Back to School: "Yes! Science is Real" Display

One of my goals for this year is to introduce my students to real scientists out in the field who are DOING the work we talk about every day.  Most teens are so disconnected from the world (other than what they see on social media) that they think science only exists between the covers of the textbook. In order to do this, I need to "hook" them with interesting topics, tweets and photos.  So I spent my summer collecting information on who to follow on Twitter, Instagram, etc.  I also spent a great deal of time designing a display that would catch a busy teenager's attention and encourage him/her to try something new. You can see some of the results of my research on my Pinterest board.

I'm sure my teens are no different from yours, they are all interested in the number of followers and number of retweets they can get. It's all about popularity with them! I'm hoping that the public interest in accounts like NatGeo and NASA will show them that science is, in fact, very interesting to the social media world!

National Geographic on Instagram

My students are visual learners.  By looking at their Instagram feed, you might mistakenly think that all they are interested in are "selfies." I've found this NOT to be the case! Their interests are wide and varied. They ARE interested in space, sharks, bugs and the natural world. They just don't know how to find those things in the social media milieu.  As teachers, we can help direct them in pursuing their interests, and at the same time, expose them to all of the wonderful things that are going on out in the world! Today's students have the opportunity to access directly so many people and agencies that previous generations had no way of connecting with, but they need help.

Here are a few shots of the bulletin board:

Finished except for the QR codes

Twitter Accounts to follow.

Instagram Accounts to follow.

Science in the news (and on the web)

I will be adding the QR codes to auto follow these accounts, produced on this site, as time allows. Our students are allowed to use their phones in school if it's part of the lesson, so there should be no trouble with them scanning a QR code in the hall. I also added information about QR readers for the various phones they might be using.

QR Apps

Using QR Codes in the Classroom

I've been fascinated with QR codes for a few years now, imagining ways I would use them in the classroom with our class iPod Touches, or even with student Smartphones.  Here's a good resource if you've been thinking about using QR codes in your class.

https://docs.google.com/present/view?id=0AclS3lrlFkCIZGhuMnZjdjVfNzY1aHNkdzV4Y3I&hl=en_GB&authkey=COX05IsF

 

45 Interesting Ways to Use QR Codes

iPads in the Classroom

Another great resource for Apps in the classroom can be found at LiveBinder.  Mike Fisher has gathered a ton of resources for teachers using iPads in the Classroom, and it's updated frequently.  Mike also has other LiveBinder resources that are valuable for teachers.  You can check out his blog at DigiGogy.

http://livebinders.com/play/play_or_edit?id=26195

Apps for Project Based Learning

If you're interested in using web tools and apps in your classroom to motivate your students (and who isn't interested in that?) You should head on over to Tony Vincent's Learning in Hand blog.  He has fantastic tips for using handheld technology, and reviews of specific apps.  Be sure to watch the videos of his students...who knew learning could be so much fun?
Tony has posted a new article, featuring this Wordle, full of apps used especially for Project Based Learning.  Check it out!

http://learninginhand.com/blog/apps-for-project-based-learning.html

Web 2.0-Class Parrot

Thanks to my friend, Cynthia, I just signed up for and started using Class Parrot @ classparrot.com

It's very easy to get started, you create an account (free) and then create your classes.  If you teach/sponsor only one class/activity, you might only need to create one class.  I created three just for practice, I also created one class for my Professional Development class so that I can demo the product. Once you've created the class, you get a unique log-in for each class.  You can print out instructions for the log-in that look like this:

My students were able to send the text to sign up and got a response immediately.  We then sent a few practice texts and even a poll! They loved it, actually asked me if I would start using it to remind them about tests, etc. 

I can see it being very useful for large groups like band, choir, cheer, etc.  The best thing about it is that no phone numbers are exchanged. You do have to set it up and send from a computer at the moment, the web site says they are working on an app that you could use from a smartphone.
The initial setup is free and you earn credits by signing up others. So, if you're interested, please sign up using my link!

http://bit.ly/o7emLq

Hope you enjoy this little APPle!