ClassBrain

ClassBrain is a web site that has an educational games page I just adore, especially for Math teachers. There are strategy games, brain teasers and of course word-based games but the best ones are for practicing coordinates in the Math Section and my first graders love Da Numba. Maybe that's just because they like the name of it so much. They say it over and over like a prehistoric chant: Da Numba, Da Numba, Da Numba. Nevermind that they're using their BRAINS...or in this case the ClassBrain.

Converting PowerPoint Into Video Files

Forgive my enthusiasm but YAHOOOOOOO! I've just quite accidentally discovered a tool I have longed for, but have never found...until today. Our Lower School Head prepared a Powerpoint for today's special Inauguration Day assembly. She uses PowerPoint the way it was meant to used, with absolutely no pages-full of bullet points. They're mini-movies, actually. This one was so great, I cried a little at the end. A few of the parents asked if I could make the PowerPoint available online and I cringed a bit because I have tried before. I could get the slides on, a la Slideshare, but that leaves out the touching narrative and music she included. I could try to upload it to Voicethread, but all the people who contributed audio would have to rerecord their sections. In a moment of "what the heck" I googled for PowerPoint to Video File and voila: Byte Scout. This somewhat sketchy looking site features a tool called PPT to Video Scout. I downloaded the free trial version of the product, somewhat recklessly given the site's appearance, but I threw caution to the wind and relied on my virus protection software to save me.

Turns out, PPT to Video Scout worked like A CHARM! It was easy to use and encoded the whole thing without a fuss to MPG, with several other file format options to boot. The PowerPoint was then uploaded to TeacherTube, so I could embed it on my school's Web site. The product's trial period ends in 28 days. If I want to buy it, which I do, it'll cost me $75. Not bad! Check the quality:

IEARN

If you haven't checked out iEARN lately, give it another look-see. They have some really cool technology-rich international projects in which your classes could participate. There is a catch, the service costs $100 per classroom and $400 per school. While there are plenty of ways to find resources for free, if you need a bit more guidance, this may offer an option for you. Some of my colleagues have praised it. Their project center is featuring a Folk Tales project, Tulip study, Holiday Card exchange and a lot more. They also have a professional development section on the site, where they offer courses for educators. The courses are $360 for members and $260 for members. Here's a list of their current offerings:
Creative Arts
Creative Writing/Language Arts
Social Studies/Contemporary Affairs/Geography
Science/Environment/Math
Teaching of Foreign and Second Languages
Learning Circles
Moving Voices (Making digital documentaries)
PEARL: Integrating Journalism skills into the classroom

It's a great resource that's becoming even greater!

WikiJunior: Egalitarian Elementary Nonfiction

In the May 2008 issue of T.H.E. Journal, they included a blurb about an article called Free Social Media Tools for Educators. In the article, they reference WikiJunior. Here's a snippet:

Wikibooks is a collection of educational textbooks freely available for use (including printing). Textbooks are available in a wide range of subjects, from arithmetic to calculus, psychology to linguistics, introductory chemistry to astrophysics. It also includes various professional development resources, study aids, and a special Wikijunior section for finding books aimed at younger learners.

I checked it out and thought about an exciting school-wide project: Each class could choose one unit per year to create a class "book" about. That would be the evaluation tool for the teacher instead of a quiz or project. Then, that book could be submitted to Wikijunior so that other people could learn from our kids, too. The element of having something published online is quite appealing to the kids, I know, and a good motivation. The real trick of it, however, would be making sure that it's not just a compilation of facts that can be found in any basic web search. It would have to have a "gimmick" or hook that would garner interest and provide a unique framework. I know there is a hub-bub about webcontent not "edited by professionals" but I think that argument ignores the fact that folks online are more than vocal about inaccuracies. Check it out for yourself, maybe.

Roku: Commercial Free Entertainment Parntered with Netflix

This might be a tiny bit off topic, but I have to post about it anyway: The Roku is...words fail me...legendary. This tiny bit of machinery delivers, at the one-time cost of $100, Netflix's on-demand videos and television shows to your television. Most of you know about Netflix. It's the service that will send you movies/tvshows, etc in the mail. You enter them into your cue and you pay a monthly fee to have two at a time out, or three at a time, etc. My husband and I have been big fans for a long time because you don't have to leave the house and you don't have to stand in front of a gigantic wall of videos and choose one. I can't tell you how stressful it was for me to go to Blockbuster. Cruising around the thousands of videos gave me vertigo...too many choices. Now, a video from our cue comes, we watch it, it goes back with no late fees ever. But this isn't about Netflix.

Recently Netflix started offering online streaming content FREE that you watch instantly, using your computer. We tried a couple of times to watch things in our office, but our office chairs are just not comfortable enough for that, so we stopped using the service. Then, we learned about the Roku. This little device uses the wireless network in your house to connect to the internet and plugs directly into your television. It's kind of like a TiVo, but you don't pay a monthly fee, and you only see things that you have entered into your "instant viewing cue" on Netflix's web site.

Warning: It can be a vortex. We watched four solid hours of the first season of 30Rock...commercial free, and already paid for by our Netflix membership. We're in love. Why do I write about it here? Imagine how many fewer commercials your child/student would see if they only watched items that you approved, in your cue, for your family to watch?! They have plenty of kids' content and the parent is in control of what is viewed. The only thing questionable about it is how the heck you pronounce it: rock-you? row-coo?

How Typing Was Taught in 1944

An Army Training Video from 1944, courtesy of The Prelinger Archives:
Click to View (The embed code didn't work right.)

Area and Perimeter/ Fractions Raps

These are two "most viewed" videos on Teacher Tube in 2009.

Fractions Rap


Area and Perimeter Rap

Tech Integration Online Curriculum NOW Free!

A parent at our school sent me a heads-up from a company called SAS that has now made their online curriculum available free of charge to all schools. Here's a blurb from their site:
"SAS Curriculum Pathways is a free Web-based software designed to enhance student achievement and teacher effectiveness by providing online curriculum resources in all the core disciplines: English, math, science, social studies/history and Spanish. Appropriate for middle schools, high schools, community colleges, virtual schools, home school, and other teaching and learning environments."
I requested a free subscription for our school and their online lesson plans and web resources look pretty great for a school looking to get serious about technology integration. The Writing Reviser is a particularly neat feature, as well as the Math Interactives. You can watch demos of these features here: http://www.sas.com/govedu/edu/curriculum/demos.html
It has won several awards, including from Technology and Learning, a resource I trust.