justice for the value of the content found here. (Or am I just too PBS or something?)

Technorati Tags: curriculum, Scott_S_Floyd

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