Three holidays are fast-approaching–Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas. If you’re a teacher, that means lots of tie-ins to make school festive and relevant to students.

Here are ideas for Halloween projects, lesson plans, websites, and apps (check here for updated links):

Websites and Apps

1. 30-day Halloween fitness challenge
2. Build a Jack-o-lantern (in Google Slides)
3. Carve-a-Pumpkin from Parents magazine – Resolute Digital, LLC (app)
4. Enchanted Learning
5. Halloween games, puzzles–clean, easy to understand website and few ads!
6. Halloween Kahoot Games (video for teachers)
7. Halloween Science
8. Halloween Voice Transformer (app)
9. Make A Zombie – Skunk Brothers GmbH (app)
10. Meddybemps Spooky
11. Pumpkin Patch Games
12. WordSearch Halloween – AFKSoft (app)

Projects

1. ASCII Art–Computer Art for Everyone (a pumpkin–see inset)
2. Lesson Plan: Halloween letter for grades 2-5
3. Make a Holiday Card
4. A Holiday Card
5. A Holiday flier

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October is National Bullying Prevention Month. Bullying is no longer relegated to the playground or the neighborhood. It now regularly happens in the cyberworld. Kids don’t expect that and often don’t know how to handle it.

In October 2006, thirteen-year-old Megan Meier hung herself in her bedroom closet after suffering months of cyberbullying. She believed her tormentors’ horrid insults, never thought she could find a way to stop them, and killed herself. She’s not the only one. In fact, according to StopBullying.gov, 52 percent of young people report being cyberbullied and over half of them don’t report it to their parents.

Everyone knows what bullying is — someone being taunted physically or mentally by others — and there are endless resources devoted to educating both students and teachers on how to combat bullying. But what about cyberbullying? Wikipedia defines “cyberbullying” as:

the use of information technology to repeatedly harm or harass other people in a deliberate manner

Cyberbullying occurs on not just social media like Twitter, Facebook, and topical forums, but multiplayer games and school discussion boards. Examples include mean texts or emails, insulting snapchats, rumors posted on social networking sites, and embarrassing photos or videos.

How serious is it? (more…)

In these 169 tech-centric situations, you get an overview of pedagogy—the tech topics most important to your teaching—as well as practical strategies to address most classroom tech situations, how to scaffold these to learning, and where they provide the subtext to daily tech-infused education.

Today’s tip: Google Street View

Category: Problem-solving

Q: I can’t find enough detail about a geographic area we’re studying. Any suggestions?

A: That’s much easier than it used to be, thanks to Google Earth’s Street View. Students can walk down the street they just read about or see their home on the internet.

Here’s how to use it:

• First, you must have Google Earth. It’s a free download and I’ve never had problems with the install. Take a minute to do that. I’ll wait. You can also use the online app–no need for a download.
• Done? Good. Now type the address into search; push enter.
• Zoom into an area until a pegman icon appears below the navigation controls on the right. Click and drag the icon to the area of interest, and then drop it onto the blue highlighted paths. That takes you to all the streets.
• Travel by double clicking on the street.
• To get out of it, click the button on the upper right.

Google Street View even covers hiking trails.

Google Earth works with PCs, Macs, iPads, and Chromebooks (with the app).

Sign up for a new tip each week or buy the entire 169 Real-world Ways to Put Tech into Your Classroom.

What’s your favorite tech tip in your classroom? Share it in the comments below.

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Understanding how to use the internet has become a cornerstone issue for students. No longer do they complete their research on projects solely in the library. Now, there is a vast landscape of resources available on the internet.

But with wealth of options comes responsibility for their use. As soon as children begin to visit the online world, they need the knowledge to do that safely, securely, responsibly. There are several great programs available to guide students through this process (Common Sense’s Digital Passport, Carnegie CyberAcademy, Netsmart Kids). I’ve collected them as resources and developed a path to follow that includes the best of everything.

Here’s Kindergarten–feel free to print this lesson. Use the lines in front of the steps to check off completed work:

Overview/Big Ideas

Students learn how to live in the digital world of internet websites, copy-righted images, and virtual friends who may be something different.

Essential Questions

• What is a ‘digital citizen’?
• How is being a citizen of the internet the same/different than my home town?
• What are the implications of digital citizenship in today’s world?

Objectives and Steps

The objectives of this lesson are:

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In these 169 tech-centric situations, you get an overview of pedagogy—the tech topics most important to your teaching—as well as practical strategies to address most classroom tech situations, how to scaffold these to learning, and where they provide the subtext to daily tech-infused education.

Today’s tip: Compare-contrast Digital Tools

Category: Problem-solving

Have students use these tables to compare-contrast digital tools available for their education:

Set them up in your spreadsheet program and add only the labels. Show it on the class screen and have students suggest what data fills in the cells. If you have the Structured Learning Tech Curriculum, you’ll find copies of these in the ebook. Just have students fill them in digitally. If you have the print book, simply, print copies (you have permissions to reprint single pages when you purchase the book).

Sign up for a new tip each week or buy the entire 169 Real-world Ways to Put Tech into Your Classroom.

What’s your favorite tech tip in your classroom? Share it in the comments below.

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Every month, subscribers to our newsletter get a free/discounted resource to help their tech teaching.

K-5 New Teacher Survival Kit

9 ebooks, 65 digital posters 

$222.95  Marked down to $178.95

ends October 7, 2024

• K-5 tech curriculum textbooks (Common Core aligned)–a year’s worth of skills-based, project-based learning that ties into class units. 
• Ultimate Guide to Keyboarding: K-5–K-5 keyboard curriculum–essentials of keyboarding in 45-minutes a week
• K-8 Digital Citizenship curriculum–click for more information
• 169 Real-World Ways to Put Tech into Your Class you’ll be expected to know how to solve common computer problems. Click for more information
• 65 ePosters to share most-important tech details with students

Click here to purchase (more…)

Here are the most-read posts for the past month:

1. 18 Digital Tool Musts in the Classroom — a Video
2. Introducing the Makeblock mBot2: A Fun and Educational AI Robot for Coding
3. 9 Reasons to Use Digital Books
4. The Role of Phosphorus Properties in Sustainable Technology for Classrooms
5. Tips for Teachers to Balance the Demands of School Events and Their Personal Lives

Here’s a preview of what’s coming up:

1. Warm Ups–watch the video
2. 6 Online Resources About Letters
3. Subscriber Special
4. Tech Tips
5. Online Resources About Gamified Education
6. Digital Citizenship
7. Google Street View
8. Speaking and Listening Skills
9. Canva in Your Classroom
10. Tips on Internet Research

–image credit to Deposit Photo (more…)

1. Autumn Facts for Kids
2. Don’t “Leaf” Out Fall’s Most Valuable Lesson
3. EEK! A Tree’s True Color
4. Fall Bucket List For Families Printable
5. Fall Crafts, Decorations, and Printouts
6. Fall Books & Short Stories For Kids about Autumn
7. Primary Games’ Fall Fun
8. Science Made Simple: Why Do Leaves Change Color in Fall?
9. Why Leaves Change Color

Click for an updated list (more…)

9-11 Day has become Patriot Day here in America, but it doesn’t change its purpose: to show how much we love our country.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EvsN0Id4LEg?version=3&rel=1&showsearch=0&showinfo=1&iv_load_policy=1&fs=1&hl=en&autohide=2&wmode=transparent]

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mwcWVs4Eejg?si=nfBd6Unur6CmgiUH&start=35]

If you aren’t familiar with this terrorist attack, here’s a 2-minute overview:

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9uOn7xLYPbc?version=3&rel=1&showsearch=0&showinfo=1&iv_load_policy=1&fs=1&hl=en&autohide=2&wmode=transparent]

–Comments are closed to enjoy the day more completely.

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“The content presented in this blog are the result of creative imagination and not intended for use, reproduction, or incorporation into any artificial intelligence training or machine learning systems without prior written consent from the author.”

Jacqui Murray has been teaching K-18 technology for 30 years. She is the editor/author of over a hundred tech ed resources including a K-12 technology curriculum, K-8 keyboard curriculum, K-8 Digital Citizenship curriculum. She is an adjunct professor in tech ed, Master Teacher, webmaster for four blogs, freelance journalist on tech ed topics, contributor to NEA Today, and author of the tech thrillers, To Hunt a Sub and Twenty-four Days. You can find her resources at Structured Learning.

In these 169 tech-centric situations, you get an overview of pedagogy—the tech topics most important to your teaching—as well as practical strategies to address most classroom tech situations, how to scaffold these to learning, and where they provide the subtext to daily tech-infused education.

Today’s tip: Using digital books

Category: Problem-solving

As you discuss reading and the technology tools that inspire students in this activity, here’s a poster with nine reasons why students will love digital books:

They’re light-weight, easy to transport, provide links for deeper learning, differentiate for student needs (like zoom to see better or a change of font), allow for the addition of notes that can be erased, and pages never rip. What more could you ask?

Sign up for a new tip each week below or buy the entire 169 Real-world Ways to Put Tech into Your Classroom.

What’s your favorite tech tip in your classroom? Share it in the comments below.

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