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Thought for the
Week
In an
effective classroom students should not only
know what they are doing, they should also know
why and how.
-- Harry Wong |
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Web 2.0 Tools For
Educators
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 The term "Web 2.0"
(2004–present) is commonly associated with web
applications that facilitate interactive information
sharing, interoperability, user-centered design and
collaboration on the World Wide Web. Examples of Web
2.0 include web-based communities, hosted services,
web applications, social-networking sites,
video-sharing sites, wikis, and blogs. A Web 2.0
site allows its users to interact with other users
or to change website content, in contrast to
non-interactive websites where users are limited to
the passive viewing of information that is provided
to them. Over the next several issues of TechConnect,
several free Web 2.0 tools that teachers are using
to expand their professional knowledge and
collaborate on projects will be provided.
Bloglines
http://www.bloglines.com/
This free Web-based “reader” lets users capture and
aggregate up-to-the-minute feeds from blogs and news
sites of their choice. Users can also clip and save
items of particular interest.
Diigo
http://www.diigo.com/
This social-reading tool helps you to organize and
share bookmarks, as well as highlight and annotate
portions of Web pages.
Delicious
http://delicious.com/
This social-bookmarking site lets you organize and
share Web pages and find out what Web sites others
are using in topics of interest to you.
Edtags
http://www.edtags.org/
Funded by Harvard University, this
social-bookmarking site caters specifically to
educators.
Edublogs
http://edublogs.org/
This free blogging platform is exclusively for
educators and includes a discussion forum for member
interaction and idea-sharing. |
15 Tools To Help Students
Get Organized
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 After the holiday vacation
some students will return to school determined to
get organized and improve their grades. These
fifteen resources could help those students get a
handle on managing their assignment due dates. Check
out these resources and the article at
http://www.freetech4teachers.com/2009/12/15-tools-to-help-students-with.html. |
Register For Upcoming
Blackboard Classes
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Register now at the
following site:
https://www.cpsb.org/techclasses/ |
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BB101: Introduction to Using Blackboard as a
Classroom Website
Dates of Training:
January 28, 2010
(face-to-face orientation - 3:30 - 4:30 p.m. - Lab
C) January 28 - February 25, 2010(online course)
Location: Lab C
Prerequisite: None
Technology 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.
BB201: Utilizing Blackboard to Support
Curriculum – Getting Students Involved
Dates of Training:
February 8, 2010 (orientation
session - 3:30 - 4:30 p.m. - Lab C ) February 8 -
March 2, 2010 (online course)
Location: Lab C
Prerequisite: BB101 or BB102
Technology Requirements: Internet
Access at Home/Computer Proficient
CLUs: 8
This hands-on workshop combined with a 3-week online
class will guide participants through the
enhancement of their current Blackboard Website to
utilize with students during the upcoming school
year. Participants will learn how to utilize the
many tools of Blackboard to create a rich, engaging
online environment for students extending
instruction beyond the classroom. This class will
allow students to have usernames and passwords to
Blackboard for the upcoming 2009-2010 school year.
BB301: Using StudyMate within Blackboard
Date of Training: February
11, 2010
Location: Lab C
Time: 3:30 - 5:00 p.m.
Prerequisite: BB201
CLUs: 1.5
This hands-on workshop will introduce participants
to, StudyMate, an “authoring tool that lets you
create 10 Flash-based activities and games using
simple templates that can be published directly to
Blackboard.” Participants who attend will receive a
copy of the StudyMate software.
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.
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Featured Blackboard Site
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 The
featured Blackboard site was created by Beverly
Crawford, a middle school Gifted Ed Math teacher
from S.J. Welsh and Bell City High Schools. Mrs.
Crawford created the site to serve as a resource for
all of her students and as well as a communication
resource with parents.
Visit Mrs. Crawford's site. |
NASA Launches New Student
Site
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 The National Aeronautics
Space Administration (NASA) has launched a web site
aimed specifically at teenagers that gives them
access to current NASA spacecraft data, potentially
taking school science projects to a new level. The
"Mission: Science" site also gives teens the
opportunity to conduct experiments in conjunction
with actual NASA scientists, giving students an
unprecedented glimpse into the ongoing research that
will advance space exploration and take humanity
further into the universe. The URL:
http://missionscience.nasa.gov/ |
Prism Video Converter
Software
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 Want to convert AVI, MP4,
WMV, MOV, MPEG, FLV and other video file formats?
Prism is one of the most stable and comprehensive
multi format video converters available; it is very
easy to use and is completely free. Convert or
compress video files within minutes of downloading
this converter which supports all popular formats
and can batch convert thousands of files during one
conversion.
Download Prism AVI / Video Converter for
Windows at
http://www.nchsoftware.com/prism/index.html. |
180 Technology Tips
|
 180TechTips.com offers fifteen hours of free
computer training in 180 easy to follow 5 minute
lessons. This is the kind of relevant and
uncomplicated computer training everyone needs. 180
free and simple five-minute computer lessons are
emailed to you one day at a time from September to
June. If this is the kind of low pressure, easy to
follow computer training you want, just click on the
link to sign up now for 180 free tech tips! Try it
for a day or a week, you can unsubscribe at any
time. All you have to submit is your email address.
Sign up online to receive Technology Tips at
http://www.180techtips.com/index.htm. |
American Sign Language
Browser
|
 The American Sign Language
Browser is a wonderful resource for individuals that
would like to learn sign language. It contains a
glossary of terms that link to a QuickTime video
that shows the correct sign. This site also provides
a written description of the sign as you view the
video. Check it out at
http://www.commtechlab.msu.edu/sites/aslweb/browser.htm. |
100th Day of School
Activities
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 Has it been 100 days
already? Not yet; but it is time to prepare for any
activities you plan to have in your classroom. Below
you will find links to several web sites with plenty
of activities to celebrate 100 days!
100 Days of School
www.teachingheart.net/hundreddays.html
Find lots of lessons, links, ideas, and printables
regarding the 100th day of school. You may want to
try to have a dollar dig, a snack count, or
celebrate 101 days of school.
100th Day of School Homepage Classroom
Activities
www.siec.k12.in.us/~west/proj/100th/
Visit this webpage to find a list of activities that
other teachers are doing to celebrate the 100th Day
of School.
100th Day Of School In The Global Classroom
www.globalclassroom.org/100days.html
List 100 ways you can say 'I love you' to your dear
ones. There are lots of ideas that students can do
for the "100th day."
100th Day Activities
http://atozteacherstuff.com/Themes/100th_Day/
Create 100 lipstick kisses, make a 100 stamp book,
or estimate the time it takes to do 100 things.
Discover what 100 jelly beans look like. Write a
book listing groups of 50 opposites. Celebrate 100
by reading The Wolf's Chicken Stew, graphing, and
making 100 pancakes! Find these and other creative
and fun ideas for the 100th day of school.
100 Days Of School With Swimmy
http://atozteacherstuff.com/pages/435.shtml
Using the book Swimmy by Leo Lioni, students will
learn the importance of working together, counting
to 100 and visualizing seeing how many 100 is. This
lesson is primarily for Kindergarten.
100th Day Of School
http://k6educators.about.com/library/bl100thday.htm
This site has a huge list of links for the 100th day
of school. Find out how you can make the 100th day
of the school year both fun and educational for your
students.
Jerrie's Curriculum Hotlists: 100th Day
http://webtech.kennesaw.edu/jcheek3/100thday.htm
This site leads to one former teacher’s hotlist of
100 day activities. The website has been a featured
site in Education World. |
| 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)
Cheshire Cat
http://www.exploratorium.edu/snacks/cheshire_cat/index.html
The disappearing Cheshire cat, that is... What
happens when your eyes perceive different images?
Students will investigate in a simple science
experiment, working with a partner, learning how the
brain analyzes images received from the eyes to
create one 3-D image.
Online Stopwatch
http://www.online-stopwatch.com/
Everybody needs a stopwatch at some point. You
should try this online stopwatch! It is a simple,
fast flash online stopwatch and online countdown
timer always available when you need it.
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