Today's Interesting Links

• Bloom's Taxonomy Blooms Digitally, Andrew Churches - In the 1990's, a former student of Bloom, Lorin Anderson, revised Bloom's Taxonomy and published this- Bloom's Revised Taxonomy in 2001.Key to this is the use of verbs rather than nouns for each of the categories and a rearrangement of the sequence within the taxonomy. They are arranged below in increasing order, from low to high.
• The New Writing Pedagogy - According to a recent Pew Internet and American Life Project study, 85 percent of youths aged 12-17 engage at least occasionally in some form of electronic personal communication, which includes text messaging, sending e-mail or instant messages, or posting comments on social networking sites. In other words, our students aren't waiting for us to teach them the ins and outs of writing in these digital spaces.
• Microsoft Word - Glogster Instructions - A wonderful tutorial/handout for using Glogster Edu with students
• TICAL PRESENTATION (digitalliteracynow) - Tara Seale's presentation on teaching digital literacy
• Technology Integration for Teachers - Home - The purpose of this site is to take an extensive list of websites that are considered high quality, reliable, and valuable and organize them in a way that even "non-techy" teachers can utilize them. It took around 10 years to collect these resources, but new ones are found every day. All of these websites have been recommended by other teachers and educational organizations and qualify as "the best". You'll find support for all core curriculum areas. In addition, you will find lesson plans, multimedia, and primary sources to enhance your students' learning environment.
• Presentation Zen: Ira Glass:Tips on storytelling - There are a lot of books on presentations, giving speeches, using PowerPoint, etc. on the market. I think I have just about every book ever written on the subject. Many are good but most are rather mediocre "how to books" that seem dated and rarely inspire or talk much about creativity or storytelling, for example. This is why it's important to look outside to different disciplines for new perspectives, wisdom, and creative guidance. For example, I have been reading (and rereading) Story: Substance, Structure, Style and The Principles of Screenwriting by Robert McKee for the past six-seven months. The 480-page book sits on my nightstand; I usually find something interesting, applicable, and inspiring every time I pick it up. It's a book on screenwriting, yet there is much we (non-screenwriters) can learn.