Mr. Farber's Room

Creating the Constitution Prezi

2012-01-26T07:32:00.000-05:00

Apple Re-Invents Textbooks

2012-01-19T18:12:00.002-05:00

Cool stuff released from Apple today... the iTunes U app, iBooks 2, and my favorite part...the iBooks Author app, available for FREE in the Mac App Store!

Video: http://youtu.be/KJxZG2Nv4KA

Our Skype "Visit" To Yokohama, Japan

2012-01-17T11:50:00.004-05:00

This morning my 6th grade class had the opportunity to videoconference via Skype with Kim Cofino, a teacher in Japan. According to Kim's Twitter bio, she is an "international school educator, currently technology and learning coach at Yokohama International School in Japan." You can follow Kim's Twitter feed: @mscofino and read her blog: http://kimcofino.com/blog/.

First, we located Kim's school on our SMART Board using Google Earth's "street view." There is a 14 hour time difference between New Jersey and Yokohama, Japan. Yokohama is a large city adjacent to Tokyo. The Skype chat was also on our SMART Board. My students had a list of prepared questions to ask Kim. At the conclusion of the lesson, students wrote down what they learned (the lesson was basically framed as a KWL).

Thanks again for staying up late to Skype with us, Kim!

(On a technology side note, my stapler broke this morning, but our Skype chat across the globe to Japan went seamlessly! Go figure!)

I Won a Classroom Grant!

2012-01-13T14:19:00.002-05:00

Today I learned that my classroom grant request for the Conflict Resolution and United States History curriculum materials was approved!

The volume includes "a CD with primary source documents, overheads, student handout, maps and illustration, as well as a DVD." Each case study "provides a detailed historical background, short biographies of key historical figures, an examination of the issues and perspectives, and an analysis of the consequences, along with questions for discussion and a list of additional resources."

I first learned about this when I attended the New Jersey Council for the Social Studies annual fall conference. While there I participated in a role-playing activity with the president of NJCSS to simulate immigration debates.

Here is a link describing the value of the program: http://civiced.rutgers.edu/CONFLICT/value.shtml

Below is a video that show students using "Conflict Resolution and U.S. History":

Video Link: http://youtu.be/yL5mWSqI3Qg

Case Law Cartoons

2011-12-22T15:14:00.004-05:00

This week my 7th grade social studies students created short cartoons to illustrate real-life examples of how important Supreme Court rulings affect students. Students used our GoAnimate for Schools classroom account. Summaries of major Supreme Court decisions were provided by Scholastic's New York Times Upfront magazine.

Below is an example illustrating the case Vernonia School District v. Acton (1995). The issue was about student athletes and mandatory drug testing. The Supreme Court sided with the school.

Below is an example illustrating the case Tinker v. Des Moines Independent School District (1969). The issue was about dress codes. The Supreme Court stated that you have the right to express yourself - up to a point.

Below is an example illustrating the case Grutter v. Bollinger (2003). The issue was about affirmative action. The Supreme Court stated that colleges can use race as a factor in admissions.

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Our Holiday Card Video :)

2011-12-17T19:33:00.001-05:00

This Year's Holiday Card

2011-12-15T19:54:00.000-05:00

Photo Card

View the entire collection of cards.

Happy Holidays!

TeachUNICEF Podcasts

2011-12-09T14:25:00.005-05:00

About TeachUNICEF: The mission of TeachUNICEF is to “support and create well-informed global citizens who understand interconnectedness, respect and value diversity, have the ability to challenge injustice and inequities and take action in personally meaningful ways.” Their homepage is TeachUNICEF.org.

Our Class Project: The goal of this project was to fulfill the mission of TeachUNICEF. My 6th grade students were each assigned a topic to research about children in Africa. They utilized the media center to access books and to research online (via SIRS Discoverer). They each wrote a 5-paragraph expository essay, followed by a team-created podcast. They used Audacity to produce and mix their audio, along with sound effects and music exported from GarageBand. The podcasts were uploaded to the class SoundCloud account. Here's the link: SoundCloud.com/SocialStudies.

Below are some embedded examples:

Poverty in Africa

Malaria in Africa

HIV and AIDS in Africa

Education Issues in Africa

Published!

2011-11-25T20:15:00.001-05:00

I received an email forwarded from Dr. Laura Bardroff Zieger stating that our "paper has been accepted for publication in The Journal of Interactive Learning Research (JILR)"! JILR publishes papers related to the underlying theory, design, implementation, effectiveness, and impact on education and training of interactive learning environments. The paper we co-authored was based on my thesis. I'll post more info when the new issue comes out!

Meso-American Digital Posters

2011-11-05T09:28:00.013-04:00

Last week my 6th grade students each created an interactive digital poster to highlight the accomplishments and history of one of the cultures of the ancient America’s (e.g., Mayan, Aztec, Inca, Mound Builder, Pueblo, Anasazi). Their display included a variety of components to give an accurate representation of the culture they researched. Students researched information on a library cart prepared by our media specialist. Research links were socially bookmarked on my Delicious.com account.

The culminating activity of the project was created using the class Glogster accounts. A Glog is an interactive visual platform in which users create a “poster or web page” containing multimedia elements including: text, audio, video, images, graphics, drawings, and data. The required project components included a embedding a text paragraph, creating a sound recording, uploading a Discovery Streaming video clip, and other pictures and graphics that explain/describe the culture, including a map of the region.

Click the picture below to see a student example (or, click here: edu.glogster.com/the-aztecs). Don't forget to click the embedded pictures, click the play button on the picture of the sun, and press play on the video player!

Playing with Media/Remixing History

2011-11-04T16:58:00.001-04:00

My 7th grade's 13 Colonies project-based learning (PBL) assignment culminated in students using Photo Story 3 to create digital story TV commercials about each of their team's assigned colony.

This project was later featured on the Playing with Media website: http://share.playingwithmedia.com/2011/10/26/come-to-our-colony-new-amsterdam/.

The project was also featured this week at the “Remixing History” workshop, held in San Bernardino, CA: https://sites.google.com/site/remixhistory/.

All of the videos were uploaded to our class YouTube channel: http://www.youtube.com/SuperSocialStudies. Feel free to view them and forward them along to help them "go viral!"

NJ Council for the Social Studies Conference

2011-10-28T10:24:00.047-04:00

Yesterday I attended the New Jersey Council for the Social Studies Annual Fall Conference, “From Local to Global: Social Studies and the iGeneration,” at Rutgers University. The conference included "a wide variety of plenary and breakout workshops by teachers, supervisors, faculty as well as the opportunity to see the most up-to-date resources available and to talk with colleagues."

I had the opportunity to learn about the use of the National Archives DocsTeach, which has billions of primary sources and over 4,000 document-based lesson plans. I also participated in a role-playing activity with the president of NJCSS to simulate immigration debates. At the TeachUNICEF presentation, I learned about some Internet-based tools and techniques for promoting global citizenship, such as their map page (http://teachunicef.org/map), Voices of Youth, and digital empowerment efforts by UNICEF in countries around the world. I am planning on integrating TeachUNICEF resources into our Problems in Modern Africa podcast PBL this year. I am also planning on sharing selected podcasts on their Facebook page. A picture of the presenter, who is also the moderator of the TeachUNICEF Facebook page, https://www.facebook.com/TeachUNICEF, is below:

Happy 10th Birthday iPod!

2011-10-23T11:23:00.007-04:00

On October 23, 2001 the original iPod was born. It is also another example of Apple smartly marrying design and function. Below left is the Pocket Radio (model T3) designed by Dieter Rams (German, born 1932) and Ulm Hochschule für Gestaltung (German, established 1953), which is on display at MoMA. Below right is Jony Ive's design of the first generation iPod. Dieter Rams was obviously one of Ive's design heroes.

For more on the birth of iPod:

"Come To Our Colony" - 13 Colonies PBL

2011-10-21T19:19:00.004-04:00

Every year my students participate in a project-based learning (PBL) unit on the 13 Colonies. (For more on what a PBL is, go to: http://www.commoncraft.com/video/project-based-learning, or read Suzie Boss's blog on Edutopia: http://www.edutopia.org/spiralnotebook/suzie-boss.) This year's 13 Colonies PBL culminated in students using Photo Story 3 to create digital stories about each of their team's assigned colony. Pictures were courtesy of Flickr and music loops were exported from GarageBand.

Students were tasked to do the following:

"It is 1700. You become a recruiting agent hired by one of the colonies to attract new immigrants. Your task is to educate and persuade settlers to come to your colony. You will be able to do this by making a TV commercial. Your commercial must reflect the attributes of the assigned colony. You must address the issues of natural resources, economy, religion, relations with Indians, and reasons for settling."

Each student worked in a team to divide up the research. They were each personally responsible to write "copy" (their lines) and narrate their slides. All of the videos were uploaded to the class YouTube channel: http://www.youtube.com/SuperSocialStudies. Feel free to view them all and help them "go viral!"

Embedded below are some examples of student work:
South Carolina:

New York:

Virginia:

Spencer's 1st Birthday Weekend!

2011-10-14T20:50:00.003-04:00

New video from Spencer's 1st Birthday Weekend!!! I used Animoto to produce it... Did I ever mention that I've used Animoto so much in school, they sent me a T-shirt! LOL

Link: http://animoto.com/play/Iq0k9BUT38AutFg0ZPZt2A

Teacher Leaders Network

2011-10-13T13:43:00.000-04:00

I am pleased to announce that, as of last week, I was accepted into the Teacher Leaders Network. The Teacher Leaders Network "is a national initiative of the Center for Teaching Quality." The Center for Teaching Quality "seeks to improve student learning and advance the teaching profession by: cultivating teacher leadership, conducting timely research, and crafting smart policy."

Here is the link to my page: http://www.teacherleaders.org/node/7895

Spencer Turns One

2011-10-10T20:26:00.002-04:00

Movie Trailer from Spencer's Birthday Party: http://youtu.be/YGwMOQ87uv0

Think Different

2011-10-08T08:23:00.013-04:00

This week the world lost a visionary and I, like many others, lost a hero. #ThankYouSteve

The classic "Think Different" Mac commercial: http://youtu.be/jULUGHJCCj4

The moving remix, "Tribute Video to Steve Jobs": http://youtu.be/DeN5TJxxX2E

Week of Respect

2011-10-07T17:22:00.004-04:00

The 1st week of October in New Jersey is the "Week of Respect." As such, my 6th grade students researched information from an article on the Voice of America website titled "How America Looks Through Muslim Eyes." The article, based on the documentary "Journey into America," explores freedom, justice and tolerance in America. My students reported their findings by each creating a Voki talking avatar. Below is an example of a student answering a question about the life of a Muslim-American immigrant:

Teachers Teaching Teachers, on Twitter

2011-10-01T09:47:00.002-04:00

A couple of years ago my 6th grade class used Skype on our SMART Board to videoconference a class of students in Stuttgart, Germany. The instructor of that class was Shelly Terrell, a fellow teacher in my PLN (Professional Learning Network). Over the years, we have shared many innovative classroom ideas with each other via Twitter. This week's New York Times features an interview with her. Check it out: http://learning.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/09/30/teachers-teaching-teachers-on-twitter-q-and-a-on-edchats/

Learn With Portals

2011-09-17T09:43:00.006-04:00

Last May I blogged about the educational applications of Valve's Portal 2, for PlayStation 3 and XBox 360:
http://mrfarbersroom.blogspot.com/2011/05/portal-2-video-brain-game-review-ny.html

This week, Valve, Portal's publisher, launched the site Learn With Portals. Valve is also offering Portal for free for both PC and Mac! The offer ends September 20th. Here's the link: http://store.steampowered.com/app/400/. I just downloaded it for my Mac.

Portal is a single-player game that applies authentic physics, mathematics, and technology concepts. It's an excellent addition to any math or science classroom. Check out the video below:

The Class of 2015 Mindset List

2011-08-23T14:56:00.011-04:00

Each August since 1998, Beloit College has released the Beloit College Mindset List, providing a look at the cultural touchstones that shape the lives of students entering college this fall. Today, Beloit College released it's annual "Mindset List." This list makes me feel older every time I read it!

According to the site, "the class of 2015, without any memory whatever of George Herbert Walker Bush as president, came into existence as Bill Clinton came into the presidency. Ferris Bueller could be their overly cautious dad, and Jimmy Carter is an elderly smiling public man who appears occasionally on television doing good works. “Dial-up,” Woolworths and the Sears “Big Book” are as antique to them as “talking machines” might have been to their grandparents. Meanwhile, as they’ve wondered why O.J. Simpson has always been suspected of something, they have all “been there, done that, gotten the Tshirt,” shortened boring conversations with “yadda, yadda, yadda,” and recognized LBJ as LeBron James."

Here's the link to the complete list http://www.beloit.edu/mindset/2015/.

Voki Classroom

2011-08-16T13:49:00.010-04:00

I am a Voki "Ambassador," one of about a dozen educators worldwide who advised the site on what features to include in the launch the classroom version of Voki. Voki is a Web 2.0 tool that easily enables users to create customized talking avatars. I embedded a Voki of myself on the homepage of my class website. Teachers can now sign-up students to virtual classrooms... no emails required!

Check out their press release: http://www.prweb.com/releases/2011/8/prweb8716302.htm\

PDF of Voki for Classroom's "Getting Started" Guide

Our "Maine Family Vacation" Movie Trailer

2011-08-08T09:04:00.003-04:00

Our "Maine Family Vacation" movie trailer... A trailer tour de force! Enjoy!

My Fall 2011 Workshop Course Catalog Is Out!

2011-08-06T18:56:00.002-04:00

If you live in Morris County, NJ, check out the course catalog with the adult education classes and educational technology workshops I teach.

I will be teaching the following Adult Education Computer Application Workshops:

I will be teaching the following ETTC (Educational Technology Training Corp) Workshops:

Apple's Summer Semester: Social Studies Webcast

2011-07-19T13:34:00.029-04:00

So far this summer I've used many educational apps on my personal MacBook Pro. I set-up handouts on Apple's Pages, as well as migrated over some of my PowerPoints to Keynote, which I also exported as PDF handouts. Also this week I downloaded Comic Life 2 from the Mac App store. Comic Life's educational templates come with an array of how-to sheets for students: http://plasq.com/education/.

Today I had the opportunity to attend Apple's "Summer Semester: Social Studies" live webinar event. This Apple webcast was "designed for any K-12 educator interested in exploring real world examples of how the latest technologies are transforming teaching and learning in social studies and that want to learn new ideas for integrating technology into classroom learning." The webcast was presented by Apple Distinguished Educators (ADE) Anthony Armstrong Teacher, Del Mar Middle School, Tiburon, CA and Janet Copenhaveran, Director of Technology/Media, Henry County Public Schools, Collinsville, VA. The focus was on Mac and iPad.

The webcast will be archived on iTunesU available for download later this summer. The presenters will also upload video tutorials detailing how they accomplished some of the projects illustrated. Topics included Pearson's e-textbook initiative with iPad (Early Jamestown, Pass the Past, Westward Expansion, Whiteboard apps, Talking Tomcat for special needs students, improved test scores, etc.), as well Mac's iLife (iPhoto, iMovie, GarageBand) and iWork (Pages, Numbers, Keynote) suites.

I never thought of having students use PhotoBooth to practice recording and making presentations. The presenter also suggested having students use the Stickies app, with PhotoBooth, as a gallery walk to assess each other. The ease of the tools on a Mac is a real class timesaver!

The Apple Distinguished Educator site on iTunes U, where the archived versions of the webcast, as well as the video tutorials, will be found here: http://itunes.apple.com/us/institution/apple-distinguished-educators/id380379132

Notes:

The first iPad app demoed, Early Jamestown, can be found here: http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/early-jamestown/id395229194?mt=8
Pass the Past iPad app: http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/pass-the-past/id392637590?mt=8
Stack the States iPad app can be found here: http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/stack-the-states/id381342267?mt=8
The Talking Tom Cat iPad app can be found here: http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/talking-tom-cat-2-for-ipad/id421998342?mt=8
Regarding green screens with iMovie (Mac and iPad), you can find affordable solutions on sites like Amazon simply by searching for "green screen," although many teachers do use things like green paper, and even matte shower curtains.
On iPad, images can be saved by tapping and holding on it in Safari. When you do this, you'll see a menu that allows you to copy the image, or save it to your camera roll, accessible in the built-in Photos app.

A terrific resource is the new page devoted to educational apps (for Mac, iPad, iPhone, and iPod Touch): http://www.apple.com/education/apps/

Pixton for Schools

2011-07-03T12:59:00.006-04:00

Pixton is an award-winning "click and drag" comic creation site. Teachers can even set-up virtual classrooms (no student emails required!). Check out the video on Pixton's website: http://www.pixton.com/schools/overview. Below is a Pixton comic I created to help introduce a "Web and Graphic Design" camp I'm co-coordinating in a couple of weeks:

Debut of Lizzie's Movie Trailer

2011-06-23T07:34:00.001-04:00

More fun with iMovie's templates!

Lizzie from Matthew Farber on Vimeo.

Instagram Abe

2011-06-04T17:48:00.001-04:00

I got back yesterday from chaperoning my school's 8th grade trip. While there, I took a picture with the Instagram iPhone app of the Lincoln Memorial. Instagram is a popular, free social photo sharing smartphone app.

Here's the link to the picture: http://instagr.am/p/FF8DL/.

The picture I took is below:

Follow Mr. Farber On Twitter

2011-05-31T17:08:00.001-04:00

Follow @MatthewFarber

Spencer at the Staten Island Zoo

2011-05-28T20:35:00.002-04:00

Spencer at the Staten Island Zoo a video by The Farbers on Flickr.

In a World Gone Mad...

2011-05-19T11:23:00.006-04:00

My 6th grade students just completed a PBL in which they created a "Press Kit" to sell a fictional movie about European explorers. Students used a list of web resources to research their assigned explorer. Each "Press Kit" contained 3 components:

A 300 word description of their movie, which is similar to what is found on the back of a DVD, or Netflix red envelope. Students were given a list of 9 questions to research.
A "Coming Attractions” poster, created using a free online site, http://bighugelabs.com/poster.php.
A “Coming Soon” movie trailer created using the class' free Animoto account.

Also part of the student's grade was to have a consistent theme (e.g., movie title, release date, tagline, stars, movie reviews). Grading was done by rubric.

Below are some examples of student-created movie trailers:

Here are some permalinks to some of their movie trailers:

"We the People: The Citizen & the Constitution" E-Books

2011-05-12T10:03:00.000-04:00

E-book versions of the We the People: The Citizen & the Constitution are now available for all grade levels (elementary, middle school, high school). Thanks to a PTA grant I won, I use a class set of 30 with my 7th graders. The teacher's edition, which comes with the class set, can be purchased separately.

Here's the link for the middle school edition:

http://www.scribd.com/doc/48891630/We-the-People-Middle-School-Textbook

Below is a preview:We the People Middle School Textbook

Portal 2, a Video Brain Game Review - NY Times

2011-05-10T18:11:00.000-04:00

Arts

Physics, With Wormholes by You

By SETH SCHIESEL

Published: May 10, 2011

"Somewhere out there an innovative, dynamic high school physics teacher will use Portal 2 as the linchpin of an entire series of lessons and will immediately become the most important science teacher those lucky students have ever had... You might even learn something."

Interesting review. Here's the link:

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/11/arts/video-games/portal-2-a-video-brain-game-review.html

Cartoonatic iPhone App

2011-05-07T15:12:00.000-04:00

Cartoon Spencer in the park with our dog Lizzie.

National Security Webinar

2011-05-06T10:48:00.004-04:00

Yesterday my 7th grade social studies class, along with over 1,600 classrooms, plus tens of thousands of students across the globe, tuned in to a live webcast to hear Ben Rhodes, Deputy Assistant to the President and Deputy National Security Advisor, discuss Osama bin Laden. Over 1,700 questions were submitted from students. Students watched the webcast on our SMART Board.

You can watch the three-part archive of this historic event here:

http://www.discoveryeducation.com/national-security/webinar.cfm

White House Webinar

2011-05-04T14:40:00.007-04:00

I registered my 7th grade social studies class for a live webinar, sponsored by Discovery Education. Below is the complete description:

Teachers and students are invited to join Ben Rhodes, Deputy Assistant to the President and Deputy National Security Advisor for Strategic Communications and Speechwriting, for a very special webinar on Thursday, May 5 at 1PM ET.

Presentation (15 minutes) Ben will provide context and perspective
Q&A from Students (15 minutes) Students will have the chance to submit questions to be answered live

Free QR Generator

2011-05-03T19:05:00.000-04:00

URL shortening websites are not only popular on sites like Twitter (due to the 140 character limit), but also in the classroom. I frequently use URL shortening sites (tinyurl.com and http://bit.ly/) to help guide students directly to websites. When you use Google to shorten a URL (http://goo.gl/), click "Details" to get a QR code. QR codes are growing in popularity. QR (Quick Response) codes can be scanned with smartphones and take users directly to a linked website. Here is the QR code for http://mrfarbersroom.blogspot.com/:

Shakespeare and Social Media

2011-04-25T18:25:00.010-04:00

Check out the link to the first ever Facebook performance of Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing from Weekly Reader magazine: http://www.weeklyreader.com/ado.

Here is the link to download the PDF of the William Shakespeare issue of Weekly Reader's Read: http://www.weeklyreader.com/sites/default/files/RDS14.pdf.

Below is a hip-hop animation of Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing by Flocabulary:

Google Docs - Tipsheet and Resource Guide

2011-04-24T17:39:00.000-04:00

Google Docs - Tipsheet and Resource Guide

I Love To See You Smile

2011-04-16T14:18:00.000-04:00

Following Authors On Twitter

2011-04-10T17:10:00.005-04:00

Recently, I've tweeted Enchantment author Guy Kawasaki and The Informationist author Taylor Stevens. To my surprise, they tweeted back! Pretty cool! Anyway, I think children would be further engaged in reading for fun by being able to follow their favorite authors on Twitter. Best of all, you don't need a Twitter account to read the feeds!

List of Children's Picture Book Authors and Illustrators: http://t.co/jgwWDGP

List of Young Adult Authors (Books for Teens): http://tinyurl.com/3l2r9me

Less Is More: Using Social Media to Inspire Concise Writing

2011-03-30T09:34:00.000-04:00

This week the New York Times' The Learning Network published a post titled, Less Is More: Using Social Media to Inspire Concise Writing. I left a comment on my use of Edmodo with my 7th grade students. Here's the link to my comment: http://learning.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/03/28/less-is-more-using-social-media-to-inspire-concise-writing/#comment-163043

How You Like Me Now?

2011-03-23T14:15:00.000-04:00

How You Like Me Now?

"Mall Pride" At The Rockaway Townsquare Mall

2011-03-20T12:35:00.008-04:00

Mall Pride at the Rockaway Townsquare Mall, in Rockaway, NJ, starts today, March 20th, and runs until March 27th. Mall Pride is sponsored by the Morris County Council of Education Associations. Area schools display the works of students. Some of my 6th grade student's Asia: Then and Now scrapbooks are on our school's display table. Our school's table is located outside of Precision Time and Godiva Chocolate. Mall Pride info: http://www.simon.com/Mall/PrintNewsEvent.aspx?eid=49635

Japanese Earthquake Tsunami Teaching Resources

2011-03-13T15:19:00.004-04:00

Compiled by fellow DEN (Discovery Educator Network) teacher Jennifer Dorman (cliotech).

Latitude and Longitude

2011-03-03T09:58:00.000-05:00

Spencer's Latest Movie Trailer

2011-02-26T13:19:00.000-05:00

Virtual Student Constitution - 2011 Edition

2011-02-18T11:57:00.003-05:00

This week my 7th grade students took part in a Virtual Constitutional Convention Simulation PBL. They met in class and online in a private, secure social network set-up on Edmodo. Their goal was to write a Virtual Student Constitution (Student Handbook). Their culminating activity is on a wiki, which includes student-created Voki talking avatars. All of my 7th grade students collaborated to create the wiki. Here is the link: http://farber7th.pbworks.com/w/page/34319057/FrontPage.

*Update: Results of the student vote are in! (66.7% vote of "yes" was needed to ratify the Virtual Student Constitution wiki.) Question: I think the Virtual Student Constitution Wiki should be ratified (approved). Yes 53.85%, 35 vote(s), No 46.15%, 30 vote(s)

Our Class Constitution Simulation Project Tied To Revolution In Egypt

2011-02-12T10:43:00.004-05:00

Next week my seventh grade classes will be taking part in a Virtual Constitution Convention simulation project. They will collaborate to rewrite the school's student handbook.

Students will use Edmodo for the project. Edmodo is a social learning network for teachers, students, schools and districts. Edmodo provides free classroom communication for teachers, students and administrators on a secure social network. Edmodo is accessible online or using any mobile device, including Android, iPhone and iPod Touch.

The culminating activity will be on a collaborative wiki: http://farber7th.pbworks.com/w/page/34319057/FrontPage

The project will be tied to social media and the revolution in in Egypt (freedom of assembly, speech):

Digital Media: New Learners of the 21st Century

2011-02-11T07:37:00.005-05:00

Set your DVRs! This Sunday night "Digital Media: New Learners of the 21st Century" premieres on PBS. The following is a description from the PBS Teachers website: http://www.pbs.org/teachers/digitallearners/

Digital Media: New Learners of the 21st Century addresses this vital question, taking viewers to the frontlines of what is rapidly becoming an education revolution. The film, targeted at parents, teachers, and anyone concerned about education in America, explores how exceptional educators are increasingly using digital media and interactive practices to ignite their students' curiosity and ingenuity, help them become civically engaged, allow them to collaborate with peers worldwide, and empower them to direct their own learning.

Check it out! http://video.pbs.org/video/1767314964/

Skype Chat With South Korea

2011-02-10T16:53:00.003-05:00

Today one of my 6th grade social studies class used Skype on our SMART Board to videoconference with an American TESOL professor at Sookmyung Women's University in Seoul, Korea. The teacher, who is an American citizen and a friend of mine from college, has been living and working in Asia for over a decade. Korea is 14 hours ahead of NJ. It was pretty amazing having a guest speaker from halfway around the world!

Safer Internet Day

2011-02-08T08:27:00.000-05:00

Today, February 8, 2011, is Safer Internet Day. The topic for 2011 is "our virtual lives" around the slogan " It's more than a game, it's your life". In 2010 Safer Internet Day was celebrated through over 500 events in 65 countries all over the world.

"Voki for Education" Launches!

2011-01-26T17:09:00.008-05:00

The moment has arrived, and the new Voki for Education is finally here! As one of their "Voki Ambassadors," I helped give the site valuable input for their relaunch. Last summer I created a Voki avatar give a tour of my class web page.

Here are some of the new features detailed in an email sent to me today:

Sharing. We’ve added many sharing/publishing options, as well as a “Voki link” which will enable users to share a simple URL to a Voki page, where we will host the scene for them. This means that users no longer need access to a website or blog to share their Voki. We will also include custom links for educational partners, such as SymbalooEdu.
Voki for Education Welcome page. This is an introduction page to Voki for Education, which includes links to other relevant pages. This page will soon be updated to include a Voki scene and social media feeds.
Lesson Plan Database.
Teacher’s Corner. Here, teachers and experienced users will be able to discuss anything related to Voki. One area within the Teacher’s Corner will be the Newbie’s Corner.
New FAQ. This is simply an updated FAQ section.
Voki is remaining Free for everyone. Currently, Voki is also remaining Ad-Free.

Here is the link: http://www.voki.com/Voki_for_education.php

Fun With Google Maps

2011-01-21T10:48:00.005-05:00

Here is a little something to make you laugh (especially for Google Map lovers):

Go to Google Maps and click on "Get Directions": Google Maps
Write USA as your start point.
Write Japan as your destination.
Go to the 31st point on your route and laugh and laugh and laugh...

I Won A Classroom Grant Today!

2011-01-20T18:56:00.001-05:00

I won a grant today to purchase a class set of 30 "We the People: The Citizen and the Constitution" books, plus a teacher's edition! The text comprises 6 units with 29 lessons that use critical thinking exercises, cooperative learning practices and a culminating authentic performance assessment to teach the history and principles of constitutional democracy.

Here's a description from the Center for Civic Education's website:

The We the People curriculum not only enhances students' understanding of the institutions of American constitutional democracy, it also helps them to identify the contemporary relevance of the Constitution and Bill of Rights. Critical thinking exercises, problem-solving activities, and cooperative learning techniques help develop participatory skills necessary for students to become active, responsible citizens.

First Holiday Season With Spencer

2011-01-18T16:26:00.003-05:00

Another snow day! I spent the day home with Spencer. While he napped, I created a photo book about Spencer's first holiday season. Hope everyone had a safe day!

Click here to view this photo book larger

Spencer's New Years Message

2011-01-01T22:23:00.000-05:00

Happy New Decade!

2010-12-30T19:02:00.001-05:00

Happy New Decade! (click the picture to view it in full screen)

One Minute on Facebook

2010-12-29T22:02:00.000-05:00

Discovery Blog Network & The "Skype In The Classroom" Directory

2010-12-28T13:27:00.018-05:00

As a "STAR member of the Discovery Educator Network," Discovery Communications created a blog link for me, http://blog.discoveryeducation.com/mattfarber/. They added me to the DEN Blog Network, http://blog.discoveryeducation.com/directory-of-stars/, too! My first, and only, entry (so far) is a link back to this blog. Skype also listed me in their Skype In The Classroom Directory: http://education.skype.com/users/496.

Track Santa With Google Earth

2010-12-23T07:26:00.003-05:00

Thanks to Norad Santa, you can track Santa's route with Google Earth. This year Norad Santa added a Google Maps plug-in for smart phones. Visit m.noradsanta.org on your phone’s browser. You can follow the trip on Twitter at @noradsanta, and keep up with news about his journey on this Facebook page. Santa’s home on YouTube is at http://www.youtube.com/noradtrackssanta. This is a great way to blend geography with a holiday tradition.

The trip begins Christmas Eve: http://www.noradsanta.org/en/track3d.html.

Here are highlights from last year's journey:

Project Based Learning: Explained.

2010-12-14T19:49:00.000-05:00

The Farber's 2010 Holiday Card

2010-12-11T14:31:00.004-05:00

Confetti Countdown Filmstrip New Year's

Turn your holiday photos into holiday cards with Shutterfly.

View the entire collection of cards.

Discovery Educator Network

2010-12-08T12:18:00.002-05:00

Our school district has a subscription to Discovery Education. Discovery Education provides original online content, such as educational videos (Discovery Streaming), lesson plans in various content areas, online quizzes, virtual tours, professional development webinars, a teacher center, and a puzzlemaker.

During today's weekly 7th grade team meeting, I gave a presentation about the Discovery Educator Network (DEN). I gave a tour of the DEN website and showed my colleagues how to apply to become STAR Discovery Educators.

"Problems In Modern Africa" Podcast

2010-12-05T12:37:00.004-05:00

My 6th grade students recently completed a library research project. They studied problems facing Africa today.

Here are their podcasts: http://socialstudiesrocks.podbean.com

Feed The World: 26 Years Later

2010-12-03T07:18:00.005-05:00

My 6th graders are nearing completion of their "Problems in Modern Africa" podcast project. This calls to mind Band Aid's Do They Know It's Christmas (1984) (and USA for Africa's We Are The World, as well as the Live Aid concerts). The original single album art is below. It was designed by Peter Blake, famous for creating the Beatles' Sgt. Pepper cover art.

Learn Google Earth: 3D Trees

2010-11-29T14:34:00.000-05:00

Explore 3D trees in parks, neighborhoods, and forests in cities all over the world. Download the latest version at http://earth.google.com.

Follow Me On Twitter

2010-11-27T18:00:00.001-05:00

As much as I like to blog about education, I really prefer micro-blogging. Click the button below to follow my updates on Twitter:

National Day of Listening

2010-11-26T16:35:00.004-05:00

Today, November 26th, the day after Thanksgiving (AKA Black Friday), is the National Day of Listening. StoryCorps' mission is "to provide Americans of all backgrounds and beliefs with the opportunity to record, share, and preserve the stories of our lives." Check it out at National Day of Listening, on Twitter @StoryCorps, and on Facebook, http://www.facebook.com/StoryCorps.

"Food Force: The First Humanitarian Video Game" & FreeRice.com

2010-11-24T15:24:00.005-05:00

Since its release in 2005, the World Food Programme's (WFP) video game to teach children about the logistical challenges of delivering food aid in a major humanitarian crisis has been downloaded over 6 million times, and has an estimated network of 10 million players worldwide!

You can download the game here:
http://www.wfp.org/how-to-help/individuals/food-force

Also, this Thanksgiving, get your family in on the Free_rice marathon!

Expansion of the United States Map 1763 - Present

2010-11-24T15:19:00.000-05:00

A peek of things to come next week in my 7th Grade Social Studies Class...

Animoto in the Classroom

2010-11-04T10:51:00.002-04:00

Yesterday my 7th Grade Social Studies students finished a PBL (Problem-Based Learning) unit about the 13 Colonies. They were tasked with recruiting European settlers to live in their assigned colony. The culminating activity included a detailed written brochure, using Microsoft Publisher, and a digital story "TV commercial," using my free "All-Access" educator Animoto account. Animoto automatically analyzes the music (they provide copyright-free songs), photos and video clips that student's choose, and orchestrates a custom video.

I've been using the site for just over a year. Last night I read on Mashable that Animoto has grown to over 2 million members! Here's the article: http://mashable.com/2010/11/03/animoto-2/.

Below are some examples of student work:

Spencer's First Halloween

2010-10-31T15:36:00.001-04:00

I recently upgraded to iLife '11 on our MacBook Pro. The new iMovie now comes with movie trailer templates!

Social Studies: Voices and Visions for the 21st Century

2010-10-26T15:45:00.007-04:00

Today I attended the New Jersey Council for the Social Studies annual conference, “Social Studies: Voices and Visions for the 21st Century” at the Rutgers Busch Campus, in Piscataway.

The morning began with an actor portrayed, historical interpretation of Paul Robeson. Following the performance, I attended 3 workshops:

"Assessing Student Progress in Social Studies: Show What You Know"
"We The People: The Citizen and the Constitution and Representative Democracy in America"
"Approaches and Strategies for Content Literacy in Social Studies"

The day concluded with a presentation of the new NJ Core Content Curriculum Standards from the DOE and an awards ceremony. Exhibition vendors included the History Channel (I got a free Martin Luther King DVD!), National Geographic, Columbia University Teachers College, NBC News Archives, & Pearson Publishing.

I came away from the conference with a lot of material and information overload!

Spencer Joseph Farber

2010-10-10T23:27:00.000-04:00

Spencer Joseph Farber, born 10/10/10, 7 lbs, 10 oz., 20 1/4 inches. Now the fun begins!!!

iGlobal Class Projects

2010-10-03T17:02:00.001-04:00

Saw this great Prezi from Shelly Terrell's blog:
iGlobal Class Projects: Extending Learning Beyond the Classroom Walls - How to effectively use Skype, Wikis, and blogs to help students build relationships with peers worldwide. Social media forums are listed to find schools that want to connect to classrooms worldwide.

iGlobal Class Projects: Extending Learning Beyond the Classroom Walls on Prezi

Digital Dossier

2010-09-28T18:31:00.000-04:00

My wife is due in 10 days. With that in mind, I wanted to share this video:

Avatar vs. Pocahontas

2010-09-28T17:20:00.001-04:00

Today I discussed the "myth of Pocahontas" with my seventh grade class. Below are 2 mash-ups movie trailers we watched at the end of the class.

Avatar vs. Pocahontas

Pocahontas vs. Avatar

Tag Galaxy

2010-09-18T13:39:00.002-04:00

Tag Galaxy is one of my favorite ways to search for Flickr pictures. Since it is a 3D application, it works great on our class SMART Board! Check it out: http://taggalaxy.de/

Back-To-School Night

2010-09-15T09:52:00.002-04:00

Back-to-School Night flew by yesterday!

Voki for Education Newsletter

2010-09-08T19:58:00.013-04:00

I'm featured in the new Voki Back-to-School Newsletter! This blog and my Twitter feed are also linked! Click "Full" on the bottom of the embedded Slideshare to read the entire newsletter.

Voki for Education Newsletter

Here's my quote:
"I frequently use Web 2.0 tools to engage my sixth and seventh grade social studies students. At first, I will be using a Voki avatar based on myself to lead a virtual tour of the new class homepage. My goal is to pique my student's interest in creating their own personalized Voki's. I plan on having students create Voki's based on historical figures. Since the avatars can be easily embedded on a webpage, blog, or wiki, my students will also use Voki to communicate with other classrooms around the world. I am especially excited to see how the quieter, shy students use Voki as a tool to more freely speak their minds."
Matt Farber Twitter/Blog
Voki Ambassador
Social Studies Teacher, NJ

It's A Book - By Lane Smith

2010-09-04T13:30:00.000-04:00

EdTech: Know Thy Roots

2010-08-31T16:40:00.000-04:00

Mr. Farber's Room was mentioned in a Tweet from @OceanEyes729, as well as in her blog: The Caffinated Carbivore. She reposted the Brief History of Educational Technology slideshow I recently shared.

Abe Lincoln's Facebook Status Update

2010-08-27T17:18:00.007-04:00

Learning Beyond Walls

2010-08-27T17:06:00.003-04:00

This past spring, one of my social studies classes used Skype, along with our SMART Board, to videoconference Shelly Terrell's (@ShellTerrell) adult English-language learners in Stuttgart, Germany. She mentioned "Mr. Farber's Room" this week in her award-winning Edublog. Here's the link to her blog entry about Skype in Education: http://teacherbootcamp.edublogs.org/2010/08/22/learning-beyond-walls-21-skype-resources/

A Brief History of Educational Technology

2010-08-24T09:38:00.004-04:00

A Brief History of Educational Technology

CNN Student News

2010-08-23T09:47:00.003-04:00

CNN Student News is back!

Check it out daily: http://www.cnn.com/studentnews/

Mindset For Incoming College Class of 2014

2010-08-17T09:38:00.008-04:00

"The class of 2014 has never found Korean-made cars unusual on the Interstate and five hundred cable channels, of which they will watch a handful, have always been the norm. Since 'digital' has always been in the cultural DNA, they've never written in cursive and with cell phones to tell them the time, there is no need for a wrist watch. Dirty Harry (who’s that?) is to them a great Hollywood director. The America they have inherited is one of soaring American trade and budget deficits; Russia has presumably never aimed nukes at the United States and China has always posed an economic threat."

The Beloit College Mindset List for the Class of 2014

Web 2.0 in the Classroom

2010-08-09T22:50:00.007-04:00

Click the play button & then the forward arrow. Enjoy the Prezi!

Web 2.0 in the classroom on Prezi

Summer Reading: The Kids Books Are Alright

2010-08-06T18:15:00.005-04:00

Interesting essay in this week's NY Times. It turns out I’m not the only adult who is suddenly gobbling up books written for teenagers. The Kids’ Books Are All Right

The 8th Grade Trip

2010-06-05T15:07:00.005-04:00

I created a video from some of the pictures I took from sites we saw on the 8th Grade Trip.

(Due to photo releases, and because I published this online, I did not include any pictures of students. Also, some places, such as the Holocaust Museum and the Star-Spangled Flag exhibit, did not allow photography.)

Enjoy the digital story!

Digital Storytelling With Animoto

2010-05-21T17:32:00.003-04:00

Yesterday, my 6th Grade students each got a laptop and used Animoto to remix movie trailers about the "Age of Exploration." Here's a few examples of their work:

Master's Commencement

2010-05-12T19:53:00.004-04:00

Bill of Rights Podcast

2010-03-12T09:49:00.002-05:00

My 7th Grade students just finished their "Bill of Rights" library research project.
They compared and contrasted interpretations of either the 1st, 2nd, 4th, or 8th Amendment. This project was helped by a grant from the Foundation of Denville.

How Millennial Are You?

2010-02-25T22:25:00.002-05:00

How Millennial Are You? is a quiz developed by the Pew Research Center. The fourteen question quiz is designed to assess how much you are or are not like the average member of the Millennial Generation. The average of your responses to the questions (with the exception of the last question about your age) determines how much your are or are not like a Millennial.

(Thanks to R.M. Byrne for the post.)

Student Constitution Wiki

2010-02-05T08:20:00.003-05:00

Last week, Mr. Farber's 7th grade students collaborated online to create a Virtual Student Constitution on a wiki. Following the project, students voted on Edmodo.com whether or not to ratify it. A 2/3 (66.7%) vote was required to ratify the Constitution. It was narrowly defeated by a close margin; 66% approved and 44% denied.

Earthwatch Mondays: The Teacher Chronicles

2010-01-12T16:51:00.001-05:00

Earthwatch Mondays: The Teacher Chronicles

Posted using ShareThis

Blogging with the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation

2010-01-12T07:08:00.000-05:00

The Geraldine Dodge Foundation, my sponsor on Costa Rican Coffee from Community to Cup this past August, interviewed me on their website’s blog this week.

Here's the link:
http://blog.grdodge.org/2010/01/11/earthwatch-mondays-the-teacher-chronicles-2/

Happy 2010!

2010-01-02T12:53:00.002-05:00

My wife & I rang in the New Year from Mount Snow, Vermont!