Video Tutorial : Creating A YouTube Playlist

YouTube is an incredibly powerful tool for teachers to both create and curate videos for the benefit of their students.  It is amazing to think that by creating a free YouTube channel with your Google account you can reach a global audience.

I recently offered several workshops to teachers on using YouTube in the classroom and was really hit by the following two statistics that really demonstrate why we as teachers should be considering how we could use YouTube to reach our students:

Creating a playlist is a great way for teachers to help organize the huge amount of content on YouTube for your students (and yourself).  I would never ask one of my students to physically go into the largest library in the world and "find a book on the Civil War" so I would never ask them to do the same on YouTube.  

I have already created a YouTube playlist for every unit that I teach in 8th grade U.S. History. Having a playlist, which is basically a folder, already created means that when I do stumble upon a great content video on YouTube it is just one click away from being saved in my playlist for when I want it later.  I recently stumbled upon a great video about the Jefferson's gardens at Monticello so I quickly added it to my "Monticello" playlist so I can find it later when I teach that unit next.

In preparation for a recent workshop I recorded some video tutorials to help teach some of the editing and curation tools available in YouTube. I want to share the first one - Creating a Playlist in YouTube - in this blog post.  Over the week I will post different tutorials each day or you can jump ahead and view them all at once in a playlist with all ten tutorials.

Thanks Gettysburg Flag Works

A couple of weeks ago I received an e-mail from the Gettysburg Flag Works of East Greenbush, New York.  They said they were fans of the blog and asked if they could send me one of their flags for my classroom.  I love displaying flags in my classroom and started to check out their selection of flags online.  They have an incredible selection of flags, including many historical flags from the Revolutionary War and Civil War.  I finally made a decision - the Tea Stained Betsy Ross flag.  

I received the flag in the mail today and immediately put it on display in my classroom.  It was an instant hit with my students.  It has the appearance of a historic flag and it a great way to start a discussion about the historical significance of the Betsy Ross flag.

Thanks to the Gettysburg Flag Works for the flag.  It is a great addition to our classroom.

Makey Makey Projects for the Industrial Revolution Unit

This is the second year we have used MakeyMakey kits in my 8th grade American history classroom as a project when studying the industrial revolution.  In the past after discussing innovation and inventions (like Morse Code, John Deere's plow, etc.) I had students come up with their own invention.  They would fill out a simplified patent application and it was an OK assignment but more often than not it was a very unrealistic invention - basketball shoes that allowed you to dunk, a machine that created an entire four course meal with the push of one button.  

Last year I handed out MakeyMakey kits to groups of students, showed them how it worked and then let them play with it for a day to create their own "invention".  The students then share their invention with the rest of the class in a "Shark Tank" style.  The students loved it.  Some students said it was one of their favorite activities of the year.  

We are doing the project again this year and today was their day to work in groups and try to invent with their MakeyMakey.  Since students are just given one period - about 45 minutes - to create something with the MakeyMakey they typically create game controllers in a variety of formats - pencil lead cardboard, water in Dixie cups, gummy bears, fruits, etc.  They had a blast and tomorrow they will share their creation with the rest of the class.

MakeyMakey kits are one of my favorite ways to introduce the maker movement to my students.  Later in the semester my 8th grade emerging technology class will work with the MakeyMakey kits for a little longer and create something a little more complex.  

American Bison by Cardboard Safari

This week I added a new decoration to my classroom - an American Bison trophy head.  It is made completely of cardboard and was made by Cardboard Safari.  Here are a couple of pictures of the creation process and the finished product.

The Hudson River Miracle Five Years Later

So, exactly five years ago today I was waiting at a car shop while my car was getting an oil change.  There was a TV in the corner of the waiting room, tuned to a national broadcast station and showing an afternoon talk show.  I was on my Blackberry reading my Twitter feed.  Suddenly I saw tweets from an NPR reporter that I follow that included news of an airplane which had just crashed in the Hudson River.  Then a couple of tweets appeared with images, dramatic images from Janis Krums showing a crowd of people standing on the wing of the plane with the New York skyline looming in the distance.  

It didn't seem real.  I keep looking over at the TV - nothing about a plane crash.  More and more tweets were rolling in on the plane crash and then finally later the afternoon talk show was interrupted by a breaking news story.  I remember thinking in that moment about the power of Twitter and that this medium held tremendous potential for citizen reporting. 

I blogged about the event five years ago and also recorded a podcast about my thoughts on that night - check them out here.  Interesting to looks back on that day five years ago.  Amazing.

Here is an interesting story, published today, on how Janis Krum's life has been impacted since he took that iconic picture.

#edcampLiberty 2014 Reflections - Why I Love Edcamps

If you have ever attended an edcamp you will read this post and understand.  If you have never attended an edcamp the following comments may seem a bit over the top but I urge you to add attending an edcamp to your short list of experiences for 2014.  

The first edcamp I attended was amazing (edcampKC 2012) and thought maybe it was just one of those magical days when everything clicks and I lucked out.  Then I attended my second edcamp (edcampKC in 2013) and I had the same outstanding experience.  This week I attended edcampLiberty - in Liberty, Missouri which was hosted by my school district (Liberty Public Schools) - and again had an amazing, uplifting, and "I love being an educator" experience.  Three home runs in three at bats - I'm a believer and it has impacted the way in which I look at all my other professional development and the conferences I attend.  To be honest, and I have heard this from many other people, it almost spoils traditional PD experiences after you attend an edcamp.

So here is my reflection after attending edcampLiberty this past weekend...

This past November multiple educators from my district attended edcampKC.  Kyle Pace (@kylepace) and Laura Gilchrist (@lauragilchrist4) do an amazing job organizing edcampKC and it has to be one of the best edcamps in the country. My fellow Liberty teachers felt the same way I did about the edcamp experience - empowered and energized.  Two of of our district's instructional coaches - Tracey Kracht (@lpstechmentors on Twitter) and Sara Wickham (@sara_wickham on Twitter) - had plans to host an edcamp in Liberty roughly 24 hours after attending edcampKC.  Their hard work - and the work of many Liberty teachers, staff and administrators - made edcampLiberty a reality on January 11, 2014 at Liberty North High School. 

EdcampLiberty had roughly 200 educators from 19 school districts in attendance.  Think about that for a second.  Nearly 200 teachers decided to give up an entire Saturday to discuss their passion with fellow teachers.  The experience of an edcamp is invigorating.  It is something you just want to bottle up and drink up on those days when you think twice about why you teach.  

Here are a couple of my personal observations...

I love that edcamps are about conversations instead of an expert lecturing a room full of people. Isn't this what we want our classrooms to be like?  Edcamp sessions are active, participants share ideas and talk to each other.  This rarely happens at traditional conferences that I typically attend.

I love that edcamps discuss topics that are current and fresh.  I recently presented at a national conference in which the proposals to present were due nine months in advance of the actual conference.  As the board of sessions filled up the morning of edcampLiberty, there were teachers asking about topics they wanted to know more about for their own personal growth. Individuals who didn't wake up that morning with plans to present stepping up and putting their name down to share something they felt important enough to share with peers.  

I love that the ownership on the learning is with the individual.  You decide what you want to attend.  You decide if you want to get up in the middle of a session and drop in on another one that interested you at that time slot.  You decide if the best use of your time is visiting with a colleague in the hallway during a session.  

I love that sharing is built into the DNA of edcamps.  Everyone is creating Google docs to share lists of resources or books discussed in a session.  People are tweeting out links, quotes, pictures and resources all day long. I know several people who attended edcampLiberty from their home and at the end of the day thanked everyone who tweeted for helping them learn from a distance.  Here is Katie Ann's blog post and Brent Catlett's blog post.

Check out the Twitter stats from edcampLiberty (thanks Brent Catlett) : a total of 722 tweets from 133 contributors with over 1 million impacts and a reach of over 168,000.  

I love that more and more administrators are taking part in edcamps.  Liberty administrators had a huge presence at edcampLiberty and I had several great discussions with principals about some new ideas and fresh ideas for PD and courses.  It was especially powerful for me to see our superintendent - John Jungmann (@JohnJungmann on Twitter) - not only attend edcampLiberty as a participant but also lead a session!  Dr. Jugeman led an outstanding session on breaking down the traditional walls of education.  It was one of the best edcamp sessions I have ever attended.

I love that edcamps are about learning and not about money.  I'm not going to go on a rant here on this topic, it is probably more appropriately discussed at another time, but I think many educators would agree with me on this topic.  Large conferences can be expensive to attend, especially if the teacher is the one responsible for finding the funding to attend.  More and more of the sessions at the large conferences are presented with a corporate agenda.  My edcamp experiences have been more grassroots, what works in my classroom, let's have a discuss about teaching and less "buy this product to raise your test scores".  

I love that edcamps are FUN.  I am as guilty as anyone else of becoming more and more defensive in the current environment as we feel we must fight off the negative backlash from mass media.  I enjoy teaching and have stayed in the classroom for the past 20 years because I find it enjoyable.  I have fun teaching my students.  Amid the rather heavy discussion topics of standards based grading, increasing student engagement and improving community involvement in education there was also plenty of laughter on Saturday.  Educators were laughing and making new friends from neighboring school districts.  We had a photo booth set up in which teachers put on feathered boas, goofy hats and walked away with silly photos. At the end of the day there was a fun drawing for door prizes.  One session was on "Educational Speed Dating" and another was the traditional edcamp favorite "Rocks or Sucks". We need a little more fun as teachers.

I will return to class on Monday a little energized.  I will return a little more excited to try, and possibly fail and retry again, something new in my classroom.  I will return with a feeling that I am working with my fellow teachers and district administrators to do something amazing to help our students learn as much as possible.  I don't want to get overly dramatic but I saw a lot of people that I work with on a regular basis get really excited about education on Saturday as a result of edcampLiberty. From a variety of conversations I think that we might start to look at some new approaches to PD in our district and try some new ideas on connecting teachers.  

If you've attended an edcamp you probably nodded your head in agreement on at least some of the comments above.  If you haven't attended an edcamp please take advantage of one when you have the opportunity.  Edcamps are happening all over the country and as well as the world on dates throughout the year and many are even filling up with waiting lists.  You can check out the master list of edcamps at the edcamp wiki.

Gift Ideas for Geeky Teachers

I have seen some blog post with ideas for holiday gift for specific types of people : golfers, cooks, book lovers, etc.  I thought I would share some gift ideas for "geeky teachers".  There are a lot of ways we can share our geekiness with the ones we love for no cost.  

How about creating a playlist of videos on YouTube for someone who might not know how to set it up? You could then give them the link and they could access it when they want.  How about creating a webpage using Google Sites with a family member's favorite links? You could create a page for a parent or a child so that everything they like to access is one click away.  You can show someone how to set up a Pandora station.  

Record a family member sharing a favorite memory or Christmas tradition and then save it to a DVD as a gift.  There are many ways we could create a special gift with free tools and geek awesomeness.  Our family has my grandfather singing "O Tannenbaum" recorded and it is a family treasure years later.

If you want to buy your favorite geek teacher a gift, or buy something for yourself with a gift card after Christmas, here are some ideas.  

Makey Makey Kit

This has been one of my favorite items of 2013.  I use them in my technology class as well as my 8th grade history class. It is little hard to describe, easier to understand if you watch this video.  Each kit is around $50 but can be used over and over to help students create inventions and controllers for games.  Works well if you are working with Scratch and can create your own games to be controlled by the MakeyMakey.  Check out the MakeyMakey gallery for a ton of ideas. You can also check out this MakeyMakey TED video.

Google Stuff from the Google Online Store

If you like Google there are a ton of gift ideas at the online Google Store.  You can select shirts, office supplies, drinkware, etc.  I have personally purchased the Google Water Bottle which I use everyday ($2.85), an infuser water bottle ($15.75) , a felt Google iPad sleeve ($3.85) and some Google Maze pens (80 cents each).  There are items for your kids, your dog and anyone who wants something with Google on it.

Ibex 17 Inch Notebook Backpack from SwissGear

I bought this backpack about 18 months ago and it is one of my favorite purchases of all time.  I LOVE this bag.  It is very durable and provides a ton of space.  I use it as my everyday back and forth to school bag as well as the bag I use when I travel.  I think it is probably indestructible and looks as great today as it did the day I bought it.  Lots of cushioning for my laptop and other gadgets and comfortable for day long treks. It retails for around $90 but I have seen it online for around $65 from time to time on sale.

BigShot Camera

Another item relating to the maker movement - a digital camera you build yourself!  The BigShot camera is a fully functional digital camera that you build.  The image above shows the components that you are provided when purchase the kit.  I recently purchased several of these cameras through a grant to build in my 8th grade technology class but have not yet built one myself.  There are excellent tutorials online describing all of the science behind the different components of the camera.  The camera costs around $99. I'm very excited about the potential of this camera and look forward to building one over the holiday break.  Check out this TED talk describing the creation of the camera.

SparkFun Inventor's Kit

This fall I attended a workshop at Kansas City's Union Station / Science City as part of the SparkFun Education Tour.  The day was focused on working through several exercises building circuits with the SparkFun Inventors Kit using an Arduino board.  The kit allows you to work through and build 15 different circuits including motors, sensors and an LCD display.  No soldering is required and the kit includes a well designed guide with illustrations and descriptions.  I enjoyed the workshop and since have built several curcuits with my 10 year old daughter.  It is a great way to learn more about Arduino boards. The kit costs around $99.

Little Bits

When I first saw Little Bits - via a Tweet - I instantly thought of our daughters.  They are always building things out of legos, cardboard, etc. and I think this will be an excellent way to introduce children to circuits and electronics.  You build circuits using components that snap together with magnets.  The components have a variety of purposes - switches, lights, sensors, motors, etc.  I think Little Bits have huge potential in this educational space and that is why one is sitting under our Christmas tree for our daughters.  There are different types of sets available with different numbers of components ranging from $99, $149 and $199.  You can check out a TED talk about LittleBits here.

Timber Raspberry Pi Case by Pibow

I recently purchased a Raspberry Pi kit with a grant.  In working with a Raspberry Pi it is important to house it in some type of case to protect the components.  There are many types of creative cases.  I love tech but I also love the feel and looks of antiques.  I found this Raspberry Pi kit made of wood from Pibow.  This case runs about $20 and I think looks awesome.  If you want a more modern case Pibow also makes cases made of neon plastic and other colors.

As Seen On Twitter This Week - October 31, 2013

Each week I send an e-mail out to the teachers in my building with some links that I found on Twitter that week that seemed interesting.  These are the links I shared on 10/31/13.

·         Video : What If Finland’s Great Teachers Taught In Your Schools

http://www.wise-qatar.org/content/what-if-finlands-great-teachers-taught-your-schools-dr-pasi-sahlberg

·         Teachers, Like The Rest of Us, Must Be Salesmen Now

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/gabriel-sanchez-zinny/teachers-like-the-rest-of_b_4059379.html?ncid=edlinkusaolp00000003&ir=Education

·         Kid Lit Authors Ask The White House to East Standardized Test Mandates

http://www.slj.com/2013/10/advocacy/kid-lit-authors-ask-white-house-to-ease-standardized-testing-mandates/

·         The Five Characteristics of Successful Innovators

http://blogs.hbr.org/2013/10/the-five-characteristics-of-successful-innovators/

·         Survey: For Young Children, Mobile Devices Such as Tablets and SmartPhones are Now the Mainstay

http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/technology/survey-for-young-children-mobile-devices-such-as-tablets-smartphones-now-a-mainstay/2013/10/27/7e386f3c-3f1f-11e3-a624-41d661b0bb78_story.html

·         Transforming K-12 Rural Education Through Blended Learning

http://www.inacol.org/cms/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/iNACOL-Transforming-K-12-Rural-Education-through-Blended-Learning.pdf

·         What Schools Can Do To Help Boys Succeed
http://ideas.time.com/2013/10/28/what-schools-can-do-to-help-boys-succeed/

FREE Digital Citizenship Week Webinar with Cable in the Classroom

October is official "Connected Educator Month" and next week there is a focus on how we teach our students to be good digital citizens as we celebrate "Digital Citizenship Week" between October 21-25, 2013. 

I will be helping Cable in the Classroom moderate a FREE webinar with Cable in the Classroom's Frank Gallagher entitled "Empowering Students to be InCtrl in a Digital Age".  The webinar will take place on Wednesday, October 23rd at 4:00 PM Eastern Time.  Click here to register for this free event.

I recently wrote a guest blog post for Cable in the Classroom's blog entitled "Teaching Digital Citizenship Everyday" which you can read here.

Please register for the webinar if you can make it.  We would love to have as many perspectives as possible.  If you are unable to participate live there will be an archive of the event available at a later date.

As Seen on Twitter This Week - October 17, 2013

This a copy of the weekly e-mail that I share with my peers.  It is a way for me to pass along the great things that I see each week on social media.  

As Seen On Twitter This Week – October 17, 2013

Last week was a little crazy with conferences so I didn’t send out my weekly Thursday “As Seen on Twitter This Week” e-mail.  I added a few more links this week to make up for it.

If you only read a couple I would recommend the first two links – social media impacting the writing of our students and why girls are not pursuing college computer degrees.

I also wrote a couple of blog posts this week that might be of interest:

Does McDonald’s Have A Better Learning Space Than Your Classroom?

http://www.speakingofhistory.blogspot.com/2013/10/does-mcdonalds-have-better-learning.html

The Government Shut Down – Graphs to Use For Writing Prompt

http://www.speakingofhistory.blogspot.com/2013/10/the-government-shut-down-graphs-for.html

Thanks.

Eric

The Dumbest Generation? No, Twitter is Making Our Kids Smarter

http://m.theglobeandmail.com/life/how-new-digital-tools-are-making-kids-smarter/article14321886/?service=mobile&utm_content=buffer3e05a&utm_source=buffer&utm_medium=twitter&utm_campaign=Buffer#!/

- how is the use of social media by our students impacting their writing

Why Are Girls Not Pursuing College Computer Degrees

http://www.edudemic.com/girls-computer-science-degrees/

- I have been reading a lot about this topic as the father of two girls

Study: U.S. Education Tops Spending List

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/06/25/oecd-education-report_n_3496875.html

- one of the facts that caught my eye was that between 2000-2011 teacher salaries for U.S. teachers increased 3%, in other countries increased 17=20%

Making the Most of a Small Space

http://www.scholastic.com/teachers/top-teaching/2013/09/making-most-small-space

- ideas on organizing your classroom to make the most of the space

Howard Gardner “Multiple Intelligences” are not ‘Learning Styles’

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/wp/2013/10/16/howard-gardner-multiple-intelligences-are-not-learning-styles/

- some great comments from Mr. Gardner himself on M.I.

How Big Is A House in Different Countries

http://shrinkthatfootprint.com/how-big-is-a-house

- interesting comparison of how much space we really need from a global perspective

The Unofficial Guide to Educational Twitter Hashtags

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1CkUrFNr3ZThZXLh4kwk9rk-wQlwfcg8YL9zVx1R_C2s/edit

- the use of hashtags is one of the most important skills to getting the most out of Twitter