Flocabulary

Since (teaching) life has come to a screeching, soggy halt due to Hurricane Sandy, I thought I would take some time today to get back on the blog-wagon. I hope this finds you warm, dry, and safe - and Godspeed to those of you who are in (or have survived) harm's way with this storm!

One of my students' favorite things to do this year is to listen and learn from songs and music videos from Flocabulary. Flocabulary is basically rap music for the classroom. It's clean, fun, and totally catchy. I love it. Here's the other catch - it's not free. I know, "Boooooo" - but understandable. They've got a product to sell, and fortunately, they do post free videos and songs to use in your classroom. Whenever I use a Flocabulary song to back up what I'm teaching, my students remember it and what it's about. They still can tell you the order of classification for living things from listening to "Kids Prefer Cheese Over Fried Green Spinach." Two of the freebies right now are "I'll Be The President" on the presidential election process and "Check and Balances" for the three branches of government. Sometimes the resources are just the song, and other times they include a music video. Lyrics are on the same page, so the students can sing along (and they will...loudly and over and over again). There are also review questions and lesson plans for each song as well.

Many of the songs on the Flocabulary website are also available on iTunes for $0.99 each. You can also purchase full albums of their music such as "Math Rap" and "Beats, Rhymes, and Science." I'm pretty sure that, with the exception of the language arts songs, most of it is available on iTunes. There are also student guides (with the lyrics and vocabulary activities) and accompanying CDs of music available for purchase on the Flocabulary site if you are interested. I downloaded the songs on iTunes I thought would help my students the most and made playlists on my iPads and iPod for them to listen to as a station and in their spare time.

I've taken a while to post about Flocabulary, not just because life happens but I have been completely bummed about the fact that you now have to pay for the Week in Rap. It use to be that you could subscribe to the Week in Rap and each Friday they would e-mail you the video for the current events of the week - set to song. However, that is no longer the case and I'm not going to pay $5 a month for it. There are pricing plans for teachers on the Flocabulary website and you can test drive it with a free trial, but you'll have to check it out a decide for yourself.

http://flocabulary.com/

Mickelson ExxonMobil Teachers Academy

One of the things I wanted to do when I started this blog was share some of the opportunities I have had to meet and work with teachers across the United States. Somehow, I haven't got around to it, but there's no better time to start than now.

So, while everyone else is gun-ho on football tonight (no, thank you, teaching is my only sport), I want to share with you my experience at the Mickelson ExxonMobil Teachers Academy. This is a summer math and science academy for teachers in grades 3-5, sponsored by professional golfer Phil Mickelson and ExxonMobil. It is held in Jersey City, New Jersey, just a hop, skip, and subway ride from New York City (as in, you will see the Statue of Liberty every day from your hotel room, as well as the skyline). The training provided to you is courtesy of the National Science Teachers Association and the National Council for Teachers of Mathematics. About 200 teachers from across the United States are selected to attend each year. A parent or teacher can nominate you, or you can apply to attend yourself here.

I attended the first national academy back in July 2009. I had been browsing on Grant Wrangler for grants, and a link for "MEMTA" (as we alumni like to refer to it) popped up. Oh, if you would have only known me back then. I was a "good teacher," I guess, but my world...wasn't very big. And I knew it. I've always had an idea of the kind of teacher I wanted to be, but at the time I had no idea how to get there. Maybe, I thought, where I was at was all there was. This, however, sounded like what I was looking for - to learn more about the best ways to reach students, with the best teachers. Did I have a voluminous resume with lots of presentation experience or prestigious awards? Oh, heavens, no. To put it in runner's terms, I was "good for my age group," but not a top finisher. But, if you never try, the answer will always be "no."

 So, at 9 PM on October 30th (the deadline being the 31st), I went for it. I typed my application right on the online form and hit send - and little did I know, it was the beginning of a new chapter in my life as an educator.

MEMTA was an experience like no other. The exposure to the National Science and Math standards was priceless, as I was about to begin National Board Certification. Not only was the professional development top-notch (what you would expect from a national academy), but the way the teachers were treated that week was exemplary as well. In short, the staff and teachers at MEMTA treated us like super stars. As a relatively new(er) teacher at the time, that was almost overwhelming for me. New(er) teachers have to "fight" for everything, whether it's for respect or a bookcase. To be treated so first class (I don't want to give too much away because if you go I want you to be as WOWED as I was), well, I almost didn't know how to act - and then I got a handle on myself.



MEMTA was featured on the CBS Early Show during
our academy. Why, yes, that is Harry Smith!

What I didn't expect from attending MEMTA is probably what has changed how I teach the most. Not only did I attend this academy with other teachers from across the United States (that were all amazing and to this day I still consider out of my league), but I learned from them. I learned things about technology and teaching that week, just from listening to other teachers, that I never would have known otherwise. I learned what issues affect teachers in different states - some different, some the same as those in West Virginia. My view of my role as a teacher and the possibilities available in education changed overnight. I am still am in contact with several of the teachers who attended  MEMTA that year, and probably will be forever. I came away from MEMTA convinced that networking is the most powerful professional development you can provide an educator.

I realize it's October 6th on a Saturday night, but if I can crank out "something" in a handful of hours before the deadline, you surely can give some consideration to applying to the Mickelson ExxonMobil Academy this year. Don't tell yourself it isn't possible. Sometimes, the only way to get going in the direction you want is to put yourself on the right road. Nobody else is going to do it for you - just take the keys (computer keys, in this instance)...and drive.

http://www.sendmyteacher.com/index.html

APP Time: Nth Fusion Science Apps

So this time, I couldn't just pick one!

It's nice to have some "easy" apps available to students just to review information and reinforce vocabulary. Nth Fusion creates several apps that are engaging and "to-the-point," and my three favorite ones for science have become Landforms, Body Organs, and Life Cycle. They are science, pure and simple - no frills, no super cool interactive features, but for $0.99 each they are great ways to incorporate science and reading skills. Each of these three apps resembles an "e-book" with the way students turn the "page" to the next section. All of these apps have a voice (which sounds like your average teacher, not a computerized person) that reads and explains the information to the student. I love the idea of using my iPad as an e-reader, but not the cost of some of the books on iTunes. So the fact that these apps "read" to the student is a real plus.

Landforms covers every square inch of the earth, both land and water. It is excellent review for a geography and/or geology unit. The students learn definitions and different variations of landforms - I didn't even know there were that many variations of a waterfall (but I do now!). Each section has a quiz, or a "Think and Verify" part where the students can quiz themselves on what they have learned. Some of my students get confused and think the app is "broken" at this point because they want to touch the answer on the screen to see if they are correct. To see if they chose the correct answer, they have to go to the next page.

Body Organs explains the major organs and also includes a section on cells. Each section discusses the parts and purpose or the organ, location in the body, cool facts, and ways to keep that organ healthy. I like the research section on this app (it poses questions for the students to go on their own and find out), but I think the students like the "quiz" part of the Landforms app better. The diagrams of all the body organs are great!

Life Cycle is a bit deceiving in its name, because it includes much more than just, well, life cycles! In addition to the life cycles of a frog, ladybug, butterfly, and plants, there are also the phases of the moon, pollination, rock cycle, nitrogen and oxygen cycles, photosynthesis... whew! I think that's all of them. It's great review and has wonderful diagrams (the nitrogren and oxygen cycles are a bit of a snooze but oh, well). Each cycle just starts over from the beginning with no review or research section.

These apps could be used with primary and intermediate level students. The content and vocabulary may go over the head of primary grades, although higher level student would probably enjoy the challenge of it. If you have a VGA adapter for you iPad, these would be great to share with the class on an LCD projector to review before standardized testing - or any time you need a science break!

http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/landforms/id474104965?mt=8

http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/body-organs-4-kids/id434151042?mt=8

http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/a-life-cycle-app/id394578286?mt=8

APP Time: Brain Pop

I wasn't planning on doing a post in the middle of the week, but right now I'm too tired to do anything else so I might as well. For those of you that don't know, Brain Pop is an animated approach to online learning. The website chronicles the educational adventures of Tim and Moby (a robot with a kickin' personality) as they answer letters about a wide range of topics - from photosynthesis to the Civil War, and everything in between and beyond. At the end of each short, punchy movie, there is a quiz to test student comprehension of the topic, along with printable organizers and vocabulary. Although using all the full features of Brain Pop requires a subscription, there are several free movies for viewing as well...

...Which brings me to today's app! In addition to the website, there is a FREE Brain Pop app! If you have a subscription to Brain Pop, then you are able to log in and watch any and all movies from your iPad/iPod/iPhone. Even if you don't have a subscription, you can watch the movie of the day and numerous free movies as you can online.

What I like most about the Brain Pop app is that all of the movies are captioned (on the online version they are not)!!! At the bottom of the screen, students can read what Tim and Moby are explaining (or in Moby's case beeping) as they watch and listen. I think this is great for students who may have trouble staying focused on the dialogue of the movie or that aren't auditory learners. There is a quiz at the end of each movie, and scores are added to the "Hall of Fame" list so you could go back and see how well the student answered the questions.

What do you have to lose? At the very least, your students will enjoy "watching cartoons" while learning something along the way. Best of all, it's free!

http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/brainpop-featured-movie/id364894352?mt=8