Free Web Comic Creator - Chogger

I just stumbled upon Chogger.com.  This is a free Web Comic Strip Creator that only takes a few minutes to master.  In the past, we have used stripgenerator.com to create comic "renditions" of Edgar Allan Poe poems/stories in the 11th grade English classes in our district.  The problem we ran into was that Stripgenerator limits the amount of space that can be use for each comic.  So, some students had to make three or four seperate comics to retell one story.  One positive thing about Stripgenerator is that they had tons of pre-made objects that you can use.  While Chogger does not have the pre-fab objects and images, you can upload your own images as well as draw your own objects.  Also, Chogger allows to add more cells as well as more rows of cells.  So, you can make your comic larger if you need to.  I am seriously considering using Chogger in place of Stripgenerator for the Poe activity next school year.  The only thing I would like to see added is the ability to embed the comics after they are finish.  If there was a way to this, I missed it.  Below is a screenshot of a comic I made in less than 5 minutes.  Of course, given more time, I could fix up Bill and take better pictures.  But, those familiar with digital storytelling know that it is about the quality of the story and not always able the appearance. Creating a Chogger account only took about 30 seconds.

Start Youtube Videos Where You Want

Youtubetime.com is a website that allows you to enter the URL for a Youtube video and a specific start time.  The site then provides you with a link that will start the video at a specific point.  This is good for classrooms, where a teacher might want to show only part of a video.  Instead of the teacher loading the video and having to try to find the part they want to show each time, they can do it one time and save the link provided by Youtubetime.com.  Note: you want to use the actual URL not the embed code.

This can be done without Youtubetime by simply adding the following to a Youtube URL.  #t=XmXXs.  So, if I wanted to start 24 seconds into a video, I would add #t=0m24s to the end of the URL.  For example, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ILQrUrEWe8 would become http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ILQrUrEWe8#t=0m24s

The advantage of using this website is that you don't have to remember this code and it is easy to share this trick with other people.

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.