Sharing Works

Hello All,

By LuMaxArt

There’s much concern and conversation over how to protect one’s own work and how to know which type of permissions are allowed when considering the use of others copyrighted work.  As educators, there is a site that can remove some of the guess work for us and for our students. I recommend spending some time becoming familiar with Creative Commons.  If you are looking for media to use, Creative Commons allows one to search media through different search sites selecting certain permissions.   If you are looking for ways to protect or share your own work, Creative Commons provides a number of licenses to help clarify what the creator has allowed or not allowed.    

Happy sharing,

Mrs. A

Free Introduction to Web 2.0 Tools Mini E-course

Hello All,

Powerful Learning Practice is a site geared more toward paid for professional development.  There is an Intro to Web 2.0 Tools mini-course offered for free through the site.  The learner receives an email each day for two weeks highlighting a different Web 2.0 tool.  The mini-course introduces blogging, wikis, social bookmarking, Twitter, Ning, videos and so much more.  The course content is easy to follow and relevant. At the end, the learner receives a nifty badge like the one to the right to add to a site, blog, or other space determined to be worthy and of course to advertise for PLP. By no means do I consider myself a Web 2.0 Tools Master, I did gather some new ideas and resources during the journey.  In the store there are also two free resources under Free Stuff, the Connected Educator Starter Kit and the Connected Teacher: Powering Up. 

Happy exploring,

Mrs. A

I Still Don't Understand Chemistry!

Hello All,

After a vacation or illness it can be challenging for some students to get back on track.  Ugh, when some are stuck on a new concept it can be helpful to see information presented a few different ways.  I have found the Mr. Causey’s World Presents Chemistry site to be a useful resource for chemistry tutorials.   On Mr. Causey’s Video Academy YouTube channel the short videos, usually less than ten minutes, are well done and beneficial for high school chemistry students.  If one has time to explore further, Mr. Causey’s World and Mr. Causey’s Video Academy also cover other areas of science and math.

Happy exploring,

Mrs. A

LEGO Cells and the Virtual Microscope

Hello All,

I recently ran across a terrific introduction to cellular biology video, Cells - The LEGO Building Blocks of Life! by ExSciEd. As the title suggests LEGOs are used to introduce the basic building blocks of life, cells. Click below to see more:  
Still thinking of cells, there are numerous interactive microscope sites out there. Many are geared toward simply clicking on a slide to instantly view. Some allow zooming in and out. The most well known interactive microscope site for intermediate school to high school use is probably Bob Ketcham’s UD Virtual Compound Microscope. The simulation is a wonderful substitute if one does not have access to compound microscopes in the classroom.  It's also possibly a good way to cut back on damaged slides or objectives by having students practice before using an actual compound microscope.  The site offers a detailed interactive tutorial from the on-off switch to fine adjustment. Through the simulation, students are provided opportunities to view some of the more common curricula classic slides such as the onion root tip, bacteria capsule and cheek smear. 

Celebrating the cell,

Mrs. A

Wikispaces Classroom is PBL Friendly

Hello All,

I recently attended the webinar Wikispaces Classroom Tour through Wikispaces.  The features are quite impressive and I found Wikispaces Classroom easy to navigate and use.  With all the buzz about Project Based Learning (PBL) and authentic assessment in education circles, the one feature that stood out to me was Projects.  The teacher can create the project, add dates to the calendar, create teams, and view user activity.  Teams can be created by dragging and dropping member names, randomly assigning members using the team generator, or uploading members from a spreadsheet.  The privacy settings can be set for only the team to edit, for other members of the Wiki to view but not edit, or for other members of the Wiki to also edit.  Numerous pages for the project can be setup for the teams by the teacher or the teacher can allow permission for each team to add pages for the project.   Under the assessment tab, the teacher can view who is online and whether each person is reading, writing, or has saved.  This information can be accessed searching by users or by projects.  If you are curious about the other features available at Wikispaces Classroom, visit the About Wikispaces Classroom link here: http://www.wikispaces.com/content/classroom/about.

Happy potential PBL,

Mrs. A

It's All Elemental My Dear...

Hello All,

I absolutely love the setup of the Ptable, interactive periodic table.  My only complaint as an educator is that it references Wikipedia for in depth descriptions of each element.  There are many other positive notable uses for the site such as the properties tab for melting points and boiling points or checking electron configuration answers under the orbitals tab.

The Visual Elements Periodic Table is an interactive periodic table providing many of the features of the Ptable along with interesting short Podcasts about each element and short video clips of each element.  There is also an alchemy tab.  This could be a nice addition to a 'golden' penny lab, where students turn copper into 'gold'.  My preference is for a procedure that avoids NaOH. 

Here is something unique and fun, The Periodic Table of Comic Books.  Simply click on an element to find corresponding comic book pages.  Not all elements will have a referenced comic book page.  There is also The Photographic Periodic Table of Elements offering many photographs of each element or use of each element along with basic property information.

All of this online periodic table viewing leaves me wanting more.  I may have to spend the evening reading the book The Disappearing Spoon by Sam Kean.  I can’t wait to take in all the different ways the periodic table and its elements have been interwoven throughout history, good and bad.  It's been pointed out it is a great read, though it may contain a few scientific errors.

Enjoy the beauty of the periodic table,

Mrs. A

PhET Sims

Hello All, 

I imagine the PhET website has been reviewed ad nauseam.  I have been waiting for some time to share my enthusiasm over this resource.  PhET offers various interactive science simulations.  My interest there has primarily been chemistry; the other branches of science are well represented along with math.  One can search the simulations by subject and grade level.  Once a simulation has been selected a list of lesson ideas can be found below the simulation.  There are options for running the simulations either directly using the website or downloading to another device.  Under the teacher tab, educators have access to past workshop materials regarding how to integrate the simulations into teaching. Another exciting feature of this site is the materials can be translated using the PhET Translation Utility for another possible way to reach students where language is a potential barrier. The only down side I see here is that the simulations do not work with or do not work well with Ipad, Android, or tablets.  Most of the simulations require the use of a keyboard and/or mouse.  See the embedded Salts and Solubility simulation below if you are curious to see a sample of what the site has to offer.

Enjoy playing,

Mrs. A

Click to Run