from Richard Byrnes's blog
From the shameless promotion department: if you're looking for some last minute "gifts" for the teachers in your life, check out the downloads page on Free Technology for Teachers and pass along one or all eight of the free ebooks available there. Email them, Facebook them, Tweet them, or print them. In my obviously biased opinion, they're all good resources for teachers looking to improve their uses of technology in their classrooms.
What you will find on the free downloads page:
The Super Book of Web Tools for Educators
How to do 11 Techy Things in the New School Year
Google for Teachers
Google for Teachers II
Google Earth Across the Curriculum
Beyond Google - Improving Search Strategies and Results
Making Videos on the Web
Twelve Essentials for Technology Integration
Happy Holidays!
Wednesday, December 22, 2010
Monday, December 20, 2010
Merry Christmas to all and Happy New Year, too!
One of my technology friends posted this on his blog.
Thanks, Phillip
A great example of storytelling a familiar tale in a new way!
Thanks, Phillip
A great example of storytelling a familiar tale in a new way!
Sunday, December 19, 2010
Wednesday, December 15, 2010
Explore New Habitats & Scientific Concepts with the Kratt Brothers
Animals can take you anywhere in science! Creature teachers Chris and Martin Kratt will take 6- to 8-year olds and their families along on extraordinary animal-powered adventures in Wild Kratts, a new series premiering on PBS KIDS GO! January 3, 2011. The show transforms the Kratt Brothers, creators of the award-winning Kratts’ Creatures and Emmy-winning Zoboomafoo, into animated versions of themselves, allowing the real-life zoologists to visit wild animals in their little-seen habitats and showcase key science concepts along the way. From elephants using physics to suck gallons of water with their trunks to a fleet of peregrine falcons that harness the force of gravity to speed through the air, each of the 40 new half-hour episodes of Wild Kratts presents age-appropriate science inspired by the natural abilities of the animals that the Kratt brothers – and young viewers – meet. To learn more, visit http://pbskids.org/wildkratts/.
Google Suggest
Google Suggest is a feature of Google ( it used to be a separate tool long ago ) that helps users auto-complete their search queries and search faster.
Google guesses what you are about to search using its algorithm that determines search patterns and common search terms. Apart from being a helpful service, Google Suggest is known to often show weird and hilarious suggestions which make it one of the most talked about Google features in the blogosphere.
Google Suggest Venn Diagram Generator is an innovative tool that makes use of Google Suggest to show venn diagrams of popular Google search queries.
You can enter a base query like ” How to do X..” or ” Why X is ” and enter 3 options for X. Like, the example on the site shows the base query as “Why are X so..” and has X as men, women and parents. The result is a venn diagram of 3 circles and the corresponding search results.
Likewise, you can enter many such combinations and get different venn diagrams. Overall, it’s a fun tool to play with, and also know what people are searching for on Google.
Google guesses what you are about to search using its algorithm that determines search patterns and common search terms. Apart from being a helpful service, Google Suggest is known to often show weird and hilarious suggestions which make it one of the most talked about Google features in the blogosphere.
Google Suggest Venn Diagram Generator is an innovative tool that makes use of Google Suggest to show venn diagrams of popular Google search queries.
You can enter a base query like ” How to do X..” or ” Why X is ” and enter 3 options for X. Like, the example on the site shows the base query as “Why are X so..” and has X as men, women and parents. The result is a venn diagram of 3 circles and the corresponding search results.
Likewise, you can enter many such combinations and get different venn diagrams. Overall, it’s a fun tool to play with, and also know what people are searching for on Google.
Sunday, December 12, 2010
Have Fun with Art and Music
from one of my Walden U professors, a blogger, and a great technology teacher in NJ, Kevin Jarrett:
Good morning everyone!
Found this gem – http://www.jacksonpollock.org/ – at the NJEA Convention via Kevin Sullivan, an amazing middle school science teacher at Warren Township Middle School in Warren, NJ. He used it at his session entitled “Smart Board: Who said learning can’t be fun?” It’s highly addictive, your kids will love it, guaranteed! As far as technological diversions go … creative outlets, really … it’s a fun way to spend a few minutes. I categorize it with other cool websites like http://www.thisissand.com and ToneMatrix, two perennial favorites at my school. Enjoy!
-kj-
Good morning everyone!
Found this gem – http://www.jacksonpollock.org/ – at the NJEA Convention via Kevin Sullivan, an amazing middle school science teacher at Warren Township Middle School in Warren, NJ. He used it at his session entitled “Smart Board: Who said learning can’t be fun?” It’s highly addictive, your kids will love it, guaranteed! As far as technological diversions go … creative outlets, really … it’s a fun way to spend a few minutes. I categorize it with other cool websites like http://www.thisissand.com and ToneMatrix, two perennial favorites at my school. Enjoy!
-kj-
Thursday, December 9, 2010
Carrout Text
Carryout Text is a website that allows you to easily convert text into audio. It is a great way to help students access text. The audio files are in an mp3 format. The site does mention that it will not be free forever, but it does not mention when the service will change to a "pay" format. In any case, this could be a good solution to help students in your classroom! Thanks to www.edutechintegration.com for sharing this resource.
Wednesday, December 8, 2010
Access Online Books from Around the World
The Online Books Page is a Web site that facilitates access to books that are freely readable over the Internet. The major parts of the site include an index of thousands of online books; pointers to significant directories and archives of online texts; special exhibits of particularly interesting classes of online books; and information on how readers can help support the growth of online books. The Online Books Page was founded, and is edited, by John Mark Ockerbloom, a digital library planner and researcher at the University of Pennsylvania. The online books listed have been authored, placed online and hosted by a wide variety of individuals and groups throughout the world (and throughout history!).
Click Here to Visit Web Site
Tuesday, December 7, 2010
Holiday Mail for Heroes
from DEN Blog
Don’t forget that the American Red Cross is sponsoring Holiday Mail for Heroes again this year. Send your holiday greeting cards to the Red Cross by Friday, December 10, and they will get your heart felt greetings out to our troops, veterans and their families. This is a great project to do with your students, and it’s quick and easy!
To participate in the campaign, the public can send holiday cards with personal messages to:
Holiday Mail for Heroes
P.O. Box 5456
Capitol Heights, MD 20791-5456
For more information and card requirements, please visit http://www.redcross.org/
Monday, December 6, 2010
You Tube +Vacation
Vacationer is a program that will help you seek a little virtual holiday respite during those tough days (at work or in the winter – you pick!), or even plan your next getaway. The program intends to bring you the best of the content presented by YouTube’s travel partners, all in one place.
So, what does it have to offer? Well, plenty, believe it or not. YouTube has teamed up with the likes of the Travel Channel, Lonely Planet, and National Geographic to name but a few. From these, and many other sources, you’ll have the opportunity to view reports from the experts about various destinations. You can also find out about the most popular attractions, hidden secrets of a city, and some of the best eats you can imagine.
This is a great way to get a glimpse of various destinations, but remember – YouTube is very much still driven by user-generated content. With this in mind, they are encouraging people (such as yourself) to pack your camera with you when you next go on vacation, and to post your videos on YouTube for the entire world to see. Remember, millions of people the world over do will be using the service to get a look at places they might not otherwise get a chance to visit. Make it a good video!
Source – youtube-global.blogspot.com/
So, what does it have to offer? Well, plenty, believe it or not. YouTube has teamed up with the likes of the Travel Channel, Lonely Planet, and National Geographic to name but a few. From these, and many other sources, you’ll have the opportunity to view reports from the experts about various destinations. You can also find out about the most popular attractions, hidden secrets of a city, and some of the best eats you can imagine.
This is a great way to get a glimpse of various destinations, but remember – YouTube is very much still driven by user-generated content. With this in mind, they are encouraging people (such as yourself) to pack your camera with you when you next go on vacation, and to post your videos on YouTube for the entire world to see. Remember, millions of people the world over do will be using the service to get a look at places they might not otherwise get a chance to visit. Make it a good video!
Source – youtube-global.blogspot.com/
Sunday, December 5, 2010
Websites I found interesting (weekly)
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Your Free Online Video Editor | JayCut
This free site allows for the creation of videos with text, still image, audio, webcam, and green screen options.
Saturday, December 4, 2010
Find Ready-to-Use Tools for Teaching with Documents
A new online tool called DocsTeach, recently launched by the National Archives, provides a resource for teachers to search more than 3,000 primary-source documents. The site also includes seven tools for teachers, including one that customizes history activities to individual classroom needs.
Click Here to Visit Web Site
Friday, December 3, 2010
Teaching Journalism Resources
Teaching journalism teaches thinking
Consider using journalism to develop higher-order thinking skills. Try the ideas and resources assembled here.
Thursday, December 2, 2010
Get Scientific Explanations for Everyday Phenomena
Have your students ever wondered why a camel has a hump? Of if they can really tell the weather by listening to the chirp of a cricket? Or why our joints make popping sounds? Everyday Mysteries will help your students get the answers to these and many other of life’s most interesting questions through scientific inquiry. All of the questions presented on this Web site were asked by researchers and answered by librarians from the Library of Congress’s Science Reference Services.
Click Here to Visit Web Site
Click Here to Visit Web Site
Tuesday, November 30, 2010
Portable North Pole
One Tech teacher in my PLN posted this website. Thank you, Cindy!
The site is Portable North Pole. Basically, this site allows you to create a video message from Santa to a toddler, child, or adult. It allows you to customize it with 3 pictures of the recipient as well as a picture of a gift they want for Christmas.
Here is a link to the video I made for my son this year.
Again, if you are a teacher and don't have time to create a video for each student, email this site to the parents. To create the video, you simply fill in the child's name and some personal info such as what they have been good at this year, what they need to keep working on, and age, eye color, etc. Such a fun, easy, FREE way to get a message from Santa to a special child in your life. Enjoy!
The site is Portable North Pole. Basically, this site allows you to create a video message from Santa to a toddler, child, or adult. It allows you to customize it with 3 pictures of the recipient as well as a picture of a gift they want for Christmas.
Here is a link to the video I made for my son this year.
Again, if you are a teacher and don't have time to create a video for each student, email this site to the parents. To create the video, you simply fill in the child's name and some personal info such as what they have been good at this year, what they need to keep working on, and age, eye color, etc. Such a fun, easy, FREE way to get a message from Santa to a special child in your life. Enjoy!
Monday, November 29, 2010
Learn Chinese from Real Teachers in China
myChinese360 is a K–12-approved language learning program offering for-credit online Mandarin classes. The program’s U.S.- and China-based teachers use innovative educational technologies to connect with American students in real-time, creating a virtual classroom experience. All of the standards-based courses for middle school and high school (elementary coming soon) are built around curricular materials following the five Cs (National Standards in Foreign Language Education) from ACTFL. From whiteboards to role-playing, the Web-based, teacher-led virtual classrooms have all the features found in traditional settings. Partners include the College Board for Advanced Placement and the National Alliance of Black School Educators (NABSE) Mandarin Initiative.
Click Here for More Information
Click Here for More Information
Sunday, November 28, 2010
Websites I found interesting (weekly)
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Photo editor online - Pixlr.com edit image
image editing that can be used for visual literacy
projects. It is a great tool if you need to manipulate images and don't
want to spend lots of money on an image editor. -
Kindergarten Worksheets - Free Printable Kindergarten Activities. Create Fun Lesson Plans.
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Allows you to convert between multiple formats, including WMV for Movie
maker, and change the settings as you need. Can also strip video and
convert audio files. -
Allows you to convert between multiple formats, including WMV for Movie
maker, and change the settings as you need. Can also strip video and
convert audio files. -
The Game DebtSki
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online schedule maker that is linked with Google Calendar.
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Create Great-Looking Interactive Quizzes (in minutes) - embed in any website / blog!
* is free.
* is very easy to use.
* has many uses across all age groups and subject areas.
* could be used to monitor and assess student learning. -
Podcast Generator - Open Source Podcast Publishing Solution
"Podcast Generator is a free web based podcast publishing script written in PHP: upload media files (audio-video) via a web form along with episode information and automatically create podcast w3c-compliant feed including iTunes specific tags. It also features a comprehensive web administration."
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free e-courses for kids all around the world. This site has engaging and interactive courses for kids in online safety, computer skills such as using Google, typing, and core subjects like language arts, math, and science. Most of the courses are for elementary school-aged children, and involve dynamic avatars, and are highly interactive.
Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.
Friday, November 26, 2010
Create Multimedia Presentations
Adobe has launched a new multimedia authoring tool for education. Project Rome for Education allows students and educators to create multimedia presentations that include text, video, audio, images, animation and interactivity. Its layout engine, which resembles the one found in Adobe’s professional page layout tool, InDesign, provides a full range of typeface and formatting controls, as well as paragraph controls, text flow from one text box to another and text wrap for automatically wrapping copy around images and other page elements. It also offers drawing tools and a Flash-like timeline for animating elements based on various parameters, such as opacity, position, rotation and other transformations. Adobe is looking for schools to participate in pilot programs using the software, especially those schools that have adopted Google’s Apps for Education or the open-source learning management system Moodle.
Click Here for More Information
Click Here for More Information
Wednesday, November 24, 2010
Develop 21st Century Skills with Real-World Applications
Saddleback’s 21st Century Coach attempts to bridge the gap between coursework and real work by focusing on real-world skills and applications. Each resource book in this three-book series focuses on one of three categories listed in the framework of the Partnership for 21st Century Skills. The reproducible activities and lessons will prepare students for success in the 21st century by giving them the skills and knowledge they will need as citizens, workers and leaders after high school.
Click Here for More Information
Click Here for More Information
Monday, November 22, 2010
Students Contest- Open-Source Software Development
Introduce Students to Open-Source Software Development
Google’s new Code-In competition, which gets under way November 22, presents 13- to 18-year-olds with eight tasks, ranging from refactoring code and interface design to such not-so-techie jobs as writing and editing software documentation and developing marketing materials. For every three tasks they complete, students earn $100, up to a maximum of $500. Ten grand-prize winners will get an all-expenses-paid trip with a family member to Google’s Mountain View, California headquarters. The trip includes a tour of the Googleplex facility and meetings with some of the company’s engineers.
Deadline: Contest ends January 10, 2011; winners announced February 14, 2011
Click Here for More Information and Contest Updates
Google’s new Code-In competition, which gets under way November 22, presents 13- to 18-year-olds with eight tasks, ranging from refactoring code and interface design to such not-so-techie jobs as writing and editing software documentation and developing marketing materials. For every three tasks they complete, students earn $100, up to a maximum of $500. Ten grand-prize winners will get an all-expenses-paid trip with a family member to Google’s Mountain View, California headquarters. The trip includes a tour of the Googleplex facility and meetings with some of the company’s engineers.
Deadline: Contest ends January 10, 2011; winners announced February 14, 2011
Click Here for More Information and Contest Updates
Sunday, November 21, 2010
Websites I found interesting (weekly)
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Noterr - create sticky notes instantly
Desktop sticky note applications are very handy for creating reminders for yourself and recording quick thoughts. But if you frequently work from more than one computer, a desktop sticky note application might not suit your needs. That's where a service like Noterr can be helpful. Noterr is a free web-based sticky note service. Noterr provides a blank canvas for posting sticky notes to yourself. Individual notes, but not an entire canvas, can be shared with others via the link provided by Noterr. Learn more about Noterr in the video below.
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Welcome to the Chemical Education Digital Library
The Chemical Education Digital Library is a large collection of resources for teaching and learning chemistry. The ChemEd DL contains tutorials for students, 3D models, lesson plans, and more. The tutorials include 3D chemical models and explanations of what each part of the models does and how those parts work together. In the lesson plans section you will find downloadable lesson plans organized by subject. ChemEd DL also features a periodic table that links each element to data and explanations about that element.
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Motion Math - Move, play, learn!
a fun interactive game that allows students to learn fractions in a engaging and interactive way.
As an adult playing a student’s game, Motion Math made me think. It truly tested my understanding of how fractions, decimals, pictorial representations of fractions and how number lines actually work. The way it works is simple. A ball, looking like the sun, falls from the sky and you as the player have to lean your device to one side or the other to have that ball, with it’s fraction, fall on the correct location on the number line.
A student will have to have a basic understanding of fractions and decimals in order to play this game. Although I think early learners of fractions could get a lot out of this App, I personally think this is an App that would help solidify understanding. I can see teachers doing a high score challenge and or having students try to to beat their own high scores for class cash.
I look forward to any updates that allow students to start from where they left off. I played several times and had to start from the beginning each time. The game went on for quite sometime and I never got to an ending point. I really liked that it was tiered in difficulty. Just when I thought it couldn’t get any harder they changed the number line so that zero was not the beginning, it was actually a negative number. It made you think even more because then the fractions where coming across as negative and positive fractions, so as to confuse your mind a little more.
Overall, I love this app. I actually think it is one of the better math Apps I have played with over the past few years. I do think it has some room to improve, but as a teacher and a parent, 99 cents for this App is definitely worth the money. My 4th grader thought it was really cool and it definitely challenged him to clear the cobwebs and put all of his learning into motion in a fun way. If you are a teacher or parent in the need for a good fractions app, this would be a great edition to your math tools. -
Comment on, edit, and fill PDF files, Word documents, images and more | crocodoc
Crocodoc – markup and edit files on line
Crocodoc is a free, online service that allows you to upload and markup documents, including PDF files. You can not actually edit the PDF file, but can add text, highlight, draw, and even strikeout text. When you strikeout text, it opens a new text box above the strikeout for you to edit.
I used it recently to make a change to a physics lab I use with my students. It is a PDF file and I just wanted to make some small changes to the procedure. I uploaded the file, make the markups, and downloaded it. No account is necessary.
You can create an account and store files on the system. It even allows multiple people to markup and collaborate on work. Crocodoc works with PDF files, Word Documents, images, and PowerPoint presentations. You can view and mark up your files online. The documents can be shared with others who can all mark the files up collaboratively. You can make revisions, highlight or strikeout text, add notes and comments. Files are stored on their servers and can be password protected.
This is a great tool for educators and students to use for sharing work, working collaboratively, and providing feedback on work. -
20 Things I Learned About Browsers and the Web
Google Launches Interactive Book to Teach Everyone About the Web
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http://www.kristenswanson.org/2010/11/science-for-smartboard.html
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Researchers at Stanford and Vanderbilt universities have developed a number of computer programs in which students customize a virtual agent and teach it mathematics or science concepts. The agent questions, misunderstands and otherwise learns realistically. For example, in the Betty’s Brain program, students customize and teach a virtual character by relating concepts in a graphic map of Betty’s thoughts. Showing how garbage contributes to global warming, for example, requires connecting eight separate causal inferences. Students can test their agent’s knowledge, ask it to explain its answers and correct misunderstandings by adding new information to the map.
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http://www.isaveatree.com/publicschoolsusa/?THEBIGDEALBOOK=634250059935865965
Teach Reading While Preserving the Environment
I Save a Tree is offering $80,000,000.00 worth of free interactive books and Virtual Library software to all public schools in the United States. The Virtual Library 2.0 software and interactive books can be installed on a district server, and all students and teachers within the district can access the interactive books. I Save a Tree iBooks can be viewed on Windows and Macintosh computers as well as on smartphones that include Adobe Flash. School districts interested in taking advantage of this offer should send an email to customerservice@isaveatree.com. -
Choosing to Participate Poster Sets | Facing History and Ourselves
Encourage Inclusive Communities
Facing History and Ourselves has partnered with the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service (SITES) to develop a special poster set based on Facing History’s national initiative Choosing to Participate. The posters are designed to encourage dialogue, engagement, respect and participation in the classroom and beyond. These full-color posters (11 in total) are being distributed through various partnerships, including the American Library Association and Boys & Girls Clubs of America. The poster sets, available online for free download, highlight the four stories featured in the traveling exhibition currently on national tour. This exhibition examines the impact and history of racism and injustice, and looks at the courageous choices people have made to build strong and inclusive communities. -
Let Freedom Swing is a unique curriculum that explores the relationships between jazz and democracy. Two iconic Americans are at the heart of Let Freedom Swing: retired Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor and musician, composer, educator and Artistic Director of Jazz at Lincoln Center Wynton Marsalis. Supported by an array of other artistic luminaries, O’Connor and Marsalis teamed up for a concert at The Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. in 2009. The Rockefeller Foundation sponsored the concert, Jazz at Lincoln Center produced it and The Documentary Group created short films for it that were part of the concert. These institutions invited Teachers College, Columbia University to create a study guide to accompany the short films produced from the concert. The videos and study guide are designed for use in social studies, humanities and music classes in grades 6–12. Three key themes structure the videos and study guide: “We the People,” “E Pluribus Unum” (From Many, One), and “A More Perfect Union.” Each video is about six minutes in length. The study guide contains questions for discussion, teaching activities and additional resources. The Web site contains the three videos, the study guide, information about the project and additional print, digital and video resources—all available free of charge.
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Buy, Use, Toss? | Science & Social Studies Curriculum | Facing the Future
Investigate the Lifecycle of Products
Students are surrounded by “stuff”—from blue jeans to the latest cell phones—in their everyday lives. “Buy, Use, Toss? A Closer Look at the Things We Buy” is a comprehensive unit on consumption that is aligned with educational standards in all 50 U.S. states. During the course of the unit, students will investigate the lifecycle of products as they gain math and science skills while determining the carbon footprint of shipping blue jeans. The discussion is intended to engage them in civic discourse on how people dispose of consumer waste. They will also develop corporate policies to protect workers and consumers, and gain media literacy skills while analyzing ads. This resource is available to download at no charge from Facing the Future. The 10 lessons, designed for grades 9–12, lead students through an exploration of the “materials economy” (the production and consumption of goods). Students critically analyze the sustainability of the steps of this system, determining how consumption can benefit people, economics and environments. The lessons were inspired, researched, designed, reviewed and pilot-tested by educators.
Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.
Wednesday, November 17, 2010
U Games National Scholarship Tournament
Tabula Digita, maker of the DimensionU Learning System and its DimensionM math-based action video game, has issued a challenge to the best gamers (and math students) in grades 3 through 8 in the land. From Nov. 15, 2010, through May 1, 2011, the company is sponsoring the U Games National Scholarship Tournament, an online contest with a top prize of a $50,000 college scholarship.
Registration is formally open for the competition, which will consist of 12 rounds lasting two weeks each. Participants will compete online against their fellow students at the equivalent level (elementary or middle school) throughout the United States, honing their gaming skills while mastering mathematical concepts and applications in prime numbers, fractions, and complex equations. Scores will be based on strategy, academic performance, and "need to know the math" outcome, as well as basic game play skills, which means players are rewarded regardless of their individual strengths, and they are encouraged to improve in all areas as the tournament progresses in order to continually improve their scores.
The top 10 finishers nationwide at each level of play will be invited to the live U Games Tournament final event in New York May 21, 2011. The prize for the highest score in the middle school level competition is a $50,000Proxy-Connection: keep-alive
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0college scholarship and an additional $1,000 cash. The elementary school level winner will receive a $10,000 scholarship and a family vacation for four to Disney World. Among the more than 1,000 other prizes for top finishers include Apple iPods and iPads, gaming consoles, LCD TVs, razor electric bikes, and retail gift cards. Co-sponsoring the competition with Tabula Digita are Intel and Dell.
"Over the past few years, more and more educators have embraced our game-based, pedagogical framework because they have seen firsthand how it improves student comprehension and mastery of math concepts," said Ntiedo Etuk, founder and chief executive officer of Tabula Digita, adding that incorporating the practice of these concepts into video games makes "fun" the foundation for the learning process.
Students wishing to register must have a computer that meets the minimum system requirements, as well as parental permission, and they can download a tournament version of the learning system and video game here. New entrants are welcome at any point in the tournament prior to the final online round.
Registration is formally open for the competition, which will consist of 12 rounds lasting two weeks each. Participants will compete online against their fellow students at the equivalent level (elementary or middle school) throughout the United States, honing their gaming skills while mastering mathematical concepts and applications in prime numbers, fractions, and complex equations. Scores will be based on strategy, academic performance, and "need to know the math" outcome, as well as basic game play skills, which means players are rewarded regardless of their individual strengths, and they are encouraged to improve in all areas as the tournament progresses in order to continually improve their scores.
The top 10 finishers nationwide at each level of play will be invited to the live U Games Tournament final event in New York May 21, 2011. The prize for the highest score in the middle school level competition is a $50,000Proxy-Connection: keep-alive
Cache-Control: max-age=0
0college scholarship and an additional $1,000 cash. The elementary school level winner will receive a $10,000 scholarship and a family vacation for four to Disney World. Among the more than 1,000 other prizes for top finishers include Apple iPods and iPads, gaming consoles, LCD TVs, razor electric bikes, and retail gift cards. Co-sponsoring the competition with Tabula Digita are Intel and Dell.
"Over the past few years, more and more educators have embraced our game-based, pedagogical framework because they have seen firsthand how it improves student comprehension and mastery of math concepts," said Ntiedo Etuk, founder and chief executive officer of Tabula Digita, adding that incorporating the practice of these concepts into video games makes "fun" the foundation for the learning process.
Students wishing to register must have a computer that meets the minimum system requirements, as well as parental permission, and they can download a tournament version of the learning system and video game here. New entrants are welcome at any point in the tournament prior to the final online round.
Tabula Digita, maker of the DimensionU Learning System and its DimensionM math-based action video game, has issued a challenge to the best gamers (and math students) in grades 3 through 8 in the land. From Nov. 15, 2010, through May 1, 2011, the company is sponsoring the U Games National Scholarship Tournament, an online contest with a top prize of a $50,000 college scholarship.
Registration is formally open for the competition, which will consist of 12 rounds lasting two weeks each. Participants will compete online against their fellow students at the equivalent level (elementary or middle school) throughout the United States, honing their gaming skills while mastering mathematical concepts and applications in prime numbers, fractions, and complex equations. Scores will be based on strategy, academic performance, and "need to know the math" outcome, as well as basic game play skills, which means players are rewarded regardless of their individual strengths, and they are encouraged to improve in all areas as the tournament progresses in order to continually improve their scores.
The top 10 finishers nationwide at each level of play will be invited to the live U Games Tournament final event in New York May 21, 2011. The prize for the highest score in the middle school level competition is a $50,000 college scholarship and an additionaProxy-Connection: keep-alive
Cache-Control: max-age=0
20$1,000 cash. The elementary school level winner will receive a $10,000 scholarship and a family vacation for four to Disney World. Among the more than 1,000 other prizes for top finishers include Apple iPods and iPads, gaming consoles, LCD TVs, razor electric bikes, and retail gift cards. Co-sponsoring the competition with Tabula Digita are Intel and Dell.
"Over the past few years, more and more educators have embraced our game-based, pedagogical framework because they have seen firsthand how it improves student comprehension and mastery of math concepts," said Ntiedo Etuk, founder and chief executive officer of Tabula Digita, adding that incorporating the practice of these concepts into video games makes "fun" the foundation for the learning process.
Students wishing to register must have a computer that meets the minimum system requirements, as well as parental permission, and they can download a tournament version of the learning system and video game here. New entrants are welcome at any point in the tournament prior to the final online round.
Registration is formally open for the competition, which will consist of 12 rounds lasting two weeks each. Participants will compete online against their fellow students at the equivalent level (elementary or middle school) throughout the United States, honing their gaming skills while mastering mathematical concepts and applications in prime numbers, fractions, and complex equations. Scores will be based on strategy, academic performance, and "need to know the math" outcome, as well as basic game play skills, which means players are rewarded regardless of their individual strengths, and they are encouraged to improve in all areas as the tournament progresses in order to continually improve their scores.
The top 10 finishers nationwide at each level of play will be invited to the live U Games Tournament final event in New York May 21, 2011. The prize for the highest score in the middle school level competition is a $50,000 college scholarship and an additionaProxy-Connection: keep-alive
Cache-Control: max-age=0
20$1,000 cash. The elementary school level winner will receive a $10,000 scholarship and a family vacation for four to Disney World. Among the more than 1,000 other prizes for top finishers include Apple iPods and iPads, gaming consoles, LCD TVs, razor electric bikes, and retail gift cards. Co-sponsoring the competition with Tabula Digita are Intel and Dell.
"Over the past few years, more and more educators have embraced our game-based, pedagogical framework because they have seen firsthand how it improves student comprehension and mastery of math concepts," said Ntiedo Etuk, founder and chief executive officer of Tabula Digita, adding that incorporating the practice of these concepts into video games makes "fun" the foundation for the learning process.
Students wishing to register must have a computer that meets the minimum system requirements, as well as parental permission, and they can download a tournament version of the learning system and video game here. New entrants are welcome at any point in the tournament prior to the final online round.
Managing Access For Your Twitter Apps
To view the apps that you have authorized,
- first login into your Twitter account,
- then go to Settings, and Connections.
- From this screen you will see all apps you have authorized,
- and have the opportunity to revoke access for any of them.
Monday, November 15, 2010
The First Thanksgiving
from The Education Technology Blog - Home
Scholastic has a great interactive mini-site on the first Thanksgiving. You can sign up for a video webcast, take a virtual tour of a plantation, go for a trip on the Mayflower, and more. Teacher resources are included to help show you how to integrate these great interactives. Bonus content includes a reader's theater, a vocabulary quiz, and printable door signs. Grade specific activities are featured here, as are free historical fiction letters that are emailed to you from Thanksgiving characters. You can check out The First Thanksgiving here.
Sunday, November 14, 2010
Websites I found interesting (weekly)
-
My favorite thing about Field Trip Earth is that they offer free classroom Skype sessions, where their researchers and scientists will provide a workshop for your students via Skype. The FTE staff will coordinate a time and topic with you, based on your educational objectives, and send you a presentation from which to work. Your job is to have 2 projectors and at least one computer hooked up with Skype. One projector shows the presentation materials sent by FTE, while the other shows the Skype session to the students. Mark McAllister, from the FTE offices, spent a great hour with my students talking about how scientists use technology in wildlife conservation and tracking, particularly with the Red Wolves of Eastern North Carolina. He had a well-organized, engaging presentation and students were able to ask questions
-
Here you’ll find links to games built in PowerPoint, Word, and Excel. He’s even got a few countdown timers that you can download and use.
-
ePortfolio Gallery : Clemson University
Clemson University require all undergraduate students to maintain an
e-portfolio, and many of them are using Google Sites.
Thought it be a nice to share their gallery with examples (most but not all
are Google Sites)
gallery
Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.
SiftLinks
Too busy to be on Twitter all day?
Afraid you will miss something good.
Well, if you feel like you are missing out on great educational links and resources, then you should try SiftLinks. SiftLinks takes all the links from your twitter feed and puts it into an RSS feed. Then you can peruse the links at your leisure without going through extraneous conversations.
from the website:
If you'd like to contact me about SiftLinks then find me on Twitter. You can also follow my personal account if you'd like to here about the other stuff i'm working on.
Afraid you will miss something good.
Well, if you feel like you are missing out on great educational links and resources, then you should try SiftLinks. SiftLinks takes all the links from your twitter feed and puts it into an RSS feed. Then you can peruse the links at your leisure without going through extraneous conversations.
from the website:
Things to bear in mind
SiftLinks checks your twitter stream every 30 minutes and stores the last 50 links that it finds. If your feed reader doesn't update too often it might miss some links. If your twitter stream has hundreds of links running through it every hour then SiftLinks might not be for you.If you'd like to contact me about SiftLinks then find me on Twitter. You can also follow my personal account if you'd like to here about the other stuff i'm working on.
About
SiftLinks was created because I was tired of missing out on all the great links that people posted on Twitter that I never got the time to properly check out. I don't have a massive follow list but quite often, if I was away from the computer for a couple of days and only accessing Twitter via my iPhone, I'd miss out on reading some really interesting articles. I figured it would be easier if I could dash through those articles in my feed reader when I got the chance. I also figured that if I wanted this then someone else might too, so I went ahead and put it together.Tuesday, November 9, 2010
Alternative to Web 2.0
Do you have a favorite Web 2.0 site that is blocked by your school? You might want to try Alternative To, a website that finds similar services. For example, I searched for Animoto, and the site returned other favorites like Stupeflix and PhotoPeach. This could be a helpful tool when seeking out the perfect tool that can be accessed through the district filters. Thanks for Kevin Jarrett for sharing this resource. Enjoy!
Sunday, November 7, 2010
Sight Words
http://www.sightwordswithsamson.com/sw/sight_words.asp
This is a great Sight Words site.
Sight Words with Samson.
I can see it be a activity that is used during center time and children keep their own records of what they have accomplished. It is set up for 1st and 2nd graders, but I know that Kindergarten students could use it also!
Enjoy!
~~GB
This is a great Sight Words site.
Sight Words with Samson.
I can see it be a activity that is used during center time and children keep their own records of what they have accomplished. It is set up for 1st and 2nd graders, but I know that Kindergarten students could use it also!
Enjoy!
~~GB
Friday, November 5, 2010
Another Veterans Day Resource
My friends at Watch Know sent me this idea for videos.
This is a great site. You are encourage to sign in and create your own videos.
Veterans Day is November 11th. Here are some good resources to
commemorate the day and turn it into a teachable moment.
Free videos
http://www.watchknow.org/SearchResults.aspx?SearchText=veterans+day
Free lessons
http://www.reacheverychild.com/feature/veterans_day.html
How to use teachable moments
http://www.reacheverychild.com/feature/teachable-moments.html
Hope this helps!
This is a great site. You are encourage to sign in and create your own videos.
Veterans Day is November 11th. Here are some good resources to
commemorate the day and turn it into a teachable moment.
Free videos
http://www.watchknow.org/SearchResults.aspx?SearchText=veterans+day
Free lessons
http://www.reacheverychild.com/feature/veterans_day.html
How to use teachable moments
http://www.reacheverychild.com/feature/teachable-moments.html
Hope this helps!
Wednesday, November 3, 2010
Memoralizing Veterans: Teaching with Place
Veterans Day approaches! Last year, Teachinghistory.org introduced you to resources for collecting oral histories from veterans. Most of these resources still hold good—if you're interested in inviting a veteran into your classroom or leading your class in an oral history project, try History.com's Take a Veteran to School Day or the Library of Congress's Veterans History Project.But what if you don't have the time or resources to arrange a speaker or manage oral history collection? What if your students are too young to appreciate a veteran's stories and their context? How can you honor the holiday and draw your students in?
How about teaching with monuments and memorials?
http://teachinghistory.org/node/24307/
Tuesday, November 2, 2010
Great Middle School Simulation: Civics
Great Middle School Simulation: Civics
Nov 02 from http://www.kristenswanson.org/2010/11/great-middle-school-simulation-civics.html
I am a huge fan of simulations. I recently discovered Arugment Wars, a simulation from iCivics, and I think it is perfect for middle school students. Students can argue their case, learn about their rights as students, and earn points for valid arguments. I think it would be a fantastic complement to any middle school social studies class! Enjoy!
Great Middle School Simulation: Civics
Great Middle School Simulation: Civics
Nov 02 from http://www.kristenswanson.org/2010/11/great-middle-school-simulation-civics.html
I am a huge fan of simulations. I recently discovered Arugment Wars, a simulation from iCivics, and I think it is perfect for middle school students. Students can argue their case, learn about their rights as students, and earn points for valid arguments. I think it would be a fantastic complement to any middle school social studies class! Enjoy!
Great Middle School Simulation: Civics
Great Middle School Simulation: Civics
Nov 02
I am a huge fan of simulations. I recently discovered Arugment Wars, a simulation from iCivics, and I think it is perfect for middle school students. Students can argue their case, learn about their rights as students, and earn points for valid arguments. I think it would be a fantastic complement to any middle school social studies class! Enjoy!
Great Middle School Simulation: Civics
Nov 02
I am a huge fan of simulations. I recently discovered Arugment Wars, a simulation from iCivics, and I think it is perfect for middle school students. Students can argue their case, learn about their rights as students, and earn points for valid arguments. I think it would be a fantastic complement to any middle school social studies class! Enjoy!
Sunday, October 31, 2010
Friday, October 29, 2010
An Extra Halloween Treat
It is not a trick.
Thanks to my GCT friend!
from Miguel Guhlin:
"Folks, check this out...it's a free Halloween give-away for *video converter
software* for *Mac AND Windows*. My apologies if this is out of line with
the purpose of this email list, however, knowing how much I esteem no-cost
resources, I hope I do not offend with sharing this information.
That's free as in no-cost. Serials and download links appear below.
Find out more here:
http://www.mguhlin.org/2010/
Software description:
WinX HD Video Converter Deluxe builds 160 video codec and 50 audio codec, a
perfect multi-functional combination of HD Video Converter, DVD Burner and
Website Video Downloader. Without any third-party codec, it can
support *Multi-track HD video* *M2TS, MKV, AVCHD, HDTV BDAV and MPEG-TS* video movies. It also supports converting all the High Definition and HD-Camcorder videos, to both
portable and console players, such as *iPad, iPod, iPhone, Apple TV, PS3,
PSP, Xbox, Zune, PDA, Blackberry, Nokia, Android, Zen, etc*,.
Supporting Multi-CPU and Hyper Threading, WinX HD Video Converter Deluxe
offers *up to 15x real time video converting speed.*"
~~Have a great weekend!
Thanks to my GCT friend!
from Miguel Guhlin:
"Folks, check this out...it's a free Halloween give-away for *video converter
software* for *Mac AND Windows*. My apologies if this is out of line with
the purpose of this email list, however, knowing how much I esteem no-cost
resources, I hope I do not offend with sharing this information.
That's free as in no-cost. Serials and download links appear below.
Find out more here:
http://www.mguhlin.org/2010/
Software description:
WinX HD Video Converter Deluxe builds 160 video codec and 50 audio codec, a
perfect multi-functional combination of HD Video Converter, DVD Burner and
Website Video Downloader. Without any third-party codec, it can
support *Multi-track HD video* *M2TS, MKV, AVCHD, HDTV BDAV and MPEG-TS* video movies. It also supports converting all the High Definition and HD-Camcorder videos, to both
portable and console players, such as *iPad, iPod, iPhone, Apple TV, PS3,
PSP, Xbox, Zune, PDA, Blackberry, Nokia, Android, Zen, etc*,.
Supporting Multi-CPU and Hyper Threading, WinX HD Video Converter Deluxe
offers *up to 15x real time video converting speed.*"
~~Have a great weekend!
Teaching Citizenship
Need a Digital Citzenship Lesson? I have one for you!It is called Teaching Copyright, and it offers a FREE brief curriculum (5 lessons at 60 minutes each) to help introduce students to the world of remixing, fair use, and copyright. Check it out!
"In five distinct lessons, students are challenged to:
~Enjoy!
~~GB
"In five distinct lessons, students are challenged to:
- Reflect on what they already know about copyright law.
- See the connection between the history of innovation and the history of copyright law.
- Learn about fair use, free speech, and the public domain and how those concepts relate to using materials created by others.
- Experience various stakeholders' interests and master the principles of fair use through a mock trial.
~Enjoy!
~~GB
Thursday, October 28, 2010
Tuesday, October 26, 2010
Complementary Colors!
What colors complement each other?
Use this online color blender to come up with a matching pallette of colors for your website, document, bedroom walls, etc.
Color Palette Generator
Like the aforementioned Color Blender, this website will generate a palette of complementary colors based on an image. You enter the URL of the image, the complementary colors will be displayed with their hexadecimal values!
Use this online color blender to come up with a matching pallette of colors for your website, document, bedroom walls, etc.
Color Palette Generator
Like the aforementioned Color Blender, this website will generate a palette of complementary colors based on an image. You enter the URL of the image, the complementary colors will be displayed with their hexadecimal values!
Monday, October 25, 2010
Lost in the translation
http://tashian.com/multibabel/
Enter a sentence or two and this translation engine will convert it into a foreign language then back into English many times.
So what starts out as something plain English can end up being a lot of fun.
My example:
Original English Text:
Now is the time for all men to come to the aid of his country.
Became:
The Now is the hour, so that their country comes all the men empreg.
Crazy! From the site:
"What happens when an English phrase is translated (by computer) back and forth among five different languages? The authors of the Systran language translation software probably never intended this application of their program. Today's translation software is almost good enough to turn grammatically correct, slang-free text from one language into grammatically incorrect, barely readable approximations in another. But the software is not equipped for 10 consecutive translations of the same piece of text. The resulting half-English, half-foreign, and totally non sequitur response bears almost no resemblance to the original. Remember the old game of "Telephone"? Something is lost, and sometimes something is gained."
Enter a sentence or two and this translation engine will convert it into a foreign language then back into English many times.
So what starts out as something plain English can end up being a lot of fun.
My example:
Original English Text:
Now is the time for all men to come to the aid of his country.
Became:
The Now is the hour, so that their country comes all the men empreg.
Crazy! From the site:
"What happens when an English phrase is translated (by computer) back and forth among five different languages? The authors of the Systran language translation software probably never intended this application of their program. Today's translation software is almost good enough to turn grammatically correct, slang-free text from one language into grammatically incorrect, barely readable approximations in another. But the software is not equipped for 10 consecutive translations of the same piece of text. The resulting half-English, half-foreign, and totally non sequitur response bears almost no resemblance to the original. Remember the old game of "Telephone"? Something is lost, and sometimes something is gained."
Enjoy!
~~GB
Sunday, October 24, 2010
Friday, October 22, 2010
Where's George
http://www.wheresgeorge.com/
You can always enter bills without Registering, but you will need to have an account to be able to come back later and follow the bills you have entered. You can enter your bill now, and register later, too.
This helps the learner with tracking geography of his region. Also the learner see that a dollar bill doesn't last forever!
Enjoy!
~~GB
Do you ever wonder where that paper money in your pocket has been, or where it will go next? This is the place to find out.
All you need to do is enter the denomination, series, and serial number of any US dollar bill, and your current USA ZIP or Canadian Post Code in the box below.
If you are from Canada, be sure to check out This helps the learner with tracking geography of his region. Also the learner see that a dollar bill doesn't last forever!
Enjoy!
~~GB
Wednesday, October 20, 2010
Kids' Online Poetry Pages
http://www.magneticpoetry.com/kidspoetry/playonline.cfm
First you choose an online poetry page: Kids Kit, First Words, Best Friends or Storymaker,
Then choose a Background for your page. You'll have 3 choices.
Then move the magnets around until Voile! You have a poem.
Then you can email it and/or save it!
I could use these all night!
~~Enjoy!
~~GB
First you choose an online poetry page: Kids Kit, First Words, Best Friends or Storymaker,
Then choose a Background for your page. You'll have 3 choices.
Then move the magnets around until Voile! You have a poem.
I could use these all night!
~~Enjoy!
~~GB
Monday, October 18, 2010
Type in a Foreign Language
My daughter love Foreign Languages. She would love this site: http://www.typeit.org
TypeIt is a tool that allows users to type more easily in foreign languages.
Users select a language (including IPA phonetic symbols for English),
then type whatever they need to–an email, a blog post, a forum comment, et cetera,
copy and paste the text.
FEATURES
- Full keyboard support for IE 6/7/8, Firefox, Safari and Chrome
- Switch between character sets while typing
- Boldface, italics, underline and superscript in all editors
- Choose font face and size
The benefit of doing this is being able to use shortcuts for writing special characters like ö, á, ¿, «, etc. This would not be great for typing long reports because users should be using keyboard shortcuts for editing in those situations, but for short web postings or emails, this could be a useful tool.
Sorry, No Latin!
~~Enjoy!
~~GB
Friday, October 15, 2010
Bullied: A Student, a School and a Case That Made History
Bullied is a documentary film that chronicles one student’s ordeal at the hands of anti-gay bullies and offers an inspiring message of hope to those fighting harassment today. It can become a cornerstone of anti-bullying efforts in middle and high schools.
Bullied includes:
- A 40-minute documentary film (DVD), with closed captioning and with Spanish subtitles
- A two-part viewer’s guide with standards-aligned lesson plans and activities for use in staff development
- Additional materials online
Bullied has been endorsed by the NEA.
Order your school’s free copy now to have it ready to use during National Bullying Prevention Month (October 2010).
Note: Limit of one kit per school.
“This film is powerful, important and extremely realistic. It provides teachers with a rare opportunity to address bullying in a real and meaningful way.” -- Lee Cutler, Secretary/Treasurer, New York State United Teachers
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