my version of transparent, collaborative leadership...with a Teamann twist

5 ways to stay connected to the Olympics, in class!

by 2 Comments

imagesThe winter games are upon us! These are such golden opportunities to teach your students using an event that is exciting, competitive, and GLOBAL. While it probably isn’t in your curriculum, I encourage you to have a conversation (at the least!) with your students about this current event.

 

Here are FIVE fun resources that I’ve come across to help keep you and your students engaged!

  1. An Olympic “Opening Games” bingo game! What a way to “play” along at home!
  2. Follow the official website of the Olympic movement to stay up to date on the latest news! Read news articles, watch videos, or view photos of latest events. Short articles offer information about Sochi such as information on the city and the sports venues, which is fascinating!  You can also choose links at the bottom of the page to explore similar information for other Olympic host cities both past and future.
  3. From working with teachers around the world, the Australian Olympic Committee has developed the Sochi 2014 Olympic Resource that features primary cross-curriculum lesson plans and student handouts themed around the 2014 Olympic Winter Games in Sochi, Russia. Now, while these may be the dreaded “W” word, I think you could easily turn them into an interactive bulletin board or a game. Cut’em up!
  4. Printable Olymic medals! Have the spelling games, or math fact games…or any kinda games where you can win your own Olympic medal!

Olympic games story paper! I LOVE the create your own olympic story idea! Great for upper grades too. This one is my fave! A foldable story booklet…just imagine the creativity you could unleash here!olympic_rings_booklet_460_0And finally…what event would be complete without its very own infographic!

let-the-games-begin-a-sochi-olympics-infographic_52ea7715a8445_w1500

Gold medal earner,  😉

Amber

A power point Christmas? No thank you…an alternative!

by 2 Comments

I am in charge of our campus Christmnas card each year. I consider it my badge of honor (albeit, a badge  made up in my head) that I’ve not done the same style of card in 4 years. (It’s the little things.)

When I started thinking about something for this year, I remembered a tool that I had heard of from my favorite lil’ol podcast, Techlandia.

Jon, Curt, & Allison had talked about VideoScribe HD a few weeks ago and it was the perfect solution! The app was less than $5, even when I paid a little bit more to get the branding removed when it was rendered.

 

The result? A unique greeting that looks like it took me forever…but didn’t.

Clever, eh? Also appreciate @ipadsammy being at my beck and literal, call! 🙂 This is an easy tool that turns any presentation into something fancy…and we all know power point is very 1997. (**quote from Grey’s Anatomy**)

If you don’t listen to Techlandia, I highly suggest you do so, it genuinely provides me so many resources that benefit me, my campus, and ultimately, our students.

Jingle bellN,

Amber

 

Feeling defeated or tired already?

by Leave a Comment

I was listening to a webinar last week discussing the benefit of effective teachers in the classroom and was blown away by what was being shared. The average effect of one teacher on a single student is modest. All else the same, a student with one excellent teacher for one year between fourth and eighth grade would gain about $4,600 in lifetime income. The student with the excellent teacher would also be 0.5 percent more likely to attend college.

That’s not too shocking, right?

What about this? Replacing a poor teacher with an average one would raise a single classroom’s lifetime earnings by about $266,000. Multiply that by a career’s worth of classrooms.

Students with top teachers are less likely to become pregnant as teenagers, more likely to enroll in college, and more likely to earn more money as adults, the study found.

How can you ever doubt the importance of what you do, every single day?

The webinar really solidified for me that teachers are the most important part of a child’s education. Not a program, a strategy, or a test. Great teachers make a great difference; poor teachers hurt a child’s life chances. LIFE chances.

You. Matter.

Remindingly,
Amber

#tichat & media use

by Leave a Comment

This week’s summary is a guest post by my co-moderator from the technology integration chat, Cathy!

How do you use media?

Do you Glog, Voicethread, Animoto, Skype or Prezi? Tonight’s chat-ters discussed learning to using the multimedia tools you ask your students to use, and wondered how to use Google Apps and other resources with students under 13.Is YouTube blocked at your school? Try Vimeo or Teachertube! Alternatives to PowerPoint? try Prezi! What about Voki? Thank goodness most apps make embedding user friendly. And in as little as 5 minutes, with tools like Flip cameras and iPads, students of all ages can become video creators-engaging, empowering, exciting!

For my friend Amber Teamann, here’s the link to tonight’s #tichat archive:

tichat10-13-11 –

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AngI-vp4N8yudDh6T0tqVk1WMk9XRWhzdVl2LWxZQ1E&hl=en_US

Cathy Brophy (cat)

Thanks, Cathy! I had parent teacher conferences with my campus so I wasn’t able to participate this week…

Postingly,
Amber

#tichat & archive

by Leave a Comment

We had two great topics for our #tichat last night. The first was how do you get technology resistors on board and the second, some clever, fun ways to start off the year with technology professional development. Once again, the hour FLEW by…we had over 625 tweets!

(Teamann tangent: for those LL’s confused: every Thursday I am co-moderateN a “chat” centered around technology integration. Not surprised? me either. It’s an hour of like minded folk answering a couple questions, bouncing ideas off each other, and sharing what works!)

Some of the great ideas from last night on ways to get your technophobes on board included:

  • Anthony Muhammad’s Transforming School Culture is a must rd for guidance on working w/ resistant teachers.
  • I try to steal some of the work they are doing, TECH it up and show them the differences.
  • Fear plays a major role in resisting change. Use it, show it, promote it as ways to ease the fear. Little steps.
  • I try to offer help in planning and teaching – taking some work off of their plate instead of adding more.
  • diferentiate, meet tech resistor’s at there level, encourage and don’t overwhelm
  • I try to send out tips, newsletters, make myself available in non-threatening ways
  • Plan some hands-on workshops for colleagues to show them potential tools to use in their subject area
  • We’ve been doing “10 minute Tech. Tips” at staff meetings to get some interest…
  • I use my students with special needs to show what they can do to show that ALL kids can do it
  • I hope to someday have a team of 5th graders support teachers in school with tech.
  • Don’t forget the home baked goodies at tech workshops. 🙂
  • Also did “Tech Tuesdays” 20 min of new topic each week; one page handout, quick highlight on a tool

Some of the great ideas shared last night on fun & fresh ideas for staff development for BTS (back to school) were:

  • Talked about doing a QR code scavenger hunt to introduce them to all the new things we’ll be doing this year
  • QR Scavenger Hunt Generator http://www.classtools.net/QR/index.php
  • upgrading @GlogsterEDU 2 school acct. Thinking abt teachers register & create glog about themselves 2 learn how 2 use. make it fun
  • audience participation, role playing and give always with some fun music
  • plan collaborative dialogue based sessions. Be “guide on the side” not “sage on the stage
  • @cybraryman has an AMAZING site for QR uses in the classroomhttp://www.cybraryman.com/qrcodes.html
  • Tech integration metaphor: Boiling Frog Syndrome http://t.co/FEO6CtM #tichat Slow slimmer…resistors will never know!! (Teamann tangent: I had to google this and every time I see a frog I will now cringe!)
  • Speed Geeking — saw idea here on Twitter! rotate through stations – sounds fun!
  • need flexible PD…fit the needs of the teachers. choice and options are key.
  • Encourage leadership 2use new web 2.0 tools faculty meetings 2 present.
  • Here’s a link to one I used: http://www.scribd.com/doc/59837518/Handout(Speedgeeking handout example!)

Those are some of the highlights! There was great conversation happening, as well some “oh that happens to YOU too” moments, which may have been my favorite. I’m a big fan of the phrase “The smartest person in the room, IS the room”, and dadgum it, twitter proves it every time! Why fight and recreate the wheel when we are all on the same team, same page, and have the same goals? Even if you take an idea and tweak it…sharing can SAVE YOU TIME..

🙂 I’ll get off my “we should share” soapbox now, and leave you with the chat archive. Hard to “read” but I’ll work on finding a better tweet keeper for next weeks chat!!

 

 

your tweetheart,
amber