Tools 4 Tuesday: Live & Captured Images with EarthCam & Gigapan

EarthCam - view webcams from around the world 
http://www.earthcam.com/
Perhaps what happens in Vegas may no longer stay in Vegas! Do you think they know they're being watched? Bring to life various spots around the globe... discuss privacy issues and/or life in the 21st century as compared to past centuries... compare/contrast different locales and/or cultures (clothing, earth/ground features, genders, etc.)... count on-camera visitors for a math or graphing lesson... What else??? Other ideas? (share your comments below this post)

=========================

Gigapan - incredibly detailed pictures of famous places and events around the globe taken using a special camera mount (learn more HERE)
http://gigapan.org/
Zoom in to see more of what you may never be able to see in person! Choose from a growing gallery of over 50,000 images
NOTE: this camera mount technology is brought to us by the NASA Mars Rover missions! Technically, we (taxpayers) helped fund this technology!

See more examples in their galleries:
Art in Gigapan
Obama's Presidential Inauguration
Famous Landmarks
Underwater

Take 5! Integration Update - December 9, 2011 (Vol.3/#6)

Issue #6

“Take 5” is a weekly update containing information related to teaching and learning for today and beyond...

Take just 5 minutes (or less) to look over these resources and see what might be helpful for your and/or your students. Better yet, set aside at least 15-30 minutes a week to focus on finding resources and ideas that will improve student learning and prepare them for their future!


 This Issue... (4 new posts)

Manic Monday: Time-Saver Computer Tips
Download some PDF tip sheets to help you speed up your computer use

Wonder Wednesday: Favorite Teacher Movie... Which still inspires you?

Still time to participate and voice your opinion!
See poll above... and VOTE!

 

Wonder Wednesday: Gifts for Kids

Wondering what to get the little ones? See suggestions from Common Sense Media 

Thinking Thursday... Corning's "A Day Made of Glass"
Take a glimpse into the future, iPads and smartphones aren't the only touchscreen in our future lives!

Fun Friday: Need Some PowerPoints for Next Week?
Take a gander at some enlightening & humorous PPTs...

 Upcoming Learning Opportunities
(Email me if you know of other opportunities!)

• 1. In-District Professional Development Opportunities that count for REVS' 7 required hours of PD for 2011-12

• 2. Motivation Matters: 7 Ways to Ignite, Excite, and Engage 21st Century Learners - Learn how to integrate research on motivation to design concrete and practical solutions for your students, your classroom, and your school. Presented by Jodi Haney from BGSU – at Rossford HS on Thursday, Jan. 19 (5-8pm) Register at link above. Cost is $15, which can be paid by REVS (see email from Michelle); or $20 after registration deadline.

• 3. Ohio Educational Technology Conference (OETC, formerly the eTech Conference) - February 13-15, 2012 in Columbus, Ohio. Click to learn more about registration and sessions.
  

• 4. In the right margin of this blog, enter your email to receive future postings into your email Inbox (Take 5s and more!) -- expect 1-3 posts per week.

a NEW format for this year... 

Scroll through the blog below or click these links to see what has been posted already in these areas:

• Manic (hectic) Mondays – Tips and information related to time-management, time savers, and organization (in honor of The Bangles... yes, they are still a group!)
  
• Tools 4 Tuesday – Tools, websites, or teaching strategies
• Wonder Wednesday – Questions to ponder about teaching, learning, and life
• Thinking Thursday – Videos providing plenty to think about
• Fun Friday – Lighter fare for wrapping up the week

Thinking Thursday: Corning's "A Day Made of Glass"

Corning's "A Day Made of Glass" 
-- coming soon to YOUR world (and probably before most of us expect it!)
How will this affect schools, teaching, learning, education... and students, parents, communities?

Wonder Wednesday: Gifts for Kids

Are you WONDERING what to get the little ones for the holidays?

Common Sense Media has a listing of the best movies, games, books, apps, music, websites, and TV shows. 

Time-Saver Computer Tips (PDF Sheets from MakeUseOf)

One of my favorite "tips & tricks" sites, MakeUseOf has several single-page PDFs of tips you can keep handy and practice. Over time, as you use these daily and eventually learn them, you'll be sure to save many seconds, which adds up to many minutes, and then hours!

Sign up for their email to get the password for downloading them — it's all free and you can unsubscribe at ANY time!

http://www.makeuseof.com/pages/downloads 

The programs for which cheatsheets are available include:

• iPhone
• Gmail
• Twitter
• Google search (GREAT for all teachers & students!)
• Photoshop CS5
• iTunes (for both Windows and Mac)
• Windows
• Mac OSX
• GIMP
• Chat smileys
• Facebook
• VLC Player
• Google Reader
• Mozilla Thunderbird
• Internet Explorer
• Google Chrome
• Mozilla Firefox (for both Windows and Mac)

Fun Friday: Need Some PowerPoints for Next Week?

Marilyn Western has a bank of several PowerPoints that can get you thinking and/or laughing... from "Real Excuse Notes from Parents" to "Why English is So Hard to Learn."

Mac people, sorry, but these are best viewed with Internet Explorer (but some open in other browsers, so give it a try).  http://www.edzone.net/~mwestern/funppt.html