In Their Own Words: Calling All Middle Schools
Our little school is “walking” I-80 from DuBois, Pennsylvania all the way to San Francisco, California and we’d love to visit with you along the way.
To make this wellness project more than just laps in gym, we are asking you to introduce your middle school and tell us something about your area. You can see (and hear) the VoiceThread proposal by Mrs. Sperling by clicking here.
The proposal is just that. If we get some interest we’ll have our students make a voice thread that will act as the network for the meet and greet.
If you’re interested, or know another middle school that may be, just drop us an email. dsperling@dasd.k12.pa.us or me, at kpruitt@dasd.k12.pa.us.
Good VoiceThreads make good neighbors I always say!
Ken Pruitt
Tech Integrator, DuBois, PA
Note: If you’d like to share your project with other educators, or know a teacher we should showcase on the Yahoo! For Teachers blog, just send an email to yteachersblog (at) yahoo (dot) com and let us know. We’re looking forward to hearing and sharing your projects with educators around the world.
Totally Wired: Get the Conversation Going
Anastasia Goodstein is an award-winning blogger and expert on how American tweens and use technology. She is also the creative genius behind the Ypulse blog and Ypulse Mashup conferences. In July 2007, Yahoo! For Teachers was honored to be invited to the first ever YPulse Mashup conference where we also co-presented the Totally Wired Teacher Award.
In her book, Totally Wired: What Teens and Tweens are Really Doing Online, Anastasia explores and demystifies what Gen Y is doing on the web with social media and mobile technology. She also delves into the issues around cyberbullying, MySpace (and other social networks), as well as how all this technology is impacting schools and educators.
In addition to being incredibly knowledgeable in how teens are using technology, she is also keenly aware of how technology is being (or not) integrated in the classroom to support these burgeoning digital learning styles.
In Fall 2007, Anastasia embarked on a national Totally Wired Book Tour where she had the opportunity to educate both parents and teachers about the online lives of Gen Y. When Anastasia returned home from her book tour, she decided to write a discussion guide so that parents, teachers and students would have a starting point for their own conversations.
Anastasia has graciously agreed to allow us to post a copy of her Totally Wired Discussion Guide over in our Yahoo! For Teachers Group (look in the Files section). If you haven’t already, grab a copy of Totally Wired, download the discussion guide and get the conversation going with your peers, students or own kids.
Instead of fearing MySpace and other online communities, learn why they are important to teens and the steps you can take to keep kids safe in these virtual worlds.
Thanks again to Anastasia for sharing her Totally Wired Discussion Guide with the Yahoo! For Teachers community.
Derek
Yahoo! For Teachers Team
Related Resources
Growing Up Digital
Raised in the world of digital media, Gen Y have irrevocably blurred the lines between their online and offline lives. In the upcoming documentary Growing Up Online, Frontline will investigate “the realities and misconceptions of teen life on the internet.”
But parents aren’t alone in trying to navigate their children through the maze of online identities, social networks, blogs, cyberbullying and digital literacy. Educators too are trying to figure out how to keep 21st century kids engaged in 19th century school system.
Where do textbooks and lectures fit in with a net-centric generation that values their ability to use the web to create a self-paced, customized, on-demand learning path that includes multiple forms of interactive, social and self-publishing media tools?
Most importantly, this episode of Frontline promises to provide parents, teachers, and society at large with a better understanding and insight of what it means to have a “totally wired” childhood.
FRONTLINE presents
GROWING UP ONLINE
Tuesday, January 22, 2008, at 9 P.M. ET on PBS
www.pbs.org/frontline/kidsonline
Related Links
Derek
Yahoo! For Teachers Team
Grant Alert: HP Technology for Teaching
2008 Technology for Teaching Grants Open: HP has opened up its 2008 Technology for Teaching Grant program, offering $6 million to K-12 and higher education institutions in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico.
For this year’s program, the Technology for Teaching Grant will award $3 million to K-12 schools and $3 million to two- and four-year colleges and universities. On the K-12 side, proposals will be accepted for programs covering any subject area, although, according to HP, the grant awards will favor science and math proposals.
The initiative is aimed at efforts to improve education through the use of innovative uses of technology in the classroom, increase the number of underrepresented students on a path toward high-tech careers, and enhance student success in math, science and engineering.
Good Luck!
Derek
Yahoo! For Teachers
Yahoo! Safely: Web Safety Resources for Teachers & Parents
How does Yahoo! help keep kids safe online? Find out on the recently launched Yahoo! Safely site!As the most trafficked internet destination in the world, Yahoo! is committed to ensuring that the 30 million children on the internet in the US are exploring it safely.
The new Yahoo! Safely site aggregates resources, knowledge and expertise from across the Web for children, parents, and educators to raise awareness about the importance of safety, ethics and piracy.Check out some of the interactive features on Yahoo! Safely that help kids form safe and smart Internet habits early in life:
- Games and Activities – Play cyber-safety games online
- Clips and Videos – Watch educational videos that help kids become good cyber-citizens
- Weekly Poll – Vote on opinions about safe practices
- Avatar ID Card – Submit Avatars to be featured in the gallery
- Online Safety Forum for Parents – Join in the discussion about online child safety
- Tech Advisor Articles – Get expert advice from Yahoo! Tech bloggers
Related Resources
- Media Awareness Network (MNet)
- debaird.net + Net Safety
- Be Web Aware (en)(fr)
- eSchool News: “Programs Aim to Stop “cyberbullying”
- New York Times: Cyberbullies
- GetNetWise.org
- BBC > Safe Surfing
Wanna Work Together?
This video is a great introduction to Creative Commons. I learned about this video from one of the amazing teachers attending the Yahoo! Teachers workshop in New York City a few weeks ago. Thanks Mr. Circe!
Resources
Think Before You Post
Related Resources
- Media Awareness Network (MNet)
- Be Web Aware (en)(fr)
- eSchool News: “Programs Aim to Stop “cyberbullying”
- New York Times: Cyberbullies
- GetNetWise.org
