My Award Maker

As some of you wind down your school year, you might want to present some certificates to your students to celebrate their accomplishments. This week’s tip features an online award maker that allows you to easily personalize and print certificates of all types.

My Award Maker -- http://www.myawardmaker.com/



1. Go to: http://www.myaward.maker.com/
2. Browse to find the desired certificate template.
3. Click the Download button.
4. The downloaded file will open with Adobe Acrobat Reader.
5. Enter the desired text.
6. Print!

My 1st Podcast!

I am participating in a book study entitled Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts, and Other Powerful Web Tools for Classrooms. In Chapter 8, we are learning more about podcasting, and one of my assignments is to create a podcast and post it to my blog. Although I don't like to hear the sound of my own voice, I am uploading my podcast. I hope that you will enjoy listening.



Although I don't like listening to myself on podcast, I would love to hear my children and students podcasts. I am excited about the opportunities that podcasting will bring to our classrooms, and I look forward to having my own children create podcasts very soon.

Evolution of a Teacher

The following is part of a blog posting by Randy Rodgers, an Instructional Technology Specialist in Birdville ISD, whose blog I read regularly. Read the post and then please share your thoughts with me in the comments section.

Evolution of a Teacher

What, exactly, is a teacher? Webster’s Dictionary defines a teacher as:

Teach”er\, n. 1. One who teaches or instructs; one whose business or occupation is to instruct others; an instructor; a tutor.

Teaching is primarily defined as “To impart the knowledge of; to give intelligence concerning; to impart, as knowledge before unknown, or rules for practice; to inculcate as true or important; to exhibit impressively; as, to teach arithmetic, dancing, music, or the like; to teach morals.” Alternately, it is defined as “To direct, as an instructor; to manage, as a preceptor; to guide the studies of; to instruct; to inform; to conduct through a course of studies; as, to teach a child or a class” or “to accustom; to guide; to show; to admonish.”

There are significant differences in these definitions. The first is more traditional, and it depicts the teacher as the provider, source, and demonstration of information needed for learning. The alternative definitions depict a different role entirely, that of one who leads others to the sources of information and understanding. The former entails a significant level of control over what is learned and how it is learned. The latter implies greater freedom on the part of the learner. The former, it might be argued, implies greater structure, while the latter implies a more random order.

In the past week, there have been a couple of experiences that have led me to consider just how our profession is evolving from one of a source of knowledge to one of a guide, who leads students through a vast sea of information, so that they may construct knowledge independently. The first was a discussion with a colleague about the fears expressed by a teacher that they would become obsolete. Change is inevitable, exciting, and terrifying. Technology is accelerating this change in education and in the world in general, by connecting us and giving us access to information on a scale unimaginable a few decades ago. It is easy to understand why this can be intimidating to a teacher. However, it is neither rational nor logical to expect that we will become obsolete. It is both rational and logical, however, to expect that our roles will be evolving, and that we will need to work to change our teaching practices to fit the needs of a new educational paradigm. The real challenge will be to develop enough of the critical literacy in teachers for them to be able to become the skilled navigators of information needed to lead our students to understanding. This is by no means a knock on a generation of educators, but it is a statement of the realities of our upbringing and education–information was different, smaller. The exciting part is, if we can change in these ways, the profession can become even more rewarding, as we will have the opportunity to witness so many more “a-ha” moments of self-discovery in our children. If we cannot, well, we very well may be on our way out.

Learning is about change and growth. The nature of information and access to that information is changing and growing, as well. Teachers are a resilient, dedicated lot, and we will adapt and excel, so long as we are willing to give up some degree of control and put it in the hands of our capable clients.

Read the entire post ... http://randyrodgers.edublogs.org/2009/05/07/evolution-of-a-teacher/.

Randy shared some very forward-thinking thoughts about how our roles as educators are changing, growing. I hope that his post inspired some thoughts about your teaching - how it has changed recently and how it will continue to change. Please share your thoughts with me in the comments section below.

Twitter

Twitter me at ... http://twitter.com/richarsh.

Vocaroo is a cool online voice recording service that is super easy to use (and it doesn’t require a login or password). After you’ve recorded your voice, you can email the audio file to someone, embed it into your blog, wiki, or webpage, or save it to your hard drive.

Vocaroo
http://vocaroo.com

Recording Your Voice:

1. Go to http://vocaroo.com.
2. Make sure you have a microphone (either a built-in microphone or a plug-in microphone should work.)
3. Click the “Click to Record” button.
4. Click to “Allow” Vocaroo to access your microphone.
5. The recording will start immediately. Note - sometimes it doesn’t record the first time I try. I have the best luck if I stop the recording and then click the “Record Again” button.
6. Click the Listen button to hear the recording.

Sharing/Saving the Recording:

Once the sound is recorded, you will have three options:

1. Send to a friend - just enter your email and your friend’s email and click the “Send” button.
2. Post on the Internet - just copy the provided code or link and paste it into your blog, wiki, or website.
3. Download - right-click the “Download this Message” link and save the file to your hard drive as a .wav file.

Classroom Applications:

Here are a few ideas to get you started. Please use the comments area below this post to add your own ideas.

• Record an audio welcome message and put it on your blog (or wiki or web page).
• Elementary students can practice their oral reading skills. You could even post them on your blog for parents and grandparents to hear.
• Each day have one student record “what we did in school today” and post it on your blog.
• Students in a foreign language class could record words or phrases and then email them to their teacher.
• Left your students with a substitute? Record a message to encourage your students to be on their best behavior!

Tiny Chat

I ran across this free chat room website while reading another blog. The website is called “tinychat” and is extremely easy to use -- and it doesn’t require any registration or logins!
The URL is www.tinychat.com.

How/Why would you use a chat room in your classroom?

• The class can participate in a quiet “discussion” while watching a movie or video.
• The teacher and students can post questions and answers during a lecture or presentation.
• Students could “Google” for additional information and post their findings ASAP during a lecture or presentation.
• Students can enter their thoughts and opinions on a given topic. Note - a chat room levels the playing field so that ALL students have an equal voice.
• The teacher can monitor as students can practice acceptable online behavior.
• The class can collaborate with students from a different school, state, or even a different country!
• Students can share collaborative resources.
• Use a chat room to communicate with students while watching a televised event in the evening.
• The class can communicate with a home-bound student.
• Please add your own ideas by adding a comment below!

How to Use TinyChat ...

The teacher will:
1. Go to: www.tinychat.com
2. Click the “Click to Create your Chatroom” button.
3. Share the provided URL. (Note - you will also be able to see / share the URL after you enter the chat room.)
4. Click the “Enter Chat Room” link.
5. Enter your name; click “go.”

The students will:
1. Go to the provided URL.
2. Enter their name; click “go.”

To Chat:
1. Enter your message in the box at the bottom of the screen.
2. Click the “Send” button or press the enter key on your keyboard.

Saving the Chat (Optional):
If you want to archive the chat:
1. Click the floppy disk icon in the lower-left corner.
2. Save the file. (It will save as a RTF file and will open with any word processor.)Note - I had some trouble saving the chat, but I was able to easily copy the text from the chat and paste it into a word processor.

I came across this site while reading a Technology blog that I frequent. JeopardyLabs allows you to create a customized jeopardy game without using PowerPoint. The games you create may then be played online from anywhere in the world. They have a simple editor to assist you in building your own jeopardy template, too. If you are not interested in building your own, you can check out the templates created by others. Best of all it's Free, and no registration is needed! Check it out!

SmileBox

SmileBox is another Web 2.0 tool that allows you to create precious slideshows and scrapbook type pages for FREE. Of course, there is a paid version, but ... free is good for me. Here is a SmileBox that I just created with pictures that I had with me. Check it out.

Make a Smilebox slideshow

This one allows you to view all of the pictures small from the onset. Click the yellow star to play it. It will enlarge each picture and then reduce it and enlarge the next one. It even allows you to select a piece of music from their site or to upload your own music. Give it a try!

Google Resources

Google offers a multitude of terrific tools that can be used to enhance both teaching and learning. The tools are powerful, user-friendly, and FREE! In future posts, I will be highlighting some of these tools and will share ideas of how they can be used in the classroom.

In order to take advantage of Google’s resources, you will need to have an account. To create one, you just need a valid email address. You could use your school email or a personal email account, if you prefer.

To set up your teacher account:
1. Go to http://www.google.com/
2. Click the “Sign in” link in the upper-right corner:
3. Click the “Create an account now” link at the lower-right:
4. Follow the on-screen prompts to create an account.
Note - the hardest part will most likely be the word verification where you will have to decipher the word and type it.
5. Check your email for a message from Google. It will include a link that will verify and enable your account.

TikaTok

TikaTok is an online site that helps students imagine a story and create a book. The site includes a wonderful tutorial which explains the process of writing, illustrating, and publishing their book. Students can share their books with their classmates online, or they can choose to purchase a hard or softcover book.

Visit http://tikatok.com/ to get started! Click on the "take a quick video tour" link on the right-side of the site for complete details. Also, take a look at the Tikatok Blog: Uncommon Brainstorming Ideas, Part I - http://nightly.tikatok.net/2008/writables-uncommon-brainstorming-activities-part-1/. Here, you and your students will find uncommon brainstorming ideas to spark creativity and get the story ideas flowing.

The Writing Teacher

LearningExpress has created a new blog, called The Writing Teacher, for sharing ideas and expertise on helping students become better writers. According to the National Assessment of Educational Progress, only 33 percent of eighth grade students in the United States are writing at a proficient level. To help change that, The Writing Teacher includes writing input, content, and feedback--all encouraging participation by those who teach writing every day. The blog's debut article, "Research-Based Best Practices for Teaching Writing: A Discussion with Steve Graham," features advice from a literacy professor at Vanderbilt University.

If you teach writing, please add this resource to your writing toolkit!http://www.thewritingteacher.org/

Busy Teacher Cafe

The Busy Teacher Cafe site has lots of great resources for teachers. It is a K-6 site for busy teachers like you! You will find free printables, theme activities, teacher resources, K-6 web sites, sites for teachers, and a teacher blog. Check it out!

http://www.busyteacherscafe.com/index.htm

Welcome to the 2008-2009 School Year!

Can you believe that we are about to begin the 2008-2009 school year? Wow! How time flies when you are having fun. I know that you have been busy preparing your classrooms and your curriculum for the new year, and I have been busy learning many new technologies which I will be sharing with you very soon.

We will begin our training this year with Outlook so that everyone feels comfortable with our new email software. Next, we will update your Eduphoria-Forethought planners so that you can enter your lesson plans and access the new Math and Science curriculums that were revised this summer, and we will set-up your gradebooks in eSchool. Then, we will begin to explore a variety of Web 2.0 tools! I am so excited about sharing Web 2.0 with you - teaching you about blogs, wikis, podcasts, and much more! For more information, review my earlier post on Web 2.0.

I will also be visiting with you soon to begin scheduling videoconferences for your team. It is important that we select our conferences and book them early to secure the conferences, dates, and times that we want. Team leaders, if you already know what conferences your team wishes to view this year, please email me or comment just below this post, and I will begin working on securing them for you.

This year, I will be at Curtsinger on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays and at Admin or working with Computer Aides at various elementary campuses on Tuesdays and Thursdays. As always, I am just an email away if I am not on campus, and I will address your needs as quickly as possible.

Again, I am excited about the new year before us and about the many new technologies that I have to share with you and your students.

Online Scrapbooking!

I have just discovered Scrapblog. Scrapblog is a "free" web site that allows you to create on-line scrapbooks. You can journal, add pictures, add stamps, and more. Then, you can share your scrapblog virtually with friends and family or you can export pages as jpegs and have them printed to create a physical scrapbook, as well. They have all sorts of wonderful backgrounds, colors, stamps, clipart images, and more. You could spend HOURS on this site. It is just too much fun. So, if you enjoy scrapbooking or have always wanted to scrapbook but did not want to incur the expense or all of the supplies, books, etc. ... check out www.scrapblog.com. The picture on the left was created with scrapblog. Check it out! It is soooooo much fun!

Passed the SPAM Test!

Well, in case you did not know, blogger BLOCKED my Super Tech Chick blog because they thought that it was SPAM. WHAT? Here I am trying to begin uploading new, techy information for my teachers and friends, and BAM, Blogger shuts me down. After repeated clicks on the "please review my site" button, they have opened me back up for business. So, I will have some new techy information for you soon.

Until then ... have a great day!

Web 2.0

Before the internet, we had to go to the library to look through books, periodicals, and encyclopedias to find the information we needed. Initially, we used the internet primarily to search, view, and consume information.

We now have access to a new internet. An internet beyond consumption. An internet which allows us to contribute information and to collaborate and network with others who share our same interests, expertise, and goals. I hope that you will join me as I explore this new internet and the dynamic resources it has to offer.

Welcome!

Welcome to Super Tech Chick! Through this blog, I hope to inform, inspire, and collaborate. I hope that you will join me in exploring the world of web 2.0.