Summer fruits festival and early years

The summer (May, June and July) is specially treated as fruit festival season in Bangladesh when almost all the major and minor fruits are matured and available. Mangoes,Jackfruit, pineapple, guavas, lichi, berries, palms are the main fruits of summer. Of them the mango is the most popular.
9th June, 2014 Monday 'Summer Fruit Festival' was organized in our school. It was a usual hot day but early year children were excited to see and recognize a wide variety of summer fruits at 'Summer Festival 2014'.

There was arrangement of fruits display along with posters and pictures of these fruits. There was an easel board to practice 'fruit printing' for students. Another place was used to show the drawings of students relating to summer fruits.

Fruits display at a corner

Children were enthusiastic to learn about summer fruits. They also recited rhymes relating to fruits.

Fruit printing with poster colors

Summer fruit pictures drawn by students of KG

Nursery class children saying rhymes

A learning and fun nature walk

Today 2nd part of our learning and fun outdoor activity (nature walk) happened. All boys of all play group and nursery students participated in 'nature walk'. It was a very organized walk as young kids enjoyed walking and learning along with their teachers and class mates.

Some parents residing nearby areas were also there to see our 'nature walk' and even the passing elder citizens appreciated the discipline of students.
The people around that lake were excited to see long ques of children with happy faces. Many of them stopped and asked the name of the school and questioned about the purpose of this visit.

Getting ready in the classroom for exciting nature walk

Video tutorial sites for teachers

Many educators are still novice to computers or internet and they want to develop their skills to get most from modern technology. This article is for all teachers who love to learn by watching video tutorials. These free tutorials are mostlty created for teachers to help them for skill development.
Good news is that these all sites offer all the tutorials free of charge. Moreover you don't need to register or sign in to watch videos. You are also free to upload your videos at thsee sites.
Most of us know that 'YouTube' is a very effective learning site where you can search and find numerous videos, although there are more sites with video tutorials. I am quoting few of the sites which I usually search or browse for video tutorials.

*** 'Khan Academy' is a non profit organization providing learning opportunities to students,teachers, home-schoolers etc. They have around 3600 videos covering K-12 math, science topics such as biology, chemistry, and physics. Each video is a digestible chunk, approximately 10 minutes long, and especially purposed for viewing on the computer.

*** 'Teacher Tube'
is a place for professional development with teachers teaching teachers. As well, it is a site where teachers can post videos designed for students to view in order to learn a concept or skill.

*** 'School tube' is created by 'National Education Associations' for use in K-12 to empower students and teachers through the use of video. SchoolTube content is student and teacher produced, and is approved through an innovative process.

 And last one is the link to other sites where you can find more tutorials.

* 47 Alternatives to Using YouTube in the Classroom

Among these sites I miss only 'Teachers Tv' which is unfortunately closed, though you can find some of the tutorials at 'Teach Find' site which is a search site to find teaching resources, lesson plans and CPD materials using a simple search tool.

Use of Google Earth in classroom

'Google Earth' is useful for many day-to-day and other purposes. This article is very useful for students or teachers who want to make use of this helpful online tool.
Teachers can adopt Google Earth in the classroom for lesson planning, such as teaching students geographical themes (location, culture, characteristics, human interaction, and movement).
Students can use Google Earth to explore topics like the progress of human civilization, the growth of cities, the impact of civilization on the natural environment, and the impact of natural disasters like Hurricane Katrina.

What is Google Earth?

How to adopt brain gym in classroom to boost skills among students?

I am adopting brain gym exercises before starting my class and noticed that these simple body movements help students become more focused for the learning. Brain gym is most effective when used in the classroom as part of the learning process. These physical activities help the chemical and electrical processes which take place during mental and physical efforts.

Brain gym is the easiest and fastest way to shift students from scattered to focused, from confused to clear, and from tense to relaxed. A typical classroom experience lacks the quantity of movement required for healthy physiological development. Brain gym can be effective in changing attitudes and the classroom atmosphere;

 To be successful, it is important
* that the teacher is confident with the Brain Gym exercises and has an understanding of underlying concepts on which Brain Gym is based;
* any initial resistance to using the exercises by students feeling embarrassed is recognised.

When to apply brain gym?
These and other brain training exercises are especially effective for children with learning difficulties. A good time to perform them is right before learning activities. It seems your students are too lethargic and need a bit of revitalization to be ready for learning Or when you see they are too nervous and restless so that they can calm down... and you as well!

Centralization: These are mostly relaxation exercises which help to reestablish the neural networks between brain and body and, this way, facilitating the passage of electromagnetic flow through the body.

Brain buttons: One hand massages two spots below the clavicle while the other rests on the navel. The movements stimulates the carotid artery and this way enhances the blood flow to the brain.
It activates the brain for:
• reading skills

• memorization.                                                                                  
 Earth buttons: One hand fingers rest on the lower lip while the others stay on the pubic bone. While having the sensation of a better connection between the upper and lower parts of the body the students feels more stable and centered.
It improves:
• reading skills.
 Balance buttons: These buttons reestablish balance in every dimension: left-right, above-under, behind-before. The student massages the spot where the skull is attached to the neck and, at the same time, the navel.
It improves the next learning skills:
• critical and decisional capacities
• spelling accurateness
• Maths calculations.
 Space buttons: One hand rests on the upper lip while the other lays on the back-bone.
It activates the brain for:
• relaxation and concentration
• eye-contact in communication with people
It improves these learning skills:
• focusing during a test
• reading
• motivation and interest.
 The thinking cap: This activity helps the student to focus attention on hearing. It also lessens tension in skull bones. The student gently pulls ears backwards and unrolls them with fingers. They start from the top of the ear, massage them delicately and end on the lobe.
It activates brain for:
• hearing one's voice
• short-term memory
• inner dialogue and thinking .
 Hook-ups: The exercise can be done while standing, sitting or lying down. Students cross the left ankle on the right one. Then they intertwine fingers and bring them near the chest. They close their eyes, breathe deeply for a few minutes and relax. Then students free hands and legs and finger tips touch gently while they keep on breathing deeply.
Hook-ups help:
• mind and body relaxation
 The energetic yawn : Don't get angry at your students if they yawn during English classrooms! Not now that you know that scientific research has proved yawing to be a perfect exercise which brings oxygen to the brain and so enhances learning performances!

Related post: What is brain gym and how to integrate it in classroom to enhance learning abilities of students?

Useful links:

* Brain Gym's Energy Exercises. Energy Exercises help to re-establish neural connections between body and brain.
*  Brain gymnastics therapy can reduce autism symptoms

What is brain gym and how to integrate it in classroom to enhance learning abilities of students?

Teachers can use 'brain gym' activities or exercises to enhance the learning abilities of students. My kids of Nursery class love brain gym exercises and I ask them to do it usually before starting my maths class. I have noticed that when students are introduced to brain gym, kids become more focused and more enthusiastic for learning.

What is Brain Gym?
Brain Gym was developed in the 1980s by Dr. Dennison, an American teacher with an interest in the effect of movement on his students’ ability to learn.

Brain gym is an energising program of movement designed to release tense muscles, improve brain and body communication, create a state of active relaxation, and improve concentration, organisation and co-ordination.
Brain Gym movements prepare the brain and nervous system for optimal performance. They are ideal for anyone undertaking a learning activity.                                      

This movement-based system activates and integrates the brain and body by:

* Enhancing learning ability and academic performance
* Balancing emotion and behavior
* Improving physical coordination and sports performance and
* Developing an overall state of wellness and momentum in any area of life

Those educators who have incorporated the techniques and activities into their classrooms report good results.

How to integrate Brain gym into the classroom?

• Many exercises can be performed while sitting at a desk. Children can be taught to engage in them when they feel their attention drifting or when they are feeling fatigued.
• These exercises can be done as a group during a lesson break.
• Brain gym helps in developing motor coordination and skills to follow directions.

Benefits of brain gym for learning:

* Academic skills - for example, reading, writing, spelling and maths
* Memory, concentration and focus
* Physical co-ordination and balance
* Communication skills and language development
* Self-development and personal stress management
* The achievement of goals - both professional and personal

This movement-based system offers additional assistance to children with learning difficulties and helps them achieve the best of success in their academic paths.

Useful links:

* Brain exercises that keep your brain sharp

* http://www.poipassion.com/DyslexiaBrainGym.htm

* Brain Gym International

* Brain and Body Connection

* Brain Gym - Simple Body Movements to Boost Learning Process

* Brain buttons

What is Pygmalion Effect and How Teachers Can Use It to Achieve Better Performance Among Students?

We know that more positive you are in your approach towards your career or teaching, more successful and a better teacher you are. So having believe in what you are doing reflects in your behaviour and your dealing with students. Having faith that your students are cabable of doing better brings positive results and it is the term called ‘The Pygmalion effects’.

According to the definition by wikipedia: The Pygmalion effect, or Rosenthal effect, refers to the phenomenon in which the greater the expectation placed upon people, often children or students and employees, the better they perform. The effect is named after Pygmalion, a Cypriot sculptor in a narrative by Ovid in Greek mythology, who fell in love with a female statue he had carved out of ivory.

Robert Rosenthal and Lenore Jacobson (1968/1992) report and discuss the Pygmalion effect at length. In their study, they showed that if teachers were led to expect enhanced performance from some children, then the children did indeed show that enhancement.

Research clearly depicts that teacher expectations can have both positive and negative effects on student learning and achievement. Ormrod (1999) insists that expectations influence the ways in which teachers evaluate students, behave toward students, and make decisions about students.

When teachers expect students to do well and show intellectual growth, they do; when teachers do not have such expectations, performance and growth are not so encouraged and may in fact be discouraged in a variety of ways. In the famous Oak School experiment, teachers were led to believe that certain students selected at random were likely to be showing signs of a spurt in intellectual growth and development. At the end of the year, the students of whom the teachers had these expectations showed significantly greater gains in intellectual growth than did those in the control group. This was especially pronounced in first and second graders and in fifth and sixth graders, though less so in third and fourth grade students

James Rhem, executive editor for the online National Teaching and Learning Forum, commented:

"When teachers expect students to do well and show intellectual growth, they do; when teachers do not have such expectations, performance and growth are not so encouraged and may in fact be discouraged in a variety of ways."

Praising your child results in that your child will believe that they are intelligent, it will become part of who they believe they are and they will act accordingly and you will find that this belief has a positive impact on those areas of your child’s school work that they may not doing as well as they could be.

Your child’s belief that they are intelligent will raise their performance in all areas of school life as they act on that belief. Not only teachers but parents can use it achieve better performance in all phases of life.

Useful links:

* The Pygmalion Effect: A Dramatic Study in the Classroom
* Pygmalion In The Classroom

First published at 'Factoidz'

Online useful resources for teachers and learning Part-1

I am writing these few posts about online resources (mostly free) for teachers. This series of posts about useful resources would continue till I gather most links to share with you, so subscribe to the blog to get updated posts, so don't miss the upcoming articles.

* The Really Big List of Classroom Management Resources:
Monmouth University graduate students worked hard for whole one week scouring the entire Internet, and this list is many of the best that cyberspace has to offer.

Link: The Really Big List of Classroom Management Resources

* The Really Useful List of Fill-in-the-Blank Web Tools for Teachers and Students:

If you are looking for ways to make good use of the Internet in your classroom then the treasure trove of mostly fill-in-the-blank tools may be just what you need to get started. It includes tools, forms, templates, checklists, and interactive activities that will enable you generate Web sites, lessons, puzzles, rubrics, projects, games and a whole lot more.

10 valiant members of the Monmouth University online course, ED 554 OL Modern Educational Practices, worked night and day to bring you an impressive list of practical tools and resources you might really use in K-12 classrooms.

Link: The Really Useful List of Fill-in-the-Blank Web Tools for Teachers and Students

* Blogging, Web and Wiki Tools: These tools can be used to create blogs, web pages/sites and wikis as well as provide interactivity, RSS feeds, forms web polls, etc through a range of widgets and plugins
Link: Centre for Learning & Performance Technologies

Explore the Web for valuable research information.

I love to score the web for valuable information. During this search I came across many online resources which are difficult to find our with normal search. This post offers useful and valuable links for educators, students, librarian's, families, businesses and every person who love to browse the net. 

* 'LibrarySpot.com'  is a resource for online research by offering library and reference sites. 

More about the site (In their own words)

'Sites featured on LibrarySpot.com are hand-selected and reviewed by our editorial team for their exceptional quality, content and utility. Published by StartSpot Mediaworks, Inc. in the Northwestern University/Evanston Research Park in Evanston, Ill., LibrarySpot.com is the first in a family of vertical information portals designed to make finding the best topical information on the Internet a quick, easy and enjoyable experience. 

To date, LibrarySpot.com has received more than 30 awards and honors. 

Most recently, Forbes.com selected LibrarySpot.com as a "Forbes Favorite" site, the best in the reference category, and PC Magazine named it one of the Top 100 Web Sites. LibrarySpot.com has been featured on CNN, Good Morning America, CNBC and in many other media outlets.'

-  'HomeworkSpot.com' is a sister site of 'LibrarySpot' and is a valuable source for students, parents and educator.

It offers free homework information portal that features the very best K-12 homework-related sites together with engaging editorial in one high-utility, educational spot. With the help of students, parents and teachers, their team of educators, librarians and journalists has scoured the Web to bring you the best resources for English, math, science, history, art, music, technology, foreign language, college prep, health, life skills, extracurricular activities and much more. For your convenience, we have made every effort to organize these resources into grade-appropriate categories for elementary, middle and high school.

* 'Digital Librarian'  is an online resource from Margaret Vail Anderson, a librarian in Cortland, New York, offering best of the web sites around the net. Home page shows topics which takes you to another page with lots of more useful links and resources. 

* 'The British Library'  offers 14 million books, 920,000 journal and newspaper titles, 58 million patents, 3 million sound recordings, and so much more.

* 'Awesome Library' organizes the Web with 37,000 carefully reviewed resources, including the top 5 percent in education.

* 'Virtual Learning Resource Center'

thousands of the best academic information websites, selected by teachers and library professionals worldwide, in order to provide to students and teachers current, valid information for school and university academic projects!

The Virtual LRC is both a dedicated index of over 10,000 web pages maintained by a real human being, as well as a meta-search engine that includes in its results information gleaned from many of the best research portals and university and public library Internet subject guides recommended by teachers and librarians.

The VLRC includes selected sites in a growing list of subject/information areas including: full-text magazines, newspapers, electronic text archives, art history, biography, biology, career information, psychology, history, government information, literature, medical information, social sciences, legal information, American Civil War, Art, Careers, Crime, Directories, Economics, Education, English Language, Electronic Texts, Foreign Languages, Geography, Genealogy, Government Information,Health/Medical, History, Legal Information, Lesson Plans, Literature, Mathematics, Music, Reference, Science, Technology, Tutorials on the Web, and Writing Style Guides. 

* 'Access my library'  offers free access to premium content you can trust. Browse and read over 30 million articles for business, education, and general research needs – absolutely free! 

Their goal (In their own words)

Our goal is to help you access information from credible sources while making the offerings of local libraries more accessible. We do this by using our technology to help people find this content, which search engines usually cannot access. 

AccessMyLibrary also includes articles from HighBeam Research, which is a part of the Gale family. HighBeam offers even more research content, including access to archives from more than 6,500 publications.

* 'Resource yourself' 

is a blog with resources of interest to information professionals, educators and journalists. It is a blog so unlike other sites you need to start search from 'categories' links.

'Spark Notes' -helping students in school work

The best way of helping students in school work is to get guides, helping notes, extra study material, flash cards, and quiz questions to check the knowledge about specific topic.

For school and college going students, 'Spark Notes' is an awesome home work help site. They help the students understand books, write papers, and study for tests.

Mission: (In their own words)
"To help you make sense of confusing schoolwork. We are well qualified to lend a hand: we're graduates of top schools, we have advanced degrees galore, we've taught undergraduate and graduate classes, and we've edited books on Shakespeare, The Scarlet Letter, and the SAT. We work with experts to create books, blogs, quizzes, and flashcards that will help you master hard material."

What they offer:

- More than 500 guides for English literature and Shakespeare, and a vast number of guides for history, math, biology, and other subjects. These guides include quick quizzes, so you can test your retention before the test.

- No Fear Shakespeare: No Fear Shakespeare provides side-by-side translations of Shakespeare into plain English. No Fear Shakespeare is available online and in book form.

- Test Prep: We provide books and online content to prepare you for the SAT, ACT, AP Subject Tests, and GRE.

- Flashcards: These online flashcards will help you study for biology, history, literature, and SAT and ACT vocabulary.

- Miss Marm: Miss Marm, our writing expert, answers your questions, hosts fiction contests, and explains tricky grammar rules on her blog. She also tweets writing tips and news MissMarm.

- SparkTests: Learn amazing facts about yourself with their collection of SparkTests.

- SparkLife: Their blog, SparkLife, helps explain school and life with posts about homecoming, lunch, teachers, and procrastinating techniques; thoughtful advice on stupid boy/girlfriends; quizzes and polls; original articles from high school students; and blogs on Twilight, Lord of the Flies, and other popular books.

Another video sharing site for educators and students

'Teacher Tube' and 'Teachers tv' are the best video sharing sites and millions of people around the world use these kind of video sharing sites.

Now its time for 'School Tube' which is for K-12 schools and where Videos and pictures are student produced and moderator approved, The result is an appropriate site for school use.

For a teacher, it helps to see what other schools are doing.
For students it provides the opportunity to easily view work produced by other students from all across the world.

How the media is uploaded on the site?

The SchoolTube platform allows students to upload media.
An email is sent to a moderator informing them that the media is available to be viewed for approval. Only after the media has been approved by the moderator is it available for viewing on the site.

SchoolTube can be used by students, teachers, administrators, and school-related associations.

How students can use 'School tube'?

Students can use it to share media from school, about school, just for fun, or just to showcase academic, sports, and club events to family, friends, and the world!

Teachers can use it to share media right from their classroom, to integrate technology into their curriculum, to learn from recognized educational leaders, to share concepts, ideas, and lesson plans with other teachers,

SchoolTube is for principals:

who want to support their teachers, students, and community. interested in utilizing safe, moderated media onto the school's website. who want to keep up with national educational organizations and activities. to post welcome videos or pictures from their building administrators for parents and students.

Parents can help their child encourage to share media via this platform.

'School Tube' is FREE.

Videos on SchoolTube show the possibilities of what can be done in the classroom, and are a great learning and motivation tool for your entire student body. From sports to drama, assemblies to clubs, and academics to activities, you are sure to find an assortment of new student and teacher created content on it daily,

Link: 'School Tube'

How teachers can learn the use of internet effectively?

It seems very easy to say that we are good in surfing the net or know a lot about 'internet' world. But being an internet surfer and user for more than 6 years, I feel that I am still an infant at the world wide web. There is a lot to learn at it and most important thing is that you need to learn the effective use of it. Now internet has opened doors for students and parents as well. Teachers can easily learn the effective use of internet for their schools or classrooms.

'Internet for classrooms' is created to offer free internet resouces to use in classroom. It is used by teachers, parents and students of all ages. internet4classrooms.com has a huge collection of educational links: free worksheet sites, free software, interactive activities and much more. They answer requests for help, concerns, or anything you want to write about.

They also offer online tutorials for teachers to help them integrate technology in classrooms.

Site link: internet4classrooms.com

Download free 'Home work Toolkit'

There are lots of tips and ideas which can help students do their home work efficiently. These tips can help teachers and parents guide their children in completing the home work successfully.

'Homework Toolkit' is free offer from 'Soar study skills' which is site offering help for students, teachers and parents. This 'Homework Toolkit' includes a variety of resources to help you and/or your child get started on the path to homework success.

This comprehensive guide will help you identify specific homework problems and introduce you to many time-saving techniques.

This kit includes:

* Homework Scorecard
Can you use a homework tune-up? Use this scorecard to see how you measure up and to identify the specific study skills that are best suited for you.

* 25 Ways to Make Homework Easier…Tonight!
This insightful guide is filled with tips and tricks that can help ease homework hassles immediately. Pick two to try tonight, then two more for tomorrow night, etc. A few simple strategies can make life much easier!

* Homework Inventory for Parents
Filled with some of the most common homework frustrations we hear from parents, this inventory helps parents identify their specific needs. Then, it provides some tips about how those problems can be turned around into positive homework experiences.

* Homework eNewsletter
Once a month, you will receive practical newsletter with helpful tips for managing homework. Some articles are written specifically for parents and others specifically for students, but they are always relevant for anyone who has to deal with homework!

- 'Download page link'

"Shambles.net" - A useful resource for teachers, students and parents

There are many online useful resources for teachers, students and parents but you need to search at specific search engines which are typically for education purposes. Searching at regular search engines like google, yahoo may bring millions or results which are not practical to get the required information within short time. This blog is created just to keep all the necessary information and links at one place. And my intention is to share it with students, parents and teachers as well.

Shambles.net is designed to support the international school communities (teachers, support staff, administrators, students and families) in 17 countries in South East Asia. This site offers particular help to families that are moving or living in S.E.Asia and are looking for education opportunities for their children.

It provides links to over 20,000 education websites which will save your time when looking for resources on the internet. You an browse or use the search facility. Many of the more than 25,000+ links to other educational websites have been put on this site by teachers.

Shambles gets between 10,000 and 20,000 'HITS' most days.

The 'Education Project Asia (TEPA)' is a consultancy established in 2002 with the aim of offering support to the international schools in 17 countries in South East Asia.

Link to other pages of the site: 'Educational games'

* The 'Shambles' newsletter is emailed out three times a year in February, May and November.
It contains information and news that will be of specific interest to members of the International Schools Community in seventeen countries in South East Asia.

To subscribe send a blank email to: newsletter-subscribe@shambles.net

You can also read archived newsletter at 'this link'

Exploring the environment - A resource for teachers and students

"Exploring the environment" offers teachers interactive ways to teach students about weather systems. It is one of the sites which helps teachers explore environment issues with their students for grades 5-12 and each activity indicates the applicable grade level, though most lean toward the upper grades. Geography teachers can use this link for activity based teaching and suggest their students to prepare their

The homepage for modules and activites has a jigsaw puzzle graphic with pieces interlocking that compromise the topics, their grade ranges, whether they are an activity or lesson, and whether they are "Basic", "Comprehensive" or "Advanced".

The two "Activities" available "Strangers in Paradise" and "Mars Landing" are located on the homepage at the top of the jigsaw puzzle graphic. Both are for grades 7-12, and each emphasizes working with digital images, such as enhancing, saving, manipulating, etc.

Detailed instructions are provided, along with a bit of humor in each scenario. Each of the lessons involves a situation that students must solve.
Some of the lessons include:
- "Florida Everglades",
- "Water Quality", and
- "Tropical Poison"
There is also a "Glossary" provided in a link at the bottom of the page, specific to each lesson.

Students can start browsing from the page: Modules and activities

The "Classroom of the Future" and "Exploring the Environment" is collaboration between NASA and Jesuit Wheeling University, and they are responsible for this fine website that offers teachers unique ways to teach students about weather systems.

* Get access to teachers pages

Related post:
"Tox Town"- educating us about environment health concerns

"The Why Files" - An interactive and informative site for science teachers and students

Teachers and students can both search 'The Why Files' site for science topics help. This a FREE resource without any advertisement so you can browse the site or bookmark it for you.

The Why Files is a non-profit, web-based source of entertaining and informative science information. Founded in 1995 by the National Institute for Science Education and funded by the Graduate School of the University of Wisconsin-Madison since 1998, The Why Files has helped pioneer the art of reaching web audiences with salient, accurate, and accessible science stories.

Each week the site features clearly written, often humorous, and always fact-checked stories explaining the science behind the news. News hooks are the headlines; stories range from 800 to 3,500 words and are richly illustrated with photographs, drawings, and tables. Each story includes links to relevant web sites and a bibliography with further information.

While traditional journalistic standards, snappy writing, and timely reporting have helped The Why Files achieve international recognition, it is the non-parochial approach to science writing that sets its apart from most university science web sites and has helped to attract a diverse reader base. Instead of focusing on Wisconsin stories, we consciously avoid them. Science goes far beyond a single institution to form a foundation of modern society. Our mission is to help people realize the critical nature of science; such an understanding ultimately benefits our university as well.

The Why Files is well-researched, educational descriptions of the actual science behind current news stories from the University of Wisconsin

Mission(In their own words)
'The mission of The Why Files is to explore the science, math and technology behind the news of the day, and to present those topics in a clear, accessible and accurate manner. We are based at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, but The Why Files covers science at all institutions that engage in scientific exploration and discovery. We hope this information will help explain the relationship between science and daily life.'

What you can get from the site?

- The Why Files produces a new story each week, alternating longer features with shorter shorties.
- A biweekly column by science reporter Tom Siegfried, a series of interactive science animations, the ever-popular "Cool Science Images," and
- A series of Teacher Activity Pages linked to the national science standards.


PC Magazine's editors says: "With tons of articles and activities, the Why Files will take you from ignorance to expertise in dozens of subjects."

Why Files articles includes classroom activities! Each article is equipped with a "teacher activities page" featuring relevant discussion questions, activities, quiz and links to national teaching standards. This free resource is designed to help teachers lead students to a deeper understanding of the scientific material covered in each article.
Few titles are:
Miracle of winged migration
Ultimate Storm: What are hurricanes?
Science Meets Sports
Radiation and Health: What Do We know?
Forensic Science: Bugs, Maggots and DNA
Heating the Home Planet
Volcanic Violence
Stem Cell Progress
Tornadoes: Power & Fury
Mosquito Madness
Tsunami Times 3
Polar Science
Heart Bypass Surgery: Up Close and Personal

- Teacher's activities page

Join the mailing list to get their weekly notice, by submitting your e-mail address at this page link

If you have a general science question, you can search at "archieves" link,

look at this page to search for your answer. Or you can submit your question at this page

Free Micro-Blogging Site For Teachers and Students

New age requires us to adopt the learning procedure in tech ways, like use of blogging or micro-blogging to make teaching and learning easier. Young generation is now addicted to computers and internet, and if teachers or parents are successful in proper use of these mediums, they would be able to divert the attention of our children towards learning.

Edmodo is a private micro-blogging platform built for use by teachers and students. It’s not only a great way to introduce microblogging to students in a safe environment, but it’s also a great communication tool. At this platform teachers and students can use itto send notes, links, files, alerts, assignments, and events to each other.

Let's learn first what is 'micro-blogging'?

According to Wikipedia: Micro-blogging is a form of blogging that allows users to write brief text updates (usually up to 140 characters) and publish them, either to be viewed by everyone or if chosen by the user, a select group. the ease of use that microblogging platforms provide makes it a better way to communicate with students than the tradition blogging platform. Traditional blogging platforms are designed to communicate long posts to a large group of people.

Microblogging platforms are really designed for interaction and communication in short posts and we feel that is an advantage to a teacher in getting their students to interact in classroom activities.

Use of Edmodo in the classroom

Teachers can use it to post daily assignments, and students can use it to answer questions regarding the assignments.
A lot of teachers have students find articles to bring to class. Now a teacher could have the student submit a link to the articles in Edmodo instead of printing them out.
Teachers can plan on using it to have students submit their assignments through Edmodo.
It can used as a tool for managing communication with other committee members or other school teachers.

You are able to attach files, embed links, or even turn a basic post into an assignment or event complete with date metadata. Very easy to send out an assignment along with attachment out to a specific class of your students.

you could send your contact information and office hours to ALL of your classes. Or send a video to your after school club for them to enjoy. You get the idea. Lots of control here.
Students can save specific messages in their ‘locker’ to refer back to later. Assignments and events hang around and will appear conveniently in the sidebar when their associated dates are coming up.

How does it work?
Teachers sign up for accounts, and then create groups. Each group has a unique code which is distributed by the teacher to the class. Students then sign up (no email address required) and join the group using the code.

More at: faq

Related posts:

* Links for teachers to start educational blogs

* Effective use of Blogging in education

* Practice Of Blogging In Classroom

'Kids Cant Wait' - Helping Students Graduate With Needed Skills

High school graduation is an important step which prepares students for further higher studies and jobs as well. But how many of all graduates are successful in getting good grades for higher studies or good jobs?

Reality is that most of the students are not sufficiently skilled for the future life. The question is,

Why we need 'skill' development for high school students?

It is commonly observed that most of the students who graduate from high school lack the skills needed to do well in college or in a job.
- Many high school graduate end up in second class jobs because employers screen new employees with 6th grade English and Math tests and most of them can't pass the screen tests.
- Some college students have to appear for remedial courses because they fail freshman placement tests.

So we as a parents or teachers have to provide our support to students that they would have access to effective extra academic programs (especially in English and math) and graduate with the skills they need.

Kidscantwait.org is a campaign to help high school students graduate with skills.

The site will provide extra academic resources.

Moreover it will feature:(In their own words)

•A statewide directory of in-school and extended-time academic programs with descriptions and contact information.

•A Business Honor Roll of businesses who support local extra academic time programs for high school students by providing funding or other resources such as mentors, tutors, and summer jobs scheduled around extra help programs.

•Regional Business Forums: These forums, held across the state this spring with state officials, educators, and business leaders, will highlight local school and business-supported programs, enlist new business partners, and marshal local support.

•Community Media Outreach: At local editorial board meetings with school superintendents, businesspeople, community leaders, and legislators, we will highlight local efforts underway in our schools and advocate for increased focus on students who need help.

Tips to help children with learning disabilities

Determining whether your child has a learning disability is a complicated process. But after realizing that your child has some kind of learning disability, you can inform the teacher at the school so they can better handle the situation. This article is particulary helpful for teachers who want to help the students with learning disablities.


As a parent and especially a teacher, you can help your child have a more appropriate sense of themselves by reassuring them that there are specific reasons for their behaviors and sharing with them what the realities are of their particular and unique abilities.


Ways to help a student with a learning disability succeed at school


* Accommodations - these can be as simple as being seated in the front row, having extra time on tests, or can involve electronic equipment and auxiliary personnel
Compensatory strategies - ways to use their cognitive strengths to offset weaknesses. If they have poor auditory memory but strong visual memory, have them draw or write down the instructions

* Special education - instruction taught by specially trained personnel in smaller classes which focuses on working on specific skills
* Self-advocacy skills - empowering students to ask for what they need in order to learn in the most effective way. Motivate the child to ask questions if they don’t understand the instructions

Working with your child at home

When you work with your child at home on academic and life skills, you help them recognize their own strengths and increase their self-esteem. Examples of activities you can implement at home fall into several categories – accommodations, organization, critical thinking, and emotional support.

Ways to cope

- Take frequent breaks when doing homework
- Know your child’s primary learning style and adjust accordingly. For more information on primary learning styles see Helpguide’s article: Learning Disabilities – Types, Symptoms and Interventions - Accommodate for the child’s primary learning style by allowing them to pace around, listen to background music, attach visual displays to the walls, or wear earplugs or headphones if distracted by noise
- Provide a computer for written assignments if the child has difficulty writing
Organization
- Model and teach them how to make “to do” lists and prioritize their homework
Set aside a regular time each week for organizing workspace, belongings, schoolwork, and activities; make a game of it or provide a reward
- Give your child a task that requires organization: grocery shopping required for a recipe, planning a birthday party on a budget, using a map to figure out the route from one place to another.

Critical thinking

- Play games of strategy
- Talk about current events and ideas with multiple points of view
- Encourage all sorts of age-appropriate reading and writing

Emotional support

- Praise your child for the positive qualities they exhibit during the whole process of doing homework not just when they finish their homework
- Engage them in social problem-solving: how to resolve conflicts with friends, teachers, and kids who may be bothering them at school
- Encourage activities that your child enjoys and excels in
- Keep open lines of communication so your child feels comfortable discussing feelings with you
- Regulate your stress and help your children learn to regulate theirs
(Helpguide’s article: Coping with Stress: Management and Reduction Techniques)
- Let your children know that you enjoy their company by playing and talking with them. It’s important not to ignore other children in the family. Many activities geared for learning disabled children can include and benefit children without disabilities as well.

Source link: Help Guide

Related posts:

* "Ld Online"- A site helping us learn about learning disablities

* Art and craft activities help children with learning disabilities

* Learn about "Children with learning disablities

Practice Of Blogging In Classroom

Many educational institutions or teachers are aware of the power and affects of "Blogging" for educational purposes but they don't know where to start. I hope that this article would help the students or teachers interested for use of blogging in classroom.

Blogs for Learning, is an online resource about instructional blogging. The site provides students and instructors with information and resources about the technical and pedagogical aspects of blogging in the classroom.

Blogs for Learning was originally conceived by Dr. Ethan Watrall and Dr. Nicole Ellison as a robust online resource designed for students and instructors who are interested in the theory and practice of blogging within an educational setting.

The goal of Blogs for Learning is to provide information and resources as to the technical, legal, and pedagogical aspects of blogging in the classroom. The design of the Blogs for Learning site was carefully conceived to be elegant, highly standards compliant and very forward thinking.

Blogs for Learning was created with the generous support from the College of Communication Arts and Sciences and the Department of Telecommunications, Information Studies, and Media at Michigan State University.

Articles section contains very useful articles which can be downloaded easily either for reading or printing.

Few titles are:

- Student Blogging - What You Should Know

- Blogging for Large Classes

- Using Blogs in a College Classroom: What's Authenticity Got To Do With It?

* There are many tutorials which are in a flash presentation format, so you just have to sit, relax, watch the videos and learn about "Blogging". (Section is not working for the time being, but hope that it would be updated soon)

Read their "blog" for useful and latest articles.

Related links and posts:

- Use second generation web technologies so you can be at the forefront of transforming learning in your school at The Why 2 of Web 2.0

- Benefits of classroom Blogging?

- Classroom Blogging: More than Just Tech Ed

- A blog about career development, technology and learning strategies: The Bamboo Project

- A blog about Teaching and Learning in the 21st Century.
'Learning Blog'

- Links for teachers to start educational blogs

- Effective use of Blogging in education