Many of my blog readers have followed me from my web site Open Court Resources.com (http://www.opencourtresources.com) which compiles resources for teaching the Open Court Reading Program. I developed that site over eight or so years, starting with first grade resources I was sharing with teachers at my school site and expanding to include pre-K through …
Author: Mathew Needleman
Mathew Needleman, Apple Distinguished Educator and Google Certified Innovator has been pioneering the use of instructional technology for over two decades. He has been a classroom teacher, literacy coach, conference keynoter, and he currently serves as an elementary school principal in Los Angeles, California. He is the founder of the independent education studio, Needleworks Pictures.
Technology in Schools is a Waste, Or Is It?
The New York Times featured an editorial calling into question the efficacy of bringing computers into schools in light of increasing budget cuts and flatlining test scores in the Kyrene School District. (Sorry for my delayed reaction. The beginning of the school year’s a lot of work!) Many of my edtech friends were up in …
First Day of School Activities
First Day of School Activities Lots of First Day Activities from Cape Brenton Victoria School Board First Day of School Activities by Katie Hallum First Days of School Script for Teachers by Katie Hallum Back to School Preparation Checklist and Month by Month Schedule for First Grade by Terry Analore Everybody Needs A Rock Activity by …
A Teacher’s Guide to the New Final Cut Pro X
You may have heard that Apple has released a new version of their movie editing software, Final Cut Pro. The reviews are in and they’ve been mixed. Even Conan O’Brien made fun of the new software. I’ve been using Final Cut Pro since they released version 1.0 nearly a decade ago. I have some of …
iMovie ’09 Bootcamp
If you’re in the Los Angeles area this summer, please join me for this year’s iMovie Bootcamp at the Los Angeles County Office of Education, July 20th and 21st. Participants will learn how to use iMovie ’09 thoroughly, including advanced features like green screen and picture in picture, and have the opportunity to edit pre-shot …
Royalty Free Photos, Music, and Video List (Updated)
Here is my updated list of Royalty Free Resources for multimedia projects, including photo and music options. I’ve also included this list as a permanent page on my blog, accessible on the right hand side under pages. I’ve tried to list only options that I’ve actually used. Most of these royalty free options require attribute …
Lessons for Teachers from the Oprah Finale
Background I remember when Oprah premiered on television, somewhere around the 2nd grade. I grew up watching Donahue at 3:00 and Oprah at 4:00 with my grandmother after school. I watched for many years though I started to lose track somewhere around high school. I must confess that as I got older I found the …
How to Encourage Parental Involvement
While some education reformers might argue that poverty is not a reason for students’ lack of success, I haven’t heard anyone claim that parental involvement doesn’t impact student learning. As a matter of fact, I would argue that a students’ best chance of overcoming poverty is parental involvement in their education. While we have little …
How to Reduce the Amount of Teacher Talk
Pair Sharing: A Best Practice Pair Sharing is generally acknowledged as a best practice in education. In classrooms I visit, however, I rarely see it used, let alone integrated into lessons as a regular practice. Reducing the amount of teacher talk and getting students to talk to each other is one of the cheapest and …
The Pop Culture Guide to Standardized Testing
It’s Spring Break now but in two weeks comes the start of standardized testing in California—we call it the CST. Here are my pop-culture suggestions for doing well on the CST: 1. Don’t work too fast and furious. Have a good attitude and don’t expect to work quickly. The test requires you to stop and …