You can't handle the truth!

Ahh, the joy of arguing is a blood pumping activity for some.  Why not get your student's blood pumping with Debategraph.  Debategraph is a collaborative mind-mapping tool which tackles the issues of public policy. 

Debategraph is a tool for older students.  Can't you just imagine the level of Bloom's your munchkins will reach as they research issues in Government?  It may not be the Harry Wong classroom we read about in school but synthesis and evaluation will be the word of the day.  Enjoy!

Tiny Bubbles

Yesterday’s tool, Mindmeister, catered to the mind mapping capabilities of older students.  Today I bring your Bubbl.us.  Bubbl.us is geared toward our sub-high school students.  This easy to use tool allows students to brainstorm quickly, easily and in five easy steps.

• Step 1: Push the button – There is a START button on the home page to help you begin the brainstorming process.
• Step 2: Fill in the essentials – This is where you sign up for your account but this is optional.  Signing up for an account allows users to connect with other users. 
• Step 3: Start with a central thought. 
• Press ENTER to continue that thought OR
• Press TAB to begin a new set of thought bubbles.
• Step 4: Save your work.  Always remind students to save their work because technology is great but you never know when the PC will freak out.
• Step 5: Share with others.  This is essential for content collaboration.  Yay for cooperative learning!!!

Enjoy today’s screenflow that give you more detail to make your map pop:

Technorati Tags: bubbl.us,collaboration,mind map

NFL Spirit

Yesterday the nation paused not only to recognize the 10 year anniversary of 9/11, but the return of Sunday football.  There is something special about the NFL spirit and the sense of collaboration that brings people of all races, cultures, genders, etc. together to support a common goal.  I cannot think of another fan base as supportive as NFL fans.

At times it feels that the urge to collaborate in the classroom is lacking.  Some educators shy away from cooperative learning due to classroom management factor.  It can be difficult to set six groups of five free to work and maintain the quiet that will please your neighbor.  Despite the noise, uh, organized chaos, there are many benefits to cooperative learning as opposed to students working alone.  They:

• can receive more peer input as they plan and carry out their work
• must be able to verbalize their thoughts and reasoning processes
• may need to worth through differences of opinion
• can learn how to take advantage of different group members’ strengths
• support each other in areas in which there are weaknesses
• bring different learning styles, prior knowledge, and abilities to bear on the task they share
• learn skills that have important real-world applications in many family and work situations

source

Cooperative learning is a skill that will aid students in becoming leaders, supporters, innovators and yes, great sports fans.  As we delve into Content Collaboration week I urge you to go outside your realm of comfort and utilize one of the tools shared on TTWIT.  Today, we’ll start with Mindmeister.  Enjoy!

Technorati Tags: mindmeister,collaboration,mindmapping,brainstorming

Wanna see something cool?

I have been racking my brain trying to tie this resource to a lesson plan but alas, I cannot.  I will attribute my lack of creativity to the remaining sedative and current pain killers in my system from yesterday's surgery.  My former Full Sail classmate, Amille, posted this site on her Google Buzz page.  IWDRM is a gallery of living movie stills. Here are a few (click on each photo to witness the cool):

As my discipline falls in the realm of literacy, all that comes to mind is to use the stills as writing prompts.  However, there are stills that can be used for the sciences, social studies, technology, etc.  Perhaps students can identify weather formations or periods in history.  The stills are also great for student blogs. You could use the follow still when you have to leave the room:

Walk out with the phrase, "I'm leaving Mr. __ in charge.  He's watching you."

In order to show the still on a non-web based format simply:

• right click on the image
• save image as 
• ensure it saves in a .gif format
• insert the photo on a PowerPoint slide.

READER RESPONSE: What other ways might you use this resource in your classroom?

Smartphones in the Classroom

This past Saturday I made a purchase that has turned my little world upside down.  I bought an iPhone and it is fabulous. 

I don't know if you can be in love with a phone but I feel that we are on the verge of something special.  I was able to early upgrade from my Droid which is great because I was about to get our relationship annulled.  Laugh if you want but my Android powered phone was a horrible investment.  NEVER BUY THE FIRST GENERATION OF ANY PHONE. However, I found a great solution for old phones in the classroom.

Monday night I noticed that my old phone had a Twitter notification.  I realized the notification was not there earlier. Despite not having phone service, my Droid is still a working connection to the Internet when wi-fi is available. That means that all of my apps, Pandora, Twitter, Facebook - THE INTERNET, etc. are still available. 

I know that this week is about management and organization but I need you to do something - START A SMARTPHONE DRIVE at your school. You can use these tiny computers in a multitude of ways:

• watch on demand educational videos
• do fast on the spot research
• practice multiplication tables
• communicate with friends about ongoing projects
• fact check
• add content specific bookmarks to each phone
• camcorder
• digital cameras!!!!
• SMART makes several great interactive student response systems that teachers can use to deliver assessments and gage the progress of student learning in class. However, not all schools are lucky enough to have enough of these class sets to go around. In cases like this, more and more teachers are turning to web based solutions like Poll Everywhere. The teacher places an assessment or discussion question online, and the students can text their responses to it for an immediate survey of a class opinion. Students with smartphones and data plans can log straight on to the website and answer without paying for a text. Teachers can set up a class of 32 students for free, Similar services include Text The Mob and SMS Poll.

I hope you are starting to think of ways to engage your students with old and current Smartphones. The tools listed above only need wi-fi, not an active phone plan so start asking parents to donate their old phones and power cords today. The list above is simply a starting point. I cannot wait to hear how you use cell phones in your class.  Which bring us to today's...

READER RESPONSE: How can Smartphones benefit your class? Please share your cell phone drive success story.

Lastly, I hope you enjoyed this week of management and organization. Come back next week for Content Collaboration. 

Have an awesome weekend.