33 Sites About Memorial Day

This year, Memorial Day falls on Monday, May 26, 2014. Even though our school had a record number of snow days this winter, we are fortunate that the superintendent did not shorten our four day weekend. Memorial Day is the day we honor those who fought for our country, and a day our students should be made aware of, since our freedom is due to the sacrifices of our fighting men and women.

7 Things You Didn't Know About Memorial Day- slideshow from TIME

10 Things to Remember About Memorial Day

16 Memorial Day Infographics to Honor Our Veterans- from visual.ly

American Experience: War Letters

Best Books for Teaching About Memorial Day- from Education World

Cartoonists Honor Heroes- 22 different cartoonists

Face of the Dead- NY Times interactive

The Great Unknowns- NY Times

History Channel's Memorial Day Presentation

Honoring the Fallen- slideshow from CBS News

Honoring the Fallen- video from CNN

Interactive Timeline- from the Ocean City Register

The Meaning of Memorial Day- TIME for Kids

Memorial Day- Infoplease

Memorial Day- from Teacher Planet

Memorial Day Across America- from NBC News

Memorial Day Activities and Games

Memorial Day: Children Remember Lost Fathers- ABC News story

Memorial Day Crafts, Activities and Worksheets- from Enchanted Learning

Memorial Day Crafts Photo Gallery

Memorial Day Lesson Ideas- from Education World

Memorial Day Observations- slideshow from the NY Times

Memorial Day Quiz- interactive online quiz

Memorial Day Resources- from The U.S. Dept. of Veteran Affairs

Memorial Day Teacher Resources- long list from TeacherVision, including video, lesson plans, quizzes, puzzles, worksheets

Memorial Day Tributes Around the World- from TIME

Memorial Day Video Writing Prompts

Memorial Day Worksheets for Kindergarten- hundreds of choices

Teacher Guide to Memorial Day- from TeAchnology

Teaching Memorial Day- this is a Livebinder

The True Meaning of Memorial Day- from Dulcinea

Women in Uniform- slideshow from NBC News

One of My Favorite Twilight Zone Episodes is About a Book Lover

"Time Enough at Last" was an episode from season one of the Twilight Zone, which told the story of a man and his passion for reading. The surprise ending is sure to elicit a discussion in your class. Although it first ran in 1959, it certainly could be adapted to take place today.

When Testing Takes Over the Library

Since Monday, April 28th, schools have been involved in testing. First was the ASK, which lasted for five days, and most recently, the AP exams. Our current student population has grown to a level which has made extra space non-existent.  A few years back, we lost one-third of the library space to three new classrooms, which are currently used by special education classes. We are bursting at the seams, and every time there is a need for a quiet testing place, the library is the first place to be chosen.

So this week and next week, the AP testing (about ten students each day) has put the entire school body on an alternate schedule. Classes have been moved to locations which are noisy, (more than one class) and students who need to print papers or work on a computer are out of luck. (There are students in my district who don't own a computer.) The AP schedule runs two weeks, ending this Thursday, but this media specialist has lost valuable time to accomplish her many year-end jobs.

My office counter space is very small. The door is closed. White paper is placed on the windows so I can't see out and no one can see in. The stacks are unavailable to me. No inventory checks, no book filing or shelf reading. The portable book return has been outside the library since testing began in April, but only four books have been returned: three were on time and one belonged to the public library. To my surprise, I also found an apple (not eaten) in the box. Really?

I have spent this morning showing up at various classrooms looking for students and their books. Next I will be collecting fines, my year-end "fun". And speaking of fun, here's a list of 11 Ridiculously Overdue Library Books  (That Were Finally Returned) which you'll find unbelievable. I've also added some signs are cartoons to help you at this time of the year as you close down for the summer. Grin and ignore the stuff you have no control over; that's my mantra.

Throwback Thursday #12: Mixed Bag of Posters

 

 

Augmented Reality: 33 Resources About Using it Education

According to Webster's Dictionary, augmented reality is "an enhanced version of reality created by the use of technology to overlay digital information on an image of something being viewed through a device (as a smartphone camera); also :  the technology used to create augmented reality."  Think of it as a type of virtual reality, using the computer to copy your world. You are probably familiar with a tool created by Google which falls into this category: Google Glass. Although augmented reality has existed for a long time, we as teachers are only now grasping how to use it in the classroom. Let's take a look below.

Updated 2/9/18


5 Uses of Augmented Reality in Education- from Free Technology for Teachers

7 Things You Should Know About Augmented Reality- from Educause Learning Initiative

8 Excellent Augmented Reality Apps for iPad- from Educational Technology and Mobile Learning

10 Free Augmented Reality Apps to Use With Secondary Students- from Norm's Teacher Blog

10 Free Augmented Reality Apps to Use With Secondary Students Part Two- not all are free, but not expensive

20 Ways to Use Augmented Reality in Education- from Educational Technology and Mobile Learning

32 Augmented Reality Apps for the Classroom

Anatomy 4D- iPad and iPhone app which "allows viewers to understand and interact with complex information with unprecedented ease, speed, and depth."

Augment- app for Android and iPhone; "visualize your 3D models in augmented reality

Augmented Reality Brings New Dimensions to Learning- from Edutopia

Augmented Reality: Coming to a School Near You?

Augmented Reality: The Coolest Instructional Technology You Haven't Heard Of?- from Emerging EdTech

Augmented Reality Helps Kids Learn- from eSchool News

Augmented Reality in Education- slideshow

Augmented Reality Livebinder

Augmented Reality on Pinterest

Augmented Reality with Aurasma

Aurasma Tutorials- from Two Guys and Some iPads

The Beginner's Guide to Augmented Reality- from Edudemic

coIAR Uses Augmented Reality to Bring Your Kid's Drawing to Life- from TechCrunch

Common Craft Explains Augmented Reality- video

Elements 4D- print the paper block from this template

The Future of Augmented Reality Apps

The Future of Technology is Here, and It's Called Augmented Reality

The Google Glass Experiment- from Edudemic

How Augmented Reality Works- from How Stuff Works

How to Start Using Augmented Reality in the Classroom- from Edudemic

How to Use Augmented Reality in the Classroom

How to Use Augmented Reality in Your Classroom- Erin Klein (Kleinspiration) explains how she uses Aurasma with augmented reality.

Meaningful Integration of Augmented Reality in Education- lesson plans and ideas from Two Guys and Some iPads

QR Codes and Augmented Reality- 21 things do do with iPads



Zooburst: Augmented Reality 3D Pop-Up Books for Students and Teachers

Mother's Day: 34 Places to Find Everything From Its History to Crafts and Activities

ACTIVITIES, LESSON PLANS, PRINTABLES
15 Mother's Day Cards- from Spoonful; you can save the templates if you sign up for an account

Children's Mother's Day Poems- includes rhymes for Mother's Day

Mother's Day Craft Project

Mother's Day Crafts- 9 projects listed

Mother's Day Crafts and Activities- from DLTK; includes, cards, puzzles, coloring pages, puzzles and much more

Mother's Day Crafts and Activities for Kids- from Danielle's Place

Mother's Day Mazes, Stories- download books (PDF) or read online

Mother's Day Memory Book Ideas- from eHow

Mother's Day Printables-  2 sets include word search, puzzles, word unscramble; second set HERE

Mother's Day Teacher Resources- includes worksheets, puzzles, activities; from TeacherVision

Paper Flowers Project

Pre-School Activities and Crafts


ABOUT MOTHER'S DAY
37th Annual Mother's Day Pow Wow- slide show about how Native Americans celebrate the holiday

151 Great Mother's Day Craft Ideas

Amazing Moms of the Animal Kingdom- TIME slideshow

The Best and Worst Countries to Be a Mother- interactive map

Cartoons About Mother's Day- from NBC News



Happy Mother's Day, Dear Dragon- early reader can read this story online

The History of Mother's Day- video from the History Channel

Meet the Founder, and Fighter of Mother's Day- story of Anna Jarvis, who founded Mother's Day

Mother's Day Gifts and Activities- from Teachers.net

Mother's Day Lesson- for ELL students

Mother's Day Lesson Plans- from the Lesson Plan Page

Mother's Day Projects- from Michaels

Mother's Day Teacher Resources- from TeacherVision

Mother's Day Videos- from WatchKnowLearn; for ages 3-18 (videos labeled by age level)

Mother's Day Worksheets- from SchoolExpress

Remembering Nana on Mother's Day- NY Times slide show



Teacher Guide to Mother's Day- from TeAchnology

Who Came Up With Mother's Day and Why?

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Heard of Gamification? Well, Here Are 19 Resources....

According to the Mashable, gamification is "the use of game mechanics and game design techniques in non-game contexts."  Using gamification can help get kids interested in things they normally would find boring. Are you ready to get your game on? Take a look below and see what you think. I personally am all for anything that makes learning more fun for our students!

7 Good Examples of Gamification in Education- from EdTech Review

The 20 Best Blogs About Game-Based Learning

10 Gamiciation Challenges for Educators- post from Bernard Bull, Concordia Professor

10 Specific Ideas to Gamify in the Classroom

10 Video Games to Get Started with Game-Based Learning

Bringing Minecraft to the Classroom- the creators of Minecraft want to make the game affordable and accessible to schools everywhere.

The Dangers of Gamification in Education- post by Larry Ferlazzo

Education-Gamification Resources- from Gamify My Class

Games: More Than Just Reward Systems- from EdTech Researcher

by Column Five Media.
Explore more visuals like this one on the web's largest information design community - Visually.

Gamifying Education: Do We Know How to Gamify the Classroom- from Cool Cat Teacher Vicki Davis

How Gaming is Changing in the Classroom

How to Gamify Your Classroom- from Edudemic

Kathy Sierra on Gamification in Education- this is a response to Lary Ferlazzo's post above on the dangers of gamification in the classroom.

Mr. Gonzalez's Classroom- links to gamification resources

The Slow Gamification of K-12 Classrooms- from edWeek

Use Minecraft as an Educational Tool- from Edutopia

Using the Video Game Model in the Classroom- from Edutopia

What is Gamed-Based Learning?- article from Upside Learning