Virtual Library

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

  • Open Source and Schools

    Applications / Courseware

    • Podcast by Martin: What is open source?
    • Lawrence Lessig
    • Creative Commons: Get Creative

    ---

    A selection of open source applications available for educators:

    Writing /Office Tools

    • Google Web-based tools http://www.google.com/intl/en/options/
    • Cetlx (scriptwriting, storyboarding) http://www.celtx.com
    • Zoho Writer (Web-based word processing) http://www.zohowriter.com
    • OpenOffice (http://openoffice.org) the cross-platform productivity suite includes a word processor, spreadsheet, presentation manager, and drawing program, works transparently with a variety of file formats, including those of Microsoft Office.
    • AjaxWrite13 http://us.ajax13.com/en/index.jsp
    • Worldlabel.com  http://www.worldlabel.com/Pages/openoffice-template.htm  Free templates for OpenOffice documents
    • JotSpot Live (Live group notetaking tool) http://www.jotlive.com/
    • StarOffice Suite (free to education) http://www.sun.com/software/star/staroffice/index.xml No license fees for education, a leading alternative office suite that offers word processing, spreadsheet, presentation, drawing, and database capabilities, and export to PDF in a familiar-looking interface.
    
    Other resources:
    • PrimoPDF http://www.primopdf.com/
    • Amaya (http://www.w3.org/Amaya/) Web editor tools hosted by W3C
    • Blender (http://www.blender3d.org/cms/Gallery.55.0.html) 3D graphics creation suite for modeling, animation, rendering, game creation and more.
    • BlueFish (http://bluefish.openoffice.nl) Web editor tools

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

School Begins!

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!

* 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!

• 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

Host Your Own Webinars | LearnCentral

• 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

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

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

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

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.