Google for Teachers - Free 33 Page Guide

Thanks to my Twitter PLN, I just stumbled upon this 33 Page Guide for using Google in the classroom.  This document was provided by Free Technology for Teachers.  This guide covers everything from using the advanced search tools to using Google Docs to create quizzes that can be posted online.  Every teachers can find something they can use in here.  Pass it along.


Google for Teachers -

Using Check Boxes in Windows 7 to Save a Little Time

If you have ever tried to select multiple files one a computer you can drag a box around all of the files if they are in order.  If they are not in order, you had to hold control and select each file.  Now, with Windows 7, you can enable the use of check boxes so you can select multiple files with only one hand.  To enable this feature you need to be in a folder.  Click on "Tools" from the menu bar at the top.  Then, select "Folder Options".  Finally, click on the View tab and check the box that says "Use check boxes to select items". 

Once you have enabled this option, you will be able to select multiple files by clicking the check boxes to the left of the file names.

This feature works regardless of how you view you files (list or thumbnails).

Literature Recaps

Today, a colleague emailed a great resource for English teachers.  It is call 60 Second Recap. This site provides engaging video recaps that will help make understanding literary works easier for students.  I saw there was a recap for Brave New Word by Aldous Huxley.  I watched the Teaser Trailer for this book and it instantly gave me an idea.  What if we had our students make their own Teaser Trailers for books.  We could even do it for short stories.  Regardless of whether you have you students create their own or not, I believe this site will be an excellent resource for teachers who are trying to engage students with literature.  There are recaps available for many popular books and they also accept requests for recaps.

Flip Video and Windows Movie Maker

If you have tried using videos taken on a Flip camera in Windows Movie Maker, you may have run into some problems.  Here is a document that will walk you through the process of converting the files so they will work.

This post is intended for students and teachers in my school district.  If you want to take this document and adapt it for your school, feel free.




http://mrruddle.wikispaces.com/file/view/Using+Flip+Videos+in+Windows+Movie+Maker.pdf

I Found it on Twitter

The July Crisis: Can you stop the Great War? - This is a scenario-based lesson that requires students to attempt to prevent World War I.  Student teams are assigned a country and they must prepare an oral presentation that identifies the country's background and history as well as their long term and short term reasons explaining why their country would be willing to go to war.  After all students have presented, the groups must take into account everything that was said and formulate a potential peace agreement.  Finally, the class gets divided into 4 groups and begin negotiations.  If they cannot come to a consensus after 45 minutes they must draft a declaration of war.

Math Interactives - This site includes interactive and print activities as well as videos that show students how math is used in everyday life. 

Crocodoc - Share and collaborate on PDFs and other documents online.  You can view their demo document here.


WebList - Create listings of URLs, Photos, and Files that will be displayed in thumbnail view for easy sharing.  Once you have created your WebList, you are provided with a URL to share so other people can visit you WebList.  Here is the official tutorial.

Where is this TinyURL going to take me?

If you use any kind of social networking service, you have seen tinyURLs (or other brands of shortened URLs).  This has been very helpful for people who want to keep their posts short.  It has also allowed people to send you to virus laden sites or inappropriate sites.  To prevent this, you can use http://untiny.me/ .  This site allows you to paste the tinyURL and it will tell you where it is going to take you.

Tying It Together: Discovery Streaming, Glogster, and Google Earth

I attended a session at the Discovery Education Network pre-conference at Pete&C called Creative Construction with Digital Media.  In this session Traci Blazosky showed us how we can use Discovery Education, Glogster, and Google Earth together. 

Here’s the Idea

Step 1

You can create an assignment in the Assignment Builder on Discovery Education.  When you are finished creating the assignment, you want to “Assign by Code or URL”.   You want to use the URL because this is automatically fills in the code for the students when they click it. 

Step 2

You can create a glog on Glogster and link something to that assignment.

Step 3

You can embed the glog into a placemark on Google Earth. ** (see screenshots below)

Let’s Apply It

Imagine you are doing a lesson on Europe.  With Google Earth, you could create a virtual tour of European nations.  But, with Glogster and Discovery Streaming, we can take it a step further.

First, you can create an assignment for each European Nation on Discovery Education.  Each assignment can start with a video or image and can include various questions.  Next, you want to create a Glog for each nation and link to the assignment in the Glog.  You can present other information in the Glog as well, such as text and images.  Finally, you can create a tour in Google Earth that will visit each of the nations.  You can embed the Glog in the placemark for the corresponding location.

Don’t Use the First Embed Code You See

When you first publish you Glog, you will see the box below.  You DO NOT want to use the embed code you see here for Google Earth.  It will not work properly.

You want to click on “View This Glog”

Then, look for the box you see below.

Now, click on “Embed into you page”

You will see the box below.

THIS is the code you want to use to embed you Glog into a Google Earth Placemark.