Nocking the Arrow

With millions of blogs, and millions of blog readers exchanging information across the world wide web, what are enhancements that can turn the ordinary into extraordinary with respects to blog appeal? Here are a few suggestions for building a blog that offers greater functionality while also standing out from the ordinary. This post will focus on features provided by Blogger . However, excellent platforms such as WordPress , EduBlogs , and Weebly offer similar enhancements for educators and their students to create attractive, engaging blogs. Google Translate Why? - Increase the chances that your blog will be appreciated by world-wide audience. Google Translate will convert your words into other languages. How?   - Google Translate can be found in the Blogger gadgets menu. Sign in to Blogger Click on your blog title Click on "Layout" Click on "Add A Gadget" Blogger has about thirty "gadgets" built into their main menu. 900 others may b...

Remind , one of my favorite apps, is becoming a communication stalwart at our school. Free, easy, and effective, Remind ( formerly Remind 101 ) provides versatile one-way correspondence between teacher and students, or teacher and the students' parents. With nearly everyone having a cell phone, and because email is becoming "old school", Remind offers a terrific solution to keeping students and their parents informed, and best of all, in real time . Here are three ways in which Remind is used at our school. Announcements - Our principal, created a class for our faculty and staff to receive announcements that are timely, or urgent, in nature. For instance, school was closed during a few instances of extreme cold and heavy snowfall last winter. Those of us who subscribed to Mr. Steiger's class received a school cancellation announcement within a minute of his notification. Otherwise, the message could take up to an hour to receive through conventional methods such...

Comedian and entertainer  Howie Mandel uses fist taps instead of hand shakes as a coping strategy for his mysophobia . Years before this became a popular greeting method, I was using fist taps to connect with my G343 Psychology students. Early in the course, we would use our hands as models when learning about human brain anatomy. The hemispheres and lobes of the brain were represented by both hands and the position of the fingers and knuckles. To promote our psychology learning club, or learning community, we would touch fists when entering or exiting the classroom, and to acknowledge each other when outside the classroom. This gesture became a symbol of connection for a few hundred psychology students. This year, I am using a similar theme to promote connected learning at our school. During our summer institute day, I introduced my fist, specifically the four knuckles, as symbols for improving learning at our school. Knuckle of index finger - put learning first . 9 out o...