Pritchard's Press

HowStuffWorks "How Web 3.0 Will Work"

2011-06-18T22:38:00.001-05:00

The above article defines Web 1.0 and Web 2.o as follows:

"Think of Web 1.0 as a library. You can use it as a source of information, but you can't contribute to or change the information in any way. Web 2.0 is more like a big group of friends and acquaintances. You can still use it to receive information, but you also contribute to the conversation and make it a richer experience."

Now what is Web 3.0??????

What will Web 3.0 look like????

In a nutshell, here is what Web 3.0 will look like and feel like....

"Internet experts think Web 3.0 is going to be like having a personal assistant who knows practically everything about you and can access all the information on the Internet to answer any question. Many compare Web 3.0 to a giant database. While Web 2.0 uses the Internet to make connections between people, Web 3.0 will use the Internet to make connections with information. Some experts see Web 3.0 replacing the current Web while others believe it will exist as a separate network.?

How will it work????????????????

"Some experts believe that the foundation for Web 3.0 will be application programming interfaces (APIs). An API is an interface designed to allow developers to create applications that take advantage of a certain set of resources. Many Web 2.0 sites include APIs that give programmers access to the sites' unique data and capabilities. For example, Facebook's API allows developers to create programs that use Facebook as a staging ground for games, quizzes, product reviews and more."

Others think Web 3.0 will be a Semantic Web...

"With the Semantic Web, computers will scan and interpret information on Web pages using software agents. These software agents will be programs that crawl through the Web, searching for relevant information. They'll be able to do that because the Semantic Web will have collections of information called ontologies. In terms of the Internet, an ontology is a file that defines the relationships among a group of terms."

To sum it all up...

"Even though Web 3.0 is more theory than reality, that hasn't stopped people from guessing what will come next. Keep reading to learn about the far-flung future of the Web."

The information in this article is so informative that I had to just quote what the article had to say. Web 3.0 is up and coming. I can see it coming soon. Once the technology is developed it will be here.

Enjoy the article: http://computer.howstuffworks.com/web-304.htm

Social Media by Ayelet Noff

2011-06-18T22:09:00.001-05:00

The Future of Social Media by Ayelet Noff

Social Media Part of the Next Web Family posted an article about The Future of Social Media. According to the article, social media such as Facebook, Twitter, and other social media are becoming social channels for others to grow their companies .

There are 700,000 Facebook users and growing. Users can now connect through Facebook to their favorite stores and restaurants to get information. Social media is no longer just individuals meeting virtually to socialize but companies are bringing their products to the social media users and connecting.

Have you noticed the increase of companies using social media? For Facebook, check out the "Likes". .......For example: Olive Garden http://www.facebook.com/OliveGarden?ref=ts&sk=app_4949752878

This is just one of the insights that the article mentions there are several other insights on social media discussed and how it is changing the world. This is truly a very interesting and insightful article worth reading.

Larry Ferlazzo's Websites

2011-06-16T06:20:00.000-05:00

Are you needing resources and games for the subjects you teach??????

As I was reading articles through my Google Reader, I came across Larry Ferlazzo's Webiste where he has listed 8,000 categorized links appropriate for English Language Learners..WOW..I thought of my dual language friends and other colleagues who are teaching Language Arts. Then as I was reading, Mr. Ferlazzo has a huge amount of information and links to resources for math, science, and social studies.

Larry Ferlazzo's English Website | Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day...

The Main English Page Starts here: http://larryferlazzo.com/english.html

Beginner/Early Intermediate http://larryferlazzo.com/englishbeg.html

Intermediate English http://sacschoolblogs.org/eld2/

There is a wealth of information from Larry Ferlazzo. Check it out..He has amazing blogs and websites..It will take you a while to get through all his information. Thank you Larry for putting this all together.

As I was exploring I found Social Studies

http://larryferlazzo.com/social.html

Science

http://larryferlazzo.com/science.html

Math

http://larryferlazzo.com/math.html

AVG Anti-Virus Free Edition 2011 - Free software downloads and software reviews - CNET Downloads

2011-06-15T08:19:00.001-05:00

AVG Anti-Virus Free Edition 2011 - Free software downloads and software reviews - CNET Downloads

I was looking for Free Anti-virus software that I hear people talking about and I wanted to investigate in order to give it a try.

Recently, I have heard positive things about AVG anti-virus software...AVG offers the 2011 edition free at the above link.

AVG offers a LinkScanner that scan links before they are opened to tell you the security risks. LinkScanner will identify the link as safe, unsafe, potentially unsafe, by using color coding.

AVG toolbar is another feature I really like...

The above toolbar is optional and I haven't been using it long. So far, I find it very useful. I find it easy to go back and forth opening whatever I have chosen to display on the toolbar. News, weather, Facebook, Word, notepad, and more..

Anyone used this software or know of another free anti-virus software????????

Tomorrow's Tech in Today's Schools: PowerPoint Templates

2011-06-15T01:02:00.001-05:00

There are some interesting PowerPoint templates on David Ashby's website. Several games are listed such as Wheel of Fortune, Jeopardy, Millionaire, and Hollywood Squares. He also explains a Wikipedia project that has students creating a Wikipedia page as well as the Facebook project where students create a Facebook PowerPoint that resembles Facebook. The students complete their research reports and present them with the Facebook PowerPoints. The example given was John F. Kennedy. The end result of the project is that the research PowerPoint reports work like Facebook. Since many students are familiar with Facebook, I can see where this project would motivate students.

Tomorrow's Tech in Today's Schools: PowerPoint Templates

The Beginner's Guide to Twitter

2011-06-11T10:17:00.001-05:00

The Beginner's Guide to Twitter

Testing

2010-01-11T11:17:00.001-06:00

Hello Testing this to make sure it works!

New Beginnings!

2010-01-10T12:54:00.002-06:00

It seems that a "new" year will bring about changes in some, and in others, they will remain the same. Oh Well!!!

This fresh start to a new year makes me think about last year and makes me look forward to the "new" year. The resolves I have are going to be very simple but very important.

I would like to keep my posts on my blogs updated and current.
I would like to be able to learn everyday and/or every week something new that I can share with my fellow bloggers.
I would like to keep current on technology and what is going on in the world dealing with technology.
I would like to read old blogs I love and discover new blogs that I can add to my blogroll.
I would like to be able to share on my blog educational technology examples (at its best)!
I would like to just keep networking with wonderful people I enjoy through Twitter and Facebook.

It is not easy with all that goes on in life to take time to be on the Internet learning, learning, and learning; however, it will be my challenge as I face the "new" year.

May you all make resolves that you can keep throughout this coming year....

Moving My Blog!

2009-12-06T17:29:00.002-06:00

My blog is now at http://pritchardspress.wordpress.com

October

2009-10-30T09:38:00.004-05:00

What a great and amazing time of year....Fall or Autumn. We were driving along and came upon this scene and had to take a picture. It represents what I like to think as Fall. It is a beautiful time of year and with all the rain this year, the leaf colors are brilliant. It is a time to reflect as the year draws to a close.
Halloween is tomorrow, Thanksgiving in about three weeks, and then, of course, the Christmas season.....Time goes really fast. I remember my uncles and aunts saying that as you get older time flies. Boy, is that true. I can remember a time when I took all day to clean house and I mean I cleaned the whole house. Now, the day goes by so fast that I took all day to clean house meaning that I cleaned the refrigerator out....too funny.

Look at those leaves! Kicking up work with cutting tree limbs and raking leaves.....This was really work, but we truly enjoyed being outside with the fresh air and sun.

Cell Phones Become Learning Tools | theledger.com | The Ledger | Lakeland, FL

2009-10-11T06:33:00.001-05:00

Here is a school that is not afraid to let their High School Students use cell phones and personal computers as learning tools. The students are using them in the schools...in their classes....

Cell Phones Become Learning Tools | theledger.com | The Ledger | Lakeland, FL
- Cell Phones Become Learning Tools
  
  At Wiregrass Ranch High, cell phones are used in classroom work.
- WESLEY CHAPEL | Jennifer Gould ended her class announcements and told her students to take out their cell phones.
- "I need at least three people who can get a signal in here," Gould said to her advanced placementD.H. Lawrence, and I want you to find some things about him that you don't already know." literature class. "We're going to be studying the works of
  
  Nearly everyone whipped out a phone and began tapping away. Within moments, the teens were sharing their Internet discoveries.
- In a world where most high schools have adopted a "we see them, we take them" policy on cell phones, Pasco County's Wiregrass Ranch High School swims upstream. It encourages teachers to allow students to use their phones in classes for educational purposes. Teens routinely use their phones to shoot pictures for projects, calculate math problems, check their teachers' blogs and even take lecture notes.
- If anyone's complaining, Bonti hasn't heard it. Parents, staffers and students alike have praised the school's many efforts to be technologically savvy, including giving students permission to use their personal laptops on campus, too, he said.
- "It puts the education in their hands," Gould said.

tags: cell phones, learning tools, schools

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

Listening - Principles of Successful Blogging #1

2009-10-08T08:17:00.001-05:00

If you are interested in blogging, here are some tips from Darren Rowse that has been blogging since 2002.....
Listening - Principles of Successful Blogging #1
- Listening - Principles of Successful Blogging #1
- Listen to the culture of the blogosphere
- Listen for where your potential readers are gathering
- Listen to what others in your niche are saying
- 2. Keyword Alerts -
- Recommendation Sites -
- Twitter -
- Listen to what is being said about you
- Create Listening Spaces on Your Blog
- Listen to the Questions Your Readers are Asking
- Listen to what is working (and what isn’t)
- How else do you Listen in your blogging?
tags: problogger, blogging, Darren Rowse
Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

Langwitches Blog » Blogging with Elementary School Students

2009-10-07T13:05:00.001-05:00

Blogging for Elementary School Students:
Here is an excellent article and I love the statement "Blogging is one way of linking writing, reading, and connecting information and learning together" that Silvia Tolisano makes in her blog....

Langwitches Blog » Blogging with Elementary School Students
- Blogging with Elementary School Students
  by Langwitches ~ December 23rd, 2008. Filed under: Blogging, Classroom Projects, Digital Storytelling, Elementary School, Geography, Literacy.
  
  All of our teachers at my elementary school maintain their own classroom blog. As I wrote about in Blogs vs. Static Website and Changes in Classroom Blogs, we still have a long way to go as we need to move forward from merely a one sided communication tool to an online learning space that encourages, fosters and supports students’ creativity and learning.
  
  Being able to read AND express yourself in a digital world is an important part of being literate in the 21st century.
- Blogging with Elementary School Students
  by Langwitches ~ December 23rd, 2008. Filed under: Blogging, Classroom Projects, Digital Storytelling, Elementary School, Geography, Literacy.
  
  All of our teachers at my elementary school maintain their own classroom blog. As I wrote about in Blogs vs. Static Website and Changes in Classroom Blogs, we still have a long way to go as we need to move forward from merely a one sided communication tool to an online learning space that encourages, fosters and supports students’ creativity and learning.
- Blogging is one way of linking writing, reading, and connecting information and learning together. It seems the perfect venue to introduce elementary school students to the online world world of networked learning. They need to get acquainted to reading and writing hyperlinked text .

tags: langwitches, blogging, Silvia Tolisano

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

Social Learning

2009-10-07T08:22:00.002-05:00

5 Great Social Learning Resources

Social Learning Models - Social Media In Learning

2009-10-07T07:10:00.003-05:00

Jane Hart wrote about 3 social learning models involving technology...
1. The wrap-around model
2. Integrated Model
3. Collaboration Model...

In my opinion, the best model for schools is the collaboration model where students work together to create the project.

Check out Jane Hart's blog; it is full of good information for teachers and students.

http://janeknight.typepad.com/socialmedia/2009/09/social-learning-models.html

Social Learning Models - Social Media In Learning

tags: no_tag
- Social Learning Models
  
  When I help organisations understand how to incorporate social media into their formal e-learning content to create formal social learning, I explain this can be done in 3 different ways as shown in this slide from a presentation I use:

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

Fall!

2009-10-05T08:38:00.008-05:00

Fall is here and it looks beautiful. The leaves are changing colors, pumpkin farms are on the rise, and people are buying STUFF for Halloween. Where did the summer go?
It seems like yesterday it was the first day of spring, now it is fall. Along with this change in weather comes raking leaves and cleaning gardens and basically getting ready for winter.
Don't forget to take pictures of the leaves changing before they are all on the ground.

From Pritchard's Press

Google Reader

2009-09-29T07:59:00.001-05:00

Here are some very good tutorials on Twitter for Teachers.......Check them out! Enjoy!

Google Reader

tags: no_tag

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

Google Documents!

2009-09-29T07:51:00.002-05:00

Shared by Reuven Werber on Facebook!
21 Interesting Ways to Use Google Docs!

http://docs.google.com/present/view?id=dhn2vcv5_8323t58h3ft&ncl=true

Wiz IQ

2009-09-27T07:27:00.002-05:00

This was shared on Facebook by Nellie Deutsch and I thought it is a great introduction to WiZiQ. She has been encourage with virtual classrooms and I have too. Check it out!

Did You Know 4.0?

2009-09-26T09:46:00.000-05:00

United Breaks Guitars!

2009-09-22T07:56:00.003-05:00

The music and lyrics are wonderful. This person did not get mad but got even using his skills and the Internet. Listen and decide yourself!

PR Disaster at United Airlines due to Broken Guitar! : Australian Frequent Flyer Gazette

2009-09-21T22:09:00.001-05:00

The Power of the Internet! Check out this article!

PR Disaster at United Airlines due to Broken Guitar! : Australian Frequent Flyer Gazette

tags: no_tag
- PR Disaster at United Airlines due to Broken Guitar!
  
  September 17, 2009
  
  If you have a gripe, need to rant or vent your spleen in the 21st Century the days of letter writing, word of mouth and talk-back radio are slowly coming to an end. These days it’s all about the blog, social networking sites, discussion boards and You Tube. These methods reach a wider audience, can penetrate the mass media direct and can even create an overnight celebrity out of the “gripee”.

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

Blogging

2009-09-21T21:50:00.001-05:00

To Blog or Not to Blog_ Blogging for Beginners

Technology in the Middle » Blog Archive » K12 Online 2009: September 26 LAN Party

2009-09-21T21:31:00.001-05:00

Looks like a chance to learn from the experts! Mark your calendars!

Technology in the Middle » Blog Archive » K12 Online 2009: September 26 LAN Party

tags: no_tag
- K12 Online 2009: September 26 LAN Party
  
  K12 Online is an annual, free conference by educators for educators around the world interested in integrating emerging technologies into classroom practice. A goal of the conference is to help educators make sense of and meet the needs of a continually changing learning landscape.

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

Blogging!

2009-09-21T16:26:00.000-05:00

Quick Start Tips For Student Blogging Part I: Setting Up Your Class Blog | The Edublogger

2009-09-21T13:33:00.002-05:00

Here are more ideas for starting blogs in the classroom. Check out Sue Waters website with many, many more ideas.

Quick Start Tips For Student Blogging Part I: Setting Up Your Class Blog | The Edublogger

tags: no_tag
- Quick Start Tips For Student Blogging Part I: Setting Up Your Class Blog
- A class blog is always a good starting point. This gives you to time to increase your skills while gradually introducing your students to blogging and educating them on appropriate online behaviour.

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

The Obama Speech

2009-09-21T07:25:00.001-05:00

The Obama Speech

Posted using ShareThis

Twitter Handbook

2009-09-20T19:47:00.002-05:00

Twitter Handbook for Teachers

How Passion Can Transform Your Blog

2009-09-20T19:29:00.002-05:00

I have always encouraged my students to blog, but sometimes it was very hard to think of things to blog about. This is an interesting article about passion and blogging by Darren Rowse

How Passion Can Transform Your Blog

tags: no_tag
- How Passion Can Transform Your Blog
- Forcing things makes them worse. It’ll show up in your writing. Readers aren’t interested in reading something you’ve forced, and they’ll go elsewhere.
  
  Passion is the exact opposite:
- 1. Write what you’re passionate about
- 2. Find something to be passionate about
- 3. Write when you’re excited, not on a schedule
- 4. Pump up the jams
- 5. Coffee
- 6. Write passionately, become a better writer
- 7. Read others who are passionate

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

Keys to Life!

2009-09-20T19:02:00.000-05:00

First Days of School

2009-09-03T09:10:00.001-05:00

September often brings excitement for the First Days of School. The classrooms, teachers, and students look fresh and ready to go. The students and teachers are usually eager to be at school. I say usually because there is always an exception to the rule.
However, September means a new start for most students and teachers. As I contemplate what the coming months will bring as a classroom teacher, I am amazed at how fast a school year can go by. It is amazing to see the growth of the students. That is why, I always loved having the students write an essay and draw/color a picture to go with the essay at the beginning of the year. Then, at the end of the year, have the students write and draw again for comparison.
Capturing the excitement of the First Days of School and keeping it throughout the school year, will take patience and skill. It can be accomplished with support from colleagues and parents.

Virtual Library

2009-08-18T08:04:00.001-05:00

Check this out! A virtual library for educators from Springfield Township High School..... http://www.sdst.org/shs/library/opensource.html

Here is a sample of what you can find on their website.....

Open Source and School

tags: opensource, apps, courseware

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

School Begins!

2009-08-17T07:07:00.005-05:00

For many school districts, today will be the official start for teachers with students coming back on Wednesday. In reality, teachers started during the summer months getting their rooms ready. They have spent many days working on unpacking their materials and decorating rooms that were stripped and cleaned during the summer. Speaking from experience, it is a lot of work to get classrooms ready for a new school year. It takes time and patience to redecorate rooms that were packed away for the summer months. At the same time, it is exciting and refreshing to begin new. August is back-to-school time to enjoy that new group of students that come into your room with high expectations for everyone. It is a very busy time but rewarding time.

Enjoy your first days of school...Don't forget about Harry Wong's Book called The First Days of School. Excellent resource!

http://www.amazon.com/First-Days-School-Effective-Teacher/dp/0962936022

Blogging!

2009-08-09T16:36:00.002-05:00

* Blogging is a fun way to have students write for an audience.

* Blogging is an easy way to have students publish their writing.
* Keyboarding skills allow the students to keep up with their thoughts as they write what is on their minds.
* Anything can be blogged, such as notes, thoughts, information, ideas, journals, summaries, story elements, persuasive writing, expository writing, narrative writing, etc.
* As students write summaries of stories they have read in class, they can blog it.
* As students write stories of their own for class, they can blog it.
* As students write short poems or answer comprehension questions, they can blog it.
* Students can develop rough drafts using word processing skills and turn those creative documents into blog posts.

Remember Anything can be blogged.....

Moodle - A course management system!

2009-08-08T15:53:00.002-05:00

Moodle Services - moodle.com

tags: no_tag

Welcome to the Moodle Service Network!

Moodle is a course management system designed to help educators who want to create quality online courses. The software is used all over the world by universities, schools, companies and independent teachers. Moodle is open source and completely free to use.

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

Fractions

2009-08-05T08:10:00.003-05:00

Host Your Own Webinars | LearnCentral

2009-08-05T08:01:00.001-05:00

Host Your Own Webinars | LearnCentral

tags: no_tag
- Created by Steve Hargadon
- LearnCentral allows educators to use a free public Elluminate room to hold large webinars or group meetings. To qualify, the events must be 1) education-oriented, 2) free (you're not charging those who attend), 3) recordable, and 4) open to anyone to attend. We're really excited to see what you do with this capability, and are hoping that it allows you to regularly gather other educators around curricular interests in "historic" ways.
  
  The current instructions are below. This is a new service, so your feedback and help are greatly appreciated!
- We ask that you go through the live or recorded free Elluminate training (http://www.elluminate.com/support/training/index.jsp) before hosting a session, and suggest strongly that you attend another session as a participant to see how an Elluminate session works. Please don't go in without any actual experience--it won't be good for you or your attendees! :) This is an honor system, but we do ask that you are prepared as we don't want these free sessions to reflect poorly on Elluminate!

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

http://tweetteach.jottit.com/elementary_suggestions

2009-08-01T07:26:00.001-05:00

This article is about using Twitter as a resource for teachers to keep parents updated on classroom activities and more........

http://ow.ly/iM80

Web 2.0 Tools and Applications - Go2web20

2009-07-03T07:31:00.001-05:00

If you are new to Web 2.0 tools, this is a website to bookmark so that you can refer to it. This website is loaded with numerous resources for you to use. This was shared by Ced Paine from my diigo group called Web Tools by Teachers. Check out diigo as well as these awesome tools.

Web 2.0 Tools and Applications - Go2web20

tags: no_tag
- Web 2.0 Tools and Applications

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

Use Issuu for publishing a Magazine

2009-07-03T06:58:00.001-05:00

Web 2.0 tools
This looks like a great tool for the classroom or school to use to publish their newsletters online. The examples look professional. Check it out!

Issuu: Publish your own Issue - issuu.com

tags: no_tag
- Issuu - Publish your own Issue
  
  Issuu is the place for online publications: Magazines, documents, and stuff you'd normally find on print. It's the place where you become the publisher. Upload a document, it's fast, easy, and totally free. Within seconds you'll have a super cool online magazine you can post anywhere on the web and share instantly with your friends.

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

Twitter

2009-07-02T21:27:00.001-05:00

I have increased my participation on Facebook and decrease my participation on Twitter. I really enjoyed using Twitter but I agree with Kathy Schrock that Twitter should be used to "post quick items of interest or respond with a short message to someone seeking help on a topic". I tend to use Twitter to inform not as my personal text messaging or email space.
Here is what Kathy Schrock wrote:

Kathy Schrock's Kaffeeklatsch

tags: KathySchrock
- Friday, May 01, 2009
  
  Twitter is not for email
  
  During the past month or so, I have realized people are beginning to use Twitter as their main form of communication. I am a regular Twitter user and follower, but do not keep it open on my desktop all day. I use it how it is intended to be used-- to post quick items of interest or respond with a short message to someone seeking help on a topic. And I think carefully before I answer, to determine whether the response is only useful for the questioner (and DM the answer) or if others might also benefit from the answer (and reply with the @questioner). I try not to clutter up the list with responses that are meaningless to most others. That is part of the Twetiquette (Twitter etiquette).
  
  (Addendum: I was not implying above that people should not post "meaningless" (read "fun") items to Twitter. What I was referring to is the practice of replying to a post via an @username on the list when the actual answer only makes sense to the person who asked the question. It often does not make sense when one sees only an answer.)

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

Kathy Schrock's Kaffeeklatsch

2009-07-02T21:09:00.001-05:00

Reading through some articles on the Internet and I thought this was pretty interesting for schools to consider.

Kathy Schrock's Kaffeeklatsch

tags: KathySchrock
- Google Apps
  for Education overview
- Google Apps for Education works the same way as Google Apps Premier, with a tad less online storage space per user. The wonderful things about it is that any user can limit any publication to just those who are on the domain, if they wish. We use this when we are publishing something for only district staff. In addition, users can always selectively choose outside users (like our students on the other domain) to see their Docs, Calendars, Sites, etc.
- When you administer Google Apps for Education, you can chose to allow access (or dis-allow access) to the suite of tools -- Email, Calendar, Docs, Talk, Sites, Video, and Web Pages -- for all users. Google Groups and Blogger are not in the suite, but, of course may be easily used.
- The use of these Google Apps has moved technology ahead rapidly in our district. Between shared calendars for school-based meetings to internal Google Sites acting as mini-Moodle packages, both teachers and students have made good use of the apps for communication, collaboration, and creation.

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

Google Docs

2009-07-02T07:49:00.001-05:00

Have you tried Goggle Docs? The types of items that Google Docs allows you to make are documents, spreadsheets, presentations, and PDF files. These have been very useful tools. For example, I wanted to email my family addresses that were typed in a spreadsheet. I chose instead to make the spreadsheet into a PDF file. It was very easy and needed only a few minor adjustments. Have some fun and try it!

Retirement and Blogs

2009-07-01T07:51:00.001-05:00

As I go through the process of moving and finding a new job. One of my goals is to keep this blog as a source of technology for the classroom by inserting items that are useful to the classroom teacher. For example:

You can see to the left of the screen how easy it is to use Picasa to add a slideshow to your blog.

You can use diigo or delicious as bookmarks
You can add photos or videos to posts
You can use Google Reader to share information found on the Web
You can use twitter to share text information
You can share personal information...For example:As many of you know, I am
officially retired from District 130 in Blue Island, Illinois. As I
start my retirement journey, I have been organizing my personal
belongings by packing, packing, and packing. My husband and I plan to
move sometime this summer. We have bought a house in Macon, Missouri.
This is an exciting new adventure in our lives. We are moving to the
country where we will be able to have a garden and just enjoy the
country life. After the move, I plan to come out of retirement mode and into the teaching mode again.

You can use Blogs for informing and sharing information with others

Blogging

2009-06-28T22:42:00.002-05:00

In my opinion, one of the most important things a teacher or parent can do for their students/children is to teach keyboarding or word processing skills. The generation growing up now need to be able to type efficiently and learn word processing software. Many teachers want their research papers and reports typed. Students can take notes using a laptop. When creating stories or taking notes from lectures, the fingers can keep up with the mind if the person typing is efficient and has excellent keyboard skills.

Israel

2009-06-25T12:28:00.000-05:00

Greasemonkey

2009-06-25T11:23:00.000-05:00

What is greasemonkey?

Friends!

2009-06-25T07:59:00.009-05:00

It was great to spend the morning with friends. Actually, ate breakfast twice with two groups of friends. We had such a great time together. These ladies will be missed when I move. They will definitely be visiting me in Macon.

Testing This Again!

2009-06-23T10:25:00.002-05:00

I am testing this to see if this post will show up in Facebook!

Greasemonkey

2009-06-23T09:42:00.003-05:00

Google Docs to My Blog to Facebook!

2009-06-23T07:42:00.001-05:00

I really like using Google Docs to write my blog posts then send the information to my blog. Today I am going to try to send this information to my blog which in turn sends the information to Facebook.This morning I was reading this interesting Article by Sue Waters, so I decided to blog this article.

How To Import Your Blog Posts Into Facebook May 31st 2009 by Sue Waters in Working With Web 2.0 Tools -Whether you are a fan of Facebook or NOT really doesn’t matter.What does is most people have Facebook accounts. Reading updates and commenting in Facebook is what they are used to whereas posts on blogs isn’t.Importing your blog feed into Facebook means that people who are most comfortable using only Facebook are more likely to read your blog posts.

How To Import Your Blog Posts Into Facebook | The Edublogger

2009-06-23T07:12:00.002-05:00

The is another great article by Sue Waters

How To Import Your Blog Posts Into Facebook | The Edublogger

tags: no_tag
- How To Import Your Blog Posts Into Facebook
  
  May 31st 2009 by Sue Waters in Working With Web 2.0 Tools -
  
  Whether you are a fan of Facebook or NOT really doesn’t matter.
  
  What does is most people have Facebook accounts. Reading updates and commenting in Facebook is what they are used to whereas posts on blogs isn’t.
  
  Importing your blog feed into Facebook means that people who are most comfortable using only Facebook are more likely to read your blog posts.

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

Happy Father's Day Grandpa

2009-06-16T15:57:00.001-05:00

Web 2.0 Tools to Inspire

2009-06-15T07:59:00.001-05:00

Check out this SlideShare Presentation from Judy O'Connell

Web 2.0 Tools to Inspire

View more Microsoft Word documents from tippydawn.

Amber and Bugs!

2009-06-14T16:53:00.001-05:00

Amber hates bugs! We spent a week in Missouri with our granddaughter spring cleaning. She decided that she does not enjoy bugs. She was trying to help her grandfather tear down a ramp that was in front of the house. It was a very long day for her.

Colleges Consider Using Blogs Instead of Blackboard - Chronicle.com

2009-06-02T06:08:00.001-05:00

http://chronicle.com/free/v55/i38/38blogcms.htm

This exciting article tells the tale of Colleges and schools around the country that are looking for ways to save money. Blogs are free! Read to find out what one college is saying about blogs.

Untitled

2009-05-19T18:54:00.001-05:00

pritchard-may1

2009-05-01T13:34:00.001-05:00

Moraine Valley
Community College presented The Emperor’s New Clothes! The
fifth grade students thought this was a wonderful play. This is a
picture of part of the scene from the play…….

This year Whittier
School was involved in hatching chickens. We were took six chickens
to the Children’s Farm in Palos Heights, Illinois for the
summer.

Google Toolbar

2009-05-01T10:42:00.001-05:00

Try the new Google Toolbar for Firefox or Internet Explorer........

The new toolbar has many features but the one I especially like is the way Tabs changed. Once the tab opens it shows the most frequently visited sites as thumbnail images. Then, all you need to do is to click on your favorite sites. This saves a lot of time.

The tabs are at the top of the page in Internet Explorer and Firefox.

http://www.google.com/tools/firefox/toolbar/FT3/intl/en/

Diigo

2009-04-11T22:36:00.003-05:00

Diigo allows you to bookmark, highlight, tag, and use sticky notes as you read.

Check this Screencast out feature Diigo and Screen-o-matic! Fantastic.

Google Reader

2009-04-11T21:30:00.002-05:00

As I was updating the Interesting Websites section on my blog, I came across Durff's shared items on Google Reader. This is a very interesting list of tools that are being used in schools around the world. Are the terms below familiar to you????? Check them out!

Google Reader - Virtual Worlds/durff's shared items

tags: Durff, googlereader, tech
- Delicious
  Blogger
  Wikispaces
  PBWiki
  Diigo
  G-Mail
  Google Docs
  Google Earth
  Wordpress
  Kerpoof
  Webspiration
  EdTechTalk
  Twitter
  Plurk
  Skype
  Facebook
  Bloglines
  VoiceThread
  Nings
  ustream
  YouTube
  Flickr
  Bubbleshare
  Weebly

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

ISTE | Digital Stories

2009-04-10T07:17:00.001-05:00

I was reading about the digital stories contest and wanted to share this on my blog. I have been wanting to try out diigo and see how I can highlight information then send it to my blog.

Diigo is pretty easy and a very handy tool. No more going back and forth. I can now read an article, highlight what I want to share, add my comments, then post to my blog, or send this in an email. This will make things a lot easier especially when I am reading articles and finding information to share with my students and friends.
Enjoy and check out diigo.....

ISTE | Digital Stories

tags: iste, Necc
- ISTE's Digital Stories Contest
- NECC 2010 in Denver!
- To celebrate our 30th Anniversary, we’re inviting educators to submit videos that tell stories of student/educational transformation using technology. All videos will be featured on ISTE’s new video portal, www.istevision.org, and will be entered into monthly drawings for fabulous prizes such as mini notebooks, ipods, flip cameras, and ISTE books.

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

Wikipedia

2009-04-02T10:42:00.001-05:00

What in the world is the encyclopedia called Wikipedia all about?????????

According to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:About

Wikipedia can be defined as a multilingual, web-based, free-content encyclopedia project.

What does that mean?

Well, to start off with, Wiki means "a collection of web pages designed to enable anyone who accesses it to contribute or modify content, using a simplified markup language (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wiki).

A wiki is a webpage with layers or tabs. There are four tabs called article, discussion, view source, and history.

The article page is where the contributor submits the article. The discussion page is the talk page where discussions take place between the contributors of the article page. The view source page is the protection page for the articles. The history page shows the revision history.

This makes the Wikipedia Encyclopedia unique in that it allows anyone to contribute information. Yes, this means anyone in the World that has Internet access can contribute.

According to Wikipedia, this encyclopedia is "written collaboratively by volunteers from all around the world; anyone can edit it. Since its creation in 2001, Wikipedia has grown rapidly into one of the largest reference Web sites, attracting at least 684 million visitors yearly by 2008. There are more than 75,000 active contributors working on more than 10,000,000 articles in more than 260 languages. As of today, there are 2,820,558 articles in English."

The important part of contributing is that the contributor needs to follow the five pillars of character which are:

Wikipedia is an encyclopedia,

Wikipedia must has a neutral point of view,

Wikipedia is free content,

Wikipedia has a code of conduct, and

Wikipedia does not have firm rules.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Five_pillars_of_Wikipedia

http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/03/30/microsoft-encarta-dies-after-long-battle-with-wikipedia/

http://c2.com/cgi/wiki?WelcomeVisitors

Abbott and Costello Meet the Computer!

2009-03-30T21:27:00.001-05:00

When I read this skit, I just loved it. I found only one reference for the skit so I am providing that website link. Enjoy!

http://www.ourtownforum.com/forum/m.aspx?m=2435&mpage=1&key=

You have to be old enough to remember Abbott and Costello, and too old to REALLY understand computers, to fully appreciate this. For those of us who sometimes get flustered by our computers, please read on...

If Bud Abbott and Lou Costello were alive today, their infamous sketch, 'Who's on First?' might have turned out something like this:

COSTELLO CALLS TO BUY A COMPUTER FROM ABBOTT

ABBOTT: Super Duper computer store. Can I help you?

COSTELLO: Thanks. I'm setting up an office in my den and I'm thinking about buying a computer.

ABBOTT: Mac?

COSTELLO: No, the name's Lou.

ABBOTT: Your computer?

COSTELLO: I don't own a computer. I want to buy one.

ABBOTT: Mac?

COSTELLO: I told you, my name's Lou.

ABBOTT: What about Windows?

COSTELLO: Why? Will it get stuffy in here?

ABBOTT: Do you want a computer with Windows?

COSTELLO: I don't know. What will I see when I look at the windows?

ABBOTT: Wallpaper.

COSTELLO: Never mind the windows. I need a computer and software.

ABBOTT: Software for Windows?

COSTELLO: No. On the computer! I need something I can use to write proposals, track expenses and run my business. What do you have?

ABBOTT: Office.

COSTELLO: Yeah, for my office. Can you recommend anything?

ABBOTT: I just did.

COSTELLO: You just did what?

ABBOTT: Recommend something.

COSTELLO: You recommended something?

ABBOTT: Yes.

COSTELLO: For my office?

ABBOTT: Yes.

COSTELLO: OK, what did you recommend for my office?

ABBOTT: Office.

COSTELLO: Yes, for my office!

ABBOTT: I recommend Office with Windows.

COSTELLO: I already have an office with windows! OK, let's just say I'm sitting at my computer and I want to type a proposal. What do I need?

ABBOTT: Word.

COSTELLO: What word?

ABBOTT: Word in Office.

COSTELLO: The only word in office is office.

ABBOTT: The Word in Office for Windows.

COSTELLO: Which word in office for windows?

ABBOTT: The Word you get when you click the blue 'W'.

COSTELLO: I'm going to click your blue 'w' if you don't start with some straight answers. What about financial bookkeeping? You have anything I can track my money with?

ABBOTT: Money.

COSTELLO: That's right. What do you have?

ABBOTT: Money.

COSTELLO: I need money to track my money?

ABBOTT: It comes bundled with your computer.

COSTELLO: What's bundled with my computer?

ABBOTT: Money.

COSTELLO: Money comes with my computer?

ABBOTT: Yes. No extra charge.

COSTELLO: I get a bundle of money with my computer? How much?

ABBOTT: One copy.

COSTELLO: Isn't it illegal to copy money?

ABBOTT: Microsoft gave us a license to copy Money.

COSTELLO: They can give you a license to copy money?

ABBOTT: Why not? THEY OWN IT!

(A few days later)

ABBOTT: Super Duper computer store. Can I help you?

COSTELLO: How do I turn my computer off?

ABBOTT: Click on 'START'.............

Bob Love Chicago Bulls

2009-03-20T20:36:00.001-05:00

Today, at Whittier School located in Blue Island, Illinois....Bob Love gave a speech on "Follow Your Dreams!" The students were extremely interested in everything that he had to say.

Mr. Love delivered a very positive and persuasive speech that provided the students with information that they will be able to use to make the right "choices" as they grow into adults. Read more here: http://www.sterlingspeakers.com/love.htm

http://www.stutteringhelp.org/default.aspx?tabindex=578&tabid=591

Google Reader

2009-03-15T22:37:00.001-05:00

Google Reader

2009-03-15T22:29:00.001-05:00

Twitter

2009-03-11T22:28:00.004-05:00

Being a fan of Twitter, I was trying to explain what Twitter was all about and I came across two blogs that explained it perfectly. This is an excellent video that I found on Rachel Boyd's blog. Enjoy!
Rachel Boyd

More information about Twitter can be found at http://edorigami.edublogs.org/2009/03/02/twitter/

Why Blog?

2009-03-11T09:48:00.001-05:00

One of the strengths related to blogging is that it reinforces writing and reading skills. Bloggers read, write, proofread, rewrite, reread, and write more. Bloggers write for a real audience and this is important for any writer to know that someone is going to read their hard work. Bloggers usually write daily regarding their thoughts, ideas, or concerns. Bloggers build their communication skills by writing clearly and concisely. Bloggers inform the public about issues that are happening now. Bloggers use critical thinking skills to analyze and synthesize informational articles on the web then sharing their impressions and concerns. For example, Will Richardson writes for educators http://weblogg-ed.com/ . Bloggers write their personal thoughts like a diary; such as, Adora Svitak has a fantastic personal blog http://www.adorasvitak.com/ .

Blogging, Reading, and Writing

2009-03-10T14:18:00.001-05:00

If you want your children/students to become better readers and writers then let them read and write.

One of the best strategies for improving reading is ..........reading.

One of the best strategies for improving writing is ...........writing.

You need to provide many opportunities for learners to read and write. This can be accomplished by allowing the learners to blog and use the Internet.

The Internet is full of facts; for example, on web sites, blogs, and wikis that can be used to learn a broad range of information. By using the Internet, knowledge is a keyboard stroke away. It is fun to be engaged in a conversation with family or friends, discussing information, then someone mentions a topic or something they have heard but do not have all the facts. So, a family member or friend sits down at the keyboard, enters the Internet or World Wide Web, and searches for the missing information. The group discussion can continue, no waiting. This adds knowledge immediately. No waiting until someone has time to go to the library to look up the information or searching through old newspaper articles to find the topic.
The speed of access of information that is provided by the Internet is very exciting and very useful. As educators and parents, we need to tap into this informational age and embrace this new way of learning.

Here are a few definitions for Internet and World Wide Web.
Internet: global informational system
Wikipedia has an excellent definition of Internet!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet
http://www.webopedia.com/TERM/I/Internet.html
http://www.cs.columbia.edu/~hgs/internet/definition.html

World Wide Web
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Wide_Web
http://www.tekmom.com/buzzwords/zdwww.html
http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/World-Wide-Web-WWW.html
http://www.its.bldrdoc.gov/fs-1037/dir-040/_5901.htm

Learners blogging is another great way to support and encourage writing. Blogs can be private or public. It is your choice. Creating blogs requires research and reading many information articles from the World Wide Web. Being a blogger requires reading and writing skills. The more one reads and writes the better they are at reading and writing.

Blogs to Read:
Adora Svitak is a very young blogger. Read her story.
http://www.adorasvitak.com/
Benefits to Blogging for Kids
http://www.rss-specifications.com/kids-blogging.htm
Blogs for Teachers http://blogsforteachers.info/

Lois Lowry

2009-03-10T09:46:00.001-05:00

The following is an example of how to write an informational article and supply links to what you are talking about. Links in your writing help the readers learn more about the information. It is a good idea to provide additional information by using links. Readers love the convenience of reading more about a topic they are interested in by just clicking on a link.

Lois Lowry is the author of two books we are reading in fifth grade. Here is an autobiography about her which is very interesting
http://www.loislowry.com/bio.html

Here is a list of her books. http://www.loislowry.com/books.html

As you read, Lois Lowry has written a lot of books over the years and her interests started when she was very little. During her life, she has gone through some trials of her own; for example, losing a son. She continues to write for her audiences and supplies her readers with many pleasurable hours of reading. I hope you enjoy reading about her.

Lois Lowry

2009-03-09T21:07:00.001-05:00

An Interview with a famous author Lois Lowry!

FrontPage

2009-03-06T11:24:00.001-06:00

Directions for Media Center
**************************************************

Open FrontPage

Then choose

File

Open

Open your student page

Check to see if you have the following: background color: If you don't then Format

Background

Choose a color

**************************************************

On the Formatting Toolbar

Choose Comic Sans MS, 6 (24pt), bold, center, choose a color,

***************************************************

Writers' Workshop Stories:

Once you finished writing a story and you have had someone proofread it for you then you can:::::

Turn your Word document into a Web Page

Choose File

Save as type: choose Web Page

click Save

Close your document

****************************************************

Links

type name of document with 6 (24pt) font size

highlight name

click on Insert hyperlink

Insert hyperlink window opens

Look in: (this is where you choose your file to be linked to)

click on OK

click on Save

*****************************************************

Images

Find the image you want to use

Save it into your image folder

Inserting Images

Insert

Picture

from file

choose your image folder

Reading Comprehension

2009-03-05T13:56:00.001-06:00

This year, my students have enjoyed working on the following websites:

Into the Book is a Website featuring eight reading comprehension strategies: prior knowledge, making connections, questioning, visualizing, inferring, summarizing, evaluating, and synthesizing. Students use headphones to listen to the videos and audio recordings at this site. This site is full of interesting information, images, videos, and audios.

Free Rice features language arts and mathematics. Motivation is answering questions correctly so that rice is donated to the United Nations World Food program.

Each website is full of interesting facts and questions.

Technology and Reading Defined

2009-03-05T11:17:00.001-06:00

What does the phrase technology and reading mean?
For educators, this may mean using technology for reading instruction or using technology to enhance learning or it could mean both. Also, it could be referring to reading information from the Internet on websites or blogs? Or it could mean reading information that has been enlarged with overhead projectors? In addition, it could mean using various software programs and other types of technology to promote reading?
The phrase technology and reading could be referring to very, very
simple integration of technology and reading to very complex uses of
technology to support reading. It could mean how does technology
support reading instruction or what are the best ways to integrate
technology with reading?

No matter what form technology and reading takes, shouldn't the technology be so integrated
that it becomes "the tool" and is not emphasized because the learner is
so involved in reading to learn or learning to read. The technology should become a
part of the learners life so integrated that it becomes like the clothes chosen for the day or the coats worn for different activities. Just like a car allows the learner to travel faster or glasses allow the learner to see better. Technology allows the learner to do things more efficiently.

One of the goals for this blog is to report on how technology can be
used in educational settings. The following Website is an excellent example.

http://mrsdell.org/reading/index.html

http://mrsdell.org/resources.html

Health, Science, and more Websites

2009-03-04T14:09:00.001-06:00

Teachers at Whittier School put together this list of Websites for students to use while in the media center conducting research.

Body Systems Websites

Human Body Online http://www.innerbody.com/image/nervov.html

Human Body Adventure http://vilenski.org/science/humanbody/hb_intro.html

Get Body Smart http://www.getbodysmart.com/

ASTRONAUTS 2008

Human Space Flight NASA

http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/home/index.html

NASA Solar System Interactives

http://solarsytem.nasa.gov/multimedia/interactive.cfm

Astronomy Picture of the Day

http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap080123.html

SOLAR SYSTEM Interactive website

http://www.iknowthat.com/com/App?File=ScienceLab.htm&Type=S&SWF=solarsystem%

Phases of the Moon diagram

http://www.astro.umd.edu/education/astro/moon/phases.html

Moon Phases Excel Activity

http://www.internet4classrooms.com/excel_files/moon_phases_to_drag.xls

SCIENCE

World Biomes and Climate

http://www.blueplanetbiomes.org

http://www.worldbiomes.com

What is it like where you live?

http://www.mbgnet.net

Mr. Banks Trees of the World

http://www.hipark.austin.isd.tenet.edu/arc/projects/fourth/trees/main.html

Enchanted Learning

http://www.zoomwhales.com/biomes/tempdecid/tempdecid.shtml

SOCIAL STUDIES

Native American Site

http://www.mce.k12tn.net/indians/index.htm

Interactive PBS re-enactment of colonial times:

http://www.pbs.org/wnet/colonialhouse/history/index.html

U.S. State Government site with brief historical timeline:

http://usinfo.state.gov/products/pubs/histryotln/index.htm

State history timelines:

http://www.shgresources.com/resources/timelines/

National Geographic article for kids on the Lost Colony of Roanoke

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/kids/2004/03/lostcolony.html

National Geographic interactive book on the first Thanksgiving

http://www.nationalgeographic.com/ngyoungexplorer/

Mr. Donn American History Sites

http://www.mrdonn.org/americanhistory.html

Clip Art, Paint, and Google Docs

2009-03-04T10:58:00.001-06:00

The students will insert images for their Word documents using Clips Online from Microsoft .
Once they find an image that they want to use, the image can be copied/pasted into Paint. Paint allows you to change the background color. This is a great feature, especially if you want to match your Web page backgrounds. On some images, you can change more than just the background color. Notice the background color for the laptops. Then, look at the colors I change on the book image. The book image allows you to change the background color in three areas and the book color can be changed in many areas too. The one thing to remember is just to play with it and have fun!

First Day of Testing

2009-03-04T09:52:00.001-06:00

Whittier School started the ISAT testing today. ISAT stands for Illinois Standards Achievement Test. The fifth grade students were given Session I of the Reading and Math during the morning. On Thursday, they will take Session II of Reading and Math. The school will have make-up tests on Friday for those that missed testing on Wednesday and Thursday.
Next week, the school will test again on Tuesday and Wednesday. The fifth grade students will be given Session III of reading and Math on Tuesday and the ISAT writing on Wednesday. This will complete the tests for fifth grade. Make ups will be on Thursday of next week for Session III and writing.

Read-across-america

2009-02-27T14:12:00.001-06:00

Read
Across America

Monday,
March 2 Cook County School District 130 does not have school. In
addition, it is Read Across America Day and it is also Dr. Seuss’s
birthday.

Next week,
our principal, Mr.
Talluto, will be reading Green Eggs and Ham to the class with
the most books read over the weekend. Please have your child
participate in the Read Across America Day by reading a book. All
students were given forms to be signed by their parents. The
completed forms are due to the teachers by Tuesday, March 3.

Progress
Reports!

On
Wednesday, February 25 progress reports were given to all the
students in room 5. The students are working hard to bring up their
grades. Please remind them to turn in their “do over work”
as soon as possible.

Library
Cards!

Students
still need their Blue Island Public Library cards.As soon as the
weather breaks, we will be walking to the public library for our
research, projects, reports, and to check out books. It builds
responsibility when students have their own library cards to check
out books. They are extremely proud of themselves when they check out
books at the public library without adults.

Math and Reading Websites!

2009-02-23T20:26:00.003-06:00

This is just a few of the websites I have seen used at Whittier School. The students and teachers seem to enjoy them.

For Balanced Literacy http://reading.ecb.org

For Math: http://www.aaamath.com

Get Smarter Math Website

http://www.getsmarter.org/index.cfm

Lessons:

Http://www.isbe.net/ils/math/capd.htm

http://www.mste.uiuc.edu/m2t2

http://standards.nctm.org/document/eexamples/index.htm

http://www.mattimath.com/

http://www.ictm.org

Open-ended Questions

http://www.wiu.edu/mathtips

http://www.pasd.wednet.edu/school/mathwasl/

http://figurethis.org

For Reading and Math

http://www.freerice.com

http://www.tlsbooks.com

TURN OFF THE ELECTRONIC DEVICES

2009-02-20T11:00:00.001-06:00

Sleep Sleep Sleep

Students need the proper amount of sleep when facing the challenges of daily school activities. This means that they need over 8-10 hours of good restful sleep daily. Their minds cannot function clearly when they have not had enough sleep.
During the early evening, students need to cancel their activities on computers and electronic games as well as stop watching television. Their minds and bodies need rest and quietness so that they can think clearly. TURN OFF THE ELECTRONIC DEVICES can become one of the most important things that you do for your child. It does not matter how old a child/student is, what matters is getting that child/student enough sleep.
Skim over the following articles to see what experts are saying about sleep. This is nothing new. We all know the importance of sleep, but these studies are interesting.

National Sleep Foundation
Sleep Research
Importance of Sleep for School Children
Good Sound Sleep for Children
The Importance of Sleep
The Importance of Sleep The Importance of Sleep

Voicethread Arizona

2009-02-19T20:05:00.002-06:00

Voicethread in one minute!

2009-02-19T19:50:00.001-06:00

Voicethread

2009-02-19T19:43:00.001-06:00

All About Jing!

2009-02-19T17:30:00.003-06:00

Adding visual elements to your presentations or conversations! Here is a short movie clip explaining Jing.

Technorati Tags
Jing
Screencasts

Screencasts

2009-02-19T17:05:00.003-06:00

http://www.screencast-o-matic.com

During the last school year, I was able to use Screencast.com to make a presentation on "how to add blog posts to my students' blogmeister blogs." Since the Class Blogmeister website was blocked at school and we could not log in, I made a short movie clip at home to use in the classroom so that I could instruct my students on the "how tos" regarding Classblogmeister. I also made the movie clip available online by linking it to Classblogmeister. In this way, the students could find the file easily, use it at home, and made it possible for them to follow the tutorial and learn how to "log in" and "post to" their blogs. This was very successful.The movie clip was stored at www.screencast-o-matic.com.

http://www.jingproject.com/

Another useful tool:
The above link is for a free software download called Jing. Jing allows to make a screencast while recording your voice and mouse movements. This is an excellent tool to use to make tutorials. Once installed, you can work offline to make your screencasts. Your mouse movements are recorded along with your voice. The movie clips are no longer than 5 minutes.

Summary: Jing allows you to take a picture of your screen, make a video of the onscreen action including voice, and you can share your screencast on the web, through instant messaging, and email.

Here is a tutorial on how to capture an image!

ISAT Testing

2009-02-16T20:53:00.004-06:00

ISAT Practice Websites:

http://metacat2.com/iltestlinks.html

http://www.internet4classrooms.com/skills_5th_original.htm#math

http://www.boiseschools.org/schools/north/mrznorth/ISATSamplequestions.htm

http://metacat2.com/iltestlinks.html

http://www.isbe.net/assessment/isat.htm

http://www.isbe.net/assessment/htmls/sample_books_2008.htm

Select your grade level
Select your subject and begin
working

http://www.aaamath.com/

select grade level on top of the screen.

Select practice

Start practice

Practice for all Academic Areas:

www.freerice.com

Google Documents Again!

2009-02-16T20:52:00.001-06:00

Additional information about Google Docs:

Below you will find information called "In a Nutshell" taken from the following link.

http://docs.google.com/support/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=37603

In a nutshell

Docs: Each doc can have a maximum size of 500K, plus up to 2MB per embedded image.

Spreadsheets: Each can be up to 256 columns, 200,000 cells, or 100 sheets--whichever is reached first. There's no limit on rows

Presentations: Files in .ppt and .pps formats can have a maximum size of 10MB; files uploaded from the Web can be up to 2MB; emailed files can be up to 500K.

PDFs: You can store up to 10MB per PDF from your computer and 2MB from the web in your Docs list, up to 100 PDFs.

2009-02-05T21:49:00.013-06:00

Google Documents

This is an online application where you can create word documents, spreadsheets, and slide show presentations.
In my opinion, one of the best things about this application is that it is online. You can access your documents from any computer in the world. If you can get online, then you should be able to get to your Google documents. This may not be exciting to some people. However, when teachers are working with students on many different computers, in different locations, and at different times of day, then Google Docs could become very valuable in bringing information into one location.

For example, if you are creating documents at home and at work, then you will be able to put the documents in one place for easy access. This means you can work on the same document from many different computers. I started this blog post early this morning from a computer in my classroom. Later the same day, I went into the media center to try out Google Docs. I was able to work on this document again from a different computer. Then, I went home to work on my home computer and finish this blog post.

Additional Positive Features for Google Docs!

There is an off-line download available so that you can access your files when there is no internet.
- You can, also, choose to share the documents in a
  collaborative environment or just keep them private. It is up to you and whatever you need to do!
- When you are finished creating your word processing document, you can also save it as a PDF, HTML, RTF, or Text file.
When I am finished writing this post, I will select the publish feature and publish it directly to my blog.
As I learn more about Google Docs, I will post another article to keep everyone updated. If you use Word to create documents for your job or personal business, why not try out Google Docs? If you do, please let me know what you think about it.

Technorati Tags
Google Docs

Listen to this article

Groundhog Day!

2009-02-02T18:50:00.013-06:00

Groundhog Day!

Happy Groundhog Day!

http://www.groundhog.org/

The groundhog saw his shadow, so we have six weeks more of winter! The above website is the official website for the
Punxsutawney Groundhog Club! It is a very interesting website. Have fun
visiting this site and learning about Punxsutawney Phil. There has been a celebration in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania since 1886. Phil lives at Gobbler's Knob.

Labels: Groundhog Day, Punxsutawney Phil, Pennsylvania
Technorati Tags
Punxsutawney
Groundhog Day!

Listen to this article

Flat World After All!

2009-01-31T13:37:00.018-06:00

Flat World After All!

Flat World or It's a Small World are two concepts that I experienced today. With my brother having cancer, going to different doctors, having tests run, having surgery on lymph nodes, and then, coming home from the hospital, I was able to reach my very large family and many friends quickly by using Facebook, twitter, a cell phone, and email. I have made many contacts with Family and Friends through Facebook. By updating my status, I keep the whole family updated on what's going on. I use Twitter to feed information into Facebook.
Since Facebook is blocked at school where I work, I use my phone to send messages to Twitter which in turn directs the status updates to Facebook. This has been very useful to me because there are times when I need to pass information on and no computers are available. For example, when I hear news through my cell phone while driving or I am at the hospital and want to update people, I can simple text twitter and everyone is updated. Using Twitter and the cell phone, worked marvelously.
The cell phone has been wonderful for keeping in contact through texting. I have a large number of minutes that I pay for each month, but it is worth it because I can text when unable to actually take the time to call. Email is still "in" with me. I have several nieces and nephews that I email and enjoy talking. Some of my brothers still do not have email, texting, or computers so the nieces and nephews will call them and keep them informed. It doesn't really matter how I get the messages through as long as my eight brothers and extended families get the messages.

Flat World, Facebook, Twitter, Cell phones, texting

Listen to this article

Technorati Tags
Facebook
Cell Phone
Twitter

Picasa!

2009-01-29T06:25:00.009-06:00

As I was looking at my pictures, I ran across this picture of a cactus and decided I wanted to put it on my blog. Since I have Picasa, it was very easy to use the "blog this" feature. Picasa allowed me to send this picture to my blog opening up an new post and now I am typing a short message to my students on how easy this was accomplished.

Listen to this article

Technorati Tags
Picasa
Blog This

Elmo Presentations!

2009-01-27T00:22:00.002-06:00

Today we were able to use Elmo in the classroom. The students presented their book reports and used Elmo to show their posters. They really enjoyed reading their information while I took pictures of them talking.

http://tinyurl.com/dxlnn8 Visit this website and learn more about Elmo. It is a great tool. I can easily switch back and forth from computer to Elmo as I present information to my class. The students love the visuals.

Updating Blog!

2009-01-24T14:53:00.010-06:00

Wow, I have made a lot of improvements to my blog...I even like the results. I decided to use a different template that I could change as I go through the year. I am far from an expert on writing html code, but this has been fun. I have more flexibility with the side panels and I like the "post section" because it larger.

The goal of this blog is to write about technology in everyday life and in education. So, I will be updating the links to the blogs, wikis, and websites that I read and make them available, especially, when I find interesting "stuff" I want to remember or that I want my students to read.

I found this template at http://freetemplates.blogspot.com

Picasa Plus Blogger!

2009-01-11T09:02:00.009-06:00

Picasa 3 is free from Google! FREE! FREE! FREE!

This software is excellent for sharing photos and learning some beginning photo editing. I find the software very easy to use and I use the upload feature to upload my photos to Picasa Web Albums for sharing with family and friends. I also us the "blog this" feature which allows me to upload pictures directly to this blog site or any other blog site I have made with Blogger.

Google for educators

As educators, this is a must read for getting ideas on how to involve students in creating slide shows as well as photo editing. Google for Educators explains it all.

Picasa organizes all photos found on your computer to one place where photo editing is made very easy. For example, I was taking "red eye" out of several pictures through Picasa then I went back to the files on my computer to see the changes because I did not trust Picasa......and all pictures were changed. Wow, that was easy. I did not have to go through my C-drive to find all pictures I needed to change. I used Picasa that brings all my pictures to me. I am a faithful user of Picasa. If your district will allow Picasa to be used, it would be an excellent resource for teachers and students. Read about it at Google for Educators!

Listen to this Article

Blackboards and Laptops!

2009-01-11T08:43:00.009-06:00

I think you can see the improvements that are being made in schools. We have gone from blackboards to Elmos and laptops. More improvements are needed but this is an excellent start.

Whittier School has laptops.
What a wonderful surprise! Mr. Talluto worked hard to get this technology for the school. Thank you, Mr. Talluto.

Blackboards are still used by many teachers! They do serve a purpose and if they are the only thing available...why not use them? Many small handheld chalkboards are used in the classrooms as well.

Listen to this Article

Elmo: 21st Century Technology

2009-01-11T08:29:00.004-06:00

The 20th century overhead is the black machine on the left. Runs well with its plastic overhead transparencies or vis-a-vis pens plus paper towels and water. It has served its purpose and continues to be helpful to teachers.

On the right is "Elmo" one of our newest 21st century technology for Whittier School. We can now place anything on the Elmo and it will be projected onto the screen with the help of the LCD projector.

What is needed now is an Elmo and LCD project for every classroom across America or maybe, just our district. This valuable tool can save on paper. Saving money is a high priority right now......

On an educational note: Visuals are so important and Elmo makes it possible to turn any item you want into a visual. It is fun and exciting to watch students presenting their reports using Elmo. Their work can be laid on Elmo and projected for all to read while they explain the projects or present information.

Listen to this Article

Paul's Retirement Day!

2009-01-04T08:57:00.000-06:00

January 2, 2009 Retirement Day for Paul. Now what will he be doing! Happy Retirement Hubby!

Beth and Murray at Their Birthday Celebration

2009-01-04T08:52:00.002-06:00

Out to eat with Family on Thursday January 1, 2009! This was a lot of fun and laughs.
Murray is from Georgia spending time in Chicago for Christmas.
Beth doesn't have a clue (SURPRISE) that we will be celebrating her 50th birthday with family and friends.

Beth's 50th Birthday Party 2009

2009-01-02T22:40:00.000-06:00

http://picasaweb.google.com/PaulPam2/BethS50thBirthdayParty2009#

The above link has pictures from Beth's 50th Birthday party!

Pritchard's Press

HowStuffWorks "How Web 3.0 Will Work"

Social Media by Ayelet Noff

Larry Ferlazzo's Websites

AVG Anti-Virus Free Edition 2011 - Free software downloads and software reviews - CNET Downloads

Tomorrow's Tech in Today's Schools: PowerPoint Templates

The Beginner's Guide to Twitter

Testing

New Beginnings!

Moving My Blog!

October

Cell Phones Become Learning Tools | theledger.com | The Ledger | Lakeland, FL

Cell Phones Become Learning Tools

At Wiregrass Ranch High, cell phones are used in classroom work.

Listening - Principles of Successful Blogging #1

Langwitches Blog » Blogging with Elementary School Students

Blogging with Elementary School Students

Blogging with Elementary School Students

Social Learning

Social Learning Models - Social Media In Learning

Social Learning Models

Fall!

Google Reader

50 Terrific Twitter Tutorials for Teachers

Google Documents!

Wiz IQ

Did You Know 4.0?

United Breaks Guitars!

PR Disaster at United Airlines due to Broken Guitar! : Australian Frequent Flyer Gazette

PR Disaster at United Airlines due to Broken Guitar!

Blogging

Technology in the Middle » Blog Archive » K12 Online 2009: September 26 LAN Party

K12 Online 2009: September 26 LAN Party

Blogging!

Quick Start Tips For Student Blogging Part I: Setting Up Your Class Blog | The Edublogger

Check these for ideas on how you could use your class blog:

The Obama Speech

Twitter Handbook

How Passion Can Transform Your Blog

Keys to Life!

First Days of School

Virtual Library

School Begins!

Blogging!

Moodle - A course management system!

Fractions

Host Your Own Webinars | LearnCentral

http://tweetteach.jottit.com/elementary_suggestions

Web 2.0 Tools and Applications - Go2web20

Use Issuu for publishing a Magazine

Issuu - Publish your own Issue

Twitter

Friday, May 01, 2009

Twitter is not for email

Kathy Schrock's Kaffeeklatsch

Google Docs

Retirement and Blogs

Blogging

Israel

Greasemonkey

Friends!

Testing This Again!

Greasemonkey

Google Docs to My Blog to Facebook!

How To Import Your Blog Posts Into Facebook | The Edublogger

How To Import Your Blog Posts Into Facebook

Happy Father's Day Grandpa

Web 2.0 Tools to Inspire

Amber and Bugs!

Colleges Consider Using Blogs Instead of Blackboard - Chronicle.com

Untitled

pritchard-may1

Google Toolbar

Diigo

Google Reader

ISTE | Digital Stories

Wikipedia

Abbott and Costello Meet the Computer!

Bob Love Chicago Bulls

Google Reader