Famous Educational Quotes to Inspire your Students

Luckily there have been smarter people than myself to say inspirational words of wisdom to help get people motivated.

Some make perfect sense - and some are total BS.  But I'll leave you to filter...

Below are a few that might come in handy next time you need to dig deep.

**Update:  FEB 2012**  We have just created an entire section for educational quotes with far more than is on this page. It can be found here.

• Horace Mann
• Education, then, beyond all other devices of human origin, is the great equalizer of the conditions of men, the balance-wheel of the social machinery.
• Aristotle
• The roots of education are bitter, but the fruit is sweet.

• Thomas Jefferson
• Bigotry is the disease of ignorance, of morbid minds; enthusiasm of the free and buoyant. Education and free discussion are the antidotes of both.
• C. S. Lewis
• The task of the modern educator is not to cut down jungles, but to irrigate deserts.
• Benjamin Franklin
• Genius without education is like silver in the mine.

• Albert Einstein
• Education is what remains after one has forgotten everything he learned in school.
• Oscar Wilde
• Education is an admirable thing, but it is well to remember from time to time that nothing that is worth knowing can be taught.
• Helen Keller
• The highest result of education is tolerance.
• Victor Hugo
• He who opens a school door, closes a prison.
• Jim Rohn
• Formal education will make you a living; self-education will make you a fortune.
• Henry Brooks Adams
• A teacher affects eternity; he can never tell where his influence stops.
• Nelson Mandela
• Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.
• Ralph Waldo Emerson
• The secret in education lies in respecting the student.

• 'No problem can be solved by the same consciousness that created it. We need to see the world anew.' Albert Einstein

• 'Insanity is doing the same things over and over again and expecting the different results' Albert Einstein.

• 'Some people would rather die than think'. Bertrand Russell

• 'If we always do what we've always done, we will get what we've always got.' Adam Urbanski

• 'One can never consent to creep when one feels the compulsion to soar'. Helen Keller

• 'Man's mind stretched to a new idea never goes back to its original dimensions.' Oliver Wendell Holmes Jnr

• 'Ten geographers who think the world is flat will tend to reinforce each others errors….Only a sailor can set them straight'. John Ralston Saul, 'Voltaire's Bastards'.

40 inspirational movie quotes in two minutes

The Ultimate Guide to Digital Scrapbooking for Educators

What is a digital Scrapbook?  A digital scrapbook allows you to create a digital book or poster that can contain annotations, video, audio and photographs.  They are primarily a visual tool that can be a great alternative to the boring old PowerPoint Presentation and can still contain a wealth of embedded information for the audience to explore at their own leisure or through a guided presentation on an Interactive Whiteboard.

Below is an example of Digital Scrapbooking.

How can I use a Digital Scrapbook in my Classroom?  Digital Scrapbooks do not have be a linear presentation and are great for representing information collected from projects, timelines, recounts of a narrative and a range of visual literacy tasks.  I have personally found them to be most effective when students are using their own photos within the presentation as they really know what they are talking about when annotating certain parts of it.  This would also be a similar outcome for a well researched project of course.

You might like to consider doing your Digital Portfolios in a Scrapbook Format.

Here is an example of a Digital Scrapbook

 What Resources do I need to make a Digital Scrapbook?

A digital Scrapbook can be put together in a variety of ways depending on what you intend to do with the finished product. 

I have listed some paid options below that are effective but I will go into detail about a couple free Digital Scrapbooking options you can begin with right away. Including Lesson plans and guides.  The only reason Ihave listed these paid options is because of the added suecurity and simplicty they can offer.

Commercial Products

Adobe Photoshop Elements:  This is aimed more so at the traditional scrap booker who wants to digitally publish their work.  Can be professionally printed online.  Great Product; cheap price.  And you get all the other features of Adobe Photoshop Elements thrown in.  Brilliant package.

Microsoft PowerPoint:  It is possible to create a beautiful Digital Scrapbook on PowerPoint with annotations audio commentaries and video.  Possibly it is the best of all options depending on how advanced you are with PowerPoint; not for the first timer.  There is a great guide here to get you started.

Snapfish:  Much like Photoshop Elements but all design elements can be done online.  If you want to make a beautiful class photo book and get it printed cheaply for your kids then this is a great option.  Does not allow for media other than photos and text.  Not a true Web 2.0 Digital Scrapbook as such.

Free Web Based Digital Scrapbooking Resources you can begin using today

Some of these will require setting up an account before they get started.  You may choose to simply set up one account from which everyone can work from for simplicity.

Glogster: What is a Glog?  A Glog is like a poster, only better. Glogs allow you to create an online poster using photographs, images, graphics, video files and sound files. Glogs allow you to add hyperlinks to other websites. When you use a Glog, you are referred to as a “glogger.”

Glogster is another presentation option for you and your students to utilise in the classroom and is something I know your students will find particularly 'Cool' as they integrate video and music into poster format.

Glogster has a special education zone with hints and ideas for teachers and students.  Click here to have a look at Glogster and below is a glog and below that is a slideshow for teachers on how to use it in the classroom.

Tracy Blazosky has put together a great how to guide on Glogster here. Showing you all the basics. And here is a lesson handout explaining Glogster a little further.

Below is an example of a Student Glog on Jane Goodall.  Looks great.

Nota: Nota is a unique, cutting-edge collaborative web platform that allows users to create, share and collaborate on presentations and virtually any other form of online material. Using Nota’s proprietary toolset, users can instantly integrate text, video, maps, clip art, photos from web album or on the local computer, or license-free images from Flickr, and material from an ever-expanding array of sources. Users can then instantly embed their work in Facebook or blogs, and can share and collaborate with friends.

Click here to see Nota in an Educational context and click here to see how to get started with Nota.

Below is an instructional video on Notaland.

I hope this helps get you started on Digital Scrapbooking and would love to hear of any success you have had with it.



The Ultimate Guide to Garageband for Educators

Garageband has been a huge success in revitalising Apple’s fortunes over the last few years for a number of reasons.  It is dead simple for complete beginners to utilise as a live music recorder, track looper or podcast creation tool.  It looks great and has enough depth and resources to keep enthusiasts and even the odd professional satisfied as in all in one audio studio.

As a dual platform user this is the one program windows users must concede defeat on as it just offers so much for so little.  Although I encourage everyone to take a look at Myna from Aviary. A real Garage Band contender that actually runs in a web browser. Pretty Amazing.

As a teacher Garageband offers students loads of options to be creative and enthusiastic towards learning as a literacy and mathematics tool and much more than simply creating some cool loops.  After trawling the net for my own Garageband resources of late I have compiled the ultimate guide to Garageband for Educators to help others get started with this great tool.  Hope you enjoy it and would love to hear your feedback.

PS:  If you missed the Ultimate Guide to Google Earth for Educators take a look at it here.

Starting From Scratch:

A word from the Fruit Company First:  It is only fair that your first stop with Garage band if you are a complete novice is Apple.  Apple have a mixed bag of resources that will familiarise you with the interface, features and resources contained within Garage band and get all of that confusion out of the way first.  They have video tutorials. Printable Guides and a massive amount of other support materials here.  This would also be a great start for a music teacher who wanted to introduce Garage band to their students with minimal fuss.

Another Great Starting Point:Mac App Storm  Have an excellent getting started tutorial For Garage band that is a lot simpler and less in depth than Apple’s but many may actually find it more useful.  Check it out here.

I just want to make a Podcast in my classroom today:

Many teachers may not really be interested in Garageband as an Aspiring Reginald Dwight or Gordon Sumner but want to use it as a podcasting tool.  It does this so well and you will need to know how to record and edit a talk show add some stingers and music any other bells and whistles you see fit package up a podcast that will engage the audience.   

I have located a brilliant eBook you can download as a PDF for free here called Podcasting with Garageband.  What it doesn’t have about podcasting isn’t worth knowing and at 20 pages is just the right amount for someone like me who can’t read those boring biblical manuals. Just the facts and full of Pic’s, Hints and Diagrams.

If you are the Visual Learner I have included this simple video below that shows podcasting in 2 minutes.  Definitely share this with your students.

For the more experienced user here is a brilliant ten part series from schoolsyte.com on Podcasting. Video Tutorials that goes into great detail but you may have to hunt around a bit to find all 10 tutorials due to the fact they are not linked on the site. Definitely worth the effort.

For the Music Teacher

There is loads of great stuff here but I would recommend Susan Ferdon’s 7 Part tutorial on Garageband for Music Techies.  She has a great mix of video and text broken into lessons that musically minded people will appreciate.

Brad Johnston has some great resources here for Music teachers which goes well beyond just Garageband.

Integrating Garageband into all Curriculum Areas – Lesson Plans and Ideas.

Improving Reading Fluency with iPods and Garageband.  The goal of this lesson is to develop stronger reading fluency and comprehension, and increase language acquisition skills:

Lesson Planet has 28 dedicated Lesson Plans for integrating Garageband into your classroom either as a musical, literacy or maths tool.  It is a paid site, which we don’t generally promote but it does have a free 10 day trial to see if it is a good fit for you.  Here are there Garageband Lessons

Finally you have the Apple Learning interchange – Which has some lesson plans and ideas for Integrating both iPods and Garageband into your class activity.

If you have any further Garageband resources let me know and I’ll add them.

Top 50 iPhone Applications for Teachers

The App store has offically gone beserk with over 50,000 apps available right now and reportedly the same amount awaiting approval.  This is the clear reason for my money why the iPhone is a roaring success.  It is the worst phone I have ever used but I can't give up the apps for the terrible phone quality, lack of flash and terrible camera.  Anyhow that enough of my ranting.  Here are the top 50 apps for iPhone.  Let me know if you know of any more.