You want to send one too? You can with PNP - Portable North Pole console! (http://www.portablenorthpole.tv/home) Send personalized Nice or Naughty list messages to special people in your lives. They have options for children or adults. Santa refers to the special person by name. You can add pictures and wish lists for more personalization as well as special reminders. (Make sure to opt out of partner emails....if you want to) My family thinks it's awesome! I'm sure yours will too.
Members of the FAC class are starring in their own Public Service Announcements by creating videos to help peers learn how complete everyday tasks. With a little help from the ITS on production, two of our Cedar Valley Jags are featured in this video:
They figure sometimes you just have to see it to understand it.
**This is not necessarily an endorsement of the product or what you may find at other areas of the site, but you should consider visiting for other neat teeth brushing activities and resources.**
Our Foreign Language department is at it again...but this time they are thinking inside the box--the comic strip box, that is!
The students are working on perfecting their written grammar and conversational wording by creating scenes full of dialog. Using the comic strip creator found at http://www.makebeliefscomix.com/Comix/ students are able to choose from a variety of formats, characters, backgrounds, props and speech bubbles to add to their scenes.
Here are some examples of their work (click link after picture to view bigger):
Here's another idea (perhaps if we decide to have a BYOD--bring your own device--day...) You may want to look into the Sock Puppet App. I read about it here. (She's got a great tutorial!) My kids and I tried it out and it's pretty hilarious. It's definitely another way to think INSIDE the box.
Do you ever feel that your presentations have fallen into a rut? You're always doing that same old thing? Perhaps you have chosen to rely on the comfortable relationship you have with your overhead projector. Perhaps you've flirted a little with other presentation platforms like Prezi. But, in the end when it comes to technology, you always come back to the familiarity of PowerPoint.
This is where I'd like to introduce you to Pecha Kucha: Have you heard of it?
In a nutshell, Pecha Kucha was invented by some architects in Japan who wanted to use a presentation space, had a limited amount of time, and had a lot of presenters who needed to share ideas. They created the 20 x 20 format: 20 slides, 20 seconds each. Presenters have 6 minutes and 40 seconds to get out the information....and then they're done.
Click here for an extended history of Pecha Kucha (right click on the link and choose "Open link in a new window" so that you don't get lost), but make sure to come back to see how it can be used in an educational environment.
I'll wait......
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....You back? Good!
Cool, huh?
Now watch this video. It's an example of the potential of Pecha Kucha in education.
So, some of the cool things I got out of this:
As a teacher, I could use this to introduce a topic and then have time to work with my students.
As a presenter, I have to be concise in my choices and make sure that what I put on the screen really assists me make my point instead of allowing the audience a chance to get totally lost in all the words.
If we were to do this during Staff Development days, we could get a lot of information!!! and no one presenter would feel left out.
I could teach my students this format to present in class and know how many presentations I can get through during one class period.
The format can be modified if needed....
This is a great stepping stone to PODCASTS!!!
Do you want more examples of Pecha Kucha? Of course you do....click here. Think about it. You can do this!
Now that we've had a while to get used to the new computers. I wanted to let you know some of the time-saving shortcuts you may not have known about.
I know you've experienced this scenario: You have 10 different programs or windows open and your taskbar across the bottom of your screen is a mess. You want to switch quickly between one program and another, but you end up wasting what seems like precious hours clicking on each window one at a time trying to find the one you want. Here's a great trick to assist you with that.
The Keystroke: Windows logo key +TabHere's what it looks like:
(The screen shot was captured using www.screenr.com; Users must sign in to access screencasts, but there are various ways to log in.)
You can also press Alt + Tab to pick the window you want. Try it. It's fun!
Don't forget that you can easily change display settings (Computer Only, Clone, Extended, Screen Only) by pressing:
Windows logo key + P.
Another cool feature of Windows 7 is easy access to the screen shot feature. It's called the Snipping Tool. The snipping tool will take pictures of various things on your computer. This is great when you're trying to explain something on paper but know a picture would go much further.
To open this tool: Go to the Windows button on your taskbar, type in Snipping Tool. Open it up and enjoy! Play with it. There are various options. You'll love it if you've ever had to take a screen shot an then try to crop before sending. This takes all those extra steps out.
Lastly (for today), do you have an affinity for sticky notes? You're in luck! You can now make electronic sticky notes to place on your desktop to offer friendly reminders--and save the environment--all at the same time!
To open this tool: Go to the Windows button on your taskbar, type in Sticky Notes. Open the program and start sticking away. Right click on the note to change the color.
Do you ever feel like you need a change of pace? Your students are zoning out, and you're tired of saying the same thing 5,000 times a day? Try one of these ideas on for size...
It's a fun way to get a little crazy. This wouldn't work in many settings, but you might could think up some cool ideas. Here's the one I built:
Another fun way to say something is to use a celebrity (with permission, of course):
Blabberize:
Go to blabberize.com to do this. You'll need to register to save and share your creations, but it's worth the fun. Just a forewarning....there are some inappropriate Blabbers that are part of the Browse section, so keep that in mind if you're thinking of doing this as a project.
You could go all out and create an avatar, save that picture, and then make it talk with Blabberize....Play around. It makes lessons a little more interesting for you too.
All of these are ways that students can create projects without putting their face in front of the camera. By creating an avatar, you can have them record their voice to turn in an assignment for an oral presentation. You can allow them to read you the steps to solving a problem. You can introduce new topics or review topics using images of the actual characters (think book reviews, history lessons, world leaders, or a "Who am I?" review game....)
Our students have won first place in Robot Design at the First Lego League competition held on Saturday Nov. 12 at Westwood HS. We now get to move on to the next level, the Central Texas Invitational Tournament.
