60 second recap...Literature explained

Sorry I have missed the last few days...it's been very busy!  Anyways, have a happy Friday with this site:

I have found a really neat site for all you English teachers out there! 60 Second Recap breaks down and explains plot, symbolism, themes, motifs and other aspects of several pieces of literature.  The host is a fast-talking, humorous 20-something who really does a good job of bringing complex works such as Hamlet, Animal Farm, and other classics down to the level of your high school students.  What's great is that everything is described so that it can be understood by those students who may be struggling with the concepts and reading, AND it's all done in 60 seconds!

Don't see the book you want described?  Submit a request and check back each week to see if your video has been added.

Bitstrips: Comics for your classroom

Today's site is one I am very excited about.  Bitstrips is an online comic creator.You can go in, create an account and proceed to making your own characters and comics.  I recommend this site for middle school to high school.  There is a version for education, but it has to be paid for.  So, when using the free version for everyone, be prepared to pre-screen because the content is not filtered.  Nothing tremendously offensive, but it's still good to monitor.  I would say that this site would be great for illustrating any concept in any subject area.  I made one for you to see (it's really easy!):



So, not very educational, but just to give you an idea of potential, I designed this character from scratch, controlled all her movements and facial expressions, and gave her speech bubbles and props.  So, you could design anyone from Marie Curie to Aristotle.  Have fun!

Virtual Field Trips Part 2

 A while ago, I posted about virtual field trips.  I have found another site that offers more virtual field trips, that as far as I have seen, are free.  The site is eFieldTrips, and it offers a good-sized list of science and social studies trips that range in level from about 4th-8th grade.  You do have to register for a Passport, but this is free and allows you to save your trips and easily register for others.

Also, I would gladly help you set up a virtual field trip, if you find one you like.

Google (googol) lives up to it's name...

My self-proclaimed Google week is coming to a close...  I hope that you all were able to gain some valuable information about the many uses of Google beyond the typical search feature.  Today, I am going to post some short descriptions of some of the other tools Google offers.  But, I encourage you to always come back and check out the new features that Google puts out.  In fact, just this week, Google launched Buzz, a social network that is rumored to rival Facebook.  But, I digress:

Google Books:  Search for books, magazines, and articles.  Some are full text, others are partial.  Create a profile detailing books you want to read, have read, or are reading.  Buy/borrow books right from the site.  Read samples, or full text articles.

Google Scholar: Search for scholarly journal articles.  Many are full text.  Very reliable sources.

Picasa: Upload, store, and browse for pictures.  Also a wonderful download that is a great alternative to other picture managing software.  One of my favorites!

Google Sites: Easily make your own website.  Interesting and colorful themes to choose from.  VERY easy to add content and keep updated.  Manage as many sites as you want!

Blogger: Manage your very own blog!  Different from sites in that other people can leave comments on the page.  Host discussions and post resources (like your favorite Penguin's Slide.... :)  )

Chrome: Sick of Internet Explorer, Firefox, or Safari?  Try Google's version of a web browser.  Download Chrome and begin customizing your web browsing experience. (Doesn't the logo totally remind you of that Simon game?)

HAPPY GOOGLING!

Google Earth

Sorry, no time to make a lengthy post today.  The next stop on the tour is Google Earth.  Go to the link, download the application, and EXPLORE!

Google Docs

Ready for more Google greatness?  Today I'm going to talk about one of  my favorite features of Google: Google Docs.

 Google Docs basically puts a free, online version of Microsoft Office at your fingertips.  Once you sign up for an account, you have the ability to create documents, presentations, spreadsheets, and forms for surveys.  Pretty cool right?  That's not even half of it!  Once you create those documents, you can export them as .doc's, .xls', .ppt's, .rtf's, .pdf's, and more.  What's great about this is that your documents are stored online where you can get to them anywhere.

Another really great aspect, that's also a somewhat new feature, is that you can upload documents, presentations, spreadsheets that are saved on your computer to your Docs account.  You get 1 GB of space free with the option to upgrade to more space for a low cost, but I doubt that you need to do that since 1 GB is plenty of room!


Finally, one other major seller for Docs is the ability you have to share your files with other users.  Just like in calendar, you can opt to only share a file or make the file editable by your peers.  This means that you could have online collaboration for working on one document!


I really think I could go on all day about Google Docs....Instead, if you're still curious about some of the other features of Google Docs, go here to see their latest additions.  Oh yeah! Also, don't forget to add the Docs gadget to your iGoogle page so you can see a short list of you docs right on  your iGoogle.

Google Calendar

 The next stop on our tour of Google is the Google Calendar.

When you sign up for the Google Calendar, you get a place to store all your appointments, meeting, reminders, and events.  You can create separate calendars, distinguished by color, that you can make visible, or invisible.  You can also choose to share your calendar with others so that they may look or even add events to the calendar.  There is also an option to embed the calendar in a webpage.  For instance:

Finally, you will be able to add a gadget to your iGoogle page that contains your calendar! (Just search for calendar when adding gadgets.)

It's Google Week!

Hello!  I hope everyone had a great weekend!  I've decided that I will make this week a highlight of all that Google has to offer.  You may or may not know that Google is more than just a search tool.  But, there are so many useful tools offered by this giant of the Internet.

The first stop on our tour: iGoogle

 By making an iGoogle page, you can customize Google to look just how you want. You can apply themes to your page to get the appearance you want, but more importantly, you can add "gadgets" to display the information that is most important to you.  For example, on my penguin-themed iGoogle page, I have added in news headlines, tech headlines, weather, calendar, email, and much more.  So, when I go to Google, I am automatically re-directed to my iGoogle page where I can view everything in one place.

Want to try?  Just go to Google.com, click on iGoogle in the top right corner and sign up for an account.  You do not have to use a gmail account!  You can use your existing school email as a username.  But, remember what you use because that same username will come in to use later on this week!

After you've got your page, begin customozation by clicking on "Change Theme" or "Add Stuff".  There are lots of choices for adding gadgets, so I recommend using the search box to find specific ones you may be looking for.

Happy iGoogling!

ReadWriteThink...endless resources available to you.

 

Today, I want to show you a fantastic website called ReadWriteThink.  This is a site that is a branch of Thinkfinity.  ReadWriteThink is dedicated to ELA lesson plans, interactives, calendar activities, and printouts for K12.  The interactives work perfectly with SMART Board.  Check it out and let me know of any you find!

ABCya! (A-B-C, Yay!!)

My good friend introduced me to the site for today, and I have to say that it is, by far, one of my favorites.  ABCya! is a site that contains TONS of fun games that are truly educational.  You can choose your grade level (K-5) and then let your students choose from lots of fun activities; everything from grammar, to math, science, and technology.

The site is designed primarily for younger students, but I did find one game that could be used at the 6-12 levels.  Animation for Kids is basically an introduction to Flash animation.  Students using this game learn about the basics of using frames to create their very own animations.  The best part is that you can even save these animations to your computer (no signing into the site necessary) and play them back using Windows Media Player!  The possibilities for just this one activity are endless!  Students could create an animation to act out a scene from a book they read, or an important event in history, or the steps to do a math problem, OR what happened in an experiment in lab!!  Sorry, got a little excited there.  But just think about what they could do.  This is also great practice for learning to use Adobe Flash.

Alright, I've rambled on enough....go check out ABCya!

Pathways to Freedom

Travel back to the 1800's and become an eyewitness to history.  You are a Maryland slave who must make some important and life-changing decisions.

In Pathways to Freedom, have your students decide what happens next.  It's up to you to make the decisions, but remember the dangers involved.  I went through the story once and I have to say that it really stirs up feelings and makes you feel the suspense, terror, uncertainty, and hope of a runaway slave.

Email

My BOCES email is working again!  YAY!!!  You can once again email me at agooshaw@sllboces.org.

Thanks! 

(Also, if you sent a message and I have not replied, please send it again, if possible, to be sure that I get it!)

PhotoPeach

I've just found an online version of Photo Story.  Of course, you will not get the intricate detail-editing that you would with Photo Story, but PhotoPeach is a quick, easy, and free method of making slide shows that you can download, embed, email and share.  Put music to your pictures and captions too!  Then put it on your website to share!  Have fun!

Here's a quick one I made about my kitties!

Ollie & Dyna on PhotoPeach


You can also show a slide show in this format:


Ollie & Dyna on PhotoPeach

Email

Hello! My BOCES email is down for today...probably all of today, so if you need to get a hold of me, please use my school accounts (agooshaw@mcs.k12.ny.us  -or-  agooshaw@ogdensburgk12.org). Once my regular email is back, I will let you know and you can resume emailing me at agooshaw@sllboces.org.

I'll be back to regular posting tomorrow. :)