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4.9.12

6 Google Docs Features that Support the Collaborative Writing Process

Help students develop 21st century writing skills
(September 3, 2012 - by Susan Oxnevad)

"Google Docs is an online suite of digital tools that provides teachers with some powerful features to help students develop 21st century writing skills. Since Docs are collaborative and available 24/7, the tool is well-suited for facilitating digital writing workshops that combine peer editing with cooperative grouping and small group fine-tuned writing instruction."

Go wild with document commenting, the research pane, smart spell check, the dictionary and thesaurus, revision history and template use: and it's all free!!



Comics in the classroom: Teacher Network Blog

Guardian Teacher Network - Ideas for using comics

News and resources round up for comics in the classroom: links to sites on how to draw, tips for using comics in instruction and a range of other resources as well. Check out the comments section for additional ideas.

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Free Pictures of Everything on Earth -- Ookaboo!

Looking for free pictures for student projects?

Explore Ookaboo, a collection of free images (places, people, animals, and other things) organized around precisely defined concepts.

"Images in Ookaboo are public domain or creative commons and can be used freely for blogs, web sites, schoolwork, publications, and other creative projects."



Wikipedia in the Classroom - UBC prof blogs

Professor at UBC assigns Wikipedia writing to students

Tina Loo substituted writing Wikipedia articles for the usual term paper as the major assignment in HIST 396, her North American environmental history class at UBC.

"In the end, the value of the Wikipedia assignment lies in giving students first hand experience in constructing knowledge. Writing the articles showed them how it's made; that it changes over time, and it does so in part as a result of competition and cooperation. [...] Even though students wrote encyclopedia entries rather than conventional essays, the way they did so – through a Wiki – taught them important lessons about the nature of knowledge and the construction of arguments."



Grade 9 First Nations Project (Mr. Barnett)

"How Aboriginal peoples lived before Europeans arrived"

This assignment provides a good range of research links, as well as tips to help students create more meaningful final projects.

"You have been given a simple open-ended group assignment - to Research a First Nations Group, prepare a presentation and present it. Grade 9 Socials studies focuses on how the Aboriginal peoples lived before Europeans arrived and what happened to them after they made contact."




Zunal WebQuest Maker

Web-based software for creating WebQuests

The free version of Zunal allows teachers to easily create webquests using the templates provided. If you don't have your own server space, or simply want the ease of following a step-by-step format, Zunal is a good option. (The Pro version does give more options.)

Here's an example:




Share your best lessons - Open School Learning Commons

Share your best lessons with the world

"Please consider sharing your best lessons with the world. We will edit your lessons to be consistent with our style guide (How to write an online lesson). We will embed resources and add information and media literacy narratives, where possible. None of our lessons are perfect, so yours don't have to be, either. But they have to have been tested in the classroom - that is the main thing!"

This page also has some good pointers for writing on-line lessons and making them work in a screen-based environment. (A project by a group of BC Teacher-Librarians!)



All About Science Fiction for Teens | NoveList

NoveList's Teen genre outlines - Science Fiction Primer

This article by Jennifer Brannen originally appeared in the September 2012 RA News Newsletter.

"Do you work with teens on a daily basis but are not as familiar with books written for that audience as you'd like? Check out NoveList's Teen genre outline on Science Fiction trends, themes and authors. It'll bring you up to speed in a snap."



Transforming Teaching and Learning with iPads: more on QR codes

iPad Activity: Open House Scavenger Hunt

Angie Sigmon from NCSS writes about her ideas on how to use QR codes with iPad3s.

"I decided to incorporate the QR scans and create an Open House Scavenger Hunt to give the parents and kids the information needed to begin the new school year.  As the students arrived, there was an iPad and the first page of the scavenger hunt on their desk.  They were instructed to work through the scavenger hunt with the help of their parents.  Here is what I created:"



Experienced Teachers Reflect on Their First Year

"What I wish I had known as a first year teacher"

In working with educators at national and global workshops Judy Willis had the opportunity to ask teachers to share their wisdom by answering the question, "What I know now, that I wish I had known as a first year teacher . . . "

"A recurring theme among their answers was the awareness of -- and responsiveness to -- the needs and interests their students. "



Travis’s Excellent (Ereader) Adventure

Rolling out eReaders in an Elementary Library

This article based on Travis Jonker's blog "100 Scope Notes."

"Looking back on the year, I know a couple of things. I know the goals we outlined ...— providing access, generating excitement, and offering a more customizable reading experience — were all met. I know we encountered more difficult decisions than anticipated. ... A modest beginning is still a beginning. I'm glad we started."








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