Boys Ranch ISD

FALL 2009
21st Century !

iPod, Therefore iLearn

Teachers take advantage of widespread MP3 players In This Issue...
eas
ng Software Id
•Movie-Maki
ng Fun
•Photo Editi

t To p ic : M u si c While Working
•Ho
Flip Cams
•Tech Tools:

The QUIA
Photo by Tamara Bellah
Connection
Teachers all over the world are able to
One fad that won’t be fading anytime soon is the use of MP3 players and share custom activities catered to
iPods. According to the October 2009 Apple press release, over 10 million individual lessons in any content area on
iPods were sold in the fiscal fourth quarter alone. Many of these were to the comprehensive website
our students and their families. The issue is that school districts are hesitant http://www.quia.com.
to allow students to use their iPods at school or in class because they Quia offers educators the ability to
cannot control the content. Our challenge as educators is to create develop sixteen different activities and
innovative ways to integrate iPod technology in an educational way. By games to add new life to the same old
banning iPod and MP3 technology in schools, we are providing our lessons. Students may play
millennial students a disservice. As an eighth grade (continued on page 3) hangman, word jumble,
concentration, and word
search, to name a few.
Marketing to Millennials: Education Teachers easily upload a
One challenge facing educators today is the fact that the generation vocabulary list, click “create,” and voila!
of students populating our schools consists of “Millennials,” those people Instant games for students to play to
born in 1982 or later. We will explore many of the issues facing study, memorize, or apply terms.
educators as a result of the generation gap in this edition. Find out Teachers can also use the “Quizzes”
about new tools to provide interactive, technology-based learning in function to create (continued on page 3)
your classroom to increase “millennial motivation.”
 Page 2

21st Century Teaching

Movie Making Software Spices Up Classes

iMovie productions personalize content and promote student engagement
A variety of movie making software
exists for amateurs to try their hand at
the production process. Children of all
ages are producing short films to upload
to YouTube, but teachers are expected
to use this technology in an educational
way. A novel way of using iMovie, for
example, is to create daily videos for
students to watch as a preview
for the content to be taught that day.
Teachers can use their daily “movie”
to perk student interest in the lesson,
develop points for questioning, and
increase self-t ext connections.
Included in the movies may be daily
quotes, jokes, or history. Students
love seeing what the video has to
offer each day, and teachers may
be as creative as they wish. Videos are
customized to each content area and
teaching style, so students will never see the
same video twice. Microsoft’s MovieMaker
and Mac’s iMovie are both user-friendly,
convenient ways to display customized
movies for a class. Try producing one or two
movies for a lesson, and gauge student
reaction and motivation that day.

Photo Sharing and Editing Options Galore

Check out some of these website to tweak your photos in almost any way
imaginable. Students in journalism and creative writing classes could use
these sites to develop characters, write comics, and edit photos for
publishing. Students can create slideshows complete with popular music to
illustrate a main idea or concept, or develop photo stories of the plot in a
short story. Educational uses are limited only by the imagination.

Free Websites and Tools

www.befunky.com
www.flickr.com
www.photobucket.com
www.animoto.com
www.slide.com
www.picasa.com
Photo Story 3
This snapshot of my sister and me has the
“Cartoon” action applied at www.befunky.com.

Texas STaR Chart Provides Useful Data

The Texas School Technology and Readiness (STaR) Chart is mandatory for all teachers and is a valid tool
used to garner data pertaining to actual technology use on campuses statewide. Aligned with the stateʼs
Long Range Plan for Technology, the STaR chart survey asks a series of questions to which respondents
reply. The descriptors include Early, Developing, Advanced, or Target Tech, and the chart provides an
excellent overview for administrators to decipher exactly where teachers are performing, and the types of
professional development from which they might benefit. Your campus STaR chart username and password
have been emailed to you. Please respond as soon as possible at www.starchart.esc12.net.
 Page 3

21st Century Teaching

HOT BUTTON ISSUE: One topic, three perspectives

Resolved: Students should be allowed to listen to music on MP3 players while working.

YES: Students should be allowed to
listen to their own music on their
MP3 players while they work
independently in class. Because this
generation of children is growing up
in homes full of technology, they
have trained their brains to do
several things at once. They are not
adapted to quiet rooms without
background noise. Many of my
students work with their earbuds in,
feet tapping, and do great work.
We should adapt to their learning
styles!
Samantha Lee,
Reading Teacher
NO: Students should not be allowed
to listen to their MP3 players while
completing assignments in class.
Because many of the problems involve
complicated steps and processes,
students need to maintain
concentration on their work. Music is
a distraction, and student work does
suffer as a result of iPods and MP3
players in class. I agree that there is a
time and place for iPods, however,
during independent work, that
technology is unacceptable.
Dustin Dodgin,
Math Teacher
SOMETIMES: I believe there is a
time and place for music and iPods in
the classroom. When I am reading
aloud to my class or we are doing
group activities, earbuds are off-limits.
However, if my students are writing
essays, taking tests, or otherwise
working independently, I don’t mind
them listening to their own music.
This is a different generation of kids,
and if the music helps them
concentrate, inspires them, or keeps
them focused, it’s fine by me.
Kinsey Burrus,
English Teacher

iPod, cont. from page 1 Quia, cont. from page 1

Language Arts teacher, I use iPods and MP3 players in
class as incentive for students who successfully complete
assignments, and as a resource to teach weekly
vocabulary lessons via podcasting. Podcasting the
vocabulary terms allows students to download the
required information and study using their iPod. Thus, they
are motivated to study the terms in a “cool” way, and
perform better on weekly exams.
This instructional technique is simple to perform, yet reaps
rewards in student performance. I am convinced there are
hundreds of other ways teachers can embrace the
technology that students carry in their pockets for
educational gain. Let’s replace worksheets with digital
productions and encourage our students to learn on their
own.
quizzes with multiple choice, true-false, and short answer
questions that are graded by the Quia system. The Quia
Gradebook shows each student’s grade, time spent on the
quiz or activity, and questions missed. The data is
disaggregated for teachers so that standards students
haven’t mastered may be determined by the teacher.
The quizzes and activities provided by other teachers on
Quia are invaluable. Take a look at what teachers in
Australia, Great Britain, and all over the United States are
creating. If you like what you see, assign that link to your
own students, and take their activity or quiz results as a
grade in your class. Quia is a great program for
customizing content material, turning worksheets into
interactive games, and keeping students engaged in the
lesson.

Stay Savvy...
Surf the Net
As professionals, teachers
strive to stay informed of current
best practices, updated
research, and new strategies for
their content areas. Throw in
lesson plans, grading papers,
tests, meetings, and the real-life,
day-to-day aspect of this job,
and there is very little time for
teachers to stay in the loop!
With that in mind, here are a
few web-based resources that
provide pertinent information
regarding the teaching
profession. Surf a few of these
sites this semester and use the
knowledge to grow as a
professional and improve
overall student achievement.
Professional Organizations
www.atpe.org
www.tcta.org
www.sbec.state.tx.us
Technology/Issues
www.novemberlearning.com
www.edutopia.org
www.tomorrow.org
www.thejournal.com
www.EduHound.com
www.google.com/education
www.cited.org
www.starchart.esc12.net
www.techlearning.com
Page 4
21st Century Teaching
We Will, We Will...GLOG You!
Looking for ways to pump up that
boring book report? Try this site: http://
Then, have students log on, and give
them free reign to try Glogster’s vast
edu.glogster.com! A virtual poster-
maker, this site enables anyone to try
selection of objects and media.
Students can add pictures, video, and
their hand at creating a personalized, buttons to their page, and publish to a
unique “glog.” Thousands of examples gallery. One caveat: make sure you go
will help get even the most timid student to the “edu” site, not the more common
started at creating an artistic, original www.glogster.com, which contains
interpretation of a novel, play, or other content that could be inappropriate for
literary text. First, log in to and create students.
a virtual class of your actual students.
Flippin’ Over Flip Cams
Flip Cams are pocket-sized video cameras that
can go anywhere and record anything.
Sweeping the nation, and included in Oprah’s
“favorite things” this fall, flip cams are great for
recording off-the-cuff events and uploading
directly to YouTube. Complete with an internal
USB that flips out, video can be taken directly
from the camera to the internet. Available in
2GB to 8GB, with recording times from 60
minutes to 120 minutes, these little devices are
great for classroom use. Some suggestions:
create a videography of a social studies unit;
include video in podcasts, or film a lesson for a
day you’ll be absent. Even better, teachers get
a special rate! Visit www.theflip.com for more
info and group discount information.
Image from www.theflip.com
21st Century Teaching Newsletter
Produced and edited by:
Tamara Bellah
Blakemore Middle School Teacher
Boys Ranch ISD
mbellah@boysranchisd.org
www.mbellah.blogspot.com
806.786.5144