WHY Should I
7:09 PM - Posted by Mrs. Robin Martin - 0 comments
A teacher writing on a blackboard.Image via WikipediaTech teachers often discuss great programs to show others and get excited when the others take to an idea and use it in their lesson. We share on Twitter, Plurk, at conferences, by email and by reading each others blog postings. But WHY don't some people attempt to use some of these great tools?

Top 10 Reasons NOT to integrate:

10. I don't want to - I have been teaching this unit long enough to know what works best
9. There is only one computer in my room and only I use it.
8. The computer lab is NEVER available during my class time.
7. I don't have time to fit it into the curriculum. There is too much to cover already.
6. I want a tech support person in my room while I am using theses programs.
5. I don't have the time to learn something new.
4. Students use computers too much already.
3. It is not written in to the scope/sequence of the curriculum.
2. Something will not work during the lesson.

and the number one reason is:
1. No one is going to MAKE me do it.

So what gives? How can we bring along those resisters? Your comments welcomed.
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Modern Problems - In Lessons
10:12 AM - Posted by Mrs. Robin Martin - 0 comments
4:05 PM-Progress Being MadeImage by Old Shoe Woman via FlickrOver the past several days I have seen many great educational websites suggested by fellow tech teachers on Plurk.com. So I want to pass on a list so you can explore them as well. If you have not taken the plunge to twitter.com or plurk.com. Give it a try. I have learned so much from plurkworld friends that are excellent teaching resources. Feel free to add me as a friend or fan: (rmom352) so we can share resources. This is a great collection, thank you plurkers.
  1. Avoid Overeating on Thanksgiving Day
  2. World in Balance - NOVA from PBS
  3. Speed reading - practice reading faster
  4. One Word - writing assignment online
  5. World Without Oil - Lesson Plans
  6. Doint.com - create custom animations
  7. Learning GoogleEarth
  8. Google Search tips
  9. Social way of learning a new language
  10. Black Friday ads - shop from home in advance!



Multimedia Dictionary
11:58 AM - Posted by Mrs. Robin Martin - 0 comments
If you have students who are visual learners and having trouble with vocabulary words, try this site. If your students are older, have them create words for Wordia.com. See this sample of the word unique.


Recent Studies About Teens & Online Activity
11:16 AM - Posted by Mrs. Robin Martin - 0 comments
Partial map of the Internet based on the Janua...Image via WikipediaA recent study by the McArthur Foundation concludes that teens believe that their time online using social sites is very important to their peer relationships. Teens connect with their friends online rather than talk on the phone and in some cases rather than hang out together. Because of the Internet, teens have friends from great distances they have met through online gaming sites, or social sites. They are very content to leave comments for one another on their MySpace or Facebook pages as their form of communication.

As posted before, the Pew Internet & American Life Project has done extensive research on several topics of teens and online activity. "Teens and Video Games", "Networked Families" and "When Technology Fails" are a few of the search topics you can read at their site.
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Google Teacher Academy
8:16 PM - Posted by Mrs. Robin Martin - 0 comments
Primary School in Image via Wikipedia Several of my PPLN friends have been at the GoogleTeacher Academy today and their plurks make the day sound very educational. I will be sending my application for the GTA, the next time it is in the East. Google is doing a great service to education just by having all of the FREE tools available. They started the GTA a few years ago and through this, they are creating evangelists for their products. If the products were not very education friendly, they there wouldn't be such a rush to apply. I would love to go to their Mountain View office for a
GTA, so I will keep my eyes open for that opportunity!

I am looking forward to reading the blogs of my colleagues to learn from them. This is what makes teaching so fun. When you have friends who will share their joys with everyone, so they can experience that same joy with their students!!
Teach teachers share their toys really well!

As soon as I have a comfort level with one of the Google Tools, someone sends a great idea for using a new tool. There is no special place to begin learning the Google suite of tools. You must however, create a Google account and start to click around to find different tools that suit your needs.
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Word Nerd
2:47 PM - Posted by Mrs. Robin Martin - 1 comments
HUMOR FOR LEXOPHILES
(LOVERS OF WORDS)

I wondered why the baseball was getting bigger. Then it hit me.

Police were called to a day care where a 3-yr-old was resisting a rest.

Did you hear about the guy whose whole left side was cut off? He's all right now.

The roundest knight at King Arthur's round table was Sir Cumference.

To write with a broken pencil is pointless.

When fish are in schools, they sometimes take debate.

The short fortune teller who escaped from prison was a small medium at large.

A thief who stole a calendar got 12 months.
A thief fell & broke his leg in wet cement. He became a hardened criminal.

When the smog lifts in Los Angles, U. C. L. A.

The dead batteries were given out free of charge.

A dentist and a manicurist fought tooth and nail.

A bicycle can't stand alone; it is two tired.

A will is a dead giveaway.

Time flies like an arrow; fruit flies like a banana.

A backward poet writes inverse.

In a democracy it's your vote that counts; in feudalism, it's your Count that votes.

A chicken crossing the road: poultry in motion.

If you don't pay your exorcist you can get repossessed.

Show me a piano falling down a mine shaft & I'll show you A-flat miner.

The guy who fell onto an upholstery machine was fully recovered.

A grenade fell onto a kitchen floor in France resulted in Linoleum Blown apart.

You are stuck with your debt if you can't budge it.

A calendar's days are numbered.

A lot of money is tainted: 'Taint yours, and 'taint mine.

A boiled egg is hard to beat.

He had a photographic memory which was never developed.

Those who get too big for their britches will be exposed in the end.

When you've seen one shopping center, you've seen a mall.

When she saw her first strands of gray hair, she thought she'd dye.

Bakers trade bread recipes on a knead to know basis.

Santa's helpers are subordinate clauses.

Acupuncture: a jab well done.

Whatever happened to that cow that was lifted into the air by the tornado. Udder disaster!

Why did the lady go out doors with her purse open? Because she expected some change in the weather.

It's a bit "muggy" in NewYork today.

What is the Mexican weather report? Chili today and hot tamale.

Two weathermen each broke an arm and a leg in an accident, and called from the hospital about the four casts.


Holiday Gift Exchange
9:25 PM - Posted by Mrs. Robin Martin - 0 comments
It is the time of year where we take some time to say thank you to co-workers, friends, neighbors and others who have had an impact upon our lives. Thank you sometimes does not seem to say it all when you truly want to say more, but not get so mushy. A give exchange is a small way to share joy within a group. I have been a part of the Pollyanna and Secret Santa type of gift exchanges at school, with friends and family, but they do not seem personal enough to express my gratitude. And now a new type of exchange is happening online of all places! This evening on plurk.com we were invited to participate in a small gift exchange with what I assume will become a very large group. There are many people whose names I recognize from plurk, twitter, DEN, and their blogs or presentations at conferences, but I do not know them personally.

I have come to know many new friends through plurk.com as well as by reading their blogs. So I am looking forward to this WEB2.0 gift exchange with strangers no make that new friends. You can start a group on elfster.com for your work, home or family group!


Some Fun Sites
7:53 PM - Posted by Mrs. Robin Martin - 0 comments
Some of my plurk.com friends have suggested the following activities:
  1. Create with Cubes - make different designs or patterns with cube shaped objects
  2. Design Activities - Make a coat of armor, CD cover and many other items. Scroll down about 1/2 way to see the list of online design activities.
  3. Online LiteBrite - tired of stepping on all of those little lights? Then do the online version. Good for toddlers too!
  4. Make a contraption - use different tools to complete a task.