Teach It, Tech It, Learn It, Lead It

My New Blog Home

2009-10-03T16:31:00.001-04:00

I have been longing for a Wordpress blog now for a while and I stumbled upon a tutorial that guided you through registering a free domain and using a free hosting site, that link is here:http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/how-to-build-a-self-hosted-wordpress-blog-for-free . So after much messing around with this and teaching myself how to use Wordpress via FTP I have finally done it! So my blog is moving to the following address:

http://mratkinson.co.cc

Come and join me in as I explore using technology to teach, learn, and lead!

Uploaded with plasq's Skitch!

Carmel Middle - Tech Talk - Web 2.0 Buffet

2009-09-29T15:35:00.001-04:00

Technology Workshop Carmel Middle Paired Down

View more documents from Mr.Ateach.

http://sharetabs.com/?cms1
http://sharetabs.com/?cms2

Search just the sites shared today using Google Custom Search: Check it our here:

http://tinyurl.com/yegkkm3

---------------
Even More - some repeats:
http://sharetabs.com/?cmstech1
http://sharetabs.com/?cmstech2
http://sharetabs.com/?cmstech3

Technology Workshop Carmel Middle

View more documents from Mr.Ateach.

Digital Storytelling and the National Parks

2009-09-28T20:49:00.001-04:00

The National Parks: America's Best Idea: Place-Based Digital Storytelling Modules | PBS

100 Blogs Reviewed...

2009-09-20T08:54:00.001-04:00

100 Best Blogs for Tech-Savvy Teachers - Online Courses

Of course I did not review these but I plan on checking them out over the next week and thought I would share.

Backup Your Google Docs

2009-09-15T16:44:00.001-04:00

http://code.google.com/p/gdocbackup/downloads/list

http://gs.fhtino.it/gdocbackup

Guided Reading Assignment List For Binder

2009-09-14T15:51:00.001-04:00

Download now or preview on posterous

Guided Reading Assignment List For Binder.pdf (34 KB)

Posted via email from atkinson-work's posterous

Mark Your Calendars - For a Great Documentary

2009-09-08T22:13:00.003-04:00

The National Parks: America's Best Idea | PBS
Tonight I watched the making of this documentary on PBS. This documentary took five years to shoot and takes the viewer to all of our nation's national parks and explains the history behind them. It premiers September 27th, check out the web link for more details.

Some Classroom Posters for Reading and Writing Workshop

2009-09-01T15:36:00.001-04:00

I have really gotten in to using Adobe Illustrator this year! The power of vector images is amazing! Below are some of my reading workshop and writing workshop posters I have made just this year. Feel free to use and redistribute. Happy creating!

READING AND WRITING POSTERS _ COMBINED PDF

Gifted and Talented Webinar

2009-08-30T09:28:00.001-04:00

September 9 - 12pm EST
Beginning the Journey Toward Differentiated Classrooms with Jennifer Beasley, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, Arkansas

NAGC - WOW - NAGC's Webinars on Wednesday.png by ChrislAtkinson on Aviary

Math Game Site - Look Cool!

2009-08-29T21:05:00.001-04:00

http://www.supermathsworld.com/

Super Maths World.png by ChrislAtkinson on Aviary

Reviewing The Steps to The Scientific Method

2009-08-25T07:55:00.001-04:00

Check out our video project to review the steps of the scientific method:

http://sites.google.com/site/atkinsontme/scientific-method-photo-story-project

Making wordle Safe For The Classroom

2009-08-23T15:20:00.001-04:00

http://blog.wordle.net/2009/08/how-to-make-wordle-safe-for-classroom.html

Great News! Thanks Wordle, I'm so excited! Below is a Wordle from the blog post linked above!

Uploaded with plasq's Skitch!

Google Search Webinar Tomorrow

2009-08-18T18:40:00.001-04:00

Google Search in the Classroom Webinar Tomorrow

Powered by ScribeFire.

Thank Andy!

2009-08-17T20:50:00.001-04:00

If you are an Indiana teacher and you don't follow Andy Gammil's blog "The Classroom Insider" you should today! Andy was kind enough to post on my Google Certification. Below is the link:

IndyStar.com | The Classroom Insider | The Indianapolis Star

Powered by ScribeFire.

Great Wiki With Great Blogs

2009-08-14T20:06:00.001-04:00

movingforward - Education Blogs by Discipline

Google Docs - Teachers and Principals Speak

2009-08-02T20:21:00.001-04:00

Teachers and Principals Talk about Google Docs

Podcasting Resources

2009-07-29T17:28:00.001-04:00

Read this today....Click the link to check out all these great resources for Podcasting!
Free Technology for Teachers: 5 Resources for Creating and Hosting Podcasts

Summer Blogging and Podcasting

2009-07-29T00:55:00.001-04:00

Slideshows:

Blogs And Podcasting Version 2

View more documents from Mr.Ateach.

Installing Audacity

View more documents from Mr.Ateach.

Freeplay Music: Search Production Music Library

Podsafe Audio - Podcast Music for the Revolution

Learning in Hand: - iPods in Education

Free teleprompter/autocue service. Cueprompter - The online prompter.

How to Locate Podsafe Music

Yodio - Add voice to photos

Slidecasting 101

woices.com - where words go

Share your voice\nand make the world\na more interesting place!

Record by phone with Gabcast.com

Podcasting in Education

Podcast Generator - Open Source Podcast Publishing Solution

Create text-to-speech podcast from RSS feed with Odiogo for iPod, MP3 player and mobile phone

Record by phone with Gabcast.com

podOmatic - Create, Find, Share Podcasts!

Audioboo

Google Teacher Academy!

2009-07-12T10:40:00.003-04:00

I am pleased to announce that I have been selected to be a part of the Google teacher academy! I am so excited for this amazing opportunity, and feel blessed and honored to be only one of 50 educators chosen this year. I will travel to Boulder, Colorado August 5th for the workshop. Check out some of the cool stuff that will be a part of the experience!

Here is my one minute video I had to produce as a part of my applications :)

I look forward to sharing the cool stuff I get to learn!

I Wasn’t @ NECC, but…

2009-07-07T10:37:00.001-04:00

Due to the recent birth of our soon, the pinch in the economy, and my desire for an Iphone 3Gs and a Mac Book Pro I decided to skip out on NECC this year. So, I wasn’t at NECC but, it sure felt like I was at times! I was able to connect to the experience through the thousands of shares on Twitter (#NECC09), the live streaming of presentations through ISTE connects and NECC unplugged. A huge thanks to all of you who went and shared, I am sure hoping I will be at ISTE 2010 in Denver!

Here are all of my Diigo bookmarks that I tagged NECC09:

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

Why Your Student Can’t Skip Reading Tonight!

2009-06-04T22:16:00.001-04:00

Why I Can't Skip Reading

Publish at Scribd or explore others:

I received this from a colleague a few years back and thought I’d share it with you all! Enjoy, and please check out my post on blogging for higher order thinking skills!

Blogging and Higher Order Thinking – A framework to engage students in higher order thinking skills through blogging

2009-06-03T22:58:00.001-04:00

I came across a great article recently entitled: “HOT Blogging: A Framework for Blogging to Promote Higher Order Thinking”, which was published in the May 2009 issue of The Reading Teacher. This article gave a great instructional framework for effectively using blogging with students to promote critical thinking skills (what we all want to do!).

Zawilinski does a fine job of providing an easy to follow framework to show how blogging truly can involve critical thinking skills! This startegy is the HOT framework and is used to develop "higher order thinking skills around new literacies.”

The HOT strategy involves the following steps:

Bolster background
Prime the pump
Continue the conversation
Make multiplicity explicit

The article also gave super insights for beginning bloggers, and would be a great resource for teachers who are not sold on the value of blogging.

The purpose of this article is to explore ways in which blogs can support literacy programs, especially to develop higher order thinking (HOT) while reading and writing. First, I will provide an introduction to and a theoretical rationale for blogging. Next, resources and ideas will be shared to help spark possibilities for blogging in an intermediate-grade classroom. Four common types of educational blogs will be presented. Finally, HOT blogging, an instructional framework that uses a blog to develop higher order thinking, will be described. - Zawilinski, Lisa. Reading Teacher, May2009, Vol. 62 Issue 8, p650-661, 12p, 8 charts, 1 diagram; (AN 39232973)

Personally I want to take blogging to the next level in my classroom this upcoming academic year. I plan on using it often, in order to give students a solid platform to connect to a large audience, and to think critically on issues with that audience. Blogging truly provides students with authentic writing experiences. Check out my blog I used to communicate things to parents and students this past year…I think I will be changing it, just a bit. 2008-2009 Mr. A’s Classroom Blog. I am a firm believer in using technology to engage learners and move them into higher order thinking. Blogging can be used to do this!

Blogging for Higher Order Thinking

Publish at Scribd or explore others: Internet & Technolog Research

Some Blogging Resources:

Who Am I, Why Am I Blogging

2009-05-30T10:25:00.001-04:00

This summer one of my goals is to start blogging more seriously. What do I mean by seriously, well until now I have published content on my blog that is mostly related to new resources I have come across. i realize that this niche is well covered. I intend to start to share more of my voice, more of my opinions and insights on the world of technology, teaching, learning and leading.

What makes me qualified to do such a thing? Not much I guess. Here are some basic facts:

I have taught grades: 3, 4, and 5 in my six years of teaching. I typically “loop” with my 4th graders to fifth the following year.
My undergrad was completed in K-6 elementary education from Taylor University, and I recently finished getting my Masters in Educational Administration from Ball State University.
I am a tech enthusiast and an advocate for 21st century learning.
I have a passion for literacy 2.0, deep thinking, and critical reading.
I teach in a high performing district where the majority of families are online. In my opinion, teachers in this district are enthusiastic about learning and truly have a passion for what they do, but like many places we do not have a 1:1 imitative started

At my school I am also a Tech Coordinator and Webmaster
I run three blogs:
On a personal note:
- I am a new dad as of May 11th! I love to read, learn new things, play with gadgets, travel, play and watch sports!

So be prepared for some new thoughts and ideas from me being added to the blogosphere, and please subscribe to my feed. I will look to publish a fresh new post in a few weeks.

Want to play a Youtube video minus…

2009-05-05T21:46:00.001-04:00

Want to play a Youtube video minus the inappropriate adds that surround the video? Try http://quietube.com/. This fantastic service allows you to place a bookmarklet in your browser’s toolbar that will subtract those ads when you open up the video on Youtube then click the bookmarklet. Follow these steps to ad freedom today:

Before:

After Quiettube:

Getting Started Guides for Google Docs

2009-04-23T19:16:00.000-04:00

Are you using Google Docs yet? This is a great free service with some awesome features. Here are three new guides to using Google docs: spreadsheets, presentations, and documents.

Earth Day Resources

2009-04-21T18:57:00.000-04:00

Earth Day - The Green Guide

Human Footprint - Watch the Documentary Film for Free - SnagFilms

Infinite Photograph -- As Seen On Earth -- The Green Guide

Scholastic.com - In School

ThinkGreen.com

Forces of Nature--Science, Maps, Photos, Video (National Geographic)

UNEP: Atlas of Our Changing Environment

Planet Green Game

RMI's Oil Imports Map - RMI MOVE

Morphie's Great Water Ride Adventure

The Cycle by RecycleBank

Interactive - National Geographic Magazine

GL-07 Store Glacier on Vimeo

Trees for the Future > Welcome

Emerald Island™ - A place where we can grow!

Elf Island - games, storytelling, social interaction to empower kids, Gaming for Good, and Mirrored Gaming.

CO2 emissions, birth & death rates by country, simulated real-time

#earthtweet from Brighter Planet

EcoKids Home

Using Wordle in the Classroom

2009-04-17T15:31:00.000-04:00

Wordle is a sweet word and wiring visualizing tool. www.Wordle.net has the ability to analyze the most frequent words used in a text (can be pasted in, weblinked, or typed in) and then creates a visual representation of those. Here is a slideshow, I came across while reading Mike Fisher’s blog http://digigogy.blogspot.com/; in it uses for Wordle in the classroom are shared.

Underground Railroad Resources

2009-04-13T20:35:00.000-04:00

http://sharetabs.com/?underground-railroad

50 States!

2009-04-01T19:39:00.000-04:00

A great resource for studying the fifty states!

http://www.history.com/states.do

Literacy and Technology –CMS- Follow Up

2009-03-30T22:28:00.000-04:00

Thanks so much for coming yesterday! I know I threw a lot at you, but my hope is that you found a few tools you feel like you could use in the classroom with students. I would be happy to help get you started in using any of the tools you think would help you better engage students in authentic literacy experiences. Maybe even try giving Etherpad and Glogster a try before you start. Find tutorials and more on the Wiki, just click the pic below!

You can check out our Etherpads from today here:

http://etherpad.com/litandtech

http://etherpad.com/litandtech2

POWER POINT (Links Included)

Literacy And Technology

View more presentations from Mr.Ateach.

STUDENT ACCOUNT CONTROL AND CREATION:

The question was asked, what do we do to get students signed up for some of these tools that require logins, and have control over it? Check this blog post out on how to do this. I have used this trick many times!

http://macteech.edublogs.org/2008/06/15/rename-gmail-hack/

Please contact me if you would like assistance getting started or if you have any questions!

Catkinso@ccs.k12.in.us

Diigo Tags: edtech, web2.0, literacy

Many Voices, Few Voices, Many Voices

2009-03-30T18:37:00.000-04:00

Interactives . Spelling Bee . Intro

2009-03-24T17:14:00.000-04:00

http://www.learner.org/interactives/spelling/index.html

Geography Links and Resources

2009-03-21T22:02:00.000-04:00

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

ASCD: “8 Strategies for Using Humor to Improve Learning” | In Practice

2009-03-14T20:52:00.000-04:00

ASCD: “8 Strategies for Using Humor to Improve Learning” | In Practice

tags: ascd

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

Pi Day » The official web site for Pi Day, March 14th

2009-03-11T18:00:00.000-04:00

Pi Day is coming! Check out these ideas...

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

Alan November : Innovation in Education : Best Practice : Professional Development : Promethean Planet

2009-03-10T16:52:00.000-04:00

I have not watched this yet but plan on watching at some point. If you watch it let me know what you think by leaving a comment.

http://www.prometheanplanet.com/server.php?show=nav.16956

Technology and Literacy Mini Workshop

2009-03-09T19:52:00.000-04:00

Where: Creekside Middle School - 8^th grade lab for Monday

When: March 30^th from 3:30-4:30pm

What: Learn about new, and free, engaging web 2.0 technologies that will allow your students to collaborate in shared writing projects, create virtual posters, make online movies, discuss across grade levels and classes, and much much more!

SNACKS WILL BE FREE and YUMMY!

Math Song Videos

2009-03-09T17:02:00.000-04:00

A colleague gave me these links, and I thought I’d pass them along.

Polly had a polygon

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9cKN2jk2vDI

Bob Quadrilateral rap – for you Office fans.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v7LZQNvZWFs

The pentagon song – you’ll want to play this again and again. This guy has bunches of cute ones for primary.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Otcj9LOh8g

this one is from Rockin the Standards – they have a complete series related to standards including some multiplication songs

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PI8lTKd6a2w

Daylight Savings Time

2009-03-08T13:33:00.000-04:00

Brain Rules for Presenters

2009-03-07T09:41:00.000-05:00

Check out this SlideShare Presentation:

Brain Rules for Presenters

View more presentations from garr. (tags: reynolds garr)

2¢ Worth » iPod Touch in the Classroom

2009-03-07T09:24:00.000-05:00

http://davidwarlick.com/2cents/?p=1696

I really want to get some grant money to make this happen in my own classroom!

Siftables – The Blocks of The Future

2009-03-07T08:43:00.000-05:00

Siftables Equation Editor from Jeevan Kalanithi on Vimeo.

Untitled

2009-03-04T15:59:00.000-05:00

411 sheskey

tags: sheskey, web2.0

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

If You are Ever Looking for a Tutor...

2009-03-04T12:46:00.000-05:00

If you are ever searching for a good tutor you may find this site helpful.

CompareTutors.com

Some Neat-O Math Games

2009-03-01T19:43:00.000-05:00

http://www.coolmath-games.com/

http://www.decimalsquares.com/dsGames/

http://www.channel4learning.net/sites/puzzlemaths/md_machine_game.shtml

http://www.sheppardsoftware.com/math.htm

http://www.learningplanet.com/sam/ff/index.asp

http://www1.center.k12.mo.us/EDTECH/edm/5.htm

http://www.oswego.org/ocsd-web/games/Ghostblasters1/gbcd.html

http://www.theproblemsite.com/games/fraction_concentration.asp

http://www.mathplayground.com/index.html

Computer Lab Favorites | Scholastic.com

2009-02-22T22:34:00.000-05:00

Computer Lab Activities in a pinch!

http://teacher.scholastic.com/activities/clf/index.htm

Check These Out Pt. 2

2009-02-17T22:39:00.000-05:00

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

Check These Out - Links from Mid Jan to Now pt 1

2009-02-17T22:33:00.000-05:00

Rain Forest at Night--From National Geographic (Rain Forest)

tags: rain, rainforest, forest
Welcome to Route 21

tags: 21stcenturyskills, informationliteracy, education, resources, web2.0, curriculum, skills, 21st
Cost To Drive

tags: travel, web2.0, cost, estimate, driving, tool, mileage, drive
Sheppard Software - educational games and activities for kids of all ages.

tags: geography, education, science, math, game, IWB, maps, health
The Bakery Shop r017

tags: math
World Maths Day 09

tags: math, collaboration, maths, elearning, mathematics, education, tools
Hit the button v9.swf (application/x-shockwave-flash Object)

tags: numeracy, v9.swf
4L Puzzle Maths | multiplication and division machine

tags: math, 4l, division, multiplication
Adding Bricks

tags: math, bricks, addition
Saxon Math

tags: Math, saxon, coins
TinyChat.com - Create a free chatroom

tags: chat, chatroom, twitter
Prezi.com - The zooming presentation editor

tags: presentation, presentations, animation, prezi, tool, web 2.0, web, prezi.com
Create A Photo Book Online For Free With Mixbook

tags: web2.0, printing, photos, books, collaboration, photography, publishing, tools
xtimeline - Explore and Create Free Timelines

tags: timeline, xtimeline, web2.0, history, tools, timelines, digitalstorytelling, social
PrezQuest

tags: president
Congress for Kids - Interactive, Fun-filled Experiences About the Federal Government

tags: government, socialstudies
bomomo

tags: fun, flash, painting, graphics, tools, cool, kids, bomomo
SHOW®/USA - A New Way To Look At The USA

tags: maps
Lizzer :: Linking made simple :: Be a genius

tags: lizzer, blogging, embed
Kitzu - Find, Learn, Create

tags: education, lessonplans, resource, storytelling, digital, tools, kits, media
Math Videos

tags: Math, Videos, education, Maths
Start building a jeopardy template

tags: jeopardy
PicLits.com - Create a PicLit

tags: writing, piclits.com, poetry, languagearts, piclits, education, pictureprompt, piclit

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

President's Day is Coming!

2009-02-12T18:51:00.000-05:00

Check out these great videos about some of the presidents!

PrezQuest

tags: president

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

How to Create Great PowerPoints

2009-02-11T21:15:00.000-05:00

Credit where credit is due. I found this shared by Wesley Fryer who got it from Alvin Trust’ys site. I’ve not watched this whole presentation, but thought others might be interested.

How to Create a Great PowerPoint - Take 2.0 from Alvin Trusty on Vimeo.

Lincoln Websites and Resources

2009-02-05T17:48:00.000-05:00

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

Google Earth 5.0

2009-02-02T20:59:00.000-05:00

http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/google_earth_now_maps_the_ocea.php

The folks at Read Write Web have summarized some of the great new content in Google Earth 5.0. An application like this can truly bring learning alive! I would love to see Skype integration layer within Google Earth. Imagine calling a classroom in NYC within Google Earth and students you are calling navigating your earth to take you places while you chat. Who knows there may even already be such a layer.

Word Cloud Analysis of Obama's Inaugural Speech Compared to Bush, Clinton, Reagan, Lincoln's - ReadWriteWeb

2009-01-24T15:51:00.000-05:00

http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/tag_clouds_of_obamas_inaugural_speech_compared_to_bushs.php

Interesting post on the word analysis of inauguration speeches. I think the word clouds are much mor einteresting then the article.

Word Cloud Analysis of Obama's Inaugural Speech Compared to Bush, Clinton, Reagan, Lincoln's - ReadWriteWeb

2009-01-21T22:06:00.000-05:00

http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/tag_clouds_of_obamas_inaugural_speech_compared_to_bushs.php

This is an intresting word analysis of presidential inaugural speeches.

More Inaugural Resources

2009-01-20T18:55:00.000-05:00

Posted from Diigo.

Free Technology for Teachers: What is RSS?

2009-01-11T11:19:00.000-05:00

This is a great post from Technology for teachers on what RSS feeds are. How do you use them? I subscribe through Goggle Reader and my subscriptions keep me in the loop with the news and much more!

http://www.freetech4teachers.com/2009/01/what-is-rss.html

Book Video Ning!

2008-12-23T17:26:00.001-05:00

Thanks to the discussion started on book trailers at Wesley Fryer’s Moving at the Speed of Creativity, Joyce Valenza started a Book Video Ning where members can collaborate on book trailers and more, come join and be apart of the excitement! Thanks Joyce!

Technorati Tags: wmv,photostory,book,books,trailer,trailers,video,kids,school,library,read

Diigo!!! Join the Carmel Clay and Towne Meadow Groups Today!

2008-12-23T17:26:00.000-05:00

Diigo is an awesome social bookmarking tool, in an earlier post this year I shared a PPT on this from Authorshare, I also shared 7 reasons why it trumps Del.ic.ous. I’m excited to share Diigo! Follow these steps to getting started:

1. Learn About Diigo

DIIGO PPT

7 Reasons Diigo Trumps …

2. Create and Account

http://www.diigo.com/index

3. Download the toolbars at work and at home

INSTALL THE DIIGO TOOLBAR HERE!

4. Join the Carmel Clay Schools Group and collaborate with others!

CLICK HERE TO JOIN THE CCS GROUP!

CLICK HERE TO JOIN THE TME GROUP!

5. Check out the options for educators!

Diigo Educator Accounts - create accounts for students

6. If you have any questions or would like some help setting things up and getting started please contact me.

Book Trailers Discussed @ Moving at the Speed of Creativity…

2008-12-23T17:25:00.000-05:00

I was happy to have helped Wesley out in his hunt for a good bedtime read for his daughter. I pointed him also toward the book trailer site Dr Greary created. Check out the post and comments at Wesley’s blog!

Photo Story 3 – Creekside PD

2008-12-23T17:24:00.001-05:00

Higher Level Thinking and Digital Activities

2008-12-23T17:24:00.000-05:00

Blooms Digital Taxonomy v2.12

Publish at Scribd or explore others: Teaching Education andrew churches blooms taxonomy

Text Flow

2008-12-23T17:23:00.000-05:00

Sites That Caught My Eye!

2008-12-23T17:22:00.001-05:00

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

Technology and the Economy

2008-12-23T17:22:00.000-05:00

I came across this in one of my feed subscriptions today. Shows some current trends and predicts growth in the web 2.0 market terms of sheer data. I thought that it was interesting. I will warn you, if you dare watch it, it is very dry, boring, and has some big economic vocabulary. Slides here.

Election Websites

2008-12-23T17:21:00.000-05:00

Election Websites From Indiana Election for Kids Campaign - Upload a Document to Scribd

Check This Out!

2008-12-23T17:20:00.000-05:00

Diigo

2008-12-23T17:19:00.000-05:00

Diigo is by far one of my favorite web 2.0 tools out there. It is a social bookmarking tool which allows you to bookmark pages and share those with a group over any computer via the internet. I have created a group for Towne Meadow. Please take some time to join Diigo, join the Towne Meadow Elementary Group, download the toolbar and begin sharing your favorite websites and tools with the staff! Below are some tags for some sites I have been bookmarking, you will also see 25 most recently added bookmarks on the right side of my blog.