iTeacher

I just discovered the exciting news that ePals is now completely free!!!  I have been using this education global collaboration site for many years and have been limited to I believe 30 free student accounts.  If I have received my information correctly, teachers can now created an unlimited amount of free student ePals accounts.

ePals offers free student email addresses with built-in safety features that allow teachers to monitor outgoing and incoming email messages for spam, viruses, profanities, etc.  SchoolMail can also translate messages into different languages.  The teacher has complete administrative control over the emails.  You can have heavy or light administrative control - your choice.  You can set it up so that you have to individually approve every email message.  Or you can set it up to screen messages for profanities.  Or you can lift all of these restrictions if you wish.  The the interface is completely web-based, making it easy to use at school and home.

ePals also offers free SchoolBlog.  Teachers can host their own classroom blog and reach out to students from all over the world with their collaborative messages and projects.

ePals has come a long way since I started using it five years ago.  I have used ePals to connect with teachers and students from all over the world.  We’ve ended up establishing email pen pals and collaborative projects.  We’ve sent greeting cards and care packages to each other.  It is truly an excellent resource for global collaborations and partnerships.

http://www.epals.com 

I just discovered an excellent reference website that coins itself a “one-stop shop for 21st century skills-related information, resources and community tools.” Route 21 is an initiative of the Partnership for 21st Century Skills. It is an invaluable resource for locating information, resources and examples of effective 21st century teaching. Be sure to visit Route 21 for some excellent teaching ideas.

I believe teaching keyboarding skills to our students is critical to prepare them for life in the 21st century. People who “hunt and peck” are at a real disadvantage when they use computers, and their efficiency suffers. One of the best classes I took in high school was typing.

I have been using SpeedSkin covers with my students for a few years now, with considerable success. SpeedSkins are orange rubber covers that fit onto keyboards, obscuring the identifying letters and numbers on the keys. When using a SpeedSkin you cannot look down and see the keys your are typing; you must rely completely on touch memory. I implement SpeedSkins after my students have gained confidence with the keys they will be practicing. I find SpeedSkins have accelerated my students’ touch typing abilities.

Alternatively, you could cover the keyboards by cutting out part of a box and laying it on top of the keyboard so students could reach through the hole and type beneath the box. I’ve also had success by simply placing a piece of paper on top of my students’ knuckles when they type.

If you have any ideas or success stories, please discuss here.