Today'sMeet This is not entirely practical given our technological constraints (and student attention spans), but I did come around to it a bit. This is the site's description: "TodaysMeet helps you connect with the room in realtime. Encourage the room to use the live stream to make comments, ask questions, and use that feedback to tailor your presentation, sharpen your points, and address audience needs."
Chris Jordan Photographic Arts These images are not what you think they are. You can print them out and use them with students or you could have them use them on the computer. Either way they will definitely grab students' attention and could serve as a nice activator to a topic.
Six-Word Memoir This could be a good activator or summarizer-- it was simple and I really liked it.
WorldMapper I just used this with my Genocide classes. They said they really liked it and learned a lot from it. Would be very useful for any global topics (or U.S. topics for that matter).
Using Google Earth as a Teaching Tool I just used Google Earth, and based on student feedback, they enjoyed it a lot but it takes a lot of time and they wished that they had more time. Some REALLY cool features (they liked the 360 city tours and the Holocaust Museum's Darfur component), but definitely time consuming. A good thing to try if you can fit it in.
Google Apps Some info from Primary Source about Google Apps. There's a PowerPoint that shows 34 ways to use Google Apps in the classroom, and it is quite helpful-- many uses that could make all of our lives easier in terms of communicating and collaborating with students and with each other.
TED Talks I'm sure many of you have heard of these. I've used two so far (one by Philip Zimbardo in Genocide and another by Jane McGonigal on gaming in Media). I was concerned about whether or not kids would find them interesting, but when I surveyed them for feedback they said that these were some of their favorite parts of the lesson. The key is selecting interesting talks because some can definitely be very dry or over their heads. Thousands to choose from.
Here are some useful websites & tools:
Today'sMeet This is not entirely practical given our technological constraints (and student attention spans), but I did come around to it a bit. This is the site's description: "TodaysMeet helps you connect with the room in realtime.
Encourage the room to use the live stream to make comments, ask questions, and use that feedback to tailor your presentation, sharpen your points, and address audience needs."
BBC News- In Pictures A good way to incorporate current events in a visual manner.
Chris Jordan Photographic Arts These images are not what you think they are. You can print them out and use them with students or you could have them use them on the computer. Either way they will definitely grab students' attention and could serve as a nice activator to a topic.
Six-Word Memoir This could be a good activator or summarizer-- it was simple and I really liked it.
WorldMapper I just used this with my Genocide classes. They said they really liked it and learned a lot from it. Would be very useful for any global topics (or U.S. topics for that matter).
Using Google Earth as a Teaching Tool I just used Google Earth, and based on student feedback, they enjoyed it a lot but it takes a lot of time and they wished that they had more time. Some REALLY cool features (they liked the 360 city tours and the Holocaust Museum's Darfur component), but definitely time consuming. A good thing to try if you can fit it in.
Google Apps Some info from Primary Source about Google Apps. There's a PowerPoint that shows 34 ways to use Google Apps in the classroom, and it is quite helpful-- many uses that could make all of our lives easier in terms of communicating and collaborating with students and with each other.
TED Talks I'm sure many of you have heard of these. I've used two so far (one by Philip Zimbardo in Genocide and another by Jane McGonigal on gaming in Media). I was concerned about whether or not kids would find them interesting, but when I surveyed them for feedback they said that these were some of their favorite parts of the lesson. The key is selecting interesting talks because some can definitely be very dry or over their heads. Thousands to choose from.