tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4753614566199621085Wed, 15 May 2013 19:39:59 +0000ELATips, ideas, and information to keep you in touch with technology.http://cetechtalk.blogspot.com/noreply@blogger.com (Mr. LaBarge)Blogger31125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4753614566199621085.post-6742689773917970794Wed, 15 May 2013 19:39:00 +00002013-05-15T15:39:59.349-04:00I know its been a long time, my apologies to those that care.  This blog is on my short list of things to get back on top of and hopefully I can make time for it in the near future. I found a blog post on Edutopia that I think speaks to many of us that work in public schools.  My driving force for getting through this difficult year has been keeping my focus on the kids.  Attitude plays a huge http://cetechtalk.blogspot.com/2013/05/the-beatings-will-continue-until-moral.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Mr. LaBarge)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4753614566199621085.post-1696089457941970695Tue, 04 Dec 2012 18:11:00 +00002012-12-04T13:11:06.022-05:00For years now parents and teachers have groaned at the thought of their children using social media sites like Twitter or Facebook.  It is often assumed that the kids are simply wasting time posting weird "duckface" pictures or writing about what they had for dinner.  Though businesses and politicians have embraced social media and used it in effective ways, the assumption has remained that teenshttp://cetechtalk.blogspot.com/2012/12/viral-bereavement.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Mr. LaBarge)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4753614566199621085.post-1280812839172181451Thu, 15 Dec 2011 20:33:00 +00002011-12-21T21:58:05.797-05:00The seed of who I am today was planted about 23 years ago. On September 7, 1988 I was on top of the world, ready to start my life as a fifth grader with who I thought was going to be the best teacher in the world. I nearly pissed myself with excitement when I found out at the end of fourth grade that Mr. Lansing was going to be my teacher. I remember practically bribing my fourth grade teacherhttp://cetechtalk.blogspot.com/2011/12/why-we-teach.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Mr. LaBarge)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4753614566199621085.post-7179920855891384853Thu, 06 Oct 2011 13:21:00 +00002011-10-06T09:21:29.265-04:00On to part two of our discussion about changing the way we talk about books.  So you may wondering how you can easily start and maintain a virtual book club that will benefit students.  There are many ways that I can conceive to go about this and two that I have actually tested. If you maintain a google site, adding a page of announcements creates what amounts to a blog.  You can post questionshttp://cetechtalk.blogspot.com/2011/10/virtual-book-clubspart-2.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Mr. LaBarge)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4753614566199621085.post-8557497522212738242Wed, 28 Sep 2011 14:40:00 +00002011-09-28T10:40:24.089-04:00ELASo I guess I better start by making my basic opinions clear before moving on.  I firmly believe that the concept of guided reading is sound and beneficial to students as a whole.  It is very good at giving students the small group interaction and on point instruction that they need to become good at reading.  Also the opinions expressed are mostly directed to those teaching reading in upper http://cetechtalk.blogspot.com/2011/09/virtual-book-clubs.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Mr. LaBarge)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4753614566199621085.post-9050252947751729373Wed, 21 Sep 2011 19:39:00 +00002011-09-21T15:39:39.495-04:00As you have probably noticed, I took the summer off of blogging to focus my attention on my two children.  It was fun being able to see my son grow from a baby to a toddler, and my daughter from a toddler to a little girl.  Now it is back to work trying to get through another year and make it as successful as possible.  I am having loads of fun with my new STEM curriculum and the students seem tohttp://cetechtalk.blogspot.com/2011/09/welcome-back-to-school-year.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Mr. LaBarge)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4753614566199621085.post-8588444651463989500Thu, 09 Jun 2011 12:00:00 +00002011-06-09T08:00:07.210-04:00As I prepare to become a STEM teacher within my building I have been searching for resources and materials to set up my lab.  One of the first items I dusted off was a collection of books that I had nearly forgotten about.  They are written by Janice VanCleave and they are full of easy experiments and demonstrations to support practically any science lesson.  As I searched for titles that I did http://cetechtalk.blogspot.com/2011/06/easy-science-experiments.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Mr. LaBarge)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4753614566199621085.post-6910956043179613867Mon, 06 Jun 2011 13:59:00 +00002011-06-06T09:59:14.121-04:00I am going to go out on a limb here and suggest something.  It has a lot to do with broadening our skills, branching out so to speak.  I am not suggesting we leaf behind all we know about what works, but it does get to the root of what motivates students.  I am referring to STEM. STEM is an acronym for Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics.  These four areas are considered the key to http://cetechtalk.blogspot.com/2011/06/going-out-on-limb.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Mr. LaBarge)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4753614566199621085.post-8672058604970226952Wed, 25 May 2011 14:09:00 +00002011-05-25T10:09:07.186-04:00     No, this is not a science lesson on the formation of clouds. This is  a quick vocabulary lesson on a term that many believe will be a dominant force in the years to come.  In fact, according to the New Media Consortium it is one of six technologies that will change education.      The term cloud computing refers to using the internet and internet based sites to perform computing tasks. An http://cetechtalk.blogspot.com/2011/05/what-is-cloud.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Mr. LaBarge)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4753614566199621085.post-6039562459810138578Mon, 23 May 2011 12:00:00 +00002011-05-23T08:00:00.797-04:00It's 8:45, you are in your classroom getting ready to print the report cards you worked on all night.  You pop in your flash drive, go to open the files and...wait a second, where did they go?  They were there last night.  I could have sworn I saved it to the drive, or did I?  Now what am I going to do?  They are due today!? Has this ever happened to you?   Are your afraid of this happening?   http://cetechtalk.blogspot.com/2011/05/back-that-thang-up.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Mr. LaBarge)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4753614566199621085.post-3296606332197403160Sat, 21 May 2011 04:34:00 +00002011-05-21T00:34:00.193-04:00 The following post is a cross post with one of my favorite blogs, Free Tech 4 Teachers, where I was invited to share my thoughts about technology.       An amazing thing happens when the school bell rings in the morning.  Teachers in my school, and all over the country, turn down the ringers on their iPhones, log out of their e-mail, minimize the website they were viewing, and otherwise http://cetechtalk.blogspot.com/2011/05/whats-up-with-that.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Mr. LaBarge)2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4753614566199621085.post-8485922497041019516Fri, 20 May 2011 12:00:00 +00002011-05-20T08:00:02.683-04:00I took a sign language course in college.  The adjunct walked in the first day and began signing to us.  We could tell he was trying to tell us something.  He used facial expressions and gestures that clued us in, but ultimately we were all lost.  Sure, we all picked up a few things that he kept "saying" but it was very difficult to piece it all together.  I sat imagining what it would be like tohttp://cetechtalk.blogspot.com/2011/05/where-do-you-stand-in-world.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Mr. LaBarge)1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4753614566199621085.post-2415539152707618585Wed, 18 May 2011 12:00:00 +00002011-05-18T08:00:12.970-04:00My wife Heather and I have a word in our house that we no longer speak aloud.  It brings a choked up, lump in the throat, kind of dread.  The word symbolizes a cross road that every young parent faces when their child starts approaching a certain age.  Even though our daughter is only four we can see an underlying maturity that lets us know she is almost ready.  If you haven't figured it out yet,http://cetechtalk.blogspot.com/2011/05/my-little-21st-century-learner.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Mr. LaBarge)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4753614566199621085.post-8257509235607520531Mon, 16 May 2011 12:00:00 +00002011-05-16T08:00:10.169-04:00Searching for information on the internet can, at times, be a mind numbing process.  With the wrong search terms you can end up with page upon page of irrelevant information.  Did you know that there are some simple tricks that you can use to make your search results better? Being a better searcher just means understanding what words will work and why.  Google has a help page that gives an briefhttp://cetechtalk.blogspot.com/2011/05/be-better-searcher.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Mr. LaBarge)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4753614566199621085.post-7631314553128357580Fri, 13 May 2011 17:44:00 +00002011-05-13T13:44:51.414-04:00For years, decades for some ; ), we have given students writing prompts.  We have tried many ways to make it fun and inviting; pictures, lists, charts, spinners, and so on.  What else could we do?  My ah-ha moment came as I was reading a blog post, you read those right?  The blogger was admitting an addiction to watching online videos and found one that he felt was worthy of sharing (here if yourhttp://cetechtalk.blogspot.com/2011/05/writing-prompts.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Mr. LaBarge)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4753614566199621085.post-1897442429010069843Wed, 11 May 2011 12:00:00 +00002011-05-11T08:00:11.694-04:00When I was growing up I was taught at an early age to look both ways before I cross the street, to not talk to strangers, and to be careful of the mean dog down the street.  As kids we were taught lots of lessons to keep us safe and out of harms reach.  Most of the time the dangers were obvious and easy to recognize.  Today I am raising my own children in a new world with dangers that are hard tohttp://cetechtalk.blogspot.com/2011/05/what-wonderful-worldvirtually.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Mr. LaBarge)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4753614566199621085.post-1717213085607887917Mon, 09 May 2011 12:00:00 +00002011-05-09T08:00:06.800-04:00Part of Google Docs is the ability to create web forms.  The forms can be used to create surveys, polls, gather information, and even give tests and quizzes.  The information submitted is automatically transfered into a spreadsheet.  You can also create a spreadsheet and have it converted into a form. The forms are very easy to create and share.  The forms can be e-mailed, embedded in a webpage, http://cetechtalk.blogspot.com/2011/05/google-forms.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Mr. LaBarge)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4753614566199621085.post-6275646052169001367Fri, 06 May 2011 12:00:00 +00002011-05-06T08:00:13.234-04:00Google image search is a great resource for finding pictures and images.  Did you know that it is not necessarily legal to use those images in your work?  Copyright laws extend to the internet and any image found on a website is the same as any found in a textbook.  While some leeway is granted for educational purposes, its better to be safe.  A great website for free photos that can be used by http://cetechtalk.blogspot.com/2011/05/copyright-free-pictures.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Mr. LaBarge)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4753614566199621085.post-1391087939365786115Wed, 04 May 2011 12:00:00 +00002011-05-04T09:09:41.070-04:00I can only imagine the response to Monday's post to my blog. Teacher 1 - "Who is he kidding?  I don't read blogs.  I don't even read this one, it just gets sent to my e-mail three times a week." Teacher 2 - "What is this blog thing you speak of?" Teacher 3 - "Great, another e-mail from LaBarge, [DELETE]" Let's start by defining a blog.  The word blog is a blend of the words web and log andhttp://cetechtalk.blogspot.com/2011/05/you-dont-read-blogs.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Mr. LaBarge)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4753614566199621085.post-8127218347669497816Mon, 02 May 2011 12:00:00 +00002011-05-02T08:00:15.976-04:00Some of you have questioned when I have time to find all of this information about technology. With my classroom responsibilities, tech support, two young children, and a thriving business, time is precious. Most of the information I find about great websites and technology come from other blogs about educational technology. I found these blogs by doing a Google search. One good blog leads to http://cetechtalk.blogspot.com/2011/05/reader-for-blogs.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Mr. LaBarge)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4753614566199621085.post-3269670217930956257Fri, 29 Apr 2011 12:00:00 +00002011-04-29T08:00:14.209-04:00Kerpoof is a free online resource specifically designed with students in mind.  The Kerpoof studio allows students to create pictures, drawings, storybooks, movies, and to practice spelling.  The site is very easy to use and students will get the knack of it fairly quickly.  The site includes lesson plan ideas to help you develop ways that you can use it with your students.  The activities are http://cetechtalk.blogspot.com/2011/04/kerpoof-studio.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Mr. LaBarge)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4753614566199621085.post-2078402815118860479Wed, 27 Apr 2011 12:00:00 +00002011-04-27T08:00:04.679-04:00We are all familiar with Bloom's Taxonomy and its revised version.  On another blog, I found a chart that matches each cognitive area with Google tools and products.  As you can see from the image below, there are many tools that Google offers that you may not be experienced with. Google/Bloom's Taxonomy (Kathy Schrock) / CC BY-NC-ND 3.0 Want to learn? Google offers two great resources to helphttp://cetechtalk.blogspot.com/2011/04/blooms-revised-taxonomy-and-google.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Mr. LaBarge)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4753614566199621085.post-503295311603159925Mon, 25 Apr 2011 12:00:00 +00002011-04-25T08:00:15.361-04:00Your wiki page has served its purpose for years.  You used it as a repository of links to games and important websites.  You have relied on it to be a constant for your students, a place to call home.  As we begin looking to next year and how we can improve ourselves as teachers, you may want to consider creating a classroom website. I don't have time to be playing with a website! There is no http://cetechtalk.blogspot.com/2011/04/class-website-beyond-wiki.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Mr. LaBarge)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4753614566199621085.post-3284956275300745787Fri, 15 Apr 2011 13:57:00 +00002011-04-15T09:57:00.205-04:00Have you ever sat in a parent conference and had the discussion that goes something like this: Teacher: Tommy has not been very consistent handing in his homework. Parent: Tommy comes home and tries to do his homework, but he can never remember how to do it. Teacher: Have you tried to sit and help him? Parent: I try but I usually don't remember enough to help him out. Khan Academy provideshttp://cetechtalk.blogspot.com/2011/04/online-math-instruction.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Mr. LaBarge)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4753614566199621085.post-5103907740929187619Wed, 13 Apr 2011 07:21:00 +00002011-04-13T03:21:00.748-04:00Collaboration is very popular in business and education. Everyday it seems there are new ways for students to collaborate online. Google Docs is a great way for students and teachers to share documents and collaborate. A new way to collaborate online are walls. Wall programs allow you create an online space for students to post ideas. Think of it like sticky notes on a white board. Many siteshttp://cetechtalk.blogspot.com/2011/04/online-collaboration.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Mr. LaBarge)0