Language Arts Fun

Two websites for language arts fun worth checking out are Wordle and Write Rhymes. Experiment with them yourself, and then turn your students loose to see what they create!

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Back online!

Confluence and JIRA are back up as of 8:40 a.m.

ALERT: Confluence Down

As of 8:15 a.m. on Wednesday morning, the Confluence intranet site is temporarily down.  Although your computer may say that you are connected to the VPN (your tunnel is open), you may not be able to access Confluence or the JIRA help desk..  We will resolve this problem ASAP!

UEN Technology Professional Development

Feeling frustrated about mastering the very technology that you would like to implement with your high-ability learners?

The fine folks at the Utah Education Network can help!  UEN has some awesome technology-focused professional development courses, many of which are available online.  Check out their monthly schedule for content, dates, and times.

Wimba Help

I've gotten a few more emails about using Wimba for endorsement class small group meetings, classroom activities, etc.  Wimba is provided to all Utah educators through the Utah Education Network.  Check out UEN's Wimba help information HERE.  I'm still working on a step-by-step guide for how to access your OWN Wimba room via MyUEN.

Collaboration through Wimba could be a great way for high-ability students working on special projects to connect with students and mentors in other locations, from across the street to across the state!

Virtual Field Trips

Ever wanted to take your students on a fields trip to a historical location or site of scientific importance, but couldn’t due to distance, funding, or other issues?  Want to add depth and breadth to the curriculum for your high-ability students, and create a richer learning environment in your classroom?  Virtual field trips are a tool you can use to accomplish just that!

Check out eFieldTrips for a wide variety of virtual adventures including bat study at the Carlsbad Caverns in New Mexico, understanding of the impact of  key historical events such as the Dred Scott Decision and Brown v. Board of Education, investigating the events prior to the bombing of Pearl Harbor, exploring the geological effects of earthquakes, and more.

The Utah Education Network (UEN) also offers a number of Utah-oriented virtual field trips on their site, as well as a tool to create your own virtual field trip – what a GREAT multi-media extension project for high-ability students!

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Tech Tools for Teachers and Students

Check out these useful sites - information, resources, and tools for teachers and students both:

SchoolTube is an educator-moderated video sharing site, much like YouTube - except every video is previewed by an actual teacher before it goes live.  Not only can teachers access informative videos to enhance classroom instruction, but students can create and post videos as part of curricular projects.

TeacherTube is almost identical in content and function to SchoolTube, though videos on this site are not moderated before being posted.

Have you joined in the Twitter-mania yet? Twitter for Teachers and Twitter 4 Teachers are two sites that will link you up with other Twittering educators to receive lesson plan, classroom management advice, and other teaching tips.

Internet research is a great tool for stretching the minds of high-ability students.  Is there something more, or better, than Wikipedia?  How about Wikipedia for Schools, which offers thousands of articles that have been checked for accuracy and classroom-appropriateness.

Of course, Google is ubiquitous, but you can't beat the selection of tools available: blog and website hosting, custom search engines, tip posters, and the powerful Google Docs.  Check out Google for Educators and discover a ton of resources!

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Technology integration in action

Technology is a key tool in reaching gifted kids! Many gifted researchers have written extensively on this topic, including current NAGC President Dr. Del Siegle. Read an interview on this subject with Dr. Siegle here, and do your own Google search for many articles he's written on the topic.

This story from the Standard Examiner highlights technology integration in the Ogden School District. Maybe you'll be inspired!