Author: Jacqui

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, an Amazon Vine Voice, 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.

16 Websites and 5 Posters to Teach Mouse Skills

Many of my most popular articles are about mouse skills. Every year, tens of thousands of teachers visit Ask a Tech Teacher to find resources for teaching students how to use a mouse. No surprise because using a mouse correctly is one of the most important pre-keyboarding skills. Holding it is not intuitive and if learned wrong, becomes a habit that’s difficult to break.

The earlier posts are still active, but I’ve updated this resource with more websites and posters to assist in starting off your newest computer aficionados. Check here for updates on links.

Mouse Skills

  1. MiniMouse
  2. Mouse and tech basics–video
  3. Mouse practice—drag, click
  4. Mouse skills
  5. Mouse Song
  6. OwlieBoo–mouse practice
  7. Wack-a-gopher (no gophers hurt in this)

Puzzles

  1. Digipuzzles–great puzzles for geography, nature, and holidays
  2. Jigsaw Planet–create your own picture jigsaw
  3. Jigsaw puzzles
  4. Jigsaw Puzzles–JS

Adults

  1. Mousing Around
  2. Skillful Senior

Trackpad

Many of these are simply repurposing mouse skill sites to the trackpad. 

    1. Basics
    2. Practice
    3. Touchpad vs Mouse

Posters

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Does Mindfulness Make Your Class Better?

 

District Administration recently published an interesting article on how mindfulness creates kinder classrooms and reduces problematic behaviors by 18%. Click the link and check out their thoughts.

If you’d like background on Mindfulness, check our article published earlier on

How to Incorporate Mindfulness into Your Class

Students learn best when they are relaxed, happy, and feeling loved.  It is challenging to include those characteristics in classes when you are concurrently trying to achieve school goals, comply with curriculum timelines, juggle parent concerns, and blend your lessons with those of colleagues.

This is where mindfulness becomes important. It reminds teachers that the fulcrum for learning is the student’s emotional well-being.

Let’s back up a moment: What is mindfulness? Buddha said:

“Do not dwell in the past, do not dream of the future, concentrate the mind on the present moment.”

If that’s the plan, mindfulness is the path. It teaches students how to quiet themselves — get to a place where their mind is settled sufficiently to pay full attention to the task at hand. Experts offer many suggestions for incorporating mindfulness into your classroom experience. Consider:

  • pause and take a deep breath before beginning an activity or in the middle of performing it
  • reflect on an activity as a group
  • reflect on the student’s own experiences and background and how that relates to the topic

Delving into these rudimentary steps isn’t the goal of this article. Today, I’ll share five ideas on taking mindfulness to the next level in your classes:

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Creative Options for Remote Learning

With schools closed for in-person learning and many children being educated at home, parents are scrambling for quality alternatives that work in a home environment. One of our Ask a Tech Teacher contributors has some ideas you may not have thought of:

How to Make Remote Learning Work For Your Children

Many parents are choosing to opt-out of traditional schooling, but the question of how to create a well-rounded curriculum or who to hire for this task is often the barrier that prevents at-home learning. In this article, we’ll help you make a decision by presenting popular remote learning options or childcare resources that can support homeschooling or non-traditional approaches.

Traditional Homeschooling

Homeschooling is a progressive movement where parents educate their children instead of sending them to public or private schools. Families will choose this option for various reasons, including dissatisfaction with public education, constant relocation, or a bad social environment. 

Some of the many positives of homeschooling your children include:

  • Home-educated children score 15 to 30 percentile points higher than other students.
  • Homeschooled children get accepted by colleges at a higher rate than other students.
  • Homeschool helps children develop better social skills than their public school peers.
  • Special needs children receive a significantly higher level of education on average.
  • Adults who were homeschooled are more politically tolerant and happier on average.

Homeschooling is legal in all 50 states, but the legal requirements for this education option vary from place to place. If you’re in the process of pulling your children out of public education, you’ll need to write a letter of withdrawal to the school board that describes your intent to homeschool.

There are many curriculum options available for parents. As long as your curriculum of choice follows the requirements of your state, they can apply for college once they graduate. Parents don’t need a formal teaching degree to qualify as homeschool teachers. It may be beneficial for you to take an online course that goes over teaching fundamentals and how to run a classroom.

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Take a Break–it’s Labor Day!

Labor Day is annually held on the first Monday of September (this year, September 6th). It was originally organized to celebrate various labor associations’ strengths of and contributions to the United States economy. It is largely a day of rest in modern times. Many people mark Labor Day as the end of the summer season and a last chance to make trips or hold outdoor events.

Labor Day is a US holiday dedicated to workers across the country. The public holiday always falls on the first Monday in September. The first federal observation of the holiday occurred in 1894 however the first Labor Day observed in a state was in Oregon in 1887.

Here are websites to help students understand what Labor Day means to them:

  1. History of Labor Day–Movie
  2. Labor Day Facts for Kids
  3. Labor Day for Kids: Read-aloud book
  4. Labor Day’s Violent Beginnings
  5. PBS Kids: Labor Day
  6. Why Americans and Canadians Celebrate Labor Day–YT video

Teacher-Authors: Here’s a post from last year for you.

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Lesson Plan: Online Art Sites

Lots of kids think technology is technical, another word for complicated/difficult/math-like. Here are six art-oriented websites students can visit that will change their minds. I’ve also included a link to a long list of education-appropriate art websites

Note: Mr. Picasso Head is no longer available

Click  image to enlarge if it’s blurry.

–from 55 Technology Projects for the Digital Classroom

Here are more online art websites:

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17 Websites for Chemistry

 

Here are a few of the popular resources teachers are using to reinforce chemistry in MS and HS:

  1. Beaker–a digital beaker app
  2. Chemistry collection from Carnegie
  3. ChemCapers
  4. Chemistry instructional videos
  5. ChemmyBear–resources for Chemistry and AP Chemistry classes
  6. CK12 Chemistry simulations
  7. Concord Consortium–chemistry, earth science, engineering, life science, physics
  8. Crash Course: Chemistry (videos)
  9. EMD PTE — periodic table
  10. Interactive Periodic Table
  11. Molecules–Molecules is an application for viewing three-dimensional renderings of molecules and manipulating them using your fingers.
  12. NanoSpace Molecularium–virtual amusement park about atoms and molecules; from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
  13. Periodic Table of Elements–interactive
  14. Periodic Table videos 
  15. PhET Simulations for chemistry and physics
  16. Reactions–short videos on chemistry topics
  17. Slow Motion Chemistry — videos on chemistry

Click here for updates to this list.

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Online College Classes Start Monday!

Through the Midwest Teachers Institute, I offer four college-credit classes that teach how to blend technology with traditional lesson plans. They include all the ebooks, videos, and other resources required so you don’t spend any more than what is required to register for the class. Once you’re signed up, you prepare weekly material, chat with classmates, respond to class Discussion Boards and quizzes, and participate in a weekly video meeting. Everything is online.

Questions? Email me at [email protected]

Here are the the ones I’m currently offering:


Building Digital Citizens

MTI 557

Starts August 30, 2021

If students use the internet, they must be familiar with the rights and responsibilities required to be good digital citizens.  In this class, you’ll learn what topics to introduce, how to unpack them, and how to make them authentic to student lives.

Topics include:

  1. copyrights, fair use, public domain
  2. cyberbullying
  3. digital commerce
  4. digital communications
  5. digital footprint, digital privacy
  6. digital rights and responsibilities
  7. digital search/research
  8. image—how to use them legally
  9. internet safety
  10. netiquette
  11. passwords
  12. plagiarism
  13. social media

At the completion of this course, you will be able to:

  1. Know how to blend digital citizenship into lesson plans that require the Internet
  2. Be comfortable in your knowledge of all facets of digital citizenship
  3. Become an advocate of safe, legal, and responsible use of online resources
  4. Exhibit a positive attitude toward technology that supports learning
  5. Exhibit leadership in teaching and living as a digital citizen

Assessment is based on involvement, interaction with classmates, and completion of projects so be prepared to be fully-involved and an eager risk-taker. Price includes course registration, college credit, and all necessary materials. To enroll, click the link above, search for MTI 557 and sign up.

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