We all know that project-based learning is a great way to engage students in learning. Coming up with projects can be time consuming, though, and time seems to always be at a premium. 

What’s the solution?  There are hundreds of content centered, standards-based projects already developed and waiting for you to participate in!

  Here are just a few:

OREOS -This year’s project runs from 9/21 – 10/16.  Students estimate how many cookies they can stack before the Oreos fall over. The project is correlated to K-5 standards and there are numerous extension activities for all content areas.  Several teachers participated in this project last year and a good time was had by all!  Use this link to learn more about this fun activity:  http://www.jenuinetech.com/Projects/OreoXI/instructions09.htm

 Square of Life - Study local and global environments and connect with classrooms all over the world as you share data about the square you study! This project runs from 9/4 – 12/1/09 and while it targets science, there are many curriculum extensions in other content areas.  http://www.ciese.org/curriculum/squareproj/

 Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs – Comparing & contrasting, measuring temperatures and writing tall tales are all wrapped up in this exciting online project!  This one ends on 9/18, though, so if you are interested in participating let me know right away!  http://www.jenuinetech.com/Projects/CWACOM/information.html

Global Water Sampling - Assess the quality of water based on physical and chemical characteristics and compare the data against samples from around the world!

Wikis are a fun and easy way to collaborate on content-based projects with classrooms in other locations .  Here’s a sampling of a few that are or will be up and running soon. See one that you’d like to participate in? Let’s get you set up!! 
Native Cultures Project
Around the World in 80 Classrooms
Regions of VA 
How Tall is a First Grader
Flat Stanley
Book Ads
USA Fun Facts
The Story Exchange

 Blogging - Writing for a real world audience is a great way to get kids involved in the writing process.  Teachers everywhere are using blogs instead of paper/pencil writing assignments.  If you are interested in exploring this authentic writing experinence, please contact me and I’ll get you started!

It wasn’t too long ago that collaboration in the classroom meant that two teachers were working together, side by side, on a project. If a teacher wanted her students to collaborate with students in another school, be it across town or across the country, pen pals were really the only option.
There are many web tools available to today’s educators that make participation in a collaborative project much easier. I used several of these tools to work with K-8 students a week ago while in Mexico.
The Ocean Studies Wiki was the vehicle I used to help third graders understand animal adaptations and the ocean food web, to stir the imagination of eight graders in a co-taught creative writing class, and to help kindergarteners improve their knowledge of Spanish. Voice Thread was a heavily used collaborative tool for this project.
Speech students from a neighboring district also participated – they voiced questions about the ocean for me to answer.
I returned to my schools to face some very excited students and teachers and was pleased that a few more educators in my world had were now aware of how easily they could use collaboration to enhance their curriculum.

If the Dino Safety video isn’t showing, please refresh your browser.

Some very clever Roanoke County students created this very informative video about safety rules.
DINO SAFETY

A small group of ITRTs gathered at the DOE this week to learn how to use data gathered from standardized tests to support teaching and learning.  Not necessarily a setting where you’d expect a discussion about Blogging to begin.
The workshop was informative. We spent a good deal of time analyzing test data and learning to identify strengths and weaknesses within demographic and program areas. We strategized about how to best work with teachers and building administrators to use this information to improve instruction.  The magic didn’t happen, though, until the discussion turned to how technology could facilitate instructional changes.
With a group comprised of Instructional Technology Resource Teachers there was no need to worry about technology “buy in”.  We all understand how technology can improve instruction. What was interesting to me was the way information was generated.  Enthusiasm electrified was what I witnessed.  It started gently, just a few polite suggestions about technologies that might support certain curriculum areas. Soon, though, a group of curious educators were exploring how technologies were being used in different districts and with each inquiry, the energy level grew. Blog, wiki, De.icio.us and twitter accounts were shared and the learning grew exponentially. Soon, we were sharing, exploring, teaching, learning, and creating simultaneously. The room took on a life of it’s own.
It occurred to me that this was exactly the type of learning that today’s students should be experiencing in school.  If we can help teachers use technology to generate this type of energy for learning, there might be less need for data analysis.

TAG! You’re it!!

I was scrolling back through a week of Twitters tonight when I discovered that I’d missed a tweet from fellow ITRT, Tina Coffey.  Tina tagged me with a meme…a Passion Quilt.  By accepting the meme, I need to share why I’m passionate about teaching with technology.  I also need to add an image that captures my passion.

Like my friend, Tina, I’ve struggled with narrowing my focus to just one reason that I’m passionate about technology as an avenue to learning.  Technology opens doors and it certainly levels the playing field for learners everywhere, but what I love best about technology is that it allows me to bring another passion of mine into the classroom from anywhere in the world.

So I’ve chosen this image, one that my husband snapped on the reefs of Cozumel in 2005. It is one of many images available on my flickr site. The title I give it is “Seeing What Is.”

 I love that I can use technology to bring the ocean to my students in a very real way. I love that I can give my students a “fish-eye view” of the world beneath the waves.  I hope that it also inspires them to express and share their own passions.  And while using technology to learn about the ocean environment is certainly not the only trick up my sleeve, it is by far, my very favorite.

And so, I pass on the passion with a little Meme toss of my own! 

The rules are simple:

The Meme toss goes to:

• Thom Ryder -http://www.newt9.blogspot.com/
• Melanie Lewis – http://melanielewis.edublogs.org/

I know I’m supposed to share with five, but I’ll have to get some Blog addresses at VSTE this week and toss to the rest. Tina swooped most of the bloggers I know, so I’ll have to find a few others.