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Sure, your phone plays music, surfs the Web, sends email, and has GPS capability (and you can, you know, talk to people with it, too). That stuff is cool, don’t get me wrong, but we’ve only scratched the surface of what these handheld powerhouses can do. Now, with one simple download, you can give your phone some extra power you can use in the classroom thanks to gWhiz.

gWhiz is a suite of mobile learning tools that includes a powerful graphing calculator, a personalized reference library, and a flash card application. If Little Johnny wants to email his friends the graph of a tricky equation, he can do it straight from his phone. Create custom reference guides for an upcoming test on state capitals. Students will be able to get a lot of mileage from these apps, and they’ll always be within easy reach.

Now, the bad news. Right now, gWhiz is only available for BlackBerry phones. They’re working on adding more phone compatibility, though, including Google’s upcoming Android mobile phone platform. Maybe by the time summer vacation is over I can add gWhiz to my Motorola Razr (or maybe not). If you don’t have a BlackBerry, you may want to check back in a few months to see when gWhiz will be compatible with your phone.

Schools can really benefit from enhanced phone technology, since these devices are small, increasingly powerful, and within the price range of many students’ families. Applications like gWhiz can leverage this technology to create a powerful learning tool within the palm of every student’s hand. -BILL FERRIS

gWhiz

Do your students need to study more? Okay, probably a dumb question. How about this one - do you have students who need to learn how to study? Some kids are better at studying than others. Fortunately, by imparting study skills, you can teach kids more effective ways to learn. A great place to start? How-to-Study.com.

Note: make sure to include the hyphens, as howtostudy.com is a much different site (I haven’t reviewed it, so I couldn’t tell you if it’s better or worse).

At How-to-Study.com you can find strategies for overcoming the most tricky subjects students face, including word problems in math, long spelling words, writing research papers, as well as abstract skills like setting goals, time management, and good listening skills. All the study strategies are thorough and free.

With How-to-Study.com, your students can learn to take more effective notes  so they’ll be ready for your upcoming multiple choice test (the site has strategies for those, too). -BILL FERRIS

How-to-Study.com

Related Stuff:
Help Your Struggling Spellers with These Great Tips
End the Cornfusion with Cornell Notes

Do your students struggle on spelling tests? For every easy word like “cat” or “dog” you have tricky ones like “perceive” or “through.” It’s as if the English language were designed to fool people. “I before E except after C?” Capricious and arbitrary, if you ask me. And why would you have silent letters? Are they spares in case other letters in the word break down?

Education.com has a few spelling tips designed for teachers and parents in their article, The Fast Track to Spelling Success. One method they advocate is the “Look, Say, Cover, Write, Check,” method:

“Ask your child to write his spelling words in the first column, one underneath the other.

• Look. Ask your child to look at the word and read it aloud. For example, “friend”
• Say. Then spell the word letter by letter while continuing to look at it. “f-r-i-e-n-d”
• Cover. Your child should now cover the word “friend” (either with her hand, another piece of paper or by folding that column underneath the others) and try to write “friend” in the second column, without looking at the first column.
• Check. Now, have your child check her work by comparing the first column with the second column. If it’s correct, move on to the second word. If it’s incorrect, ask her to repeat the steps, this time trying to write “friend” in the third column.”

The article also has other ideas for different learning styles. My favorite, designed for the kids who can’t sit still, is to have them practice spelling while doing a physical activity, such as jumping rope, shouting out a letter with each jump (also a good way to burn off some of their extra energy).

All the methods listed in this article require lots of practice. However, if you follow their advice, that practice will be more productive - and more fun. -BILL FERRIS

The Fast Track to Spelling Success via education.com

Counting your Blessings: 5 Ways to Increase Happiness - I know that this probably doesn’t apply to you, but if you are the least bit unhappy, there might be some info here that will turn your frown upside down. Via Goodlife Zen (I know, what a wretch-worthy great title for a blog), this list will help you realize how important gratitude is in both giving and receiving.

The Top 10 Qualities Of A Good Teacher - Here’s something wonderfully relevant and perfect for you. Sure, there are probably hundreds off qualities that make a good teacher, but the blog Ripples of Improvement has boiled it down to the top 10. How many do you exhibit? (Also, surprisingly not on the list: a sense of humor. Hmm.)

100 Best First Lines from Novels - Not that I’ve read 100 novels, but someone surely has. Check out American Book Review’s list of the best of the initiations in fiction. If nothing else, these might inspire you to think of some of your own, and they might prove to be great prompts for students. Anything’s better than “It was a dark and stormy night…” (My personal fav: “All this happened, more or less.” -KV)

Top 100 Tools for Learning Spring 2008 - Again, a very topical and appropriate list for you teachers and learners. There might not be much new on here that you aren’t already using or have at least heard of, but maybe now is the time you start to use them to your advantage. Courtesy of Centre for Learning & Performance Technologies.

Alas, this might be my last MBTN for a little while, but I’m confident in my co-authors to bring you the best of the web in numbered list form at the beginning of each week. If they don’t you let me know, friends. -JEREMY S. GRIFFIN

(photo via: solar ikon on flickr.)

Welcome to your romantic and eerily educentric Valentine’s Day date. But will it end in love, tears, or possibly food poisoning from an undercooked Valentine’s dinner? These kind educators were gracious enough to share their Valentine’s Day experiences:

Dinner and a Movie: Benjamin Baxter at On the Tenure Track invites you to a live recreation of Saving Private Ryan in his own classroom.

Dining by Candlelight: Larry Ferlazzo at In Practice and Eric at Teachers Call say teachers should include more modern means of illuminating young minds.

Set the Mood with Music: Alvaro at SharpBrains says musical training stimulates the brain. Meanwhile, Creating Lifelong Learners tells you how to make the most of your iPod in class.

Send a Valentine’s Card: Ms. Cornelius says principals who care, trust and lead by example are sooo her type.

Like Romeo and Juliet, Minus the Suicide: The Bard Blog knows there’s no better way to woo someone than with poetry. Learn how to read Shakespearean verse like a true Romeo.

Even More Poetry: Eduwonkette has the same idea. Send your Valentine a funny poem.

On a Budget: American Consumer News has tips on how to get great books for cheap. Speaking of books, Money Blue Book talks about a few things you didn’t know your library could do.

On a Budget, Part II: Uncle Joe’s Leadership Blog tells parents and students how to get a free college education. And Thursday Bram at Wise Bread tells students where to shop when they have to start buying their own textbooks.

Propagating the Species: GrrlScientist at Living the Scientific Life has the skinny on a guide to teaching evolutionary theory.

Lovers’ Quarrel: Mr. Walker, The English Teacher, prompts a heated discussion on tracking.

Kiss and Make Up: Resolve conflicts with colleagues by employing these strategies, courtesy of Pat at Successful Teaching.

Share a Few Laughs: Scenes from The Battleground pokes fun at the idea of blaming the victim in education.

Spend Some Time with Your Kids: TutorFi’s Colleen Palat asks, “Does My Child Need a Tutor?“If so, not to worry. The kid can still excel in school.

Find a Special Someone where you Least Expect It: Joanne Jacobs dishes on Principal Shimon Waronker, a Hasidic Jew, ignoring potential culture shock to turn around a prominently black and Hispanic school.

Watch the Sunrise: Circle Time “Lead From The Start” discusses teaching with both sides of the brain to usher in a new tomorrow in student learning.

Remembering the Way We Were: The Tempered Radical’s Bill Ferriter asked beginning teachers to remind older colleagues they’re still learning how to do this job.

Stand by Your Man (or Woman): Nancy Flanagan, a Teacher in a Strange Land, sticks up for teachers in the face of claims that the professions isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.

Get Some Alone Time: Dana at Principled Discovery doesn’t like the idea of the federal government butting in and bossing around local schools.

Remembering it’s the Thought that Counts: Like many parents reared on New Math, NYC Educator struggles to help his daughter at math. But he’s a dear for trying.

Fending off Suitors: Ms_Teacher isn’t interested in ETS’ insultingly low wages.

Dumped: To MasterPapers.com and CustomEssays.co.uk - We both knew this was coming. Selling essays to students is just wrong, wrong, wrong. And your advice on essay writing is pure fluff. I don’t think we should see each other anymore.

Photo Credit: Candy hearts at cryptogram.com.

Beyond Wikipedia: 20 References You Can’t Do Without - Wikipedia is always a great place to get started on researching a subject, but you can never fully rely on just the information found there. Daily Revolver presents this list of general and subject specific sites and resources to aid you and your students in research.

6 Great Money Saving Tips for Students on a Budget - We all love money, despite its evil nature. Unfortunately for many young adults, the stereotype of being a “starving student” might be all too real. TextLister.com brings us this quick list of tips to cut down on spending superfluously - something we all could probably benefit from.

25 Articles Every Student Should Read - If you are into “hacking” (and I don’t mean enjoying your winter cough) you will probably know most of these ideas already, but check out this list anyway. The article, via StudyHacks, helps those of us who might be looking to tap into that unused part of our brain that helps us, um, think better or something.

Top 10 Web Tools for College Students - OK, so maybe these are directed at college students, but most of the tools here can be used by students of any age. My favorite is Cramster - surprisingly, a homework help forum, not a crocodile/hamster hybrid. Oh well. Thanks Campus Squeeze.

50 Ways To Boost Your Brain Power - So, many of the tips on this list are great, but others are just common sense. Out of the 50, there are quite a few that will help you and your gray matter - choose wisely and avoid the contradictions though. “Drink Red Wine” or “Cut Alcohol Consumption” - you decide. From 4Mind4Life.com. - JEREMY S. GRIFFIN

Photo credit: JCKham on flickr