Issue 15, Volume #10 December 3, 2009     Thought for the Week You are never too old to set another goal or to dream a new dream. -- C. S. Lewis   Register Now For Blackboard Classes Register now at the following site: https://www.cpsb.org/techclasses/ BB101: Introduction to Using Blackboard as a Classroom Website Dates of Training: December 8, 2009 (face-to-face orientation) 3:30-4:30 P.M. December 8 - December 28 (online course) Time: 12:00 pm—4:00 pm Location: Lab C Prerequisite: None Requirements: Internet Access at Home CLUs: 6 The hands-on workshop (orientation session) combined with a 4-week online will guide the teacher through the creation of the Blackboard Classroom Website. Participants will learn how to customize the design of Blackboard, add documents, and utilize Blackboard tools. Register for any one of these classes https://www.cpsb.org/techclasses. If you don’t already have an account to register for Tech Center classes, you will need to first create an account before you can register. For a list of more Blackboard courses, go to http://www.cpsb.org/blackboard/courses.htm. 21st Century Skills With Scratch Scratch is a new programming language that makes it easy to create your own interactive stories, animations, games, music, and art -- and share your creations on the web. Scratch is designed to help young people (ages 8 and up) develop 21st century learning skills. As they create and share Scratch projects, young people learn important mathematical and computational ideas, while also learning to think creatively, reason systematically, and work collaboratively. With Scratch, you can create characters that dance, sing, and interact with one another. Or create images that whirl, spin, and animate in response to movements of the mouse. Or integrate images with sound effects and music clips to create an interactive birthday card for a friend, or an interactive report for school. Check it out at http://scratch.mit.edu/. Increase Student Involvement Using ActivExpressions The ActivExpression System can be purchased for the use with your Promethean Board. The ActivExpressions allow students to respond in more variety of ways than simply multiple choice. Click the following link to learn more about ActivExpressions and the type of questions that can be asked by the voting system: http://www.aps.k12.co.us/instruct_tech/northwest/documents/tips.pdf The ActivExpression allows you to create multiple choice questions, yes/no questions, Likert scale rankings, and other types of questions that provide you with informal assessment concerning your students’ mastery of a particular topic. Use this guide to tap into various forms that questions can take in your classroom. Free Online Screen Recorder Suppose someone asks you to demonstrate exactly how "that thing you do with that program works," but you're at work without screen recording software installed. That is when you can fire up ScreenToaster's site, load its Java-based applet, and record surprisingly decent quality screencasts and demonstrations, with audio voice-overs, at the push of a single button. When you're done recording part of your desktop or the whole thing, you can have ScreenToaster upload the finished product to YouTube or ScreenToaster's own site, download your screencast as a QuickTime or Flash file, and re-record audio if you didn't hit it the first time. Tell your viewers to hit the full-screen button for your screencasts, and it's like you're hovering right over their shoulder, semi-patiently showing them just how it's done. Download it for free at http://www.screentoaster.com. Configure Disk Defragmenter Schedule in Windows Vista Disk Defragmenter is a computer program included in Microsoft Windows designed to increase access speed by rearranging files stored on a disk to occupy contiguous storage locations, a technique commonly known as defragmenting. Fragmentation makes your hard disk do extra work that can slow down your computer. Disk Defragmenter rearranges fragmented data so your hard disk can work more efficiently. In Windows Vista, Disk Defragmenter includes an option to automatically run once a week, usually at 1am on Wednesday. If you’d rather schedule it for a different time, use the following instructions:   1. To open up the defragment utility, just type defrag into the Start menu search box, and hit enter. 2. Click through the UAC (User Account Control) prompt, and you should see a screen to Modify Schedule. 3. From this screen, you can also see when your computer was last defragged, or you can choose Defragment Now.   Disk Defragmenter might take from several minutes to a few hours to finish, depending on the size and degree of fragmentation of your hard disk. You can still use your computer during the defragmentation process. Get Instant Answers with Bing Often, when you are searching the Internet, you’re looking for a quick answer to a question right at hand, and you don’t have time to scan thru a bunch of search results just to find it. To help you out, Bing provides a feature called Instant Answers. Using your question, a special keyword along with your search term will bring up an Instant Answer. For example, need the find the area code for Orlando? Just type Area code Orlando FL. Want to know who won a specific Super Bowl? Just type Who Won Super Bowl XXX? Need to convert currency? Just type Convert 100 dollars to pesos. Need more information on the types of Instant Answers available on Bing? Just type Help Instant Answers. Campbell's Labels for Education Campbell's Labels for Education is a school fundraising program. By saving and redeeming Campbell product proofs of purchase from eligible brands, schools can earn free educational merchandise - computers, software, sports equipment, musical instruments, library books, and a minivan. Eligible schools and organizations are public and private K-12 schools, accredited K-12 home school associations, licensed child care centers, public libraries, religious educational centers, and Head Start centers. Find out more at http://www.labelsforeducation.com/about.aspx. Instant Search in MS Outlook Ever find yourself searching for a message from a specific sender? Unless you actually sort saved messages into folders based on the sender you could have messages from a single person all over the place. So… needless to say, when you go to search for a specific one the question becomes "Where did I put it?" MS Outlook has a handy little feature that will locate all messages from a single sender regardless of where you have them stored. 1. To make this as easy as possible, start by highlighting a message from the sender you seek. 2. Now go to the Tools menu. 3. In the Tools menu, choose either Instant Search or Find (depends upon your version of Outlook) then choose Messages from Sender. 4. An Advanced Find dialog box will open that is already busy populating the bottom portion with all the messages it can find from that sender. 5. At this point you only need to look through that list to locate the message you seek. If you need to narrow it down some more, then use the top portion of the Messages tab to refine your search. 6. At the top you'll find a field labeled Search for word(s) and just below that a drop-down list to choose where Outlook should look. 7. If this search turns up too many emails, then do a refined search that will give you even less. 8. Double-click on any message in the list to open it, and when you've found what you need, close the dialog box and go on with your day. Best on the Net!! -- Visit this site for hundreds of websites for teachers! We would love to hear from you about the best educational sites you have found on the web. Please submit, via email, the sites you feel merit inclusion. Send to tech.connect@cpsb.org. Please include the URL and a short sentence about the site.  Featured Sites: (These sites were submitted by teachers in Calcasieu Parish) Journey Back To The 17th Century http://www.pbs.org/wnet/colonialhouse/teachers/dirty_manner/index.html How did people talk in the seventeenth century? Your students may have had some trouble making the translations (and vice versa!), but they'll get some practice with the mystery diaries and 17th century speak in this interactive exercise.   Rock Around The Map! http://learning.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/07/11/rock-around-the-map/ How can you teach geography and make it stick? Try this lesson plan for middle and high school students, where they will connect geography to musical genres and their roots with background research and biographies of recording artists, while mapping important locations in music history.   3-D Geometry http://www.learner.org/interactives/geometry/ In this excellent Annenberg online exhibit, students will investigate dimensions through geometric shapes. Area, surface, and volume are all covered, as well as Euler's Theorem and Platonic Solids. Students will have a chance to test their knowledge with an online quiz as well. An official publication of the CPSB Technology Department If you have any questions or comments please e-mail the Webmaster. For Technical Support:  tech.help@cpsb.org Calcasieu Parish Homepage  Technology Department  Tech Help Site  Best on the Net Tech Guides  Computer Purchasing Information  Tech Connect Archive