At Home during the Holidays

At home activity during the Holiday break...

Watch TED talk by Sir Ken Robinson 

TED talks website states that Sir Ken Robinson is a "creativity expert...that challenges the way we're educating our children. He champions a radical rethink of our school systems, to cultivate creativity and acknowledge multiple types of intelligence." His famous speech has been animated by RSA. You Tube notes that 6,240,593 people have viewed this version of his speech.

As you listen to this speech, think about how you learn new things best. 

                           

Website of the Week:

Conversations in the Cloud

Kids today prefer to learn online. VoiceThread allows for group conversations. These conversations are collected (in the "cloud," which means on the internet) and shared in one place from anywhere in the world. All with no software to install. "A VoiceThread is a collaborative, multimedia slide show that holds images, documents, and videos and allows people to navigate slides and leave comments in 5 ways - using voice (with a mic or telephone), text audio file, or video (via a webcam). Share a VoiceThread with friends, students, and colleagues for them to record comments too." Many teachers and students are using VoiceThread across the country. 

Create an account and click on MyVoice. Explore the site. Ask your campus instructional technology specialists for assistance! Here is a great wiki with VoiceThread resources: http://technologyintegrationshthornt.pbworks.com/w/page/20286944/Voice%20Thread

iPhone Tip of the Week: Double Tap Shift for Caps Lock

I have had an iPhone since 2008 and did not know this trick until I was perusing a blog. 

In order to have Caps Lock, all you have to do is double tap shift. However, you must enable it. Go to "Settings > General; Keyboard; Enable Caps Lock." Then, double-tap the shift key to type in capitals. 

If you would like more iPhone tips, see the following site: http://iphone.appstorm.net/how-to/30-super-secret-iphone-features-and-shortcuts/

No Sleigh??? Google Earth will get you there!

Google Earth

Our students may not have a sleigh, but they can still travel the world using Google Earth. This free downloadable program presents wonderful sights and information to our students whenever it is used in a classroom.  Used in conjunction with the Promethean Board it can open the eyes of all watching. No Promethean Board???  Use it with any projector and a computer to travel the world.  The older students can create travel trips themselves while the younger students are whisked away to the ruins of Egypt by their teacher.  If you are not quite ready to create your own, check out the Google Earth Gallery ..... world oil consumption, real time earthquakes, historic Fort Monroe, the life of Charlie Chaplin, and many more. 

Another source is Google Lit Trips.  This website creates engaging and relevant literary experiences as it marks the journey of literary characters from books. 

Tutorials and tips can be found at these websites. http://sitescontent.google.com/google-earth-for-educators/tutorials-and-tips

http://www.assortedstuff.com/stuff/?p=451  

http://support.google.com/earth/bin/static.py?hl=en&page=guide_toc.cs

 

         From Jingle Bells to Jingle Sales laughing all the way!

We all know about the major shopping websites but have you tried these?http://www.woot.com     This website sells one item per day until it is sold out or until time is up and a new day begins with a new item.  I got Flip MinoHD cameras for $35.00 each!

http://www.tinyprints.com  and  http://www.personalizationmall.com       Personalize items

Tip of the Week:  Open Documents that Office Wants to Block

In the past, older versions of Office documents would not open in newer versions.  Office 2010, fortunately, makes it easy to override those blocks. If you are having an issue with this in Word or Excel go to File -->Options -->Trust Center, click Trust Center Settings, then select File Block Settings, and remove the checkmarks from the older Office files that you want Office 2010 to open.