Posts by mtorgrude:
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numeric value of amount of interaction you observed in the classroom – over 3 minute periods – 1 minute teacher, 1 minute student, 1 minute whole class
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Mobile Engagement Observation Protocol
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Will be used in Oklahoma and San Diego
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Will be having student teachers watch one another
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What is the ebb and flow of teaching
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Get a friend to watch you teach. Watch the interactions!!!
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- Join – giving a web name – not your name(this is how they keep students safe) and other important information – it takes 3 minutes to complete.
- Play the games- select a room with others in it to find an opponent. All you ever know about this person is their web name so it is totally safe. Kids will love this and want to get to the master level.
SD ISTE Attendees Win TIE Gift Drawing
July 15th, 2010While at the ISTE conference two of the TIE staff won online subscriptions from SuperStar by Help Me 2 Learn. So we put all the names of SD attenedees in the hat and drew out two winners.
The first place winner will receive Super Star Unlimited Max (Prize Value – $2000) free six month online subscription for all their titles for all of the students in the district.
And the winner is………. Avis Jennings -Network Administrator-Oelrichs School District!! Congratulations Avis and Oelrichs students!
The second place winner will receive Super Start Unlimited Seven (Prize Value – $1500) free six month online subscription for any seven of their title for all the student in their school.
And the winner is……… Scott Hardesty-Technology Coordinator – Spearfish School District!! Congratulations Scott and Spearfish School District!
What is Engagement, Really?
July 14th, 2010Bernie Dodge – presenter
How do you define engagement? Think about that for a bit.
Now let Bernie Dodge take you into interesting engaging areas that help you really understand what engagement is.
Engagements are about the interactions that go on in the classroom. Time spent determines engagement. Teachers need to allow deep processing.
What if you took the magazine article below and held it up to your computer and it became interactive?
http://www.esquire.com/the-side/augmented-reality
Thinkfinity -New Social Networking Tools
March 25th, 2010I am so excited to let everyone know that on April 1, 2010 you will see a new look for Verizon Thinkfinity. The new design for http://thinkfinity.org includes a change from MyThinkfinity to Thinkfinity Community. The new name really fits this new social networking environment. Thinkfinity has blended the best of web2.o tools such as Delicious and iGoogle into your personalized Thinkfinity community. You will be able to save all of your favorite resources to this location, receive all the newest resources in another widget, use a tag tool just as we do with Delicious to move your favorites directly to your Thinkfinity Community. You will be able to blog and form groups, invite friends, upload documents, gain access to trainer tools as you share the wonders of Thinkfinity with your peers, and much, much more!! Webinars will be available within Thinkfinity to help you navigate the new design of the site and the new Thinkfinity Community. We at TIE will also provide trainings for schools to help you use this powerful educational website to its fullest potential. Be sure to visit the Verizon Thinkfinity booth and join the What’s New at Thinkfinity session at the TIE Conference in Sioux Falls April 18-20. See you all there very soon!
National Wildlife Week Resources on Thinkfinity
March 12th, 2010Roar into National Wildlife Week with Thinkfinity!
Just in time for the National Wildlife Week, Verizon Thinkfinity has launched a new feature highlighting free educational resources to bring the excitement of the animal kingdom to the classroom.
Students will love learning about animals as they turn investigator and conduct animal research in Animal Inquiry and Observation. In this resource students observe the habits and habitats of animals using webcams broadcasting from zoos and aquariums across the country.
In all, more than a dozen educational resources including lesson plans, podcasts and student interactives available in the National Wildlife Week Feature at http://www.thinkfinity.org/National_Wildlife_Week.aspx
Suggested tweets
Visit a zoo without leaving the classroom. This & many more resources for National Wildlife Week at Thinkfinity http://bit.ly/a4DDXi
Thinkfinity launches new feature for National Wildlife Week. http://bit.ly/a4DDXi
Verizon Thinkfinity’s ReadWriteThink Site has New Design
February 2nd, 2010If you haven’t been to www.thinkfinity.org recently, you might want to check out one of its content partner sites. ReadWriteThink has gone through a site redesign and I think you will love it. If you search the lessons, you will notice a new little feature where you can now select the state standards for that lesson!! So now each lesson in ReadWriteThink can be quickly aligned to SD Standards. They have a lot of other new features as well, so please visit the website and check it out. I would love to hear your comments about the features you find exciting and useful. Please comment.
Verizon Thinkfinity Moving into Web2.0
October 12th, 2009As many of you have already heard, Verizon and Google have made an alliance! This is good news for Verizon Thinkfinity also! This alliance will allow all lovers of the Thinkfinity site to find even greater value. The first step is to register in MyThinkfinity which is a simple link at the top right corner of the Verizon Thinkfinity site. (Remember, everything in this site is FREE!) The next step will be to watch for the new site redesign of http://thinkfinity.org . This is coming in the very near future! With this site redesign, you will find the web2.0 tools housed in MyThinkfinity. Some of these features include bookmarking, collaboration communities, sharing with others (I am guessing we will have many connections such as Facebook and Twitter), and widgets that you will be able to take from the Verizon Thinkfinity site and place our your webpage. Also, be aware that four of the content partners are also going through site redesigns. So don’t be surprised if one day in the next couple of months, when you open ReadWriteThink, ArtsEdge, Xpeditions (soon to be called National Geographic), and EdSitement, you find a new more updated look and feel. If you would like to learn more about face to face or online trainings for you or your school, please contact me at any time.
SD Verizon ThinkfinityState Administrator – mtorgrude@tie.net
Calculation Nation! Learning Math Globally
April 27th, 2009I have just returned from the NCTM conference with so much to tell about new ideas to teach and learn math. One of the most exciting and engaging resources for students comes to you from Illuminations, the web-based resource developed by NCTM in partnership with Thinkfinity.org.
http://calculationnation.nctm.org/ – What is Calculation Nation: (from About Calculation Nation)
Calculation Nation™ uses the power of the Web to let students challenge opponents from anywhere in the world. At the same time, students are able to challenge themselves by investigating significant mathematical content and practicing fundamental skills. The element of competition adds an extra layer of excitement.
“The games on Calculation Nation™ provide an entertaining environment where students can explore rich mathematics,” said Jim Rubillo, Executive Director of the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM). “Through these games, students are exposed to the same mathematical topics that they see in class as well as those that are recommended in Curriculum Focal Points.”
Steps to play:
Join the fun of learning math!!!
SD Thinkfinity
April 14th, 2009What is Thinkfinity? Watch this video to gain a quick overview of this powerful educational website: http://www.thinkfinity.org/tour/thinkfinitytour.aspx
We have been working to increase the number of people in SD who can provide training on the use of Thinkfinity and its resources this past year. Two great cohorts of trainers are now providing PD on the use of Thinkfinity in the preK-12 classroom. Our goal is to provide the next levelof training to these individuals providing the state of SD with at least 15 certified Thinkfinity trainers. These individuals will then be able to travel anywhere in the state to provide either end-user professional development or field trainer training.
We have a group of university professors who are now providing Thinkfinity training to the students at the university level. Our new teachers will be coming into the classrooms with this valuable resource already stored in their toolkits for easy access. Teachers in the graduate programs are also being provided this training so they may build on their expertise and use of the internet to engage students in the learning process. Each of the following universities have anywhere from one to 10 professors holding the Thinkfinity Field Trainer status: DSU, NSU, USD, USF, SDSU, and DWU.
The other group of Thinkfinity Field Trainers working toward certified trainer status are staff members from the ESA’s around our state. They are providing Thinkfinity embedded within their other work as a great resource for educators.
For more information about Thinkfinity and what is happening in SD specifically, please visit http://thinkfinity.tie.net . Also, visit the Thinkfinity booth at the TIE Conference.
Marcia Torgrude
State Thinkfinity Administrator
SD Counts Update
April 8th, 2009SD Counts, the K-5 math grant, is in the last year of the first three year grant and is awaiting word to continue this work for another three years. This statewide project has been building the expertise of teacher leaders to approach the teaching and learning of math with understanding. The 8 math specialists across the state have trained and worked with 180 math teacher leaders who in turn have provided professional development to over 2,000 teachers. This new way of teaching and learning math for understanding at the K-5 level is having an impact on over 25,000 students! We are waiting on word in May to find out if our next 3 year SD Counts grant is approved. The approval of this grant will promote the systemic change of how students learn math in our state. Watch for word of its approval in this blog.
