Author: Jacqui

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. This longish article will address cyberbullies–those who bully online rather than in person:

Who are cyberbullies?

Cyberbullies are too often everyday kids with no idea of the damage they’re doing. Their profile is as disturbingly common as it is unremarkable:

1. May be introverts, underdogs or underachievers.
2. May have low self-esteem.
3. Often feel like a victim themselves.
4. May not know how to express anger in an appropriate manner.
5. Would be unlikely to say to someone’s face what they say in cyberspace (especially if there’s a parent or teacher to witness it).
6. Use the Internet as a way to “get even” or vent their frustrations.
7. Often unwilling to take responsibility for their actions.

Almost 70% of cyberbullies also bully in real life. More general characteristics include: (more…)

I get a lot of questions from readers about what tech ed resources I use in my classroom so I’ll take a few days to review them with you. Some are edited and/or written by members of the Ask a Tech Teacher crew. Others, by tech teachers who work with the same publisher I do. All of them, I’ve found well-suited to the task of scaling and differentiating tech skills for age groups, scaffolding learning year-to-year, taking into account the perspectives and norms of all stakeholders, with appropriate metrics to know learning is organic and granular.

Today: Mentoring and Coaching

Tech coaching/mentoring from experts is available via email or virtual meetings to prepare lesson plans, teach to standards, integrate tech into core classroom time. If you’re new to tech education and wonder how to teach kindergartners to use the mouse, first graders to keyboard, third graders to sagely search the internet, pick the brains of our seasoned team of technology teachers.

Note: If your District has purchased a license, coaching may be included. Check on that before signing up.

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I get thousands of visitors a day–over six million since I started. The most common reason why you-all drop by is for resources. I have lots of them–lesson plans, real stories, tips and tricks–but one area I always welcome new ideas is from the experiences of fellow teachers:

• your personal teaching experiences
• your informed take on tech ed topics
• pedagogy

If you’re an educator interested in guest posting on this blog or start your own column, leave a comment below and I’ll be in touch.

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It sounds easy, but to a five or six year old, holding the mouse, clicking that left button, dragging and dropping while holding a finger down is darn difficult. Here’s a list (click for updates):

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We write about back to school often on Ask a Tech Teacher. Here are some of the past articles I think you’ll like: (more…)

Here are the most-read posts for the month:

1. 10 Unexpected Truths About Teaching
2. Tech Ed Resources–Lesson Plans
3. 22 Ways Any Teacher Can (and Should) Use Technology
4. Fifth grade lesson plans in Photoshop (click on website  for these)
5. Gamification of Assessments: Fun or Flawed?
6. How to teach the hard to teach class — the video.
7. Tech Ed Resources for your Class–Digital Citizenship
8. 10 Ways to Become a Better Geek
9. Teacher-Authors–Long List of my Favorite Writing Websites
10. Windows Skills: Make Your Own Wallpaper

Here’s what’s coming up: (more…)

Labor Day, the first Monday in September, is an American holiday (though celebrated world-wide by different names) dedicated to the achievements of workers. Take today to think about it. Me, I’ll take it literally–labor! I enjoy labor, the good feeling of finishing, meeting goals, working hard.

“I learned the value of hard work by working hard.” — Margaret Mead

“You always pass failure on your way to success.” — Mickey Rooney

“Hard work keeps the wrinkles out of the mind and spirit.” — Helena Rubinstein

“Dedication, hard work all the time, and belief.” — Cristiano Ronaldo

If you’re devoting Labor Day to your writing (rather than teacher prep) but need a kick start, here are suggestions for favorite labor-saving tools for writers:

1. Reedsy’s Best 23 Writing Tools of 2024
2. 25 Top Tools for Writers to Crush it in 2024
3. The 14 Best Writing Tools for Writers in 2024
4. The 30 Best Tools for Writers
5. Plot Generator
6. AI Plot Generator

A few Labor Day websites to enjoy for teaching: (more…)

Adobe Photoshop is kind of KidPix for grown-ups, as well as the default photo-editing program for anyone serious about graphics. This series of projects (available in the first volume of the book, 55 Technology Projects for the Digital Classroom) introduces students to a traditionally-challenging program in an easy to understand way, each project scaffolding to the next, thus avoiding the frustration and confusion inherent in most Photoshop training.

Here are the skills fifth graders can learn in Photoshop if you’ve prepared them with basic computer skills. I’ve provided links. The bolded ones are published, unbolded coming soon:

• Photoshop artwork–live
• Photoshop actions–live
• Photoshop basics #5 live
• Photoshop filter and rendering tools
• Photoshop starters–auto-correct with the auto-correction — live quick fixes that make a photo look cleaner #6
• Photoshop crop tool–Live
• Photoshop clone tool– live
• Photoshop–change the background–live
• Photoshop tools–add custom shapes–live
• Photoshop–start with Word –live (a little dated but still useful)

Today: Cloning

The clone tool duplicates a hard to crop-and-copy image (like the flowers below) or deletes part of a background—a sign or a post in a nature scene—you don’t want there. You can clone within a picture (as with the flowers), (more…)

One of the best ways to get students interested in technology is allow them to personalize their work area. That starts with placing wallpaper of their choice on their desktop. (more…)

I get a lot of questions from readers about what tech ed resources I use in my classroom so I’m going to take time this summer to review them with you. Some are edited and/or written by members of the Ask a Tech Teacher crew. Others, by tech teachers who work with the same publisher I do. All of them, I’ve found, are well-suited to the task of scaling and differentiating tech skills for age groups, scaffolding learning year-to-year, offering inclusive solutions to the issue of tech tools–taking into account the perspectives of stakeholders, with appropriate metrics to ensure learning is organic and granular.

Today: K-12 Survival Kits

Overview

Collections of resources for specific teacher needs to address technology. Options include:

• K-5 All-in-one Tech Integration Kit
• K-5 New Teacher Survival Kit
• MS All-in-one Tech Integration Kit
• MS New Teacher Survival Kit
• Homeschool Tech Survival Kit

K-5 All-in-one Tech Integration Kit

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