8 (free) websites to create cool student projects online Creating an online project is a great way to help students to demonstrate that they have learned something. Below you will find 8 websites that offer great options for any teacher and all are free to use. The first five have screenshots of examples that I created. Fake Movie Poster Creating a movie poster is a great school project. With this simple website, the task is that much easier. Photovisi Here is another website to create great poster projects. Be Funky This site is better known for its photo editing but it also allows users to create photo collages. Poster My Wall Yet another terrific site for creating poster projects for the classroom. Mural.ly is a fantastic online tool that appears to be intended for business but would work really well in the classroom. Word Draw is a site that offers free professional looking templates for newsletters, flyers, labels, and resumes. These templates can also be utilized for a class newspaper, projects or even reports.
Say What? 5 Ways to Get Students to Listen Ah, listening, the neglected literacy skill. I know when I was a high school English teacher this was not necessarily a primary focus; I was too busy honing the more measurable literacy skills -- reading, writing, and speaking. But when we think about career and college readiness, listening skills are just as important. This is evidenced by the listening standards found in the Common Core and also the integral role listening plays in collaboration and communication, two of the four Cs of 21st century learning. So how do we help kids become better listeners? Check out these tactics for encouraging a deeper level of listening that also include student accountability: Strategy #1: Say it Once Repeating ourselves in the classroom will produce lazy listening in our students. Of course you don't want to leave distracted students in the dust so for those few who forgot to listen, you can advise them to, "ask three, then ask me." Strategy #2: Turn and Talk Strategy #3: Student Hand Signals
Resonate : Case Study: General Electric Comstock delivered the presentation featured on the next few pages to persuade her sales and marketing team that “growth in a downturn” is possible (notice the contrast even in her title). She wanted to move her team from the defeatist mindset of a downturn (what is) to believing they could innovate in a downturn (what could be). It’s common for her presentations to address the theme of navigating through the tension of innovation. Comstock sprinkles her communication with personal stories of risk, frailty, and victories, which makes her credible and transparent. Comstock is a natural at communicating contrast. Growth in a Downturn? Jeff Immelt took over as CEO of GE in 2001 with a strategy to grow the company from within, while investing more in technology/innovation, global expansion, and customer relationships. © 2013 Duarte Press, LLC.
How to Revitalize Your Students Have I let "instructional weeds" infest my classroom? I went out into my backyard today and was astounded about its condition. The hibernating Bermuda grass was yellow-brown as it should have been, but salt-and-peppered throughout the yard were bright green dandelions with the "I dare you to stop me" fluffy white seed flowers that had not been there in the fall. I thought I had eradicated them completely last summer, but the evidence was plain to see. Yes, I could blame the students for their behaviors or I could look at what I have been doing to allow these pesky learning inhibiting weeds to germinate and grow. Here is my reflection on the situation: I think I have been trying hard to get the students to learn. I thought students were slacking up a bit so I revisited the classroom rules after winter break to make sure the students knew what I expect from them. So, that's reflection.
Preso.tv Systems Thinking Mind Map Presenter’s Toolbox: Apps and Gear For a Successful Presentation As someone who runs a presentation company and speaks publicly for a living, I often get asked about my arsenal of presentation tools. I thought I’d give an inside look into what I use on a consistent basis. Here’s my checklist for a successful presentation: Pre-Presentation I’m a huge advocate of always having a back-up plan, so I carry duplicates of many items to make sure I can get on stage with no unnecessary glitches. -Evernote for gathering all of my thoughts, quotes, and ideas -iA Writer is my go-to app if I choose to script out my content -iPhoto to store all of my imagery -Pixelmator for making last minute design edits -Keynote is my presentation software of choice -High Sierra backpack for carrying everything The Presentation I have been an Apple user for almost 20 years, so you’ll see that my tools favor that direction. -Bottled water is an essential to avoid a dry mouth -MacBook Air for presenting -iPad Mini (Keynote version) is my back-up option #1 to the MacBook Air Post-Presentation
Super Teacher Tools Two Simple Questions to Ask Before Every Presentation This post was written by Aristotle Presentation philosopher, teacher, in search of the best gyro. State of mind is the intangible deciding factor in how presentations are delivered. It takes a certain level of hubris, but also a measure of humility, to strike a balance between confidently telling the audience what they need to hear or do and doing so in such a way that they might actually hear or do it. Truth be told, this part of presentation success has nothing to do with storytelling, facts, design or theatrics. There are two questions every presenter should ask themselves as they prepare internally to step on stage. At its root, Why me? So now you have that, “I’m the man! Why not me? Why not me? If you honestly ruminate on these two essential questions, you should arrive at a place where confident humility is your state of mind. Question: How do you balance confidence and humility in your day-to-day life?
Vensim Solar System Scope 5 Ways to Make Your To-Do Lists More Effective To-do lists seem pretty straightforward: A list of all of the tasks you plan to accomplish during any given day or week. And, really, there are few things more satisfying than drawing lines through each entry. Progress! But, many times, they balloon to unrealistic levels, and we end up feeling overwhelmed and ineffective. That’s usually because we’re using them as a catch-all for every task that’s thrown at us. Instead, our lists should be derived from our larger goals and include tasks that move us toward those big-picture endeavors, says Robert C. 1. When you take a few minutes to write your to-do list the night before, you can hit the ground running the next morning, Pozen advises. 2. Everything that goes on your daily to-do list should fit two criteria: It should be something important that you need to do--versus that which doesn’t really need to be done or which can be delegated to someone else--and something that needs to be done on that day. 3. 4. 5.
Desert Life - Animal - Plants - People - DesertUSA Deserts cover more than one fifth of the Earth's land, and they are found on every continent. Deserts can be classified as "hot" or "cold". Deserts receive less than 10 inches of precipitation a year. Lack of water creates a survival problem for all desert organisms, animals, plants and people. What is a desert? Desert In Bloom Plants and Animals: How Are They Classified? Desert Food Chain Video Videos of Desert Animals Share this page on Facebook: DesertUSA Newsletter -- We send articles on hiking, camping and places to explore, as well as animals, wildflower reports, plant information and much more. The Desert Environment The North American DesertsDesert Geological Terms Related DesertUSA Pages
8 Things Everybody Ought to Know About Concentrating “Music helps me concentrate,” Mike said to me glancing briefly over his shoulder. Mike was in his room writing a paper for his U.S. History class. On his desk next to his computer sat crunched Red Bulls, empty Gatorade bottles, some extra pocket change and scattered pieces of paper. In the pocket of his sweat pants rested a blaring iPod with a chord that dangled near the floor, almost touching against his Adidas sandals. On his computer sat even more stray objects than his surrounding environment. Mike made a shift about every thirty seconds between all of the above. Do you know a person like this? The Science Behind Concentration In the above account, Mike’s obviously stuck in a routine that many of us may have found ourselves in, yet in the moment we feel it’s almost an impossible routine to get out of. When we constantly multitask to get things done, we’re not multitasking, we’re rapidly shifting our attention. Phase 1: Blood Rush Alert Phase 2: Find and Execute Phase 3: Disengagement