Address:

Periodic Table of Elements

Age:

6th grade+

Topic:

Science

Review

This website explores the periodic table of elements via video. Each element is linked to a 7-10 minute video discussing it in that uniquely-British approach of staid enthusiasm. Here’s an example of titanium:

The concept was the idea of video journalist Brady Haran. He had been making films with scientists in Nottingham, England (see Test Tube) and approached Professor Poliakoff at the University of Nottingham. The Professor loved the idea and almost immediately started reeling off great stories and information from the top of his head. Other scientists from the university chemistry department also helped in their areas of expertise.

Besides these 119 videos, the website has a section for ‘other’ science videos (always with a bit of humor infused–you’ll love the Elements Song), 41 Molecule videos, Road Trip photos (including an amazing picture of the periodic table in cupcakes), and sixty videos about the symbols of physics and astronomy.

It’s worth noting: If you access the videos from the website, there are no ads. Thank you, Brits!

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Jacqui Murray is the editor of a technology curriculum for K-sixth grade and creator of two technology training books for middle school. She is the author of Building a Midshipman, the story of her daughter’s journey from high school to United States Naval Academy midshipman.  She is webmaster for five blogs, an Amazon Vine Voice book reviewer, a columnist for Examiner.com, Editorial Review Board member for Journal for Computing Teachers, IMS tech expert, and a weekly contributor to Write Anything. Currently, she’s editing a thriller for her agent that should be be out to publishers this summer. Contact Jacqui at her writing office or her tech lab, Ask a Tech Teacher.

Do you have a tech quesion?

about teaching tech. If you have a question, please complete the form below and I’ll answer it here. I use only first names.

Here’s a great question I got from Christine:

Q: Hi,  I teach 8th grade Physical science and next year all of my students will be issued their own ipad.  Any tips on how to find good apps and examples of lessons that use the ipad? Thanks!

A: There are any number of websites that promise a list of iPad apps for education. Some are free, some not and in my experience, they’re particular to a teacher’s interests. Instead of those, I’d recommend going to the Twitter hashtag #ipaded. This stream highlights realtime iPad apps that are recommended by active educators. For example, there’s one called SimplePhysicsyou might enjoy.

Here are some more from my e-colleague Tony:

• Quixey: a search engine of all apps – for Android as well as iPhone & iPad
• Appitic: one of my favourites – collections of apps by theme
• Appolicious: probably the largest collection of reviewed apps – well worth a look!
• iPad apps perfect for ES: a selection of apps that come highly recommended by ‘experts’
• iKidApps: you can search by age or subject and you’ll find great reviews on a load of different apps
• iPad Apps used in school–the list Tony uses. I love it.
• iPad Apps for Education--a comprehensive list from Kathy Shrock

What iPad apps do you recommend?

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Jacqui Murray is the editor of a technology curriculum for K-fifth grade and creator of two technology training books for middle school. She is the author of Building a Midshipman, the story of her daughter’s journey from high school to United States Naval Academy midshipman. She is webmaster for five blogs, an Amazon Vine Voice book reviewer, a columnist for Examiner.com, an Editorial Review Board member for Journal for Computing Teachers, an IMS tech expert, and a weekly contributor to Write Anything. Currently, she’s seeking representation for a techno-thriller she just finished. Any ideas? Contact Jacqui at her writing office or her tech lab.

Online tools for education

with, but when you teach tech or coordinate technology for your school, ‘keeping up’ is part of your job.

Here’s how I determine which of these hundreds (thousands?) of tools are student-ready:

• Before I introduce a tool to  my class, I try it myself. Can I get it to work with ease? Is it intuitive or will it require teaching? Does it work as promised? Are there intrusive ads? Will students get distracted as they work through the steps required to complete the assignment?
• Next, I query my social networks to determine the experiences of fellow tech teachers. Have they had much success with this tool? Any problems they ran into? Is it stable? If my e-colleagues find that the glamour of the Web tool is only skin deep, I move on. Of course, sometimes I’m ahead of the curve and my colleagues are unfamiliar with the tool. Truth, that rarely happens. There’s always someone somewhere who has experience.

If a tool passes these two tests, I try it in class. Since I teach over 430 students every week, that’s the true beaker. If a program survives the hands-on  grade-level labor of dozens of students, if they can get through the required steps to create a project that supports their learning in new creative ways and still have fun, I’ve found a good tool.

Here’s my list of 2011 favorites that have run that gauntlet:

1. BigHugeLabs–create trading cards, posters, puzzles, mosaics using the student’s own images. Quick, easy, pain-free and fun
2. Bubbl.us–create mind-maps to brainstorm topics. No-frills and easy to use
3. GettingTrickyWithWikis–format wikis with lots of bling to better communicate ideas
4. iMindMap (free version)–create mind maps easily that inspire brainstorming
5. Jing–take screenshots and screencasts for free. No ads. Require registration to install software.
6. Polldaddy–create surveys and polls and embed them into blogs, wikis, websites (for free)
7. Scribd–share lots of document formats with the public or a limited audience for easy viewing online. Embeddable into websites, blogs, and more.
8. Tagxedo–create word clouds with unique shapes, colors, that can be saved, printed and embedded to wikis, blogs, etc.
9. Voki–create avatars that interact visually and audibly with others
10. Wikispaces–free wikis for educators. They’re simple to use and easy to set up.
11. Wolfram Alpha Widget Maker–instantly add live computational knowledge to your blog or website. Create your own or use someone else’s.
12. WordPress.com–build and share a blog with students or classes or colleagues. WordPress is the simplest of the many I’ve tried, with the most options.
13. Xtranormal  (free version)–produce short films with virtual characters and a text to speech facility

Here are a few more great ones that I didn’t consider in my Top 13 because most educators already know about them:

• Edmodo–a micro-blogging service (like Twitter) for teachers and students. Use it to share information, set and collect assignments and more.
• Glogster–create media rich online posters that can be embedded into wikis, blogs and more.
• Google Apps–offer a suite of Google Apps designed especially for educators. Include Google Docs, Google Mail, and Google Sites
• Khan Academy–offers a library of over 2,700 free videos covering everything from arithmetic to physics, finance, and history and 268 practice exercises,
• Livebinders–organize your resources in an online three ring binder
• Prezi–create awesome presentations live and on the web!
• Voicethread–collaborate online by sharing media and comments. The perfect tool for whole class projects.
• Wordle–generate word clouds quickly.

Should be on the list, but I’ve had too many problems either in their set-up or stability of their platform:

• MuseumBox–lets you describe an event, person, or historical period by placing items into a virtual, interactive box. Unfortunately, several times, it has been inoperative and that’s a nonstarter for a teacher. We plan a lesson. All the parts must work reliably.
• Only2Clicks–a visual collection of website links. Same problem as MuseiumBox.
• Wallwisher–build a wall to share ideas, online notices, notes, and more.  Same complaint as the first two.

Please take a minute to vote in my poll and share which tool is your favorite. If you have a different one, leave a comment.

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Jacqui Murray is the editor of a technology curriculum for K-fifth grade and author of two technology training books for middle school. She wrote Building a Midshipman, the story of her daughter’s journey from high school to United States Naval Academy midshipman. She is webmaster for five blogs, an Amazon Vine Voice book reviewer, a tech columnist forExaminer.com, Editorial Review Board member for ISTE’s Journal for Computing Teachers, IMS tech expert, and a weekly contributor to Write Anything. Currently, she’s seeking representation for a techno-thriller Any suggestions? Contact Jacqui at her writing office, WordDreams, or her tech lab, Ask a Tech Teacher.

Q: I push ‘PrintScreen’ (or PrtScn) and nothing happens.

A: I have to teach this as a full-blown lesson in class because it is so counter-intuitive, even adults don’t get it.

• When you push PrintScreen, it saves a copy of your screen to the clipboard. Now, you must tell the computer where to put it.
• For example, open MS Word and a new document. Paste (using Ctrl+V or right click+paste or the icon on the toolbar–or Edit-paste) and a copy of your screen will appear as a picture.

It can be pasted into docs, emails, cards, wherever you’d like.  Just don’t forget to paste it!

Questions you want answered? Click this link, then fill out the form toward the bottom of the page.

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Jacqui Murray is the editor of a technology curriculum for K-sixth grade and creator of two technology training books for middle school. She is the author of Building a Midshipman, the story of her daughter’s journey from high school to United States Naval Academy midshipman.  She is webmaster for five blogs, an Amazon Vine Voice book reviewer, a columnist for Examiner.com, Editorial Review Board member for Journal for Computing Teachers, IMS tech expert, and a weekly contributor to Write Anything. Currently, she’s editing a thriller for her agent that should be be out to publishers this summer. Contact Jacqui at her writing office or her tech lab, Ask a Tech Teacher.

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…and start each week off with a fully-adaptable K-8 lesson that includes step-by-step directions as well as relevant ISTE national standards, tie-ins, extensions, troubleshooting and more. Eventually, you’ll get the entire Technology Toolkit book. If you can’t wait, you can purchase the curriculum here.

I love giving my material away for free. Thankfully, I have a publisher who supports that. If everyone did, we would reach true equity in international education.

Color My Grammar

Students type several sentences in MS Word. Use the font color palette to label parts of speech, i.e., blue for subject, red for verb. Use sentences from a book they’re reading in class, spelling words they’re working on, or a teacher hand-out. Makes grammar fun.

Click on lessons for a full size alternative.

–from 55 Technology Projects for the Digital Classroom. Preview available on Amazon.com and Scribd.com

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Jacqui Murray is the editor of a technology curriculum for K-sixth grade and creator of two technology training books for middle school. She is the author of Building a Midshipman, the story of her daughter’s journey from high school to United States Naval Academy midshipman.  She is webmaster for five blogs, an Amazon Vine Voice book reviewer, a columnist for Examiner.com, Editorial Review Board member for Journal for Computing Teachers, IMS tech expert, and a weekly contributor to Write Anything. Currently, she’s editing a thriller for her agent that should be be out to publishers this summer. Contact Jacqui at her writing office or her tech lab, Ask a Tech Teacher.

1. 360 degrees Moon View
2. Land on the Moon
3. NASA City
4. Satellite Fly-bys–by zip code
5. Solar system–3D
6. Solar system
7. Space–explore it
8. Spacesuits–clickable
9. Space sounds
10. Space station game
11. We Choose the Moon

Do you have any I missed?

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Jacqui Murray is the editor of a technology curriculum for K-fifth grade and author of two technology training books for middle school. She wrote Building a Midshipman, the story of her daughter’s journey from high school to United States Naval Academy midshipman. She is webmaster for five blogs, an Amazon Vine Voice book reviewer, a tech columnist forExaminer.com, Editorial Review Board member for ISTE’s Journal for Computing Teachers, IMS tech expert, and a weekly contributor to Write Anything. Currently, she’s seeking representation for a techno-thriller Any suggestions? Contact Jacqui at her writing office, WordDreams, or her tech lab, Ask a Tech Teacher.

Keyboarding hints for youngers

Before I answer that question, let’s back up a step and answer a more fundamental question: Should you expect youngers to keyboard? I’m talking about students between kindergarten and fifth grade. Are they mature enough? Do they have the fine motor skills required to use the pinkie to push the A key? Do they have that kind of focus and concentration?

The answer is: Yes, as a rule, though when I reviewed the literature on this subject, it is all over the place as far as when students should/could begin. Some say third grade; some say not until fifth or sixth. From my experience, it’s third grade, though I teach pre-keyboard skills as young as kindergarten. That might be why my students are ready in third grade.

Here’s a caveat: You’ll have to be the arbiter as to whether this is true for your group. If you determine your students aren’t ready, wait a year. You’re the teacher. You’ll know when they’re ready.

Once you decide, the next question is: At what age and how fast should kids type? Here’s a quick answer. Prepare kindergarteners by teaching pre-keyboard skills like posture, hand placement, mouse skills, some shortkeys. This gives their young brains and their immature fine motor skills time to develop. When you determine they’re ready, move on to speed and accuracy.

Me, I’ve come to conclusions that fit my particular K-8 students. Their demographics include:

• private school
• parents support emphasis on keyboarding
• most have computers at home; actually, most have their own computer at home
• students are willing to practice keyboarding in class and submit homework that is oriented to keyboarding

Based on this set of students, here’s what I require:

Kindergarten

An introduction. We use Type to Learn Jr. to introduce keyboarding posture and mechanics, and Brown Bear Typing to challenge them to remember key placement with no emphasis on correct fingers. My students tolerate TTL Jr. and love Brown Bear. Often, when it’s free choice time, they select this program.

Here are hints to develop good habits at this young age:

• Make sure the keyboard remains in front of the student and the mouse to the right (or left for lefties). Students want to push the keyboard out of the way so they can concentrate on the mouse. Don’t let them. Make it a habit to keep the keyboard centered in front of their body with the mouse comfortably on the side
• Keep hands to themselves. Don’t touch others mouse, keyboard, monitor. This gives students a sense of responsibility over their own station, knowing no one can touch it but them
• Keep elbows tucked into their sides
• Keep hands curled like cat paws while typing
• Use the right thumb for the space bar
• Start students on problem solving. Yes, it takes longer to teach them how to fix their volume control, but it takes shorter in the long-run. They feel good about their skills. They remember more than you’ll ever expect. They  use it at home which impresses parents with your genius (OK, that’s secondary, but the compliments are nice)

First Grade

More of the kindergarten introduction, with my focus on:

• sit up straight
• elbows at side
• feet in front
• hands on home row and their own side of keyboard

And, we move on to Type to Learn midway through the year. This I tell them is the ‘big kids’ program, one they’ll use throughout Lower and Middle School. They love that.

Second Grade

I still don’t discuss speed, but I begin to focus on traits that allow for speedy, accurate typing:

• good posture
• elbows at their side to force hands into the correct position
• thumb on space bar
• hands on home row
• pointers on f and j
• use the finger closest to the key while keeping pointers on f and j

This year, we don’t use Type to Learn. We move into Dance Mat Typing or Nimble Fingers, where I can focus students on one keyboard row at a time. I also introduce finger exercises (which students get a kick out of) to remind them they have eight fingers and two thumbs–not just two pointers that hunt and peck.

Students work for ten minutes a week in class on only home row for a month. When they feel comfortable with key placement, I cover their hands with a cloth. They love this–see it as a badge of honor to type with hands hidden. By the end of the month, home row is memorized and they’re ready for the QWERTY row. I repeat this process for the next two months with the second and third row. By the fourth month, we return to TTL4, hands covered, no matter how slowly. It feels hard at first and quickly becomes easier.

Third Grade-Fifth Grade

We start on keyboard quizzes for speed and accuracy and filling in blank keyboards for memorization. We use all the good traits acquired in K-2. As students take their speed quiz, I anecdotally notice who is using all fingers. Those that aren’t lose points. Grading is based on improvement from the prior speed quiz. Students who reach the grade level standard for speed and accuracy get a free dress pass (we are a uniform school). This is exciting for them. Grade level standards are:

3rd Grade:    15 wpm

4th Grade:    25 wpm

5th Grade:     30 wpm

I add five hints to the kindergarten list that appeal to the more mature mind:

• Use inside fingers for inside keys, outside fingers for outside keys
• Use the finger closest to the key you need. Sounds simple, but this isn’t what usually happens with beginners.
• Play your keyboard like you do a piano (or violin, or guitar, or recorder). You’d never use your pointer for all keys
• Fingers move, not your hands. Hands stay anchored to the f and j keys
• Don’t use caps lock for capitals! Use shift.

What do you use for Lower School keyboarding? I’d love to hear from you.

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Jacqui Murray is the editor of a technology curriculum for K-fifth grade and author of two technology training books for middle school. She wrote Building a Midshipman, the story of her daughter’s journey from high school to United States Naval Academy midshipman. She is webmaster for five blogs, an Amazon Vine Voice book reviewer, ISTE article reviewer, IMS tech expert, a columnist for Examiner.com, and a weekly contributor to Write Anything and Technology in Education. Currently, she’s seeking representation for a techno-thriller that she just finished. Any ideas? Contact Jacqui at her writing office, WordDreams, or her tech lab, Ask a Tech Teacher.

The popularity of tablets, netbooks, Chromebooks has brought 1:1 technology closer to reality

themes of equity in education, engagement of all learners, and empowerment as students learn skills that can be transferred to adulthood. It is a question I get often from readers and one I don’t yet have a good answer to. The program is relatively new and requires research in areas such as pedagogy, technology infrastructure, school district policy, stakeholder professional development, community engagement, funding, and organization before it can mature into a sustainable model for schools across the country.

That’s why I was thrilled when Mark Pullen offered to share his thoughts with me. He has first-hand experience using 1:1 technology in the classroom so has first-hand experience with its set up and roll out. He isn’t going to make the decision for you, merely provide factors you will want to consider if you’re investigating this approach. Please give a warm welcome to my guest blogger, Mark Pullen:

Technology has the power to dramatically transform education.  Realizing this, many schools have begun to introduce 1:1 (one computer per student) programs that allow all students to have access to technology at all times.  The benefits of 1:1 programs can be seen in all subjects: students are able to publish their writing for genuine audiences, practice math using adaptive programs that get harder or easier when needed, view interactive online science dissections, and so much more.

Before jumping into a 1:1 program, however, there are many considerations a school should make to ensure that the program begins successfully.  Here are five crucial things to consider beforehand:

1. Have the district’s teachers been adequately trained to utilize technology effectively?  Without training, many teachers will simply use computers as a sort of virtual worksheet instead of using them as a powerful research and collaboration tool.
2. Has the district ensured that there is ongoing tech support to repair student computer issues that will arise?  A stash of extra computers will also likely be needed as trade-ins which students can borrow while their device is being repaired.
3. Does the district have enough bandwidth and server space to ensure that the user experience will be consistently robust?  Computers without fast, reliable Internet access are largely glorified typewriters.
4. Have the students’ parents been taught the value of a 1:1 school environment?  Without parental support, even the most well-intentioned 1:1 program can quickly fall apart.
5. Has the safety of the students’ devices been ensured?  With each student carrying a valuable computer around the school each day, a comprehensive theft and damage prevention plan must be in place.  Insurance to protect students’ computers is an extremely wise investment as well.

Make sure these five issues are addressed, and you’ll be well on your way to a successful school or district-wide 1:1 program!

Full disclosure: Mark wrote this article on behalf of Worth Ave Group, a quality provider since 1971 of insurance for laptops, tablet computers and iPads to schools and universities.

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Jacqui Murray is the editor of a technology curriculum for K-fifth grade and author of two technology training books for middle school. She wrote Building a Midshipman, the story of her daughter’s journey from high school to United States Naval Academy midshipman. She is webmaster for five blogs, an Amazon Vine Voice book reviewer, a tech columnist forExaminer.com, Editorial Review Board member for ISTE’s Journal for Computing Teachers, IMS tech expert, and a weekly contributor to Write Anything. Currently, she’s seeking representation for a techno-thriller Any suggestions? Contact Jacqui at her writing office, WordDreams, or her tech lab, Ask a Tech Teacher.

Q: Every time I type, it covers up everything that comes after.

A: Push the insert key. I hear they’re doing away with it on upcoming keyboards. They might as well. No one knows what it does anyway, and when users errantly push it, they don’t know how to stop its annoying typeover.

Questions you want answered? Click here.

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Jacqui Murray is the editor of a technology curriculum for K-fifth grade and creator of two technology training books for middle school. She is the author of Building a Midshipman, the story of her daughter’s journey from high school to United States Naval Academy midshipman. She is webmaster for five blogs, an Amazon Vine Voice book reviewer, a columnist for Examiner.com, an Editorial Review Board member for Journal for Computing Teachers, an IMS tech expert, and a weekly contributor to Write Anything. Currently, she’s seeking representation for a techno-thriller she just finished. Any ideas? Contact Jacqui at her writing office or her tech lab.

7th in the series, a year's worth of technology lessons for 6th graders

6th Grade Technology: 32 Lessons Every Sixth Grader Can Accomplish

7th in the SL Technology Curriculum Series

Be among the first to purchase from website–get FREE P&H

The choice of  hundreds of school districts, private schools and homeschoolers around the world, this seven-volume suite is the all-in-one solution to running an effective, efficient, and fun technology program for kindergarten-sixth grade (each grade level textbook sold separately) whether you’re the lab specialist, IT coordinator, or classroom teacher. Each volume includes technology basics all sixth graders should know, useful cloud-based Web 2.0 tools, themed units that tie into classroom units of inquiry, articles that address the pedagogy of sixth grade technology, and Scope and Sequence for a ten-month program. Each lesson includes 1) brief overview, 2) prior skills required, 3) vocabulary required, 4) difficulties students might have, if any, 5) assessment strategies, 6) knowledge, skills, and strategies students will gain, 7) connections to other curriculum areas, if any, and 8) ISTE (International Society for Technology in Education) Standards addressed.

Additionally, this ten-month program highlights areas of digital citizenship and higher-order thinking skills identified as critical for students if they expect to live productive lives in our emerging global society. These areas include the ability to demonstrate creativity and innovation; communicate and collaborate; conduct research and utilize information; think critically, solve problems, and make decisions; and use technology effectively and productively.

Note to readers: Color shown and embedded links are included in pdf version only, sold separately. Please contact publisher for a discounted digital book with proof of purchase.

Click to view slideshow.