Browsing Tag CUE

Teachers customize content for their students, from showing video clips to creating presentations. However, there has not been an easy way for teachers to create interactive content. Worksheets, websites, and are static–students only consume the content. iBooks Author allows teachers to create engaging content that meets the needs of their students. As with standard textbooks, you can add text, tables, shapes, and charts to iBooks. Since iPads are multi-touch, students can interact with the book through widgets. Interactive objects include galleries, presentations, video, interactive diagrams, and quizzes to the book. iBooks Author has templates for a quick start, and supports drag-and-drop, making creation simple.

iBooks Author makes it easy to create simple textbooks to support Common Core language arts standards. When students highlight and take notes in iBooks, study cards are automatically created. Each glossary term can be viewed as a study card with vocabulary words and definitions to enhance the progressive development of reading comprehension. Sample iBooks include: annotated samples of student writing; iBooks where students collaborate to answer questions; kindergarten phonics book; student-created iBook of poems; figurative language (examples and videos); high school english study guide.

iBooks Author serves as an invaluable tool to make Common Core math standards come alive. Students need to apply mathematical ways of thinking to real world issues; teachers can create a simple iBook for each standard. Sample iBooks include: identify shapes; photo book of groupings (multiplication) with drag-to-target review questions; compare volume of 3-D objects; show real-life examples of parabolas through videos and photos.

The most dynamic teachers I know are on Twitter. This is the beginner’s guide to Twitter, from etiquette and vocabulary to integrating Twitter into your classroom.

First of all, Twitter is about more than burgers, beer, and Bieber. At first glance, all you see it trending topics and random thoughts, none of which are useful to you as an educator. As you find like-minded educators, though, Twitter becomes an invaluable resource.

The Teacher’s Lounge is a place to get coffee and complain about students. Twitter is an Innovation Lounge–it is a place to be inspired and find #EduAwesome resources.Though I enjoy spending time in a teacher’s lounge, my source of inspiration and support in my profession is found on Twitter.

Twitter is all about relationships. Since you start off on Twitter knowing nobody (ok, knowing just me), it doesn’t really make sense at first. And that’s ok. Look around, search education hashtags, and respond to people. As you move from lurking to engaging, you will begin developing relationships with other passionate educators. And that’s the goal.

There are some basic symbols on Twitter. Each username has an @ in front of it. This notifies the user, and it creates a clickable link. You can create a keyword by adding # to it. This makes it clickable and searchable. Some tags are useful like #edchat, others are silly like #obiwancorippo.

Develop your PLN with people that teach your subject matter. Chat with other teachers using hashtags like #sschat (social studies chat). Search for #sschat, follow those people, use those resources. Or, live chat with other social studies teachers every Monday at 7pm EST. Archives of the #sschat are available at http://sschat.ning.com/. Most subjects have a chat, and a vibrant community on Twitter.

Use Twitter to extend conversations from conferences. Every conference has a hashtag. Not only can you follow along with that hashtag during the conference, you can search for it after the conference to see additional resources. If you find someone’s tweets useful, reply and tell them so, and then follow that person.

Before you know it, you’ll become constantly surrounded by teachers that are passionate about educational technology.

Here are more Twitter resources for teachers:

• Tweeting For Schools
• Educational Hashtags
• Twitter4Teachers
• 100 Ways To Use Twitter In Education

Feel free to download my Twitter presentation, or view it below. (It doesn’t make much sense without my narration (which is the sign of a good preso), but folks have asked me to share it.)