Have Your Heard of PowerPoint Magic?

Tired of the same old PowerPoint presentations? If you are like most teachers, it's difficult to sit through student PowerPoint projects, which have often been thrown together at the last minute and contain little but material borrowed from the Web. Some are all fluff with no real content and no real organization. -But it's not just the kids' presentations that are the problem. In fact, most of us get itchy sitting through professional presentations. To the rescue comes Pamela Lewis' book PowerPoint Magic. It's available from ISTE and on Amazon and targets classroom teachers who want to put technology to work with their students. It's for both PowerPoint-experienced teachers and teachers new to using this resource in the classroom. A CD packed with editable templates comes with the book. Think beyond slideshows. Think non-linear. Think fewer "bells and whistles". While checking out this book, we found a site that called PowerPoint Magic that includes tutorials that will add to your classrooms resources as well. Why not check out both the book and the site?

AP Courses - Who Should Take Them?

Are AP courses only for those students heading on to college? Do all students need the skills taught in AP courses? Are all students ready for AP coursework?  Gewertz reports in Ed Week that schools in Duval County, Florida and other locations throughout the nation are targeting Advanced Placement (AP) courses as a way to offer more students college level skills. The schools encourage students who wouldn't normally think of taking AP courses to sign up. In order to get the kids onboard, they assure the students that school personnel will provide help they may need to succeed in these higher level courses. The effort is part of a College Board initiative in partnership with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. It's called EXCELator, and it focuses upon rigorous academic programs for all students and extensive professional development for administrators, teachers, and counselors. Some of the program goals are to create "a national model for deep and lasting systemic change", "school culture focused on college readiness for all students", and "increased academic achievement". Leaders of the program are working on tackling problems such as lack of critical reading skills among many of the students. Without such skills, the passing rate of 3 in the AP tests cannot be achieved. Although problems have been encountered, the EXCELator is moving forward as it inspiring students to "take the leap" into more difficult learning material.

Periodic Table of Elements

Chemistry students will like this online Periodic Table, where it's easy to learn about the elements. The table links to content in Wikipedia, so if you want to know what the symbol Er is, a Wikipedia window will open that informs you that Er is Erbium, which is used as a photographic filter, a neutron absorber, and as an ingredient in sunglasses and cheap jewelry. You can learn about properties, orbitals, isotopes, mass, electrons, melting points, density-the list goes on. Did you know that Neon produces only a reddish-yellow or orange color and that other gases must be added to create the blues, greens, and other hues that we also call Neon? Now on to Ununhexium or Uuh, a temporary name for...  The Table is a nice resource, and as you can see, it's fun to explore.

Say No to Big Math Books

When you assign book reports, do your students look for a book that's most interesting to them? Perhaps. Sometimes they select a book by weight, or in other words, the one with the fewest pages. Could the same thing be true with math books? Would students be happier if math books were shorter and they didn't have so much to cover? It might not be just that students prefer shorter books; it may be that the math books we are using in our schools are too long and try to cover too many topics. This could be the reason why many students in US schools are not mastering the skills they need in mathematics. It may be the reason why American students when tested in math fall well below the top when compared with students in other nations. According to Greg Toppo's article A Solution to How to Teach Math: Subtract in USA Today, the National Math Panel commissioned in 2006 by President Bush suggests that our students will become better in math if we take some steps toward "streamlining math courses." The Panel checked results of over 16,000 research studies before they recommended that we must have a "focused, coherent progression" in mathematics rather than programs that include too many topics and the teaching of the same skills year after year. An emphasis on recall of basic facts, mastering fractions, and understanding concepts was strongly advised, along with the slimming down of textbooks to cover only the topics that need to be mastered during each school year. Panel Chairman Larry Faulkner advises that something else is needed and that's " student effort". It takes hard work to learn math skills. Working hard makes kids smarter in math. We need to move away from the idea that kids are born with math talent. While math does seem to come easier to some folks, most success in math results from hard work.

Hexbugs to the Rescue for Fun and Fundraising

Hexbugs Alpha, Bravo, Charlie, Delta and Echo are ready to brave obstacles in your classroom world as they use their sensor feelers and noise recognition systems to navigate. The cute little battery-powered plastic bugs come in pink, blue, orange, green and yellow. All have six moveable legs and fit in the palm of the hand. Those who are kids at heart, from preschoolers to senior citizens, love to hold them and are eager to help them maneuver along a path. Hexbugs' sensor feelers, along with student handclaps, table slaps and strongly vocalized instructions encourage them to backup and move in different directions. When investigating what the bugs could do, an eighth grader, looked up at the teacher and said, "They don't like to be yelled at. Watch." Although students and teachers will surely think of many ways to use them in the classroom, Hexbugs are so intriguing that they can be used to create a terrific fundraiser for schools. Innovation First, Inc., the company that hatches hexbugs, says that the little critters will stimulate interest in robotics and offer a way to make money for robotics equipment and for travel to robotics competitions. The bugs can be purchased separately for $9.95 or in fundraising cases of 30 units. Postage is free for the shipping of cases to schools. Just turn one on and you'll be hooked.

ASCD Outstanding Young Educator Award - $10,000

Nominations for the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development's Outstanding Young Educator Award must be made before April 15th and October 15th of each year. To be eligible, teachers and administrators must be under 40 years of age and "demonstrate exemplary commitment and exceptional contribution to the profession." Educators can work with any grade level or with any subject area. For the current award, nominations may be made beginning in March 2008. For additional information, email [email protected]. In addition to a $10,000 check, the winner is honored with a personal profile in Educational Leadership magazine, an all-expense paid trip for the winner and a guest to the ASCD annual conference, professional development opportunities, membership in ASCD, and worldwide recognition in the education community.

Budget Cutbacks Bring End to All-USA High School Academic Team

Those searching for information on applying for the All-USA Teacher Team sponsored by USA Today may find conflicting information online. Some sites say that applications are due on April 1, 2008, while the official news from USA Today is that because of budget cutbacks the teams for K-12 teachers will not be named in 2008.  The grants program honored teachers and teacher teams for over two decades, and we hope someday it will return. Stories about past winners are online at the USA Today site.

Free Professional Development Newsletter from Teachscape

Teachscape, which offers professional development for educators through online and offline programs of study, institutes, and teacher support, provides a free newsletter featuring professional development. Just sign up on Teachscape's mailing list to keep up with the latest in Teachscape's professional development suggestions. While you are on the Teachscape site, you might want to investigate some of the company's online courses and/or online degree programs. If you are interested, you can sign up to look into a sample online course.

Tech Stuff in Plain English

It's not easy to keep up with your classroom and also what's happening in the worlds of education and educational technology. To help with the techie stuff, Commoncraft site offers brief, easy-to-understand videos that explain techie devices such as Wikis, blogs, Really Simple Syndication RSS (subscribing to blogs), social networking, online photo sharing, and more. Commoncraft's Wiki video, for example, uses simple drawings to explain what a Wiki is and why you might want to put one to work for you. -And you can learn all about Wikis in less than four minutes. Suppose your kids are talking about the micro-blogging service Twitter , and you haven't the slightest idea what it is, or you want to know how those new light bulbs (compact florescent) work? You can find out at Commoncraft.

Lego® Mindstorms®NXT Zoo Fun

Maybe your kids would like to create a Lego zoo? Legos are no longer just for building skyscrapers and machines, for they can be put together to create alligators, frogs, dinosaurs, spiders, elephants, spiders, and even peacocks. To assist with the construction, Fay Rhodes' book The LEGO MINDSTORMS NXT Zoo! gives step-by-step guidance for building nine Lego zoo animals. The kids will have a great time learning to program their animals to hop, jump, plod along, move their heads, flutter feathers...  We wonder when they'll be able to make them talk? But the kids can figure this out, can't they? Get those gray cells into action!