Written on 10:38 PM by Ur English Teacher
(From urenglishteacher who never enjoyed math much . . . )
See them on the EDGES of their seats?
This student is waiting to see which country her next competitor will be from. 
Today we had the privilege of visiting Mary Ellen Bryant's 4th grade class at Bush Elementary; however, her students were so enthralled by what they were doing, they didn't even notice we were there. Was it geography? Was it social studies? Was it math? Was it a game? It was ALL of the above! World Math Day allows students to compete with other classes/schools/kids all over the world. Mary Ellen said it was EXTREMELY easy to set up and it is completely free. She anticipated the students would play for 30 minutes and then be ready to move on, but over an hour later, their excitement was still spilling over. The contest is appropriate for students aged 5-18. I saw some students doing difficult multiplication and some doing addition.
From the site:
"The students play against each other in mental arithmetic games. Students are captivated by the fact that they are playing in real time. Each game lasts for 60 seconds, students can play as many games as they wish. The questions are appropriately leveled for different ages and abilities. . . ." 
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Written on 8:59 PM by Ur English Teacher
The Newseum: Today's Front Pages
Thanks Mr. Tooke from Wilkerson Intermediate for sharing this great find: An
interactive map with the front pages of newspapers from around the world. See how it works here: http://screencast.com/t/aMBc446Q It's a fast and interactive way to get a cultural view on what makes news where.
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Written on 7:53 PM by Ur English Teacher
Credit for this find must go to Dustin Hornsby who told me about this MONTHS
ago. I looked at it and thought "yeah, that is cool," but it wasn't until today when I
used it on the big screen with a Mimio* that I FULLY appreciated exactly how COOL
Cooliris is. Check out the search engine that "Transforms your browser into a lightning
fast, cinematic way to discover the Web."
See a preview of it and/or download it here: http://www.cooliris.com/
*What's a Mimio? It's a device that turns any surface into an interactive area when used with a computer and LCD projector. It eliminates the need for bulky, expensive interactive boards like Smart, Numonics, or Promethean (all great products, but who has the $ or space?)
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Written on 9:50 AM by Ur English Teacher
I've spent a lot of time trying to find a program/web 2.0 tool like Photo Story that will work on my Vista OS computer. There are hundreds of great web 2.0 slideshow tools out there, but none of them I've found so far have ALL the elements I love so much about Photo Story 3 for some purposes. So, here's how you can make it work. Enjoy!
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Written on 8:50 AM by Ur English Teacher
Check out this Web 2.0 tool: Capzles (Personal Example). Great educational potential. Reminds me of VoiceThread but with that cool look of SearchMe (and the Ipod Touch, of course).
Remember to check out CISD's Best of the Web to learn about all the best new websites and tools. LOTS of new sites added this weekend!.
For example, check out these new sites and areas:
Scrapblog: (LOVE this Web 2.0--pure fun, no artistic skill required-Looks GREAT! Makes me feel like I spent the weekend "scrapbooking" but really only took about 10 minutes) Personal Example
Drop.io Simple Private Sharing: Solves that "I don't have enough space for this" problem. Actually easy, very slick, clean interface.
Early Childhood Games and Videos I'd love you to email more Early Childhood sites to me. It's hard to find sites that are easily navigable for early readers.
PicApp - Free photos for use on your websites, blogs, etc.
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Written on 11:38 AM by Ur English Teacher
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Written on 1:56 PM by Ur English Teacher
Ubiquitous access to the Internet is the way of the future NOT "one-to-one" computing. We do not believe in the "on-to-one" theory. We believe in access via the Internet to one's files and programs regardless of the device used. One-to-one computing focuses on the computer as the most important component of technological innovation and growth in education, but we believe that the innovation is in all the time, anywhere access regardless of the device used. It is not important to provide a laptop for a child in order to have innovative technological advances; it is important to provide children the opportunity to access the network and learn to navigate it to find the tools they need. "One-to-one" thinking is already passé.
Instead of picturing a student with his or her "own laptop" that he or she lugs from classroom to classroom then home, picture children using any computer available to do the same tasks, picking up their documents where they left off in their Web 2.0 tools, accessing the same document or file on the computer at the public library after school then again in the evening at home. He or she might use a Thin Client, then a desktop PC, then a notebook, and so on. The device and its ownership is irrelevant; "the network is everything" (Dr. Scott Barrett).
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Today we had the privilege of visiting Mary Ellen Bryant's 4th grade class at Bush Elementary; however, her students were so enthralled by what they were doing, they didn't even notice we were there. Was it geography? Was it social studies? Was it math? Was it a game? It was ALL of the above! World Math Day allows students to compete with other classes/schools/kids all over the world. Mary Ellen said it was EXTREMELY easy to set up and it is completely free. She anticipated the students would play for 30 minutes and then be ready to move on, but over an hour later, their excitement was still spilling over. The contest is appropriate for students aged 5-18. I saw some students doing difficult multiplication and some doing addition.
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