A Dose of Inspiration (Hopefully)

Below is my entry into the Slideshare World's Best Presentation Contest--Cultivating Creativity in the Classroom. It is not exactly what I hoped it would be. The original font that I used did not make it through the upload (it was a great one too--I think it changed the whole tone of the slide show). I also had to remove several slides because the PPT file was too large (75mb!!) to upload.

I'm not sure how big a role standardized testing plays in the everyday life of a teacher in other states, but here in Ohio no curricular decisions are made without mentioning the words Achievement Test. Even in my school district, which continues to have success on the test each year. This presentation is meant to be a quiet wake up call for teachers. Though it barely scratches the surface of what we know about creativity, it will hopefully awaken a few folks to the idea that preparing for state tests doesn't have to consist entirely of paper/pencil drill and practice drudgery. It's possible to teach many concepts by allowing students to create products that display their learning. Another hope of mine is that teachers will begin to think of themselves as creative and begin to search for ideas in the world around them with the hope of improving their instruction.

I also wanted to provide a few links to the authors that I quote in the presentation:

• Out of Our Minds: Learning to Be Creative by Ken Robinson
• Thinkertoys by Michael Michalko
• A Whack on the Side of the Head by Roger von Oech
  

Plus, creating this presentation was my effort at being more creative. I've been presenting at conferences for years now and over time my presentations have improved significantly. This is the result of my reading a couple books, watching a certain movie, and reading a really awesome blog. Here are links to those:

• Beyond Bullet Points by Cliff Atkinson
• An Inconvenient Truth starring Al Gore and his amazing slideshow
• Presentation Zen
  

Cultivating Creativity in the Classroom

view presentation (tags: creativity teachers classroom education)



Technorati Tags: education| Slideshare | creativity

Flickr in the Classroom: A New Perspective

I've often written in this blog about how I think Flickr is a great tool for the classroom. About a year ago I took part in an interview for an article in Edutopia called My Friend Flickr. I did a complete about-face in the article, stating:

"I read on other teacher blogs that Flickr is really good for the classroom, and I think, 'No way,'" "It's open to anybody, and, because of that, you've got to assume people will put stuff there that will be offensive."

I intended to write a blog entry about it at the time but never got around to it. Well, the other night I was looking for some images on Flickr for a slide show I'm putting together and was astounded by some of the photos that I came across. I decided it was time to write that blog entry.

First of all, let me say that I love Flickr. It's free and has millions of photos that teachers can find for classroom use. I have 132 items in my photostream. However, there is NO WAY I would ever have my students use Flickr. Even the most innocent of searches can reveal some racy photos that would have me in hot water with parents and administration. And don't think for one second that the safesearch feature filters them out. For example, here is a search using the keyword teacher with safesearch turned on. Scroll down the page and see if there is anything that may be offensive to your average middle school student (the level I teach).

Now many folks would say that when students happen on offensive material, it is the teacher's job to turn the situation into a learning opportunity for kids. I agree, but only if they come across this material when doing a search of the web, not when they are using a site that the teacher has directed them to. If I have my kids search for photos on Flickr, knowing what they could come across, then I'll have a hard time defending myself if they do come across something offensive. So as much as I love sites like Flickr, I just think the risk of using it outweighs the benefits.


Photo Credit

Technorati Tags: education| Flickr | digital images

Check out: Rainforest Webquest | Digital Cameras in the Classroom | Alphabet Geometry

A Field Trip to Stearns Woods

Inspired by my reading of the book Last Child in the Woods by Richard Louv, one of my goals this school year was to take my students on a field trip to Stearns Woods, a local forest within walking distance of my school. My hope was that this field trip would have outcomes way beyond helping my kids get better test scores; this was field trip I wanted to take because I believe that school should consist of more than preparing our students for standardized tests. Last summer I introduced my own kids to a forest near my house. After witnessing the enjoyment they got out of running down the trails and playing in the creek, I was sold on the ideas that Louv presented in his book. I wanted to my students to have these experiences also. So the outcome I was hoping for was that this field trip would expose them to a natural area close to their homes and perhaps they would be motivated to visit it again.


As I started planning our trip, I realized that it was an opportunity for much more than a nice morning or afternoon wandering around the woods. I could develop a major project, one that would incorporate several forms of digital media, based on our trip to the woods. I decided to divide the kids into six groups and on the day of the trip armed each group with a digital camera. With the cameras they would take photos of various plants, trees, animals tracks, and fungi, each one evidence of the biodiversity of the woods. They would then use these photos in iMovie to make a slideshow (complete with vocals, music, titles, etc.) that explained the importance of the woods for the city of Wyoming.


As expected, my students were extremely excited about using iMovie. Before taking the trip, I checked out the computer lab for a couple days so that they could get some practice with it before creating their actual slideshows. With me giving simple directions here and there, they quickly learned how to use the software and were putting together slide shows in no time. It didn't take long for them to begin asking if they could incorporate music. I knew that they would be able to import music from CD's, but it was at this point that I seized another opportunity--to have my kids check out the royalty free music that was hanging out on the Internet, free and easy-to-get. Moreover, they could learn about the importance of attributing the music to its author.

I've taken a look at some of the completed slideshows (but have yet to grade them), and I have to say that they need a little work. But this was my first iMovie project and for most of them theirs too. Next year I'll go back to the drawing board and make the necessary adjustments so that the final products show significant improvement. Anyway, isn't the process is almost more important than the final product?


Technorati Tags: education| nature | Richard Louv | iMovie

Check out: Rainforest Webquest | Digital Cameras in the Classroom | Alphabet Geometry


"Look for the Second Right Answer." Roger von Oech

A Great Resource for Digital Images

Looking to spice up a so-so lesson with some incredible visuals? National Geographic has a little eye candy to offer in its awesome gallery of photos. For those of you looking to bring digital images into the classroom, there are plenty to choose from here. Many of the categories are pretty common among image sites, but there are others like Patterns in Nature and Adventure and Exploration that you probably won't in many other places.

PVC Instruments

What should learning look like in the 21st Century? I have endeavored to answer this question this school year by turning my classroom into a laboratory to test the ideas that I have read about and listened to over the past year. Build Your Own Instrument: Blue Man Group Style, a culminating project for a unit on sound, was my latest attempt to define my concept of learning in the 21st Century.

This project required my students to create an instrument out of PVC pipes, the same sort of pipes that you'll find in your house's plumbing. I was inspired by the Blue Man Group, a "rock group" that most of my kids are familiar with and a few have seen live. This trio can make pretty amazing music from instruments constructed with PVC. I knew that once my students had seen them perform (check out this video from YouTube), they would be eager to build their own instruments. And just as I thought, my students tackled the project with a gusto from the design stage through construction.

So what how do I define 21st Century learning? Here are the competencies that I feel the project included/developed:

• Collaboration - My students worked cooperatively in groups of 3 - 5 on this project.
• Creativity/Innovation - Sir Ken Robinson has defined creativity as "the process of having original ideas that have value." I'm not sure of the value of these instruments yet, but it was obvious from the multitude of different designs that each one was truly original.
  
• Problem-Solving/Critical Thinking - It was common for a group to put their finished design together, only to find out that their design was flawed. One group found that they need would need more than screws and pipe strap to hold their instrument together and had to find a new way to do it. Students tinkered with their designs throughout the construction phase.
  
• Right-Brain Competencies (see Daniel Pink's A Whole New Mind):
• Play - The instruments that the BMG play are of the percussion variety. I knew that this type of instrument would appeal to my kids; what kid doesn't like to bang on things. Aren't we always telling our boys to stop using their pencils as drums? The project was meant to act as an assessment, but I purposely planned an activity that would make it an enjoyable one.
• Design - No need to elaborate.
  
• Symphony - Students created instruments that had a minimum of three notes. They accomplished this by using either a slide or changing the length of different pipes (see photo above). This required them to synthesize what they had learned about sound, particularly frequency and pitch.

So where is the technology? It permeates the project, but I can't say that what I or my students did with it was real innovative. Here's a list of the technology that was used:

• Google Video - To get the video of the BMG to spark interest.
• Think.com - I linked to Home Depot and another site so that students could create their budgets.
  
• Digital Cameras - each group took photos of their instruments throughout the construction phase.
  
• Microsoft Word - Students typed up the project summaries using this. They also inserted photos into their documents.
  
• Wireless Laptop Lab - Students completed the work on Apple computers.

The project has me thinking though--is this really learning for the 21st Century? Before 21st Century skills were invented, I (and many other teachers) had my students creating products in groups using technology. Don't most teachers make an effort to develop these abilities in their students through their teaching?


Technorati Tags: Blue Man Group, education, teachers

Check out: www.misterteacher.com | Digital Cameras in the Classroom | Alphabet Geometry

iPods in the Classroom: Learning science vocabulary with video podcasts

The following is taken from a grant request that I wrote with another teacher in my building (the grant request was rejected). If you are reading from aggregator, click through to see an example video from TeacherTube.

Here's another idea for iPods in the classroom. Have your students create and view video podcasts of essential mathematics and science vocabulary from current units of study (see above example). The words will be selected from vocabulary found in your state standards, study materials, prepared lists, and lists of verbs used in test questions and curriculum standards. Have them use a planning guide to discuss how to communicate the concept and draft a script. This may include downloading of images from the Internet, student drawings, or photos from classroom digital cameras. Then have them use multiple recording and software tools to record audio, edit, and share their video podcasts with their peers.

Traditionally, vocabulary is often taught by presenting kids with a list of words and having them memorize it and then regurgitate it for a test. When students create a product such as a video podcast, they are creating meaning by actively researching examples and images to illustrate the word.

The project would enable students to apply vocabulary knowledge to the math and science areas as well increase reading comprehension and writing skills. Students would be able to hear themselves read their scripts out loud, this will influence reading fluency.

Assess the project in two ways: (1) Grades: by unit on tests in math science, reading and writing; quarterly through short quizzes on the vocabulary words; and ultimately through students’ performance on the state test. (2) Observations and student interviews.


Technorati Tags: education | teachers | podcasting | iPod

Check out: www.misterteacher.com | Rainforest Webquest | Symmetry in Nature

Learning about variables with digital cameras

Below you'll find a couple of the projects from the Online Science Fair that took place in my classroom this past spring (2007). They are actual photos that students took to show what the variables were in their experiments.

Question: My question is, when you drop a 3 ounce ball from 4 inches above, does a spoon fling a marble higher if the leverage is smaller?

Hypothesis: I think that if the lever is smaller then the marble will fly higher.

Variable: My variable is the different notches on the spoon.

Results: My results were that if the lever is closer to the end of the spoon, the marble will fly higher.

This is a great experiment on the position of the fulcrum of a lever and the lever's resulting strength. Since we did not study levers this year, this student never learned the associated vocabulary. But with this simple photo, he has illustrated his variable.






Question: Does the size of a marble affect how fast it sinks?

Hypothesis: If the marble is smaller, then it will sink faster.

Variable: small, medium, large, and extra large marbles

Results: I leared that the more mass an object has, the faster it will sink. The big marble had more mass, so it sank faster.


Once again, a great experiment where the student has learned about something that we did not study in class this year. Also once again, this simple photo has illustrated his variable.

Next Year

Looking at these photos, I realize how much they will help me next year. I can easily use the marble photo to teach variables. Imagine the following problem:

• Dave wants to see which size marble will roll the farthest down a ramp. He takes three books and places a cardboard ramp on top of them. Then he takes four marbles of different size (refer to the photo) and rolls them down the ramp one at a time. He measures the distance each rolls. What is the variable in the experiment?
• Referring to the photo, ask students what changed in the experiment.
  
• Then show the next photo. Here's the scenario: Kerry wants to see if the length of a string a affects the speed of a pendulum. He measures three pieces of string (12 in., 18 in., and 24 in.) and creates three pendulums with them. He then swings them and counts the number of swings for 10 seconds. What is the variable?
  

More on digital photos: Future of Math: Digital Images and Digital Cameras in the Classroom.

Technorati Tags: education | digital cameras | science

Using Flickr to Plan a Trip

Rugged Coast of Maine, originally uploaded by Karnevil.

A friend and I are finalizing plans for a trip to Acadia National Park in Maine this summer. One of my favorite parts of travel is the planning. Of course, in planning for this trip I've checked out a few informational sites that help visitors plan lodging, dining, site seeing, etc. However, none of these sites have many photos, and I'm really interested in SEEING what the park looks. It wasn't until today that I thought about paying Flickr a visit to do just this.

Above you'll see just one of the many photos that Flickr users have posted under the tag acadianationalpark. In fact, after a little clicking I found myself in a cluster full of photos with tags like acadia, barharbor, cadillacmountain, and desertisland, all tags for photos of places located in or around Acadia National Park. I even found a user who had a set titled Acadia National Park.

What I love is being able to click on a photo, see it and then click on the tags that go with it to see other photos that have the same tag. For all these reasons, Flickr has been great for helping me plan my trip to Acadia.

Engaging Students in Inquiry with Digital Images

I took this photo during some explorations my class was doing with light last week. After seeing it, I wish I had taken it before the exploration and used it to engage my students in the activities that were to come.

A photo like this--projecting onto a screen or copied onto a handout--is great for arousing students' curiosity. Why does the straw appear to be broken? Why does it happen at the surface of the water? What does light have to do with it?



Generating questions like these is the first step in engaging students in inquiry-based learning. They give students a reason to explore; a reason for doing the activities that are basis for concept development.

To the right is another photo I took during the same explorations. Can you make the connection between this photo and the one above? What is the concept? Hint: Notice how the beam of light breaks when it enters the water and then again when it leaves.

Technorati Tags: education | digital cameras

Check out: Digital Cameras in the Classroom | Spreadsheets in the Classroom | Alphabet Geometry

Working with Digital Cameras and a Projector

After winning the Best Buy Teach Award I was able to purchase 8 Kodak Easyshare digital cameras for a project titled the Online Science Fair. The fair isn't set to begin until May so I've been trying to dream up ways to put the cameras to use until then. Normally this wouldn't be too difficult; however, the computer labs in my school are booked solid through the month of April so that teachers can use our test prep software to get kids ready for the Ohio Achievement Test. When you're working in a digital (paperless) world, computers and digital cameras go together.

Luckily, each camera came with an AV cable. I can plug one end of this cable into my camera and the other into my LCD projector and actually show photos from the camera on my projector. In addition, I can also show videos that I record with the camera on the big screen.

So it seems that computers are not absolutely necessary to put digital cameras to use in the classroom. I have yet to have my students take photos on the cameras and present them for the class, but I'm already planning projects that will allow students to use the cameras in this way.

Another use for the camera is as a document camera/projector. When you plug the AV cable in and turn on the camera, the color display on the back of the camera is projected. With the camera it's possible to get a close up of not only documents but small objects that are hard to display to the class.

Read more about digital cameras in the classroom at misterteacher.com.


Technorati Tags: education | digital cameras | Kodak

Tessellations | Similar Figures | Symmetry in Nature

Math Photo of the Week

Paper Airplanes, Online Presentations

Paper Airplane Lesson Plan

In my effort to create an online archive of lesson plans that stresses quality over quantity, I've added another of my more successful science lessons to my website. It's about paper airplanes and the scientific method. Here's a brief overview of the lesson:

Students work with a partner to create two paper airplanes, each with a different design. They then fly the paper airplanes a set number of times and observe how far each goes. The lesson acts as a perfect introduction to the scientific method. Through it, students learn how to:

• Ask scientific questions
• Formulate hypotheses
• Clearly write procedures
• Collect data
• Draw conclusions
• Identify variables

The lesson has three stages: an observation period, a whole class experiment, and student experiments. An optional fourth stage would be a presentation of results. It also offers many opportunities for the incorporation of technology. Tech tips appear throughout the lesson.

Click here to download and view the lesson.

Online Presentations - Which site is best?

As a teacher who likes to hit the presentation circuit, I've been trying out some online slideshow software. Last February, I embedded a flickr slideshow in a post and liked it quite well. But embedding flickr slideshows isn't always the best way to share your slides. Below are my thoughts on some of the sites that allow users to share their presentations.

• About a month ago Tim Lauer posted about SlideShare, a site where you can upload a preexisting PowerPoint or OpenOffice slideshow. This is pretty handy since it means you no longer have to save your shows as a web page and then upload them to a server. Of course, the site is a also about social networking as users can tag presentations and comment on them as well. Here's SlideShare's major limitation: there's no way to publish a notes page. My slides are simple--they mostly contain a photo, a sentence, phrase, or sometimes just a single word. Bullet points are scarce in my presentations. Therefore, it's hard to get much information from them if I can't publish a notes page.

• Another site that I have tried is Thumbstacks. This site allows users to actually create, edit, and share the slideshow online. It's full of great features, unless you're into animations and transitions, it doesn't support those yet. But, once again, it doesn't have a notes page.

• Embedding a flickr slideshow works best if you have notes about each slide that you'd like to share with others. However, the slides come from photos in your archive and I can't imagine trying to turn my PowerPoint slides into images and uploading them to my flickr account.

The verdict: I like using PowerPoint to create my presentations, so Thumbstacks is out. I think for now my choice is SlideShare. If the slides are good enough and contain links to relevant websites, they can be powerful enough on their own to get your message across.



Technorati Tags: Thumbstacks | SlideShare | teachers


Check out: Digital Cameras in the Classroom | Spreadsheets in the Classroom | Technology in the Classroom

Links for Visual Classroom Participants

For a complete list of the links from today click the link below:

• Visual Classroom Links
• Even More Great Links!
  

Using the Internet to Acquire Digital Images for Classroom Use

The Internet is a gold mine for finding digital images to use in your classroom. On numerous occasions I have found photos from Google or another photo site and used them on worksheets, in a blog entry, for writing prompts, or for something else. Below are some of my favorite sites for finding photos to use in the classroom.

1. Google Images.
   
2. Flickr - Millions of users, million of photos. This is Web 2.0 at its finest. This photo sharing site allows users to tag their photos, or add keywords to them when they upload. When you search for photos here, you enter a tag into the search box and any photo that has been tagged with that keyword is returned. Tips for using Flickr:
   • Try a tag search for math nature and you will get photos from folks who have tagged photos with those words. Go to the site and try this.
   • You can also do a group search for photos. Do the same search from above and your results will show groups who have uploaded photos with the theme math nature.
3. KidsClick - This page contains links to special image databases under the following categories: Art, Astronomy/Space, Animals, History/Society. Some of the links include Astronomy Picture of the Day, FWS Image Archive, and American Memory Collection.
4. Yotophoto - From the site: "Yotophoto is a search engine for free-to-use stock photographs and images. These are images that are either in the Public Domain or released under generous Creative Commons, GNU FDL or similar licenses."
5. Stock.Xchng - This site is full of stock photos for professionals. It is still full of photos that are great for classroom use.
6. PixelPerfect - Another site meant for professionals but full of of photos appropriate for classroom use. This is a comprehensive site on digital photography with tons of information on cameras, reviews, links, and more.
7. Pics4Learning - A copyright free image library for teachers. I can't say I'm real high on this one--there just isn't the depth here that you'll find in the sites above.

By the way, the above information is copied word for word from my Website Future of Math: Digital Cameras.


Technorati Tags: education | teachers | flickr | internet | photography | Pics4Learning

Section 2 - Analyze

Use of images can involve many kinds of analysis on the part of the student. Our goal is to get them to see mathematical concepts in real-world images.

Assignment # 2 - Creating assignments for students.

1. Go to the Visual Classroom Photo Site and browse the images there. I have put a question or assignment under each photo. Remember, you are the student. Do you see the concept that I see in the image?
   
2. After you have seen enough, come back to this site, click on the comments link, and provide the rest of the participants with two assignments that you could create for students.
   

Section 3 - Create

Educational activities often involve products. Word processing software makes it easy to incorporate digital images.

Assignment # 3 - Create three "concept cards" from three digital images from the Visual Classroom Photo Site. A concept card is a document (or web page) that contains an image with a description or definition of the concept pictured. Follow the directions below to download the images and add them to an Appleworks document.

1. Find an image that you like and position your mouse over the photo.
2. Press the control button on your keyboard and then click your mouse.
3. A menu will pop up - select DOWNLOAD IMAGE TO DISK (IE Explorer) or SAVE IMAGE TO DESKTOP (Safari).
   
4. A navigation window will pop up - give the image a new name and then save it to the desktop. Repeat with two other images.
   
5. Open an Appleworks document.
   
6. Go to the FILE menu and select INSERT... In the bottom right of the window, select ALL AVAILABLE.
7. Find the image you want, click on it, and then click INSERT. Your image should appear in your document. From here, you can add the text that describes the image and apply any formatting you would like (center, increase size, change font, etc.).
   

Section 4 - Communicate

Products are not always meant to be read only by a teacher, but can also be communicated to a larger audience. In the following assignment, you will take your concept cards and create a slide show for the other participants to view.

Assignment # 4 - Create a slideshow that communicates what you learned in your project to the group.

1. Make sure each concept card is on a different page of your document. Center each image and its description.
   
2. Go to the WINDOW menu & select SLIDE SHOW... Click START to begin the show. Hit Q on your keyboard to end the show.
   
3. Move around the room to view others' slideshows.

More forms of communication:

• Web pages - Does your district provide you with web space? Use it to publish student work. Imagine how excited students and their parents will be when they see their work on the Net!
• Bulletin Boards - Put student work with digital images on a bulletin board.
  
• Hallway Displays - Display student-created concept cards in the hallway.
  

Flickr for Teachers: Blogging Photos from flickr

Once a classroom account has been set up with flickr, a teacher and his/her class(es) can begin the process of uploading photos and then using them in the classroom. One of the best ways to use these photos is to blog them. Flickr allows you to set up your account so that you can select and post a photo to any number of blogs. So if your students all have blogs, they can post photos from your Flickr homepage to them and use them for a multitude of different assignments. If your students do not have individual blogs, or if a group blog is being used as a class blog, then a host of other types of activities exist.

Following are suggestions for using a Flickr library as a tool to enhance classroom blogging. The suggestions are divided into activities for group blogs and those for individual student blogs.

Group Blogging with Flickr - In the classroom, a group blog is one that is administered mainly by the teacher. It is meant to build a community of learners by having student work published in a single place so that other members of the community can view it. Integrating digital images brings a new dimension to the group blog as the information is no longer just textual, but is now also visual.

• Writing Prompts
  
• Problem of the Day (or week) - Having students solve a problem (or problems) on a daily basis is a routine activity for most math teachers. It helps teachers to assess, review, and enrich the math curriculum. In a group blog, a problem is posted for students and they post their solutions through the comment link. Adding digital images from a flickr account allows a teacher to ask a wider range of questions because they can then use details from the image to eliminate much of the verbal description that would be needed without it.
  
• See Think Again! for a few examples
• Here's one on transformations.
• One on central angles.
  
• Journal entries - Of all the forms of writing in math, the requirements of a journal may be the most ambiguous. Entries can be as diverse as you wish, from justifying solutions to describing one's feelings toward math. A possible use of Flickr might be to take photos from classroom activities, blog them, and have students summarize the activity illustrated in the photo.
• Inquiry projects - An excellent example of using a blogged photo to get students to research a concept is at the Pre-Cal 40S blog.
  
• Blogging Photos from Your Favorites - Because Flickr is an online community, you have access to the photos of all Flickr account holders (as long as they wish to make their photos public). As you browse others' photos, Flickr has a feature that allows you to add those photos to a favorites page. Once there, you can blog those photos and use them for all of the activities above.

More Examples

If Kayla eats 1/4 of the pizza and David eats 2/3 of what is left,
how many pieces will there be when they are finished?
(from permanentennui)




What would the next three squares look like in the pattern above? Describe the pattern.
(from misterteacher's photostream)

That's it for this entry. Next up, suggestions for using photos in individual student blogs.

Flickr for Teachers: Your Own Personal Web Page

Click on the about link in flickr and here's what you'll find:

"Flickr - almost certainly the best online photo management and sharing application in the world - has two main goals:

1. We want to help people make their photos available to the people who matter to them.
2. We want to enable new ways of organizing photos."

If classroom teachers could take those goals and put them into their own words they might read:

1. I want to make my classroom photos available to members of the school community including parents, administrators, and other stakeholders.
2. I want to have a place to store my photos, regardless of platform, and use those photos in engaging classroom projects.
   

Building on the first goal, a great way to use flickr in the classroom would be as a homepage that documents the events of a particular classroom throughout a school year through digital images. Once a teacher creates an account on the site, the URL can be made available to parents and other members of the school community so they can watch the school year unfold in photos.

Here is how it might work:

• Our Class - Mrs. Jones is a third grade teacher who is great at keeping contact with parents. At the beginning of the year she takes photos of each student in her classroom and uploads the photos to the classroom flickr account. In addition, she takes the biographical information she collects on each student and adds a description of each student under their photo. Mrs. Jones then creates a set titled Our Class or Who Are We? using the photos and descriptions. Now parents can come to the site and page through the set to learn a little something about the students in their child's classroom. They can also add an inspiring comment for their child.
• Field Trip - Last Thursday Mrs. Jones' class took a field trip to the local natural history museum. With flickr in mind, Mrs. Jones snaps several photos of students at various exhibits with a digital camera. By Monday, she has uploaded the photos and created a set titled Field Trip to the Natural History Museum.
  

The possibilities are endless--photos from class parties, a science fair, class projects, assemblies, and on and on. Using flickr is more effecient than creating a web page and then taking the time to update it when new photos are added. Using flickr, you simply upload the photos, add a description, and the page updates itself.

So this ends chapter one of section one. Next up, enhancing learning through the blogging of photos from flickr.

Flickr for Teachers

for teachers

Sometime in the next few days I plan on beginning a concept album with the above title. As you know if you read this blog, I love flickr. Since discovering this site, I have thought of, and blogged, multiple uses for it for teachers. The songs on this concept album will each describe a different use for flickr in the classroom, with an emphasis on the mathematics classroom.

Let me stress that this is not a how-to--you will not learn how to upload photos or tag images. The information will be restricted entirely to classroom uses of the site. Below is a table of contents, which I'm sure will change in the coming days.

Table of Contents

Using Photos from the Classroom

• Your Own Personal Web Page
• Photos from the Classroom
  
• Blogging Photos from flickr
  
• Problem of the Day - see past blog entries
  
• Sentence Starters
• Journal Starters
• Sets - Creating Books
  
• Vocabulary Books - Patterns & Functions
  
• Real World Connections - Bring life to a concept
  
• Narratives
• Slide Shows
• Presentations from Projects

Using others' Photos

• Favorites
  
• Problem of the Day, Vocabulary, Real - World Connections
  
• Tags

Online Collaboration

• Groups

Tools

• "Send to Flickr" Bookmarklet
• Sky's the Limit!
• Social Studies - maps, presidential photos, historical photos, geography, culture photos
• Math - figures,
  
• Language Arts - photos that evoke emotions, authors, symbols, settings
• Science - concepts, scientists, tools,