October 8th, 2013

Flagler College

Weekly Update
Special points of interest:
Livebinders.com Quizlet.com Edmodo.com Popplet.com

Extra! Extra! Read All About it!

The World Wide Web offers students and teachers unique ways of inputting and extracting new information. Lines of Communication are open all over the world. Livebinders.com, a website geared toward sharing information in text, video and other forms of media, is a great example of the valuable assets offered through the internet. Available for free, it allows people to download or upload lesson plans, instructional and entertaining videos, and share general information that ordinarily would end up filed away, thrown away or disregarded after its creator no
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longer required the information. A Similar resource site for students and educators is Quizlet.com. Used mostly as a study resource, Quizlet.com has study guides, flash cards and quizzes on almost every subject imaginable. It can be used to help students study a particular subject or can make it easier for teachers to guide students through a difficult test without much effort on the teachers part.

Inside this issue:

News of the Day

Extra! Extra! Read All About 1 it! Communication Outside of the Classroom Graphic Organizers 1

Volume 1, Issue 1

Communication Outside of the Classroom

Furthering class discussion, supplementing student, class and teacher relationships and offering a line of communication for parents are just some of the advantages of Edmodo.com. Class discussion can be limited during scheduled class time and all student might not have a chance to give their own opinions. Edmodo.com is a way for students to communicate more freely, with time to observe and reflect on theirs and others thoughts or opinions. Acting as a discussion board, assignment posting board and forum for general concerns a student might have that could not be addressed in class, Edmodo.com is a great tool for students, teachers and parents.

Presentation tools of the Trade Hello Japan!

November Calendar

Weekly Update

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Graphic Organizers: Now available in Digital Formats!
Webs, mapping, hamburger, caterpillar, umbrella these are all examples of rudimentary but useful tools for students to plan their work. Also known as graphic organizers, these planning tools were only available for use on paper at home and in the classroom. Times have definitely changed and now teachers and students have an interactive tool which is purely digital. Popplet.com is a popular type of this new generation of graphic organizer. Easy to use, a student can create a web using color, text, and even multimedia. Start by creating a popple or box with the main point or theme inside, after this you can easily add thoughts, points, figures that come off of the one central theme. You can customize, share and save multiple popples so access is easy for students and teachers to find other popples or send them to parents, other students and teachers. It is free to sign up so I encourage all of my wonderful readers to use these great FREE tools.

Volume 1, Issue 1

Present in all new ways...

PowerPoint is a thing of the past?! Old news? Taboo? How could this be? With Prezi!! The newest thing out of the world of professional presentation comes in the form of an easy to use tool for teachers and students. Prezi allows the user to present in different ways using a web-like system instead of the linear slideshow. Why do we like it? The first ten Prezis are free, you can share them to Facebook or email a link. Multimedia, you got it. Insert photos, pdf files and even videos straight from YouTube! How do we use it? You can sign up for free via email or even sign up with your Facebook account. Drawbacks? Unfortunately Prezi does not make it easy to share in a hard format. When presenting, the user must have the proper software downloaded to view their Prezi. Although Prezi is limited in some ways, it is a unique tool for any presentation and will soon be more incorporated in the classroom.

Tools of the trade...

A Pictures Worth a Thousand Words

When presenting new information using pictures to describe can be easier than explaining a concept. To make this easier, teachers employ Animoto. A one-stop shop for making short videos with pictures, text and even other small videos. Some benefits include music you can choose to go in the background of each Animoto. Pre-made templates that fit almost any category. You can make 30 second videos for free, or upgrade for longer video times and even more goodies.

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Kon Nichiwa Nippon! (Hello Japan!)

Ms. Whitney welcomes the newest edition to our class curriculum, Japan!

Travel to the far east and get ready to explore one of the mysteries of the orient. During this unit the class will study basic Kanji or Japanese characters, learn how to write a Haiku and design an entirely new flag representing Japan. General history involving formation of government, geographic characteristics and cultural elements will be the main part of the unit.

Much Ado About the Empire of the Sun

For most students Japan is an unfamiliar place, the culture is quite different than that of America, with traditions older than we can fathom. Nippon or Nihon (depending on the translation) is what the Nihonjin, the Japanese people, call Japan in their native tongue. While we are exploring this fascinating country, there will be a word bank of terms in relation to this particular unit posted on the class website. It will behoove you and the students to become familiar with these terms, for they will be referenced constantly throughout the lessons. Also, a timeline of events vital to the shaping of Japan can also be found on the class website.

The Japanese flag is called the Hinomaru, meaning Circle of the Sun it has multiple versions each with their own name.

What to Know
All available materials can be found on the class website: whitneyonweb.weebly.com If you have any questions you can always contact me at: Email:vjw2013@mymail.com Phone: 850-502-9827 ext. 228

Enjoy this month of November!

November 2013
Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat

27 3 10 17 24

28 Intro to 29
Japan

30 6
Book Fair

31 7
Book fair

1 8
Final Haikus

2 9

4 11 18Group
Posted (unit)

5
Book Fair

12 19Group

13 20 27

14 21 28

15Turn in 16 22Finish
all Haikus

23 30

Presentation Presentation

25 Grades 26

29