tweentribune What Teachers Are Saying about TweenTribune: “Build an exciting informational reading experience...that involves students in reading and discussing current events.” -- Teacher Librarian Magazine “There has to be a source somewhere in the digital universe that can provide high interest reading for all students in a classroom right? Well look no further than Smithsonian Tween Tribune...The beauty of this website lies its ability to draw readers in with fun, exciting, and occasional weird articles geared towards youth.” -- Jorge Santana, review in The iLearn Initiative Printing Press The interactive Printing Press is designed to assist students in creating newspapers, brochures, and flyers. Teachers and students can choose from several templates to publish class newspapers, informational brochures, and flyers announcing class events. Text added to the templates can be modified using a simple WYSIWYG editor, which allows students to choose text features, such as font size and color. Documentation for the Printing Press includes instructions for using the tool. Customized versions of the tool, which include additional instructions and more focused choices, are included with some lessons. Grades 3 – 12 | Student Interactive | Writing & Publishing Prose Flip Book The Flip Book is designed to allow users to type and illustrate tabbed flip books up to ten pages long. Grades K – 12 | Student Interactive | Writing & Publishing Prose Stapleless Book Grades 1 – 12 | Calendar Activity | October 1 Get ready for National Bullying Prevention Month! Grades K – 12 | Strategy Guide
Want to Build a New App? There's an App for That, Too Competition in Apple’s App Store is so tough that even strong concepts must be planned to perfection before any development should start. So enter App Cooker: A hot new iPad app that makes sure other apps have the right ingredients in place before any development begins. App Cooker ($19.99) from Sophia-Antipolis, France-based Hot Apps Factory helps aspiring designers organize, plan and get app projects ready for production. 30-year-old Xavier Veyrat — the designer of App Cooker — spoke to Mashable about the development of the platform and the steps that go into creating a masterpiece app recipe. Have you always been into design? Always. What type of design inspires you? Companies such as Apple, Dyson and Braun are some of the main sources of my inspiration because they care about usefulness and beauty at the same time. How did the concept for App Cooker come about? Two years ago, I started to work on a gaming app with my partner Johann. What makes a good app?
12 Rules Of Great Teaching - 12 Rules Of Great Teaching by Terry Heick Recently, I’ve been thinking of the universal truths in teaching. Students should be first. So I thought I’d gather twelve of them to start with. 1. This is how great things are built. 2. Learning models, for example, are the new teaching strategy. Traditionally, teachers focus on “strategies” to “teach.” But the modern approach should have as much to do with what students access, when, how, and why as it does with “what students do in the lesson.” 3. Your students, first and foremost. 4. If you can’t make them curious, teach something else. Taskmasters seek compliance. 5. Teaching is a craft. Not only does this keep things fresh for students, but it keeps you sharp and relevant as an educator as this big world keeps on turning. 6. Know that it’s okay to think technology-first. 7. Technology. 8. When explaining, less is more. 9. Know the difference between confusing and complex. Between standards and curriculum. 10. 11. Be unpredictable. 12. Bonus
10 Reasons Why OneNote is the Ultimate Note Taking Tool for Schools It may just be the best thing you have never heard of, but if you take the time to learn how to use it, Microsoft’s free, multi-platform note taking tool will surprise you with how powerful it really is. So, here’s why OneNote is great for the classroom and beyond. (Note: Not all features are available on all platforms, or in the free apps, but all are available in the Office 2013 desktop version) 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. So, if you haven’t had a chance to explore OneNote is some detail, it might be time to check it out. Like this: Like Loading... How to Design a Beautiful iPad Lesson: This is a beautiful lesson designed and presented by Rob Miller on Scrib. What I really like about this series of activities is that it allows the students or in Rob's case his teachers to articulate their own learning. It is never about a single app. It is the combination of apps that allow the learners to meet the learning outcomes. It is a great example of building a meaningful lesson around a concept and then providing the students with the tools to create content. The other great thing about this lesson is the beautifully designed yet simple instructions built by Rob. I would like to thank Rob for sharing this resource. This series of activities has got me thinking about a whole range of tasks that I now want to design and share with my own students.
13 Ways Successful People Deal With Toxic Persons Among friends, family and co-workers, there are those whose attitudes can be demeaning and toxic. It is difficult relating to some of these people and thus it becomes a challenge. So how do we get out from the hole and be masters of our own fates? The best way is to learn from successful people how they have approached the same role of winning the war against toxic individuals. 1. Toxic persons try to consume you and make you swim deep in their problems. Successful people understand that there is a fine line between offering to listen to the problems and getting themselves involved too deep in the negative emotional twists of such complainers. 2. By expecting change, you lower your energy and create a resistance in people. 3. Successful people know how important it is to store energy. By managing their emotions they can live to fight another day and avoid being brutally beaten. 4. Successful people do not allow other people’s opinions to determine their joy. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12.
Printable Calendar Templates 50 Must-Have Educational Apps It’s time for holiday road trips and you know what that means: driving, flying, cranky kids, and… teaching opportunities! What’s that, you say? Well, there is so much downtime during the holidays where kids and adults spend hours just passing the time… why not try out some new apps on your phone? Many of these apps were found by The Teaching Palette, be sure to check out their fantastic site for more helpful resources! From learning the ABCs to doodling, there’s plenty of terrific apps out there that will pass the time but also educate. *Most of the links below are to the iTunes store which will open another window and/or iTunes. Great Apps For Kids (And Adults) Alphabet Animals Perfect for your talented toddler, this game is packed with colorful animations, animal sounds, and tons of tips for learning their letters. WordSearch Kids Kids search and highlight vocabulary words by tapping the first and last letters. Mad Libs Just as goofy and fun as your remember. SmackTalk Annoying?
edWeb: A professional online community for educators 10 Awesome Web Tools Teachers should Be Using Educational Technology and Mobile Learning is back to you with another list of some great educational websites. We have meticulously handpicked this compilation and we want those of you who, because of their time constraints or any other reasons, could not keep up with the sweeping influx of the web tools to have a chance to get to know some useful tools to use both for their professional development and with their students as well. You can also check our archive for other compilations. Have a look at the list below and share with us your feedback 1- Stykz Stykz is a stickfigure animation program that was inspired by the popular Pivot Stickfigure Animator software. 2- Pic4Learning Pics4Learning is a safe, free image library for education. 3- PowerPoint Games As its name indicates, this website provides a wide range of games created by PowerPoint You can download the games and modify the template to suit your learning needs. 4- SuperKids 5-4Teachers 6- Badge Maker 8- Bubblesnaps 9- Fun Photo Box
Be a School Leader: The 16 Best Resources for School Administrators The role teachers play in the educational system is significant and vital, but if teachers are the heart of the operation, administrators are the bones. You support teachers, forge relationships with students and the public, and strive to create a school environment that is beneficial for everyone who walks through the doors. How can you take your role to the next level and become an even more effective administrator? The following resources may be just what you need. Build Relationships Image via Flickr by flazingo_photos You perform a delicate balancing act. You’re good at your job, and you know its ins and outs, but sometimes a question pops up that throws you for a loop—not because you don’t know the answer but because you don’t know how to provide that answer. Sharpen Your Leadership Skills It is one thing to build healthy relationships; it is another thing to transform yourself into an effective leader. Edutopia poses and answers the question “What Makes a Great School Leader?