Top Secondary Teachers to Follow on Pinterest

Happy Summer, Friends! 
I don't know about you, but one of my favorite things to do in the summer is relax with a cup of coffee while listening to the Today show and pin away on Pinterest! Yep, it's definitely a time suck, but in the summer, who cares, right?

So here's a great list of my fellow secondary teachers that you should ALL follow on Pinterest!  OK, so there's really 18 secondary teachers featured, but since I'm telling YOU about them, we won't count me. :) All of these bloggers/pinners are active online and have a lot to offer secondary teachers. I hope you'll check out their pinboards & blogs. And in case you need a link to my Pinterest boards, I pin from my Mrs. Orman account and my Hunger Games Lessons account. To see the latest pins from either account just click here: Mrs. Orman's Pins and here: Hunger Games Lessons Pins.

Thanks for taking time to follow us! You can download a free activity (link at end of post) to use at the end of your school year or anytime! (I usually repeat it several times throughout the year.)

Meet The Tutor House!

Bio:  Hi!  I'm Adrianne from The Tutor House.  I love tutoring and creating engaging lessons for math in reading for grades 3-8!  If you've ever thought about starting your own tutoring business, you should come on over to The Tutor House!

Follow Adrianne of The Tutor House on Pinterest. {Special thanks to Adrianne for putting together this  list for all of us!}

Meet Science Stuff! 

Bio:  Hi there!  My name is Amy Brown and I write a blog called "Science Stuff."  I am a 29-year teaching veteran of biology, chemistry and AP biology.  I love science and I love kids, so I have the best job in the world!  Hopefully, I have passed my love of nature and the environment on to many students.  My blog has tips and tricks for teaching science as well as a lot of free science teaching materials.  I hope to see you there!

Follow Amy of Science Stuff on Pinterest. {Amy is a great friend and the one who introduced me to Pinterest and showed me the ropes. Thanks, Amy!}

Meet Addie Education!

Bio:  I'm a middle / high-school teacher and I love to create ELA, Social Studies and Geography related resources.  I blog at Addie Education - Teacher Talk... come on by and see some of the fun things I do with my students.

Follow Addie Education on Pinterest.

Meet Charlene Tess!

Bio:  Hello, there. Iím Charlene Tess from Simple Steps to Sentence Sense. Grammar is my specialty. I have always loved taking sentences apart and putting them back together, and I successfully taught my students using the simple steps method for over three decades. Visit my blog to get helpful tips on grammar, usage, and writing.

Follow Charlene of Simple Steps to Sentence Sense on Pinterest.

Meet Tammy Manor!

Bio:  Hi my name is Tammy and I've been teaching high school English for 13 years now. I know that teaching can be very stressful. My school is constantly changing the book list and I've taught every grade 6-12 as well. As a result I have unit plans for a large variety of novels, plays and memoirs. Come check out my store on TpT for a variety of ELA materials. Follow my blog for teaching related posts.

Follow Tammy on Pinterest.  

Meet Teach It Write!

 

Bio: Welcome! I am Connie from Teach it Write. I am a retired English teacher and Iím thrilled to now write curriculum full time that I love to share on my site http://teachitwrite.blogspot.com. My book, The House of Comprehension, shows how the elements of literature form the structure of any fiction or non-fiction text. Check it out on my blog site or on www.teachitwrite.com.

Follow Connie of Teach it Write on Pinterest.

Meet Innovative Connections!

Bio:  Hey! I am Ann Marie from Innovative Connections. I enjoy blogging about various topics: Projects and lessons going on in my classroom, ideas I've learned or ideas I've thought of at the most random of moments (At 2 a.m. when I can't sleep, I can come up with some stellar ideas), teaching resources I find beneficial to fellow teachers and/or bloggers. Due to the wide range of grades I've had the pleasure of teaching, Innovative Connections caters mostly to language arts but loves to share and collaborate with teachers/bloggers of various grade levels.

Follow Ann Marie of Innovative Connections on Pinterest.

Meet 4mulaFun!

Bio:  Hello, my name is Jennifer Smith-Sloane. I am a Middle School Math and Special Education teacher. I have a strong passion for differentiated instruction to meet the needs of each learner in and out of my classroom. I love seeing the light in a student's eyes when something finally clicks and I do everything that I can to make that happen as often as it can.  Visit my blog 4mulaFun!

Follow Jennifer of 4mulaFun on Pinterest.

Meet Miss Math Dork!

Bio:  Hiya there!  I'm Jamie but you may know me as MissMathDork! I am a lover of all things mathematical!  Patterns, sequences, geometric shapes, if it's mathematical, I'll find a way to make it fun!  Want to see some of my ideas? Check out my ideas and pictures at www.missmathdork.com!  You won't be disappointed!

Follow Jaime of Miss Math Dork on Pinterest.

Meet A Space to Create!

Bio:  Meet Sabrina, author of A Space to Create.  Find teaching resources for art teachers and classroom teachers alike. My art lessons teach students the creative process enabling them to build confidence and have amazing results.  Come visit my blog A Space to Create! (K-12)

Follow Sabrina of A Space to Create on Pinterest.

Meet All Things Algebra!

Bio: Hi there!  I'm Gina from All Things Algebra.  I have taught Algebra and Pre-Algebra for seven years and have a passion for creating activites and games that engage my students.  If you are interested in finding ways to have more fun in math class, head on over and check out my blog!

Follow Gina of All Things Algebra on Pinterest.

Meet Numbers Rule My World!

Bio: Hi! I'm Krystina from Numbers Rule My World. I love incorporating hands-on activities and technology into the classroom for Math: grades 7-9. If you're looking for great ideas about math then you should come on over and check it out at Numbers Rule My World!

Follow Krystina of Numbers Rule My World on Pinterest.

Meet Liz's Lessons!

Bio:  Bonjour! Hola! I'm Liz from Liz's Lessons. Languages are one of my passions, and I love teaching with technology. I create fun lessons for teaching secondary French, and Spanish. I also make formative assessments and technology activities in English, that can be used in any secondary classroom. If you are looking for some engaging activities for your classes, be sure to stop by Liz's Lessons!

Follow Liz of Liz's Lessons on Pinterest.

Meet Teaching FSL!

Bio:  This is Madame Aiello, author of Teaching FSL. Although I've taught other subjects as well, French as a Second Language has always been my passion. My focus is the higher grades, since I taught high school originally but teach grade 7 & 8 since six years ago. I share lots of resources, blog about second language teacher specific topics as well as those that apply to all teachers.

Follow Madame Aiello of Teaching FSL on Pinterest.

Meet For the Love of Teaching Math!

Bio: I'm Andrea Kerr from For the Love of Teaching Math. It is my mission to change traditional math classrooms one game and activity at a time. If you like to incorporate hands-on, group activities and games into your classroom, check out For the Love of Teaching Math!

Follow Andrea of For the Love of Teaching Math on Pinterest.

Meet 2 Peas and a Dog!

Bio:  Hi Everyone! It's Kristy from 2 Peas and a Dog. I am a Canadian middle school teacher who loves to pin and blog about things related to Grades 6 and up.

Follow Kristy of 2 Peas and a Dog on Pinterest.

Meet Teaching Math by Hart!

Bio:  Hi! I'm Kim from Teaching Math by Hart. I am forever planning and thinking of new and innovative ways to teach math to my students. Why, you ask? Believe it or not, I think learning Math should be FUN and it should be REAL! If you are looking for some ideas to engage your students in math class, come check out Teaching Math by Hart - in the middle years classroom!

Follow Kim on Pinterest.

FREE ACTIVITY WITH PRINTABLES

If you are one of the unfortunate who are still in school (believe me, I will be jealous of you come August when we go back & you're still off!), here's one of my favorite activities to share with my students. (It's a FREE download, by the way!)

Live and Learn End-of-the-Year (Or Anytime) Free Download Activity

It's very simple, but the results are memorable.  You can read more about it on my Hunger Games Lessons blog HERE.

Teacher Appreciation and End-of-the-Year Gifts

It's that time of year when teachers' desks (mostly elementary teachers, that is) fill up with gifts from their students in appreciation for the year.

As a high school teacher, the gifts we most frequently receive are invitations to graduation parties in which we are fed wonderful meals and delicious cake. I can never complain about free food!

But once in awhile we receive more tangible gifts and they are always a welcome surprise. This year I received a creative package from one of my graduating seniors that included a cup & straw that said, "Thank you for quenching my thirst for knowledge." She included some yummy Crystal Light flavor drops and hand sanitizer in fruity scents--definitely useful for any teacher.

Other cute ideas for teacher gifts include the chocolate pencil we received from NHS members this year. The students covered a package of Rolos with a sleeve that looked like a pencil. It said, "Thanks for sharpening our minds." They used a Hershey's Kiss for the tip of the pencil.

Of course, I always like word clouds. So receiving one from a student is always special. They can be made in a word processing app. or using design software. Or use a website like www.tagxedo.com or www.wordle.net to create them for you.

So what are your favorite teacher gifts you've received? Comment below or share a link.

Teachers: You Are Appreciated!

Happy Teacher Appreciation Week, Teachers!

The quotes above are to remind you that you ARE appreciated! Here are some others that make me laugh. (Either because they are so absurd, or because they are sad but true. 

Or because they are just funny.):

“The only thing that surprises me is the characterization of teachers as lazy and greedy. Only someone with very little understanding of what teaching requires would say such a thing.” 

― Taylor Mali

“It's weird when you hear teachers call each other by their first names. It's like they're friends or something.” 

― Brian Francis

And this last one makes me laugh because I find myself talking to myself aloud more and more the longer I teach (and the older I get). And, yes, I'd say I'm a little weird...but maybe not so much? ;)

“In my ten years of teaching I’ve noticed that teachers tend to have a bad habit of talking to themselves. I hypothesize that this is because we talk for a living, and we feel safe speaking our feelings aloud. Or it could be that most of us, especially the high school teacher variety, are just weird as shit.” 

― P.C. Cast, Divine By Mistake

And let's not forget to thank parents this week, because they are so important in a child's life.

To THANK all of you fabulous teachers, head to my teacher store to enjoy 20% off, plus an extra 10% when you use code TAD13 at checkout. The sale begins tonight at midnight and ends Wednesday at midnight. 

Happy Birthday, Harper Lee!

Happy Birthday, Harper Lee! 

Harper Lee, the author of To Kill a Mockingbird, turns 87 today. Will you do anything special in class to mark the occasion this week? (Or perhaps you did last week, along with William Shakespeare on the 23rd?)

Here's a free journal prompt from my A Year of Journal Prompts to mark the occasion:

The text:

Harper Lee, the author of To Kill a Mockingbird, turned 87 on April 28, 2013. 

  The Pulitzer-winning To Kill a Mockingbird is the only novel Lee has written, though some speculate that she has written additional unpublished works. She also helped her friend Truman Capote research and write his nonfiction book, In Cold Blood.

  As a private person, perhaps Lee does not wish to be placed, once again, into the limelight by publishing a new novel. 

  Would you like to be famous even if it meant losing your privacy? How would your life change if you were sought by reporters and fans every day? Would you still wish to have fame? Why or why not?

Poem in Your Pocket Day Novel Connections #PocketPoem

On National "Poem in Your Pocket" Day, you don't have to give up teaching your novel for poetry. Instead, incorporate it into the lesson. This prompt (shown above) stemmed from an activity I created on my Hunger Games Lessons page to connect poetry to the characters:

Choose a character from the novel then find a poem that represents her/him.

Explain why that poem fits your character, using evidence from the text for support.

Not only does it challenge the students' critical-thinking skills, it reinforces character traits and themes from the novel.

Read more on this blog post: Which poems would Katniss and Peeta carry for "Poem in Your Pocket Day"?

It's also a great way to practice Common Core skills. This activity practices the following skills from the grades 6-12 anchor standards for reading literature:

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.CCRA.R.3 Analyze how and why individuals, events, or ideas develop and interact over the course of a text.

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.CCRA.R.9 Analyze how two or more texts address similar themes or topics in order to build knowledge or to compare the approaches the authors take.

Standards from: http://www.corestandards.org/ELA-Literacy/CCRA/R

If you need a collection of poems for students to browse, feel free to share my Poem in Your Pocket collection of poems (free download). You may share the packet electronically or post on your website.

Tomorrow, tweet your activities on Twitter using the hashtag #pocketpoem. I hope you have a GREAT day of sharing poetry with your students!

8 Ways to Incorporate Poetry into Your Day {Poem in Your Pocket Day is Thursday!}

Poem in Your Pocket Day is Thursday, April 18th.

Thursday (April 18th) is National Poem in Your Pocket Day, sponsored by the Academy of American Poets (Poets.org) and the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE). UPDATED: 2014 "Poem in Your Pocket Day" is Thursday, April 24th. 

It's a day to celebrate poetry and share it with others. But you can celebrate poetry any time. Here are ways to incorporate poetry into your day:

1. As "Poem in Your Pocket" suggests, carry your favorite poem (or poems) with you any day and share it with others. Ask them to share their favorites, as well.

2. Write a poem! If you need help or inspiration, using formula poems can help. Here's a packet that helps you with over 40 formulas: Poetry 9-1-1: First Aid for Writing Poetry.

3. Are you reading a novel in class right now? Which poems do you think would be the characters' favorites? Why? For The Hunger Games fans, check out my post on my Hunger Games Lessons blog that asks  this same question.

4. Not reading a novel? Perhaps you are studying someone famous in history class? If so, ask the same question for historical figures: which poem would be Julius Caesar's favorite? How about Benjamin Franklin or Winston Churchill? Give reasons for why you chose this poem for that particular person.

5. Read a poem. It can be a short poem or long poem...it can be any poem. Don't know where to look? Some of my favorite websites for poetry include:
  -Poets.org
  -Modern American Poetry
  -Poetry Foundation
  -Poetry Archive

6. Discuss it! Poetry means different things to different people; this is one of the beautiful things about poems. Two people can have completely different interpretations of a poem, but both are right. Poems even have the power to take on new meanings when we read them at different times in our lives. Choose a poem or two and read with your friends. Then talk about what it means to each of you. When we discuss how a poem makes us feel, it may help someone else relate to it. It's OK if the poem does not speak to you...keep reading and you will find one that does.

7. Listen to others read their favorite poems. On YouTube, you can watch and listen both famous people and people like you and me share their favorite poems by reading them and telling us why it is their favorite.

8. Record a reading of YOUR favorite poem. You can do a video recording (learn more from the Favorite Poem Project website) or you can do an audio recording and upload it to LibriVox.org.

Teachers: You can find resources for teaching poetry here. Also, read more about incorporating poetry into your classroom here on this blog, or on my other blog.

And don't forget to celebrate Poem in Your Pocket Day this Thursday!

Seven End-of-the-Year Writing Prompts for High School Seniors

As your seniors begin the last few weeks of their high school careers, they will probably be experiencing many emotions. Excited to graduate, stressed for finals, anxious to begin a new life. To help ease their anxiety, carve out a little time for a meaningful writing assignment. Try one of these short prompts:

1. "Remember when..." - Who doesn't like to reminisce once in a while? Have your students write as many "Remember when..." statements about their school days and classmates. Allow them to share with their classmates. You could also collect their writing and make copies for each student. For a paperless option, create a Google Document and share it with them. Each student can contribute their own "Remember when..." statements.

2. "My Favorite Quote..." - Have your students share their favorite quotes. Prompt them to elaborate on why that particular quote speaks to them. Some will already know their favorite quote, but others may need help. Here are some websites with compilations of quotes that may help:
  • Brainy Quote
  • Good Quotations by Famous People (Compiled by Dr. Gabriel Robins)
  • A Collection of Quotes and More Pinterest Board
As an enrichment, students can type their favorite quote into a word-cloud generator (try www.wordle.net or www.tagxedo.com). They can print the images and hang their quotes in the classroom as a reminder of the inspirational words they have chosen.

3. Live & Learn and Pass It On: "I Have Learned..." - I've written about this activity several times; it's no surprise that it is one of my favorites each year. Based on H. Jackson Browne Jr.'s book, students write a "life lesson" they have learned. Examples include: "I have learned that being nice to the lunch ladies pays off with extra helpings of food," and "I have learned that my senior year went by way too fast. If I could have a do-over, I'd enjoy it more and stress less." If you want to use the lesson I created for this assignment, you can download it free here: Life Lessons Writing Freebie

4. Best Advice Received &/or Best Advice to Pass Along - First, students write about the best advice they've received in the past four years. What made it the "best"? Did they follow it? Or wish they had? Next, or as an alternative prompt, they write a message of advice to incoming freshmen. What do they wish they had known? Would they pass along advice they had been given? How would advice to an incoming freshman differ from advice they would leave to the current junior class?

5. "My Legacy..." - Ask students, "What is your legacy?" What are they leaving behind for others? This is a good reflective prompt because it makes students think about how they have impacted the lives of others. Perhaps it is a memory of something they did in school--an accomplishment they achieved or how they made a group of students laugh. Maybe they served as an example, whether it was positive or negative (one of my former students who had been expelled for a year wrote about that experience and hoped others would learn from his mistakes). Maybe it is a tangible item, such as a trophy in the cabinet, a seat in the cafeteria, a parking space, a locker, or a tree planted on campus. How will others benefit from their legacy? If they struggle with this, ask them what they would like to leave behind if they had no limitations. Or maybe the underlying question here is: how do they want to be remembered by future students? Or do they want to remembered at all? If not, why not?

6. Senior Will - I remember my old high school year yearbook printing up "senior wills" on the last page of the yearbook. Each senior "willed" something to another student, a teacher or staff member, or the administration. Perhaps the reason it was dropped before I entered high school was that some responses like "Jack wills his sense of humor to Mr. Doe because he clearly needs it" were not appropriate or respectful. But some of them were great, like "Jane wills her artistic abilities to the incoming freshmen so they can beat the other classes in the Homecoming float-building contest." If you think your students can handle this (as far as maturity), it is a fun activity. But if it becomes a way to make fun of others, move on to a different activity.

7. "What's Hot? What's Not?" - Another favorite activity, have students create Hot/Not lists for their high school career. They could start a list on the white board (or on a shared Google Doc) of events or happenings that were "hot" (or great) and "not" over the past four years. "Hot" items might include winning a championship, filming a "Harlem Shake" video, or participating in a poetry cafe. "Not" items may include state testing/final exams (or any high-stakes test), losing a close game, or perhaps losing a classmate. The lists they generate are great discussion starters, but also help students cope with feelings they may still be holding on to. I use my "What's Hot? What's Not?" activity in class for additional purposes, as well. You can download it free in my teacher store.

You'll also want to read:

10 Thoughtful and Inexpensive Graduation Gifts for Students

Top 10 Websites For 1:1 Schools

I'd like to share with you 10 helpful websites for the secondary teacher when using laptops or utilizing a computer lab. My school district adopted the 1:1 laptop initiative four years ago, purchasing Apple MacBook Pros for all students in 6th - 12th grades. So while I am no expert on technology in the classroom, I have used all of these websites in class with my students. I know there are numerous sites out there just as good or maybe even better, but I wanted to share those which I have had success with my high school students.

1. Free Rice: Why do I like this website? You can read about using it here and ways to incorporate it into your classroom here. The short version: it helps students build their vocabulary, exposing them to new words and repeating them several times. And the time they are spending "playing" the game is all toward a good cause: feeding the hungry. When students finish early but we don't have enough time to start a new activity, they can either read silently or play Free Rice.

2. Turn It In: We realized pretty quickly when we started going paperless for most writing assignments that our students were too tempted to take short cuts by copying and pasting even simple assignments such as journal entries, poems, literature responses, and essays. It took hours to grade assignments because I had to copy & paste their responses in to Google and free plagiarism checkers. We decided to subscribe this year to Turn It In and it has definitely cut back on the amount of copying. Just knowing the assignment will have to be submitted there first is a deterrent. (It also saves their writing samples, so any student who turns theirs in with similar content will be flagged--including a sibling years later.)
 ALTERNATIVES:    If your district cannot afford a subscription, there are some alternatives, though not as good. Try PaperRater or Grammarly. PaperRater won't check for authenticity, but it's not bad for catching errors. Grammarly will ask for a subscription for detailed results, but it will tell you if there is questionable text first. A good originality checker is Small SEO Tools; it's target audience may not be education, but it still serves the purpose.

3. Socrative: Socrative is a fast, fun way to engage students and check overall understanding. Plus, the kids love it. There's very little set-up (teachers have to create an account ahead of time then provide students with the url). I used this for review games (no need to type anything in, just read your questions and students type their answers in). I projected their answers so they could see how everyone else answered. It's a great listening activity because if they miss the question, their answer won't appear first; that was a key motivator for many of the boys in my classes. You can use this at the end of the class period to check understanding, though it's a site to use sparingly or the novelty will probably wear off.

4. Today's Meet: This is essentially a chat room, so you are probably wondering why I would encourage this during class. First, let me tell you about my students. I have two classes of sophomores who are really great kids, but as soon as I stop speaking, they begin talking. If I am showing a video clip or one of their classmates is speaking, they see that as an invitation to start a discussion with their neighbor. Instead of constantly shushing them, stopping the video, or interrupting their classmate to scold them, I decided to look at why they were talking. They obviously weren't engaged in the activity. I first thought we could use Twitter during these activities using a class hashtag. But some students didn't want to open new accounts and/or did not want to share their personal accounts with the class.  So I looked for alternatives (iChat, Google Chrome, and other built-in chat features were disabled from their laptops for excessive student abuse). I found Today's Meet and thought it would be perfect: no account registration, the chat is deleted after a set period of time but can be recorded if needed, and I just have to give students the chat room name. Yes, we had some students abuse it by creating several user names and posting childish responses, but for the most part, it was very engaging. I used it while we watched a video, posting discussion questions for response and allowing them to ask questions during the clip. I've also used it while students listened to podcasts so they could express their thoughts without interrupting the audio.

5. Blogger: Writing is an activity that, when practiced often, builds not only better writers, but better thinkers. Writing for a blog can be difficult. Challenging. Even scary sometimes. So of course I want my students to try it! Setting up a class blog or individual blogs is very easy with Blogger. (Read more about our class blogs here.) I use it for journal entries and this year had my students post their short stories on their blog. Their classmates gave them anonymous feedback via Google Drive forms (only people logged in to our district can submit the form, so if you visit the site you'll see their stories, then a locked form). Slowly, their writing starts to improve as they realize they have a global audience.

6. Project Gutenberg: Over 42,000 free online books, including many classic literature pieces. If your class is reading Tom Sawyer or Jane Eyre, your students can download the free ebook on the site rather than use a paper copy. Here's the top 100 most popular downloads.

7. LibriVox: While Project Gutenberg provides the print copy, LibriVox provides the audio versions of books, stories, and poems. Your students can even record themselves reading literature to donate to the website. I have many students who love listening to the works we read (and many works--especially poems--are meant to be read aloud), so it's wonderful to direct them here so they can listen anytime. The recordings can be downloaded, too, so if they do not have internet access at home, they'll still have the recording. A search for Shakespeare turns up over 100 files, with some links leading to even more.

8. Quizlet: Free Rice is great for building vocabulary of random words, but Quizlet lets you create the word lists for online games, flash cards, and study lists. You can import your word lists or just type them in. Create lists for each chapter of a unit or for an entire novel. Your students will be able to go to your list to retrieve the words and definitions and utilize the built-in games for reviewing.

9. Google Drive (Formerly Google Docs): While I hate Google Docs as a word processor, it is a nice way for students to compile an online portfolio of their writing samples. I have my students type their essays using Mac's Pages, then they upload it to Turn It In to get feedback on grammar, usage, and whether they cited sources correctly. After they receive feedback, they revise their drafts and can resubmit to Turn It In. I also have them upload it to Google Drive. Because they all have Google Drive downloaded on their computers, it's a matter of dragging the file to their Google Drive folder. This way they have their final draft saved online in case they lose all their files on their computer. (This happens a lot because students use their desktop to save files, which doesn't sync with the server. If they didn't back it up on Google Drive or Turn It In, I usually have no sympathy for them. They've had their laptops for four years, so they should know better! ) Besides using it as an online portfolio, it is nice for students to use for collaborative assignments, creating forms and surveys like voting for Homecoming court and to poll their classmates on various issues. Here's a document that offers 37 ways to use Google Docs in the classroom; and 81 Interesting Ways to Use Google Forms in the Classroom.

10. YouTube: YouTube is a site that I both love and hate. It is definitely one of the biggest time-sucks for many of our students. They will spend hours just watching stupid videos, then complain that they had no time to get their homework done. So while I would love for YouTube to just not exist, I also find that it can be rather resourceful for educational videos. I created several playlists that I will refer to for enrichment of a topic or piece of literature. Students can subscribe to my channel here, here, or here to find videos I WANT them to watch. Why do I have three channels? One is my school account, another is my personal account (but I use it mainly for educational purposes), and the third was my first YouTube account before Google took over and made me create a new account.

For additional tips and links, you can follow my 1:1 Education Technology board on Pinterest.

Not mentioned, but worth noting: having an online grading app is essential. Our district uses Skyward, which handles grades, attendance, lunch accounts, registration, and discipline records. When I create an assignment in my gradebook, I can securely upload a file they can download. (I never share on Google Docs or any other website because once you share, they are picked up by Google searches and become part of the internet where future students can easily find them.) I can also create online assignments, quizzes, and tests that are secure. The best part? It automatically grades and records them for me after students complete. Having a SECURE way to transfer assignments is definitely something a district needs to have in place before implementing a 1:1 initiative. Do not assume outside websites are secure--they aren't.

Let's Share! If you teach in a 1:1 school or are able to use a lab regularly, post your favorite websites to use in class below.

Organizing Your Classroom Library: A Delicious Solution

I've been wanting to write a post for some time now about an incredible application to use for your classroom library circulation and organization: Delicious Library 2. There's so much to share about this application, I am sure I will never do it justice.

I wasn't asked to write this post or promote the product and I acquired the app like everyone can: I downloaded the free trial. But once I started using it, I was hooked; I purchased the $35 app shortly after (like...10 minutes after) downloading the free trial. I've been using it for a year and a half and still love it.

There's just one catch: it's only compatible with Macs. That works fine for me since our school is an Apple 1:1 school and all of our devices and computers at home are Macs.

This is what I love most about it: you would think Apple designed the app themselves. It works seamlessly with all your other applications, like your contacts in Address Book, iTunes (it catalogs your music for you...automatically!), iCal, and more. 

And it uses your iSight web cam to scan in--YES, scan--your books, CDs, DVDs, or anything with a barcode on it.

If it can't read the barcode, you can just type in the title and it will search for the ISBN for you. It uses Amazon.com's enormous library of books to find the right one. And if it's not there, you can enter the information the old-fashioned way: typing it in. I've only had to do this with a few (less than 10) books that were either out-of-print or exclusive Scholastic Book Clubs books.

Checking a book out to students is a treat, too. I have all my students in my contacts already because they email me at the beginning of the year then I set up a group in my Mail app. Their names appear automatically in the side bar. All I have to do is click on the image of the book and drag it to their name. It then assigns it to the student. Click on the student's name and you will see the book and the due date (default is one week, but you can change it by clicking on a different date). A red "late" notice will appear if the book is overdue.

You can also sync the app to work with iCal. Have your students subscribe to your iCal and they will always know when their book is due! No need for paper cards or reminders.

An added bonus that I haven't tried out yet, but plan to this summer is the sharing via the web option. You can share your collection on your website (or school's website) so students can browse your book shelves from anywhere. They'll also see if the book is available or already checked-out by someone.

For a $35 one-time fee, Delicious Library 2 is a bargain. You don't need additional hardware to use it and you can even use it with your iPhone, iPad, or iPod.

UPDATE: They have an iPhone app (Called "Delicious Scanner") but it is only compatible with Delicious Library 3. More on that soon...

I'm not sure if this offer is still good or not, but last year the people at Delicious Monster were looking for teachers, librarians, or anyone involved in a non-profit organization for a giveaway of their hard-copy versions (the version on the site is a digital download). And there's no catch: they just want you to have it...FREE! I had already purchased the digital version, so I am not familiar with the hard-copy, but I assume it is the same. For more information, see their blog post about it (includes contact information): An Exciting Giveaway.

What do you use for organizing your classroom library and checking out books? Comment below to share your ideas.

Bloggers By State Link-Up

Hey Teachers--are you a blogger from the U.S.? If so, link up with Fifth in the Middle's Blogs by State to find fellow teacher-bloggers near you.

Even though I consider Iowa my "home" state, I was born in Michigan and currently live in Illinois. One thing is certain: I'm definitely a Midwesterner! ;) How about you?

Beware the Ides of March

Beware the Ides of March

March 14th is often celebrated as "pi" day by my math colleagues, but March 15th is a day my fellow English and social studies teachers celebrate in honor of Julius Caesar.

Do you do anything special in your classroom on this day? I am usually teaching Shakespeare's The Tragedy of Julius Caesar with my sophomores and try to time it so we are performing Act III in class on the ides of March.

PROPS:
My students love to dress the part, so I have several sheets that have been donated to the classroom for students to drape over their shoulders. I also picked up plastic daggers after Halloween one year (I think they were 25¢ each on clearance). I usually take pictures while they are acting and post them in the room so the other sections can see their classmates in action.

One year I had some extra creative students who wanted to make a Roman feast for March 15th. After doing some research, they realized that most of the recipes were probably a little too difficult for them to prepare (or they didn't have enough time). But we still feasted on grapes, sparkling grape juice, cheese, olives, a roasted chicken, and of course Doritos and Chips Ahoy cookies, which were Caesar's favorites.

How do you and your students celebrate March 15th? 
Share in the comments below. For additional reading about the Ides of March, please read my posts on my other blog:
Celebrating Shakespeare...
Beware the Ides of March: Lessons Men Can Learn from Julius Caesar

Act III of The Tragedy of Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare