Vimeo (Veteran Foley Artist — http://vimeo.com/11436985)

TED Talk Video in Education — Salman Kahn — http://tinyurl.com/4gmfejq)

TED Talk Debate: Nuclear Power — (http://tinyurl.com/32lc237)

Khan Academy: CAHSEE Sample (http://tinyurl.com/http-www-khanacademy-org-vid)

Common Craft: Twitter (http://www.commoncraft.com/twitter)

Snagfilms – Documentaries (http://www.snagfilms.com)

Free Documentaries (http://www.freedocumentaries.com)

Smart YouTube Channels (http://www.openculture.com/smartyoutube)

Five Best YouTube Channels (http://tinyurl.com/26lm9lx)

100 Best YouTube Videos for Teachers (http://tinyurl.com/5l68zc)

Lincoln HS Videos of the Week (http://tinyurl.com/3o5dswl)

Lynda.com (Paid Technology Videos) (http://www.lynda.com)

Other Sites Worth Exploring:

• Cool Big City Wallpapers
• Uploading.it gives you a place to store documents on the Internet.
• Zendo: A note-taking site that turns notes into flash cards.
• PuzzleMaker: A good site for creating a variety of puzzles in all academic subjects.

I always thought the Google Documents file manager seemed a bit clunky, and I’m not sure if this new listing with actions on the mouseover, and a preview pane on the right is the right direction. We will have to see.

I really think that services like Google and Facebook, etc. should give people warning before they make changes to their user interfaces. Often times, they just do it as if change is always a good thing. But sometimes we rely on these services in our jobs, and when we have to find something or get something done, a sudden interface change can be a real nuisance. When I searched Twitter for Google Documents, it clearly shows that I’m not the only one to be surprised by the change. There is a button at the top to return to the old version.

Web 2.0 For Further Exploration:
Phrays | Today’s word is Transfix. Now, write a sentence.
peg.gd: My awesome little page
Quotables
Newsmap
Incredibox
Stunning Charts in PowerPoint

Tutorials
Wolfram Alpha in a Nutshell helps you explain Alpha to non-geeks
YouTube – GoogleDocs Tutorials on YouTube
Free Technology for Teachers: Google Tutorials

Events
LAUSD’s Educational Technology Blog – ACTFL Student Video Podcast Contest to Celebrate Discover Languages Month…
Google Workshop: Learn Web Page Design with Google Sites on November 9, 2010

Tips
Need a good free Antivirus program? Microsoft Security Essentials.
Symantec Antivirus also free to LAUSD employees: http://antivirus.lausd.net
Windows 7 Family Pack – Great Value: More info
Set GMail as your default email: Download here

For Fun:
YouTube Trivial Pursuit is as addictive as the real thing

Subject Matter Specific Sites/Tools
Art – Picturing America
English – Free Print Reading Online
English – YourNextRead — Book recommendations
Math — Math Open Reference
Math – Dan Meyer’s complete Algebra and Geometry Lesson Plans
Math — Robb’s World Channel - Math Videos on YouTube
Science – Wild Sanctuary
Social Studies — VoteEasy
Social Studies — Flow of History
All Subjects — Sweet Search — Search for Students

The Craft of Teaching
Braineos — Flash card quizzes
Best Tools in EdTech — 67 Tools in 60 minutes
100 Useful YouTube Channels for Teachers
Stripgenerator – Comic strip generator
Google Family Safety Center
CommonCraft – Information Videos on Many Topics
Google Earth Lessons – Definitive site for using Google Earth
Google Lit Trips — Using Google Earth to explore literature and history

Advanced Tools Worth Further Exploration
PanDoc – Converts files from one type of document to another.
Knowcase – Simple collaborative outliner
Xplana - Learning platform
Twieducate – Twitter Social Networking for Schools
Project Rome – online content creator
Free Sound – free audio on the web
Royalty Free Music
Micropoll - Quick website polls

A recap:

Day 1: MyData. Our school now has all student data accessible on our district site: MyData.  It provides information about all standardized tests, past grades, attendance rate, credits, and behavior marks.  The data is exhaustive and a major positive movement by our district.  Some interesting reports including an At-Risk report for identifying students with multiple concerns and in-depth reports on specific items missed on sections of the California State Exam.

Day 2: Digital Grade books. Easy Grade Pro is my preferred choice for gradebooks, and through word of mouth, it has become the digital gradebook of choice of most of our teachers over the district provided option.  A two-page guide for Easy Grade Pro highlighting the key features is here.  I wish our district would scrap their attempt at a gradebook and adopt Edline.  They have been promising the ability for students to view their assignments and grades online forever, but the parent access is not convenient yet.

Day 3: Google Earth. Google Earth is a great tool for expanding students’ geographical sense of the world.  The kids love diving into Google Earth, and with projectors in the hands of teachers, it makes sense to take five minutes from time to time to use it to give context to the history or English or art class, so students have a little more familiarity about the places we throw out in conversation.  Also, students can create their own trips quite easily using placemarks and paths.  Best place for pre-created Google Earth activities is Google Earth Lessons.  Here’s a guide I created for Google Earth.

Day 4: Using our school’s website. We use a site that most of the district uses (Educational Networks) at an exorbitant yearly rate, but it’s user-friendly and has many advanced features, though they seem to put more energy in unneeded features (like Twitter) and overlook the obvious (creating a start and end date for news items).   I’m very impressed by another school website package in School Loop.

Day 5: Using Google Docs and Office for Technology Projects. Google Docs offers a free alternative to our students for word processing, spreadsheets, and presentations.  It also gives students a place to store documents online with a simple upload feature.  Every student in our district has 1GB of space for uploading their assignments.

Day 6: Web 2.0 in a Blitz: I highlighted a number of websites, including Wolfram-Alpha, Dropbox, Google Reader, Delicious and a number of screen capture tools.  Then teachers chose from this list of my favorite Web 2.0 tools.  Certainly one hour was not enough time for a thorough exploration of all of these tools.

Day 7: Star Reading and Accelerated Reader are two paid online tools created by Scholastic for assessing a students’ reading level and then rewarding students’ reading through incentive-based quizzes.  Though not a favorite of English teachers, it is an alternative for supporting student reading for teachers not so comfortable initiating conversation about books and reading.

Day 8: Creating Online Courses with Moodle. Teachers learned the basics of setting up an online course using Moodle, a free open source platform similar to Blackboard and Web CT.  Though not the most “appealing” course software, it is very functional for encouraging interaction and dialogue between students and teachers through forums, journals, and online submissions.  Here’s a basic Moodle Guide.

All my technology training is located at Technology for the 21st Century Teacher with many guides, video tutorials and resources.  Log in as a Guest and check it out.

We certainly can’t say that our school is not supportive of technology training.

In Defense of Public School Teachers in a Time of Crisis

NYU Tries Digital Textbooks

Should Kids Be Bribed to Do Well in School?

Author: ‘iGeneration’ requires a different approach to instruction

Get Going: Google Apps in Your School

National Education Technology Plan

Below are some of the highlights:

Why blogs are beneficial for student achievement and learning?

Blogs provide an informal way for students to think about a topic or subject and express their opinion (like a free-write or a journal entry).  It allows students to comment about topics casually without worrying about perfect syntax or grammar.  This type of reflection is helpful and useful for later composition of an essay.

As a teacher, you can see the development of students’ thinking about a topic over time and make accommodations to your lesson plans to address areas of misunderstanding and confusion.  Blogs also allow students to associate links, images and visuals with their writing with a simple click (a limitation of a normal journal).  All posts are archived for a running record of student progress in writing and critical thinking.

Possible Applications for the Classroom:

* Students can blog about class topics or books they are reading in class and teachers can assess comprehension and create a dialog.

* Students can follow a current event topic over number of weeks and blog about it on a weekly basis and link their response to news articles.  At the end of the period, students would have an ongoing discussion of the content and a list of sources for generating a larger research paper.

* Teachers can blog about learning experiences in the classroom or topics of interest related to education.

How wikis are useful for student achievement and learning?

Students become collaborators and creators of an online resource of information.  This information can then benefit the whole group of class, including future students and educators who might access the resource.  Students learn to write informatively and objectively about topics for specific audiences.  Future classes can utilize the content in their own learning and edit it for future students.

A wiki is useful, not only to its initial creators, but to all the people who can benefit from the information in future years. Wikis have a clean and simple format, the ability to have multiple editors, and the flexibility for adding or editing content over time, making it an ideal choice for some projects and assignments.

Possible Applications for the Classroom:

* Students can create a wiki about the school or community they live in.  Unique topics are valuable because it requires original writing and thought since they cannot find information existing elsewhere.

* Students can create a wiki about unexplored or ever-changing topics (like comparison of government systems between different nations, the theme of survival in multiple pieces of literature or frequently asked questions about an emerging career or technology).

* Some classes (like AP Classes and science bowls/decathlon teams) have to cover a large quantity of information each year.  Wikis can allow your classes to continually build on the content from previous classes in one online location.

* Teachers can create a wiki about a club or program (Debate Team / Leadership) or a major test (CAHSEE or AP Government) or a complicated procedure (video editing or web design).

* Teachers can use a wiki for collaborating on interdisciplinary lessons or projects.

Tips for Creating a Multimedia Project Using PowerPoint with Students
PowerPoint 2003 Intermediate Tips and Tricks
Most Common PowerPoint Issues
Career Cruising Career Research Worksheet
Career Template
Blank PowerPoint Storyboard
PowerPoint Rubric
Oral Presentation LAUSD Rubric
Oral Presentation Rubric for Groups
Sample Biography Outline Research Document

Worthwhile Links I’ve Weeded from the Endless Information Stream

Math: Wolfram-Alpha Step by Step Math — Link
Computer Science/Technology: Teacher Computers without a Computer, Lessons and Resources — Link
Art: FlockDraw — Realtime Colloborative Drawing Application — Link
Math: 20 Free Resources for High School Math Teachers — Link
Technology: 5 How-To Videos with Web 2.0 Tools — Link
Writing: yWriter5 –  Free novel writing software — Link
Teaching: Classroom Whiteboard — Use on your projector — Link
Contests: Google Model Your Town Competition Using Sketchup — Link
ESL: Improve your English with Mister Duncan — Link
Science: Lessons of a Widowmaker and Other Aircraft — Link
Teaching: Teaching with a Smartboard, Videos and Lessons — Link
Geography: Photography related to Geography — Link
Music: 6 Cool things for Music Teachers Blog Post — Link
Music: Online Music Notation — Link
Learning: Virtual Museum — Link
Learning: 20 Virtual Field Trips for Students — Link
Fun: Cool Wallpapers, Photos and Pictures from National Geographic.com – Link