PALLS - First Lunch and Learn Recap

A lot of information in a short time! The Elmo and the Smartboard were our two first topics at the December Program Assistant Lunch and Learn Session #1. Participants are now going to forward information on special areas they might want to see  "ready made" Smartboard lessons they could use in a small group setting. Here is a treasure trove of lessons teachers and program assistants alike can peruse for future instruction...

(Elmo &  Smartboard) - recap from first meeting - explanation of equipment for your review

Smartboard Lessons, Tips and Tricks 

SMART Exchange

ReadWriteThink - Smartboard interactive tools from the International Reading Association

Welcome Program Assistants!

PALLS - Program Assistants Lunch and Learn Sessions-
Thursday, December 15th marks the kickoff session for the Central Road Program Assistants Lunch and Learn Sessions or "PALLS". Learning More About the  Elmo &  Smartboard takes place at 1:00 on Thursday, December 15th in the LRC with a session on the Elmo by our Assistant Principal, Erika Johansen  followed by a Smartboard lesson by Learning Resource Center Director, Jeanne Marino. PALLS will meet once a month and follow the general schedule of the teacher Lunch and Learns.  Participants will also have the opportunity to suggest topics they would like to learn more about in a small group setting. Have a great year PALLS participants and check back for more info on our next session.

Interactive Creative Sites to Use in the Lab

Interactive Book Cover Creator

Comic Creator

INTERACTIVES  from Read Write Think

Best Books of 2011 - Closing the Chapter on 2011

This is the time of year many parents want some great ideas for holiday books for their children. If you would like a resource that combines many of the best sources for the best books take a look at this site Best Books of 2011.  Many of these books may be at our upcoming book fair. Be sure to check it out when you have a moment.

Follow Santa as he Travels the Globe - click the link to have Santa help your kids brush up on their map skills as they follow him on his holiday journey. The site begins in December so take a look after break!

From Education World - 

Do your students celebrate Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, or Three Kings Day? Maybe they celebrate St. Lucia Day or Ramadan. Chances are your class includes students who observe more than one of those events. Whether that is the case or not, December offers great opportunities for teaching about our multicultural world. 

Few months present the multicultural "teachable moments" that December does! The following multicultural events and celebrations are among those that will happen this year:

• Ramadan -- Began August 11, ended September 9
• Eid al-Fitr (Muslim) -- September 10
• Saint Nicholas Day (Christian) -- December 6
• Eid'ul-Adha (Muslim) -- November 16
• Fiesta of Our Lady of Guadalupe (Mexican) -- December 12
• St. Lucia Day (Swedish) -- December 13
• Hanukkah (Jewish) -- Begins at sundown on December 1 (ends December 9)
• Christmas Day(Christian) -- December 25
• Boxing Day (Australian, Canadian, English, Irish) -- December 26
• Kwanzaa (African American) -- December 26 to January 1
• Omisoka (Japanese) -- December 31
• Epiphany (Christian) -- January 6

Education World has updated all the lesson plans to ensure that you won't find any dead links among them! You'll find the following articles full of lesson ideas at Internet Connections for teaching holidays around the world.

Touching Base on Report Cards - Wednesday, November 9th

Assistant Principal Erika Johansen, will present a refresher on the District 15 report card program. The previously scheduled Smartboard Tools Without a Smartboard will take place on Wednesday, January 5th.

Edline Update

New to Edline? Just scratching the surface? If you would like to learn how to get started creating your Edline page or...you would like to see what's new on Edline be sure to come to the November 2nd Lunch and Learn to find out more. Here is what we will be covering...
- tiny tour of current Edline pages
- creating your account
- adding info to your pages
- adding links, folders, blogs or slideshows just to name a few...
Hope to see you there!
Jeanne & Kim

   pixie. 3 - click the wand!

According to their homepage, "Pixie" is exciting creativity software students can use to share ideas, imagination, and understanding through a combination of text, original artwork, voice narration, and images. Whether you work alone or in a group, Pixie is the only canvas you need. Click on the wand to learn more about this new cool tool you can use with your kids.

Do you have an interest in Pinterest? If so....come on down to the LRC to hear teacher's Sue Brinkman and Kimberly Gray share their knowledge of this new bulletin board tool that kids are just going to love using. Learn more about Pinterest at the link below.
http://pinterest.com/about/

Blog? Glog? .....Caught in the "smog" of online communication tools for kids today?

Are you looking for a project that will connect your kids with kids around the state, nation, or world? Snail mail is still a viable option but also is blogging. Take a look at KidBlog to learn more about how you can get your kids blogging! Blogging began for adults that wanted to share information on a particular topic with others whom have similar interests. What you are reading now is a blog that was created with Blogger. Be sure to stop by today's Lunch and Learn to find out more about Blogging.Blogger Tour will give you an overview of how to set up your own Blog.

Blogger and Web Quests Lunch and Learns Scheduled for Wednesday, May 25th

"Learning More About Web Quests" was our seventh session since we began our weekly tech lessons at Central Road. Every day is a popular day for activities and events here at Central Road and because the PBIS Circus celebration coincided with the Lunch and Learn there were half the amount of staff at the session.  Jeanne and Kim  will update the Web Quest highlights and combine it with our Blogger session next week on Wednesday, May 25th. Hope to see you next Wednesday!

Here is a Sample of a Library QR Code Quest

The sample quest shown below is one example of how  we can incorporate QR codes into daily cooperative learning opportunities. If you click on the play button on the Slide Share you will get a better look at what makes up this very cool tech search through a school library.   Qr code quest_table

View more documents from gwyneth jones

Web Quest Resources

The links below will give you several web related sources you can use to lead your kids on a web Quest across the internet. Enjoy browsing and feel free to share any sites you find helpful to others. In the future, once we have some devices that can read QR Codes...we can create QR Code Quests!


Teachers First Web Resources
Image Detective
Starfall - Make your own calendar
Teachers First site main page
Globetrekker for Kids

Be sure to read the descriptions on the Teachers First pages they are well written and show how you can use the examples in your classroom.

Web Quests - Our next Lunch and Learn 5/18 LRC

Take an idea, perhaps a subject area kids are not too thrilled about and turn it on its head with the creation of a web quest. The kids will just love traveling through cyberspace on a guided journey you have created for them. Chances are someone has already created one that you  could use as a guide or just as it is. Here are a few examples;

1st Grade Butterflies
Life Cycle of a Butterfly
2nd Grade Dinosaur Web Quest
Dinosaurs
3rd Grade Space Exploration-

Planet Web Quest
Looking for a site on Space Exploration in English and Spanish? Here is one idea...NASA SpacePlace
4th & 5th Grade - Exploration-
Lewis and Clarke Adventure
6th Grade -
A Plethora of Web Quests 
Death in Rome interactive online game.

Interested in learning more about the University of Illinois Extension website for kids? Check out some great online resources that might help you with your next webquest.

QR Codes Handout

The QR Code above is an interview with author Grace Lin.

Here is where you will find an electronic version of our last handout on QR Codes.
A QR code (short for Quick Response) is a specific matrix barcode  (or two-dimensional code), readable by dedicated QR barcode readers and camera phones.


The code consists of black modules arranged in a square pattern on a white background. The information encoded can be text, URL or other data.
Common in Japan, where it was created by Toyota subsidiary  Denso-Wave in 1994, the QR code is one of the most popular types of two-dimensional barcodes. QR is the abbreviation for Quick Response, as the creator intended the code to allow its contents to be decoded at high speed.


Use this link to create your own QR.
QR codes in Education  
Web 2.0 QR code    
Ways to Use QR Codes  

QR Codes Embedded in Books - A Rich Experience

Today in Kim's Room- Elmo Tips and Tricks and Smart Tech without a Smartboard

Be sure to stop by Kim's room to refresh your memory on a few Elmo Tips and Tricks. Jeanne will be sharing info on the Elmo and Kim will be presenting on using the Smart Software with a wireless mouse. Hope you can make it! All who attend will receive CPDU's - be sure to sign up when the clipboard comes around. See you soon!

Frosty the Remote....

Be sure you can make the next Central Road Lunch and Learn to learn more about the Elmo remote "Frosty" as it is called (named by the company Elmo). Everyone that has a document camera can get a remote if they are interested.

There is also an attachment that fits onto the eye piece of a standard microscope. This is a wonderful way to have kids view close up images of what appears on a slide. The Elmo also is able to take photographs over time and give kids a good look at how things grow and change. Plants growing is something many of us have seen in time lapse photography here is a quick Elmo video of mold growing!

Here is another view of Frosty the remote.

Basics of the Elmo Part 1 - How to use your document camera.

Elmo Document Camera Tips and Tricks - AND Smart Tools Without a Smart Board - Combined session - Wednesday, May 4th

Weblist Google Docs for your Reference

Here is a Google Doc Weblist Kim put together for our Lunch and Learn on Google Docs.

Google Docs - How to Use Forms

This is a survey created for staff coming to the Google Docs lunch and learn. Please fill out the survey. At lunch we will show you how to make your own, analyze the results, and practical uses for this technology. SUPER COOL!

Collaborate with GOOGLE DOCS!

Wednesday, April 20th is the date of our third Lunch and Learn of the season. Today we will learn more about Google Docs and how you can use docs with your classroom and colleagues. At Google Docs for Educators you can find up to the minute Google Docs that can streamline instruction and foster communication throughout your class and across the district with grade level articulation.

Flip! How to put it in the hands of the kids...

Wednesday, April 13th is the date for our second Lunch and Learn here at Central Road School. Stop by and learn about how to use the Flip video recorder with your kids.
We own twenty Flip cameras that are available for student and teacher checkout. Check out the Wiki   Edu Learning to learn more about how to use a Flip camera and what you can do with it in your classes. You will also find several links on the left hand navigation to other timely tech tips for many different devices. Please post any other helpful sites, or tips and tricks you have discovered by using the Flip camera.

Weblist and Live Binder - Very Cool Tools!

Looking for a great way to organize sites you want your kids to use? Take a look at these two very cool tools. The first is Weblist where Kim has organized some glogs that might be of interest to you. Live Binder is another digital tool that is actually a digital three ring binder and great way to store and share your favorite sites with others.

Lunch and Learn Schedule - No Required!

All Lunch and Learn’s will take place every Wednesday 12:10 - 12:50

Wednesday’s                                 April 6th Glogster

                                 

    April 13th                                 Flip Video Cameras 

  April 20th                                Google Docs

  May 4th                                    Elmo Tips and Tricks & Smart Tools

                                                        [these are combined classes]

  May 4th                                   Smart Tools W/O a smartboard

   

      May 11th                                 QR Codes 

  May 18th                                  Webquests

  May 25th                                  Blogger

Glogster for Education - Class #1

Take a look at the Glogster for Education home page. You will most likely need to login here. just use the librarian's last name and first initial and then our school mascot as the password. Here you will find tutorials and Glogs others have created. It can be helpful to take a look at these Glogs as you may find ideas on how to use them in  your classroom.

Can I have a Glogster account just for me?

Yes, you can sign up for your own Glogster account separately from the one you practiced on in the class. Here you will set your own password and manage your own Glogs. This is where you will add a class or small group.

Can I have a Glogster account just for my class? 

Yes. The easiest way to import a class is by using excel. On your dashboard you can go to add students and choose excel. Give each student a nickname such as their initials, and your class room number. Then assign a password. Then add your class. Next you will get and email. You must login the first time by clicking on that link. After that your students can go to glogster edu and use their unique name and password to login and create and edit their glogs. 

You can use your school email when you set up your Glogster account. 

Do I need to sign up to take a Lunch and Learn class?

No, you do not need to sign up. The original sign ups were to give us an idea of who was interested in learning more about certain topics.  Feel free to just show up in the LRC on the day of the Lunch and Learn.

Welcome!

Welcome to the Central Road Lunch and Learn blog. Here you will find links, schedules, helpful tips and tricks, and everything and more you wanted to know about instructional technology 

This is the place you can look to locate more information and virtual handouts to the Lunch and Learn classes.  Please feel free to post suggestions and comments that might help other colleagues work with technology.

See you soon!