Wings to Fly

Newt Knows (not a Political opinion)

2012-02-01T09:50:00.001-06:00

Don't worry, this is not a political editorial.

By now you've probably heard Republican Presidential Candidate Newt Gingrich's comments last week that by the end of his second term in office (provided he's elected and re-elected) there will be an American base on the moon. If you didn't hear Newt's comments last week, The Atlantic has a piece on it right now.

Newt Gingrich's comments and the aforementioned article in The Atlantic made me think about NASA's role-playing game Moonbase Alpha. Moonbase Alpha is an online game developed by NASA to be played on the Steam online gaming platform. Moonbase Alpha a simulation game in which players assume the role of an astronaut working to repair equipment in order to restore oxygen delivery to a settlement on the moon. The game can be played by up to six players at a time who communicate using voice over communication.

See the trailer for Moonbase Alpha in the video below.

Applications for Education
Put a classroom discussion of Newt Gingrich's comments together with Moonbase Alpha and you might have a nice little lesson covering both Civics and Space Science.

This post originally appeared on Free Technology for Teachers.

Doodle 4 Google

2012-01-26T03:44:00.001-06:00

In case you missed it, I wanted to let everyone know that Doodle 4 Google
2012 <http://www.doodle4google.com/> is off to the races so be sure to
spread the word!

As in past years, we invite student artists in grades K-12 to use their
creative imagination to redesign our logo. This year's theme is "If I could
travel in time, I'd visit..." The lucky D4G winner will not only see their
artwork on Google's homepage for one day, but they will also receive $30,000
for college and $50,000 for their school--and as an added bonus, the winning
artwork will also appear on a special edition of Crayola's iconic 64 box!

But we need your help getting the word out about this year's contest so be
sure encourage all the student artists in your life to get involved!

Cheers,

Observe the Night Skies

2012-01-23T09:28:00.000-06:00

Curious what’s in your night sky? Check the resources from the Chicago Adler Planetariumfor some tips for sky watching. You can also share your night sky photos with Adler’s Night Sky Observation Flickr group.
Click Here to Visit Website
Click Here to Visit Photo Gallery

NASA's Orion

2012-01-23T03:40:00.000-06:00

NASA's Orion Spacecraft to Land in Oklahoma, Texas and Alabama

A test version of NASA's Orion spacecraft soon will make a cross-country journey, giving residents in three states the chance to see a full-scale test version of the vehicle that will take humans into deep space.

The crew module will make stops during a trip from the White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico to the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The planned stops include Jan. 24-25 at Science Museum Oklahoma in Oklahoma City; Jan. 27-29 at Victory Park and the American Airlines Center in Dallas; and, Feb. 1-2 at the U.S. Space and Rocket Center in Huntsville, Ala. Engineers, program officials, astronauts and NASA spokespeople will be available to speak with the media and the public.

The full-scale test vehicle was used by ground crews in advance of the launch abort system flight test that took place in New Mexico in 2010. Orion will serve as the vehicle that takes astronauts beyond low-Earth orbit, and the first orbital flight test is scheduled for 2014.

To see photos of the pad abort test, visithttp://www.nasa.gov/exploration/systems/mpcv/gallery/abort_test/index.htm .

For more information on the each of the sites, visit

Science Museum Oklahoma:http://www.sciencemuseumok.org.

American Airlines Center: http://www.americanairlinescenter.com.

U.S. Space and Rocket Center: http://www.ussrc.com.

Watch Freedom Riders Online for Free

2012-01-19T04:39:00.001-06:00

Watch Freedom Riders Online for Free

The American Experience documentary Freedom Riders recently popped-up in my Netflix suggestions. That suggestion made me wonder if Freedom Riders is available for full-length viewing on the American Experience website. It turns out that it is. You can watch the nearly two-hour story of civil rights activists who in 1961 banded together to challenge segregation laws and practices in the south.

Watch Freedom Riders on PBS. See more fromAmerican Experience.

Applications for Education
If you do not have the time to show the entire documentary in your classroom, the American Experience/ Freedom Riderswebsite has many excerpts that you can watch. American Experience offers an extensive viewing guide for teachers to use with their students.

This post originally appeared on Free Technology for Teachers. Follow on Google+, Facebook, or Twitter.

continuing the conversation

2012-01-18T14:25:00.000-06:00

My professional friend
Bryan M. Berretta
posted this information also,

"Great video that sums it up:

http://vimeo.com/31100268

We have to be mindful of the Doomsday approach to this but at the same time not dismiss it as insignificant. I find it amusing how there have been very different approaches to it in the media. I found it increasingly amusing that an article posted on Reuters this morning about how the Blackout was a failure because so few websites had become involved has now changed its tone:

(at 9am the article was titled: Internet blackout against U.S. law fails to enlist big sites and it is now titled Pockets of Internet go dark to protest piracy bills)"

http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/01/18/us-internet-protest-idUSTRE80H01U20120118

Wednesday, January 18th

2012-01-18T10:29:00.002-06:00

If you haven’t noticed, check out the Google logo and websites like Wikipedia and Mozilla which have gone into “Blackout Mode” for today. It would be a great teachable moment to explain what SOPA and PIPA are and why copyright protection is so important.

Interestingly enough, if you’re looking for information on SOPA, you can reach the Wikipedia page even though they are on Blackout (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stop_Online_Piracy_Act).

Make it Mental

2012-01-18T06:21:00.001-06:00

PBS Kids’ first augmented-reality mobile app for iPhone and iPod Touch is a game calledFETCH! Launch Rush that aims to take the sting out of learning to do addition and subtraction mentally. In the game, the pooch Ruff Ruffman, the game-show host in the animated PBS program FETCH!, is a legendary movie director trying to make sure there’s enough sushi for his movie crew. The challenge is keeping track of how many pieces of sushi everyone wants, using augmented reality “markers” (printable handouts) that prompt activity within the app. Using 3-D imagery, the app reinforces early algebraic concepts, helping youngsters to make the connection between real objects and corresponding numeric symbols.
Click Here to Visit App Store

Present the Human Past As a Connected Story

2012-01-16T06:17:00.001-06:00

World History for Us All is an innovative model curriculum for teaching world history in middle and high schools. World History for Us All offers a treasury of teaching units, lesson plans and resources that present the human past as a single story rather than unconnected stories of many civilizations. The curriculum enables teachers to survey world history without excluding major peoples, regions or time periods. It helps students understand the past by connecting specific subject matter to larger historical patterns. Drawing on up-to-date historical research and readily adaptable to a variety of world history programs, World History for Us All is a national collaboration of K–12 teachers, collegiate instructors and educational technology specialists. It is a project of San Diego State University in cooperation with the National Center for History in the Schools at University of California Los Angeles.
Click Here to Access Free Teaching Resources

Take a Look at What War Has Meant for Afghans

2012-01-12T09:19:00.001-06:00

Modern Afghanistan: Making Meaning in the Aftermath of Conflict, a new resource guidefrom Primary Source, presents activities that provide students with a deeper look at what war has meant for Afghans—how they have lived, represented events and attempted to rebuild their country. The monument of a tank in Herat with triumphant local soldiers offers a glimpse of both anti-Soviet and anti-Taliban feeling in one region of Afghanistan and calls upon us to consider what messages monuments send. The excerpts from the film Afghan Stories illustrate the political and physical challenges of building a road to ease drought and hunger in another province. The inclusion of weaponry and war motifs in women’s traditional Afghan carpets shows how violence has permeated the society and even gained its own market niche. These sources bring us closer to Afghan perspectives on events than textbooks and news stories tend to do.
Click Here to Access Free Resource Guide

Bring History into the 21st Century!

2012-01-09T09:23:00.000-06:00

Pearson’s Games Apps for American and World History make learning history fun, quick and easy. The American History Games App includes more than 100 different games on dozens of topics, such as Roots of the American People, The American Revolution, The Civil War, Industry and Urban Growth, World War II, The Civil Rights Era and Challenges for a New Century. The World History Games App also offers students more than 100 different games covering a wide range of global history topics, including Ancient Rome and the Rise of Christianity, The Muslim World, Spread of Civilizations in East Asia, Kingdoms and Trading States of Africa, The Industrial Revolution, and World War II and Its Aftermath. With Pearson’sTest Prep Apps for both American and World History, students have access to hundreds of flashcards and quizzes designed to help them review and understand essential questions and knowledge of a lesson or chapter. Personalized feedback and remediation prepare students to succeed on their chapter, unit or end-of-course tests. For a limited time (through January 5, 2012), Pearson is offering educators promotional gift codes to preview up to four of the social studies apps. For details, visit the Pearson website and click on “Free Apps!”
Click Here to Visit Website

Plus: Pearson’s myFlashcard Maker App, for iPad, iPhone and iPod Touch, lets students create their own flashcards or access hundreds of ready-made cards. With text and audio in both English and Spanish, students learn in their own way at their own pace. Activity modes include Study, Review and Quiz with immediate, personalized feedback. myFlashcard Maker Apps are available for high school (U.S. History, World History, American Government, Economics), middle school (American History, Civics, World Geography, World History) and elementary school (American History, Regions of America, Florida Social Studies). Visit the website for more information.

Bring the Bard to Life

2012-01-02T09:08:00.001-06:00

Shakespeare In Bits, from MindConnex, brings the bard’s most popular plays to life throughanimation and audio soundtrack, presented side by side with complete, unabridged play textin a single, integrated package. In-line translations are accompanied by full study notes for every section (analyses, plot summaries, cast biographies and relationships) to help students understand and appreciate Shakespeare’s works. Presently three titles are available for downloading to an iPhone, iPad, Mac or PC: Romeo & Juliet, Macbeth and A Midsummer Night’s Dream, with Hamlet coming soon. Each of the Shakespeare In Bits plays has a Lite ortrial version, which contains a few scenes from the play of your choice and delivers all the rich functionality you can expect from the full play. Shakespeare In Bits Lite can be freelydownloaded, with no purchase necessary.
Click Here for Free Trials

Incorporate International New Year’s Traditions into the Curriculum

2012-01-01T09:13:00.007-06:00

Based in Australia, Father Time’s Net provides links to information about New Year’straditions, recipes, songs, poetry, games and more in many different countries around the world.
Click Here to Access Free Resources

Happy New Year 2012!

Host Collaborative Sessions with Students

2011-12-30T09:06:00.001-06:00

Sticky-note walls can be useful for hosting collaborative brainstorming sessions, asking questions and sorting ideas. Primary Wall is a free sticky-note tool designed with elementary school students in mind. To use it, students simply go to the URL for the wall you’ve created and click “add a note” or double-click on the wall to start writing notes. Students can title their notes and attach their names (first name only) to a note. Primary Wall also suggests ideas for classroom use in the Teachers section.
Click Here to Access Free Tool

School Budget Hold’em

2011-12-28T09:00:00.005-06:00

Meet Budget Challenges
A new online game by the Massachusetts-based company Education Resource Strategies aims to help officials in large urban school districts strategize how best to allocate resources and balance their budgets. The game, School Budget Hold ‘Em, allows officials to consider budget tradeoffs and weigh priorities alongside academic goals. View the online video to get a quick introduction to how the tool works.
Click Here for More Information

CoSN presents info

2011-12-27T09:43:00.002-06:00

The Consortium for School Networking (CoSN) has released the third and final monograph from its three-part 2011 Compendium, titled “Small Size, Big Potential: Mobile Learning Devices in School.” The monograph explores the growing use of mobile learning devices in schools and how such initiatives are positively impacting student achievement. In its examination, the monograph provides detailed examples from districts across the United States that are pioneering this innovative transformation of the 21st century classroom.

http://www.cosn.org/Portals/7/docs/Press%20Releases/2011/CoSN_CompendiumMobileLearning.pdf

Expand Horizons with Educational Technology

2011-12-26T05:58:00.001-06:00

Each year the ISTE awards program recognizes the best of the best in educational technology. The program honors exceptional educators who advance the field, demonstrate vision and innovation, and expand student horizons. Nominate yourself or a colleague and showcase the work of your district, classroom or work team. Award winners will receive complimentary ISTE standard membership, registration for ISTE 2012 in San Diego and various forms of recognition, which may include travel stipends, other prizes and cash awards. Visit the ISTE website for a listing of award categories; all categories are open to ISTE members and nonmembers.
Deadline: March 1, 2012 for nominations
Click Here for More Information

QR Codes in the Classroom

2011-12-22T09:32:00.000-06:00

Those squiggly b/w squares now appearing on just about everything from magazine ads to cereal boxes can take your students across the room or around the world with the click of a smartphone camera. Andrew Miller and his readers offer lengthy lists of ways to enhance learning using Quick Response codes. Create your own QR codes in just three easy steps, using Daring Librarian Gwyneth Jones's tips. Wiziq offers QR strategies tostreamline online learning while avoiding malicious codes.Too few smartphones and other handhelds in your classroom? EngagingEducators’ Ben Curran suggests free or low-cost downloads that will trick a computer webcam into handling the decoding task. To generate a simple coded URL, scan the QR above or click here.

Fuel Imagination with Technology

2011-12-22T06:55:00.001-06:00

ExploraVision is a science competition, sponsored by Toshiba and the National Science Teachers Association (NSTA), which encourages K–12 students of all interest, skill and ability levels to create and explore a vision of future technology by combining their imaginations with the tools of science. It’s a hands-on, minds-on project that inspires students and fuels imagination. All entrants have the opportunity to be recognized for their creative ideas and to win prizes. Educators can learn more about ExploraVision and its value through a series of Web Seminars at The NSTA Learning Center. Join the next webinar, ”How to Avoid Disqualification in ExploraVision,” on January 18, 2012, from 6:30 to 8:00 p.m. ET.
Deadline: Entries must be received at NSTA headquarters by February 1, 2012
Click Here for More Information
Click Here to Register for Web Seminars

Celebrate the Holidays with Pop-Up Books

2011-12-20T06:50:00.001-06:00

The Robert Sabuda Contest is a monthly opportunity to win a new pop-up prize. K–12 teachers can enter the contest by filling out the form and submitting it online. Past prizes have included a pop-up gingerbread house ornament, a box of pop-up cards and a pop-up bell.
Deadline: Rolling, monthly
Click Here for More Information

Plus: The website offers dozens of ideas for making pop-up books. For example, your students can use the Make Your Own Pop-Up Reindeer or Poinsettia template as a basis for customized holiday cards. The ideas are coded simple (green), intermediate (blue), advanced (red).
Click Here to Access Pop-Up Book Ideas

Make a Positive Impact on the Planet

2011-12-19T06:47:00.001-06:00

Disney’s Planet Challenge (DPC) is a project-based environmental competition for classrooms across the United States. DPC teaches students about science and conservation while empowering them to make a positive impact on their communities and the planet. Any third-, fourth-, fifth-, sixth-, seventh- or eighth-grade classroom in a public or private school in the United States may participate in the challenge; second-grade classes can participate if in combination with a third-grade classroom. The grand-prize-winning teacher will receive $6,000; the winning classroom/school will receive a $10,000 grant.
Deadlines: December 23, 2011 for registration; February 16, 2012 for project submissions
Click Here for More Information

Plus: Find resources for starting and completing your DPC project. Among the resources on this site are a complete step-by-step guide to the DPC project, from enrollment through completing your portfolio; a growing list of useful websites to help with planning or researching your classroom’s project; access to videos, images, blogs and other helpful resources provided by theCalifornia Academy of Sciences; and sample lesson plans that address your state’s specific educational standards.
Click Here to Access Free Project Resources

Fuel Imagination with Technology

2011-12-17T08:55:00.001-06:00

Winter Solstice

2011-12-15T22:28:00.000-06:00

The winter solstice is named for the cluster of holidays in December (at least in part.) Discover how Christmas ended up on December 25 from History.com, where you'll find both ancient and contemporary background info and videos on the traditions that cluster around Christmas. Hanukkah’s history and traditions are also vividly presented, with explanations of why the dreidel is much more than a toy and the menorah an ongoing light in the midst of winter darkness. History.com also explains the much more recent origins of Kwanzaa, a response to 1960’s racial strife in the US, that builds upon African ritual and values.

Free Online Classes

2011-06-20T05:36:00.001-05:00

What's happening in online education is earth-shattering. If you have the motivation and desire to learn, you can now audit free classes taught by distinguished professors at many of the world's most prestigious universities. In addition to the fly-on-the-wall experience of watching a lecture on video, many of these courses include exercises, reading assignments, and online discussions with other students. And today's selections are not limited to college-level material, as some of these sites also provide middle-school and high-school classes.

Go to: Barbara's page http://www.surfnetkids.com/free_online_classes.htm

NOTE: This is a great addition to your professional learning. Give Barbara your email for weekly emails!

~~Hope it helps!

~~GB

Check the Glossary

2011-06-17T18:08:00.000-05:00

from http://ilearntechnology.com

Harcourt Multimedia Math Glossary (http://www.harcourtschool.com/glossary/math2/index3.html) will help students in kindergarten through sixth grade understand math vocabulary. The glossary is easily searched by grade and alphabetic order. This glossary is not your typical textbook glossary, it doesn’t just define math terms, it actually shows them what it looks like. Each word and definition can be read aloud to students by clicking on the speaker icon next to the word.

NASA Goodies

2011-06-10T07:32:00.001-05:00

Later this year, after more than thirty years, NASA will retire the space shuttle program. Even though NASA is discontinuing the shuttle program, parts of the program can continue on in your school, library, or museum. NASA is distributing parts of shuttles and other space equipment to qualifying educational organizations. Included in the list of parts is more than 7,000 tiles from shuttle heat shields. Click here to find out how your school can acquire a piece of NASA history.

Applications for Education
Having a space shuttle heat shield tile or another piece of space shuttle equipment could be a neat way to spark students' imaginations and lead to inquiry-based questions.

The Extraordinary Teacher Quiz

2011-06-05T08:01:00.001-05:00

The Extraordinary Teacher Quiz
By Diana Loomans

There are 12 important qualities that separate good teachers from extraordinary teachers. How do you rate yourself? Are you the kind of teacher that inspires your students to achieve the extraordinary in their lives? Take t his simple test to find out.

–from Diana Loomans.com

Who Am I: History Mystery

2011-05-25T11:16:00.001-05:00

Who Am I? is an activity developed by the Smithsonian Museum to help students learn about US History. It features 6 prominent historical figures in US history, and students have to use clues to uncover the identity of the individual. I really like this site because it encourages problem solving and synthesis. Plus, the visuals are engaging to students. Thanks to Richard Byrne for sharing this resource.

an email update from Teachers as Technology Trailblazers

Math Worksheet

2011-05-22T06:16:00.000-05:00

Math Worksheet Generator creates both interactive quizzes (with one-click scoring) and printable math worksheets.
http://www.mathgamesfun.net/worksheet-generator/

Math Worksheet Generator creates an unlimited number of math worksheets, both interactive and printable. Choose from addition, subtraction, multiplication or division. Or generate combo worksheets with multiplication/division or addition/subtraction. Interactive worksheets let you solve the problems online, and will score your quiz with a single click. Printable worksheets and answer keys are created the same way, simply click the Print button on your generated worksheet.

Hope this helps!
~~GB

Poetry 180

2011-05-19T03:01:00.000-05:00

For high school students, check out Poetry 180, a collection specifically created to bring poetry to high school classrooms each day of the school year:

http://www.loc.gov/poetry/180/

Digital Images of Yale’s Vast Cultural Collections Now Available for Free

2011-05-17T15:02:00.000-05:00

Published: May 10, 2011

George Stubbs, Zebra, 1763, oil on canvas, Yale Center for British Art, Paul Mellon Collection. From the collections of Yale University.

New Haven, Conn. — Scholars, artists and other individuals around the world will enjoy free access to online images of millions of objects housed in Yale's museums, archives, and libraries thanks to a new "Open Access" policy that the University announced today. Yale is the first Ivy League university to make its collections accessible in this fashion, and already more than 250,000 images are available through a newly developed collective catalog.

The goal of the new policy is to make high quality digital images of Yale's vast cultural heritage collections in the public domain openly and freely available.

As works in these collections become digitized, the museums and libraries will make those images that are in the public domain freely accessible. In a departure from established convention, no license will be required for the transmission of the images and no limitations will be imposed on their use. The result is that scholars, artists, students, and citizens the world over will be able to use these collections for study, publication, teaching and inspiration.

Google Map Maker

2011-05-09T06:14:00.000-05:00

POWER TIP

If you’re in the U.S., you can now add your expert local knowledge to
Google Maps with Google Map Maker for the United States. For example,
you can get started by adding the outline of the soccer field at your
local park, or marking that a local two-way street recently changed to
a one-way thoroughfare. Each edit in Map Maker is reviewed, and after
approval, will appear in Google Maps within minutes. Using Map Maker,
people have built out and edited the maps for 183 countries and
regions around the world; now you can ensure the places you care about
in the U.S. are richly represented on the map.
http://www.google.com/help/mapmaker

Top TEN TIPS for Assessing PBL's

2011-05-07T04:13:00.002-05:00

At Edutopia, they value an authentic learning process that nurtures 21st-century skills such as collaboration, critical thinking, and global awareness, which is why they promote project-based learning (PBL). But how do educators assess learning when implementing PBL? This crucial and frequently asked question led us to create our latest classroom guide: "Top Ten Tips for Assessing Project-Based Learning."

This free download is full of hands-on advice and resources from around the Web. From tips on how to "Keep It Real with Authentic Products" to "Use Formative Strategies to Keep Projects on Track," our new guide is full of strategies to help you assess K-12 classroom projects like a pro.

So please take a moment to download our "Top Ten Tips for Assessing Project-Based Learning," and share it with your colleagues, classroom parents, and district leaders. You can also download our guide to your iPad and other mobile devices, making it easy to have the tips and tools you need at your fingertips!

Magnetic Poetry

2011-05-04T02:59:00.001-05:00

Magnetic Poetry online. Drag and drop words directly onto the virtual refrigerator! Students can choose from an assortment of kits from which to create!
http://kids.magpogames.com/playonline.cfm

Rapid Release from Google!

2011-05-02T08:48:00.001-05:00

Upload entire folders and more in Google Docs

Posted: 29 Apr 2011 11:46 AM PDT

We’ve released the following improvements to Google Docs file uploads:

- Folder uploads that maintain the folder structure
- An upload page that’s integrated into the Docs List
- Settings that remember your conversion and OCR preferences
- The ability to drag-and-drop files to the Docs List for upload

Release track:
Rapid Release*

Copy Paste Characters

2011-04-28T04:42:00.001-05:00

from Tammy Worchester's Tip of the Week

Ever need a special character like ✄ or ✎, but you can’t remember the key combination to create it? Well, this week’s tip will provide a quick and easy solution to that problem...

CopyPasteCharacter

http://www.copypastecharacter.com/

Hope this Helps!

~~GB

3D Vinci

2011-04-24T08:37:00.000-05:00

3D Vinci (http://www.3dvinci.net/ccp0-display/freestuff.html) has downloadable pdf lesson plans to teach math concepts using Google’s Sketchup. The site also has an impressive collection of printable puzzles and mosaics for students in kindergarten through twelfth grade to solve. This site helps bring 3-D concepts to life in a way that textbooks can’t. 3D Vinci also has a YouTube channel where students can watch several ModelMetricks projects.

Also from: http://ilearntechnology.com/?p=3647

Art Ed Videos

2011-04-22T02:44:00.000-05:00

from a friend:
http://artedvideo.blogspot.com/

This blog is a collection of videos suitable for the K-12 classroom.
All the videos included on this blog have been pre-screened. The blog
was started as a class project at Montclair State University. Students
in Harold Olejarz's Spring, 2011 class began adding videos in
February, 2011

All the videos on this blog have been labeled to make it easy to find a video on the topic of your choice. Simply scroll down the list of labels and click on a label to see all of the videos with that label.
~~Hope this Helps!
~~GB

Get Fed with RSS Feeds!

2011-04-20T01:36:00.001-05:00

Okay, so it’s kind of a cheesy tag line, but don’t you sometimes just feel “hungry” for new ideas? With the constant updates that are being made to technology and with the vast array of information available online, we have the option of having a “buffet” spread before us each day using resources such as Google Reader. My husband is our high school principal, and he has really pushed me to utilize Google Reader to stay updated. If you are new to RSS feeds, the idea is that you sign up for information from certain providers, and the information comes to you on a regular basis. In order to access it, you need to utilize a reader (such as Google Reader) to collect the information in the form of “feeds.”

One nice aspect to Google Reader is that you see a list of articles and their summaries in a row. You may then either “graze”–or skim–over the articles looking for those that interest you, or you may actually “eat up” by carefully reading through the feeds that catch your interest. One feed that I particularly love is Free Technology for Teachers by Richard Byrne. As a Media Specialist, I frequently forward his feeds to teachers at various levels because the resources that he shares are incredibly useful. Regardless of your subject area or grade level taught, Free Technology for Teachers has resources that will enhance your curriculum… for FREE!

So, if you are one of those people who is hungry for information and would like it spread before you like a mouth-watering buffet (work with me here), consider checking outGoogle Reader and setting up RSS feeds for some of your favorite resources. You might just discover that you are quite the information connoisseur!

from: Michigan DEN

~~Hope this Helps!

~~GB

Arcademic Skill Builders

2011-04-11T06:53:00.000-05:00

http://www.arcademicskillbuilders.com/) is a collection of fun arcade-like games that help students practice their math facts. Students can play games for addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, fraction, and ratios. The games are research based and standard aligned. It blends the fun of arcade games and key math skills into fun online games that engage, motivate, and teach students. All games have the option of single or multi-player mode.

Also from: http://ilearntechnology.com/?p=3647

Maths Master Videos

2011-04-07T02:54:00.004-05:00

A person in my PLN wrote this: I am also developing a site for pupils called www.MathsMaster.Org .
My plan is to develop a video tutorial for every topic on the
secondary school curriculum (11-16 years). The site is very much in
it's early days but lots of pupils are using it already. I'd be really
interested in hearing your impressions of the site and please feel
free to share it with your pupils!

~~Hope this helps!
~~GB

Star Trek: The Animated Series

2011-04-05T01:10:00.000-05:00

Star Trek: The Animated Series has been unjustly neglected by all but the most devoted Trekkies for most of the 36-plus years since it originally aired. The animation may — does — look cheesy by today’s standards, but some of the stories are truly excellent, and they did get all but one of the original cast members to do their characters’ voices.

Well, StarTrek.com has now put every episode of the series online for free viewing (though not, alas, downloading). If you’ve not seen any of the 22 episodes of the series, but are a fan of ST:The Original Series, you’re in for a treat.

~~Hope this Helps (you have something to look forward to)

~~GB

Blio

2011-04-03T01:16:00.000-05:00

from: STAR Report
Blio was announced at 2010‘s Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas and is the
brainchild of education technology pioneer Ray Kurzweil, creator of Kurzweil Educational
Systems and a range of assistive technology products.
Perhaps the software‘s most impressive feature is that it can support the original layout, font, and
graphics of any book in full color, its creators say. It also can support embedded multimedia such
as video and audio, and readers have the ability to highlight, annotate, and share information.
Blio is backed by Baker & Taylor, one of the world‘s largest publishers, as well as Elsevier,
Hachette, HarperCollins, Random House, Penguin, Simon & Schuster, and Wiley. Blio users
have access to more than 1 million books altogether, its makers say—including a large selection
of current bestselling titles.

Lisa Galloni, partner relationship manager for Blio, said the software has had tremendous
support from publishers because it can preserve any book‘s original layout and
graphics.Its flexibility is appealing as well, Galloni
said.
―Because it‘s not attached to any one device like a Kindle, it‘s not restrictive,‖ she said.
As a user downloads eBooks, these are permanently stored in a personal virtual library, Galloni
said. The entire library seamlessly migrates to up to five devices per user, any of which can be
mobil

STAR Report

2011-04-01T01:09:00.000-05:00

With widespread adoption of the Common Core State Standards, the national push for school reform, and a renewed federal investment in education, 2011 just might be the year 21st century innovation finally becomes a reality in our nation’s schools.

In this edition of STAR (the School Technology Action Report), “Emerging Trends: 2011,”eSchool Media, Inc., presents the five emerging trends we believe will take root this year, due to the large amount of attention these trends received in 2010, as well as the positive results they produced in student achievement and administrative effectiveness in schools, districts, and states.

In this report you’ll find the latest news on:

Classroom instruction trends
Mobile devices trends
eReading technology trends
Virtualization trends
Bullying trends, and much more

We hope you enjoy, and find useful, our premier issue of STAR!

Click here to download PDF

NO CURSIVE IN NEW CORE STANDARDS

2011-03-29T01:07:00.001-05:00

http://bit.ly/no-cursive-in-core
Cursive isn't a required standard for students in the new Common Core
State Standards for English, which Georgia and 40 other states
adopted last summer. Teachers and administrators from across GA will
meet in March to decide whether to amend the standards and retain
cursive writing, which is already in serious decine."A lot of my
students over the years have stopped being able to read cursive
writing," says middle grades ELA teacher Ellen Jackson. "I have to
make sure to write in print because they can't read it otherwise."
ALSO: here's a teacher chat about the pros and cons:
http://bit.ly/tln-cursive

~~Hope this Helps!
~~GB

A DAY WITHOUT CHEMISTRY

2011-03-27T01:05:00.001-05:00

http://bit.ly/day-without-chemistry
A new short animated video from the American Chemical Society is
getting some buzz - a very clever conversation starter about the role
chemistry plays in everyday life. Alas, the ACS loaded the vid on
YouTube and it's been crashing against school firewalls since. To the
rescue, the Daring Librarian of Murray Hill Middle School, who not
only posts the 90-second clip on her blog but tells how she leaped
the firewall to do it. Ridiculous, isn't it? These teachers think so:
http://bit.ly/tm-firewall

~~Hope this Helps!
~~GB

FINALLY, HAIKU FOR BOYS

2011-03-25T01:04:00.000-05:00

http://bit.ly/haiku-boys-guyku
Middle-school librarians and Booklist bloggers Cindy Dobrez and Lynn
Rutan enthusiastically review "Guyku: A Year of Haiku for Boys"
written by Bob Raczka and illustrated by Peter H. Reynolds. The
book's website features animated haikus submitted by readers and
activity sheets for teachers. http://bit.ly/guyku The site also
welcomes girls, who want to know: "What about us?!"
http://bit.ly/galsku

~~Hope this helps!
~~GB

Digital Literacy and Citizenship in a Connected Culture

2011-03-23T04:50:00.003-05:00

Common Sense Media has launched a new version of its free digital citizenship curriculum, Digital Literacy and Citizenship in a Connected Culture. The new version adds student, teacher, and parent resources, including comprehensive lessons on cyber bullying, for fourth and fifth graders. The program, which empowers students to think critically and make informed choices about how they live and treat others in today’s digital media world, covers topics from internet safety and security to privacy, with a deep focus on cyber bullying and responsible digital behavior. Recent stories of the tragic consequences of cyber bullying highlight the need to teach kids how to prevent and respond to digital harassment, beginning at a young age, Common Sense Media says. The curriculum, which is based on the digital ethics research of Howard Gardner and the GoodPlay Project at Harvard’s Graduate School of Education, uses content that ranges from print and video materials to interactive components and real-life student stories to inspire kids to be responsible digital citizens.
http://www.commonsensemedia.org/educators

~~Hope this Helps!
~~GB

EduPic

2011-03-19T06:34:00.001-05:00

EduPic is a teacher created resource with over 6000 (and growing) photographs and educational drawings that are free for use by educational professionals and the students they serve. Students and teachers can use the images from EduPic without having to get permission in projects, presentation, websites, or for any other educational need. The site is ad free and kid friendly with images organized by content area. Please take a minute to check out this wonderful resource

Landscapes Across America

2011-03-17T16:05:00.002-05:00

Don't Miss Out!

Enter the Landscapes Across America Contest by March 31!

It's important for students to appreciate and protect the green space around them, but it's not always easy to incorporate this into the school day. That's why TurfMutt is here to help! With your needs in mind, TurfMutt's Landscapes Across America Contest encourages students to learn about the environment, provides teachers with the resources to make this possible and offers exciting prizes for your work.

It's simple. Create a slideshow demonstrating the unique ecosystem and landscapes of your local region. You could win a $5,000 grant to implement an eco-friendly program, a $500 teacher award and trees planted in honor of your class.

All entries must be submitted by March 31, 2011. For more information, please visitTurfMutt.DiscoveryEducation.com.

Numbernut

2011-03-15T06:03:00.001-05:00

from http://ilearntechnology.com/?p=3647

Number Nut (http://www.numbernut.com/index.html) is an interactive math textbook, there are multiple pages for each math concept and each page is followed by two interactive practice areas. Topics on Number Nut include shapes, color, numbers, counting, addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, order of operations, date, time, fractions, decimals, percent values, estimation, rounding, ratios, and money math. The site is standard aligned and has an exceptional math glossary. Number nut is an excellent alternative to math textbooks because students get immediate feed back as they practice a skill they have just learned. With traditional math textbooks, a student doesn’t know if they understand a concept until they turn in their math worksheet or test and get it back a few days later full of red marks. Often they will not go back and re-practice unless they are required to. This site is ideal in a computer lab setting where each student can work at his or her own pace.

Learning Clip

2011-03-15T06:00:00.001-05:00

Learning Clip (http://www.learningclip.co.uk/index1.aspx) is a collection of interactive activities for primary math. Resources and activities include topics such as using and applying math, understanding numbers, number facts, calculating, understanding shape, measuring, and handling data. Each activity includes a brief description, a pdf of notes that accompany the activity, the age appropriateness, and a corresponding worksheet that can be printed out. When an activity is loaded, a video clip explaining the math concept plays. Each activity includes a game or interactive space for students to practice what they are learning. This site is ideal for struggling students, they can replay the video portion of the lesson as many times as they need to so that they understand the concept. The practice area is a great place for students to try what they have learned.

http://ilearntechnology.com

Tangram House

2011-03-10T06:01:00.001-06:00

Tangram House (http://games.ztor.com/tang/) This Chinese puzzle challenges students to create a shape using only 7 tans (shapes) to complete a puzzle. The tans can be rotated, flipped, and dragged into place. Tangram House can be used as a math center on classroom computers, completed individually in the computer lab setting, or used as a whole class activity with an interactive whiteboard. To play as a whole class activity, split students into teams that will take turns at the board forming the tangrams. Students who are not at the board can help their teammate using good directions and clues for the student working on the puzzle. This is a great way for students to practice giving and receiving quality instructions and descriptions.

http://ilearntechnology.com/?p=3647

Free Rice

2011-03-08T06:58:00.000-06:00

http://ilearntechnology.com/?p=3647

Free Rice (http://freerice.com) is an amazing website that helps students practice math facts, it has the added bonus of donating rice for every correct answer. Students can choose to practice basic math facts or multiplication. For each answer that is correct, grains of rice are donated to hungry people around the world. Add some additional math practice by figuring out how many grains of rice are needed to create a bowl of rice, and keep tally of how many total grains that your students have earned.

Tut Pup

2011-03-03T06:56:00.000-06:00

Tut Pup (http://tutpup.com) is a free math fact practice website. Students are matched up with other students from around the world where they play fact games and compete in real time. This site does not collect personal information about students and there are several games to choose from, each with multiple levels. Students can practice addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, algebra, and a mixture of those skills.

From http://ilearntechnology.com/?p=3647

Google’s Recipe View Makes Recipe Search a Cakewalk

2011-02-28T02:15:00.001-06:00

Posted: 25 Feb 2011 08:30 AM PST here

What do you do when you have to find the recipe for that dish you always wanted to make? You type your query on Google and try to find out the right one from all those results right? Well, a lot of those results aren’t what you are actually looking for. That means there’s a good bit of wasted time before you narrow down to the correct recipe. Well, worry no more because Google’s Recipe View is going to change all that.
Recipe search or the recipe view is basically a new search option introduced by Google that lets you efficiently narrow down to the right recipe without getting lost in hundreds of thousands of search results out there. The option can be located on the sidebar on the Google search results page, where you have images, news, videos and all that.

When you click on it after you’ve searched for a recipe, you’ll find that the results as well as the interface changes showing pictures and content that only relates to the recipes centered around your query.

Now here comes the good part – there’s further filtering and customization that can be done. Yes, you can further narrow down the results by the ingredients you want to put into the dish, the cook time (certain recipes take long while others can be cooked in minutes) and the calorie count.

As you see in the screenshot above, I can select yes or no on the specific ingredients and filter the results accordingly. The choices are also available under cook time and calories to help me make the decision.
Overall I think this is an interesting way to search, and Google could incorporate this into many more search niches in the near future.

~~Hope this Helps!
~~GB

Make 5

2011-02-26T06:52:00.001-06:00

Make 5 (http://www.fi.uu.nl/toepassingen/00091/toepassing_wisweb.en.html) Make 5 is a fun way for students to practice addition, subtraction or multiplication. Students can play this game individually or against another student. This game provides a great platform for students to practice math facts and to start recognizing relationships between numbers. Students are given a target number and a goal to choose an equation on the grid that equals that target number. There are multiple correct answers on the grid. The goal of the game is to get 5 answers in a row on the grid (like Tic-tac-toe or connect 4). If you don’t have access to classroom computers to play this game, split your class into two groups and play with the whole class with an interactive whiteboard or projector. Each student should be given the chance to represent their team and match an equation with a target number. Give teams 30 seconds to plan their move before sending up the representative.

Again from http://ilearntechnology.com/?p=3647

Math Mania and World Math Day

2011-02-25T06:50:00.001-06:00

Vmath Live hosts these online competitions each year for students around the world to compete in. Math Mania (http://www.voyagerlearning.com/mathmania.do) is a back to school challenge where students compete against other students in real time using the Vmath Live math program. Students face off with other students from around the world while practicing their math facts. As students answer questions, they can see, in real time, how other students from around the world are doing answering the same questions at the same time. The goal is to answer all of the questions as quickly as possible (correctly) and finish before the other students. The live competition is highly motivating and has students asking, “can I play this at home?” World Math Day (http://worldmathday.com/) is a competition that is held each year in March. Just like Math Mania, World Math Day is a competition between students from around the world. Each math fact game lasts for 60 seconds and improves student’s mental math. The World Math Day competition is for students in kindergarten through twelfth grade. Visit both competition sites for more details about the competition and dates.

Again from http://ilearntechnology.com/?p=3647

Register for Doodle for Google

2011-02-24T01:27:00.001-06:00

www.google.com/doodle4google

IPlayMathGames.com

2011-02-22T02:34:00.000-06:00

Coming up now is a series of posts from http://ilearntechnology.com/?p=3647
If you are lacking student computers for math practice, consider visiting iPlay Math Games. http://iplaymathgames.com has a collection of printable math games for students in kindergarten through twelfth grade. The games are easily searched by grade or skill level. These math games can be played using common items like dice, cards, and other manipulatives. The games have been created to build skills such as addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, fractions, decimals, percents, algebra, long division, measurement, graphing, exponents, problem solving, puzzles, geometry, probability, logic, reasoning, numeration, patterns, and counting. Search for games that will meet your different learning needs. Next, group students together to play the games. Grouping students with similar learning needs helps students practice the math skill with others who are in need of the same practice. Create a math learning center where students can easily access the games and manipulatives needed for the games. Hold a math mania day once a week where students can practice the skills they have been learning in math class by playing these fun games.

US President KMZ

2011-02-20T08:36:00.001-06:00

We’ve created a U.S. Presidents Showcase to map the birthplaces of all 44 presidents, and provide details about their presidential terms, using the Google Earth plug-in. You can also see the states that voted during each president’s election by clicking on the tours in the left column of the showcase.

Whether you’re a history buff or simply curious to learn more about U.S. presidents, we hope you enjoy exploring a little further using Google Earth. In addition to the U.S. Presidents map, educators can use some of our other resources in their classroom to explore more aspects of history. Here are a few ideas:
Explore the White House, Washington Monument, Lincoln Memorial and other historical monuments in 3D and have students explain how architecture is used to honor people, concepts and establishments

View a 3D model of Valley Forge National Park in Google Earth

View a copy of the Emancipation Proclamation signed by Abraham Lincoln and map the areas where slavery ended, as well as the areas that were not initially covered by this executive order
Discuss the famous painting “Washington Crossing the Delaware” by German American artist Emanuel Gottlieb Leutze and use the ruler tool in Google Earth to measure the width of the Delaware River
We hope you have fun exploring and learning a little more of the history behind the President’s Day holiday. And when you’re done, go out and enjoy your day off!

Holocaust's victims and survivors

2011-02-17T01:30:00.000-06:00

Google partnered with Yad Vashem, the Jerusalem-based center for
remembering the Holocaust's victims and survivors, to bring more than
130,000 images from their collections online, in full resolution. You
can find the images on Yad Vashem’s collections site or by searching
the web; we transcribed the text from many of the images with optical
character recognition to make them more findable across the Internet.
Add a personal story to a photo or document on Yad Vashem’s site by
clicking on the “share your thoughts” section.
http://collections.yadvashem.org/photosarchive/en-us/photos.html
http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2011/01/explore-yad-vashems-holocaust-archives.html

Readability in Google Search

2011-02-15T07:15:00.001-06:00

from Tammy Worchester's Tips Page.

This week’s tip shows a new feature within the Google search engine - the ability to filter results by reading level!

It is very simple to do. Just follow these instructions:

1.Go to: www.google.com
2.Click the “Advanced Search” link at the right of the search window.
3.Enter the desired keyword(s).
4.Use the “Reading Level” pull-down menu to choose the desired reading level:
Basic (easy reading)
Intermediate
Advanced (more difficult reading levels)
5.Click the Advanced Search button at the bottom right.
6.The results page will show only pages with the desired reading level!
7.Click the links beside the bar graph at the top of the results page to switch to a different reading level. (See screen shot above.)
I have used Tammy's books for years! You might like them.

GOOGLE INVITES DOODLE ENTRIES

2011-02-11T02:41:00.001-06:00

http://bit.ly/google-doodling
This year parents as well as teachers can register students in the
Doodle4Google contest. With registrations due March 2 and entries on
March 16, K-12 students still have time to compete and see their
Google homepage logo designs online -- and at the Whitney Museum of
American Art. Forty regional winners travel to New York. Three
finalists win scholarships. The grand prize winner takes home a
$25,000 technology grant for his or her school.javascript:void(0)

POWER TIP for GMail users

2011-02-09T01:31:00.001-06:00

Port your existing number to Google Voice

Google Voice helps you manage your communications by giving you more
control over your phones and voicemail, but until this week, you had
to get a new Google phone number in order use all of Google Voice’s
features. With Number Porting, existing Google Voice users can now use
their mobile numbers as their Google Voice numbers. This means you can
now use all of Google Voice’s features, like ringing multiple phones
at once, without having to change your number. To get started with
Number Porting, log in to your Google Voice account, visit the
Settings page and click on “Change / Port” next to your Google Voice
number. Be sure to read our blog post for more info about Number
Porting.
http://googlevoiceblog.blogspot.com/2011/01/port-your-existing-mobile-number-to.html
http://www.google.com/voice

Egypt Resources

2011-02-07T01:21:00.001-06:00

Large-scale protests have been underway since January 25 in Egypt. Activity has been concentrated in Cairo and Alexandria, and communication channels across the country have been intermittent.

The Google Crisis Response team will continue to update this page as more information becomes available.

New YouTube homepage

2011-02-04T01:26:00.001-06:00

Google gave us a preview of a redesigned YouTube homepage in late 2010, and
now all logged-in users will see the new version when they visit
YouTube. The new homepage is designed to answer the question “What
should I watch today?” so there’s more focus on videos that matter to
you—including subscriptions, friends’ sharing and recommendations. You
can also filter your homepage to show only the latest uploads from
your subscriptions and get quick access to the inbox when you have new
messages or comments. If you’ve already watched a video, it will be
grayed out on your homepage—and you can remove any video with a simple
click.
http://www.youtube.com

Google Art Project

2011-02-03T02:54:00.000-06:00

Explore museums and great works of art in the Google Art Project

2/01/2011 06:02:00 AM

One of the things I love about working at Google is that you can come up with an idea one day and the next day start getting to work to make it a reality. That's what happened with theArt Project—a new tool we're announcing today which puts more than 1,000 works of art at your fingertips, in extraordinary detail.

It started when a small group of us who were passionate about art got together to think about how we might use our technology to help museums make their art more accessible—not just to regular museum-goers or those fortunate to have great galleries on their doorsteps, but to a whole new set of people who might otherwise never get to see the real thing up close.

We're also lucky here to have access to technology like Picasa and App Engine and to have colleagues who love a challenge—like building brand-new technology to enable Street View to go indoors! Thanks to this, and our unique collaboration with museums around the world, we were able to turn our 20% project into something you can try out for yourself today atwww.googleartproject.com.

You’ll find a selection of super high-resolution images of famous works of art as well as more than a thousand other images, by more than 400 artists—all in one place. And with Street View technology, you can take a virtual tour inside 17 of the world’s most acclaimed art museums, including The Metropolitan Museum of Art and MoMA in New York, The State Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg, Tate Britain & The National Gallery in London, Museo Reina Sofia in Madrid, the Uffizi Gallery in Florence and Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam.

Google Apps Help

2011-02-01T14:58:00.000-06:00

Straight from Google folks:

eduguide.googleapps.com

http://googleenterprise.blogspot.com/2011/02/going-google-guide-for-schools-and.html

Doodle 4 Google: 2011

2011-02-01T10:22:00.000-06:00

The 2011 Doodle 4 Google contest is now open for K-12 students in the
U.S. to redesign Google’s logo around the theme “What I’d like to do
someday...”. The winning student, chosen by Google employees and a
panel of guest judges, will have their design displayed on Google.com
for millions to see, and take home a $15,000 scholarship and a $25,000
technology grant for his or her school or after-school program. We’ll
also choose 40 regional finalists, whose artwork will be featured in a
special exhibition in partnership with the Whitney Museum of American
Art. This year, the contest is open to parents to register their
school-age children directly, and we’re working with the Boys & Girls
Clubs of America and Girls Scouts of the USA so kids in those
organizations can participate too. Educators at public, private and
home schools can also register their students.
http://www.google.com/doodle4google

Make it Interactive

2011-01-30T07:24:00.001-06:00

Scholastic offers a wealth of activities and resources powered by SMART’s Notebook collaborative learning software to help you improve your students’ writing. For example: Interactive Whiteboard Activities: 5-Minute Proofreading Practice provides daily exercises for practice in proofreading for spelling, punctuation, capitalization, grammar and more. All it takes is five minutes a day! Each book comes with a CD of Notebook files to use with your SMART Board. Writing Lessons for the Interactive Whiteboard shows teachers, step by step, how to use the interactive whiteboard to engage students in learning excellent writing craft techniques with models of strong writing. The book covers includes tips for both Promethean and SMART Board users, plus a CD with models to use on screen. 50 Graphic Organizers for the Interactive Whiteboard contains 50 classroom-tested reproducible templates of graphic organizers along with easy directions and student samples. Full-color, interactive PDFs of the graphic organizers on CD are useful for modeling. Check out these and other interactive whiteboard products on the Scholastic site.
Click Here to Visit Web Site

Websites I found interesting (weekly)

2011-01-23T06:30:00.001-06:00

Jigsaw Planet

create online playable puzzles from your own photos or copyright free photos

tags: puzzles jigsaw jigsawplanet web2.0
In My Backyard (IMBY) - National Renewable Energy Laboratory

SEREF, the Solar Energy Research and Education Foundation, has built a couple of tools that could be of interest to science teachers. SEREF has an energy estimation tool that allows you to estimate the potential solar and wind energy of any location. To use the estimation tool you have to enter your location using on the map and input the size of the solar panels or wind turbine structure. You can also draw out the dimensions of your solar panels on the map. The potential energy is then calculated based on climate, latitude, and typical weather patterns.

tags: solar wind green
Free Technology for Teachers: Estimating Solar Power Using Google Earth

tags: Google_Earth
Net Cetera - OnGuard Online

tags: internet_safety internetsafety
2Learn.ca Tools - from the 2Learn.ca Education Society

tags: venn_diagram
How Teachers are using Google Earth in the classroom

tags: Google_Earth
Delta Air Lines Blog |

tags: delta rebook
Google For Educators - Web Search

tags: google_search search
John F. Kennedy Presidential Library & Museum

In a move that will make primary-source documents more accessible for students, Caroline Kennedy unveiled the nation’s first online presidential archive on Jan. 13, a $10 million project to digitize the most important papers, photographs, and recordings of President John F. Kennedy’s days in office. Users can browse through the drafts of Kennedy’s “Ask not what your country can do for you” speech and see how he tinkered with the words of that most famous line from his inauguration. Or, they can listen to his personal phone calls and read his letters. Archivists digitized more than 200,000 pages, 1,200 recordings, and 300 museum artifacts, as well as reels of film and hundreds of photographs. Library Director Tom Putnam said they started with all of Kennedy’s Oval Office files—everything that went across his desk—along with his personal papers, official White House photos, audio of all his public remarks, video of his famous speeches, and home movies. Private partners—including AT&T, EMC Corp., Raytheon Co., and Iron Mountain Corp.—contributed $6.5 million in equipment and technical services to digitize thousands of records. The library will continue digitizing about 100,000 pages a year, along with thousands of photos and recordings. At that rate, it would still take more than 100 years to digitize all records from the Kennedy administration

tags: JFK kennedy presidents socialstudies
Kerpoof Studio

tags: kerproof digitalstorytelling winter
http://www.kerpoof.com/edu/plans/Tall_Tales/Tall_Tales.pdf

tags: talltales kerproof digitalstorytelling
Using Kerpoof for Digital Storytelling

tags: kerproof digitalstorytelling

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

Promote Reading on a Daily Basis

2011-01-19T07:30:00.000-06:00

Scholastic is celebrating its 90th anniversary with a global literacy campaign that underscores the importance of reading as the pathway for young people to succeed in the 21st century. Through its “Read Every Day. Lead a Better Life.” campaign, Scholastic is asking everyone committed to the support of young people—partners, educators, business leaders, publishers, booksellers, librarians, nonprofits, parents, caregivers and students—to work together to expand and support children’s reading throughout the world. The goal of the campaign is to provide information and ideas to parents and teachers for making reading easier, more fun and more accessible to children while promoting the importance and value of reading for success in school and in life.
Click Here to Visit Web Site

Free Ebook on Web Tools for Educators

2011-01-18T06:10:00.000-06:00

One of my Discovery friends, Lee Kolbert, posted on her blog the link for a free ebook that she coauthored with Richard Byrnes. Enjoy this resource. It is excellent!

http://www.slideshare.net/kolbert/super-book-of-web-tools-for-educators

Super book of web tools for educators

View more documents from Lee Kolbert.

Google's Tech Support for Parents

2011-01-14T02:01:00.001-06:00

Google's Tech Support for Parents (or staff?)

Send them this way for clear explanations of how to do simple things on their computer
http://www.teachparentstech.org/

This would be great for staff, also!

Question the Author

2011-01-11T09:33:00.001-06:00

NPR’s Backseat Book Club is a monthly feature inviting children to read a book with NPR and send in questions. At month’s end, some of the questions will be put to the book’s author during NPR’s afternoon radio program, All Things Considered. This month the website presents theTop 5 Books For Backseat Readers (aged 9 and up) recommended in 2011.
Click Here to Visit Website

Hook Inner-City Youth on Reading

2011-01-10T06:54:00.000-06:00

Author of young adult books, Alan Sitomer has teamed with Recorded Books to bring his award-winning teaching skills to schools across the country through the BookJam. Sitomer, a three-time Teacher of the Year award winner, shares results from his own inner-city Los Angeles classroom. Each Jam includes 30 copies of three popular young adult novels and a standards-based study guide for each novel with reproducible differentiated learning activities and both formative and summative assessments. In addition, the Composition JamBox is an easy-to-use resource for assigning podcasts, slideshows, short movies and other engaging multimedia projects. Sample the audio and lesson plans from The Secret Story of Sonia Rodriguez (characterization activity), Monster (setting activity) and The Hoopster (symbolism activity). Also find Sitomer’s 6 Steps for Teaching Imagery in The Secret Story of Sonia Rodriguez.
Click Here for More Information About BookJam
Click Here to Access Sample Audio and Lesson Plans

Websites I found interesting (weekly)

2011-01-09T06:30:00.001-06:00

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

Raise Awareness of Cyberbullying Behaviors

2011-01-05T07:27:00.000-06:00

Slimy, creepy crawlies are the ugly image of cyberbullying in a new interactive Web site aimed at children between eight and 12 years of age. Created by the nonprofit organization SchoolAid, CureTheBullies targets children who may witness bullying behavior or even act as accomplices to bullies through their use of email, social networking or text messaging. An online self-discovery test helps children identify passive bystander behavior in themselves and offers them tools and advice on how to rid themselves of “Bullies Viruses.” Six cyberbullying behaviors have been turned into slimy viruses in the interactive program. If infected, students use a “cure,” such as “Understanding” or “Courage,” to defeat their virus. For instance, a “Gang Green” infection has the symptom of ganging up on someone on Facebook, blogs or forums. Its cure is “Friendship.” Youth infected with “Forwarditis” exhibit symptoms of forwarding emails, pictures or messages that could make someone feel bad. The cure is “Understanding.”
Click Here to Visit Web Site

Find Library Materials About Worldwide Locations

2011-01-05T06:10:00.001-06:00

With mapFAST, you can use Google Maps to find texts about places all over the world. Visit mapFAST, type in a location and get a list of texts about that location. By setting a radius parameter, you can specify how close to the actual location you want your texts to be. Thebooklists generated by mapFAST come from Google Books and WorldCat. Through Google Books you may be able to read and print some titles for free.
Click Here to Access Free Tool

Websites I found interesting (weekly)

2011-01-02T06:30:00.001-06:00

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

Last Minute Gifts for the Teachers in Your Life

2010-12-22T12:18:00.000-06:00

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!

Merry Christmas to all and Happy New Year, too!

2010-12-20T02:58:00.007-06:00

One of my technology friends posted this on his blog.
Thanks, Phillip

A great example of storytelling a familiar tale in a new way!

Websites I found interesting (weekly)

2010-12-19T06:30:00.001-06:00

Teach Parents Tech

tags: teachparentstech parents google

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

Explore New Habitats & Scientific Concepts with the Kratt Brothers

2010-12-15T07:36:00.001-06:00

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

2010-12-15T00:55:00.001-06:00

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.

Websites I found interesting (weekly)

2010-12-12T06:30:00.001-06:00

Tizmos Home - SEE and Access your Favorite Websites in One Place

tags: tizmos Bookmarking visualization

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

Have Fun with Art and Music

2010-12-12T02:28:00.002-06:00

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-

Carrout Text

2010-12-09T00:51:00.001-06:00

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.

Access Online Books from Around the World

2010-12-08T07:28:00.000-06:00

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

Holiday Mail for Heroes

2010-12-07T10:39:00.000-06:00

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/holidaymail

You Tube +Vacation

2010-12-06T03:38:00.000-06:00

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/

Websites I found interesting (weekly)

2010-12-05T06:30:00.001-06:00

Handwriting Paper

tags: handwriting paper writing
What is 21st Century Education

tags: 21stcenturylearning
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.

tags: web2.0 video_editing tools jaycut flash editing

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

Find Ready-to-Use Tools for Teaching with Documents

2010-12-04T07:26:00.001-06:00

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

Teaching Journalism Resources

2010-12-03T06:01:00.000-06:00

Teaching journalism teaches thinking

Consider using journalism to develop higher-order thinking skills. Try the ideas and resources assembled here.

Get Scientific Explanations for Everyday Phenomena

2010-12-02T07:24:00.001-06:00

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

Portable North Pole

2010-11-30T00:02:00.000-06:00

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!

Learn Chinese from Real Teachers in China

2010-11-29T07:10:00.001-06:00

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

Websites I found interesting (weekly)

2010-11-28T06:31:00.001-06:00

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.

tags: web2.0 photoshop editor photos image
Kindergarten Worksheets - Free Printable Kindergarten Activities. Create Fun Lesson Plans.

tags: kindergarten worksheets free
Iloveturkeys - home

tags: thanksgiving recipes pln
Video Converter - Best & 100%FREE Video Converter | Hamster Free Download Video, DivX & YouTube Converter
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.

tags: converter software free video convert
Free Video Converter, Video Converter, AVI Converter, 3GP Converter, Free Video Downloader, Facebook Video Downloader, YouTube Downloader
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.

tags: converter software free video convert
Debt Ski | InDebtEd
The Game DebtSki

tags: economics finance math game financialliteracy fun
YouCanBook.Me
online schedule maker that is linked with Google Calendar.

tags: Schedule conferences google_calendar
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.

tags: assessment quiz mystudiyo
Gratitude

tags: thanksgiving
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."

tags: podcasting podcast generator itunes
thekinderkids - Reading

tags: reading earlylearners
WatchKnow Classroom - Make Your Own Free Video Site!

tags: watchknow
:: e-Learning for Kids ::
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.

tags: web2.0 math languagearts scienceexperiments e-learning

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

Create Multimedia Presentations

2010-11-26T06:58:00.001-06:00

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