Interwrite Workspace Layers and The Right Click Tool Boxes

Let's take a look at the layers in the Interwrite Workspace program. You can have up to six layers on one page. You can also rename the layers by clicking on the edit layer icon (page icon with the pencil below layer one). One way to use layers is to have an image with items you want the students to identify on layer one for example. You could then create another layer where students would be able to write their answers. This could be layer two. The third layer would have the answers already typed out and in the right places. This layer would be hidden at the start which is easily done by clicking the green check mark to the right of the layer name. After the students write their answers, hide that layer and make your layer with your answers visible.


You could use layers to show before and after pictures. For example you could use the camera tool to grab before and after images of New Orleans from Google Earth (use the history slider). Place the images (centers aligned) on different layers. Click the green check to hide and reveal the past and present images.

Did you also know that you can right click on any object on the Workspace page to bring up the action and tools toolboxes? The actions toolbox has undo, redo, cut, copy, paste, select all, order selected entities, rotate selected entities, group (if you select more than one object), ungroup, move to background, export entities, and add files to gallery. The tools toolbox by default has the selection tool, the pen tool, freehand shape, freehand text, multi colored pen, picture pen, highlighter, eraser, type text tool, shapes, line, stamper, zoom, undo, redo, clear tool and the mouse mode. If you chose “preferences” from the menu and click on the “customize toolbar” tab you can drag and drop the tools you want in the tools toolbox. You can also remove tools you don’t want to appear in the tools toolbox by dragging them out. You will have to name and save the scheme.

Many teachers create and use PowerPoint presentations in their everyday teaching. While in Workspace you can choose file “open” to open a 2003 or 2007 PowerPoint presentation. Each slide in the PowerPoint becomes a page in the Workspace file. Separate objects on the PowerPoint slides are separate objects on the Workspace pages and can be moved or manipulated as such. You can also open PDF’s in the Workspace software so that they become Workspace pages as well. Of course your original PowerPoint and PDF files remain unchanged. If you create a Workspace presentation, you can also export (from the file menu) the Workspace file as a PowerPoint, PDF, JPEG, Bitmap, GIF, TIFF, PNG file or as HTML.

I hope this helps you use the Workspace software more effectively in your lessons.

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Twitter: Keeping Up With It All

I admit it.

I am addicted to Twitter.

And I have admitted that before. I truly enjoy the people I am able to connect with and have conversations with. But I am most addicted to the resources because that is how I started. I spend lots of time finding stuff for my teachers. And I figure if it works for them, why not share with other educators.

There are tons of links, articles videos and other great stuff that come across my screen everyday. I can never keep up with it all. People ask me all the time how I have time to go through everything. The key is I don't do it the moment it comes up. If I see an interesting tweet with a link and I have time, I will dig deeper but most of the time I only glance, decide if it is something to look at and save it for later.

There are lots of ways to save tweets for later. Each tweeter has an RSS feed that you can subscribe to in a reader like Google Reader or on a page like Netvibes or Pageflakes. And that is an ok way but you still have to do that for each Tweeter and still have to scroll through each user to find the good stuff.

Others suggest using a social bookmarking service like Diigo or Delicious and that is better to save links but then what if what you find is no good or not what you expected? Then you have to spend the time to go back and delete the save. And that can be time consuming. Diigo does have the advantage of the Save It Later feature that doesn't bookmark but does save for later. And it works but for me it was too many steps and I needed something that would work on any device and I can access on any device.

My favorite tools that I absolutely can not live without is Read It Later. It is a beautifully simple service that saves your links for later. The best part, the app works on just about every device out there. So I can go seamlessly from my PC, to my iTouch to my Droid and have complete functionality and access to my complete list of saves.

Sounds little like Diigo right? Don't get me wrong, I love Diigo. But the thing that sets Read It Later apart is the Unread/Read features. I have the standard list of unread links. But what if I read one, uncheck it and forget to save it to my Diigo account? No worries my friend. Read It Later saves every link I have ever saved to read later in a nice little list I can access anywhere. And it is searchable too by key term, tag or date. Now that is handy!

As I said before Read It Later is available for any browser with the simple bookmarklet. There is one for adding the site to your Read It Later List and one for marking it read. But if you want more functionality you can get the Read It Later Extensions for either Firefox or Chrome.

Want to have access on your iTouch or iPhone or iPad? No problem. There are apps for those devices too. Do you have a Droid? If you useDolphin you can use the bookmarklets or you can download the PaperDroid app in the Android Marketplace.

Once you get your list started (and you have some time) you can log into your account, anywhere you have Internet access and see all the sites you marked and can visit them at your leisure. Each site opens in a new window so you don't have to worry about going back and forth to your list. Once you are done with the site you can unckeck it but remember, you have the "Read" list so you can revisit it in the future.

One of the new features is your List with a brain. Called Digest, you get a highly organized and personalized site of all your saves that reads like a newspaper. It costs 5 bucks. I haven't done it but it looks neat.

Right now I have over 700 sites. Yep, over 700 in my list. Some have been in there since I started using the service about a year ago, and I just haven't gotten around to looking at them but I know I want to some time. So if you are looking for a quick and easy way to save all those great resources you get from Twitter that you just don't have time to check out, give Read It Later a try. I promise, you won't know what you did before it!

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My First and Second Conference

For the past couple of years I have been working on ideas to present at local conferences. I toyed with ideas on what to present whether it would be beneficial or if it was something that had already been presented so many times that it was old news. I struggled on and off with the dilemma of what to do along with personal issues that have arisen in recent history that have kept me from presenting. Well this year I have finally gotten everything together both personally and professionally enough to be able to present not only once but twice within three weeks of each other.

This past weekend I had the wonderful opportunity to present at the @ActivCarolina Conference which was held in our school district. In working with one of the organizers of the event we discussed some things that could be done to increase usage of our Interactive White Boards with document cameras in our district. Since I, along with others in our district have made a real push for the integration of document cameras in our district we discussed a presentation that could be done for the ActivCarolina Conference. This then ballooned out to where I could also retool the presentation and take it to @NCTIES, which is our statewide technology conference.

As the time had been drawing nearer to the date of the conferences I have to admit that I had/have been getting more and more nervous that I was forgetting something or needed to add more or take away from the presentation in order to make it as successful as possible. With the help of some of my colleagues I worked to create a Livebinder of resources and information that would go along with the presentation for the attendees to refer back to after the conferences. Now that one has passed, which I have been told was very good. We all know that we, ourselves, are our biggest critics and I always think that I could have done some different or changed the delivery in certain ways. So again I am in that mind set of possibly not being prepared enough for the next presentation. I want it to be perfect, but we all know that we can over analyze the situation and go completely in the opposite direction.

Now I am preparing for the next conference which will be my second ever. It's kind of funny to think back now and after almost 7 years I have never presented at any type of conference. I had never even considered doing it in any way shape or form because I never felt that I had anything real to contribute for my peers that could constitute the opportunity to present at a conference. As I gather up all the items and props that I will need I am still saying to myself, are you ready? Part of me says yes while I am also in panic mode. I think it will go great but there is always that fear of having to drop back and punt.

...but such is the life you live when you present at conferences, whether big or small, tech or not. I look forward to the conference and maybe the possibility of doing this again down the road or next year.

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Learning Village Instructional Tip of the Week!

Did you know a new section has been added to the dashboard of WSFCS Learning Village?

There is now an Instructional Tip of the Week area (in the first column above the calendar). So far this month, the tips have covered:

• Presidents Day
• This Month in NC History (information about any month in NC History)
• Tripttico

You should go to Learning Village (3rd quick link on the WSFCS Homepage) and check out the tips of the week. We try to update the tips each Monday.

If you have ideas for things we can include in this section, please let us know. The tips don't have to be websites or even have anything to do with technology. If you have a reading or math strategy that works really well in your class, please let us know so we can share. If you found a great instructional tip that should be shared with others, this is the way to share it!

I wonder what next week's Instructional Tip of the Week will be ...

image from http://www.flickr.com/photos/40645538@N00/242558967/

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Getting Activ with Promethean!!

• Do you use a Promethean ActivBoard?

• Are you going to have an ActivBoard in your classroom soon?

• Do you have great ideas for using one that you would like to share with others?

• Would you like to learn some tips and tricks for ways to better use you ActivBoard?

• Did you know there are other people in this school system that would like to hear/see things you are doing with the ActivBoard in a classroom?

We are looking for more members for our WSFCS Promethean Users Group. This group of educators meets to share ideas, resources, best practices and more. We will be sharing information in actual meetings and online. Please fill out this form if you would like more information about joining this group.

We hope to continue the learning that took place at the ActivCarolina Conference last weekend. Even if you did not attend the conference, please come join the fun!

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Skype Lunch & Learn

These are both exiting and crazy times we live and work in today. As a District Instructional Technologist, I travel to many Middle and High Schools to help and train teachers how to use and integrate technology into their curriculum. However, there are times when the attendance in these trainings is low. Teachers have a lot on their plate too and they may have other jobs to go to or children to attend to. Being that the economy is not doing all that well, I wondered what would be an effective way to reach the teachers and help them learn new ways to involve students in their lessons. The answer I came up with is to Skype the teachers during their lunch period, although it does not have to be during their lunch time. It could be arranged during any time that they are free. Skype allows you to share your computer screen. This would allow me to show the teachers how to do things and talk them through it step by step. Another possibility could be that teachers could setup office hours for their students. This is what I want to setup with my schools to reach more teachers and help them understand the many ways they can involve the students in their lessons.

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SAS® Curriculum Pathways®

SAS® Curriculum Pathways® is a wonderful tool for 8th grade and high school students and teachers (I have used some of the activities for 6th and 7th grade also). Curriculum Pathways® is free for teachers and students throughout the United States. If you are in the Winston-Salem/Forsyth County School System, you can ask your Technology Facilitator for a Curriculum Pathways® login. All other teachers can click on the "Register for a subscription" link on the home page. All lessons within Curriculum Pathways® are based on state standards.

I attended a virtual conference with NCDLA (North Carolina Distance Learning Association) and one of the sessions was with Mrs. Deborah Gray from SAS® Curriculum Pathways®. She was talking about the Writing Reviser Toolbox within the English and  Communication Skills section. Now, before all other curriculum areas tune out, everyone has a writing component, and can use this resource.

The writing toolbox has many different components. A couple of these are Sentence Structure (Quick Launch # 943) and Strong Verbs (Quick Launch #1335). Sentence Structure will help students build stronger and clearer sentences within their reports. Strong Verbs looks at how often students use weak verbs and help them to change those into strong verbs. Students can view these on their own and email the teacher their finished work. Don't worry, student email accounts are not needed. Everything is stored on the Curriculum Pathways® server. If you don't have access to computers, you can show the whole class the lesson and print out the sheet for students to finish.

The interactivity Writing Reviser (Quick Launch #1242) allows students to copy and paste any document they have written. Once they have pasted the document into the reviser, students can see the word count, determine how many prepositional phrases they have, run on sentences, sentence fragments, etc. This could be a very powerful tool in helping students to revise their writing.

I copied this blog post into the Writing Reviser. There were some things that I needed to revise! Not only is the Writing Reviser a good tool for students, it is a good tool for everyone. By the way, did I mention that everything within Curriculum Pathways® is free for teachers? Be sure to go and check out this marvelous resource.

Check out the DIT Unplugged podcast for this week's episode (Episode 11) where we talk about Curriculum Pathways®

Image from Curriculum Pathways® homepage.

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Document Cameras and Skype

In our district we have been working over the past few years to really ramp up the technology that is in the classrooms to benefit both our teachers and students. We have instituted a Classroom Solution specific to the grade levels with one design for the Elementary and one for the Middle/High Schools. Included in this solution we have chosen to provide document cameras as an additional input device for teachers and students to use.

Over the past couple of years I have blogged about the benefits of document cameras versus the traditional overhead projector. I have discussed its uses as a digital camera and camcorder as well as techniques to integrate it into classroom instruction. One thing I have yet to talk about is how the document camera camera can be used as a(n) webcam. Yes I said webcam.

The primary version of document cameras that we have in our district are made by the Lumens Company, but we also have others versions which will act in the same manner. When the document cameras are installed correctly and the included software is setup the computers will see them as webcams, depending of course on what programs or websites you are utilizing. In our district we have been using Skype as a method of global communications in which our teachers are collaborating with in and out of county schools, businesses, colleges and universities and interesting people.

You have to make sure that when you are using Skype the program must be able to see the doc cam and set it as the default visual device. To do this you will have to make sure that the doc cam drivers are installed on the computer you are using, see specific doc cam installation guide for setup informaiton. Once the doc cam is installed properly make sure that it is turned on and open the Skype program and log in. After you are on the Skype dashboard you will click on Tools--> Options and then Video Settings. In the video settings, depending on your setup, the live video should show up. Now one thing to remember on the video settings for Skype, in order to make sure you do not get any random video calls you need to make sure that your settings are checked to only accept video from people in your contact list. This alleviates any issues that could arise during a Skype call.

Now for two technical issues that have come up, in our district that is, when we have been using the doc cams with Skype. I will list them out and the solutions we have used to correct the problem.

1. Image shows upside down in Skype - This usually happens when using older doc cams like the Lumens DC-133, 150, 155, 160 or 162. The solution is to turn the doc cam around and the lens unit turns down so that the image will be right-side-up.
2. The image does not show up at all and you have an error on the screen - This has been just recently discovered. From what I have ascertained it is due to the recent upgrade of software by Skype to version 5.1 from version 4.1 - In our network version 4.1 is stable and has been the standard so what we have done is to uninstall the 5.1 software and reinstall the 4.1 which will then allow Skype to see the doc cam again.

Now this is just one of the things that you can do with your doc cam, but if you are looking for more ideas you can click on my LiveBinder below to get some additional resources.

WSFCS Document Cameras

You can also hear more about this topic and resources in our Weekly Podcast as WSFCS DIT Unplugged - Episode 11

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Personalize Learning with Online Tools

There are lots of ways that teachers differentiate learning and personalize learning for their students? How do you personalize learning in your classroom? Do you use any online tools?
Let’s look at a several fun, online tools that can be used in your classroom.

1. Story Jumper - http://www.storyjumper.com/  Free
• Build books from scratch or choose from one of the free templates.
2. Story Bird - http://storybird.com/  Free
• Collaborative storytelling where students can read a book, play them like games, or send them like greeting cards.
3. Glogster - http://edu.glogster.com/  Free
• Teachers and students can create interactive posters to express their creativity or share knowledge and ideas.

To help you find other exciting ideas to personalize learning in your classroom take a look at “10 Technology Enhanced Alternatives to Book Reports”
http://theapple.monster.com/benefits/articles/8529-10-technology-enhanced-alternatives-to-book-reports

If you’ve never checked out Sue LeBeau’s site I recommend that you browse through her "Tools for Teachers" at:
http://www.suelebeau.com/freetools.htm

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Learning is Messy

Elizabeth Peterson wrote a blog post called Face Your Fears of Art Integration. In that post, she listed 4 common fears about art integration that she hears from teachers and her suggestions for overcoming or dealing with those fears. I wrote a blog post previously saying that I felt like many of these same "fears" also applied to technology integration. (Part of me thinks of these "fears" as excuses or reasons for not even trying.)

• Fear #1 – I’m not an artist.
• Fear #2 – The TEST is what I need to focus on.
• Fear #3 – My administration/colleagues will think what I’m doing is foolish.
• Fear #4 – I will make mistakes.

I decided to write a blog post series about how these fears relate to technology. Here is what I have written so far:

• Fear #1
  
• Fear #2
  

Now it is time for me to tackle the third fear: Learning is a messy process. There are some pieces that fit nicely together but I think that part of the learning process involves being able to make the connection to make things fit together that don't seem to fit in the first place. Trying to make those connections may appear foolish to others. To have that foolish appearance means you are willing to take chances and not be afraid to fail. Failure is a learning opportunity.

When one sees "failure" as an opportunity to gain something (like knowledge) rather than a losing process, he or she is more willing to try. I think the fear of failure has stood in the way of great ideas and inventions for many people and many teachers. In order to grow and support the growth of others, you have to be willing to take chances. Start small because doing something new or in a new way is not always a bad idea. And even if the idea does fail at first, you will learn something (even if it is just not to do that in the future). You will never know what might be possible until you follow through to see what happens.

That is how I got started with technology. I saw things in my classroom that were not working. I felt many learning opportunities were being missed. I starting searching for ways to make some of that learning possible. I had two old desktops and one laptop in my classroom, so using technology had its challenges. In my mind, the potential learning benefits far outweighed the challenges. I did not grow up using the computer.

It wasn't until college that I really started using the computer. I remember in college when I asked someone how to add effects to my powerpoint slides. He took the computer, hit a few buttons, looked at me and said it was done. I wanted him to show me how to do it and not just do it for me. From then on, I really tried to figure things out for myself rather than asking since I could learn better that way. When I used technology tools with students, I gave them a few instructions and then let them figure things out on their own if possible. They were building their own learning (constructivist model). While I was typing this paragraph, I realized the connection between those events (me wanting to learn instead of it being done for me and how technology use was in my classroom).

My way of doing things may have appeared foolish to some, but appearing foolish to other is not necessarily a bad thing, since doing things the same way will not get different results.

"The definition of insanity is doing the same things over and over again and expecting different results."

Photo from Nina Matthews Photography and found at http://www.flickr.com/photos/21560098@N06/4260085365/sizes/m/in/photostream/

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Need Tuition Money for College?

Are you a graduating senior in high school this May? Are you thinking about going to college but do not know if you can afford to go?

There are many different ways in which you can help yourself to get your education paid for. One of those ways is to go to the College Foundation of North Carolina otherwise known as CFNC.org
This is a great website set up for residents of North Carolina to "Help you Plan, Apply and Pay for College." You will create an account to go in and setup your profile information and identify which colleges that you would like to apply to. Then you will enter in additional financial information with the help of your parents to identify your needs. If you then are awarded any amounts you are notified and offered the amount in which you will accept or decline according you the amounts and what your needs are.

One thing that is beneficial to residents of North Carolina is that on February 19, 2011 CFNC is having a statewide FAFSA Day. CFNC will have areas setup around the state that will help you fill out and answer questions about the Free Application for Federal Student Aid(FAFSA) for those who are planning to attend a College or University during the 2011-2012 academic year.
There are 9 locations in Forsyth Co. from Kernersville to Clemmons that will be set up to answer your questions and help you fill out the form. If you do not live in Forsyth County but still live in North Carolina you can follow this link to an interactive map to find locations in your county.

If you are planning on attending college it wouldn't it be great to see if you are able to get a little help with paying for your tuition. Check out the site, look for local locations and if you can visit one of them to help you get the forms filled out and submitted.

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Learning ActivInspire

I am very excited to be learning about ActivInspire and Promethean's ActivBoard. Since I am new to the software, I thought I would do a blog series about the things that I am learning.

Lessons that are created in ActivInspire (which is the software that controls the Promethean ActivBoard are called flipcharts. So, if you are looking for lesson plans to use, look for "flipcharts" after a title.

When I opened ActivInspire, a window also opened up called the ActivInspire Dashboard. This Dashboard allows you to go to Promethean Planet (where lessons and tutorials can be located), configure your board, and many other things. I saw where I could click on the check box at the bottom of the Dashboard if I don't want the Dashboard to open each time I open ActivInspire.

Browsers are on the left hand side of the screen after opening the software. I accidentally closed it and then couldn't figure out how to open it again. I finally realized that the title of the box was Browsers. Since I knew the name of the window, I could then click in the menu bar on View, click on Browsers, and the Browser window opened back up.

I have a Symbaloo webmix for Interactive White Boards with a lot of resources. The first resource I chose was GeekMonkee (aka Matt Barfield) and his Tech Tutorials. I am going through the ActiveInspire Basics flipchart first. This flipchart shows the different parts of the software, how to calibrate the board, how to clean it, etc. I highly recommend this tutorial (created by Kathryn Vaughn, Technology & Learning Consultant at Promethean World).

Make sure to join Promethean Planet so that you can start viewing and/or using flipcharts that have already been created. Promethean Planet also has links to tips, best practices, webinars, etc.

As I continue to learn about ActivInspire, I will be sharing my thoughts and what I have learned.

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Get Your Search On!

Over the weekend my good friend Gwyneth Jones tweeted about an interesting search engine called Heapr. I am all about search engines so of course I had give it a go.

Basically Heapr is a quad search engine. With one search you get results for 4 different searches all on one screen. While built using Google search you also get returned results from Wikipeda related searches, WolframAlpha search and Twitter instant results.

So I just did a basic search for "Super Bowl" since it was the most watched program in the history of television over the weekend.

On the left you get the Google results. Instant search is automatically turned on so as soon as you start typing the results pour in. On the left you have the live results from Twitter search, that as you watch, update automatically. So during a live or breaking news event, this stream would be constantly moving.

Here is the result from WolframAlpha

And the Wikipedia Results

Of course, if you look hard at all the results, there is some good and there is some not so good. But isn't that the case with all search results, no matter the engine. What I think is the benefit is having all four different types of results on one page, especially the live search results from Twitter, the data results from WolframAlpha and the related results from Wikipedia. I really do think this allows for more deeper information that students can use for researching topics.

But the basic search engine is not all that Heapr has to offer. Looking for images? Heapr Images will return Google Image and Flickr results side by side. (For me the only downside is not being able to sort by license.)

Looking for video? Head over to the Heapr Video page and and you can do simultaneous searches on Youtube, Vimeo and Hulu.

Pretty basic in terms of search. But pretty neat in terms of results. And the ability to search multiple sites in one click is a big time saver for me. So head over to Heapr and get your search on!

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Educational Gadgets

Need some new ideas to motivate your students? There are lots of gadgets available for teachers to enhance the learning experience for all students. What’s a gadget? They are free, online tools that make teaching easier. Here's a list of several websites worth checking out for free gadgets:

Education World
http://www.educationworld.com/a_tech/tech/tech249.shtml

Kathy Schrock’s Digital Gadgets
http://school.discoveryeducation.com/schrockguide/gadgets.html

Online Web Gadgets
http://onlinewebgadgets.com/gadget_education.html

Let’s look at a few gadgets listed at Education World

1. MotivatorStudents create a motivational-style poster or teachers can use the posters in handouts or multimedia presentations.
   http://bighugelabs.com/motivator.php
2. MindomoCollaborative mind mapping for projects, tutorials, problem solving or presentations
   http://www.mindomo.com/
3. Maps of War
   Interactive maps that can show several thousand years of history in about 90 seconds
   http://www.mapsofwar.com/

Check out the Gadget Archive listed in Education World to find gadgets for your students.
http://www.educationworld.com/a_tech/archives/gadget_tips.shtml

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Combining Gen 2 and Gen 2 Pulse Remotes Together

Some schools have different versions of the CPS system. If your school has Generation 2 CPS remotes (shown here on the left) and Generation 2 Pulse CPS remotes (shown here on the right) , you can combine them to use with a large group of people. You are only going to use one RF receiver. Now you might think that you would use the newer Pulse RF receiver, but no. Plug in the Generation 2 RF receiver in the USB drive of your computer to receive the signals from the remotes. The next thing you will have to do is change the channel and the clicker # of the Pulse remotes. Plug the Generation 2 RF receiver in the computer. Wait for a few minutes to let the computer and the Device Manager recognize the RF receiver. Click on the Device Manager in the system tray and choose eInstruction Device Manager. Right click on the icon for the CPS Generation 2 and choose properties. The base channel the RF receiver is using will be listed on the general tab in the lower left portion of the window. Write this down. Now you will have to turn on every Pulse remote and change the channel and clicker number. To do this, press the left and right arrow keys together, and immediately press the + - sign button. Enter the new channel number and press the return key, enter the new clicker number (33 instead of 1 for example) and press return twice. This will turn the remote off and store the new information. It is a good idea to tape a piece of masking tape on the top of the remote with the new remote number so that you can keep track of them. I hope this helps.

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Application Failed To Initialize Properly 135 Error When Opening The Workspace Software

Have you ever loaded the latest version of the Interwrite Workspace software or CPS and received a "Application Failed To Initialize Properly 135" error when you tried to open it? The only thing you can do is click ok to terminate the program. This happened to me when I was out at a school and I wanted to pass this along to help others out. To solve this problem, I installed the "Microsoft.Net Framework 3.5". In our district, it can be loaded through the AICP. The program opened up and worked fine after that.

When you shutdown your computer, you sometimes see an option to "install updates and shutdown". You should choose this option. If you just choose shutdown, you may miss those important updates. This may happen more often than you think. I hope this helps.

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What are you doing this month?

Did you know that netTrekker has groups of resources to go along with themes each month? You can find these Monthly Projects by looking in My Portfolio in netTrekker. Each registered user of netTrekker has their very own portfolio to store things in ... so if you don't have My Portfolio in the sidebar when you visit netTrekker, make sure you register using your school code and the teacher code.

Inside My Portfolio, look for a folder called Global: netTrekker portfolio. This is a collection of resources and projects from netTrekker users. In this portfolio, you can find a folder for Monthly Projects. Each month has its own folder containing project ideas and resources already pulled together for those projects. (There are also instructions on how to copy resources from that portfolio into your own portfolio.)

For the month of February, you can find resources and project ideas for:

• Black History Month
• Groundhog's Day
• Leap Year
• President's Day
• Valentines

Remember all the resources in netTrekker are teacher reviewed so they are safe for students ...

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News from Learn360

I received some information from Learn360 about things that have been added to their site, so I thought I would share them:

Notable News:

There can never be too much quality content, so we're continually adding more titles and producers to the site! Here's what's new this month:

• Sunburst Visual Media: It's official. Sunburst's award-winning health and guidance and professional development programming content is now exclusive toLearn360! Their realistic and engaging content is well suited for life skills, counseling, guidance and health education curriculums. Find these only on our site!
  

• National Geographic: We've added more of your favorite National Geographic series to Learn360, including "Amazing Planet", "Africa Extreme","Animal Genius" and "Strange Days on Planet Earth". But that's not all!
  

• Rising Star Education: "Auto B Good" is an Emmy-winning series geared toward K-6 students and is amongst one of the favorites for elementary teachers. Search and watch them.
  

• Genuine Pictures, Inc.: This award-winning and independent producer offers high-quality, relevant programs ranging from geography to musical documentaries. They have it all, and now we do, too!
  

• Worldwide Academic Media: Another producer with unique titles and feature films is now available to you! Their series include "Extreme Environments"and "Famous People in World History & Culture", to name a couple. But that's not all, so be sure to check them out.
  

Things that might be helpful for the month of February:

• Valentines Day (February 14): Get out more than just flowers and a box of chocolate; Valentines day can be a great time to teach students about the history of the holiday while you pass out candy hearts in class. Go search to see what results generate for the keywords "Valentines Day".

• Presidents Day (February 21): With our new content additions, teachers can provide students with information on each of our 44 presidents throughout the History of the United States! Search and see what results come up for, "United States Presidents".

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How many ways can we journal?

Journal writing was something I strongly encouraged in my 4th grade classes (so many benefits). Some years we (me and students) would write in journals for 15 minutes at the beginning of writing class. There would be music playing and students knew that this was a time for thinking and working not asking questions. One year, I had students write in journals at the end of the day about things they had learned or things that had happened that day. Students had to share those journal entries with someone each night (in an attempt to avoid the "What did you do at school today" and "Nothing" conversations). My last year in a classroom, my students used blogs as "thinking logs" or as a type of journal. Journals can take many forms, and, as much as I like to encourage writing, they don't even have to be in written form.
I got to thinking about all the ways students could do journals after watching my 4 year old daughter walk around the house carrying a Flip camera. According to her she was making a video to send to a family member. When I started listening, I noticed that she was telling about her day, her toys, the weather outside, and a little about herself. Those are the things I remember writing in a diary or things my students wrote in journals. I guess my little girl was making a type of video journal ...
Realizing that caused me to think about the ways various technology tools could be used for "journals":

• GlogsterEDU could be used to create "A Day in the Life" posters or even a "What happened this week" poster
• Student created blogs could easily be used as a replacement for the spiral notebook journals in my classroom ... as a teacher, I used blogs to keep track of the things I tried in the classroom that did or did not work
  
• The "A Picture Each Day" project many participate in could be seen as another type of journal ... pictures could even be posted on things like VoiceThread where narration could be added
• Programs like Animoto or PhotoPeach could be used to pull together photos to be used as a visual journals
• Interactive Timelines could be used used as journals

I am sure my short list is not very comprehensive. What other things can be used for journals?

image created using Wordle.net

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It's Google...Only Squared

The world of search is changing. Google, the leader, is being challenged by Microsoft and it's new search engine, Bing. In order to stay ahead Google is constantly working on new and innovative products to stay #1.

Last year Google unveiled, quietly, what they say is the next "big-thing" in search. And while it is, quite possibly the best search feature they have, it still has not caught on. But what is it? Why is it so good and why do I think it will change the way students conduct research online.

First, Google Squared is a search engine. It works just like Google Search. You type in a search term and you are presented with results. What is different is how the results are presented and what you can do with the data.

For this review I am going to use the search term "British Prime Ministers." When you do a regular Google Search you get what you expect, several sites that contains lists of British PM's. Students would then have to work through each of the links, trying to find the information, not knowing how that information is going to be organized on each resulting page.

With Google Squared the search results are presented in a table. Results are organized horizontally with several pieces of information (or what Google calls Attributes.) In the case of the British PM's you get the name, picture, description, date of birth, religion and who they were proceeded by. All of the results in each of those columns comes from different places on the web, organized in the Squares. You can check the information for each Result and Attribute but clicking the link in the Square. (Remember, its always a good idea to double check where the information is coming from.)

So how could this be of benefit for students. Lets say I want my students to research British PM's and I don't want them to know the religion, rather, I want them to know the date of death and political party. Again, these could all be separate searches on multiple pages, taking lots of time. In the Square you can designate what Attributes you want displayed. There are suggestions for Attributes or you can type your own. In the case of date of death, that is a suggestion. However, political party is not. So I type it in and am presented with the political parties for all the British PM's.

Do you not like one of the search results, or do not need one of the search results? Press the X and it goes away. So basically your search results are customized for your needs or what you want your students need.

Try some of these cool searches:
Baseball Teams
Types of Dogs
Elements
Roller Coasters

These are just some examples of how you could use Google Squared. Remember, this product is still a baby, so there are going to be mistakes or search results that just don't fit. But I am sure, just as other Google products, it will get better. So, head on over to Google Squared and give it a try!

Google Squared

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More Resources for Black History Month

Since February is Black History Month, I have some web resources that I would like to share.

A couple of days ago I wrote a blog on lesson plans and resources from Thinkfinity. The blog link is here.

NCWiseOwl has a list of Black History Month web sites for teachers and students to visit. 

LEARNNC has a list of lesson plans by NC Standard Course of Study. African-American History Guide.

Below is a list of websites for lessons, videos, timelines, and activities:

Time for Kids
Teacer Vision
Fact Monster
African American History Month (Library of Congress)
History.com Black History Month
Black History Month
Biography.com Black History Month
Scholastic Online Activities and Interactive Learning
Black History Month Livebinder by KB....Konnected
Black History Month Livebinder by MrsGutierrez
Social Studies, Black History Livebinder by laurarahaim

Here is a web page filled with more resources that Jerry Blumengarten (aka Cybrary Man) has created.

Original image created in Wordle.

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Art Work presented by Google

As an Art teacher are you always wondering how you can help your students to understand the feeling behind a Chagall, Rembrandt or Picasso painting? Do you struggle to try and show line and depth using a 2D photograph from a textbook?

Well it just so happens that Google has brought you a new way to look at Art with Art Project. This website is the culmination of a collaborative effort of 17 museums from around the world to share their artwork for all to see. What I think is interesting about the site is that when you are looking at the art you see a small compass tool like object along the left side of the screen that allows you to zoom in and out as well as to pan and move. It is very similar to what Google offers you in its Street View add on for Google Maps. I don't know about you but I immediately started thinking about Virtual Field Trips when I saw this site.

When you land on the sites homepage you choose from the museums listed(17), once you make your selection the website background will change to a theme inspired by the chosen museum. You will then see to the right of the list a work of art and an explore museum option.

When you click on the View Artwork the work comes full screen where you can interact with it either by using the zoom in/out tool in the top left or bottom right of the screen. Once you have zoomed in you can pan around the picture by clicking and dragging around. There is a small photo shot of the artwork in the bottom left that shows you where you are on the image when you are using the zoom in feature.

Along what I would call the toolbar there are some additional options to choose from. One is an informational link at the far right of the page displays information about the work of art. On the left side of the toolbar you can choose a new location as well as another piece of art from the drop down menus.

If you had chosen the Explore Museum option you are taken to a similar screen which displays a point of view look of the museum. As you move the mouse onto the screen you will see arrows that allow you to walk around and move in on a specific area of the page. Just as you would if you were using Street View on Google Maps. When you walk around the room looking at the artwork the ones with a plus(+) sign will allow you to view/inspect them more.

This tool is a great opportunity for teachers to give their students a completely different view of art without having to look through a book or travel to a museum. The Virtual Field trip idea is what hooked me. Art in the virtual world and in a computer lab situation could allow students to walk through the National Gallery in London or the The State Tretyakov Gallery in Moscow. Places that many students may never have an opportunity to visit.

The website also offers you a Learn More button that gives you some general information about the site and how to use it. You are provided with an FAQ section as well as the list of all participating museums. And if that was not enough Google has provided you with a link to the Art Project You Tube channel so that you can view some of the created videos that go along with this site.

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Black History Month and Thinkfinity

MLK Jr.

 Thinkfinity is a great resource any time of the year. However, since February is Black History Month, this site has a great selection of lesson plans for teachers to use. Remember resources and lesson plans in Thinkfinity are free for teachers to use.

The NAACP Interactive Timeline has classroom lessons, links to other websites, and artifacts for teachers to use to teach about Black History.

Edsitement also has lesson plans for Black History Month. Check out "The Quest for the American Dream: A Rasin in the Sun" and listen to Dr. Martin Luther King's I Have a Dream speech and Maya Angelou's poem Still I Rise. This lesson plan is called "Introducing Metaphors through Poetry".

From Smithsonian's History Explorer, there are lesson plans, artifacts and activities. One of the activities, "Word Art with King's Words" has students reading Dr. King's biography Martin's Big Words and then creating a Wordle from some of the words or phrases that students find meaningful or important to them.

The Blues Journey from The Kennedy Center Arts Edge, is an audio history. Be sure to turn on your speakers for this journey.

African Americans in Science from Science Netlinks offer lesson plans, tools, and resources. The tools and resources will take you to different web sites related to the lesson plan.

Make sure to look at all the resources in Thinkfinity. I think you will be surprised at what you will find.


Original image: 'A Stoic MLK, Jr.' by: Harris Walker
http://www.flickr.com/photos/36121865@N03/3337436779

Released under an Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike License

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