Angela Maiers Educational Services

Chalk Talk- 1/30/09

Chalk Talk Friday represents conversations and brilliance I've discovered traversing my way through the Blogosphere.  From professional to personal development, these are the posts and links have in some way touched my head or my heart!

• I am always amazed and impressed when I see fantastic graphs and charts in presentations. Now,you can make them all on your own. It is easy with Chart Choser.
• For you Flickr fans - you are going to love searching high resolutions photos with Behold.
  
• I love a good debate and kids do as well. In exploring this very cool debating site, I was thinking of 100 ways I could use this in the classroom - How about you???
• TED Talk fans - check out the stars of 2009! Looking forward to getting smarter from these folks! Good stuff here!
• If you are still trying to understand Twitter or need a quick reference to the cool apps- this site has it all!  Enjoy your Twitter Reading list! 
• Are you using Edmodo yet? Your kids are gonna love this incredible micro blogging tool. Check it out here!
  

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BlogTalk Radio - Conversations About Literacy Coaching

I hope that you can JOIN ME TOMORROW for my interview with Amy Sandvold and Maelou Baxter, authors of the ASCD Best Seller:  Fundamentals of Literacy Coaching.

The topics for the conversation include:

• Roles and responsibilities of literacy coaches
• Building positive collaboration among literacy coaches, support staff, and faculty members
• Routines that support and sustain a coaching effort
• Ways to communicate effectively to students and fellow teachers

The ladies are excited for you to participate as well and welcome your questions and comments- live or in the chat! Please join us, Friday January 30, 2009 at 10:00 am. If you can't make the live broadcast, please share your questions for the ladies with me here or on Twitter @angelamaiers. I so look forward to the conversation!

CLICK HERE TO PARTICIPATE LIVE!!

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Visual Dictionary- Shani

l am a huge fan of Flickr  and was excited when I stumbled across Shahi, a visual dictionary that combines dictionary content with Flickr images. This is great for our  visual learners, and makes vocabulary come alive! See for yourself!

Ah

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The Horizon Report - What Does it All Mean for Us?

The sixth annual Horizon Report was released this week.  Created and published by the New Media Consortium and the EDUCAUSE Learning Initiative, each edition of the Horizon Report introduces six emerging technologies or practices that are likely to enter mainstream use in learning-focused organizations within three adoption horizons over the next one to five years.

According to the report, 2009 will be impacted by:

1. Mobile devices- This comes as no surprise for iphone and other portable devices that have taken that are doing the job our computors once did.  (Time-to-adoption: One year or less)
2. Cloud computing: cloud is the term for networked computers that distribute processing power, applications and large systems among many machines.( YouTube, Flickr, Google) More and more, we trust our work and our data to the cloud rather than backing up on local machines. This has big implications! (Time to adoption: Two to three years)
3. Geo-everything: Google Earth and then some! We now have the power and capability using classes geolocation tools to determine and capture the exact location of physical objects and digital media. The report suggests these tools will soon be used by researchers to do far more than five a closer look at our next travel destination.
4. The Personal Web: This is a term coined to represent a collection of technologies that give us the ability to reorganize, configure, and manage online content rather than just view it.  This innovation already has major impact and  potential for the way we gather, store, share and use information. (Time-to-adoption: Four to five years)
5. Semantic-aware applications: These tools are designed to use the meaning, or semantics, of information on the Internet to make connections and provide answers that would otherwise entail a great deal of time and effort. Keyword searching, tagging, and bookmarking  bring the promise of a better organized Web.
6. Smart objects: This innovation will allow us to annotate physical items--like books--with contextual information for users to scan.  People can be tagged as well, allowing us, perhaps, to more easily find folks who share common interests.

Although the report is focused on higher education, there are significant implications for  K-12 education. Check out  the 2009 Horizon Report  to see what technologies are discussed . What holds the most potential for you and your students? How is your school prepared for the emergence and inclusion of these up and coming trends? What would it take to get you ready, 'cause ready or not....here they come!

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Author Podcast: Fundamentals of Literacy Coaching

Fundamentals of Literacy Coaching is a MUST READ for every building administrator and literacy coach. This book is jam packed with practical advice and resources to help make the framework of literacy coaching attainable and sustainable.

I will have the distinct pleasure and honor of interviewing the authors of this amazing book, Amy Sandvold and Maelou Baxter. We will be using Blog Talk Radio and a portion of the show will be devoted to answering your questions. Some of the topics I will be addressing with the ladies include:

• Roles and responsibilities of literacy coaches
• Building positive collaboration among literacy coaches, support staff, and faculty members
• Routines that support and sustain a coaching effort
• Ways to communicate effectively to students and fellow teachers

Please join us, Friday January 30, 2009 at 10:00 am. If you can't make the live broadcast, please share your questions for the ladies with me here or on Twitter @angelamaiers. I so look forward to the conversation!

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Reading for Understanding vs. Memorizing

How many of you have seen students highlight an entire page of text or stay up way too late cramming for the next days exam? In an effort to remember and perform well in school, many students mistake memory for understanding. They believe they just remember the facts...all of them, school will be easy.

Absorbing volumes of information is a short term solution. For the brain to retain, understand, and apply information, active processing is required.  This weeks lessons models this "sifting and sorting" process in action. 

Related Posts:

-Determining Importance Slideshare Presentation

-Determinin Importance - Who's Importance?

-7 Power Thinking Tools - Determining Importance

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Educon is On!

There is no place that I would rather be beautiful Saturday morning than Philadelphia, PA. I am so excited ( and yes jealous) of my friends and colleagues attending Educon2.1

This is the second annual conference and conversation on education and innovation hosted by Philadelphia’s Science Leadership Academy in conjunction with The Franklin Institute.

During the conference, educators from around the world will descend upon Philly to teach, to think and to learn. If you are like me, (not in Philli), you can contribute to the conversation virtually in several ways:

• The Conference Wiki is the best place to start. You will get a great overview of what Eudcon is all about. Information about keynote speakers, session descriptions and links, and an overall view of the weekend is all there for you in one place.
• Educon Agenda- The schedule of events for the weekend is layed out here. Session times, dates, and speaker links make it very easy to maximize your time and find the sessions that will make the most difference for you!
• Educon Conversations is a place to connect to individual sessions and the braoader conversation that these topics ignite.
• #Educon - You can follow the Tweets from Educon as they happen in real time.
• Pictures Please! -You can see your friends and the festivities on Flickr as participants add their captures to the Educaon Flickr Photostream!

So, anyone wanna crash the party with me? I wish I was there, but I am so greatful to be living in a time where we have the tools and the power to learn anywhere, anyplace, anytime!  See you in Philli, friends!

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Chalk Talk 1/23/09

Chalk Talk Friday represents conversations and brilliance I've discovered traversing my way through the Blogosphere.  From professional to personal development, these are the posts and links have in some way touched my head or my heart!

• Top Tips for Teaching Teens - Teacher of the year Alan Sitomer's tips for teaching teens (H/T to Recorded Books K-12)
• Potential Uses of Twitter in Education - Great post on how to use microblogging in educational situations.
• 10 Online Learning Tools for Students - Everything from Language Arts to Math
• WeBook - A collaborative book writing/publishing site. Think 'American Idol' for books.
• Creating a PLN - Yes, PLN is a buzz-ronym right now, but here's a great site on how to build your own Personal Learning Network.

Have a great weekend:-)

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The Power of Our Words - Examining Teacher Talk

The language and style we use when speaking with students has a profound effect on learning, classroom management, childrens self-control and their sense of belonging.The the words, phrases, tone, and pace used daily in the classroom have the power to help students develop self-control, build their sense of belonging, and gain skills and knowledge.

However, thoughtful use of language is an often-overlooked component of the teacher's repertoire of tools. If we choose our words wisely, our language can help students:

• envision success
• stretch their thinking
• advance independent behaviors and actions

Like any skill, effective teacher talk is a skill that develops over time. The following tips can help build awareness and towards harnessing the power of our words.

1. Hit Record! - With free recording tools like Audacity , it has never been easier to record yourself in the classroom for short periods of time. This is a great way to listen to the words spoken as well as the tone and context of that dialogue.
2. Lesson Language - Taking a few minutes to think through the language we use with students while lesson planning can pay off big. Often we think we are modeling skills and strategies for students when we are really just telling and assigning, The few minutes we spend thinking through our language can impact the flow and dynamics of the instruction.
3. Repeat, Repeat, Repeat - Phrases - Keep your radar up for repeated words and phrases. These mantras resonate in students independent work. Be alert to the language not advancing student independence. Ask a colleague to listen in as it helps to have two ears at work.
4. Breathe - Before speaking, take a few seconds to plan words carefully. Think about what we could say that would encourage, stretch, challenge, and acknowledge our students thinking and contributions.
5. Build Collective Intelligence - Invite colleagues or grade level teams to join in. Great things can come out of a brainstorming session. Check out what we discovered in this five minute conversation about the language we use:

 

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Inaugural Wordle - God Bless America!

I had the privilege and honor of watching the Inaugural speech today with over 150 High School students. The room was silent with anticipation and excitement as we witnessed this historic event live. When our President finished, I thought the room would be buzzing with conversation, but we all stood there in silence as we absorbed the words and the message.

As I walked down the hallway, thinking about how these words will influence and impact the way we work and live - several words come to mind: Perserverance, Hope, Humanity, Courage, Faith

I could not wait to see what a Wordle would represent, and within seconds I found the the answer on Twitter:

How about you - what was the moment like for you? your family? your students?
Two Words???

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