The Tech Guy

Please take a moment to read this post and take a look at the list of items not going away in education and technology.  How are you addressing these in your classroom?

http://doug-johnson.squarespace.com/blue-skunk-blog/2009/11/23/these-horses-are-out-of-the-barn.html

Michael J. Elson WWW, teaching

Stumbled upon this very comprehensive list of websites to learn and teach about Thanksgiving.

http://larryferlazzo.edublogs.org/2008/10/27/the-best-sites-to-learn-teach-about-thanksgiving/

Related articles by Zemanta

• Thanksgiving Activities (teachinglearnerswithmultipleneeds.blogspot.com)

Michael J. Elson WWW, teaching Children and Youth, classroom, History, Holidays, Holidays and Special Days, Thanksgiving

This is a great little website that allows you to input text that is then converted into refrigerator magnets shuffled around.  There are a variety of backgrounds to choose from that are suitable for many uses.   It would be a great tool for teaching sentence structure, brainstorming, vocabulary building, etc.

Enter your text

Magnets

Triptico | Word Magnets.

Michael J. Elson WWW Brainstorming, flash, tool, vocabulary, Web 2.0

Did you know that Google Earth Pro is *FREE* if you are an educator? Yep! Basically, all you have to do is download the PRO trial version at http://earth.google.com and then follow these instructions, direct from Google:

Our program involves outreach and distribution of Google Earth Pro to qualified educators affiliated with (employed by) lower, middle, and upper grade schools, accredited community and four year colleges, universities and graduate schools, selected vocational training programs, certain education oriented NGOs, public access museums, and academic libraries.

This wide distribution of Google Earth Pro is provided for one full year as a means to increase the use of Google Earth in core curricula.

In return, we ask for your yearly contribution to one of two forums facilitated by the Google Earth Community: http://groups.google.com/group/google-geo-education/topics (geared towards K-12) and/or http://bbs.keyhole.com/ubb/ubbthreads.php/Cat/0. There, you will be joined by other educators seeking collaborative opportunities with their peers for the benefit of students. Whether it be information in the form of a lesson plan, detailed testimony outlining your successes, or questions for fellow teachers, these contributions will foster incentives for creativity and innovation which that can ultimately evolve into Google Earth enhancements geared specifically toward curriculum development.

To apply, please return your updated application to GEEC@google.com. Should your organization qualify you will receive notification via email with detailed instructions on setting up your account and contact information for Google online tech support.

Information required:

1.Your name (key contact person)
2.Organization / Institution
3.A brief description of the Institution / Organization
4.Full mailing address
5.Telephone number
6.User name (complete email address that will be assigned to the license key)
7.Institution’s web address
8.Your Institution’s Tax ID (if applicable)
9.Your Institution’s 501©3 number (US only, if applicable)
10.A description of the intended application including grade level(s), discipline(s) or subject.
11.What features in Google Earth Pro are important to you and how do you wish to use them in your classroom.
12.Number of computers you are requesting to download this software on.
13.Prior license key information [if a renewal].
14.URL or description of contribution to Google Earth Community or Google for Educators message boards
We look forward to working with you to create a one-of-a-kind, global resource for educators.

Google Earth Education
http://www.google.com/educators/geo.html

Michael J. Elson WWW, teaching education, free, Google, Google Earth, mapping, Tools

Need a quick writing prompt?  Stop by The Brainstormer.  Filled with great ideas, this flash-based tool allows you and your students to compile writing prompts quickly and in a unique way.  From a downtown wagon disaster to the loss of your favorite prehistoric bear, the ideas are limitless.

Michael J. Elson WWW, teaching brainstorm, prompt, writing

Although YouTube has been blocked from many/most schools, for obvious reasons and not so obvious ones. YouTube does provide great resources and content for teachers and students. View the list of the Top 100 Videos for Teachers. This list is provided by SmartTeaching.org, a leading online resource for current teachers, and aspiring education students and student teachers.

100 Best YouTube Videos for Teachers – Classroom 2.0.

Michael J. Elson WWW education, Educators, K through 12, Video, YouTube

Google Squared

Michael J. Elson WWW Google, Google Labs, googlesquared, search, Search Engine

EtherPad lets people collaborate on text in really real-time.   EtherPad is useful whenever multiple people with computers need to work together in real time.

With EtherPad, anyone in a meeting can contribute to the notes, or watch them as they’re typed. This means more efficient meetings, more useful notes, and fewer misunderstandings.

EtherPad literally keeps everyone on the same page.

EtherPad streamlines the wordsmithing process like never before. Previously, reaching agreement meant sending multiple copies of documents by email. With EtherPad, text can quickly be finalized by having all the stakeholders come to the same pad, make their edits, and collectively sign off on the resulting document.

EtherPad: Realtime Collaborative Text Editing.

Michael J. Elson WWW collaboration

Middle High School Athletes of the Month for April have been posted on the school site: http://saboe.k12.nj.us/mshs/mhs_athmonth.html

Michael J. Elson WWW athletes

TeachMate.org is a service that helps people who wish to learn things find others who wish to teach them. You may think of it as of a dating service in education. We are also very fond of the idea of teaching for teaching: you can find people who’d love to teach you something in return for you teaching him another thing.

The essence of this service is simple: whoever teaches — learns. There are few simple things we wish our user could find out:

• You don’t need to be a professional to teach. Instead, you have to teach to become a professional.
• You don’t need to pay money for learning or ask for money when you teach someone.
• Learning is not about the degrees, it’s about the process and what you can do with your knowledge.

TeachMate is an opensource project. You can download sources and contribute!

Michael J. Elson WWW teach, teaching