Blogging 101

Get a head start on our next I.T. training session.

Blogging has become quite the craze. It has evolved into a hugely popular communication tool both inside and outside of the classroom. But my focus will be solely on the educational value it brings to the table - and that value is huge. Talk about increasing reading and writing across the curriculum and getting students involved and active? I have enclosed a few links to get you primed for the next professional development training "Blogamania".

Allow Mark Wagner from the Ed Technolgy and Life blogsite to give you a basic explanation of a blog:
http://mark.blogspot.com/2005/03/blogging-for-teachers-part-1-what-are.html

No blog discussion can be complete without an explanation of RSS Feed. You will find that subscribe-ability is one of the most powerful capabilities of a blog - you can actually subscribe to them!
Allow CommonCraft to explain, in their own creative way, RSS Feed.
http://www.commoncraft.com/rss_plain_english

And if you really wanna get a head start, try to create your blog. It is as easy as falling off a log. I use blogger.com. Its free and easy and it is one of the tools on iGoogle. So, when you log into your iGoogle account, you are also automatically logged onto your blogger account - which makes blog management quick and super easy.
www.blogger.com

Subscribing To This Site

If you are interested in automatically receiving updates to this site, all you have to do is subscribe. You can subscribe to this site several ways:
1. Go to the bottom of the page and click "Subscribe To Posts: Atom"
After clicking, you will be asked to identity a web aggregator to use to retrieve the new feeds. Bloglines.com is a popular web aggregator.
Or
2. Create an account in iGoogle and use their Google Reader tool. After setting up an account, just access the Google Reader site, click on "Add Subscription", then copy and paste the Professional Evelopment address into the window. Then, everytime info is added to the site, your web aggregator/reader will automatically capture and file the info for you to read at your leisure.

United Streaming Receiving Rave Reviews

Discovery's United Streaming is a digital video-on-demand and online teaching service to help improve students' retention and test scores - and it is aligned to state standards. It is a great classroom resource and an effective tool to engage students.
The United School District currently has an account - if you are unsure how to access the resource, just email Mr. Steinly or Mr. Soltesz.

United Streaming Video Website:

http://streaming.discoveryeducation.com/index.cfm

SMART Board Lesson Database

Instead of wasting time searching for useful SMART Board lessons, just check out these sites in order to find that perfect SMART lesson. Each site allows you to search by subject area. This will save you lots of time.

Here are some great links for SMART Board lessons:

The best of the best. Hands down the best place to find SMART Board lessons. This site allows you to search for a lesson by grade level and subject area. It also addresses each and every standard that each lesson hits.
http://education.smarttech.com/ste/en-US/Ed+Resource/Lesson+activities/Notebook+activities/Correlated+Search+ca.htm

Most effective if you search by subject:
http://www.google.com/coop/cse?cx=011736901559370873508%3Ah5fojaeqqv0

Very powerful and very user friendly - encompasses everything SMART - a true one-stop-SMART-shop:
http://eduscapes.com/sessions/smartboard/

Lots of lessons - the only draw back is that the lessons are not organized by grade level - instead are organized by subject area.
http://technology.usd259.org/resources/whiteboards/smartlessons.htm

Some international flavor- this site is from the UK. We don't discriminate, so here it is. Navigating is a little strange at first but after playing around, you will figure it out. Not my favorite site but still good.
http://www.topmarks.co.uk/Interactive.aspx?s=science

More geared toward younger audiences, but there are some great links and resources on this site so I added it.
http://www.ecarter.k12.mo.us/dept/elementary/fourthgrade/ccrites/etipslesson1.html

Well organized- with lots of lessons. Best thing about this site - there is a description for most of the SMART Board lessons.
http://www.wsd1.org/southd/SMART_Board/

Unique - it is organized by three categories: Ideas, Lessons and Websites.
Intersteing and useful. A good place to get some new ideas flowing.
http://www.waukesha.k12.wi.us/WIT/SmartBoard/specificapps.htm

In a hurry? Looking for an easy lesson supplemental?
Easy to navigate and lots of good material. Great place for maps.
http://teach.fcps.net/trt27/smart_board_lessons.htm

A comprehensive site on Everything SMART Board. Another must visit. Hope you have a few minutes to spare.
http://smartboards.typepad.com/smartboard/2007/09/smartboard-less.html

SMART Board 101

Perfect for the busy teacher:
This link will take you directly to the SMART Board training site. Here, you will find a collection of 2-minute tutorials. Topics range from SMART Board basics to using PowerPoint and other advanced Notebook software tools. The 2-minute format is perfect for anyone who just doesn't have a lot of time to waste.

Here is the link to the SMART Board tutorials:
http://smarttech.com/trainingcenter/tutorials.asp