Point A to Point B

Category: Content Area Focus

  • Fast and Furious – Keeping Up with Changes at NYSED

    The New York State Education Department (NYSED), like many other states educational agencies, is undergoing massive restructuring due to the Race to the Top (RTTT) funding initiative. There are many arguments to be made about whether the RTTT program is worth it or just another national political toy. It does not matter which side one […]

  • Technology Integration in the New NYS Teaching Standards

    New York is a winner of the Race to the Top funding initiative sponsored by the federal government. There is a whole host of passionate conversation about what RTTT means for education. I’m going to skip that part of the dialogue for now and focus on what has been going on in New York, and […]

  • Linking Design Questions, Instructional Strategies and Technology Tools

    This coming school year our professional development program is focused on Marzano’s Art & Science of Teaching. Cross-district teams organized by grade or subject area (“Design Teams”) will be meeting to focus on design questions brought up in the book. Over the course of the next 3-4 years we will undergo district-wide conversations around the […]

  • Fear of Google Docs

    This fall we will be rolling out Google Apps for Edcuation district-wide. With the snap of a finger, all 12,000 students and staff will have access to Google’s cloud services. OK, so it’s more than the snap of a finger, but with the skillful work of our dedicated IT technicians and developers, it will appear […]

  • MUVEs Finally Make Sense in Education

    Multi-User Virtual Enrionments (MUVEs) have been around for a number of years. Second Life is by far the most well known. For at least a couple of years I have had a Second Life avatar (Coffee Roffo), and participated in a number of different events “in world”. As hard as I have tried, I have […]

  • The Writing Process

    Clear, articulate, concise writing is important for our students. The mind of a middle schooler may often be anything but clear, articulate and concise 🙂 (and that is OK). What strategies can we use to help students acquire and integrate learning of the writing process? Better Answers is a writing program we are working on […]

  • Worksheets and the Internet

    Content Tech Ideas for Technology Use in the Classroom Using a worksheet to research information on the Internet and fill in the blanks is a popular activity. In its most fundamental state, this is a form of the strategy cues, questions, and advance organizers. Students use questions on the worksheet to (hopefully) guide them through […]

  • Content Tech: Google Lit Trips Followup

    Content Tech Ideas for Technology Use in the Classroom A few weeks back in Content Tech we looked at Google Lit Trips as unique way to study literature through geography. In Mrs. Calandra’s English 9R class, we used the Lit Trip as part of their study of The Odyssey by Homer. Reading this book can […]

  • Content Tech: Google Search and the Wonder Wheel

    Content Tech Ideas for Technology Use in the Classroom You may be noticing a Google theme to Content Tech recently…I’ve been attending a BOCES workshop on the multitude of Google tools available, and the list continues to grow. There is a new search tool recently released titled Wonder Wheel, that provides a visual representation of […]

  • Content Tech: Google Advanced Image Search

    Content Tech Ideas for Technology Use in the Classroom Following up on the advanced Google search tip last week, an advanced image search in Google presents some very useful filters. Today we’ll look at one way to do an advanced image search to find copyright-free images. Items produced by the U.S. Government are free from […]