Testing, Testing, Ugh, 2, 3

For this session, I thought that I would give a few references to help out with testing.

Why testing?  Well, to be honest, it becomes of importance once the search for high schools and universities begin.  The reality is that individual performance does on state-wide assessment does have impact on the opportunities your kids might or might not get.  My goal as a teacher each year is to prepare them for life.  Testing is just one of the many aspects to take into consideration.

Today I'm going to introduce a few sites that you find beneficial as you prepare your child for the next wave of testing that they will participate in, the WKCE.  I've chosen these sites because of their content, accessibility, and ease.  I encourage you to explore and experiment with these sites.  If you have any resources that I haven't mentioned, please share them, and I'll be more than happy to spread the word.

Well, here we go...

1. ThatQuiz-This is a site that I found a few weeks ago, and I've been toying with it.  I like the concepts that are available (hey, it's Math!), and I found it pretty easy to use.  Furthermore, it's rather simple to adjust the difficulties of the quizzes themselves.  If your child is a Math whiz, you can kick up the levels to really challenge them.  If your child struggles, you can decrease the level to build up their confidence.  Your children will be using this site a lot this year; I recommend that you give it a try yourself...
2. NCES-Kid's Zone-This is another site that I found, and it has some interesting parts to it.  Unfortunately, it only allows comparison testing to 4th, 8th, and 12th grade.  However, I found that a lot of the 8th grade material was taught in my class, so your children would likely be up for the challenge.  What I liked about this site was that you could compare feedback from around the world, and more importantly, you could get immediate links to resources for reteaching concepts.  
3. EduPlace-This is a website through Houghton Mifflin, and what stood out here that I liked was that it gave some test-taking strategies, along with a walk-through for using that specific strategy.  

There are tons of sites out there; this is merely a sliver of what's out there.  I encourage you to search and find resources for your child as well.  After all, the goal is their success, right?

Glogster (or Posters, 2.0)

Well, it's been a while, but I'm back for a new school year, and this week's edition brings us to a tool that, to be honest, I've only found within the last few weeks, but that I think could be of great benefit and interest to your child.

The site is Glogster.  What is it?  Online poster making.  Now I know you've had the same fun that I've had in the past, which is buying the posterboard, the markers, the gluesticks, and everything else.  Well, save the money, the supplies, and the time.  Glogster is a site where students can create their own posters.  I am going to have my students create a few throughout the year---they'll decide when they can properly use them for an assignment.

My creation is below.  It took me about 30 minutes, but I was able to embed a video, upload a few images from my computer at home, and go through their extensive library of content as well.  If I were to have more time, I'm sure that the end result would be even more intricate, but that's all right for today.

Click for My Poster

Quite large, huh? So what do you think? Could your kids improve on this? I bet they could...

Until next time...

Research Papers

Well, the assignment that your kids are probably going to ask you about right now is the Research paper.  We're working on that right now, and your kids will be working on this paper in groups for the next few weeks.  I'm using today's post to give you tips and tricks to help your child write a successful Research paper.

First off, what is a Research paper?

---The Research paper is a paper where the writer needs to research, or look up, information on a given topic.  They need to use a variety of sources to find facts; these facts will be used by the writer to inform their audience about the topic, the viewpoints, and the possible solutions.  The key here is, there is not a final answer that determines if their paper is right or wrong.  They are basing their solutions off of the facts and data that they retrieve.---


This is unlike any reports that they've written in the past.  The following site gives nice visualization as to the effort or work that the students need to put into this paper:

http://www.aresearchguide.com/1steps.html

So, yes, there some work to be done.  So what can you do?

• Talk to your child-Try to get daily updates about their paper.  Ask specific questions-this forces them to really remember the facts that they're researching.  It also keeps them on pace.

• Make sure they have notes-Use the following list to see where notes can be obtained from:

Secondary Sources

Books

Magazine Articles

Newspaper Articles

Website Articles

Encyclopedia

Primary Sources

Interviews

Original Documents

Speeches

Letters

Diaries

It's good to try and pull out facts from both types of sources.  The Primary Sources are your most direct form of information.  The Secondary Sources are more frequent.


After all of the notes, it's time for writing.  This is where we're going to work and teach about plagarism.  Today, it's too easy to just copy and paste pieces of information into our writing.  It's also illegal.  The key here is, we can use all the information that we want; however, we need to give the credit where it's due.  This is something that our kids struggle with a lot; if possible, read what your kids write.  You'll know if your child wrote it, or if someone else did.

Well, I'd love to talk more about this, but it's probably best to add more later on.  Let's focus on this for now, and we'll update in a few weeks.

As always, leave any questions, comments, or concerns below.

Podcasting? What's that?

Well, for this week's edition of the blog, I thought I'd update you on what your kids are currently working on:  Podcasting!!!  So now that you know what we're doing, it's time to tell you what it is, and why we do it.
Podcasting is simply recording audio to share on the Internet.  Think of it like a segment from a radio show.  In this case, your kids have become the 'hosts' of the show.  They pick the content, the format, and the presentation.  They can create their own show, they can use it as a format to share their opinions or knowledge, or even use it to interview people.  That's just the tip of the iceberg; there's many other uses for podcasts out there.

So, how are we using it in the class?  Right now, I let them choose the subject matter, and I simply record their show.  If they want me to moderate, I will, but I try to stay as far back as possible.  This is THEIR show; I simply want to help them create it.

How do we know if it's a success?  Well, I already have kids planning their second episode and beyond!  Looks like I'll be doing a lot of recording for the rest of the year...

Now here's the key:  What happens if your kid wants to continue creating podcasts over the summer, or next year?  That's a problem I'd love to solve.  All they need are the following tools:

1. A microphone (you can get one from Target or Wal-Mart for $10-15).
2. Download Audacity (it's a free program to record and edit Audio.)
3. Download the LAME encoder (find it through Audacity.  This converts it to mp3.)

That's it. Toy around with it a bit, and voila!  Your own podcast.  As your kids get better and better at it, they can toy around with sites to host their podcast (I use Podomatic, for example), and if they feel they want a true audience for their show, they can upload it to iTunes for the world to listen to!  That's something to really sit back and think about; your kids could potentially create something that could be listened to in other cities, states, or even countries!

I'll leave you with this tutorial on how to use Audacity (I had to toy around with it a bit in order to better understand it); by all means, don't be frustrated.  Give it a try; you'd be surprised how quick you'll pick up on it.

http://www.how-to-podcast-tutorial.com/17-audacity-tutorial.htm

Well, that's it for today.  I'll be coming back with further updates as they come along.  As always, leave any comments that you have below.  Thanks, and have a good one!

Bookmarking, Computer Style

Let's face it; we visit a lot of websites while we're on the computer.  I regularly access 20-50 sites per day while working on the computer.  During all of this time, I tend to come across a lot of great sites, which I soon forget.  Oh, if only I had a solution...

Well, there is a solution, and it's online bookmarking.  Now I'm sure that you do the same thing that I do; bookmark your sites on your computer.  What happens, however, when you aren't on your computer?  You go right back to exploring until you find your sites.  Well, with online bookmarking, otherwise known as social bookmarking, you have the ability to save your sites, and access them anywhere.  Some sites that offer this are www.delicious.com and www.diigo.com.  I have a video below, in real time, that shows how long it takes to create and set up a diigo account:

Diigo Run-Through Version 1 (the Link)

(Sorry, I had an embedded video, but the screen was larger than my blog site!  The link should work just fine...)

See, that wasn't too bad.  Now, why use something like this?  Well, it can be of great help for all of those research projects that our students will be completing over the years.  There can be connections to resources just by exploring with these tools, and the information will be updated.  Furthermore, it gives us a chance to network with others just like us; the same study patterns, the same interests, and that can be a great service to all of us at the end of the day.

I'm going to experiment with this a bit this week.  I'm looking at the Research Paper that I have to address later this quarter, but also to reports, speeches, and other major projects that will require thorough searching of a variety of sites.  Overall, though, I think that this can be a great tool for organizing, and I'll be the first to admit, I need all the help I can get when it comes to organizing.

So, don't be shocked if your kids come home this week to show you a completely different way of learning than the way you were used it.  The methods are rapidly changing, and this is just one of many new ways to help your child succeed.

As always, leave any comments or questions below, and I'll be more than happy to respond.

Tools! Tools! Tools!

While going through my Google Reader (that's an explanation for another day...), I came across this website:

Cool Tools for Schools

Special thanks for the bloggers over at Technology Integration for this fantastic site.  It organizes well over 100 hundred different websites and programs into various categories that may be of help to your children.  Words can't describe the amount of stuff listed here.  

Simply toy around, and see what tools you find in there that are beneficial.  You'll recognize a few sites that I've used, but there is a ton more out there.

Anyway, enough of me rambling.  Enjoy!

Presenting Ideas (PowerPoint edition)

As we come towards the end of the year that I have with your children (only 10-11 weeks left!), I'm trying to continue with what I started with your children this year. One of those items is the idea of presentation. I'm sure you've been more than happy with the presentations, speeches, PowerPoints, and other activities that have left you thinking, "Why is he assigning this? I don't even know how to help!"

Well, honestly, it's because I want your children to be ready for a variety of situations in which they may need to present. As someone who has sat through a lot of BAD presentations (in this case, I'm talking about PROFESSIONAL presentations. I'm not talking about your child.), I want to learn from those mistakes to help your child success. The more I can present to them now, the more likely they'll use it down the road.

So, that brings me to the slideshow below. Your children have begun using PowerPoints this year, and I desperately don't want them to fall into the trap of bad presentations. Feel free to watch it (it's about 3-4 minutes), and keep this in mind when your child is creating a presentation. They have the ability to be heard with not only the words they use, but the images they use to show, and the methods in which they give their message. I want them to be powerful. We'll have our missteps, there's no doubt on that. However, I want them to always revisit what they've done, and look at how they could make it better.

Well, I'll let you explore. Please share any ideas or beliefs that you have below, and, as always, have a good one!

Presentation Skills Version2 0

View more presentations from Simon Jones.

Digital Stories (aka Why Is My Kid Asking to Use a Camera?)

I hope that many of you saw that your children are responsible for turning in a digital story in two weeks.  I thought that I'd take a minute to explain what your child is doing and point out what you can do to help.

First, I had the students come up with a script, or story.  (I can't tell you what it's about; that would ruin the surprise!)  They have also begun storyboarding their stories as well.  In this process, they draw out possible images that they would like to go with certain parts of their story.

Now comes the interesting part.  They need to add images, and then take a microphone to narrate over it.  They have several options of getting images.  They include:

1. Taking the photos, and downloading them into the computer.
2. Drawing them, and scanning them into the computer.
3. Using a cartoon website (ToonDoo, GoAnimate) to create images.

So, if you're wondering why your child's asking to use a camera so much, this is why.  They're currently at the stage of getting all of their pictures together.  Once this has been completed, they need to narrate and add music to it, and then it becomes something that they can convert to video.

Below is my example.  I hope that this gives you a better idea of what your child is creating in class.

As always, leave any questions or comments below.  Hope to hear from you soon!

 

Introduction-What Is This Used For?

Hello!

I'm sure you're thinking, "What on Earth is Mr. Corcoran sending me now?!?!?" Well, to be honest, I'm trying something new out. I've been blogging (or writing a web log) for a while, and I was challenged with finding a way to use this in the class. After bouncing a bunch of ideas around in my head, as well as seeing a few other examples, I decided to come up with a blog for my students and their families.

So, what's the purpose of a blog? In this case, to give information. For me, it's to become better organized. I tend to leave things here and there, and that gets a bit frustrating after a while. This gives me an opportunity to directly give you information that you may need. The best part is, this blog will organize it; if you forget, you can simply look back through the titles and find what you want!

Now that I've mentioned that, here's what you can expect to find in the blog:

• Project assignments with links for help. 
• Reflections on ongoing assignments. 
• Upcoming school events. 
• Items that may be of use to you and your family, in terms of education. 
• A chance to SHARE your voice.

There are many other options, but I want to wrap this up. I'll be adding a post or two later today, so I'll get the ball rolling.

Here's how you can help me; make your voice heard. If you have questions, this is the perfect spot to ask. You may find that other students, parents, and others may have the same questions as you. Please ask. I don't mind one bit.

Well, that sums up my introduction to blogging. I hope that this becomes a successful activity for us all. As always, leave comments below.

Thanks, and have a good one!

-Bryan Corcoran