Animoto Ad for Our Pepsi Grant

Here's a non-classroom use for Animoto... but still a sample of what it can be used for. Perhaps students create a 30-second "ad" for a project or presentation or even a "trailer" to their final project/product. The process of selecting only a handful of images (or brief video) and a soundtrack can take some creativity, problem solving, and even compromise when working with others!

See our's here: http://animoto.com/play/bxBeKOhYwUWWNjGJqPcjZg#
Or just click it below:

Take 5! Integration Update - November 19, 2010 (Vol.2/#11)

Issue #11

“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 (yes, that's been increased from last year!) to focus on finding resources and ideas that will improve student learning and prepare them for their future!


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

Tips and Tools for Teachers 

• VozMe – a site that converts text to speech (an MP3 file) ... Female or Male voices (which I find the female one more clear). Use it for intervention, foreign language, proofreading (paste in some text from a paper), generating a "robot voice" for a project, and more!
  

• TypeWithMe or MeetingWords – Both do the same thing... allow "live" or "real-time" editing on a web page. It can be used for student (or teacher) brainstorming, editing, first drafts, collaborative projects (done over time or asynchronously), and more! It even allows you to save moments and play back the changes in a slideshow/movie. Some cautions: this is a "live" site with no ability to approve student text before it goes on there... also, it's a public site (for anyone with the address/URL), so private or touchy subjects should be avoided.
  

• PD Tip:"Google knows EVERYTHING!" (sort of) Perhaps they should be called the all-knowing Oz!?!? Now that we have YouTube access, you can find the answers to so many tech-related questions or otherwise... So, like the famous teacher saying, "Ask 3 then ask me," try Google first for your questions, then check with your building tech, then Josh or Sandy. Here are a few examples:
• "How do I combine two columns in Excel into one? (such as first and last names)" - type into Google: combine two columns in Excel youtube - and get THIS VIDEO... as the first site
• "How do I play a YouTube video in SMART Notebook?" - type into Google: how to play a Youtube video in SMART Notebook -- and get a few possibles... but the 5th one had a link to THIS FILE that shows how
• "How do I tie a tie?" (popular during holiday season) - type into Google search: how tie a tie youtube and get THIS VIDEO

Ponderings

• Waiting for Superman - Editorial response from Dennis Pierce at eSchoolNews... Read more about this film and the arguments it brings up, some very misleading or inaccurate or unfair. Take 5-10 minutes to read his response. A few highlights:
  

  ...in a documentary spanning nearly two hours, Guggenheim doesn’t interview a single classroom teacher about what’s wrong with American public education 

  ... If Superman’s contributors thought highly enough of teachers to listen to their concerns, they’d learn that teachers are crying out for more support. In fact, teachers would rather have this support than higher salaries. (cites this survey of teachers)

  ... We learn from the film that average spending per pupil has more than doubled since 1971, from $4,300 (in inflation-adjusted dollars) to $9,000... What’s missing from this indictment is any historical perspective for understanding why. As it turns out, there’s a pretty reasonable explanation—and much of it has to do with the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA)... despite promises by the federal government to cover up to two-fifths of the cost of providing these services, local school systems generally are left footing more than 80 percent of the bill themselves. 

  ...The challenges facing public education today require responsible, thoughtful, multifaceted solutions that involve all stakeholders working in concert—not shallow responses or agenda-driven reformers with superhero aspirations. We don’t need a Superman; what we need instead is a collective commitment to doing the hard work necessary to bolster public education as the foundation of a strong democracy. Anything less would be a disservice to our nation and our children.

Learning Opportunities

1. In-District Professional Development Opportunities - Calendar
2. Global Education Conference (online) Recordings of sessions can be found HERE ... lots of great sessions dealing with a global perspective in teaching & learning. Click for SESSIONS
3. NWO's STEM Education Inquiry Series (at Rossford High School!) - Thurs., Dec. 16th - a low-cost, local opportunity for elementary teachers and JH/HS science, math, and technology teachers offered 7 times from September 23 - April 14, 2011.
4. In the right margin of this blog, enter your email to receive future postings into your email Inbox (Take 5s and more!) -- plan on 1-3 posts per week.

;-) Just for Fun! (and a little learning, perhaps)

• Thanksgiving Fun - If you're in need of any games, clipart, recipes, and more... check out this site. So, if you're not the football-watching type, give "Turkey Rescue" a try (wait for the ad to finish, then you can save the turkey!)
  

Google Book: 20 Things I've Learned about Browsers & the Internet

Check out this online book to learn more about browsers and the Internet... from Google's perspective:
http://www.20thingsilearned.com/

Take 5! Integration Update - November 12, 2010 (Vol.2/#10)

Issue #10

“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 (yes, that's been increased from last year!) to focus on finding resources and ideas that will improve student learning and prepare them for their future!


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

Tips and Tools for Teachers 

• NaNoWriMo – National Novel Writing Month (November) - So... If you’re not too busy with Pepsi votes, conferences, holiday preparations, (oh!), AND teaching, how about writing a 50,000 word novel this month? Although you only have 18 days or so left, I’m sure some novels have been written in less time! Good luck!
  
  NaNoWriMo Info
   
  NaNoWriMo Young Writers Program
  
  Podcast and tips for writing
  

• DocsTeach  – search more than 3,000 primary-source documents from the National Archives and find lessons/activities... Sample documents to use/examine: U.S. Constitution, Kennedy family tree, map of Gettysburg battlefield, photographs of presidential inaugurations, and much more!

• SMART Board Viewer – Parents can download this Viewer (see links below) to open any SMART Notebook file you would like to share with them... they don't need the full program! Perhaps there's a lesson you'd like your students to review over break, or you had an Open House Notebook file you'd like to share with those who couldn't attend. Upload the Notebook file to your teacher web page (or email them, if not too big), then send them this link or put it on your teacher page... and Viola! It's like they're in your classroom! (sort of!)
  

WINDOWS USERS - Download

MAC USERS - Download

Ponderings

• TED Videos: A Love Affair (Awwwwww...) - How and why use TED (Technology, Entertainment, Design) "Ideas Worth Spreading" website for teaching. In addition to TED topics, they also have short video speeches on Business, Science, and Global Issues... and Education. Highlights from the article...
  

  ...this revolution in accessible high-level concepts, should be tapped into as a teacher. The students may understand the tools, but it is up to us to introduce our students to the diversity and rigor of content that is out there so that they aren't always seeking out burgers when they could be digesting lobster.

  Cheryle Lemke, President and CEO of the Metiri Group said the following: "we are no longer at the center of the learning for our students." Our task now, she says, is to leverage the learning possibilities from outside our school walls and from the online possibilities that are out there, and harness them into ways to teach our students how to find their own lessons and how to love the act of learning.

  TED (Technology, Entertainment, Design) is a conference of the brightest minds on the planet speaking on the topics in their expertise. Want a brain massage? Just jump online and pull up a 20-minute lecture on the topic of your choice and recharge your batteries or reinvigorate your knowledge base with one of their videos.

   See specific subject selections... in the article!

Learning Opportunities

1. In-District Professional Development Opportunities - Calendar
2. NWO's STEM Education Inquiry Series (at Rossford High School!) - Thurs., Dec. 16th - a low-cost, local opportunity for elementary teachers and JH/HS science, math, and technology teachers offered 7 times from September 23 - April 14, 2011.
3. In the right margin of this blog, enter your email to receive future postings into your email Inbox (Take 5s and more!) -- plan on 1-3 posts per week.

;-) Just for Fun! (and a little learning, perhaps)

• For Equal Time: Coca-Cola's Happy Factory - Coke drinkers... sick of all the Pepsi stuff? This one's for you! (so to speak) - Flash player games of skill! NOTE: takes a little while to get the games ready, so try on a "fast" computer! I'm sure there's some educational value in here somewhere!!!
  
  

 

Take 5! Integration Update - November 4, 2010 (Vol.2/#9)

This week’s Take 5:
Take 5 minutes, or less, and just vote for the Pepsi Grants, please! ;-)
(see info below or go to the blog for links & info... http://rossfordrefresh.blogspot.com )

Online Voting - for these 5: (QUICK way to vote - once you've voted for all 5 - watch this short video - http://screencast.com/t/9tuPEwyqeY87

• Rossford:  http://www.refresheverything.com/click4rossfordschools  
• Anthony Wayne: http://www.refresheverything.com/generals   
• Anthony Wayne: http://www.refresheverything.com/anthonywayne   
• Maumee: http://www.refresheverything.com/waynetrail 
• Perrysburg: http://www.refresheverything.com/perrysburg

Text a Vote - for these 5: (one text per vote - only 1 per day)

• Rossford - Text 103023 to Pepsi (at 73774)
• Perrysburg - Text 103023 to Pepsi (at 73774)
• Maumee (Wayne Trail Elem) - Text 102269 to Pepsi (at 73774)
• Anthony Wayne (#1) - Text 103975 to Pepsi (at 73774)
• Anthony Wayne (#2) - Text 102978 to Pepsi (at 73774)

Take 5! Integration Update - October 28, 2010 (Vol.2/#8)

Issue #8

“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 (yes, that's been increased from last year!) to focus on finding resources and ideas that will improve student learning and prepare them for their future!


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

Tips and Tools for Teachers 

• That Quiz  – Quick, easy, and good for review... Multiple choice quizzes for math (mostly), but also geography, language, and science review (foundational knowledge). Students log in with a "quiz code" from a quiz you have already set up, they take it, and either show you the results, print a copy, or you log in to see their results.  [Thanks, Maria Pratt-EP, for sharing this site!]

• Vocaroo  – Record a sound and then email to someone or post online (in a web page, blog, or wiki). Do you need to explain something rather than type it? What about singing a song or pronouncing a word or phrase in a foreign language? Perhaps give instructions on what to do when someone goes to your webpage? Any of these uses and whatever else works! (Just be sure to click the "Allow" button to make the recorder work on your computer.)

Ponderings

• ARTICLE: In School Turnarounds, the Human Element is Crucial -- Some key points:
  
  

  At the heart of all reform efforts are the people who bring the strategies to life.
  ...And one of the most powerful tools—one that has taken an inner-city Cincinnati high school from absolute failure, by any measure, to being named a national Blue Ribbon School—is embarrassingly plain and lacking a data column: It’s about relationships.
  
  ...Over the past decade, Taft’s graduation rate has risen from 25 percent to 95 percent. In 2010, the percentage of 10th graders scoring proficient or higher in math is up from 33 percent to 96 percent, and from 68 percent to 96 percent in reading. The school, once in “academic emergency,” the state’s lowest designation, has moved to “effective”—and, just recently, to “excellent,” Ohio’s highest rating. 
  
  ...Smith (Principal) also did something counterintuitive: He kept the staff he inherited. Old teachers, the thinking goes, resist change and prevent transformation. In many turnarounds, much of the staff is let go as a “fresh start” message. Instead, Smith met individually with teachers in their classrooms and spent an hour hearing from each of them about what was working and what wasn’t.
  

  
  

  Real and sustained improvement... depends on building bridges that allow students to grasp the reward of hard work. It must be rooted in relationships throughout the process of change and in a recalibration of expectations that students have for themselves.

  
  

Learning Opportunities

1. In-District Professional Development Opportunities - Calendar
2. NWO STEM Symposium on Nov. 6 (Saturday) at Penta Career Center from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. The event is an opportunity for preK-12 teachers, pre-service teachers, administrators and higher education faculty to share and learn from one another in a common effort to advance science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education for people of all ages. Online registration of $40 closes Oct. 29. The on-site registration fee is $50. Undergraduate students can attend for $20.
3. In the right margin of this blog, enter your email to receive future postings into your email Inbox (Take 5s and more!) -- plan on 1-3 posts per week.

;-) Just for Fun! (and a little learning, perhaps)

• Create Your Own Font(s) - Two tools/websites to get you started: one is free, but limited functionality (but cool!) and the otehr is not free, but potentially worth it! You decide:

• Pilot Handwriting - Basically an advertisement (thus, it's free), but the "coolness factor" is high for this one! Another downfall, the writing has to be done from their website - font is not download-able. (NOTE: editing of your letters is difficult, too)  
•  Fontifier - Create a font to use on your computer for $9 (download)

 

Any other "ings" out there???

Observational Commentary:
There’s Jing — for screen capture images and video; Ning – for educational, organizational, and social networking; Bing — Microsoft’s newest search venture... And now (as of September), Ping — for iTunes users to connect to and follow what music others’ like or are talking about.

In case you're looking for another Web 2.0 name, here’s what’s left, minus vowels (aing, eing, iing, oing, uing... Although iing or i-ing sounds like it aptly describes this entire phenomenon!) Looks like the pick- ings are pretty slim!!!

Cing – Cingular (who doesn’t exist anymore) might like this one
Ding
Fing
Ging – a type of catapult???
Hing
King – too many of these
Ling – a type of fish???
Ming - a Chinese dynasty
Qing – another Chinese dynasty
Ring – too many uses to list here...
Sing – ditto
Ting – a noise...
Ving – Mr. Rhames might not like it being used elsewhere
Wing – too many uses
Xing – crossing slang
Ying – Ying (is a famous panda)
Zing — This one has potential... Any takers????

Then there's always the possibility of adding more letters in front... or behind... And suggestions???

Take 5! Integration Update - October 20, 2010 (Vol.2/#7)

Issue #7

“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 (yes, that's been increased from last year!) to focus on finding resources and ideas that will improve student learning and prepare them for their future!


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

Tips and Tools for Teachers 

• Teachers Love SMART Boards (blog) - A wonderful resource for elementary teachers (and often JH/HS, too). Sign up in the right margin to get email updates when they post a new resource or tip!

• Twiducate (A Twitter-like website) - From their site:
  Create an online community of  your classroom
  Share inspirations, ideas, readings, thoughts
  Post discussions, deadlines, homework
  Instantly create surveys for students
  Keep parents informed of daily projects
  

  How could you use Twiducate for your classes, team, group, teachers, staff, etc?
  

Ponderings (& Resources!)

• Brain Rules for Babies - A great website resource (FREE) or you can buy the book. A follow up to the excellent for anyone, Brain Rules: 12 Principles for Surviving and Thriving at Work, Home, and School by John Medina. The 'baby version' is for raising "smart and happy children from age 0 to 5 (after that, apparently, you're on your own... or he'll have his next book out by then, I presume!) Some things we can all learn, no matter what age we teach or how many children we have:

• Why you shouldn't praise your kid's intelligence
• The amount of TV kids under two should watch
• The best predictor of academic performance

• Better yet, take the Brain Rules for Parenting Quiz (some of these apply to childless teachers, too!)

Learning Opportunities -- LOTS!!! ("Fall into Learning!")

1. In-District Professional Development Opportunities - Calendar
2. NWO STEM Symposium on Nov. 6 (Saturday) at Penta Career Center from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. The event is an opportunity for preK-12 teachers, pre-service teachers, administrators and higher education faculty to share and learn from one another in a common effort to advance science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education for people of all ages. Online registration of $40 closes Oct. 29. The on-site registration fee is $50. Undergraduate students can attend for $20.
3. BGSU hosts Early Childhood conference on Nov. 13 - a one-day conference for preschool and kindergarten educators on Saturday, Nov. 13, on its campus. The keynote presenter is Laura Barker, a clinician and educator. The registration fee is $59 until Oct. 15 and $69 after. The conference website http://cee.bgsu.edu/container.php?x=early_childhood has program and CEU details and a registration link.
4. SMART Board User Group Meeting at Lucas Co. ESC - Thursday, Nov. 18 from 4-6pm (2 contact hours) - FREE to REVS staff (more info on THIS FORM)
5. In the right margin of this blog, enter your email to receive future postings into your email Inbox (Take 5s and more!) -- plan on 1-3 posts per week.

;-) Just for Fun! (and a little learning, perhaps)

• Extreme Pumpkins - In case you thought you'd seen it all... here are some creative (and some gross!) ideas for this year's carving tradition. 

MS Word Mail Merge: Not making cents?

This issue comes up when writing a mail merge letter where you are including dollar amounts from a calculated formula column — such as... “Money Turned In” and “Money Still Due/Owed.” 

In some cases you can just change the cell format to Text, but not if that column/cell has a formula in it and needs 2 decimals to show cents! 

Below is a link to instructions that worked just wonderfully the other morning... BUT (one change to the instructions...) you will need to use “0.00x” for 2 places after the decimal (such as for cents), and “0.0x” only goes 1 place after decimal.

http://wordprocessing.about.com/od/usingmailmerge/qt/NPFSwitch.htm

Excel- Selecting several cells rather than one?

When you click/select ONE cell in Excel, do more than one get selected?

Apparently, it’s the scroll wheel on your mouse... (more info here)
http://www.computing.net/answers/office/excel-click-1-cell-selects-multiple-update/8691.html

Try this to fix it:

1. Click on scroll wheel (and let go), you’ll get a compass-like 4-arrow symbol. 
2. Without clicking, move the mouse up, down, left, right — your screen will scroll in those directions. 
3. Now press the wheel again to go back to normal mouse mode. 
4. Now left-click a single cell — it should just select ONE cell. If not, try again! (or leave a comment below and I’ll do a Jing video to show you what to look for)

Take 5! Integration Update - October 6, 2010 (Vol.2/#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 (yes, that's been increased from last year!) to focus on finding resources and ideas that will improve student learning and prepare them for their future!


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

Extra Help for Neighboring Schools...

Perrysburg Schools is asking for your help in voting for their Pepsi "Refresh Everything" grant.

• A daily vote online (at http://www.refresheverything.com/perrysburg - you'll need to set up an account first, but it's fairly painless!)  
• AND a text message vote (text 103023 to Pepsi at 73774, you will get a reply text letting you know it went through).  
• Maumee's Wayne Trail Elementary also has a project up for voting this month, so feel free to use your 10 daily online votes for them as well, if you'd like! A few seconds of your time could help benefit our neighbors...

Tips and Tools for Teachers 

• ComicMaster - Students (or teachers?) can create your own short graphic novel!  -- http://www.comicmaster.org.uk

• Cyber Safety Week (Oct. 3-9) – Although only a couple days left in this week, keep this Ohio Attorney General's site in mind -- Click on the Cyber Safety Toolkit. Plus, attend a parent training seminar on Thursday, October 7th at St. Rose in Perrysburg at 7pm. More information is on this flyer.

Ponderings (& Resources!)

• What's so special about Sunday, October 10th? (especially at 10:10am)... How about 10/10/10...10:10:10 
• Power of 10 (famous video of scale)
• Ten by Ten (current events in images, shown 10x10)
  

Learning Opportunities

1. In-District Professional Development Opportunities - Calendar
2. NWO STEM Symposium on Nov. 6 (Saturday) at Penta Career Center from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. The event is an opportunity for preK-12 teachers, pre-service teachers, administrators and higher education faculty to share and learn from one another in a common effort to advance science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education for people of all ages. Online registration of $40 closes Oct. 29. The on-site registration fee is $50. Undergraduate students can attend for $20.
3. In the right margin of this blog, enter your email to receive future postings into your email Inbox (Take 5s and more!) -- plan on 1-3 posts per week.

;-) Just for Fun! (and a little learning, perhaps)

• Still Waiting for Superman? - It's always important to develop ALL skillsets of our students... and Superman, too! Who knows what future employers will find valuable.