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6/25/2012
Thinking Teachers Teaching Thinkers™
This is the best week of the year. Just about every school is out, and ISTE is here! Every teacher has a favorite place and time to learn, and ISTE is TeachersFirst’s fav. The Thinking Teacher are soaking up ideas and sharing their own among attendees from all over the world. We will bring home as many new ideas as our brains can carry.
Summer Schedule
TeachersFirst will adjust our schedule during July to match teacher summer plans. While many of you are away or busy with study and moonlighting jobs, we change our pace just a bit. We will share the Update and Featured Sites in combined issues for July 1/8 and July 15/22. If you are offline for a bit, you will have less to catch up on when you return. The Brain Twister will change every other Friday, with new versions posted July 6 and 20. We resume our regular weekly schedule with July 27 Brain Twister and July 29 Update, just in time to get fired up for 2012-13.
Join us!
Don’t miss seeing and hearing about ISTE this Tuesday during OK2Ask® LIVE. We will be webcasting LIVE from our booth in the exhibit hall on Tuesday, June 26 at 3:30 pm Pacific time (6:30 Eastern). Click to watch from the link top center on the TeachersFirst home page under News and Updates. Experience ISTE virtually!
R U at ISTE?
If you are in San Diego, be sure to stop by our booth (1906) in the exhibit hall to earn a Thinking Teacher shirt and meet some of us. Be sure to introduce yourself to anyone you see throughout ISTE wearing a Thinking Teacher shirt! Don’t miss our presentation:
Now I See! Visual and Analytical Routes to Literacy through Infographics
Wednesday, 6/27/2012, 10:15am - 11:15am, SDCC 4
Candace Hackett Shively and Louise Maine
Reading, reading, reading
Reading is at the core of everything we learn. That is why TeachersFirst’s Reading for All includes booklists, ideas to promote independent reading, audio books, Curricular book lists by theme, ideas for vocabulary development, and much more. You could bury yourself in all the great resources. Add Reading for All to your summer reading list. Make yourself look even smarter by sharing it with a friend.
Swifter, Higher, Stronger Learning
Make this the summer session where you celebrate learning Olympic style. Find resources for the Olympics, 4th of July, and other events on the Classroom Planning Calendar.
Register now for July OK2Ask®
Registrations for July OK2Ask sessions are now open. August registrations will open up after July 4. Get a jump on the hottest offerings by reading the full schedule and descriptions now posted. Summer sessions are on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Read and/or download the full summer OK2Ask® schedule and mark your calendar for free OK2Ask online, self-directed teacher professional development.
Revised, refreshed, and ready for summer
The webquest is a tried and true way to package learning. This tech-traditional lesson format has been around for over ten years and still engages students if done well. TeachersFirst has completely revised and refreshed our ever-popular Webquest 101 to include the newer ways to share and create on the web. Why not make Webquest 101 one of your summer learning stops?
Your choice?
Which professional development topic would you choose to take?
Vote for your preference in the weekly poll on the TeachersFirst home page.
Around the World Once a Week (#xw1w)
XW1W for the week of June 24: How does your family use the Internet?
Across the World Once a Week (XW1W) uses microblogging or blogging tools to share responses about everyday life from any corner of the world. The XW1W FAQ page explains it all. Make today’s instant communications an instant learning experience.
Featured Sites
This week in our Featured Sites, find creative tools, tips, and activities:
- Wikipedia gone creative
- Mother Nature
- Two early reading sites
- A great infographic tool
- Notetaking strategies—and their results
- Two sites for online safety
- A fabulous film finder
- The best way to watch online video
- A math teacher’s dream blog
And more! Don’t miss our many additional recent additions from the link at the bottom of the Featured sites page.
May your body get some rest and your brain discover some exciting new ideas this week.
Your “teacher to go,”
Candace Hackett Shively
Director of K-12 Initiatives