http://www.microsoft.com/education/teachers/guides/freetools.aspx
This Microsoft site provides many useful tools for Teaches. The best part is that the tools are FREE.
Create beautiful photo mosaics the easy way
Mosaics are pretty impressive. Creating a large image from small colored tiles is hard work. Everything has to be just right. With computers, mosaics are even more impressive. Instead of little colored tiles, you can use entire photographs. This allows you to do mosaics with themes.
However, mosaics take a long time to put together. That's why AndreaMosaic http://www.andreaplanet.com/andreamosaic/ was created. It lets you make photo mosaics in no time.
1. First, select the main image you want to reproduce.
2. Then select your supply of photos. The free version can process up to 100,000.
3. It will then select up to 30,000 photos for the mosaic. This should be enough for most users.
However, a professional version is also available. This can sort and use up to 500,000 photos. You can get the professional version, and upgrades for life, for a $38 donation.
That's a lot of photos. However, even 100 photos can produce an interesting mosaic. The program has a number of ways to control the output. You can play around to find what works best for you.
CHECK THIS OUT!!!
Free, kid-friendly story creator
Kids love stories. These can be stories they make up themselves. Or, they can be stories from their parents.
Sometimes a story is interesting enough to be written down. Swiss Family Robinson is a classic example. Unfortunately, most of us don't have the time or energy.
That's where Story Jumper comes in. This site lets you easily create illustrated children's stories. You just fill in the book template and add the pictures. Pre-made graphics are available.
Story Jumper can also suggest story ideas. And it is simple enough for children to operate. Finished books can be shared online for free. You can also order a printed and bound copy for $25. http://www.storyjumper.com/
TRAVELING? Need to find great places to eat?
Or find the best restaurants near you.
At chain restaurants, you know what you're getting. You know the prices and what the food will be like. They are also easy to find. Locally owned restaurants are question marks. Some are great. Others, not so much. How can you tell ahead of time?
Where The Locals Eat http://wheredothelocalseat.com/ is a good start. Its database includes thousands of restaurants nationwide. All are locally owned. No chains are included.
The listed restaurants have been reviewed for quality. You can filter by city and category. There is also a Dining Savings tab for restaurants offering special deals.
You can also get directions, add reviews, and get meal information. Reviews from local media sources are often listed. You can also view food blogs or sign up for the site newsletter.
WebQuest in Your Classroom:
What is a WebQuest?
A WebQuest is an inquiry-oriented lesson format in which most or all the information that learners work with comes from the web.
WebQuests are among the most fascinating applications on the Internet for K-12 educators. Student centered and inquiry based, a WebQuest challenges students to explore the web for information and it is an excellent way to integrate the Internet into the classroom.
Traditionally WebQuests have an introduction, a process, a task, a list of resources, a conclusion, and an evaluation. Bernie Dodge and Tom developed the WebQuest model in early 1995 at San Diego State University March. Bernie Dodge's WebQuest Page
WebQuests are a lesson format developed by Dr. Bernie Dodge from San Diego State University. One of the main characteristics of a WebQuest is that it is an inquiry-based curriculum unit. With inquiry-based activities, students don't just memorize facts and retell them to the teacher. They are expected to take the information that they interact with and transform it to create new information that has meaning to them. With WebQuests, students create meaningful projects that they share with others via oral presentations, posting to the web, etc.
The WebQuest Place http://www.thematzats.com/webquests/page1.html
WebQuests are also different from other Web-based lessons and experiences in that they focus on an engaging and achievable task. WebQuest tasks go beyond simply answering questions; they require higher order thinking skills such as creativity, analysis, synthesis, judgment and problem solving. The task in a WebQuest can be almost anything. For example, students might be asked to design a monument representing one of the branches of government; or they might be asked to write, perform and record an old-time radio play.
Another key component of WebQuests is that the links students use are pre-selected by the WebQuest writer. The focus is on using information rather than looking for it. Many teachers avoid using Internet resources with their students because of how long it can take students to actually find useful information when searching the Web. They also worry about students accessing inappropriate sites. WebQuests avoid these roadblocks because the Internet resources are identified and evaluated by the WebQuest designer ahead of time. This eliminates the need for wasteful searching by the students. WebQuests provide teachers with a structured environment where they can integrate technology into the curriculum and make it beneficial to the students.
A case study of the use of an inquiry-based instructional strategy with rural minority at-risk, middle grade students
Swindell, James Wilson, Jr., Ph.D., Mississippi State University, 2006, 183 pages
This qualitative case study examined the influence that an inquiry-oriented technology-rich classroom environment had on eight economically disadvantaged African-American middle-grade males categorized as at-risk for academic failure. The technology tools used were WebQuest activities designed to focus students' learning on using information rather than looking for it. Two additional significant effects of the WebQuest activities were to develop and support students' thinking at the levels of analysis, synthesis, and evaluation (Dodge, 1997).
This study was conducted at a rural high school (grades 7-12) with a 100% African-American student population located in a low socio-economic, predominantly African-American community in Northeast Mississippi. The study suggests that providing a structured, active, hands-on, and technology-rich cooperative classroom environment for at-risk African-American males produce these positive results: demonstrated leadership roles with their peers, improved behavior, self-motivation to learn, and academic achievement
Websites for WebQuests
There are many WebQuest available on the Internet. Check the links beore you have your students start their Quest.
http://www.techtrekers.com/webquests/
http://www.thematzats.com/webquests/collections.html
http://projects.edtech.sandi.net/staffdev/apr2900/session1.html
http://projects.edtech.sandi.net/staffdev/apr2900/session2.html
http://projects.edtech.sandi.net/staffdev/apr2900/session3.html
We all need to help our students become better readers
Watch this Video on Reading (after 4:00)!
SchoolTube - Keep Reading
VoiceThreads a tool for the Classroom
Here is a VoiceThread created by one of Virginia's classes.
http://voicethread.com/#q+Bullying.b981513.i5231620
Using Voicethread for Digital Conversations
VoiceThreads might best be described as interactive media albums. They are essentially online slide shows of images, documents, or videos that enable viewers to comment on any slide (or at any point in the video) by typing, recording an audio or video comment, or drawing on the image itself. Teachers have been early adopters of the easy-to-learn technology, which has led the company to launch Ed.VoiceThread.com, a secure site just for educators and their students, says VoiceThreads cofounder Ben Papell.
Beginning with email and instant messages and stretching to texting and synchronous video web conferencing, digital dialogue has gradually become a common element of everyday life for today's students—another opportunity to “gather.” The kinds of personal relationships shaped on the playground in an earlier era are now developed in MySpace and Facebook. While the format may be different, the purpose remains the same: Our students are crafting identities and are driven to connect.
Want to get started? Click on the following link:
http://digitallyspeaking.pbworks.com/Voicethread
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