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The Connected Classroom

Information on and from Cooperating School Districts of Greater St. Louis' Learning Division

Tag Archives: Creative Commons

flickr creative commonsCome to CSD the morning of June 26 and learn several ways to use cell phones in the classroom as collaborative tools to engage and motivate your students. From polling, micro-blogging, exam review and flashcard creation – enlist the cell phone as your ally and not your enemy. The Pew Research Center has determined that 100% of teens text. Kids get their first phone on average at age 12; three out of four students think they have at least one friend who is addicted to their phone. Cell phones are ubiquitous – why not use them to facilitate learning?

Date: June 26, 2013 | Time: 8:30-11:30 am
Cost: $85 CSD member; $125 non-member
Register Online

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flickr creative commonsWe’ve all watched the local TV weatherperson & wondered just what they do to create the forecast they give us. What equipment do they use? What kind of training do they need? How do they determine when conditions are ripe for certain types of storms, whether temperatures will rise or fall, whether or not they should break into TV programs to provide a breaking weather update? What is the science behind forecasting?

Join HEC-TV Live! on April 4 to interact with St. Louis’ KTVI Fox2 meteorologist Chris Higgins to take a tour of his weather studio and find out what goes into creating a forecast.  The program will focus on two very different spring days of actual St. Louis weather—one with clear skies and temperatures in the sixties and one where conditions produced dangerous storms and tornadoes.  How were the forecasts created?  What technology was used to follow the changing weather conditions on that stormy day? What conditions forced the announcement of a tornado watch and later a tornado warning?  How does Mr. Higgins read that Doppler Radar and pinpoint where the tornado is located?  How does he take what he has learned and translate into understandable language for every TV viewer?  Enroll in “The Science Behind Weather Forecasting” videoconference by March 28 to find out the answers to these questions and more.

After enrolling for the program, you will receive pre-program materials that include website resources, information on the two actual weather days that will be used as examples during the program, and pre-program worksheets designed to get your students thinking about the topic of weather forecasting and creating questions they most want to ask Mr. Higgins.  If you wish to participate as an interactive school, be sure to note the deadline for returning these pre-program worksheets to us so we can incorporate your student comments and questions into the program.

Date:  April 4, 2013
Times:  10 to 11 a.m.  and 1 to 2 p.m. Central Time
Grade Levels: 4-8
Cost:  no fee, but please register online

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Missouri Supreme Court / Flickr Here’s an opportunity to hear and mingle with some of the top Constitutional scholars in the United States: Dr. Fred Spiegel, Professor Emeritus, University of Missouri; Jean Becker, Chief of Staff to former President George Bush; Mark Updegrove, Director of the LBJ Presidential Library in Austin, Texas; and Greg Willard, partner with the Carmody McDonald law firm in St. Louis, Missouri.

Lots of free materials and teaching strategies for teaching about the court system will be shared during this three day summer institute  (June 24-27) in mid-Missouri. All of the materials and strategies are fully aligned with the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education’s Course-Level Expectation. Participants will gain teaching strategies that will help their students on the American Government end-of-course exam.  The scholars will address the role of the presidency in a system of separation of powers and checks and balances, and how the role of the presidency has evolved in the last 226 years.

WHO CAN COME?  This program is for secondary American history, American government and civics teachers in Missouri’s public, private and parochial schools. They only accept 30 participants for the institute.
WHAT IS THE COST?  All expenses, including meals, travel and lodging are paid.
WHERE?  The beautiful and historic Columbia College campus in Columbia and at the beautiful and historic Missouri Supreme Court building in Jefferson City.
HOW DO I APPLY?  mobar.org/citizenshiped. For more information, call Millie Aulbur, Director of Citizenship Education for the Missouri Bar at 573-638-2250.

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flickr creative commons studentsMehlville School District’s Oakville High School will host the regional/(state) history bowl competition on Saturday, January 26. Each state bowl will qualify a number of teams to participate in the National History Bowl to be held in Washington D.C. on April 27, 2013. The National History Bowl uses a quiz bowl style format to run their tournaments.

Schools may register multiple teams for the regional bowl, and can register underclassmen as a JV or Varsity team. Beginning this year, middle school teams can register and participate as well. The registration deadline for the regional bowl in St. Louis at Oakville High School competition is January 24, 2013. In addition, the state History Bee will be held in conjunction with the regional History Bowl on January 26, 2013, all in the Mehlville School District.

Again, the regional/(state) competition will qualify (in this case individuals) for participation in the National History Bee to be held in Washington D.C. on April 28, 2013. Please note that the national level history bowl for middle schools will be held on a different weekend then the high school nationals.

Regional/(State) Registration info:
The base fee for the bowl is $75 per team.  There are some small discounts available, like if teams bring their own buzzers. Learn more at historybowl.com/registration. The fee for the bee is $15 per student: hs.historybee.com/registration.

For questions about the event on January 26 at Oakville High School, contact Rodney Gerdes.

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Last week, we shared some great online resources from coolcatteacher.blogspot.com. Today we’re sharing even more, focusing on math & history. Take a look at these select lesson plans, compiled and commented on by Georgia teacher Vicki Davis:

Math
Common Core Math Index of resources (via @sharemylesson #mathchat)
An incredible set of indexed Common Core lesson plans by standard for grades Kindergarten – 6 in math. Share and get ideas. Every math teacher using Common Core should peruse this list.
Assessing the Common Core Standards: Real Life Mathematics | Edutopia
An excellent set of resources about common core standards and assessment from Edutopia.
Numberphile Videos
A collection of more than 100 videos that help you explore the world of mathematics. Just about any math topic is covered including probabilities Kaprekar’s Constant and more. These videos will be useful if you’re in the process of working towards flipping your classroom.

History
World War 1 Lesson plans
June 28 is the anniversary of the outbreak of World War 1. As you discuss this topic, here are some activities and lessons to help you. There are some “causes” activities to introduce World War 1 that may interest some social studies teachers.
Veterans History Project (Library of Congress)
Veterans History Project Home page — GREAT PROJECT!!!!
Maps of War ::: Visual History of War, Religion, and Government
A website that takes maps and uses them to teach all kinds of amazing history. These maps are excellent for demonstrating events that unfolded and trends and will allow for great conversation.

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Be sure to read this story on CNN.com on ‘How to protect your cloud data from hacks.’  Within the article, security experts offer tips on how to use the cloud safely, including:

•  Backing up your files in multiple places, including in on-the-ground hard drives
  Turning on Google’s and Facebook’s two-factor authentication features

To find the five tips they feel everyone who uses cloud-based computing should know and utilize, click here.

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We wanted to share some great resources from coolcatteacher.blogspot.com. Take a look at these select lesson plans, compiled and commented on by Georgia teacher Vicki Davis:

What did you learn online today?

Resources for Understanding the Common Core State Standards | Edutopia  Edutopia’s guide to websites, organizations articles relating to the common core. I do think they are missing “Share My Lesson” from the AFT and TES, but this may have been written before that site launched. A great overview.
Film as a Great Motivator | Edutopia  The right film and the right moment can create mood and meaning. Today in the Olympics, the swim coach was talking about how he had shown a clip from Saving Private Ryan and team members took on a different air of brotherhood and working together as a team. Film can be a great motivator and teacher in the classroom when well done. It can also be a boring “beuller” moment if not picked well. I like how this blog post deconstructs the use of video and how it can be used effectively in the classroom. I think it is a great read for all teachers.
Pinterest- Search results for classroom door-  Cute ideas for classroom doors.
Wikis in the Classroom-  A lovely website about wikis and the use in the classroom.

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The Tyranny of the Lecture: Varying Instructional Strategies with Tech Tools takes place on Monday, June 11, from  8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. The cost for this professional development  is $149 for a CSD member; $189 for a non-member (One Graduate Credit is available). About the workshop: lecture & direct instruction are essential components of effective teaching, but their overuse can lead to unengaged students and predictable lesson formats. You can change this up!

In this newly developed, one-day workshop, examine high engagement strategies that use student interaction to promote learning, and investigate technology resources, such as wikis, blogs, WebQuests, online forums, chat rooms, simulations and educational games, that help students be directors of their own learning.  You’ll also have an opportunity to examine several types of student response systems and evaluate them for use in the classroom. Walk away with ready to use classroom strategies and technology tools to help you break the lecture habit in your teaching. This workshop is co-facilitated by Teacher’s Academy Director Peggy Dersch and the Virtual Learning Center’s Martha Bogart. Registration is required, click here to do that now!

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These days there is a lot of focus on iPads in K-12 education. What about the schools that have embraced a non-Apple tablet? Here’s an opportunity for those educators to learn more about what they can do on their Andriod device! Check out these upcoming workshops (take one, or both!) from Cooperating School Districts:

Android Tablet Boot Camp
on June 22, from 8:30-11:30 a.m.
Tablets are revolutionizing the classroom. With information at your student’s fingertips, and apps that can focus on a specific concept and engage our students, no wonder they are a success. Learn techniques to navigate Android devices, customize settings, and install apps. Discover apps that can be used at any grade level and how to find them, while building a toolkit at the same time. Join us if you are an Android amateur or a Google guru; there will be something for everyone. You may bring your Android device, or we will share one with you.

Educational Apps for Android Tablets on June 22, from 12:30-3:30 p.m.
This is a continuation of the Android Tablet Boot Camp workshop. Spend the afternoon learning about some great educational Android apps. Find out which apps can be used for classroom management & assessment, and which apps fit best into the different content areas such as math and language arts. Walk away with a list of apps and and feel confident on how they can be effectively used in schools.

Register for these workshops here.
Each session: $75 CSD member; $89 non-member

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Copyright or Wrong: So What’s Fair Use Anyway? is a new workshop offered by Cooperating School Districts. This half-day professional development session is July 27th from  8:30 to 11:30 a.m. at 1460 Craig Road in Creve Coeur, Missouri.

Confused about copyright and how it impacts you and your students? Come learn about some basic ‘big ideas” in copyright, including Fair Use and Creative Commons licensing.  Leave this workshop with a clearer understanding of the issues and a thoughtful process to think through them. We will explore a variety of practical tools and copyright-friendly resources that will enable you and your students to be creative and share their work with the world. Costs: $75 CSD member; $89 non-member. New summer pricing makes this half-day workshop just $56 CSD member; $67 non-memberRegister here.

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