Tips from Techy Nana

30-day Photo Challenge

2011-06-21T13:24:00.000-07:00

My DEN friends, @nsharoff and @McTeach, tweeted it, Melanie Holtsman blogged it, and I visited the White Peach Photo site where it all started.

Much as I want to participate in a 365 photo a day challenge, I take it too seriously and am too stressed out. I get one or two photos behind, it soon becomes a week, and 'whomp' I drop out. I thought, instead, that I would try a different photo challenge, since it's summer, and maybe I can "git 'er done" as Larry the Cable Guy would say.

'Course, I'm already behind ... it started yesterday with a Self-Portrait. Mine will be there today and I'll be all caught up and no stress!

Join me, if you will, and take some mighty photos. Click the link to join the group.

... now to find my camera to take today's shot.

Teacher Appreciation Week

2011-05-06T08:16:00.000-07:00

Yes, I've been out of the loop for a bit but am inspired to include today's topic thanks to the DEN. The Discovery Educator Network remembers its STAR DEN members with daily notes and small tokens every day of this week. Since I'm no longer in the classroom it's really my only recognition as a teacher. I don't need it 'cause I LOVE what I do, but it sure is nice to hear. A simple pat on the back from people I respect and who indicate they respect me and the choice I made to be a teacher.

As part of teacher appreciation week, we were asked to fill out a form answering the question, "Would you share with us what being a part of the DEN means to you?". Theis wordle says most of how I feel but it can't express the attachment I have to the DEN, all the teachers who have touched my heart, and the amazing legacy of learning I have enjoyed as a member of the DEN.

Thank you to everyone who is part of the Discovery Educator Network!

Uncle Sam works for GUSD!

2011-02-03T16:16:00.001-08:00

Preparing a presentation for one of the PTA groups on cyberbullying and cybersafety I wanted to include something at the end that was relevant but light-hearted, memorable yet cute, with the emphasis on the C U T E.

Enter acapela.tv and Uncle Sam is revitalized for GUSD. Okay, not the real Uncle Sam, but a very clever impersonator. This video hit the parents' funny bones and gave a lift to the serious tone of the evening. I saw the principal at our district Tech Fair last week and got a big hug. I think this did the trick.

There is a limit to the length of the speech and I think I hit that limit, but using Twitter made it easy to trim. Take a look for yourself and then take time to make your own. Oh, and be sure to have some fun while you're learning!

It Happens Every Year

2010-06-03T10:30:00.000-07:00

Last May, after our offices moved from the hillsides of the north end of the district to our "new" offices in the basement of the administration building, I first noticed it. (Yes, I miss the windows but no one can really find the basement, either.)

Driving down the streets toward the freeway I sense the lavender hue among the trees. Within a day or two it is stronger and the light from the setting sun highlights the flowers. The jacaranda trees are blooming again, a beautiful annual ritual.

Pronounced [jak-uh-ran-duh] it is described as any of various tropical trees belonging to the genus Jacaranda, of the catalpa family, having showy clusters of usually purplish flowers. (Pronunciation and definition from dictionary.com)

Seeing the blossoms each day for about three weeks makes me feel happy, cozy, even peaceful. Is it that I realize the school year is almost over or that the cool of Spring is moving into the warmth of Summer? Well, those may be true, but I think it's more that the color purple is one of my all-time, deep down favorites. I'm glad they stay in bloom so long. Their longevity cheers me.

Especially because, when I am old, I shall wear purple! (Jenny Joseph, 1932) and share my own happy, cozy, peaceful feelings.

Verizon Thinkfinity and me

2010-05-20T11:24:00.000-07:00

It's been a few weeks (months?) since I posted a blog. Time got away from me with a few interruptions from life ... lol. All is better for now and I am in the beginnings of my first online class. A bit of a learning curve as Blackboard is new to me but really quite fun to use.

The class is about Verizon Thinkfinity and offers learners a deeper discovery of the Thinkfinity program. Free resources through amazing partnerships all offered by the Verizon Foundation. Very cool.

Below is a link to the flash video of the newly re-constructed site. I was first trained on the old site so here is my opportunity to move forward again. As one of our site techs uses as her email signature, "The trail of learning never ... ever ... ends."

What is Thinkfinity?

Paul E. Glott is a polyglot!

2010-02-26T14:08:00.000-08:00

When new students, fresh from another country, entered my classroom I worked hard to learn basic comments in their languages. They would giggle as I tried to say the words and recognize that I knew it wasn't easy to learn a new language. When they accomplished a task I was able to say, "Good work!" or, "Very good work!" in words they understood, and that made them smile.

I only wish I'd had THIS tool back then. Paul E. Glott thinks about what you've typed into his notebook and translates it into the language you choose. He posts the words with type and also speaks them so you can hear the proper inflections. You can get your own widget at acapela.tv and learn to your heart's content. Try it!

DEN SCIcon2010

2010-01-25T16:39:00.000-08:00

Saturday, January 9th was the Discovery Education SCIcon2010. A virtual conference based at Discovery's headquarters in Silver Spring, Maryland, the southern California in-person was held at the Corner Bakery in the Irvine Spectrum. It was a good turnout and everyone had a great time. It was a day of videos, presentations, and downloadable pdf files. Truly a plethora of information and I can't wait for the next one.

All of the SCIcon2010 sessions are available in video format, as well as all the handouts, at the DENSCIcon web site.

I was unable to attend in Irvine so I logged on at home. Technical difficulties with the audio plagued the webinar, but Brad's livestream session worked great. By the way, Brad and other DE 'scientists' hold monthly DE Science classes at the site and the next class is Tuesday, February 2, 2010.

There are links to the other sites as tabs on Brad's Science in Action blog. Just click the DENSCIcon2010 tab or any others to find wonderful information for science. I was never much for science when I was in school but it was never taught science this way.

Many of the resources are available without logging into DE - what a bonus!
Think Green, Learning Lab, and Science Homework Help

I hope you have a chance to look at them and consider some at-home investigations and experiments. Just think of Boris Karloff in his la-bor-a-tor-y ... ok, ask your folks about him.

A Time for Thanks

2009-11-23T12:27:00.000-08:00

A tweet from @asbella inspired me to email a number of people in our district and ask them to finish the sentence, "I am thankful for...". I used Google forms to create the starter so the responses would be anonymous. I copied and pasted the answers into a wordle at wordle.net and here is the result.

It's easy to see what is most important to our staff on this special holiday. May you, too, have a happy and blessed Thanksgiving 2009!

Things Change ... and Quickly!

2009-10-21T15:00:00.001-07:00

Gary created it > Wesley put it on Facebook > I clicked on it and embedded it > you are reading it. That's quite a bit of connecting taking place.

Gary Hayes created this tool and placed it on his site Personalize Media as part of his post Gary's Social Media Count and now it's here for you. What a statement about how quickly things change!

Summer 2009

2009-08-10T16:30:00.000-07:00

What a summer of experiences and discovery and learning and fun!

I have been remiss in updating my blog but this was a summer to enjoy and I did. Summer began with a trip to Silver Spring where I had the privilege of attending the Discovery Education Network (DEN) Leadership Council (LC) Symposium. Focusing on each state's different LC chairs (Chair, Events, and Blog) we shared, planned, and forecast the upcoming year.

Saturday's "Day at Discovery School" pre-NECC (National Educational Computing Conference) event provided a whole new set of DEN members and networking. A school bell began our day and it was more fun than I can remember having in 'real' school.

Sunday was the 3rd Annual "Constructivist Celebration at NECC". Wow, what an incredible day. While I follow Gary Stager on Twitter I had never met him and he was a great speaker. Peter Reynolds (my educational hero) gave the keynote; Melinda Kolk from Tech4Learning spoke; and attendees were gifted with some fabulous software.

NECC followed in Washington, DC and it was as inspiring as always. I attended a number of seminars, networked in the Cyber Cafe, and collected ribbons for my name tage. I met Lee and Sasha from Commoncraft; Jim from Glogster;

I took the metro into DC each day and delighted in the freedom of getting to and fro in such an easy way. I only wish my own home town had such a great system for travel.

2009-06-27T12:25:00.000-07:00

I am attending the DEN Leadership Council Symposium in Silver Spring, MD and a 4th birthday, pre-NECC "Day at Discovery School" event as well. One of the great presentations was "What's New in Discovery" illustrating the new, updated site for Discovery Educators and Discovery Streaming. One incredible facet of the site is MediaShare which is open to all members of the DEN. DEN members can explore and store the files/lessons that have been uploaded but only STAR DEN members can upload to the site and DEN STARS have the most options (hint - another GREAT reason to become a DEN STAR) as Media Share allows multiple uploads/types and converts all video to Flash. Read on for more info!

Steve Dembo, of the Discovery Educator Network, shared with us that MediaShare is a media management server marketed to school districts in order to aggregate/upload/store materials in one place. This product evolved from Discovery Education's need to contain info in one place. All DEN members can get into/download materials, but only STARS have full upload access. Under a single asset, you can place as many files/resources as you want (read - the beauty of MediaShare) visible to all in the DEN. You also have options to share with with the DEN and your District (either-or/both) + the “national audience”;

Media Share does have a limit for files up to 100mb per file. You can upload as many as ten (you saw it, 10!) 100mb files! When you are finished with creating a MediaShare resource, even if you do not click “done,” your uploads are still there. The resource is created and is in “search”; you can find it by going back to your resources.

MediaShare will accept embeddable code in the “description” box; so instead of uploading a file, go to a VoiceThread for the embed and paste in the description box. When you put the code in “description,” it “resolves” and becomes the end product of embeddable code. The beauty of MediaShare is that you can upload multiple media into the description via embeddable code, including a ustream.tv box so that the next time you did the presentation, you could have the live feed as a resource in real time. MS is a very flexible system: but remember to always check “check to allow embedding/direct linking” if you want to share your upload outside MediaShare.

Delicious/TechyNana

2009-06-22T21:45:00.000-07:00

My good friend and colleague Shelley O began using Delicious.com and keeps raving about how wonderful it is. I really didn't want to start yet another bookmarking site but persuasive Shelley got me over there.

It really is easy to use and easy to moderate. I found the network button so I can auto-send new sites I mark to Shelley and other educator colleagues. I created one tag especially for the Tech Leaders in our district so now every site I email to them is tagged so they can just click "their" tag and find what I've sent so easily. Eventually the email dates will coincide with the delicious tags and even easier to discover.

I created a word cloud of my delicious site:

Make yours at http://www.wordle.net

No Future Left Behind

2009-05-28T11:38:00.000-07:00

I found this wonderful movie on the ISTE Storytelling site. Peggy Sheehy and Marianne Malmstrom collaborated from their two campuses asking students to talk about education and their future.

Listen and learn the bits of wisdom that can be gleaned from the students, if we only dare to ask them.

I Love This Quote!

2009-05-18T16:53:00.000-07:00

Another 'tweet' I received today was a 'twitpic' from @jenwagner. She posted a thought from @jorech that I really like. I may print it and post it or give copies to the techs in my office. I am blessed that the techs who support my work truly appreciate what we do in education.

Enjoy this ... I do.

Thirty Ways to Use Wordle

2009-05-18T13:36:00.000-07:00

Okay, I was trying to find the new Bloom's Taxonomic Hierarchy Pyramid shown on the VisualBlooms wiki but I got side-tracked - go figure, me?

I love using Wordle and couldn't resist a look at Mike Fisher's post on Thirty Ways to Use Wordle. He collaborated with Tom Barrett, an educator in Nottingham England (I follow both of them on Twitter) and allow the SlideShare to be embedded so here it is. I hope you enjoy as much as I do and find time to incorporate one or more of the ideas. Thirty has grown to 34 and if my suggestion to add to the preso is included they will be up to 35 ways!
My suggestion? Use Wordle to show This Week's Spelling Words!

Twitter Mosaic & Friends

2009-05-18T13:26:00.000-07:00

Just saw a post on Twitter from @bethstill sharing a picture on Twitpic of a shirt she purchased to wear at NECC in June.

I recently changed my Twitter name to @TechyNana so I decided to see how my shirt would look. I headed right out to TwitterMosaic and, fortunate enough to follow so many wonderful techies, I found the beautiful mosaic shown below. (I also purchased my own shirt and a new coffee mug - woohoo!)

Get your twitter mosaic here.

Happy Birthday, Kylie!

2009-04-07T13:01:00.000-07:00

I have a very special person in my life who has a birthday next week. I won't be able to be with her ON her birthday and she is sad about that. I discovered a site called "ImageChef.com" and created a birthday card with her favorite colors.

I love you, princess. I'll celebrate with you at your party.

Web 2.0: Cool Tools for Schools

2009-02-21T15:50:00.001-08:00

Twitter provided me with another great site only this one is incredible. "Lenva" is in New Zealand and created a wiki called Web 2.0: Cool Tools for Schools. It is FILLED with all the web 2.0 tools you might already know and more that you've yet to see.

What an invaluable web site! I'm thinking of making it my browser's home page so I can investigate one new tool every day. I found Dvolver.com at this site and played with it already (see previous post) so I've learned a new tool already today.

Take a look at Web 2.0: Cool Tools for Schools. I know you'll be glad you did.

Making movies at Dvolver.com

2009-02-21T15:34:00.001-08:00

Okay, this is the cutest movie making site I've seen for a long time. You choose the type of movie, background (including sky), and an avatar. Next, type your text (100 character maximum), choose your music, and click finish. With a maximum of 3 scenes it is, of course, a short movie. It's also good practice at keeping text brief but meaningful and what fun for your students!

Now go create your own at Dvolver.com!

Professional Learning Networks

2009-01-28T17:49:00.000-08:00

My Professional Learning Network (PLN) allows me to gather information and learning from a broad group of resources. Like many educators, I didn't realize that I had one until I took a look at what I was already doing and discovered it was true!

Graham Attwell discusses Professional Learning Environments (PLE) in his slidecast on Pontydysgu. He sums up by stating that we need to start thinking about "what a personal learning environment is and what we can do with that personal learning environment." Defining it is more difficult that designing it, imho.

One of the greatest assets to my PLN is twitter as it is truly "Just In Time" learning for me and I believe my peers would agree. Tools brought to me by Web 2.0 programmers and developers have helped the world grow smaller as I converse and collaborate online, in webinars and videocasts and meetings, with educators from all over the world.

This morning I saw a 'tweet' about joining a Lee Kolbert a teacher from Florida (and a fellow STAR DEN member) in a show she was recording for the Palm Breeze Cafe. The Palm Breeze Cafe is part of her district's professional development offerings for teachers and staff. Lee was reporting on Stixy.com and its use as a collaborative tool for education. It was amazing how many teachers saw her tweet and joined in the fun of discovery and learning! None of us, including the teacher, had seen it before and yet we all jumped in and posted.

I recognize that my own attitude toward technology has changed dramatically. I embrace the changes technology brings to every part of my life but most especially in education. Where once I wondered how can I I now think when and where can I include this tool in my students learning?

Map of the World 2.0

2008-08-04T18:43:00.001-07:00

Yes, it's been awhile since I've made time to post. I have enjoyed some wonderful professional development this summer - Leadership Training at The Discovery Channel; A Leadership Collaborative for Teacher the Teachers; and this week I'm in a Trainer of Trainers class for Digital Storytelling (from the Center for Digital Storytelling). What wonderful keynotes, classes, teachers, and trainers I have experienced this summer. One colleague referred to me as a "techy junkie" this summer. Hey, life-time learning is in my blood!

I thought I'd offer a quick post about an amazing site. Take a look at this incredible map comprised of links to 1001 Web 2.0 applications. I'm thinking whoever created this interactive map had a whole-lotta-time on his/her hands!

While I recognize a great many of these logos, there are so many more that I have never seen. Clicking any logo takes you to the application's page where you can investigate and explore at your leisure. Who knows what you might discover?! Enjoy!

Map of the World 2.0

Web 2.0 and morale at work

2008-05-24T08:47:00.000-07:00

Do you remember the joy and excitement of starting a new job? Fresh and alive with possibilities of what you can accomplish as you prove your value to yourself and your company? You're new and feel the isolation of your newness. What to do?

Sasha Chua created a slideshow on slideshare that offers the tools of Web 2.0 as a way to avoid that lost morale. Not a panacea, just a practical application of gen Y knowledge and common sense.

| View | Upload your own

Voki your voice!

2008-05-21T13:09:00.000-07:00

Thanks to a "tweet" from Madame Krause (@diannekrause) I discovered a very cool tool at voki.com. Voki is a cool tool that allows you to create an avatar and add your own audio file. You can embed the resulting project in your web page, blog, myspace, and many others. Here's my initial "voki" created as an introduction of me and, I admit, a pretty good first attempt.

Now I need to figure out how to eliminate the commercial that's below my Voki the way Madame Krause did. Moving on to lesson #2!

Blogging Blackmail

2008-05-05T20:19:00.000-07:00

Okay, I have to share this. Got this as a tweat from @TeachaKidd who posted it on her site. It's just too cute. I have teenage nephews/niece and my granddaughter just turned 10. Feel sure I might hear this from one of them sometime soon.

JibJab

2008-04-23T23:38:00.000-07:00

JibJab Sendables are lots of fun to make. You get enough credits for a free card when you register (you get 50 and this one was 30). I found this card at jibjab.com and, just for fun, I made it for his (BIG) birthday on May 18th. Amazingly, we went swing dancing last weekend! He won't see this post until his birthday weekend, so ...

Happy Birthday, Sweetheart!

Password Bird

2008-04-09T19:53:00.000-07:00

"Watch the birdie" used to mean look at the photographer who was waving at you to get your attention. Creating a new password meant adding 01, 02, etc., to the only one you ever had, or running through your family and pet names. Giggling was my response when the random lottery number generator first appeared.

Combining those thoughts, today's ever evolving Internet and creators Kevin Sheurs and Andrés Galante provide passwordbird, a random password generator so easy to use. Insert a name + a word + a date that are meaningful to you and this cute little avian creates an 8 or 10 digit password significant only to you! Don't like the first choice? "Click here and I'll make a new one!" offers a different configuration. Still not satisfied? "Click here and tell me different information!" brings even more options. It's a simple flight to http://passwordbird.com/ for your newest password.

iShowU and Stomp

2008-04-03T13:11:00.000-07:00

I've been Twitter-ing (see previously post) and received a responding 'tweet', as did all of his followers, from the (infamous?) Podpiper of Education suggesting I look into iShowU for taking screen shots and creating videos on my computer.

The ability to take screen shots or create "how-to" videos is especially helpful for those of us creating handouts for professional development in technology. Checking out the demo on iShowU demonstrates that tools such as this one are not limited to educational use as many online gamers place videos on youtube.com demonstrating their prowess in a particular online game.

So, off I went to iShowU and it is easy to use, compatible with both 10.4 (Tiger) and 10.5 (Leopard); and $20. While it used to be freeware the price is still GREAT when compared to other products. It works seamlessly with Stomp, another product by shinywhitebox.com. Buy them both and it's a package price of $42 rather than $49.95 purchased separately.

No, I don't get a commission nor do any of the other ed tech bloggers who share their finds - darn it! As teachers we just love to share what works for us and maybe for you, too.

Twitter along with me ...

2008-03-20T14:54:00.000-07:00

Talk about multi-tasking! I've been Twitter-ing for almost weeks now. My "tweet" friend, Cathy from LACOE, convinced me I just have to use Twitter, so I created an account as we sat side-by-side at CUE working in Second Life.

I've tried to describe Twitter to my techy and not-so-techy friends. It's not so easy to do, especially as they look at me as if I've 'lost it' completely. I can hear their brains gasping as they process my movements - first WOW, then Second Life, now Twitter?! (They are all very different programs and I have legitimate reasons for being involved with all of them, LOL) But I was sold on the validity of Twitter as a tool for education when I watched, tentatively, as techies I know and respect conversed about topics relevant to their lives - both personal and professional.

Hesitant about adding my own post (I didn't want to look foolish, ya know) I was lurking and I admit it. Then came a post from a fellow DEN member dgrice about teachers wanting him to make screen shots of a training he did. I had something to contribute! I clicked the chat line (in my iPhone version of Twitter) and typed my suggestion for screen shots and, holding my breath, pushed send. My first post appeared in Twitter and I was so proud. Back at my computer a few minutes later came a post from the podpiper saying he liked the software I recommended but had two others he liked better - iShowU and ScreenFlow. I saw it in twhirl and immediately took a look at the programs. They are fantastic and I will post about them later.

Since then, I discovered that education and information now travel at speeds this humble educator never conceived possible. I found assistive technology, edubloggercon, and Second Life gurus; followed leolaporte's trip to Australia, conversed with a soon-to-be-phd hard at work on the virtues and validity of gaming in education, RSS'd the website of an amazing technology teacher, and participated in a collaborative network of educators across the world. Twitter is truly an amazing form of contemporary communication that requires no additional software and can be readily accessed by computer or phone. Wow!

Fortunately, I recently found someone I really respect who was as skeptical as I about the virtues of Twitter, and he really knows how express himself. George Siemens has a news feed to which I subscribe. His March 20, 2008 post entitled Information Growth speaks more eloquently than I.

Try it. Find some friends, follow me (katiewarren), or send a tweet @katiewarren.

update ... my husband no longer alerts me to the fact that my phone is twittering away each morning. I think he's even become used to the techy chirp from the early risers in the East.

Google 4 Doodle - "What If ...?"

2008-03-10T20:47:00.000-07:00

Looking at the Google 4 Doodle contest site I came across a short movie about the Google webmaster, Dennis Hwang. As the original "Google doodler" Dennis has achieved his own cult following for the very clever work he creates for the site. Consider entering your students in the Google 4 Doodle contest and watch their creativity soar. There are lesson plans and all you need to motivate yourself and your students ... watch Dennis' movie and you'll see.

School Budget Cuts

2008-03-10T18:19:00.000-07:00

Like many teachers across the state of California I received my reassignment letter today, a stark white page with black letters rather than a pink slip. A friend sent me this to cheer me and it did, ruefully. Despite Gov. Schwarzenegger's claims that he could have the budget settled by March 15 - the required date teachers need to receive notifications of change job status for the next school year - that wouldn't solve the morale issue associated with losing your job 4 months before it's officially over and heading back to the classroom anyway. My first 6 years of teaching were like that and, darn it, it hurts!

Anyway, enjoy the article from The Onion and laugh. It couldn't really happen, could it?

Underfunded Schools Forced To Cut Past Tense From Language Programs

WASHINGTON—Teaching students how to conjugate verbs so that they can describe events that have already occurred is a luxury many schools cannot afford.

Students and Blogging

2008-03-05T21:46:00.000-08:00

Student blogging is a controversial topic. Looking for diverse opinions, I thought I would offer the student perspective on blogging. Here are second grade students offering their top ten reasons why all teachers and students should blog.

Why Blog in School?

2008-03-05T21:32:00.000-08:00

I discovered a middle school video posted on www.teachertube.com called Why Blog in School that speaks - once more - of the need to allow students the ability to use the tools that are so much a part of their everyday lives. Created "using Smart Recorder and Smart Notebook on a SmartBoard 600" the music was "added in Windows Movie Maker from www.magnatune.com."

MacGeek has a Tip for you

2008-03-03T21:54:00.000-08:00

Yes, MacGeek is his blogging name. MacGeek has a blog called A New Mac Tip Every Day and it's really great. Found at http://tips4mac.blogspot.com/ he's filled the site with simply stated tips, with pictures, for Mac OS items that might be otherwise undiscovered. His is the site that showed me how to create the animated gif below this post which I found in the dashboard widget, A New Mac Tip Every Day. LOL ... what goes around comes around.

Not content with one fully loaded blog, MacGeek created a second site where he can post all things tech rather than limit himself to Mac Tips. New as of Feb. 26 you'll find it at http://randomlymac.com.

Nanamation!

2008-02-19T21:01:00.000-08:00

I noticed a great tip from the "New Mac Tip Every Day" widget I installed. Creating an Animated Avatar with Photo Booth from Julian. There are lots of tips4mac but this one piqued my interest. Okay, I LOVE to play with Photo Booth. The only catch is that this only works with the version in the Leopard OS, darn it.

Julian's tip? Open PB, click the button to "Take four quick pictures", get ready, click the camera button to start the process. Four quick flashes later you have funny looking picture in your PB tray. Move up to the menu and choose File > Export and give it a name.

Open the photo using your web browser (e.g., Safari, Firefox, etc.) and you'll see your avatar You can also load it on a photo storage site such as PhotoBucket or Flickr and then place in your own website ~ just like I did!

Ravelry.com - for knitters and crocheters!

2008-02-16T09:03:00.001-08:00

My life does not completely center around technology - it doesn't? Well, not entirely. I love to read, knit, crochet and spend time with family. My sister's recent email about her engagement on Valentine's Day (yes, he got down on his knee and proposed!) also noted that she was "invited" to join ravelry.com. Not knowing the site, I clicked to visit, watched the video, and was immediately hooked. I joined and am now waiting for my invitation. The amazing thing is that there are 6416 people ahead of me and within 15 minutes I had 22 people behind me in line. There's even a link to a "waiting list checker" that gives tells you the info.

The site banner reads, "Ravelry is a knit and crochet community" and was founded by a young couple as a joint venture. They also happen to be married. She (Jess) is a knitter/crocheter who looked for yarn, patterns, and other needs and was frustrated by how difficult it was to find these things online. He (Casey) is a programmer by day. Read more about them and their site at http://www.ravelry.com/about

Ravelry.com is still a BETA site which means they're still working on it. They invite 800 to 1000 people each day to join the site because of the coding requirements for the site - all handled by Casey. They're not exclusive, the community is open to everyone, but they want to make sure the site works all the time - no down time! (I discovered Casey's other blog at http://www.nerdle.com/blog just love the name 'nerdle'.)

Oh, by the time I finished this post there were 35 people behind me in line.

Students Today - a YouTube video

2008-01-23T20:36:00.000-08:00

I attended a book talk tonight for ‘The Kids are Alright’ by John C. Beck. It was somewhat unusual as the talk was held at the DEN in SL (Discovery Educator Network in Second Life). You could see our avatars (representations of our characters) typing away in mid-air as we responded excitedly to each others' posts. However, Second Life is a post for another day ...

One of the participants posted the website for the video A Vision of Students Today. What began as a 200 student Wiki collaboration emerged as a video. I found it to be thought-provoking and a great opening for discussion. I hope you do, too.

Capturing Images and Videos

2007-11-08T17:05:00.000-08:00

Capturing a screen image is easy, right? Just Alt + PrtScrn on the PC and Apple + Shift + 4 on the MAC.

What if you could capture screen images, draw on them, and save them? What if you could run a PowerPoint project and turn it into a flash video? You can store them on the Internet or download it to your computer - or BOTH!

The JingProject does everything I mention and it is a FREE download (while it is still a project). JingProject is easy to use and always runs on your machine (PC or MAC) unless you turn it off so it is always ready when you are.

Biggest negative I can see at the moment is that you navigate away from your blog page to view it ... small payment for the ability to say your work so nicely!

Try it at www.jingproject.com

Submitting a Service Request Online

2007-10-04T12:09:00.000-07:00

This is a two-part post. The movie I made gives directions on how to submit a service request online to ETIS, the technology department in our district. Service requests are made for hardware, software, reports, and training requests and suggestions. I created the original QT video using SnapzPro about four years ago.

Toufee (www.toufee.com), mentioned in my very first post below, recently released version 2.0 which has loads of new features. One great feature allows users to upload their own videos, toufee converts them to flash, and create a new flash movie which can be embedded in your blog or stored on your server - all for free! San and Ganesh are truly wonderful in their creation of and support of Toufee. Although in its infancy, they are even thinking of creating education features for their software. Check their blog at http://www.toufee.com/moviemaker/

So, here is "How to Submit a Service Request Online" as a flash - no need to have QT to play it!

Flash movies are fun to make at Toufee.com

2007-08-06T13:20:00.000-07:00

Google Certified Teacher training in May provided me with a plethora of available software and programs from Google. One of the easiest to use and perhaps the most helpful is Google and your cell phone. A quick text to Google (466453) and you will get an answer in seconds.

Try this ~ Text GOOGLE (466453) with the message "movies 91206" (or your zip code) and click send. In 15 seconds or less a text message will return with a lit of movies in the zip code area.

Tired of calling 411 from your cell phone @$1.99 each? Text message GOOGLE (466453) for a phone number and address: Frank's Famous 91208) this yummy sandwich/salad/ everything edible shop was on my phone in 5 seconds.

Why Let Students Blog?

2007-06-25T14:27:00.001-07:00

This movie says it all and I'm so glad Rachel Boyd created it! Posted on TeacherTube she includes links to her school website at the end of her movie. If the print is too small, try http://rachelboyd.blogspot.com.

NOTE: There is some odd, unknown reason that the video is not playing in the space below. Please click the title Why Let Students Blog to see it. Don't know why it's not running on this page but ... it's technology!

Grunion Run, June 2, 2007

2007-06-20T12:39:00.000-07:00

Learning and fun is a great combination. I know that I learn better when I connect the learning to a memorable experience, even more if it's full of fun. The CA DEN (Discovery Educator Network) hosted a grunion run for its members and their families and students on June 2, 2007. The evening began with a bonfire BBQ. Hamburgers and hot dogs were cooked by our special BBQ chefs, Laurian and Ward (love those DEN spouses!).

The Cabrillo Marine Aquarium open their doors in the evening for a special grunion event. DEN members roamed the aquarium and discovered the different inhabitants of our local coastline. DEN received a private screening of the aquarium's grunion presentation. Scientists do not know where the grunion come from nor where they go. They do know that grunion spawn only during the two weeks between the full moon and the new moon.

The CA DEN added the "Grunion Dance" to their dance cards and enjoyed an informative question and answer session. Young Jake understood that the female and male came onshore and left their eggs in the sand. His question, "Do the baby grunion miss their moms and dads?" brought "ahhhhs" and "ohhhhs" from everyone.

Following the screening we met the scientists and young docents on the patio where they gave us a small baby food jar adding a small amount of water and grunion eggs - so tiny we could barely see them. Swirling the water gently, the small grunion began hatching so quickly just like popping popcorn. It was so exciting to see!

Heading back to the beach about 9:30 for s'mores we shared our new knowledge. Soon it was time to head to the shore. The waves brought brought small groups of grunion "scouts" to see if it was safe to come to the sand and spawn. We were as quiet as could be with our lights out. Scientists from the aquarium went out to the water with a special screen to collect water samples and material from the ocean to test later. We waited and whispered for about 45 minutes catching glimpses of grunion as they sparkled in the moonlight both onshore and in the oncoming waves.

Suddenly, someone ran to the ocean and the race was on ... we saw a few grunion swim in on the wave, but the charge was too early. The "scouts" were still checking the shoreline and no more grunion came out that night. A few were able to catch the slippery fish so everyone had a chance to touch a full grown grunion, if they could hold on. The night came to an end with sandy feet, full stomachs, and a wonderful school of information about grunion and their remarkable appearance and spawning.

Tech Forum '07

2007-05-21T11:13:00.001-07:00

Hey, techies!

Friday, May 18th I attended the Tech Forum '07 produced by Technology & Learning with Shelley from Valley View. We saw some great presentations as between us we covered quite a few seminars and round tables. We have much to share with you. You can take a look at the presentations and other resources at www.techlearning.com/techforum/SC07.

Shelley and I were also big winners that day. Shelley won an additional year of membership to CUE (http://cue.org/) as well as free registration for CUE 2008 in Palm Springs. I won a 32unit remote answering system, pic to the left, from Quizdom (http://www.qwizdom.com) as well as a t-shirt and travel mug from Atomic Learning (www.atomiclearning.com). Glendale made a great impression at the conference!

"Nana" ~ the first flash movie made by me!

2007-05-20T16:57:00.000-07:00

The magazine Technology and Learning always has great resources and a tech friend discovered a "create your own flash movie" site at toufee.com. There are interactive flash tutorials and instructive flash tutorials to help you learn how to make your movie. The support is wonderful and so is San, one of the creators of toufee.com.

I hope you enjoy my first creation ...

Get your own flash movies at Toufee.com