If Librarians Were Honest My mother was trained in library science, but went on to have a career in software systems. Perhaps it was this epigenetic guilt that planted the unconscious seed for Brain Pickings — my personal digital archive of reading — which was born, twenty-one years after my mother completed the degree she would never use, in the city where Benjamin Franklin founded the world’s first subscription library. As library-lover Steve Jobs memorably remarked, “you can’t connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards,” and these formative dots have since been connected to paint a clear picture of my deep love of libraries — those most democratic cultural temples of wisdom where we come to commune with humanity’s most luminous minds; where the rewards are innumerable and destiny-changing, and the only price of admission is willingness. Befittingly, in the context of free libraries, the poem begins with Benjamin Franklin’s colorful complaint as an epigraph of sorts:
Vetting Web 2.0 Educational Tools: The Web in the Classroom…Part 2 Welcome to another article in a series devoted to facilitating proper student internet interaction in the classroom. This classroom might be 1 to 1 or might be using technology to leverage student centered learning. In this post I would like to explore steps to take and reflect on when vetting a Web 2.0 interactive tool for classroom use. Booking Info – It is time to think about your school or conference needs. Upcoming Opportunities: Join me at PBS Learning Media on Monday, November 23 at 7 PM EST for a free webinar on learning about STEM and Ocean Life through the PBS program, Big Blue Live and numerous free internet resources.. Vetting Web 2.0 Educational Tools: The Web in the Classroom…Part 2 I have been asked in the past to provide key questions that a district and teachers could use to vet a website. Before vetting a site it is important to investigate procedures and policies that are in place in a school or district. A district may already have an approved vetting procedure.
Comics for Engaging Students! 24+ Resources & Ideas “At a young age, I was interested in comic books, which was really how I learnt to read.” – Nicolas Cage Today, I will be conducting a webinar, Teaching with Comics, for Simple K12. I wanted to share the resources from the presentation in case you can’t join us. Comics can be powerful learning tools. They are brain friendly. Enjoyed these ideas? Students can do the following with their comics: Retell a historical eventWrite dialoguesSummarize readingsCreate the setting and situation appropriate for idioms and phrasesPost an interviewExplore societal issuesExplore the language in jokesExplore political issuesIntroduce themselves to their peersShow how to accomplish a goalExplore the meaning behind quotesGive visual instructions- Howtoons.com is full of great instructional comicsHighlight the rulesCreate a context for math word problemsTell the newsExplore various definitions of a wordVisualize research Learn with Comics Comic Creation Tools and Apps Bookmarks
Tips and Tricks — Creator's Hub Calling All Parents and Educators of This Generation’s Digital Citizens A few weeks ago, I was asked by a parent at my son’s school to share strategies on how to be conscious and aware of what their children were doing on the internet. This immediately brought back memories of one of my favorite webinars on digital citizenship. If you missed it, you don’t have to miss out because it’s featured in Discovery Education. Access it here. (Canadian Subscribers). In the comment section, let us know how you work with families on strategies for working with this generation’s digital citizens. Our amazing presenter Devorah shared some final thoughts below. ————————————–The New Digital Citizenship Our kids’ future success will depend on true digital fluency. This Digital Skill Set is an immediate priority. The nuances matter. The medium matters, and it’s changing all the time. The Solution: Educating Yourself Simply put, you have to learn in order to teach:
Lecciones de mecanografÍa | Tutor de mecanografÍa | Teclado Español Nuestras lecciones gratuitas de mecanografía, suministran un paquete de "Cómo mecanografiar" completo. Un diseño de teclado animado y un tutorial de mecanografía con gráficos de las manos, son utilizados para corregir sus errores, mostrandole la forma correcta de mecanografiar y facilitándole de esta manera el aprendizaje y la práctica. El nivel de dificultad de las lecciones aumenta gradualmente, ya que comienza con sólo 2 caracteres y termina con el aprendizaje de todo el teclado. Consejos para el éxito: Mientras practica mecanografía - no mire el teclado - ni siquiera un vistazo rápido!
10 things classroom teachers need to know about modern school librarians | Trust me, I'm a librarian 1) We hate quiet. Oh, sure, the typical view of a librarian is an older woman, in a cardigan and cat-eye glasses, with a tight bun, shushing everyone who dares to make a sound. That may have been the case a long time ago, and may still be the case with some dinosaur librarians (they still exist, sorry!), but generally, librarians don’t like quiet. Quiet means that no one is collaborating. This isn’t to say we don’t appreciate students working alone or a student reading alone, but the library is a common place where everyone can work together and communicate. 2) We love collaboration. We love to see students collaborating, but we also love to collaborate with you, our classroom teachers! 3) We are technology people at heart. The printed page may die at some point (most of us hope it won’t). If you have a new Web 2.0 tool that you want to try, ask us. 4) We don’t read all day. We wish we did. 5) We don’t know everything. Sadly true. 6) We’re all passionate about something. Like this:
The complete list of Siri commands There's a lot you can do with Apple's virtual assistant -- and some things you can't do. For example, while Siri can send texts, search Twitter, and open up your front-facing camera, she can't adjust your device's volume (something OK Google can do). Apple hasn't published a complete list of Siri commands, though you can find a fairly comprehensive guide to Siri's abilities inside Siri herself (open up Siri and say "Help" to see what she can do). Hey Siri There are a few ways to get Siri's attention. Press and hold the home button to activate Siri and issue her a command or ask her a question.If you're using Apple's Earpods, press and hold the center button to activate Siri and issue her a command or ask her a question. The basics Call or FaceTime someone. Phone/Settings Take a picture.Take a selfie.Turn on/off [Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, Cellular Data, Airplane Mode, Do Not Disturb, Night Shift]Increase/decrease brightness.Open [app].Designate contacts as relationships. Scheduling and reminders
The Top 5 Free Typing Tutors: Exciting Ways to Learn and Practice Keyboarding Home > News > The Top 5 Free Typing Tutors: Exciting Ways to Learn and Practice Keyboarding Check out our top 5 FREE typing tutors below. 1. Dance Mat Typing - Dance Mat Typing is a colorful, interactive website that teaches children ages 7-11 to touch type. There are 4 levels divided into 3 stages; Level 1 being the easiest and gradually increasing in difficulty. 2. 3. 4. 5. Why digital natives prefer reading in print. Yes, you read that right. Frank Schembari loves books — printed books. He loves how they smell. He loves scribbling in the margins, underlining interesting sentences, folding a page corner to mark his place. Schembari is not a retiree who sips tea at Politics and Prose or some other bookstore. “I like the feeling of it,” Schembari said, reading under natural light in a campus atrium, his smartphone next to him. Textbook makers, bookstore owners and college student surveys all say millennials still strongly prefer print for pleasure and learning, a bias that surprises reading experts given the same group’s proclivity to consume most other content digitally. “These are people who aren’t supposed to remember what it’s like to even smell books,” said Naomi S. In years of surveys, Baron asked students what they liked least about reading in print. It can be seen in the struggle of college textbook makers to shift their businesses to more profitable e-versions. “I don’t absorb as much,” one student told Baron.
This year, I resolve to ban laptops from my classroom By Tal GrossDecember 30, 2014 Tal Gross is an Assistant Professor at Columbia University, and a Public Voices Fellow with the OpEd Project. Exhibitors work on laptop computers at an industrial fair. (Jens Meyer/AP Photo) I settled on my New Year’s resolution while giving a lecture to 85 masters students. It was one kid who unintentionally suggested the idea. I had a choice. When I was a student myself — not that long ago — no one brought laptops to class. Since most students can type very quickly, laptops encourage them to copy down nearly everything said in the classroom. This is not just vague worrying on my part. Clay Shirky, a professor at New York Univeristy, recently asked his students to stop using laptops in class. Both of those research studies suggest that, in the classroom, laptops actually hinder learning. Granted, laptops have their advantages. And so I’m left with a resolution for the new year: no more electronics in class. I’m not a Luddite.