Instructify

BY JASON DON FORSYTHE

I had a friend in college that had an interesting method of taking tests — he would always bring two pencils and a small wooden dowel. As soon as the test started, the dowel went in the mouth and he started going at that thing like a starving beaver. Truth of the matter, he had serious test anxiety and if he didn’t chew on the dowel, he would start chewing his pencils till they broke in half and he had graphite all over his lips. The dowel just calmed him down and made him able to focus on the test. But what works for one person might not work for the next as there are many different manifestations of anxiety.

If you know students who seem to have real trouble during test time, have them look at Test Anxiety Tips. This site can help students formulate their own strategies for stress-free test taking. The site has a wealth of knowledge about the different types of test anxiety, as well as strategies for dealing with it.

Test Anxiety Tips

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FutureU lightens the load of SAT Prep

BY CHRISTOPHER PANNA

As if the end of holiday break isn’t enough of a bummer, January also means semester exams for many secondary teachers. And despite our efforts to write fair exams, sometimes the grades just don’t turn out as we think they will. Should we use a curve? If you’re looking to make such an adjustment, a math blog called Division by Zero offers a complete guide to curving exam grades.

We may think of curving as something for college professors, and while the blog author is exactly that, the technique is certainly useful at the secondary level, too. Before detailing the process, it starts with a thoughtful introduction about when and why we might consider curving exam grades. There follows an explanation of 10 different ways to curve (eight serious and two humorous), including the pros and cons of each method. It’s an excellent overview that will leave you with plenty of options should your students not quite produce the grades you expect.

For lovers of math, the blog offers plenty of other interesting topics, but this guide would be useful for teachers of any subject. However, in deciding when and how to curve, I’ll echo the blog author’s advice: “Use your judgment. You know the class, and you know the material.”

Then again, there’s always this approach. Happy grading!

How to curve an exam and assign grades

BY KEVIN HODGSON

Is there anything more stressful to a high school junior or senior than having to take the SAT test on a Saturday morning? Maybe it’s more stressful writing the college essay, but surely the SAT is right up there. Kaplan Test Prep has recently released a gaming app for the iPad/iPhone called FutureU. The app is free, although the versions for other platforms (PC, Mac and Nintendo DS) cost money.

FutureU contains reading, writing, and math games. A handful of SAT-style quizzes also help students get into the mode of the standardized SAT test. A nice added bonus is the raft of test-taking strategies and pointers from the Kaplan archives. A progress meter is embedded into the app to keep track of how a user is doing on different skills.

Kaplan makes it clear at that FutureU is not a practice SAT test. “It is a collection of games that are rooted in test prep curriculum and will help the player become familiar with key math, reading and writing elements that they will find on the SAT,” according to Kaplan. Still, it might be worth injecting a little fun into the otherwise-tedious work of preparing for the SAT.

FutureU

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Ditch the flashcards — review with Smart.fm instead

Expanding your vocabulary with VocabSushi never tasted better!

BY JASON DON FORSYTHE

Do your students need to study for that upcoming geography test? Perhaps the SATs are coming up? Well, flashcards are so 1994. It’s time to head over to Smart.fm. Smart.fm is a free learning and review system that is like your own personal study partner — a study partner that happens to have a super-slick multimedia review system in her backpack.

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BY JASON DON FORSYTHE

I am a bit of an oddity in that I enjoyed taking the SAT, ACT, and GRE a great deal. Perhaps I’m just wired for that kind of thing, or maybe I’m a bit of an educational sadist. For many people who aren’t me, though, these tests and the preparation they require causes a great deal of stress and anxiety. If you have students sporting a twitching eye and worn-out appearance due to preparing for a standardized test, perhaps it’s time they checked out VocabSushi.

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BY BILL FERRIS

This week’s MBTN features ways to thwart cheaters in online courses, great web apps for elementary students, and bird evolution in action. More after the jump.

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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

Brainyflix

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Ever thought of moving to a different state, but were unsure of what was required to be a teacher in that state? Well, wonder no more. The Rossier School of Education at the University of Southern California and MAT@USC have created the Certification Map, a dead simple way to find the teacher certification requirements for all 50 states in the Union.

Certification Map is a simple-yet-effective way to determine the requirements needed to become a teacher in your state. Click on any state on the map to see that state’s prerequisite coursework, teacher preparation, and testing requirements to be certified as a teacher. The information sections for each state also include links to each of the state’s testing information. For example, on the page for the sunny state of Florida, you can find links directly to the FLDOE’s certification test registration page — a handy feature indeed. The site also provides information as to whether that  state offers an alternative certification for teachers that don’t have a degree in education.

Be sure to check out each state’s snapshot section, too. The snapshots contain information such as average salaries for elementary and secondary teachers, as well as give an idea of how far above or below that salary is compared to the average salary in the state. Snapshots also include how many weeks of vacation are allotted in each state (15 is apparently the magic number).

Whether you’re already a teacher but looking to move to another state, or you’re not a teacher but want to become one sometime, somewhere, the Certification Map from MAT@USC is a perfect place to start. -JERRY SWIATEK

Certification Map

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Want to know what strikes fear in the hearts of many a student? No, it isn’t the mystery meat in the cafeteria. In fact, it is the verbal section of any standardized test. I mean, how often do high schoolers use the word pertinacious in everyday conversation? Luckily for your students, VerbaLearn is here to make learning that vocabulary list much less tedious.

Once you create a free account, you can build a vocabulary list for the SAT, ACT, GRE, or General Vocabulary. Like any good teacher, VerbaLearn begins with a pre-assessment of your knowledge. It gives you an online quiz in which you either select the best definition, or the best synonym for a given word. It also allows you to specify whether your answer was “just a guess,” or if you’re “pretty sure.” If it was “just a guess,” it automatically goes on your study list. If you were “pretty sure,” you’ll see the word again in the quiz to give a synonym or definition, whichever you didn’t do the first time you saw the word. If you get it right the second time, you won’t see the word again. If you get it wrong, off it goes to your study list.

Once your study list is full, there are several options for study and review. You can continue to review online via fill-in-the-blank sentences, or you can review offline by subscribing to your personal vocabulary list podcast. You get an audio version downloaded to your favorite podcast aggregator that says the word, the definition, and a sentence using the word. All of the aforementioned features are free, though there are several other features such as video flashcards, crossword puzzles, and printed flashcards that you can get if you subscribe to the premium version.

Hopefully, this post has piqued your interest so that you will examine VerbaLearn punctiliously. Your students’ verbal fears will be assuaged as they become verbal gourmands using this website. -REBECCAH HAINES

VerbaLearn

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The 15 Strangest College Courses In America
“Underwater Basket Weaving” is apparently a real class. So is “Philosophy and Star Trek,” “The Science of Harry Potter,” and “Arguing with Judge Judy: Popular ‘Logic’ on TV Judge Shows.” These are actual courses that award actual credit, from universities you’d actually want to go to (Georgetown and UC-Berkley, for instance). Show these to your principal, and maybe your proposed syllabus for “A Study of Physics in Warner Bros. Cartoons” won’t sound so bad.

Top 50 Free Open Courseware Classes to Design Better Web Sites
Web design is a useful, highly marketable skill a lot of high schools don’t teach. Fortunately, you can help out some of your more web-savvy students with this guide to free courses that can develop their design skills. Maybe they’ll show their gratitude by redesigning your school’s website.

38 ways to find great edublogs
With so many educators out there who blog, how do you find the good stuff? Blog by Carol presents this list of 38 ways to find great edublogs, such as checking the Edublogs awards, using Technorati authority, and the time-honored method of asking people you already trust which blogs they read. Of course, if you need a place to start, Instructify isn’t too bad.

Top 5 Quiz Generators for Online Educators
Why do the grunt work of putting a quiz together yourself when you can find a handy piece of software to do it for you? Web 2.0 Teaching Tools brings you five time-saving methods for putting quizzes together online. Now you’ll have more time to read some of those great new edublogs you found. -BILL FERRIS

Got a minute? Tune in to the Princeton Review Vocab Minute for a quick and entertaining way to build your understanding of those pesky SAT words you’ve been trying to master.

Flashcards and lists may work for some, but for those whose learning style leans toward the musical, it helps to hear the words in context with a catchy tune. Princeton Review developed a series of songs featuring some of the many difficult words students need to know for SATs. These thematic ditties present about a dozen words each, integrating definitions and using synonyms to reinforce the essential meaning of the vocabulary in a clever and memorable vignette.

Browse the titles on the web and click to select one that catches your eye. For example, the song “Polly” presents polymath, polychromatic and other challenging words featuring this prefix, meaning “many.” My favorite Vocab Minute is the Nigerian Email Song, a cautionary fable of sorts featuring words like capacious, opulent and indigent. The songs are labeled “Junior Level” or “Senior Level” though I can’t detect any difference in the content; I would say all titles are all equally useful for students from age 15 and up.

If you are an iTunes user, subscribe to this podcast and you’ll have all 80 songs (and the new ones released every couple weeks) conveniently handy next time you sync up your i-Pod. You may also subscribe to an RSS feed so you’ll know when they release new podcasts. -MELISSA THIBAULT

Vocab Minute

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I’ve got to say, I was disinclined to pay $9.99 to download Cram to my iPhone. Free applications and web services have spoiled me, maybe. But even though Cram is billed as an application that will help you study, it’s also true that it could conceivably be used to teach. The chief function of the application (which comes in both Blackberry and iPhone flavors) is to let you create and take simple quizzes and tests on your phone, but Cram also gives you the option of uploading the quiz you’ve created to the “Cram Web Portal,” where other users can download it to their phones. If, of course, they have the Cram application, and if they and you have signed up for a free Cram account.

As far as I can tell, Cram is the only mobile test-creation application out there, so if that’s something you or your students are really keen on, then by all means use it yourself or tell your students about it. (Maybe you teach in Washington DC, and all the kids have inherited Blackberries from their politico parents?) But I don’t see it making a big splash, especially not since there are lots of free mobile study and flash card applications and lots of free online (non-mobile) sites that let you create and take or administer tests. Anyway, I’d rather be playing reMovem. -AMANDA FRENCH

Cram BlackBerry & iPhone Study and Test Preparation Software

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Create dynamic online quizzes at Quiz School

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Just when I begin to think that a social network has been created for just about everything that could possibly be socially networked, I come across Quiz School, the self-proclaimed “YouTube of Quizzes.” Okay, ignore my cynicism. This site is actually a cool tool that could come in extremely handy in your classroom — and it’s free!

Quiz School is an online quiz-making site that lets you create quizzes in all kinds of formats — multiple choice, fill-in-the-blank, essay, etc — and share them in all kinds of ways — e-mail, print, embed in your blog or website. And if you make your quiz public, your colleagues and other users can take, rate and comment on your quiz, and maybe offer some helpful feedback on your quiz style.

The really neat part, though, is that you can create a secure online test or quiz using your own theme and colors, have only your students take it, and Quiz School does all the grading for you! And, it’ll also give you stats and analytic information about all of your questions, like what percentage of your class missed each question.

So the next time you make a quiz or test for your class, try using Quiz School. It may make your job a little bit easier! — LAUREN FROHNE

Quiz School

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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

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Welcome to the Carnival of Education Career Fair! We’ve retracted the bleachers and set up the booths on the gymnasium floor so these brave teachers can see what they might be doing if they weren’t teaching (perish the thought).

Motivational Speaker
Mr. D at I Want to Teach Forever agreed to sport a freaking mohawk as long as his students worked hard, which was about three weeks. Sadly, his motivational experiment has concluded. Long live the mohawk.

Camp Counselor
As a kid, my wife got to go to Space Camp and Marine Science Camp. Had Tisha Kulak and American Consumer News been around back then to point out how to save money on tuition to summer research camps, I might’ve been able to go, too.

Productivity Consultant
Instructify-favorite studenthacks.org has some great tips for students who want to learn how to write a research paper.

Pro Athletes
The Jose Vilson uses Derek Jeter as an example of how nurturing students’ talent and leadership ability early on can reap great results.

And over at Jay P. Greene’s Blog, the author talks about the importance of identifying students’ talents, whether they’re a left tackle or potential honor student.

Economist
ESL teacher Larry Ferlazzo knows that money is the international language.

Translator
Melissa B. at The Scholastic Scribe provides a handy-dandy English-to-Eduspeak dictionary.

Director
Mathew Needleman at Creating Lifelong Learners takes a proactive approach to managing disruptive students during a class movie project.

Advice Columnist
Let’s Play Math! has some advice on teaching math to a struggling student.

Detective
OverwhelmedMom gets to the bottom of problems that gifted students face.

Investigative Reporters
The proprietor of a voice from the middle knows the means to discovery is asking the right questions.

In addition, eduwonkette responds to a Wall Street Journal article about the criteria used to evaluate teachers.

Game Developer
Alvaro at SharpBrains shares a few games to stimulate your temporal lobe.

Diplomat
Coach Brown tries to reach an understanding with hostile parents.

Nutritionists
At Homework. Dinner. Life. Angela points out that good nutrition habits ought to be maintained year-round, not just a few days before the test.

Meanwhile, Chanman at Buckhorn Road says all that caffeine students drink can’t be good for them.

Cartographer
Dan Callahan, a.k.a. geek.teacher, harnesses Google Maps for a lesson in community mapping.

Librarian
@EDU takes the work out of student research by pointing them toward Google Alerts.

Politician
Jane Artabasy at Golden Apple Teaching Excellence Network unloads the loaded word of the day, “elitism,” showing it’s nothing to be frightened of - especially in schools.

The folks at Golden Apple also mull over the differences in races and learning styles.

Astronaut
HowDoWhy asks, what is a solar system, anyway? Furthermore, just how big is ours?

Human Resources Specialist
Over at Right on the Left Coast, Darren discusses the sticky situation of a teacher dating an 18-year-old student at a different school.

Mentors
Allison Jones at Entry Level Living wants to revamp the way young people think about leadership.

The folks at the Efficient Leadership Files have some ideas on that as well.

Statistician
Lead from the Start crunches the numbers about the disconnect between teachers and EdSector.

Strategist
Seth Pearce at NYC Students Blog has an intriguing idea on how to overcome schools’ non-stop test preparation.

Lobbyist
PZ Meyers at Pharyngula has some news about a disturbing bill in the Oklahoma legislature regarding religion in schools.

Road Grader
As the great homework debate rages on, Shabam School makes a good case for grading homework.

Kindergarten Teacher (sorry, I couldn’t come up with anything else)
Kiri at Elbows, Knees, Dreams shares her thoughts (and asks for others’ opinions) about early entrance to Kindergarten.

Photo credit: ou_ags on flickr