#masscue reflections...a bit late!

I attended the Massachusetts Computer Using Educators (#MassCue) Conference in October at Gillette Stadium in Foxboro, Massachusetts.  Besides being able to simultaneously watch outstanding workshops and progress my own learning, I also was able to watch the Patriots practice from the luxury box in which I was sitting...pretty awesome!  (But: no pictures allowed!)

I collected lots of links, attended several workshops, and gathered resources from presenters and colleagues alike.  Below you'll find a plethora of disorganized links, essentially in chronological order of when I learned of them at MassCue.

http://blog.newsarama.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10003/meanwhile.gifBack at school, my goal: deeply explore one resource per day, considering ways to incorporate into the classroom.  I've also decided that in lieu of a traditional grade level meeting, we'll have a knock-down, drag-out, down-and-dirty Exploration Party of the links, giving staff members some time to work with their "content buddies" to discover, explore and create, bringing more instruction, differentiation, and scaffolding to the classroom.  These grade level meetings will require:

  1. Teachers must sit next to content buddies.
  2. Start by exploring several websites individually, noting instructional implications/ideas/interest for your specific class(es).
  3. Share out best ideas with content buddies.
  4. Create a 3-2-1:
3 websites you are personally interested in "mucking around with" by the next grade level meeting in two weeks.

2 ideas you and your content buddies can incorporate into your classes by the next grade level meeting...do this together (many hands make for light work!).

1 idea you can try from today's work, by the end of this week.

  • http://www.polleverywhere.com
  • http://tadalist.com
  • http://www.wallwisher.com
  • http://www.smartmoves.com
  • http://www.vimeo.com
  • http://www.skitch.com
  • http://www.spellingcity.com
  • http://www.storybird.com
  • http://www.tickatock.com
  • http://www.storyjumper.com
  • http://animoto.com/education
  • http://tweentribune.com
  • http://teentribune.com
  • http://www.openoffice.org/
  • http://www.voicethread.com
  • http://edu.glogster.com
  • http://www.flocabulary.com
  • http://myavatareditor.com
  • http://www.voki.com/
  • http://www.fodey.com
  • http://www.comiclife.com
  • http://www.xtranormal.com
  • http://web.archive.org/collections/web.html
  • http://www.ted.com
  • http://arted20.ning.com
  • http://ali.apple.com/cbl/
  • http://www.weebly.com/
  • http://voicethread.com
  • http://www.nicenet.org
  • http://mysterytheaterpodcasts.blogspot.com/
  • http://keepvid.com/
  • http://school.goanimate.com/
  • http://wordle.net
  • http://www.titanpad.com
  • http://www.spaaze.com/
  • http://en.linoit.com/
  • http://www.pindax.com/
  • http://crocodoc.com/
  • http://www.twiddla.com/
  • http://mywebspiration.com/
  • http://www.stykz.com/
  • http://www.xtranormal.com/

Comments

Unknown said…
Steve - It is never too late to reflect! Thanks for sharing all of these resources!
8:58 AM
mssanderson_ITS said…
Gillette is a great venue- that's for sure! I've really enjoyed the conferences there.

This is a very comprehensive list of some of the best of Web 2.0 today. I would add edublogs.org to the list. A lot of these sites would integrate/embed nicely.

Hope your staff enjoys trying them out and finding ones that meet their needs. :)
9:30 PM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Maslow's Hierarchy of School Needs (Steve Guditus)

Image
The pace of schools today is frantic.  So little time is left in a child's 24 hour-day to play and explore - both in and out of school.  Unintentionally, we may be pushing students to think and learn at high levels when more basic needs are not met.  For a student to be available for learning, basic needs need to be met - in both school and at home.  We need to shift our paradigm from student supports as "extras" and "add-ons" to prerequisites for a student to be available for learning.  I created this Maslow's Hierarchy of School Needs to highlight the need for other pieces to be in place for students to be available to learn (and to learn at high levels, reach their potential, and increase their potential). Any thoughts, feedback, edits, subtractions or additions?
Read more

37 inspirational ideas to kickoff your school year (Steve Guditus @sguditus)

I just participated in a great brainstorming session with some outstanding educational leaders at the MSSAA summer institute , and made note of 37 different ideas to inspire your school and have a successful kickoff to the school year.  The best educators beg, borrow and steal ideas and adapt them to be their own - so I offer this list to be borrowed, stolen and adapted (no need to beg!). Have staff write one fun fact about themselves on a post-it note on their classroom door. Create a scavenger hunt and have folks hunt down items, discover new info about fellow staff members, the school or the community. Create a teacher survival kit: a mini hershey's bar for a pick-me-up, a K-Cup for a jolt of caffeine, some office supplies, etc. Have staff set a personal goal, in addition to their student learning and professional practice goal: make it about personal health, nutrition, work/home balance, family, etc - and have check-ins! Leave a personal note, post-it, memo or quote on
Read more

Grades: Understanding, not Obedience

The New York Times got me thinking, in its November 28, 2010 article " No More A's for Good Behavior ."  The Potsdam, NY Public Schools, led by Superintendent Patrick Brady, are right on.  As I concluded in a previous blog post, " Extra Credit: The Downfall of America ?", grades must be a reflection of knowledge learned, information synthesized, skills demonstrated, not a reflection of behavior. I have opened up the following conversation individually with teachers, but have not yet taken it on with the staff of the whole school in which I work - yet.  Grades must not be a reflection of behavior, but of understanding.  This includes the a big piece of student responsibility: homework.  The excuse that "if students do not homework and are not penalized for not completing it, then won't ever learn to do it!" is simply hogwash.  We should be creating homework assignments that are essential, and if it uncomfortably illuminates our own homework polici
Read more