Web Resources for PESD Teachers Using SMART Boards

Important links:

http://phoenixelem.az.schoolwebpages.com/education/district/district.php?sectionid=1
From the district web site, click on “Technology and Learning” > “Online Learning” > blue tab on the top of the page “Instructional Technology.”

On this page you will find links to a variety of resources including:

• Information from the Instructional team (Tom, Linda, John, Noreen, and Irene)
• Acceptable use information and documents
• Documents associated with the Social Studies Committee (Social Studies Backward Design Documents)
• Linda’s blog: http://pesdinstructionaltech.blogspot.com/
• John’s blog: http://pesdtechnology.blogspot.com/
• Noreen’s blog: http://pesdtechnostuff.blogspot.com/
• John’s wiki: http://pesdtech.wikispaces.com/Smartboard+FAQs (Here you will find a variety of resources including a troubleshooting guide for your classroom technology. Check out the links on the yellow menu bar. Here you will find additional material from the Social Studies Committee.)

Here are other helpful Internet resources

SMART Notebook Lessons:
http://education.smarttech.com/ste/en-US/Ed+Resource/Lesson+activities/Notebook+activities/
http://technology.usd259.org/resources/whiteboards/smartlessons.htm
http://teach.fcps.net/trt27/smart_board_lessons.htm
http://www.wsd1.org/southd/SMART_Board/
http://www.waukesha.k12.wi.us/WIT/SmartBoard/specificapps.htm
http://www.laramie1.k12.wy.us/smartboard/lessons.htm
http://www.elko.k12.nv.us/ecsdtc/SMART%20Boards.htm
http://owensville.k12.mo.us/~SMART_Lessons/Index.htm
http://www.albany.k12.or.us/departments/instruction/smartboardresourcepage.php

Social Studies:
http://www.socialstudiesclassroom.com/?gclid=CJvO_7e9uY8CFRFSagod2hagcw

Making Videos:
http://kidsvid.altec.org/

Project Based Learning:
http://pblchecklist.4teachers.org/

Fun Online Academic Skill Builders:
http://www.arcademicskillbuilders.com/
http://www.4kids.org/

Creating a Blog:
www.google.com (You must create a gmail account first. I don't recommend using your district e-mail account. Then you will be able to use all of the Google resources including blogspot and the video upload site.)

Academic Skill Builders
http://www.4teachers.org/

Here's a Great Science Resource

The current issue of "edutopia," the magazine published by the George Lucas Educational Foundation (www.edutopia.org), has a great article about a science resource called "Little Shop of Physics." Housed at the University of Colorado in Fort Collins, Colorado, the crew travels to schools to "help them do science." The complete article can be found at http://www.edutopia.org/classroom-science-little-shop-physics.

The Little Shop web site can be found at http://littleshop.physics.colostate.edu/.

The George Lucas Educational Foundation is a good source of information and resources relating to educational issues. Check it out at www.glef.org.

Help Learning The Cool Software on Your Computer

My colleague John Kain passed along a good place for learning about Picasa, Photostory, Movie Maker, and Audacity all in one place at this URL: http://ilife4windows.wikispaces.com/. Check it out!

Cool Web Sites

Now that everyone is back to school and many of our students have access to laptop computers and wireless internet, I thought our PESD teachers might like to have a list of internet possibilities. That is my focus for today.

Let's start with some web sites for our younger students. Two of my favorites are Funbrain and Starfall. Funbrain, http://www.funbrain.com/, has a searchable database of educational games as well as other activities for K - 8 children. StarFall (http://www.starfall.com/) is a reading site. Primarily designed for first grade, Starfall.com is also useful for pre-kindergarten, kindergarten and second grade.

Math Web Resources: The PESD web site has a great math resources web page at this URL: http://www.phxelem.k12.az.us/technology_and_learning/on-line_learning/Math/math_resources.htm

Science Resources: Here are some science resources that I recently discovered.

• http://www.americanchemistry.com/s_plastics/hop_jr/activities/index.html
• http://www.internet4classrooms.com/science_elem.htm
• http://www.teacher-access.com/elementaryscience.htm
• http://www.bcps.org/offices/lis/curric/elem/Escience.html
• http://www.science-lessons.ca/games/index.html
• http://www.chemistry.org/portal/a/c/s/1/general.html?DOC=education\wande\index.html
• http://eo.ucar.edu/educators/links_elem.html
• http://www.energyquest.ca.gov/teachers_resources/lesson_plans.html

As I find other resources, I'll list them here so check back often.

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.

Finding Help When You Need It

Since the Microsoft Office Suite is the primary productivity tool that is available to us on the PESD network, there are frequently questions about how to use the software. I confess, when someone calls me for help, I frequestly use the Microsoft "help" tab. It takes me directly to the Microsoft web site. I type in my question and most of the time I get the help I need. This is a good concept to teach to students so that they can be self-sufficient.

If you are a novice user and would like to work on some on-line tutorials, you can go to the "In & Out of the Classroom" on the Microsoft site to find help specifically designed to assist teachers.

Another resource that I frequently use is "templates." On the Microsoft web site, templates are sorted into categories for easy searching. You will find document templates that are appropriate for home use as well.

The Instructional Technology area of the Phoenix Elementary District web site also provides a number of helpful resources that are specific to PESD.

Links to these resources can be found in the links area on the right.

Beginning a New School Year

Preparations are underway for the 2007-08 school year at PESD. Our first task as a team will be to welcome a group of new teachers to the District. We'll do that on July 23 with a session on Marzano's "Classroom Instruction that Works."

Since I'll be on vacation in Europe on the 23rd, this is my way of participating in the in-service and introducing myself to the new teachers. Let's start by taking a look at our children in action.

Emerson Elementary School Tech Buddies -- Using laptop computers and a SMART Board, a sixth grade class and a second grade class work together to learn technology skills and to learn and practice their academic skills.

Dunbar Elementary School Writers -- A combination fifth/sixth grade class uses SMART Notebook to write "Dora the Explorer" stories that include the facts from their geography research. The stories are then presented to the students from other classrooms using a SMART Board.

Garfield Elementary School First Grade -- Watch the Garfield first graders learn to use the laptop computers for the first time. They learned how to get the computers from the cart, set them up, log in, open MS Word, type text, and change fonts including changing the colors--all in about an hour.

Check out these projects by clicking on the links on the right.