iPad Lesson Plans: Mathematics and Social Studies

Michele O'Dell of the Douglas Country School District has constructed two interesting iPad lesson plans as part of her ETIL study group. This is an excellent example of a classroom teacher, being given access to both the technology and the appropriate in-servicing so they can focus on the pedagogy. Michele has put together a couple of comprehensive lesson plans that could easily be used as a template for other teachers. 

ETIL is the state of Colorado's acronym for Educational Technology Information Literacy.  ETIL expectations are a part the requirements set forth by No Child Left Behind and C.I.T.E. (Continuous Improvement of Teacher Effectiveness). Michele has made good use of her time at the ETIL Academy.

ETIL Lesson 

Michele O’Dell 

Storyrobe with iPad

Your Name:     Michele O’Dell
Grade Level / Subject Area: Mathematics

1. Which essential question, content area GLE / Standard, or ISTE NETS for Students or NETS for Teachers was the objective of this lesson?  

ISTE NETS for Students
1. Creativity and Innovation
Students demonstrate creative thinking, construct knowledge, and develop innovative products and processes
using technology. Students:
a. apply existing knowledge to generate new ideas, products, or processes.
b. create original works as a means of personal or group expression.
c. use models and simulations to explore complex systems and issues.
d. identify trends and forecast possibilities.

2. What resources (technology / information) did you use to help achieve this objective? 

Doc Camera
iPad
Storyrobe iPad App
Whiteboard App
Everyday Math Curriculum - Unit 6 Geometry
Coolmath’s Online Dictionary
morgueFile Photos

Read full article:

Michele O Dell Lesson Plans

WiFi Printing from your iPad

This is from a website called Netputing and offers a way of WiFi sharing a printer. Hit your print button on your iPad from anywhere within the WiFi range. This is handy if you or your students are needing to print within the classroom. I know, I know, we shouldn't be printing anyway but every now and again there is something that just needs to be printed. Here is one option and it only takes about 2 minutes to set up. Enjoy!!!

AirPrint Activator: AirPrint is a small application that will enable a Mac OSX 10.6.5 + iTunes 10.1 hidden feature to allow your shared printer to be visible on your iOS 4.2.1 devices.  AirPrint allow you to print from new generation of Apple iPhones,iPad and iPod Touch to a printer shared over your personal WiFi network.

You only need to run AirPrint Activator once.  Once AirPrint has been turned on it will remain on even after a reboot.

Download:
Download the latest beta version compatible with OSX 10.5,10.6 and 10.7 (Lion) from the AirPrint Activator v2 web page.

Download the latest version: AirPrint Activator v1.1.3

              or

use version 1.1.2 if the latest version is reporting that it is not supported on your system: AirPrint Activator v1.1.2

Apple requested that I take down the AirPrint Hacktivator page as they stipulate that the application is distributing copyrighted source code and/or software. AirPrint Activator is now replacing the defunct AirPrint Hacktivator application.  It provide the same functionality without the use of any Apple files.

You can use AirPrint Activator as a replacement of the previous generation Hacktivator application.  If present, it will take care of cleaning any Apple files installed by the previous generation Hacktivator when you “deactivate” AirPrint. It will only inject a single line in a CUPS configuration when you select to “activate”AirPrint.

System Requirements:

• OSX Snow Leopard 10.6.5,10.6.6 or 10.6.7 (Not currently supported under OSX Lion 10.7 beta)
• iTunes 10.1 +

HOW TO activate AirPrint:

1. Launch AirPrint Activator:

2. Click on the togle switch:

3. Enter the admin password:

4. A window will appear instructing you to remove/add/share the printer you want to use with AirPrint:

Click OK.

5. Open System Preferences/Print &Fax and:

• Remove
• Add
• Share

the desired local printer.  The following youtube clip will show you how:

Original Article:
http://netputing.com/airprintactivator/

Playing Politics with Financial Aid

She just won't quit. With only a few days left in her tenure as chancellor of UW Madison, Biddy Martin issued a press release this afternoon "asking" that the UW System Board of Regents allow Madison to spend $2.3 million of its new tuition hike on need-based financial aid.

She's a "champion" of need-based aid says the press release, and this must be music to the ears of all of us concerned about affordability--right?

Wrong. Sadly, Martin is playing politics yet again and thinking of what's best for her, rather than what's best for all students from Wisconsin's low-income families.

(1) Biddy Martin lobbied hard for new "flexibilities" for Madison this year and she got them. The money from the state arrives in a block grant, which means Madison now makes its own decisions about use of the differential tuition. She doesn't need to "ask" UW System for this-- and she knows it. (And boy, if she doesn't know that ....)

(2) So why didn't she simply just say "this is what the tuition should be used for," instead of issuing a press release directly to the Board of Regents and System President Kevin Reilly? Because then her actions would be exposed for what they are: a demand on the incoming interim chancellor David Ward. Yes, while she runs off into the distance from the mess she's created, Martin has already begun to boss Ward around. I suppose we can't be surprised.

(3) This is her chance to reiterate her claim that she's all about affordability. As noted in an earlier post, Martin says this is her big thing, reflects her values, etc-- and it's why she wants to go to Amherst. Except for this-- Amherst serves about as many students from low-income families as Madison could cram into a single lecture hall. Puhleese.

(4) This proposal-- hike tuition but give away a bunch of it to financial aid--raises eyebrows among thoughtful people about whether we "needed" the hike in the first place. Why not avoid hiking tuition and instead hold tuition flat for everyone? Martin draws on the arguments of some economists here who argue it's most efficient and equitable to charge everyone what they can afford, redistributing funds from wealthier families to needier ones. Again, sounds good in theory. Unfortunately it's just a mess in practice. In the real world, it pits students against students. It also sends an unintended message to state governments that institutions can take care of themselves. Just look at Martin-- has she said even one word about the importance of the Wisconsin Higher Education Grant? Did she provide input to UW System as to how those limited resources could best be spent? I served on the Legislature's Special Committee on the Reform of Financial Aid Programs last summer and the answer is "nope." We heard not one word from Madison's chancellor about her support for the need-based financial aid program that serves ALL students in Wisconsin public higher education. All we hear about is aid for Madison students. Doesn't smell like team spirit to me.

(5) Finally, there's an irony here. Last week economist Doug Harris and I issued a new study on the effectiveness of financial aid in Wisconsin. It demonstrates the need to target funds in order to make sure they are effective. Martin didn't attend the conference (on Madison's campus) where the paper was discussed, she didn't send a note of support for the event, and she hasn't asked to see the paper that was issued and that has been widely covered in the media. Funny decisions, for someone supposedly so supportive of need-based aid.

No, this is pure politics. Worse yet it's playing politics with the hearts and minds of students from low-income families. And those who truly strive to serve them-- all of them.

What I Do With My Time

The Chronicle of Higher Education is running a story about faculty productivity, questioning the idea that professors aren't earning their salaries by contributing substantially to their students' education. It's accompanied by the schedules of a few faculty at UTexas. I've looked over those schedules, and was struck: none of them even begin to resemble mine. Most don't start til 8 am, and often end by 4 or 5. Most are on two or three committees at most. And most have few grants and few research assistants.

So I figured, why not lay it all out there? Here are my statistics-- you go right ahead and calculate my "value-added."

What the university's numbers show ('10-11 academic year):

Total course sections taught: 2 (the other 2 were 'bought out' with a William T Grant Scholars award)

Total class enrollment: 12 graduate students

Research grants: $1.6 million

Annual salary: $72,000 (9 months)


What the numbers don't show:

(1) Independent studies -- During this past year I did independent studies with 6 graduate students. These don't show up as formal teaching.

(2) Teaching -- I used grant money to facilitate additional resources for my class, including paying for guest speakers from other universities and the cost of licensing software they needed

(3) Advising -- I chaired 4 doctoral committees and 4 master's committees, and served on 4 other committees. I also served as a McNair mentor for an undergraduate student.

(4) Committee work -- I chaired a university-wide committee, served on the steering committee of PROFS, and served on 2 school-wide and 1 department committee.

(5) Research -- I ran a project that funded two full-time staff and 3 postdoctoral fellows and involved at least 10 graduate students and 5 undergraduates at any one time. I met frequently with most of them and monthly with all. In addition, during this past year I published 3 peer-reviewed articles, 2 book chapters, and 2 reports, and initiated 9 new working papers (nearly all co-authored with graduate students).

(6) State service-- During my "summer vacation" in 2010 I served on the Wisconsin Legislature's Special Committee on the Reform of Higher Education Programs and at year's end I hosted a statewide conference for 150 participants on "Affordability and Attainment in Wisconsin Public Higher Education."

(7) National service- I gave more than a dozen talks around the country (ranging from LA to Seattle to NY), served on two standing panels for the U.S. Department of Education and on 3 editorial boards of journals as well as a granting board of a foundation, and participated in higher education policy working groups at several DC think tanks. Thus far in 2011 alone, I have logged 48,000 miles on Delta.

(8) Public engagement -- In addition to this blog, I maintain an active Twitter presence where I comment regularly on issues related to higher education policy at the campus, state, and national levels.

Here's what my schedule looks like:

Monday-Friday: Up by 7 am, checking email for 15-20 minutes before starting commute at 745 am. Usually on a call or two en route to work. In the office in non-stop meetings and teaching from 830 am til 430 pm, rarely taking a break for lunch (ask my students- I hardly ever get to eat). Commute home, spend time with kids and have dinner. Back to work by 8 pm, working until 11 pm.

Saturday/Sunday: An hour of email each morning, 3-5 hours each afternoon, plus 2-3 hours each evening.

In the last year I estimate I worked 67-80 hours/week, and this represented a decline of about 5 hours/week from the prior year. I took no more than a total of a week's vacation.

Did I mention my wonderful husband and children (ages 1 and 4)? Wouldn't be possible without them.

Yes, I earned tenure this spring. And no, I don't expect my workload to decline much if at all.

So, whatever you think of me personally or politically-- am I productive?

Executive Compensation at UW Madison

Last week UW Madison employees got the details on their pending benefits cuts, which will take a substantial hack at their earnings during the coming years.

At the same time, we also got word that at least two folks at UW Madison wouldn't be feeling the pain--quite the contrary actually. Barry Alvarez has a new deal amounting to $1 million in total compensation (a 20% raise), and Francois Ortalo-Magne was named dean of the biz school with a salary of $410,000. While former dean Mike Knetter's salary was completely paid for by the Albert O. Nicholas endowment, apparently some of the new dean's salary (how much? we aren't told) is covered by UW Madison central administration. This apparently amounts to a 109% increase in 43-year-old Ortalo-Magne's salary. Outgoing chancellor Biddy Martin approved both deals as she left UW Madison.

According to the posted agenda for the upcoming UW System Regents meeting, these two aren't alone...
"Move into closed session to consider personal histories related to the naming of a facility at UW-Madison, as permitted by s. 19.85(1)(f), Wis. Stats.; to consider a compensation adjustment for the UW-Madison athletic director, as permitted by s. 19.85(1)(c), Wis. Stats.; to consider a compensation adjustment for the UW-Madison men’s basketball head coach, as permitted by s. 19.85(1)(c), Wis. Stats.; to consider a compensation adjustment for the UW-Madison women’s hockey head coach, as permitted by s. 19.85(1)(c), Wis. Stats.; to consider salary approval for an interim chancellor for UW-Madison, as permitted by s. 19.85(1)(c), Wis. Stats; to confer with legal counsel regarding pending or potential litigation, as permitted by s. 19.85(1)(g), Wis. Stats.; and to consider annual personnel evaluations, as permitted by Wis. Stats. §19.85(1)(c)."

Raises for not one but three athletics folks, eh? Don't forget, Bret Bielema's salary was increased 47% and Paul Chryst's was jacked 33% back in February while most of us were freezing our butts off protesting at the Capital. And of course tuition is going up yet again-- passing the costs for these luxuries onto all students and their families (hey, do they get a vote?). You can claim "private donors funded this" but (a) it's not entirely true (some comes from Administration) and (b) if donors didn't have to pay for this stuff, don't you think they might CONSIDER funding our educational mission? In other words, a dollar is a dollar-- and a dollar spent here is a dollar that could've been spent there.

I guess the UW Madison administration isn't acquainted with the phrase "shared sacrifice."

Quick edit Videography with iMovie for iPad

This is a How-To-Article written by Wes Fryer over at Speed of Creativity. It is a great resource for classroom teachers who are using the iPad to edit video with their students. If you do have access to iPads and have been unsure how to proceed with iMovie than this is a fantastic resource.

Wes has a great blog about 21st Century Digital Learning. He has a comprehensive list of articles that are worth reading. Make sure you take the time to visit his site. Enjoy!!!

Quick Editing with iMovie for iPad:

The following steps are included in the "Video" chapter of the forthcoming EPUB eBook, "Playing with Media: simple ideas for powerful sharing." This is an example of "quick-edit" videography, which can compliment "no-edit" videography in support of the "ethic of minimal clicks." This final video, "Learning About NASA Mission Control in Houston," is available on YouTube.

After recording a series of videos using an iPad, the iMovie app ($4.99) can be used to edit and combine the videos into a single file. That video file can then be directly uploaded to YouTube from the iPad, using an available wifi Internet connection.

1. Start an iPad iMovie by clicking the “+” icon at the bottom of the screen.

For the full article:
http://www.speedofcreativity.org/2011/07/09/quick-edit-videography-with-imovie-for-ipad/

The Archimedes Test

Click Here: Volume Experiment for Kids

Testing out the volume of rocks.