Students Gathering Data - It CAN Be Fun!

As educators, when we hear the word "data", we know the importance that it plays in decision-making. West Virginia CSOs require students to be able to read and interpret data in the form of charts, diagrams, tables, and a variety of other formats.

Many times, the data presented to them in curricular materials is irrelevant to them; to their interests. Why not provide for them a set of tools whereby they can construct their own questions, gather their own data, then render it in a variety of graphical forms for the purposes of interpretation and presentation?

Fortunately, there exist a few simple, free, and easy-to-learn online resources to help them do just that!

1. PollDaddy http://www.polldaddy.com See it in action at http://cpitrolo.wordpress.com/2009/01/26/poll Click on "View Results" to see the rendering of results in graphical format.
2. MisterPoll http://www.misterpoll.com See samples at http://www.misterpoll.com/directory See a possibly relevant sample at http://www.misterpoll.com/polls/392490 Click on "Results" to see the rendering of results in graphical format.
3. For a simple website that allows students to create various charts (i.e. bar graphs, pie charts, line graphs) visit http://nces.ed.gov/nceskids/createAgraph/default.aspx. There's even a "classic" interface available at http://nces.ed.gov/nceskids/graphing/classic for those wanting a more simplified interactive experience.

Simply put: Let the children develop their own topics, design their own hypotheses or predictions, design their own questions that address those predictions, then conduct the poll(s).

The results can be used to explain and or justify their predictions and refine or rationalize the "why" of the outcomes. Now there's learning that's relevant, involves students in higher-order thinking, real-world, and engaging!

From The Voices of Youth

Ever wonder what our youth feel it takes to be successful in the 21st Century workforce? Listen to what they have to say! Log in to http://edutopia.org/youth-voices.

One of the skills that can't be emphasized enough is that of journaling. For a free, simple, no-nonsense web-based service, check out http://www.notebookg.com.

For a true-to-form webquest that illustrates and integrates both collaboration and 21st Century skills applications, check out http://www.questgarden.com/66/37/6/080530203752/

Discipline Strategies for the 21st Century Classroom - Ruby Payne

The software-based simulation program and companion book, Working With Students: Discipline Strategies for the 21st Century Classroom, by Ruby Payne is an engaging program available at three programmatic levels . It's ideal for teacher candidates (i.e. student teachers, participants, tutors, and interns), as well as those taking teacher education coursework. It can be reviewed and ordered from the following:

http://www.ahaprocess.com/store/Sims.html

My wife uses this program with her EDU200 students at WVU. As I stated before, it is engaging and gives people the experience (albeit vicariously) of developing discipline strategies within a 21st Century context.

Best of all, the software and book won't bust your budget! It's very affordable!

A Collection of Web Pages for Teachers

Over the years I've assembled a collection of web pages for teachers. They span all curricular areas and programmatic levels. They are content-oriented and address professional as well as personal productivity. To visit this collection, click View My Complete Profile, then scroll down to and click on "My Web Page".

Add A Little Speed to Your PC

Here are a few easy tips (in addition to the periodic maintenance in a separate entry made earlier) that you can perform periodically to keep your computer humming along:

1. Open "My Computer".
   
2. Right-click on the C: drive.
   
3. Left click on "Properties".
   
4. Uncheck the box at the bottom of the screen to dis-allow the Indexing service.
   
5. Click on the "Tools" tab.
   
6. Click on the "Error Checking" button.
   
7. There are two boxes for error checking. Click to place a check in both.
   
8. Click "Start", then "Yes" to the prompt".
   
9. Restart your computer.
   
10. Your computer will run the two routines you checked in step #7 above.

Windows has a built-in disk degragmenter, but it's marginally effective. Below are links to two free utilities I've used that will defragment your disk much faster and oprimize your hard drive more effectively than Windows "Disk Defragmenter. I'm more partial to the first one listed, although both are good products in their own right, and free, to boot!

1. Auslogics Disk Defrag http://www.auslogics.com/en/software (They also make a product called Auslogics Registry Defrag that is free and effective.
2. PerfectDisk 2008 http://www.download.com/PerfectDisk/3000-2094_4-10349543.html

Feeling Disconnected?

Ever lost your Internet connection? Don't reboot! Try these two simple commands for Windows XP:

1. Click Start, then Run. In the text box, type ipconfig /release (NOTE the space after the "g" in "ipconfig"). Click "OK". A black screen will quickly appear then disappear. This is normal.
2. Click Start, then Run. Type ipconfig /renew. (NOTE the space after the "g" in "ipconfig"). A black screen will appear and last a little longer as your Internet connection is reestablished.

This trick works better more often on wired computers, but does work with wirelessly connected workstations. In any case, it's faster than rebooting!

Periodic Maintenance

At least once a month, it's a good idea to keep the files on your computer in order. Here are 2 things you can do to help keep your computer running faster and more smoothly:

1. Run the "Check Disk" utility (for Windows XP). How? Click on Start, then Run. In the box, type the following: chkdsk /f. Note the space after the "k". After you've typed that, click on "OK". At the black screen prompt, type Y and press the Enter key on your keyboard, then restart your computer.
2. Run the Disk Defragmenter utility. How? Click on Start, mouse up to Programs, mouse over to Accessories, then to System Tools, then down to Disk Defragmenter. Click the "Defragment" button.

   Note: Disable your screen saver before running disk defragmenter.

Performing these two routines once a month will pay big dividends in helping to keep your computer running more optimally!

Stay Ahead of Adware, Spyware, & Malware!

It used to be that Ad-Aware was the venerable tried-and-true utility of choice for removing malware from computers. Recently I've discovered and begun using a much more thorough utility called Anti-Malware from http://www.malwarebytes.org. It's free. Give it a try! You won't be disappointed!

Welcome!!!

It's great to see you here! Periodically I'll post tech tips and thoughts for the educational community. Many of the thoughts will take the form of practical ideas and suggestions that I've personally tried, so as to remove any concerns with whether or not they're "safe".

While I won't be providing technical support for the products, I will answer questions to the extent that my experience with them will allow. Thank you for your dedication to learning and passion for helping the children through advancing technology, not for technology's sake alone, but for helping children to realize its potential as a tool to help themselves!

-Charlie