The KnowledgeFarmer

Belle Ayiti – Beautiful Haiti

Haiti – Resources for educators.

As some of you may know, I was born in Haiti. The tragedy of January 12th, 2010 is beyond words. It is very sad to see my homeland suffer so deeply. Haiti is an amazing, magical place. I wanted to gather some resources to share with you to show the multitude of layers Haiti has to offer. To go to any of the sites below just click on the image and it will open a new window. If you want to learn how to help or keep up with what is happening please click on the Haiti tab at the top of this page.

CNN 360 – Go for a drive through Port-au-Prince. You can move the camera around while the video is playing.

Wikipedia

This Wikipedia article on Haiti is very extensive.

Ayiti – The Cost of Life

This is a game that allows students to help a Haitian family to better their lives.

CIA World Factbook Haiti Page

Information on Haiti in many areas: geography; people, government, economy and much more.

Haitian Embassy in Washington, D.C.

The official website for Haiti in the United States.

Google Earth – Haiti resources

These are KML files that will download and open in Google Earth. They will show up under “MY PLACES” on the GE sidebar. If you are new to GE click on the Google Earth tab at the top of the page

1. USGS Shake map. This KML file puts a layer onto Google Earth (GE) that shows the extent of the earthquake’s destructive force.

2. Haiti Earthquake KML from GeoEYE. This file shows the damage after the earthquake. You can turn this layer on and off to show before and after pictures of Port-au-Prince and surrounding areas.

Haiti is a magical place with amazing people. It’s history is rich and unfortunately unknown to many. I hope this tragedy can shed some light on this wondrous place that I am honored to call my homeland!

L’Union Fait La Force – Strength Through Unity

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iPadio – Phone it in!

iPadio – record thoughts, assignments, responses, projects and anything else you can think of. All over the phone for free!

This is an example of a phlog (phone log) by the founder of the company:

Share any ideas you might have on how to use iPadio in the comments.

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Who is TED?

Ted Talks are fantastic speeches by leaders in the fields of technology, engineering, design, education, the arts, and much more. Hundreds of moving speeches are available on Ted.com for free. Here is one of the most viewed talks from 2006 by Sir Ken Robinson:

And this video from the 2008 TED Prize winner, Dave Eggers, on community involvement in our public schools:

I would highly recommend going to the Ted site and looking through the vast array of videos from some amazing people in just about any field you can think of. Most of the videos are 20 minutes or less. Very worthwhile!

Happy New Year, btw!

Tags: Creativity, Dave Eggers, Ken Robinson, Ted Talks

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More Interactive Resources

Here are some great interactive activities for use on a SMART Board (or any IWB – interactive white board). I found these on a great resource sharing site: http://seamanits.edublogs.org/2009/04/14/jeopardy-online/.

JeopardyLabs – Online Jeopardy Template via kwout

2.

Super Teacher Tools via kwout

These tools are very easy to use and work great on an interactive white board. Super Teacher Tools has 10 interactive activities that are ready to use without any setup or downloads needed. Your computer will just need to have the Adobe Flash plug-in.

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Integration resources

1. Google Earth Resources – I am a big fan and advocate of using Google Earth (GE) in the classroom for just about any subject. These are some great overlays or layers you can add to GE. Click on the GE tab at the top of this page to view a presentation about learning how to integrate GE in your class.

http://www.freetech4teachers.com/2009/04/nearly-400-google-earth-files-for.html

http://www.free.ed.gov/resource.cfm?resource_id=193

3. FunnelBrain.com is an academic question and answer site that provides an environment for collaborative online learning. Create flashcards with videos, photos, audio, text, and math equations!

http://www.funnelbrain.com/

4. Powerpoints and interactive activities galore! Mostly geared towards elementary use.

http://www.pppst.com/index.html

5. Twitter Handbook for Teachers. I’m sure you have heard of Twitter and if not this very helpful document will help you learn all about it as well as the many uses it has in education. Feel free to follow me as well – http://twitter.com/jfarm

http://www.scribd.com/doc/14062777

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GAETC 2008

Ron Clark’s keynote at GAETC was excellent. Truly an inspirational teacher, leader, and pioneer. I was fortunate enough to meet him in person and it was well worth the trip just to see him speak. His energy and love of what he does is obvious. I took this picture when he jumped up on a chair right in front of where I was sitting. 

Ron Clark Academy

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Google Documents

Google Documents allows you to create word processing documents, spreadsheets, forms and presentations. The beauty is in the simplicity and ease of use. I can start a project at work on one computer and then complete the presentation, letter, spreadsheet or whatever it happens to be on any other computer that is connected to the internet. All your work is done on your Google Documents web page. You do not have to download a word processor, spreadsheet, or presentation program. Did I mention that all this is free; all you have to do is sign up for a free Google account.

Here is a presentation that I have created and shared at conferences.

Posted in Tech Integration, collaboration, education, integration, resources, web 2.0 | No Comments »

Life ‘Round Here

The Life ‘Round Here project my fourth and fifth graders participated in this year is coming to a close. The winner for our school was Trey, a fourth grader in Mrs. Knight’s class. The students did an amazing job and truly enjoyed themselves. Please take a look at our projects along with those of the other 14 schools that participated. Schools from Waycross to New Zealand and beyond all worked hard on producing multimedia videos about themselves and their towns.

Find the completed projects along with the winners from each school here.

If the links above do not work, copy and paste this URL into your browser’s address bar:

http://chriscraft.pbwiki.com/completed+projects

Posted in KnowledgeFarm, Life 'Round Here, Tech Integration, collaboration | 4 Comments »

Feed Your Vocabulary

Freerice.com is a great way to increase your vocabulary and make a difference. It’s a simple concept. When you log on to the site you are given a vocabulary word with four choices. Choose the correct answer and you just helped feed a hungry person through the United Nations World Food Program. Checkout the site for more details and while you are there it wouldn’t hurt to see if you can get your vocabulary level up a few notches and feed the hungry at the same time.

Update: Freepoverty.com is very similar to freerice.com but instead of donating rice by taking vocabulary quizzes you donate water by answering geography questions in a fun interactive quiz. Check it out and see if you can beat my score of 234!

Tags: end hunger, Language Arts, vocabulary

Posted in Language Arts, Reading, critical thinking, education | No Comments »

Photo Cubes

Create cool photo cubes with your pictures. Great for all kinds of projects. Simple step by step process to create and print your pictures on a template that even has the dotted lines to fold and solid lines to cut.

Click the picture to go there or weblink here: http://www.tabblo.com/partners/flickr/

Here is a sample of one that I created from our Storybook Character Day at Center:

1. Choose your flickr photos.
2. Put them where you want them on your cube.

3. Select letter or A4 and open as a PDF to print (with cutting instructions on the printout).

And this is what you get when you click “Get Photo Cube”:

Final product:

Very cool tool! If you don’t use flickr just printout a blank cube to use as a template. You can then cut and paste your photos onto the template and create a cube from photos on another website or prints that you have.

Posted in Tech Integration, integration, photography | No Comments »