Links+to+TED+talks+on+TED.com

Make Learning Fun!

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There are numerous sites that I have come across that enable students to play games to learn new activities. My first grade students, for example, use online games to learn parts of speech and about compound words and other word rules. One site I have come across is http://funschool.kaboose.com/Museum Box. This gives students an opportunity to play games while learning phonics and about reading. It is like they don't even know they are learning because they are having fun while discovering. There are also games for different subjects like math, science and history.======

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Another way to incorporate technology in the classroom is one I discussed in Planning for Instruction class earlier this week, by using a networking site and making a classroom page for submitting book reports or even as a little classroom blog. This is a good idea for older students for obvious reasons, but it takes pop culture and integrates it into the classroom. They will think it is "so cool" that for a project they are using some popular networking site.======

This website Museum Box is an interesting way for students to present information in a virtual box. Students must long into this free website to create their box or view previously created boxes. Each box contains cubes. Text, web links, video audio files, word and pdf docs, power point presentations and images can all be added to each of the cubes six sides. Students can get creative and customize their boxes by adding color, texture, or altering the configuration of the box. The students in my class are working on research papers and this would be a great alternative to presenting their research findings. http://museumbox.e2bn.org/about/ - Judy Jeung

Like Amy's video website, http://kidsvid.altec.org/index.html is pretty much exactly the same site with tutorials about shooting, making, editing, and posting web videos. A few things that I liked about Kids Vid were the tutorial for children to learn how to post videos and how to improve upon their video assignments. There are also a storyboard tool to help students organize thoughts and ideas and example videos from other children. http://www.4teachers.org/ is not really a site for children but for teachers, as it clearly states in the url; but I did find the Kids Vid site through 4 Teachers. It is a very helpful site for educators such as ourselves and gives helpful hints and tips on integrating technology into our curriculum. There are also a plethora of links to free education sites. -Jack Ha
 * Kids Vid and 4 Teachers**

 ~FunBrain.com~ It's very similar to StarFall. There are many fun free learning games for children to play in every subject area and there are different age appropriate games for K-8. Also there is a section for parents, teachers, quizes, and fun cards that is not free. Teachers can set up an account for the quiz seciton that includes Pearsons My Grade Book. http://www.funbrain.com/index.html  <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS', cursive;"><span style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype', 'Book Antiqua', Palatino, serif;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #64137c; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype', 'Book Antiqua', Palatino, serif;"><span style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype', 'Book Antiqua', Palatino, serif;">~Christina G.~ I have really enjoyed and been inspired by a number of talks on the TED site so I thought I would post a few of my favorites. Some are about education, some about creativity, all generally about problem solving. All the talks are about 18 minutes in length and have taken place at the TED conference held every year in Long Beach.

Sir Ken Robinson "Do schools kill creativity". He's very funny and raises issues that we all talk about. [|Ken Robinson] Dave Eggers "Once upon a school". He talks about 826 Valencia in San Francisco "the Pirate Supply Co." and how it has spawned other imaginary storefronts/sites that are after school writing centers, free to kids in difficult neighborhoods. [|Dave Eggers] Majora Carter "Greening the ghetto". How she was able to transform a small piece of her South Bronx neighborhood where she grew up. [|Majora Carter] Evelyn Glennie "How to listen to music with your whole body". She's a wonderful percussionist and deaf, and shares a different perspective on how we listen. [|Evelyn Glennie] Tod Machover & Dan Ellsey "Releasing the music in your head" Tod with others at the Media Lab, developed musical instruments for people with severe disabilities, Hyperscore for kids as well as guitar hero. Dan Ellsey performs a composition. [|Tod Machover] Amy Smith "Simple designs that could save millions of childrens' lives". She is working with simple technologies to aid the poorest in the world. [|Amy Smith] John Maeda "Simplicity patterns". John talks about technology and creativity and art. [|John Maeda]