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Issue 19, Volume 7
January
11, 2007
Thought for the Week
Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter. -- Martin Luther King, Jr.
Featured Blackboard Site
The featured Blackboard site was created by Melinda Thigpen, a career and technical education teacher at Sam Houston High School. Mrs. Thigpen created the site to serve as a resource for all of her students as well as a communication resource with parents. Visit Mrs. Thigpen's site.
Podcasting in Education
This site is about integrating Podcasting into Education for a Reading course. Podcasting is basically the web version of the radio broadcast. The use of this simple technology is starting to blossom in classrooms around the world. The website provides an introduction to the topic, samples, curriculum links, ideas and software/hardware suggestions. You will find articles about how Podcasts work in various schools around the world, along with working examples showing how they are used in education. Find a myriad of ideas for Podcasting and curriculum and classroom management. The URL: http://chatt.hdsb.ca/~magps/boylit/Podcasting%20in%20Education
Google 3D Software
Google now has a 3D drawing program called SketchUp. Developed for the conceptual stages of design, SketchUp is a powerful, yet easy-to-learn, 3D software. This software combines a simple tool-set that streamlines and simplifies 3D design inside your computer. SketchUp, available in personal and professional versions, may be used by anyone with the desire to Dream, Design and Communicate in 3D! Google SketchUp (free) is a 3D design tool for personal use and is available for free. SketchUp Pro 5 is approved for commercial use and is available to purchase. With just a few simple tools, you can create 3D models of houses, sheds, decks, home additions, woodworking projects - even space ships. And once you've built your models, you can place them in Google Earth, post them to the 3D Warehouse, or print hard copies. Take it for test drive by going to the web for a free download at http://sketchup.google.com/download.html.
Keyboard Tweaking!
Did you know that you can customize your keyboard settings? Does that sound like something you would like to check out? Well, if you are a keyboard user, then this may be just the tips for you. To customize your keyboard settings, utilize the following directions:
1. Go to Start, Control Panel and double-click on the Keyboard icon in Windows XP Classic View. If you have an older version of Windows, go to Start, Control Panel and look for the Hardware icon or even just one that says Keyboard. 2. The Keyboard Properties message box will come up on your screen. Under the Character Repeat section, you can choose how long, or short, you would like before a character (a letter, etc.) repeats itself when you're holding down a key. Perhaps when you were typing, a double letter somehow resulted. It may have been because you held onto that one key just a little too long. Well, if that seems to happen to you a lot, you can change the repeat delay to a longer amount of time, so you will have more time to move on to the next letter or word. Just use the arrow slider to move in either direction. 3. Next, you can check on the Repeat Rate of your keyboard. If you sometimes hold down a key for soooooooooooooooooooo long, it may take forever for that one letter to repeat itself. You can fix that by moving the arrow slider to the Fast side. Or, if you like it slower, you can move the slide to the Slow side. Once you have it where you would like it, you can test the rate to see how fast, or slow, it will go.
Free Full-Color Posters
Make your walls wild with free full-color posters of National Geographic's classic photography! They are yours just for the taking. Just pick a poster from the site and download it. Then print, assemble—and watch your walls go wild! You can choose from full color animal pictures or landscapes. You will find posters of nice quality. Each poster utilizes nine sheets of paper. The URL: http://www.nationalgeographic.com/printaposter/
