Today’s MBTN is a little short because I don’t subscribe to the same newsfeeds as Bill, so I apologize and beg for your mercy. These two are about going back to school, which, for a good number of you, is very soon. I’m also going to cheat a little bit by calling them “Back-2-School”. See what I did there? By the numbers!
SAT/ACT vocabulary flash cards are a popular (and totally boring) way to prepare for the most standard of standardized tests. Brainyflix is a site that aims to change the way kids learn and prepare for these daunting exams.
Brainyflix has a list of those pesky SAT vocabulary words, and students create videos or flashcards (in the form of those ubiquitous motivational posters) to define the word. Students are encouraged to be funny and creative while staying true to the mission of defining the word, and there is some great stuff out there. Imagine handing your students a video camera (the Flip is a great one) and sending them off to learn and practice their vocabulary, as opposed to having them labor over dictionaries and index cards! And if you don’t have the resources for students to upload their own creations, you can still learn from what other students have created (and vote on those creations, too!)
Brainyflix also occasionally sponsors contests to drum up submissions. Currently, they are seeking entries for Brainypics (the photo flash cards), and the grand prize is $200 for the student and $200 for a school club or organization. One more advantage over the tedious dictionary lookup method! -GRETCHEN SCHAEFER
Expand your vocabulary with the Princeton Review Vocab Minute
Veni, Vidi…Something. Brush up Your Vocabulary with Latin Flash Cards
What can I say about getting students to study that doesn’t sound ultra-mega cheesy? Or hasn’t already been said a thousand times before? Its two classic struggles: on one side, the teacher who tries to motivate the student into hitting the books; on the other, the Instructify poster trying to put a new spin on it.
My heart really goes out to that second guy — he’s in a tough spot. If he ends up writing something cliché, he might have to take a hard look in the mirror and realize what a middling talent he has become. We don’t need to worry so much for the teacher trying to motivate the student, though. At least they can fall back on these study tips from UnderGradZone.com.
Although these study tips are designed for new college students, what’s to stop you from using these tips in your classroom? You’ll just need to make a couple quick switches in some of the terminology they use. We’re aware that giving students 80+ pages worth of study tips to read is kinda like putting out a fire with rocket fuel, so the best practice might be to divide this up and pass it out over time.
Saturday Night Live had a pretty good sketch recently. In it, the guy from the High School Musical movies returns to his alma mater to impart some of his new-found wisdom. His advice is timeless: school isn’t all singing and dancing and jazz hands. Eventually we all have to grow up and start studying seriously. But don’t ever let them take away your jazz hands. Not. Ever. -NICK YINGLING
StudyTag: study smarter, not harder
Study tips for college: get them straight from the source!
Build Study Skills at How-to-study.com
Photo credit: Treehugger on Flickr.
Students have plenty to worry about: peer pressure, sports teams, dating, which crayon to use for the clouds. They don’t need to hate studying and put it off until the last minute if they learn to study smarter. StudyTag is a site designed to help students do just that. Though StudyTag isn’t the most beautiful site in the world, and the information available is still being populated, the content that is there looks fun and easy to navigate.
The site has lessons and study guides for many different subjects, and offers quizzes and tests so that users can practice their study skills. Also, for you teachers who want to help by adding your own content and lesson plans, you can create a free account and author your own study guides. Authoring content is easy, and StudyTag will help you get started with an easy tutorial. Students can also get a small incentive when they complete each lesson in the form of little trophy icons. StudyTag seems to be a good way for students and teachers to use the web for a great study aide, which is just the sort of thing we love here at Instructify. -JEREMY S. GRIFFIN
Refresh your study habits with Cramberry
The big biology test is tomorrow and you still haven’t studied. As you struggle to find your notes on the genus Vaccinium, you begin to miss the days when study terms were conveniently recorded on flash cards. In an effort to go green, you decided to stop using paper this semester, a decision you now regret while searching aimlessly through files on your laptop. Should you really have to choose between saving the trees and saving your grades?
Thanks to Cramberry, students won’t have to choose between the environment and their GPA. Cramberry can help both! Its virtual flash cards are stored entirely online, and according to the site, they are “700000% smarter than ordinary flash cards. As you study, Cramberry will record your progress on each card, and show you only the cards you’re having difficulty with.” The cards that you create can be used to study for anything, from potential test questions to learning a foreign language. Plus, the site allows you to share sets of cards with your classmates or students. And don’t worry, iPhone users, Cramberry is already working on an application for you.
So throw away your old-fashioned flash cards, or better yet, recycle them! Encourage your students to recycle their old flash cards as well, and embrace the new, refreshing taste of studying with Cramberry. –JIMI RADABAUGH
Photo credit: TAHbKA on flickr
Five Best Note-Taking Tools
Back when I was a student, we had to take notes with a pen and paper. Today’s learners have a lot more options that take advantage of online technology. Lifehacker presents this list of the top five ways to take notes (don’t worry, my trust old pen and paper made the cut).
25 Tools every Learning Professional should have in their Toolbox
Another list of free tools teachers should use. Firefox, Skype, WordPress, all that stuff. You’re probably using a lot of these already. If not…well, this may not be the blog for you.
7 Things You Should Know About Digital Storytelling
Anybody with a video camera and a computer can broadcast a movie to anyone thanks to YouTube. Not surprisingly, smart teachers want to harness this technology for educational purposes. This article from Educause Learning Initiative will give you a good introduction to various forms of digital storytelling and how to use them for teaching and learning.
5 Things We Learned About Teens at TOC
The Publishing Trends Blog presents a fascinating glimpse at how teens use technology, gleaned during the Tools of Change for Publishing conference. Among them, kids don’t care about mastering a piece of software — they won’t sign up for a training seminar on Excel or Photoshop, they just want to know how to use it for the project they’re working on. To quote the article, “they’re concentrated on the outcome, not the tool.” These five discoveries may help you better understand your students’ learning process. -BILL FERRIS
With technology moving as fast as it does, it takes a great website like CyberBee to keep students and educators ahead of the curve. CyberBee has been around for 12 years, and sets a high standard when it comes to how to present information on the web about how students can USE the web.
The site is divided into several areas of activities, each with plenty of video and downloadable documents to supplement them. You can get curriculum ideas in such areas as Language Arts, Social Studies, and even for science fair projects. Explore further and you’ll find plenty of research tools, too.
CyberBee uses resources available on the web to help students learn how to explore and find information online. This is exactly the type of site that will get them prepared for college research as well as build homework and study skills. It’s also a good compendium for teachers to get insight on how to use the web for teaching, and as the site is run by teachers, you know the information you’re getting is legit. There is a lot to explore here, so go see what all the “buzz” is about over at CyberBee. -JEREMY S. GRIFFIN
I’ve got to be honest: one thing that bugs me (perhaps too much) about Soshiku, a brand-new web site that helps students keep track of their homework, is that it’s ad-supported. Must students constantly be marketed to while they’re trying to learn? It’s bad enough that some schools make deals with fast food franchises. But to be fair, the “Ads by Google” that appear at the bottom of the assignment list are discreet, and so far they point to sites that seem relatively legitimate (learninghub.com, tutor.com) instead of to paper mills. And there are many pluses to Soshiku.
For one thing, the interface is big, bright, clean, and simple, with both a calendar and a list of assignments that show when assignments are due. Although Soshiku’s site says that the tool is for “high school or college assignments,” even first- and second-graders could probably use Soshiku, and that might help them develop good organizational habits early. For another thing, Soshiku allows students to have partners for homework assignments, and it can send assignment reminders by e-mail or text message. Assignments can be either “public,” “private,” or “partners only,” which is a good range of options.
Also, whoever develops Soshiku seems to be responsive to user requests, as is apparent from the very active Soshiku blog. There are only about a thousand people using Soshiku right now, which on the one hand means that it’s a relatively untested product, but on the other hand means that you can easily make your voice heard.
One potential obstacle to using Soshiku is that all courses and assignments have to be entered manually, which will probably get old very quickly. But otherwise the site might be a very good option for web-savvy but organizationally challenged students. And who knows? Maybe they’ll appreciate the opportunity to spend some money to “Get Help Now From an Online Tutor.” -AMANDA FRENCH
Develop good habits before you need them
Harness the magic of mass collaboration with GradeGenie
High school teachers work very hard to make sure their students are ready to take the next academic step and enter college with the content knowledge, academic skills, and eagerness to learn that will help them succeed. Still, even the most successful high school students sometimes struggle, at least initially, as they make the transition to more independent learning as post-secondary students, especially since they may not know where to turn for help in a new academic environment.
By pointing your students to the helpful web-based advice of academic skills departments, writing centers, and tutoring programs at various colleges and universities, you can give them access to a lot of great information without having to reinvent the wheel yourself. If you have a student who has trouble with commas in their essays, why not steer them toward a handout from UNC’s Writing Center on that very topic? If one of your students has trouble juggling school, work and extracurricular activities, Harvard has created a list of handouts and links on time management that might be helpful. If tests seem to be the trouble, Duke University’s Academic Resource Center has several PDF handouts on strategies for preparing for, taking, and learning from tests that could make a difference.
Searching the websites of several colleges and universities can help you see what kinds of materials are available, and then you can bookmark the ones that you find most useful to your students. Letting students know about these types of resources can also raise awareness of the kinds of academic support services that are available on most college campuses, helping your students get a head-start on making the most of their own collegiate learning experiences. -KATHRYN WALBERT
Handouts from the Learning Assistance Center at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro
Handouts from the Writing Center at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Duke University’s Academic Skills Instructional Program
Handouts and Video Clips from the Academic Success Center at Purdue University
Self-Help Resources from the Bureau of Study Counsel at Harvard University
Build Study Skills at How-to-study.com
Time to Make Time for Time Management Time
Visit the University of North Carolina on iTunesU
Show Them the Money: Explore Students’ Financial Aid Options
Photo credit: Reset Reboot on flickr
Filesharing via the Internet can provide huge benefits in an academic environment. While the idea of “mass collaboration” might sound scary to administrators — like it could possibly violate every kind of honor code rule in the book — the ability to share class notes, study guides and other class materials can prove beneficial to students and teachers alike.
Since many schools do not already use an Internet-based classroom environment (such as Blackboard ), GradeGenie provides a free and easy way to share useful class materials with students and classmates, by letting both faculty members and students upload non-copyrighted class handouts as well as their own notes and make them available for other students to download. Users can search for information by selecting the school and the course, but can also search by instructor or topic.
With the site, GradeGenie seeks to help students obtain materials that will help them succeed in the course. And while it may not provide your students with the magic they may need to pass your class (as the name might suggest), it will help them wield the power of “mass collaboration.” — LAUREN FROHNE
Keep Students in the Loop on their Grades with GradeMate
Organize Your Notes and Projects with Springnote
Send Files and Keep Your Dignity at drop.io
Image from GradeGenie.com
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
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
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.
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