Excerpted from Video in the Classroom.com 1. Student engagement. Too many students in urban cities are dropping out. Engaging students early and providing positive experiences with school can help to hook these students before they leave. 2. Student achievement. Every classroom has a few students who are below grade level. Traditional teaching is not working …
Category: Video in the Classroom
Digital Storytelling Blog Carnival
Go here to post your entry. To celebrate the relaunch of Video in the Classroom.com which is nearly completed, I will be hosting a digital storytelling blog carnival. Entries are due January 15th and will be posted January 16th. I am hoping to showcase a broad range of abilities in posts from those just starting …
Finding Inspiration Where You Can
I wrote previously about how Mad Money’s Jim Cramer has inspired my teaching in the way he uses explicit language objectives, realia, and a showman’s flair. Turns out other educators have found inspiration in unlikely places. Speaker Sue writes about how a performance of the Blue Man Crew is an example of powerful presentation that …
My Favorite Films of 2007
Everywhere you go this time of year there’s a top ten list. Here’s a top four list. My favorite films of the year: Away From Her Painful and beautiful. I was putting off watching this one because I thought it might be too depressing and it is sad there’s no way around it but it’s …
Celebrate Seuss Day Collaboratively Across the World
I’ve been doing a lot of work at my new school with video conferencing as unit opener and culminating activity. We spoke with Cornell University’s bird scientists last month and we just spoke with another third grade class in LAUSD to share our new knowledge about City Wildlife. Here’s an opportunity to video conference for …
Yahoo for Teachers
I received that Yahoo for Teachers beta is now open. I have a password but I’m not sure if it’s unique to me or if can share it. However, you can sign up by going the Yahoo teachers page and entering your e-mail address on the bottom left.  That’s how I found out about …
Children Can
Thanks to Greg Moul of Catalyst for Change for bringing my attention to this clip of a thirteen year old child speaking to delegates from around the world making decisions about our environmental future. She speaks so eloquently that it makes you wish she could be a candidate for president but she’s Canadian and only …
The Fastest Windows Laptop…
Is a Mac A machine that runs both the Mac OS and the Windows OS (faster than a Windows machine) sounds like a good deal.
City Wildlife and the Songwriting Process
Sandra Bacall, teacher and singer, created this film with her classroom about a song they wrote together for the City Wildlife Unit. At the end of the song, students talk about the songwriting process and compare it to the traditional writing process. Using music appeals to students’ different learning modalities and increases engagement.
OELA Conference in Washington
Last week I had the pleasure of attending and presenting at the The Rising Stars Summit from the Office of English Language Learners in Washington D.C. where I presented on teaching writing in the context of the Open Court Reading Program as part of a larger presentation by my colleagues on a four year grant …