Getting Ready for School to Begin

It's back to work after a vacation in Europe for me. It's also back to school for PESD teachers. This time next week we'll be welcoming students back into our classrooms. Today, I'll share just one of the photos I took while on vacation and offer some online resources that can be helpful to our teachers.

First, here is a photo I took while visiting Athens, Greece. Note the restoration efforts that are being taken to save this wonderful site.

We had a wonderful time traveling in Italy, Greece, and Turkey. I'll be happy to share my photos and experiences with any PESD teachers who would like.

Now, here are a couple of new resources that I have discovered that might be of interest to PESD teachers. First, is the TeacherTube online community. The goal of TeacherTube is to provide an online community for sharing instructional videos. To check it out go to http://www.teachertube.com/.

Another interesting resource is an online community site for educators provided by the Oracle Foundation called think.com. To check it out, go to http://www.think.com/.

PESD teachers, if you need assistance integrating technology into your instruction, be sure to give Linda, John, Noreen or Tom a call.

Productivity Tools to Get the Job Done

Do you need software tools to use at home? The problem with many of the tools we all use at school is that they are very expensive. Most of us can't afford to buy them all for our use at home—and we know that teachers do a lot of school related work at home. Here's a simple and cost effective way for you to get the productivity tools that you need: “Open Source” software tools. The simple definition of "Open Source" is that the product is free to download, use, and distribute. For a more complete definition, visit the Open Source web site at this URL: http://www.opensource.org/docs/definition.php.

Open source applications include:

• 7-Zip: a file archiver and compressor utility
• Audacity: a sound/music editor
• ClamWin: a virus checker
• Firefox: a web browser
• Gaim: a chat tool
• Gimp: a photo and image editor
• Nvu & KompoZer: a web page editor
• OpenOffice Base: a database program
• OpenOffice Calc: a spreadsheet program
• OpenOffice Draw: a drawing program
• OpenOffice Impress: a presentation program
• OpenOffice Math: an equation editor
• OpenOffice Writer: a word processor
• Sudoku
• Sumatra: a PDF reader
• Sunbird: a calendar
• Thunderbird: an e-mail client
• Tux Paint: a drawing program for children
• VLC Media Player

This is only a partial list of the available applications. You will see some of them on your computers at school, including Audacity, Gimp, 7-Zip, and Tux Paint. Where can you get these tools and how do you use them? Here's what I do. I like to have my files and programs easily available, but I don't like lugging around a laptop. I found an easy way to have my files and programs. I carry around a flash drive with all of my favorite applications and files. I can actually run the applications directly from the flash drive so I can get to everything I need from a USB port on any computer.

Here's how it works.

• Put a flash drive in an available USB port. I recommend at least a 1GB drive. (See more information below about flash drive compatibility with the district's computers.)
• Go to the PortableApps web site: http://portableapps.com/apps. You will find most of the downloads at this location.
• Download the PortableApps.com Menu directly to the flash drive. (Note: as long as you are installing directly to the flash drive, you will not be restricted from downloading and installing by the district's network restrictions.)
• Download the applications you want to the flash drive.
• Use the Menu tools to install the applications.

You now have a portable productivity tool. You can easily use your programs and files at home and at school. When you insert the flash drive into a USB port, a Window will open asking if you want to open PortableApps. Click OK and the PortableApps icon will show on the tool bar in the lower right portion of your display. To open any of the applications, just click on the icon and then on the application. The OpenOffice applications are compatible with the Microsoft Office Suite. I have had no problem opening or editing MS Office documents in OpenOffice.

Need Help? Call Linda or Noreen in Instructional Technology.

A word about flash drive compatibility. Not all flash drives are created equal. Some of the fancy new drives do not work very well with the PESD network restrictions. When you're shopping for a flash drive read the label carefully. If the drive has the U3 symbol on it, it probably will not work well in PESD computers. All PESD teachers will get a network compatible flash drive early in the 2007-08 school year.

Creating Your Own Blog

Do you want to have your own blog or do you want your students to blog? Here are some tips for you.

First, what blogging site will you use? There are plenty to choose from. Keep in mind that sites like Facebook, MySpace, and other social networking sites are blocked by the district. My blogging experince is limited. I just started blogging in June. Being fairly technology savvy, I just jumped in. Here's what I learned:

First, I created a blog in EduBlogs at http://edublogs.org/. It was fairly simple to set up and there are lots of templates to use. The site was really slow and three days into my blogging adventure, my blog was gone and my user name and password did not work. A day later, I tried again and everything was fine and continues to be fine. The Edublog people had been updating hardware and had some problems. It appears that the issues have been resolved now. This resource has been designed just for educators and has an area for student blogs. You can also find information on using this resource in the classroom. It's worth checking out.

While I was having trouble with Edublogs, I decided to try another resource. I use the Google desktop on my computer at home so I decided to use their "Blogger." If you're reading this post, you've found my Google blog. This resource also has nice templates and is fairly easy to use. I haven't used all of the features yet, but the ones I have used are working well. I especially like the ease of using the Google video tool and linking my videos to the blog.

Important: When you set up your blog in either resource, don't use your school district e-mail account. Each site will send you a verification e-mail that requires you to click on a verification link. The district SPAM filter will stop those e-mails and you will not be able to complete the final blog set-up. My suggestion is that you set up a Google e-mail account (or Yahoo or other web based e-mail) so that you can complete the registration process.

Also, remember when posting student work or student photos on your blog, use first names only.

Happy blogging!