Podcasting

We've been teaching podcasting workshops the last couple of weeks to our T3 Grant schools. We've been talking about what "consumers of media" our students are these days. So, when I saw this cartoon flipping through Good Housekeeping this week, it gave me a good laugh!

We've collected several podcasting resources while preparing for our workshops. Visit the portaportal site to find those links and many others on other various topics:

http://guest.portaportal.com/jsmith0404

Tag Galaxy

If you or your students are looking for pictures to use in your classroom, Tag Galaxy is a really fun site to visit.

When you arrive at Tag Galaxy they will ask you for a "tag." A tag is a keyword or term that is assigned to a piece of information. If you are looking for pictures of volcanoes, the tag you would type in is "volcanoes." It is simply a keyword.

Click GO and it will show you a "galaxy" of available images. Click on the planet that looks the most appropriate. It will then show you a world of photos. You can navigate through the world using your mouse.

Tag Galaxy is a really cool way to search for photos!

Question of the Day

Embed the BrainQuest Question of the Day html code into your class webpage, and have the question of the day appear automatically each day.  Or just visit http://www.brainquest.com/!  Or, sign up to receive the Brain Quest question via email. 

Favorite Poem Project

This site has been around for a long time, but I was reminded about it during a workshop today. It still is very cool, and maybe will be new to some of you. This comes from their site:

"The Favorite Poem Project is dedicated to celebrating, documenting and encouraging poetry’s role in Americans’ lives. Robert Pinsky, the 39th Poet Laureate of the United States, founded the Favorite Poem Project shortly after the Library of Congress appointed him to the post in 1997.

During the one-year open call for submissions, 18,000 Americans wrote to the project volunteering to share their favorite poems — Americans from ages 5 to 97, from every state, of diverse occupations, kinds of education and backgrounds."

So, visit http://www.favoritepoem.org/ and click on The Videos on the left and listen to famous, as well as ordinary Americans reading their favorite poems.

One of my favorite stories of all time is "Casey at the Bat." So, naturally, that was my favorite video on this site!

http://www.favoritepoem.org/FlashVideo/lsamuel.html

Quick and Easy Videos with One True Media

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

If you want to make a quick photo montage, literally with the click of one button, then try out One True Media.  All I had to do was choose the images to upload to my project, then my video was made!  There are options to add titles, captions, or customize the music choice and style.  It was fun and would be a quick project for your students.  You do have to create a login so that the site will keep up with your projects.  You can share your projects online, as I did with this blogpost, or save them.  Try it!

Lexipedia

So, yes, Lexipedia really does exist.  It's not just what they call one of our favorite characters on Grey's Anatomy!

Lexipedia is the ultimate online dictionary and thesaurus.  Type in a word, and it presents you with a word web.

You have to visit the link to understand its coolness.

Lexipedia-where words have meaning

Tammy Worcester

I always enjoy listening to Tammy Worcester.  I've had the opportunity to hear her speak several times.  She has a site where you can follow her, and access any of the presentations she does around the country.  You can even view the presentations she's done at GaETC this week.  It's http://www.tammyworcester.com/.

The session I attended today was Tech TimeSavers for Teachers.  A few highlights:

Vocaroo.com is an online voice recording service.  You can send your recording via email or post to the web with embedded code.  It is really easy.  Listen to the recording I made here:




Well, we're home now.  As always, it's been an education experience at GaETC.  Continue checking this site.  I will be posting tips and ideas often.  Thanks for reading!

Gotta have This!

I saw the Sony Webbie camera today. It is a slightly larger, slightly pricier "flip" style video camera. It still allows for very easy upload of video, through memory "sticks," but is better quality than the regular flip-style camera. From the Sony site:

Webbie HD Camera MHS-CM1 Sony SonyStyle USA: "Only about 1.7' wide and 2.4' tall, this is one ridiculously small camera. Inside, you'll find an integrated 5MP CMOS sensor that lets the Webbie capture razor-sharp stills in addition to great-looking HD MP4 video. The HD MP4 format is highly versatile, making your media files small enough to easily transfer them to your PC or Mac via USB."

50 Cool Things

Jason Williams, from Americus-Sumter High School, and Matthew White, from Webster County High School, presented a session today on 50 cool technology finds to enhance the classroom.  You can view their presentation on Jason's webpage.

Great Interactive Links

The ETC at the National Science Center has a collection of wonderful interactive links. 

A couple of highlights from this list include:

Cyberchase Games from PBS kids

EdHeads, where you can do really cool things, like perform virtual surgeries!

And, finally, Mr. Picassohead, where you can use Picasso-like art elements to create your own person.

More Friendly and Familiar Faces...

Cool Gadgets and Sites

Listened to Leslie Fisher this morning....great presenter!  You can learn all about her at lesliefisher.com. 

A few of my favorites that she mentioned include:

Jott.com

Rememberthemilk.com

(both listmaking type sites that will send you reminders via email, facebook, text messages, etc...)

Another tip I picked up from her, is to never connect your digital camera to your computer.  It drains your camera battery 10 times faster than taking pictures.  She recommends using card readers, which are inexpensive and easy to use.  Another digital photography tidbit she included is her favorite type of SD card for your camera:  SanDisk Extrene III or IV.