revolutionizeed:

…a student is given plenty of time to do research and create a timeline of 10 events with details but yet they decide to completely copy an entire timeline of 29 events from a website. Completely plagiarized and didn’t even try to change anything.

It frustrates me because…

I have students create a timeline of the 10 most important events in information technology from their chapter. It requires thinking. I do think that this student should be held accountable. Often, calling students on plagiarism teaches a valuable lesson they never forget. Students (like many humans) will often try to get away with the least amount of work possible. However, when he realizes that you are holding him accountable, it can create a great teachable moment. There are ways to make sure this student does learn from his mistake and learn what you’re trying to teach but it is very frustrating when this happens. I had a student copy from another’s efolio and didn’t even fix the links. Honesty is honesty and when we find dishonesty, we must know that it is only a fraction of what is actually happening. Beware because everyone’s watching and everyone’s telling. Be fair but be on top of such issues. Good luck, this is a tough one - I’ve had to deal with it myself. I do not believe that a student copying work means that the assignment is somehow flawed but I do think that there should be several assignments each year that require putting information together in a unique way that makes it impossible to copy. (Like we do on Flat Classroom and NetGenEd.)

June 5 is “World Environment Day” - a day when you encourage and help students take action to promote a sustainable planet. Here are some lesson plans if you don’t know what to do. This is an important topic. With summer coming up in the northern hemisphere - taking time to review recycling guidelines and ways students can help the environment is a great idea.

Those who work with kids with special needs will appreciate this organized list of resources that you can use with students. Bev Evans, one of the lead curators, is a teacher and Mom with a heart for kids with special needs. Her special touch of empathy for teachers and students comes through in everything she does. 

So, you’ve got your act together? Have you thought about how we as teachers need to educate and welcome other teachers into the profession? Before my first year my Mom (a teacher) and sister, Susan (a teacher too) sat down with me and went over everything from lesson planning to discipline. 

“Don’t smile too much on the first day” said Mom. “You can never be tougher than you’ll be on the first day,” said Susan. I came across these resources to use to help new teachers and started thinking that we need to do a better job of helping new teachers get started. If we care about our profession, we should help new teachers with the reality of the classroom (versus what they’ve been learning about in books.) 

What do you do to help new teachers get started? Here’s a collection from TES of resources that started this thought.  http://bit.ly/KFKFv6

IN the Speak up 2011 report, students say that 46% of them have used Facebook to collaborate on school projects.

Interesting report that also shows the flip side where 65% of principals say they will not allow personal devices in the next school year. (What is odd is a study I shared a few weeks  a go on my blog says that almost 50% of students are receiving text messages during class NOW in schools where cell phones are BANNED so really, this is just window dressing.)

“Students want more control over how they use technology in school, but many classrooms are still making it difficult. That’s according to the most recent Speak Up 2011 report, “Mapping a Personalized Learning Journey,” which reflects the views of more than 416,000 K-12 students, parents, and educators nationwide surveyed on how technology can enhance the learning environment. They survey is produced by Project Tomorrow, an educational non-profit focused on raising student voices in education policy discussions. The theme for this survey focused on individualized learning paths.

If you want to teach online, here’s a starter kit from Edutopia. My sister teachers remotely and it isn’t the cushy, relaxing job that many describe. It may have flexibility but it is very hard work with many of the same issues you have in a face to face classroom. Just be aware that if you don’t want to work, you shouldn’t teach: offline or face to face. Teaching, in my experience, takes everything you have but it gives you far more in return.

The London games has a “get set” website which is their official educational platform for the Olympic games. I’ve just spent a little time looking at what you can do there, but you can register, blog about the games, and connect with others. This is the sort of global event where you can meet other classrooms and interact with others.

Microsoft’s best Operating system may just be on the Xbox. This article talks about how Kinect is being used in the Operating Room. There are many uses for Kinect. It is a robust, gesture based system with so many features we need and could use in the classroom. In some ways it is just a step away from a virtual assistant. Don’t sit around thinking the PC will morph - I think, perhaps that it already has.

Social studies teacher David Hunter has developed a curriculum in which students must learn geographic concepts to survive a zombie apocalypse. Hunter designed the proposed curriculum for fifth- to eighth-grade students and said he is trying to raise funds that would allow him to eventually offer the curriculum to teachers as a free digital download. “Remember you can either feed your brain or feed your brain to the zombies,” Hunter said.

Teaching geography with a zombie game.

(Source: revolutionizeed)