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Issue 22, Volume
10
February
4, 2010
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Thought for the
Week
Education is the most powerful weapon which you
can use to change the world.
-- Nelson
Mandela
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February Is Black History
Month
|
 Black History Month is a
remembrance of important people and events in the
history of African Americans. It is celebrated
annually in the United States and Canada in the
month of February, while in the UK it is held in the
month of October. Utilize the website links below
for numerous opportunities and resources to explore
the theme of Black History this month. You can
research Notable Speeches by African Americans,
learn about Famous Firsts, try a timeline on either
civil rights or slavery, or investigate contemporary
issues. Quizzes and crosswords are also available.
Black History Month Resources
African American World
http://www.pbs.org/wnet/aaworld/
African American World Timeline
http://www.pbs.org/wnet/aaworld/timeline.html
African American World for Kids
http://pbskids.org/aaworld/
InfoPlease
http://www.infoplease.com/spot/bhm1.html
History.com
http://www.history.com/minisites/blackhistory
Biography.com
http://www.biography.com/blackhistory/
Lesson Plans Page
http://www.lessonplanspage.com/BlackHistoryMonth.htm
Teacher Vision
http://www.teachervision.fen.com/black-history-month/teacher-resources/6602.html
The Teachers Corner
http://www.theteacherscorner.net/seasonal/black-history-month/
EducationWorld Lesson
http://www.educationworld.com/a_lesson/lesson221.shtml
Education World Black History
http://www.educationworld.com/a_special/black_history.shtml
TeachNology
http://www.teach-nology.com/teachers/lesson_plans/history/us_history/blackhistory/
Thinkfinity
http://www.thinkfinity.org/BlackHistoryMonth.aspx |
 Don't forget the many
available resources from TeachingBooks.net, a
resource provided to Calcasieu teachers by CPSB, for
Black History Month Celebrations. For access from
inside the CPSB network, go to
http://www.teachingbooks.net/home/. No password
is required. For home access, a password is
required. If you do not know the password, please
check with your school librarian. It is a paid
resource by CPSB for CPSB teachers, students, and
parents.
TeachingBooks.net has hundreds of
multimedia resources to enliven and personalize your
conversations about the books you're using to teach
Black History Month. Just enter the author or title
of a book in the search box provided, and TeachingBooks will instantly identify and connect
you with online materials about that author or book.
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Region V TLTC - Small
Wonder Digital Video Camera Workshop
|
 Register
today for this two hour teachers’ workshop that
utilizes Small Wonder digital video flip cameras to
challenge the imagination and creativity of students
and teachers. Teachers will be captivated as they go
on a compelling and digitizing adventure in photo
and video capturing, editing and producing. These
tools can empower students/teachers of almost any
age to produce academic masterpieces.
Date:
2/11/10
Time:
3:30 PM-5:30 PM
Location:
Lab C - Technology Training Center
Register at:
http://www.solutionwhere.com/ldoe/cw/main.asp
Titled:
Region 5 TLTC - Small Wonder Digital Video
Camera Spring
Register today! For questions, contact Joshlyn
Foreman via email at the Region V TLTC office:
joshlyn.foreman@cpsb.org. |
Visit the Newly Improved
ReadWriteThink.org
|
 ReadWriteThink.org
has a whole new look – and so much more! After
months of evaluation, user surveys and collaboration
with literacy professionals, ReadWriteThink
has been completely redesigned and relaunched.
ReadWriteThink.org, a partnership between
the
International Reading Association, the
National Council of
Teachers of English (NCTE) and the Verizon
Foundation, will help you turn reading and language
arts theory and research into best classroom
practices. Visit today and you'll find everything
you need for tomorrow's lesson plan.
Features of the new site include a user-friendly
design and improved navigability, including a brand
new search and filter tool. Also, you will find
content just for your classroom, including
grade-level-specific lesson plans, printouts, and
out-of-school activities. There are even new ways to
participate and share with colleagues throughout the
world with more out-of-school learning activities
for families and afterschool educators. Check it out
at
http://www.readwritethink.org/. |
Young Minds Digital Times
Film Competition
|
 Young
filmmakers in grades 6-8 and grades 9-12 now have an opportunity to
show off their skills by participating in the Young
Minds Digital Times Film Competition. Students
should find a sponsoring teacher or counselor to
sign off on the project and then register to
participate. Supported by KidThrive.org and Converge
Magazine, the competition will give away fantastic
prizes, including two Grand Prize packages to attend
the 2011 South by Southwest Film Festival in Austin,
Texas.
Other first place category winners will win $200.
The teacher with the most student entries and the
school with the most student entries in Track
One: Young Filmmakers Doing Good, will each win
$1,000. Entrants should start talking to their
friends now so that their public vote can help them
make it to the Grand Prize round. The
registration period ends
February 19, 2010
and all entries are
due by March 19, 2010.
Find out more at
http://www.youngmindsdigitaltimes.com/ |
Changing Up The
Interaction In Your Room
|
 In
order to keep your classroom exciting for students,
consider changing up the types of interaction that
you use with your Promethean Board. Students can
interact verbally, come up to the board physically,
work from their seats using the slate, or
participate as a group using a classroom set of
ActivExpressions.
It is important to add flipchart pages to your
lessons which allow students to respond to the
curriculum. By creating activities that allow brief
interacting moments throughout the lesson,
individual students have the opportunity to interact
with the board while the others stay engaged with
the lesson.
Be sure to log into Promethean Planet and check out
the Teacher Feature section of Promethean Planet for
great examples of lessons and videos showing award
winning teachers in action. If you don’t already
have an account for Promethean Planet, you need to
create one. The account is free and allows access to
flipcharts, resources, ACTIVtips, and more. The URL:
http://www.prometheanplanet.com |
Create Reading Lists With
Scholastic Teacher Book Wizard
|
 Scholastic
Teacher Book Wizard is a book search tool that will
create individualized reading lists for students
based on their interests, reading ability, and age
level. For the first time, we can type in a
student's Lexile, age or grade level, interests,
genre of book, and receive an appropriate reading
list. For example, if a second grader reads at a 9th
grade level, ONLY the 9th grade level books that are
appropriate for 2nd graders would come back in the
list. Another amazing feature is that a student can
type in the name of a favorite book and then tell
the Book Wizard they want another book that is
similar in genre and style as well as whether they
want it to be easier or harder than the one they've
read and it will return a reading list for them."
The URL:
http://bookwizard.scholastic.com/tbw/homePage.do
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PowerTalk With PowerPoints
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 PowerTalk
is a free download that reads aloud PowerPoint
presentations. Once the software has been
downloaded, simply click on the PowerTalk icon and
then select the presentation you would like read.
The presentation will open, and any text on the page
will be read aloud. Users are able to customize the
speech settings such as voice and rate of speech.
This is a great resource for struggling readers. The
URL:
http://fullmeasure.co.uk/powertalk/ |
More Web 2.0 Tools For
Educators
|
 For
the past several issues of TechConnect, a multitude
of free Web 2.0 tools that teachers are using to
expand their professional knowledge and collaborate
on projects were highlighted. A Web 2.0 site allows
its users to interact with other users or to change
website content, in contrast to non-interactive
websites where users are limited to the passive
viewing of information that is provided to them.
This week TechConnect continues to introduce
educators to Web 2.0 tools.
99Polls
http://www.99polls.com/
With your free account from 99polls, you can create
customized surveys and polls for your website, blog
and social network profiles. It is as simple as
creating an account, clicking the Create a Poll tab,
choose a theme, add your questions and answers. Copy
the code and paste on your web page.
Classtools
http://classtools.net/
Classtools.net allows you to create free educational
games, activities and diagrams in a Flash! Host them
on your own blog, website or intranet! No signup, no
passwords, no charge!
YackPack
http://www.yackpack.com/
This audio-based collaboration tool enables you to
create and participate in virtual, members-only
discussion groups. All messages are recorded, so
discussions can be asynchronous. YackPack messaging
is done at your convenience. You log in when you
want, you listen, and you yack. All the messages are
stored for future reference. Most important,
YackPack captures and conveys the expressiveness of
voice putting emotion into virtual learning
environments and enhancing traditional classroom
interactions outside of class time. Other beneficial
articles pertaining to YackPack are as follows:
How Can I Use YackPack in the Classroom?
http://www.yackpack.com/education.html
What is YackPack?
http://web2learning.learnhub.com/lesson/1523-social-media-yackpack |
| Best
on the Net!! -- Visit this site for
hundreds of websites for teachers! We would love to
hear from you about the best educational sites you
have found on the web. Please submit, via email, the
sites you feel merit inclusion. Send to tech.connect@cpsb.org.
Please include the URL and a short sentence about the
site.
Featured
Sites: (These sites were submitted by teachers in
Calcasieu Parish)
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