Students' Requests for Help and Disposing of Your Old Technology Devices

Two very different topics caught my attention this week. The first, research on students' requests for help, provides useful information to help us as we work with our students in the classroom or online. The second, what to do with our old technology gadgets, gives some helpful ideas for disposing of old technology when we have new techie items to replace the old.

Big Ideas... / Wonderlane / CC BY 2.0

Larry Ferlazzo recently posted some interesting research on students' requests (or lack thereof) for help in the classroom. How "aggressive"... how "respectful"... how "persistent"... the students are apparently reflects how their parents have taught them to obtain help. And the families' socio-economic backgrounds play an important role in that instruction.

Read about this research on Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day...
The Best Research on Why Some Students Ask for More or Less Help Than Others

Old Tech / Steve Greer / CC BY 2.0

5 Ways to Get Rid of Your Old Tech Gear at Yahoo! Tech includes useful advice along with suggested ways to dispose of old technology gadgets. Dan Tynan recommends regifting, using a broker, selling, donating, or recycling your devices.

Gizmodo's The Best Way to Recycle Your Old Gadgets by Andrew Tarantola suggests selling or donating your old techie devices. Specific sites are recommended.

Merry Christmas!

Christmas Cactus on Christmas Eve / Phil and Jo Schiffbauer / CC BY 2.0

Merry Christmas!

May God bless you with His love, peace, and joy.

Jo

Scaffolds, Questions, Success in the Classroom... and Then Sharing!

I always learn so much from my PLN! As I read their blog posts and their Twitter feeds I discover new ideas for teaching and learning. Tonight I read several posts that deal with teaching strategies.

Classroom / Green Map System / CC BY-NC 2.0

The Edudemic staff writes about using scaffolding when teaching. They share
(1) resources for understanding the basics of scaffolding and
(2) strategies for implementing scaffolding as a teaching strategy.
The information shared is specific and very helpful. If you want to build up your scaffolding skills, this article is a great place to start!

In Edutopia Dr. Richard Curwin asks "What Drives a Great Lesson?" He posits that "we learn best when questions come before answers"... and that too often we teach the answers without getting students interested in the questions first. Curwin shares ten questions that have worked well in actual classrooms to motivate students when used by teachers to drive an entire lesson. And then he encourages us to add to the list.

In a separate post, Edutopia provides "Success Stories of Technology Integration in the Classroom." The video series described is co-produced with the Teaching Channel. Seven topics are presented. Each one begins with a video and then includes additional resources.

• Enhancing Lessons with Blended Learning
• Collaborative Digital Presentations
• Engaging Kids with Digital Video Production
• Differentiating Instruction through Technology
• Free or Low-Cost Technology Tools
• Video Games and Programming
• Additional Resources on the Web.

My Sharing Loop / Mathieu Plourde / CC BY 2.0

These three posts provide useful ideas for both beginning and experienced educators. Reading and then implementing these strategies can help us to become better teachers. But... keeping these ideas to ourselves is ... well, selfish... when we should be sharing with other educators.
 
We need to share with educators in our buildings and with those who teach elsewhere.
Silvia Rosenthal Tolisano in LangWitches shares (1) why we should share and (2) what we can do to start sharing. If you have any doubts that you (and others in your building) should be sharing the good things going on in your classroom... or if you're not sure how to start doing that sharing... then be sure to read Tolisano's post!

Eight (8) "Best of ... in 2014" Lists Share Useful Resources

Best of ... in 2014 lists are beginning to appear in a variety of fields. I explored lists that are available for 2014 in education. Some interesting ones have already been published. This post shares eight such lists with useful resources.
 

You Want My Best Side? / Lori Branham / CC BY 2.0

ISTE Follow-Up 31: Miscellaneous education blogs (THE PUSH 2014)
http://dangerouslyirrelevant.org/2014/11/iste-follow-up-31-miscellaneous-education-blogs-the-push-2014.html
Dangerously ! Irrelevant (http://dangerouslyirrelevant.org/)
by Scott McLeod (http://dangerouslyirrelevant.org/bio)
 
McLeod and the readers of his blog are updating his THE BEST OF THE BEST list of education blogs. Their collection of BEST... blogs is mainly subject-specific (everything from agricultural education, art education, math education, … to world languages education). However, a few other categories (e.g., athletics / extracurricular activities, gifted education, … to superintendents / central office / districts) are also included. The list is designed for P-12 educators. The blogs included have RSS feeds so educators can subscribe to them. Because this list has been generated collectively it provides many more useful suggestions than any one alone could gather. 



2014 Recap: 15 Top Resources on Digital Citizenship
http://www.edudemic.com/15-resources-digital-citizenship-2014/
Edudemic: connecting education & technology (http://www.edudemic.com/)
by the Edudemic staff (http://www.edudemic.com/author/edudemic-staff/)
 
Edudemic provides resources teachers can use to help their students become good digital citizens. The resources are grouped into three categories:

• ready-made lesson plans to launch learning about digital citizenship
• engaging games to promote digital citizenship
• furthering the discussion.

The resources included in this collection are useful for a variety of grade levels and realistically speak to the need for our students to become “citizens of cyberspace.” 


 
The Dos and Don'ts of Classroom Management: Your 25 Best Tips
http://www.edutopia.org/discussion/dos-and-donts-classroom-management-your-25-best-tips
Edutopia (http://www.edutopia.org/)
by Lina Raffaelli (https://www.edutopia.org/users/lina-raffaelli)
 
Educators responded to Larry Ferlazzo's (https://www.edutopia.org/users/larry-ferlazzo) request (http://www.edutopia.org/groups/classroom-management/8278) for their "most valuable classroom management advice." Both novice and experienced educators can find worthwhile ideas in this list. 



The 23 Best Game-Based Education Resources for 2014
http://www.edudemic.com/23-best-game-based-resources-2014/
by the Edudemic Staff (http://www.edudemic.com/author/edudemic-staff/)
 
This collection of game-based education resources can help you:

• understand game-based education
• get started using game-based learning
• decide which games to use
• design your own games
• view current news about game-based education
• expand your knowledge in this area.

If you have not yet begun to use game-based education in your classroom, these resources can help you get started. 



2014 18th Annual Webby Awards
http://www.webbyawards.com/winners/2014/
 
The Webby Awards honors the "best of the web" in websites, online film & video, advertising & media, mobile sites & apps, and social. Two awards are presented in each category: the Webby Award and the Webby People's Voice Award.

My recommendation? Do NOT limit your viewing just to the "education" winners. Spend some time and explore winners in each category. The Webby Awards truly do honor the "best of the web"! 



My Best of series
http://larryferlazzo.edublogs.org/about/my-best-of-series/
Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day (http://larryferlazzo.edublogs.org/)
by Larry Ferlazzo (http://larryferlazzo.edublogs.org/about/)
 
Ferlazzo publishes best websites for students to access (http://larryferlazzo.com/Thebestwebsites.html). He also publishes websites of the year for educators (http://larryferlazzo.edublogs.org/about/websites-of-the-year/). In addition, he lists the best websites by topics (http://larryferlazzo.edublogs.org/about/my-best-of-series/). His topics include the usual disciplines (art, math, reading, science, ...) plus many more (reference, search engines, teacher resources, growth mindset, ...).

One of my favorites of his Best of sites is The Best Web 2.0 Applications for Education in 2014. This site is available at http://larryferlazzo.edublogs.org/2014/12/02/the-best-web-2-0-applications-for-education-in-2014/. 



Best of History Websites
http://www.besthistorysites.net/
EdTechTeacher: Leading Change in Changing Times (http://www.besthistorysites.net/index.php)
 
Best of History Websites links to more than 1200 history websites. They also link to lesson plans, teacher guides, and history activities/games/quizzes. This website is recognized internationally as an excellent site. The categories of websites available include:

• prehistory
• ancient/Biblical history
• medieval history
• American history
• early modern Europe
• modern history
• World War II
• military history
• history today
• art history
• oral history
• general history resources
• social sciences
• maps
• geography
• lesson plans
• games and animations
• research.

I wish I had found this website previously! 



Fantastic Tools for Schools: 50+ Ways to Rock!
http://www.coolcatteacher.com/slides/50-favorite-tools-schools/
The CoolCatTeacher: a real teacher helping teachers be really excellent (http://www.coolcatteacher.com/)
by Vicki Davis (http://www.coolcatteacher.com/bio/)
 
Davis shares more than 50 of her favorite tools for teaching and learning. Her slide show is an opportunity to learn from the best!

Interesting Applications of Mathematics

Fun Times / peddhapati / CC BY 2.0

I have enjoyed playing with mathematics since I was a young child. If you enjoy mathematics--or wonder why other folks do--you may enjoy reading about three of its interesting uses.

http://www.scrabble-assoc.com/info/history.html
Alfred Mosher Butts--with the help of James Brunot--invented Scrabble in 1948. Butts studied the letter frequency on the front page of The New York Times to decide what the letter distribution should be.

http://politics.slashdot.org/story/14/11/28/0338208/mathematicians-study-effects-of-gerrymandering-on-2012-election?
Gerrymandering is the manipulation of district boundaries to establish an advantage for a party in elections. Duke researchers are studying the discrepancies in vote counts based on how the redistricting is done.

http://scherlund.blogspot.com/2014/11/a-numbers-game-math-helps-to-predict_27.html?
Researchers at the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute are using mathematical models to predict how our bodies' immune cells fight disease.

Word games, politics, biology... all are affected by mathematics.

Interesting reading!