EduClipper.Com

EduClipper.com, a new website, provides an excellent way to clip what you find on the Web, organize it into groups, and share what you want with others. To learn about what promises to be an excellent ideally suited tool for educators, check out the site and the short video on it that explains its features. 

If you sign up for the service now, you will receive an email to let you know when you can start using the site. EduClipper.com just came out, so you might have to wait to use it, but it also looks worth it to sign up now, so you're ahead of the curve when the site is available for wide-scale use, including use in the schools. This tool looks to be one excellent social bookmarking site intended specifcially for schools and educators, and it already has come highly recommended by the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE).

Some Advice for Those Looking for Teaching Jobs

Those of you interviewing for teaching jobs will appreciate advice from Pernille Ripp, an experienced elementary school teacher. I follow her blog, Blogging through the Fourth Dimension, and she just posted: More Tips for Landing that Teaching Job.

If you have time, browse further on the blog. This is a teacher who does lots of innovative technology activities with her students, including each student keeping a blog.  She uses KIdBlog for this. I've read their blogs and can attest to their enthusiasm for learning through blogging. Access to their blogs is restricted, but you can read Pernille's teacher blog The Adventures in Mrs. Ripp's Class to find out how she conducts her class.  

 

Vokis in the Classroom: Fun Learning Tool for All

Summer is a wonderful time for playing around with websites and software to get ready for the school year. One fun site to explore is Voki where you can create a talking avatar with My Voki.

Here are a few simple ideas one teacher, Susan Oxenvod offered in a blog post: Wikis in the Classroom

Using Vokis with Students:

• Record a welcome message for incoming students and embed it into your blog, wiki or website.
• Kick off a contest of some sort, the winning studentse 's prize can be the opportunity to create and publish a Voki.
• Teach students how to communicate efficiently through oral messages or talking text.
• Use Vokis in your projects, allowing students the option to communicate a message through a Voki instead of typing bullet points. (again)

As you know, I like playing around with Voki. I created another quick one this morning, and although I will create another one for the start of classes in the fall, I embedded the one I just did. In this case, instead of typing text for one of the characters to speak, I decided to record myself.

Press the play button to start the Voki.

 

TeachersFirst: Lesson Plans and Websites to Use in Classroom

Bookmark the site, Teachers First, to browse now, in the summer, and when school starts in the fall. The site is updated weekly with information about top-picked websites to use in teaching. Each site is described. The grade level appropriateness is given, and ideas for using the site in the classroom are suggested. Here is a link to the main site and link to this week's picks.

Teachers First

Featured Sites, Week of June 17

I already found some sites for week of June 17 to explore. Look around the site and let us know what you find. I am going to explore Knovio, a site I browsed around before, used a couple times, but have not used again. Now, I want to try it further. The site lets you upload a PowerPoint and turn it into a video. 

Let us know what sites you find that are value to you through using Teachers First. What do you think of the site?

Free Photos from Photo Pin

Photo Pin

You can use the search box on the Photo Pin to find free photos. Note you just need a link back to the original source. The site is easy to use. Check it out. Here is an example:

photo credit: Pink Sherbet Photography via photo pin cc

When you find a piciture you want, download it in the size you want, copy the code to give credit, insert the picture where you need it, and then use the html button on your site so you can embed the code. The photo credit line will appear similar to how you see it on this blog post.

Try out Photo Pin and let us know what you think. 

PowerPoint is a Visual Communication Medium

Check this wonderful PowerPoint slide show that I found on SlideShare today. It demonstrates once again that PowerPoint is a visual tool. The message in the presentation is incredibly relevant. It showcases the digital world we live in and variety of sources of information confronting us every day. Please leave a comment after viewing the presentation regarding the impact of visual messages, using a medium such as a slide presentation tool to collect a series of visual images, and the the overall message of the presentation. Note also how effectively the author of the presentation, Steven Wheeler, has captured on each slide the source for all his borrowed images. 

 

Learning in a digital world

View more PowerPoint from Steve Wheeler

Teachers Who Use Technology Will Replace Those Who Don't

Do you think it is essential today for teachers to stay current of technology? If they don't, do you believe they will lose out on the job market? Ann Mayer, author of Fried Technology blog, offers some insights into this topic as well as some tips if you're on the job market.

Take a look at her blog post: Fried Resumes, Because Everything is Better Fried.

You might not agree with her, but take some time to review her points. Her ultimate message probably reflects the position she is in as a technology coordinator in a school. Do you believe schools today are ready to recruit top-notch candidates who have technology skills and know-how and realize how to use these skillls in the classroom, or do you believe in the age of standards and assessment mandates, it does not matter as long as teachers can teach to the test? 

In the spirit of sharing and acknowledging Ann, I am using an image she has on her post. She obtained this image from a subscription service and added the text to the image. Reflect on the quotation, and let us know your thoughts. 

 

Searching for the Source of an Image

Have you ever had an image you want to use but don't remember its source. You can do a reverse image seach with Google. You use Search by Image and copy and paste the image into the search box or drag and drop the image into the search box. This video explains the process. Try the technique with an image, and see if the process works for you. Let us know what you find.

 

The 33 Digital Skills Every Educator Should Have

Check this blog post The 33 Digital Skills Every 21st Century Educator Should Have. Do you agree that educators need these skills? Which do you consider the most vitall? Why?

Screenshot attributed to  Educational Technology and Mobile Learning 

Great Resource to Bookmark

In case you don't know about Jerry Blumengarten's Cybraryman Catalogue, want to make sure you do. This is a site you should explore and bookmark for future reference. There is a weath of information on the site for teachers and other education professionals. Jerry started the site a decade ago, and now that he is retired, he has the time to continuously build it. Many teachers and educators recommend the site as must-a go-to resource. Join the crowd. Here is a link to the site and screen capture of the opening page.

Cybraryman Catalogue

Evaluating Websites for the Class

I found this graphic display of how to evaluate iPad apps for education. The display works well for evaluating any website for classroom usage. Review the form, and let us know what you think. Would you use this form to evaluate

 websites for appropriate use in the classroom? What do you agree with on the form? What do you find confusing or irrelevant? Would you consider saving this form for future reference? To access the evaluation form, created by Sylvia Rosenthal Tolasini, use this link: iPad Evaluation Form. (illustration: screen shot of the top of Sylvia's form.)

 

"What Do YOU Know About the Creative Commons?"

This post "What Do YOU Know About Creative Commons" from the Tempered Radical blog (author Bill Ferriter, 6th grade language arts teacher) explains how to teach concepts of copyright, what creative commons is, and ways to approach helping students understand how to search for images and acknowledge their sources. Mention is made of the use of Flickr to find images that are available for fair use and educational purposes. 

The video "A Shared Culture" expains the concept of Creative Commons.  Do you feel prepared to teach students about fair use and creative commons? Was the "What Do YOU Know About Creative Commons" post by Bill Ferriter helpful to you? Is the video "A Shared Culture" helpful in increasing your understanding of creative commons? What more would you like to know about creative commons?

YouTube for Schools

YouTube sponsors a safe way to sign up for an account intended for school use. Check this video for an introduction. Have you heard of the service? Would you consider recommending it to school administrators and teachers?

Check this site for more information: YouTube forSchools

Posters and Images to Download for Free from Flickr

KTVee's Photostream on Flickr has posters that she claims you can download for free. In addition to using the pictures as posters, you might find other uses for them. Check them out on her Flickr Stream. Here is one example:

New York Joins Efforts to Keep Students Reading Over the Summer

Image credit: Anna Raff

The New York Times is encouraging student reading in the summer through a hashtag on Twitter. Use the link below to find out about the project. 

 

Join the Conversation About Summer Reading

 

The New York Times is also encouraging summer reading through a blogging project. Find about this project using the link below.

 

Blogging a Day Devoted to Summer Reading

 

 

 

Commissioner Pryor, What’s that Stench? It’s Coming from the Double Standard!

Keeping up with the news in Connecticut about the great divide in students' academic success, see the article below. 

The article:

At yesterday’s State Board of Education Meeting, Commissioner Stefan Pryor recommended, and the State Board voted, to take over the New London School System.  They also voted to renew Achievement First – Bridgeport’s charter for another five y

Click on the link after via to access the full article. 

via jonathanpelto.com

What's your view on how to approach the academic divide in the state?

New Weebly Templates

Just off the press. Weebly has added new features and termplates. You can find out about them in this post: 

Weebly Adds Slick Themes and Templates

Also, check this video for a short preview.

Screen Capture and Cropping Tools

Looking for ways to do screen shots and then crop the shots. Here is one suggestion, plus a link below to find 13 methods.

I found Awesome easy to use once I installed it on my Chrome toolbar. Not only can you take a screen shot and crop it, but you can also add text and symbols. In the sample below, I added the text you see in red. 

Remember to save any screen shots you take, so  you can later insert those images into your website or other creations.

Awesome

 

Use this link to explore other methods: 13 Free Web Annotation Tools. 

Manchester School District Policy on Social Media: Is It Constitutional?

Perhaps you have heard that the Manchester, CT schol system has created a social media policy governing employees. The American Civil Liberties Union of Connecticut (ACLU-CT)  has questioned the constitutionality of the policy. Check the story via this headline. Click to read the post from "Legal Clips":

 

ACLU warns Connecticut district that proposed employee social media policy is unconstitutional

 

Leave a comment.

Old School--New School

Where do you stand on this infographic? 

[Via: Colorado Technical University online learning]