Being producers of our own podcasts, I often forget that there are so many free podcasts already available to us in iTunes. There are video as well as audio podcasts. Some are great for students, and some are great for your own professional development. We’ve started to gather some here of various subjects. All can [...]
I don’t think I have ever met anyone who enjoys putting together a bibliography or works cited list. The formatting rules are no picnic for the writer or the teacher who will be grading it. Honestly- having 4th graders word process a bibliography from scratch is pure torture. You have to have a keen eye [...]
Over a week ago, I had the pleasure of being able to spend a day and half of professional development time with four other instructional technology specialists and a dozen teachers (grades K-5) exploring Glogster. This time gave way for much needed “play” and discussion about how to integrate this tool into the curriculum. By [...]
// Go ahead… press the play button! (Text version: Does your blog or web page have the blahs? How about spicing it up with some talking avatars?) Recently, I have seen quite a few of these critters on various people’s media or projects, and I have to say, I am mesmerized! A talking cartoon totally [...]
TweenTribune is an online newspaper that is written exclusively for “tweens”, 8-14 years old. The goal is to get kids hooked on reading and seeking out news on a daily basis. To promote this behavior, TweenTribune updates daily with stories that are kid-friendly from reliable sources (such as AP and CNN). Two other appealing features [...]
Need to survey people, or want your students to administer a survey? Want to make online quizzes for students? Or even better: have students make their own quizzes for each other to demonstrate what they know? Then look no further than Forms in Google Docs. Do you send out an email whenever you need to [...]
As I sit here pondering this week’s post, I have been checking out what’s going on in the Twitterverse of my PLN (Personal Learning Network). Some may call it procrastination, but I’d say it’s inspiration. This has been the scenario: Read a tweet. Click on link. Retweet and/or bookmark. Repeat. After several cycles, it occurred [...]
By now, everyone has heard of Twitter. And many of you are thinking that’s just one more thing for me to manage… and who has time for it? And isn’t it really more for socializing anyway? Lots of people have blogged about the stages of Twitter acceptance. The number of steps vary, but they all [...]
Dear Reader,
Here’s some info about this blog.
Jan. 2010 – June 2010 This blog served as a technology professional development portal. It was a chance for us to explore what was (and still is) out there. As we know, a lot of the latest tools and resources only take a few minutes to preview and learn. Making the time is often the trickiest feat. Therefore, I proposed Tech Tuesday. Every Tuesday something new was waiting for you to check out on this blog. On select Tuesdays, there even were face-to-face session in the Abbot lab @ 7:45 A.M. In under 30 minutes, I demonstrated the new tool, and participants got some time to play. It was requested that participants gave the tool a little more thought or another “go”, and then follow-up with a comment on this blog, reviewing the tool for a grade level or subject. The ultimate goal or end product was that one tool or resource would be implemented fully into teaching practices to benefit student learning. We also had a great resource blog for people to consult in the end!
October 2010 – ?: I am going to continue to update the Tech Tuesday blog on at least a monthly basis. There’s still so much to learn and share. So always check in on Tuesdays to see what’s going on, or better yet, subscribe! 
