Cool Tools for the Classroom

Now that you've got that amazing new whiteboard, what are you going to do with it? Classroom Tools is a Web site that offers a number of little applets that you can use with a whiteboard as well as in other ways. You can create free educational games, activities and diagrams quickly and easily. You can also host them on your own blog or website.

Lights Out! allows you to load an image, hide it, and reveal only small portions of it with a spotlight. You can allow a student to move the spotlight around and try to guess what it is an image of. On a whiteboard, the student may draw a sketch of what they think the image looks like.

Click here for full screen version

Priority Chart allows you to put the items in a logical sequence each into individual boxes, shuffle them around, then have students drag them into the right order.

Click here for full screen version

If you try out some of these things and like them, add a comment and share your activities.

Introduction to Blogging Workshop

During the Inservice Day on Jan 21, several faculty members participated in a CFF-sponsored workshop on blogging in the classroom. Participants learned the basics of blogging through videos and readings. They had an opportunity to setup a safe blog at 21classes.com and experiment with it.

Getting Things Done in the Computer Lab

A brief piece on how to effectively manage students in a computer lab ...
Techlearning >> All Together or On Their Own > January 18, 2008

Building a Better Podcast

When Apple CEO Steve Jobs introduced the iPod in October 2001, he predicted the technology would change the future of education. More than six years later, educators are using the iPod and other tools to supplement lessons with podcasting.

Read more ...
Building a Better Podcast : January 2008 : THE Journal

Compatability Issue

ALERT: There is an issue with MS Office 2007 documents. Although documents created in earlier Office versions are compatible with Office 2007, the reverse is not true. Office 2007 documents saved in the default Office 2007 format are NOT backward compatible with earlier versions of MS Office.

To avoid this problem do the following: Use File - Save As ... and select a file type compatible with earlier versions of MS Office.

Please make your students aware of this issue and its resolution.

Blogs in Plain English

A video for people who wonder why blogs are such a big deal.

From commoncraft.com

How-To Blog

Learn the basics of blogging in the classroom from this McGraw-Hill site ...

Teaching Today | How-To Articles | Blog Basics

Don't Lose Your Downloaded Files

Have you ever downloaded a file and then you couldn't locate it on your computer? This short article (with accompanying podcast) will help you learn to control the location where your files are download.

Techlearning >> Finding Files > January 15, 2008

Laptops in the Classroom, An Example

"The 17 sixth-graders in the classroom sat at tables, staring up at their teacher. In front of each was an IBM laptop, screen slanted down."
Continue reading from bnd.com - Laptops a link among more students, teachers

Interactive Whiteboard Demo

Tom Hopper, a social studies teacher at Chippewa Middle School in Okemos, Mich. demonstrates how an interactive whiteboard works.

Your Experiences So Far

It would be nice to share with your teammates your experiences in using the new technology in your classroom so far. Use the comment link at the bottom of this post to add your tale.

(Note: Comments do not post until I have reviewed them.)

Professors have "virtual office hours"

At the high school level we need to equip students with modern skills that will be used at the next level. Professors throughout the country are connecting with students more efficiently and effectively using Internet technology.

Professors help students virtually - USATODAY.com

Online Stopwatch

Have you ever needed a stopwatch or countdown timer in class? Did you ever wish you could display a timer for your whole class to see? Online Stopwatch is the answer. This Flash-based online utility functions as either a stopwatch or a countdown timer. You can even put it in fullscreen mode for a really big display.

Free Stock Photos

When you need an image for a presentation or other project stock.xchng - the leading free stock photography site, is a good place to locate free images which you can use.

SpellingCity.com

SpellingCity.com is a fun way to practice spelling. Make practice spelling lists for your students. The words are pronounced and a definition is supplied. You can also create games from your spelling lists.

GeoGebra

GeoGebra is a free and multi-platform dynamic mathematics software for schools that joins geometry, algebra and calculus. It received several international awards including the European and German educational software awards.

GeoGebra