Common Core Connections: Halloween Writing

The Common Core Standards identify six instructional shifts necessary for effective implementation of the ELA/Literacy strand. These instructional shifts provide a framework to help us understand the big picture before diving into the specific individual standards. 

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6 Tools for Connected Educators on GettingSmart.com

October is Connected Educators month. If you’re reading this post my guess is you are already a connected educator to some degree because you are, at the very least, someone who is opening the door to the ideas of others. It’s quite possible  you stumbled across this post
on Twitter, Scoop.It or Pinterest. And it’s likely that you might pass it along to others through the various networks  in your own Professional Learning Community.

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3 Ways to Encourage Higher Order Thinking with Technology

On GettingSmart.com Today...

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Collaborative Learning with ThingLink - Wagon Wheel

Yesterday I created an interactive image to demonstrate how easy it is to engage in collaborative leaving with ThingLink. If you explore the live image, you will discover the Padlet online board that is being used to assemble collaborator's thoughts. I've pulled some of the ideas together and have been adding them to the ThingLink to define the song through multimedia. Now I am digging deeper to connect standards and design a student driven learning experience. 

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Webinar: Unpacking the Common Core -Technology Powered Projects

Thursday, June 13, 2013
10:00 AM EDT

Technology can be a powerful tool to help us meet the Common Core Standards and prepare our students for success in school and beyond, and a great way to use that technology is with student projects. 

Join us for a look at how to use free and user friendly digital tools to design and facilitate Common Core aligned, student-driven learning experiences that provide students with flexible learning paths and extend the walls of the classroom.

Sign up at Simple K12

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Twitter - Powerful Bursts of Information

Twitter is a resource I often tap into. I am not a Twitter expert, nor do I utilize Twitter to it's greatest potential, but it is certainly one of my go to tools when I'm looking to share and learn from the ideas of others. 

Many people don't understand how Twitter can work efficiently. Many people don't think they have time for Twitter.  Perhaps they don't. We all have different learning styles and preferred methods of information gathering. We must all choose the tools that work for us and Twitter is in my toolkit because it works well for me as an efficient and effective tool for collaboration!

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Back to Mac

It’s been 3 years since the school district that employees me switched from Mac to PC. After the initial shock of the sudden change subsided, I had no choice but to embrace Windows 7. It didn’t take very long for me to become a highly knowledgeable and high powered PC user, although It never felt quite right. 

I'm fortunate to be a chameleon who can adapt easily to change and I believe this is one of the reasons I have been successful at using technology as a tool for learning. I'm happy to be able to have learned to work seamlessly between platforms to facilitate tech integration, but I'm really glad that my school district is going back to Mac!

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Build Vocabulary Cards with Google Presentation

There is a wealth of research to suggest that vocabulary knowledge is the single best predictor of student academic achievement across all curriculum areas. Experts agree that vocabulary development is an attainable goal. If given the opportunity to receive effective vocabulary instruction, most students can acquire vocabulary at rates that will improve their comprehension and also their chances for success in school. Technology is an effective and engaging tool that can be used to improe vocabulary acquisition for all learners and engage them in the learning process. Google Presentation offers some features that make it an attractive tool for a lesson in which students work collaboratively to construct knowledge about vocabulary by creating vocabulary cards.

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