Nasa.gov

This site brings you images, videos, and interactive features from the unique perspective of America’s space agency! My husband teaches science at HMS, and this is his favorite website to share with his classes!

Avatars in the Classroom

An Avatar is a digital cartoon representation of a real person. Students relate to Avatars because Avatars are the characters they become in many video and computer games. Tammy Worcester describes how to make one and how to use it in your class at this site: http://www.tammyworcester.com/TipOfWeek/TammyWTechTipOfWeek/Entries/2009/9/18_Tip_74_-_My_Avatar_Editor.html

Meet Noodles, my Avatar!
Just a few examples of integration are creating stories on PowerPoint and using the Avatar as a main character, or using the Avatar for an informative report. Bring gaming fun to the class!

Tech Tools for Teachers

http://www.superteachertools.com/index.php#tools
Looking for quick and easy review games, classroom management tools, and fun activities to use in your classroom? Check out their seating chart and group makers. Also, their review games are SO easy and SO fun!!!

WORDLE

VISIT THIS TEACHERTUBE VIDEO TO LEARN THE AWESOME FEATURES OF WORDLE: HTTP://WWW.TEACHERTUBE.COM/VIEWVIDEO.PHP?VIDEO_ID=97685
HERE ARE 5 WAYS TO USE WORDLE WITH YOUR STUDENTS:

1. VOCABULARY AND RELATED WORDS
2. SUMMARIZING A STORY
3. RELATING SUBJECTS
4. ALTERNATE ASSIGNMENT
5. PROJECT COMPONENT

iTunes

Kids already use iTunes, and so should you! Find out what music they listen to, and use it in your lessons! For example: you are giving a lesson on nouns. Either print out or show the lyrics on the projector screen-You can use icons within the lyrics for the younger grades. Let the students listen to the music as the song unfolds. Have them write down or highlight the nouns as they listen. Then, your students can discuss the nouns they found in groups before going over it as a class.

WWW.PHILLIPMARTIN.INFO/CLIPART/HOMEPAGE.HTM

Q: Where can I find more clip art (besides the Microsoft Clip Art)?

A: CHECK OUT THIS FREE CLIP ART @

WWW.PHILLIPMARTIN.INFO/CLIPART/HOMEPAGE.HTM.

5 Reasons Teachers should Twitter!

`YOU CAN MEET TEACHERS AND PROFESSIONALS AROUND THE WORLD

`YOU CAN STAY UP TO DATE WITH THE FIELD OF EDUCATION

`SHARE LINKS AND RECOMMENDATIONS FOR TEACHING

`DEVELOP THE TECHNOLOGY SIDE OF YOUR TEACHING SKILLS IN A FUN AND EASY WAY

`YOU CAN GAIN AN AUDIENCE FOR YOUR BLOG POSTS AND WEB-BASED MATERIALS

GELESSONS.COM

THIS SITE IS A RICH SOURCE OF HIGH-QUALITY GOOGLE EARTH LESSON PLANS SEARCHABLE BY SUBJECT AREA. INCLUDED ARE TUTORIALS AS WELL AS A NIFTY TRICKS SECTION FOR ADVANCED USERS.


GELESSONS.COM/LESSONS/

Digital Storytelling

How to tell a story... DIGITALLY!

BRAINSTORM: Think of a topic and purpose for writing a story.

RESEARCH: Collect dramatic images and purposeful audio clips from online sites that relate to your topic and save them in a folder. ***Make sure audio files are not copyrighted. Some good royalty free music can be found at danosongs.com

MAKE AN OUTLINE: Write an outline in Microsoft Word of the images you will use and the audio/music clips you will include. You can also write a script if you would like to use a computer microphone to narrate the story.

PREPARE A ROUGH DRAFT: Begin putting your story together in Photo Story.

EDIT/PEER EDIT: Look over the story and make sure it is well told and well put together. Have a buddy do the same.

PUBLISH: Finalize your digital story by saving it as a Windows Media Video (.wmv) file.

SHARE: Present the story to the class (and email it to your CIT so she can see it, too)!

Class Reading turned... DIGITAL!!!

I used to read from a book to my class at the end of every day. It was one of my favorite parts of the day because I felt like I connected with each student through the literature.

As I was listening to a book on my iPod while one day, I thought “Why not play a chapter from a book on MP3 for my class each day?”

While using MP3 books, I was able to display the actual book and pictures on my document camera so students could follow along, and I was able to enjoy the book along with my class! So, next time you read to your class, consider playing an MP3!
This may also be an idea for a reading center!

Equipment care

Turn off all equipment (computers, projectors, document cameras, ext.) when you are not using them. They will live longer and love you for it!

puzzlemaker.discoveryeducation.com/

Puzzlemaker is a puzzle generation tool for teachers, students and parents. Create and print customized word search, crisscross, math puzzles, and more—using your own word lists. Now, spelling homework = FUN!

Ways to use Microsoft Excel in your classroom

Conversions, Countdown, Estimation, Grade book, Grammar, Graphic Organizers, Math facts, Probability, Surveys, Spelling…
***Here is a GREAT resource for specific Excel lessons: http://www.sabine.k12.la.us/class/

Ways to use Microsoft Word in your classroom

Article, Autobiography, Biography, Brochures, Cards, Chain Writing, Classified Ads, Debates, Desktop Publishing, Diaries, Dictated stories, Dialogue, Directions, Editorial, Essay, Fliers, Group writing, Instructions, Interviews, Invisible writing, Journals, Letters, Memos, Narratives, News articles, News letters, Peer writing, Persuasive writing, Picture writing, Play, Poetry, Portfolios, Postcards, Reflections, Reviews, Scripts, Sequencing tasks, Skits, Socializing, Story, Story starters, Video scripts…

Q & A: Data interpretation

Q: My students spend so much time drawing and coloring graphs that we don’t have time to focus on interpreting the data! What can I do?
A: Excel is a wonderful tool that makes graphing easy. It is designed so you can input data and create graphs with ease and focus on interpreting data.

Super Important things to remember in the lab

*NEVER log a child onto the computer using any other username than their own

*Help a child with words instead of doing a task for them

*The computers need to be Shut Down at the end of each day

What to do at recess on a rainy day!

When it is raining too hard to play outside, have no fear because United Streaming is here! Kids love the videos on United Streaming, and I bet they won’t even realize they are learning something! And, (here goes the shameless plug for technology integration) the best part is that playing United Streaming videos during a rainy recess is a natural integration of technology in your classroom!

Website Highlight: Tiny URL

Are you sick and tired of trying to use long URLs in your class? Here is a way to make ANY URL a manageable size for your students to type!

Go to the webpage.
Click to select (highlight) the URL in the address window of the browser.
Copy it by right clicking on it or selecting [Copy] from the pull down [Edit] menu.
Now, go to http://tinyurl.com.
Click in the provided window and paste the URL.
Click [Make TinyURL!]

Your TinyURL should work forever, so you can save it in your favorites and use it for years to come!

Understanding Technology Terminology

Students in all grades need exposure to technology terminology. When you are in the lab or using technology with students (even if you are not a classroom teacher!), make a point to use proper technology terms. Try replacing statements like, “Turn off the computer, the screen, and the box,” with statements like “Shut down the computer, and turn off the monitor and the CPU.” Before you know it, you will be a natural!

Important Reminders

Lock your computer by using the windows flag icon and the “L” key on your computer. This will require you to put your network password back in when you are ready to work again. This will keep other people off your computer while you are away.

[You can also press “ctrl” and “alt” and “delete” at the same time to lock your workstation for the same results.]

You should NEVER leave email open when you leave your computer.

Integration Tips

Keeping students in control as they use computers can be tricky, and the managing strategies you use in more traditional classroom activities often don’t apply. Next time you direct your students in a computer activity, consider these tips:

Stick It (Prominently) Display the rules.
Click It (Correctly) Encourage students to use correct keyboarding technique -- always.
Ticket (Positively) Provide tangible incentives for completing work on time.

Vocabulary Words: Re-vamped

The motivational posters that have become common in many offices and classrooms are a snap to make using Motivator. Upload your image, make a few design choices, and write your title and caption. Click the Create button and download the finished product.

http://bighugelabs.com/motivator.php

So… What exactly is Web 2.0???

The term "Web 2.0" is commonly associated with web applications that facilitate interactive information sharing, interoperability, user-centered design[1] and collaboration on the World Wide Web. Examples of Web 2.0 include web-based communities, hosted services, web applications, social-networking sites, video-sharing sites, wikis, blogs, mashups and folksonomies. A Web 2.0 site allows its users to interact with other users or to change website content, in contrast to non-interactive websites where users are limited to the passive viewing of information that is provided to them.

Tips and Tricks

---Do not save important things to the desktop-If your computer crashes you will loose it :(
---Phone and Printer problems-let me know about them!
---Turn off monitors and computers when you are not using them to help them live longer.

Website Highlight: www.eduref.org

Utilize this informational tool for researching issues and subject areas that may be unfamiliar to you, such as counseling and special education. It also provides teacher-submitted lesson plans: www.eduref.org

Kidblog.org

Kidblog.org is designed for elementary and middle school teachers who want to provide each student with their own, unique blog. Kidblog meets the need for a safe and simple blogging platform suitable for elementary and middle school students. Most importantly, Kidblog allows teachers to monitor and control all publishing activity within the classroom blogging community. If you've tried (perhaps with limited success) other blogging platforms like Blogger, Edublogs, or Wordpress.com, you'll notice the Kidblog difference immediately!

Try it out with the link below:

http://kidblog.org/home.php

Happy Blogging!