A few nights ago I told my wife, “I need some space.”  While she was jumping with glee and ready to send me packing, I felt compelled to make it clear that I was talking about “Web Space.”  She was only slightly disappointed, but she mustered up the strength to support my blog anyway.   So, I’ve stayed up late the last few nights getting it ready just for you! If you were a subscriber to my blog you should know, I’ve moved it to its very own spot on the web at

This blog was created to support teachers in their endeavors to incorporate Technology + Education + a little Know-How. 

Share this link with other teachers as I’m sure they will find great resources and tools to use in their classrooms and everyday life.  On my blog you will also find links to other RRISD employee blogs that you will also find helpful in your classroom.

If you would like to learn how to subscribe to Blogs (RSS Feeds) or would like to start a blog of your own please let me know. 

Where we give Teachers the Technology Know-How to move their students forward!

I took a look at one of the news reels from D-Day and it was amazing looking at this time in history as it happened.Teachers can use this public domain data by allowing students to view the content as it was in history.  How powerful could this be?! 

You will find clips from NASA, War News Reels, and the Department of Interior.  The Department of Interior video about the Tennessee Valley Authority in 1936 was awesome!  I loved seeing the old machinery working as I gained a new appreciation for the advancement of Technology today. 

I think you will find this a great tool for teaching history and giving students an opportunity to view history through the eyes of the people that lived it.  

Note: I do advise; preview each clip before you show it to your students.  Some things just shouldn’t be seen by certain age groups. 

Here is a blurb from their web page, “Each resource is carefully selected by educators to ensure it is safe, age-appropriate and 100% academically relevant.”

I did a search on “Vitamins” and I learned something myself.  Did you know that lots of vitamin D can cause you to lose wait?  Here’s the catch, you lose the wait because too much Vitamin D can cause you to vomit.  Not the right way to loses wait!!  Anyway, I digress, so back on track.

Take the time to introduce NetTrekker to your students this week.  It is a resource that our district provides for you to keep your kids safe and on the right track with their research.  It’s an awesome tool!  The listings of uses of NetTrekker are too many to list here.  Take a look for yourself!

You can get to NetTrekker from your school’s library web page.  If you’re reading this post and you are not a part of RoundRock ISD schools, you can try NetTrekker free at http://www.nettrekker.com/

Keep up the good teaching with technology!!!

Side Note: Most web pages have links to other web pages.  These other web pages may or may not be safe, so I suggest you still do active monitoring during your computer times.  Leaving your students un-attended during computer time is not a safe practice anytime!
Authored by roundrocktechguy. Hosted by Edublogs. ]]> http://roundrocktechguy.edublogs.org/2008/03/25/nettrekker/feed/ http://roundrocktechguy.edublogs.org/2008/03/18/visual-geography/ http://roundrocktechguy.edublogs.org/2008/03/18/visual-geography/#comments Tue, 18 Mar 2008 18:21:34 +0000 roundrocktechguy http://roundrocktechguy.edublogs.org/2008/03/18/visual-geography/ Weekly Tech Tip

This weeks tech tip is can be used in Social Studies, LA, and Math.

The site is http://www.visualgeography.com/ . 

Social Studies:

Visualgeography.com has pictures of interesting things from most if not all countries of the world.  Such as this dish from the country of Haiti, in North America.

 Students can learn about other cultures by studying the pictures and notes that are on the page.  Each countries map and flag is shown as well. 

Would you have ever guessed that this picture 

could have been taken on the continent of Africa in the country of Ethiopia.  How awesome is that!!  I know I need to get out more.  But I can’t, and neither can many of our students.  That’s why this type of thing is so important.

LA:

I would have my students write compare contrast papers, express their surprise at commonalities, or even use the pictures as writing prompts.  The writing assignments are endless when you begin to look at these pictures from around the world. 

Math:

The site even gives statistics about each country.  The students can do calculations comparing the countries, and charts showing different data.  When I compared the US to Brazil I didn’t know how much alike in size we are. 

U.S.A. is 1.1 times bigger than Brazil
U.S.A. has 1.6 times more inhabitants than BrazilU.S.A.Size: 9,631,418 sq km
Population: 298,444,215 inhabitantsBrazilSize: 8,511,965 sq km
Population: 188,078,227 inhabitants 

I’m learning lots from this site and I’m sure your students can also!  Leave a post and let me know how you use this in your classroom.  Enjoy your Technology!

I’m going to stray today and do a back post.

** A few weeks back I did a post about VoiceThread and how it can be used in the classroom. This morning early when I was reading a blog from one of my feeds I found another post about VoiceThread. This post showed a perfect example of how it can be used in the classroom. I had to watch and read the whole VoiceThread!!! It was that good!!! (not normal for me, I get bored easy!) Please, do yourself a favor and look at the VoiceThread - http://ed.voicethread.com/#q.b62276.i322457 You will find students engaged, empowered, problem solving and passionate while learning at the same time. Thanks for the example, Cool Cat Teacher Blog! http://coolcatteacher.blogspot.com/ She even has a follow up post about what her students are doing to extend their learning experiences. Awesome Stuff!!!!

(Note:) I’m only giving an example of how it can be used. I’m not promoting any views in the VoiceThread.

** World Wide Telescope coming soon! This sure sounds exciting for the Education and Science worlds. Here is a description from their web page. “The WorldWide Telescope (WWT) is a rich visualization environment that functions as a virtual telescope, bringing together imagery from the best ground and space telescopes in the world for a seamless, guided exploration of the universe. WorldWide Telescope, created with Microsoft’s high-performance Visual Experience Engine™, enables seamless panning and zooming across the night sky blending terabytes of images, data, and stories from multiple sources over the Internet into a media-rich, immersive experience.” You can check it out further at http://worldwidetelescope.org/ I hope to be bringing you more info on this when it’s released this spring”

** What an exciting time to be a part of education in such an “information available” age! When I first started teaching we only dreamed of having this kind of information available to us. Now we can not only have it available we can have our students producing it, collaborating on it, and making it available for the rest of the world to see. There are over 100,000 new blogs created daily with a majority of them being student aged creators. There are about 300,000 new MySpace / FaceBook users every day. This is growing by leaps and bounds.

This is where our students are at: Capturing their interests + Capturing their hearts = Capturing their minds!

 Happy Educating with Technology!

Templates are a good thing!  For most of us, templates help us save time to not re-create.  This web page is full of power point templates for game show like activities.  All you have to do is copy the slides and fill in the blanks!  How cool is that!? 

Here you will find: Family Feud, The Price is Right, 100,000 Pyramid, Hollywood Squares, Weakest Link, Millionaire, Wheel of Fortune, Jeopardy and even Are You Smarter than a Fifth Grader.  All of these are pre-built for you.  This page also offers links to other templates and teacher resources that you may find interesting.  Enjoy Saving Time and creating fun activities for your students! 

Here’s the link:  http://www.murray.k12.ga.us/teacher/kara%20leonard/Mini%20T%27s/March%20Mini%20T-Games/Games.htm

PS. You will need to know a little about Power Point in order effectively use these.  If you need Power Point training let me know and we can work that out also. 

eXtra! eXtra!

For those of you that subscribe to Blogs and like to keep up with what’s going on in the world, Google Reader is probably the best RSS Reader I’ve found.  Take a look at the different ways Google Reader can be used. http://googlereader.blogspot.com/2008/01/theres-feed-for-that.html

Take a look at the rest of this blog for lots of info on Google Reader and it’s functionality.  

Here is a video that introduces the Google Reader. http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=5980861656829941065

TNC (The New Classroom) is the classroom that goes beyond the building, playground and even the teacher. In TNC the students are more involved than ever. I believe that involvement cultivates learning. In TNC you will find blogs, podcasts, wikis, and other web 2.0 activities. Blogs give students a voice while wikis give the students collaborative opportunities and a community in which to belong. I could go on and on about other web 2.0 services, but my goal is to get you involved in a little of TNC for yourself.

Look at how this school is using a wiki: http://arborheights.wikispaces.com  And this one: http://allaboutmath.wikispaces.com

Here is a blog that you should consider subscribing to: http://davidwarlick.com/2cents/ It’s a blog for teachers. Lots of ideas here! Of course I must recommend my blog: http://roundrocktechguy.edublogs.org It’s full of ideas of how to use technology in the classroom.

Break out the ipod for more than just music; use it for listening to podcasts. A good podcast for teachers to listen to is The New Teacher Hotline. You can go to www.newteacherhotline.com and click the subscribe button. For a directory of education podcasts you can go to www.learnoutloud.com/podcast-directory

For those of you that are already a part of TNC crank it up a notch and help us get other teachers involved. Reply to this blog post with a link to your blog, wiki or podcast so we can see what you and your classes are doing.

Let this inspire you! 

This week my wife was talking about having to give four different spelling test to her students during her Friday spelling tests.  She explained that her district requires them to do leveled spelling tests.  You know as well as I do that if you have a group of 22 third grade students you have several levels.  I’m sure that most of you could imagine the amount of time this takes on Friday to give these tests.    

Well, I got on the prowl for a better solution.  Now whether or not she uses it is up to her.  Here’s what I found, The www.spellingcity.com .  The teacher creates an account (FREE) and creates the 4 spelling lists online.  The students can then go online print out their spelling lists by finding their teacher’s name or spelling list’s name.  This also allows the parents to get a copy of the list whenever they want it.  The students are able to go online play spelling games such as Word Search, Hang Mouse, and Unscramble.  When Friday roles around they go to the computer put on their headphones and go to Spelling City.  They find their spelling list and click on take test, and then spellingcity.com will read the word to them and use it in a sentence.  They type the word correctly in the blank and zip their test is done.  All the student does now is print out their certificate, which has their score on it. 

I must also give you the downfalls of this application. 

1. Most classrooms only have 1 to 3 computers in it.  You’ll have to find a way to rotate your class through to take the test or go to the computer lab.

2. When you print out the certificate it doesn’t show the ones they got incorrect.  If you want that info they will need to print the page after the test and before the certificate. (Once you see it you will understand.)  As with any teaching, it’s good to model it for them before you have them do it.

If nothing else it’s a good tool to use with some of your lower performing students that need extra practice.  I’m sure most of you can find several useful ways to incorporate www.spellingcity.com

Now, go, explore, and enjoy!

This week’s tech tip will get all of your students participating and thinking!  If you want to get your students collaborating there thoughts into one location about one thing this is the spot for you.  www.voicethread.com  You can post a picture, video, document or whatever and give your students the link.  They go to the link and post voice comments, typed comments, or even draw on it.  They can hear or read what other students think about the post as well as make there on comments.  This service is free to educators. 

Picture Writing Prompts will never be the same with this technology. 

Imagine doing a science experiment.  Post a picture as you start the project and have students leave comments about their hypothesis, then once it’s over have them go back and listen to see if they are correct.  Then they can leave comments about what they have learned from the experiment. 

The ideas are endless! 

Here is one that I created as an experimental test subject.  Play around with it post comments just to see how easy it is.  You can use your microphone, web cam, type it, doodle on it, or even have it call your phone so you can leave a voice comment on it that way.  You will need to create an account to leave a comment, but don’t worry it’s free.

http://voicethread.com/share/40005/

Now Go and get those students collaborating and thinking!

If you create your Turning Points Presentation on your teacher computer and transfer it to the computer with the Turning Points System then you’ll need to follow these steps to get going. Also, if you have trouble with the Turning Points Remotes follow these directions. Watch the tutorial as many times as you need to. Here is the link to the quick tutorial, http://209.184.141.5/laurelmountain/Resource%20Pages/Tutorials/TurningPoints/Turning%20Points/TurningPoints_OnPresentationCart.htm

If you aren’t doing Turning Points you are missing out on a great teaching tool. Email me to set up a time that you and your team can be trained on how to use it. You’ll love it!You will also find this and other tutorials on our Campus Web Page under RESOURCES.

This weeks Tech Tip is a random generator.  Have you needed to flip a coin or role a die to teach probability?  This site can help you do that.  If you flip 4 quarters how many will land on heads? 

In this case none landed on heads.  Let’s try again!   

This time we got 3 tails and one heads. 

How about rolling some die. 

I think you can tell now how this can be used in your class with your students. 

Have you need to put your students in a random order or pick one student out of your 32 students.  This site can help with that to.

Who is my line leader or the spotlight student this week? 

It’s student number 10! 

This site is full of randomness.  You set the perimeters and it randomizes it for you.  Go to www.random.org for your useful randomness!  There are many more things that you can randomize besides coins, dice and students.  You can even work up some random clocks and fractions if you want.  Enjoy!

This weeks Tech Tip is Math and Technology focused. One of the best tools I’ve seen to teach math concepts with is a digital camera, so let’s dust them off and charge those batteries. Your students will have fun with this Math project!

Fractions – If you have a picture with lots of action, such as in my example, you can ask them questions like, “What is primarily happening in the 1/3 section of the image?”

Answer: The Coach is talking to the two boys.

“What is happening in the 2/3 section of the image?”

Answer: The boy is walking away and the girl is walking towards the camera.

Note: (Have the students write their answers in complete sentences and this will meet your writing TEKS as well.)

As you add more sections turning the picture into ¼, 1/5 and 1/6 sections the students can physically see the sections getting smaller and their answers change accordingly. This helps them grasp the concepts of fractions and what happens when you make the fractions smaller. The gist: The bigger the denominator the smaller the parts.

Here is the same image in ¼ sections:

Here is the same image in 1/5 sections:

Angles - Using images to teach angles is fun!!! Kids love going around their school taking pictures. Have your students break into groups and then go out to take pictures of angles that they find. They come back print them out and then mark the angels accordingly.

For example:

Of course the student’s pictures will be much neater than mine.

To extend this activity even further you can have specific angles that you want the students to take. For example: Today the assignment is to find al the right angles you can on hallway B. Then have them print out a photo thumbnail sheet of right angles.

Sending them to the playground to make “People Angles” is the most fun. I’ll leave that one up to your imagination. Yep, kids can come up with some creative stuff if you just let them.

Area, Perimeter, Measurement – Pictures can be used to teach this as well. You can come in with pictures already taken or send the students out to get a few pictures. Have them take the pictures of the object then they must measure it. After taking measurements they can find the area and perimeter of the object.

Extended Learning – Have the students measure the real object and then measure the object in the picture and give the scale. This would require some advanced Math, but I’m sure each of you have students that can do this and need the challenge.

Thanks for taking the time to read and gather ideas for teaching Math with Technology! Let me know if I can help you incorporate these ideas into your classroom. I would love to join you and your class to help you implement your ideas.

This weeks Tech Tip incorporates Math, Social Studies, Reading/Writing and Technology.

Students Can Meet the Following TEKS:

Math: Charts/Graphs, percentages, decimals,

Reading/Language: Compare Traditions across regions and cultures and comparative writing, and read a variety of texts such as newspapers and magazines for information.

Social Studies: Apply critical thinking skills to organize useful information such as Maps and Graphs.

Technology: Use Communication tools in group projects, acquire and analyze information in a digital format, and produce an electronic product in a variety of media.

The Travel Leisure Magazine (http://www.travelandleisure.com/afc/2007/) has put out a report for America’s Favorite Cities. And, as you would expect Austin is one of the favorites. Being the “Food Enthusiast” that I am, I noted that Austin is #1 for Bar-B-Q!!! As a mater of fact Texas has 3 of the Top 4 Bar-B-Q cities in the country. How Chicago got # 7 I’ll never know, but I don’t determine the results of the survey, I just teach utilizing the results.

We (Austin) got rated 23 for a lack of Big Name Restaurants. But that’s fine by me; I like “Mom and Pop” places anyway. What do your students like about living here?? Maybe they could write about it.

This data can be used in hundreds of ways, but I’ve included two activities below that you may want to use.

Activity 1* Your students can take two cities, one being Austin and the other being a place they think they would like to live one day. Have them compare those two cities to one another. They should then report their findings in a chart or graph and in an essay explaining what they found, and why they chose one location over the other.

Activity 2* Have your students write about the things they know and love about their city.

Extended Activity 1* (higher order thinking) Have your students graph each city with the given data and try to make determinations accordingly. Such as, we always hear about how friendly Texans are. Well, does the data show this to be a fact? How about those New Yorkers? Can we develop new theories or are the stereo types we’ve already established proven here?

Extended Activity 2* (higher order thinking) Have your students pick a subcategory such as “Ease of getting around / public transportation.” Why is Austin #18? Research what the top 5 cities have in their locations that make their Public Transportation better than Austin’s. They should report their findings in some form of media presentation. This could be further extended to actually writing the Austin City Council to persuade them to improve public transportation (or other sub category).

You never know, you may be teaching the next World Changer! Ignite them while they are young!

“Ideas can be life-changing. Sometimes all you need to open the door is just one more good idea.” Jim Rohn

Google Power Search:  You can get better results out of your Google search by following these steps. 

Go to the Google Home Page.  www.google.com

Find the advanced search link.

This window will come up.  Fill in as many of the blanks as you can. 

Here is an example:

Babe Ruth =

Normal Google:  Results 1 - 100 of about 1,280,000

Exact Phrase Box:  Home Run King  Results 1 - 100 of about 32,500

Without the Words Box:  Bonds Aaron  Results 1 - 100 of about 755

Return pages Written in: English Results 1 - 100 of about 732

Don’t return results from the site www.baberuth.com: Results 1 - 100 of about 727

Keep setting up rules and you keep getting different results.  We are down to 727 results from over a million.  Now we can get down to the Nitti Gritty of research. 

You can find even more Tips about Google Searching by clicking the Advanced Search Tips link in the top right corner of your Google Advanced Search page. 

http://www.readwritethink.org/materials/comic/index.html

Here is a link to a lesson that someone created for comic strips in Second Grade. http://www.glc.k12.ga.us/BuilderV03/LPTools/LPShared/lpdisplay.asp?LPID=15747

These two sites have several lesson plans for 3-5^th grade. http://comicsintheclassroom.net/xlessonplans2.html

http://www.emints.org/ethemes/resources/S00001222.shtml

There are lots more lesson plans out there for Comic Strip Lessons.  Google is a good thing.

Again with any site “you” preview it first before you let your students on it. Be Safe!

Btw: www.toondoo.com is working on a student version for kids.  I’ll let you know when that comes out.

This week’s new Tech Tip is more inspirational than it is a tip.  The George Lucas Educational Foundation’s Edutopia web site is a site for education and technology.  It has a video that dignifies the use of technology in the classroom.  It is 5 min long and worth it.  Let it inspire you to use technology in your classroom.  http://www.edutopia.org/video/frame.php?id=Art_1127&keyword=137

By the way, www.edutopia.com is a great site for learning more about technology integration. 

Now this is cool! One age old things that kids have always loved are cartoons. They like to watch them on TV, look at them in books and even draw them every chance they get. Why not use the things they love to teach with. www.toondoo.com allows you or students to create comic strips. It can be steps to a math problem or a quick little ditty about School Rules. The projects that can be done with this are endless. I spent about 5 minutes on this site and loved it. I even built a little cartoon of my own in about 5 more minutes.

As with any web site that is used with students, you need to personally preview yourself before hand and monitor the students as they use it. Our district does have policy about students and internet use, so make sure everything you are doing falls into those guidelines. For example: Students should not (must not) put their names or any other student’s names in the cartoons that they may make.