posted Jun 19, 2010, 2:32 PM by Bonnie Thurber
The
iCollaboratory summer is moving along very fast.
- In June, the
iCollaboratory services moved to a new, faster server.
- In July, the
iCollaboratory Team is enhancing projects, creating documentation and
planning for an exciting school year.
- In August, the
iCollaboratory Team is offering online professional development for
individual teachers and workshops for districts. Please contact icollaboratory@gmail.org if you know a group of teachers or
a district that is interested.
Activity Wizard News: The
Activity Wizard is a form that allows teachers to point an click to
select Learning Standards, Goals and Benchmarks and then, enter text
describing the classroom activity, I can statements and what kind of
work will meet the standards. After entering the information, the
teacher can click a save button and print the activity with the
standards to use as to demonstrate what s/he is accomplishing in the
classroom.
Because several of you volunteered to
donate to the Activity Wizard fund, we were able to hire a developer to
put a new Wizard in the iCollaboratory. It will be available in time for
school this fall. Please send your promised donations to Educational
Continuum Organization, 665 Brierhill Road, Deerfield, IL. 60015. Checks
payable to Educational Continuum Org. Thank you!
How did you participate in the
iCollaboratory last year? Can
you share your story at a conference? Illinois Computing Educators is
looking for proposals for workshops, presentations and posters. Please
plan on submitting a session at http://proposals.iceberg.org. We
want you to
share your
enthusiasm about what education is like in the iCollaboratory!
Workshops pay a stipend and proposals are due in August.
Presentations are due in October.
The ICE Conference is February 22-25, 2011.
Nutrition A3 is a project for teens that
focuses on building good nutrition and exercise habits while having fun.
Select one of six projects for your class or plan on participating in
all six projects during the school year.
When will I ever Use This? Career Exploration. Students
discover the relevance of their studies through a career investigation.
Welcome to the new school year!
In September, registration opens
for all projects. All
teachers/educators please send a message to iCollaboratory@gmail.org requesting
permission to register students. We will give you permissions and
instructions you need to create accounts for your students.
- Scariest
Stories and Fall Poetry opens October 1. Students take a survey,
share their literary work, and discuss it with one another. Students
can use this project to develop their writing skills by sharing and
discussing their narrated and/or illustrated (optional) writing in our
online community.
- What I Am
Most Thankful For opens
November 1. Students take a survey about being thankful and then use their
creativity to write, record and illustrate an essay about what they are
thankful for. They then share and comment on essays with each other.
- December is a great
month for starting a reading project that can continue through February
or the entire year. All K12 students read and share their reading
through writing, images, audio and video.
- K-3rd grade students participate in The Illinois Monarch Award
Internet Book Club, a project designed to enrich and extend
the experiences of students while participating through the Illinois
School Library Media Association (ISLMA) in The Monarch Award: Illinois
K-3 Children's Choice Award.
- 4-8th grade students participate in the Rebecca Caudill Internet
Book Club. Students submit reviews of the books they have read
in the Rebecca Caudill Library and read the reviews of other students as
well as take surveys about their favorite books.
- 9-12th grade students participate in the
year-round Abraham
Lincoln and Read for a Lifetime
Internet Book Clubs.
Students submit reviews of the books they have read in the Abraham
Lincoln and Read For A Lifetime Libraries, participate in book
discussions, and read the reviews of other students.
- In January,
participate in the Iditarod—A
study of peoples and places in the far north.
- In February, take a break for the ISATS.
- In March, grades K-4
participate in Songs My Family Taught Me.
Students remember songs that family members taught them and share them
with other participants using images, words and sounds.
- In April, participate in the National Poetry Month
Project! Students can use this
project to develop their poetry knowledge and writing skills by sharing
and discussing poems they have written, narrated and/or illustrated
(optional) in an online Poetry Month community.
- In May, participate
in the A Day in Our
Neighborhood Project. Students learn more about the communities
around us. In the project, students and teachers from around the world
share information about their communities and discuss this information
through the iCollaboratory website.
As you can
see, the iCollaboratory offers teachers and their students a year-long
learning experience.
For help or
more information, write icollaboratory@gmail.com
Thank
you,
The
iCollaboratory Team |
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