Learning With Lucie

VT MIDI Summer Institute

Worked with some wonderfully creative folks this week at the VT MIDI Summer Institute. I coached the learners in the Flip Video Section. During the week we built the following wiki to capture our learning. http://techsavvyworld.pbworks.com/Vermont+Midi+Institute+-+Flip+Video

Southern New Hamphsire Course - Google Workshop

Welcome to the educators enrolled in a Dimensions in Technology and Learning with Ed Bianchi from Southern New Hampshire College.  Our learning resources for today can be found at

http://sites.google.com/site/learningwithlucie/Home/june22

and will help you prepare for using Google Tools when working with today's students.

Tweaking Open Source Tools for the Classroom

At this years FOSSVT Conference  featuring (Free and Open Source Software in Schools) I presented a session that demonstrated how to tweak three open source tools to make them truly useful classroom tools.

1) Tux Paint: 

• learn how to modify the Tux Paint Config files for improved classroom management
• create curricular related templates or starter pages
• add new collection of stamps that match your curricular units

2)  Type Faster:

• Replace the lessons and game content with words that are grade level appropriate or relate to your curricular goals (i.e. spelling,  science words, reading vocabulary)
• Changing the length of lessons and speed of the game drills

3)  Open Office:

• Adding ClipArt Categories to the Gallery Tool to make adding clipart an easier and more visual process.   Directions from Solveg Haugland
  We used the WP Clipart

I've attached two zip folders from my presentation (Tux Paint Starter Files,  and Open Office Gallery Config Files for WP Clipart)  at http://sites.google.com/site/opensourceineducation/Home

Check out more ideas  about using Open Source in Education at http://k12opened.com/

Historic Inauguration Jeopardy Game & Voice Thread

Historic Inaugurations
Download Inaguration Jeopardy

Barack Obama will go down in history as being the first African American to be inaugurated as President of the United States. 

Check out this National Public Radio Slide Show of other “First” for Inauguration Day. 

http://www.npr.org/multimedia/2008/12/inaugural_firsts/

 

Or challenge someone you know to Play Historical Inauguration Jeopardy. 

I added content to this PowerPoint Game from http://jc-schools.net/tutorials/PPT-games/.

The questions are challenging for even those who've been around for a while.  So you might want to modify the rules to engage your students  by teaming them with adults who have seen a few Inaugurations.  Here are some ideas for playing this Jeopardy Game.

• Give students a chance to use the Internet to search for answers.   Perhaps use the Jeopardy Music as a timer.
• Have two classes challenge each other with their ‘teacher’ where the students picks the question and has the choice to let the teacher answer it for “half the points”.

Download Inaguration Jeopardy

I also created a Voice Thread that can be used by educators to help student express their voice around this historic day.  You can find a copy of this along with a few other last minute gems relating to Inauguration in my latest Infinite Thinking Machine Post.

http://www.infinitethinking.org/2009/01/inauguration-2009.html

Enjoy and Celebrate!

Friday Five - Inauguration Web Sites for Classroom Teachers and Kids

This week's Friday Five expand on those with interactive sites aimed at classroom teachers and students relating to the Inauguration.

Inauguration  2009 (and related  Web Sites for Educators and Students )

1.  http://web.me.com/elemenous/NKO_Inauguration/NKO_Inauguration_Celebration.html

Looking for some Writing Prompts relating to the Inauguration.  Check

out the blog part of this website from a Middle School near Barack

Obama's Chicago Home.   I can help your class participate in a safe

way.

2. http://americanhistory.si.edu/presidency/5a2b.html

All the Presidents's Children – A short trivia game about children who

have lived in the White House.

I overhead some of our student's talking about this very topic in the

hall this week."Whose dog was a gift from the Soviet premier? Whose nickname was

Dynamo? Discover fun facts about past presidents' children with this

interactive activity from Smithsonian's National Museum of American

History."3.http://inaugural.senate.gov/history/factsandfirsts/index.cfm

Video (So Help Me God)

Along with a fun list of "first and facts" regarding Past Inauguration

4. The American Presidency – A Glorious Burden

An online exhibit from the Smithsonian (great demonstration of a timeline)

Click on Site MAP (first)  to get a quick overview of everything on this site.

http://americanhistory.si.edu/PRESIDENCY/home.html

5.http://thinkfinity.com/Inauguration.aspxA whole collection of websites (some recycled from the Election

Collection) organized for educators, parents, students, and after

school program. '

(Including some of the ones listed below)

-------------------------------------------------------

http://www.sciencenetlinks.com/politics/index.cfm

For Science Class:

President-elect Barack Obama has said he would like to make the White

House more of the "People's House" again by inviting guests to the

White House to discuss many different issues, including science.Which science topic would you like to see discussed at the White House?

Vote now!

http://readwritethink.org/calendar/calendar_day.asp?id=726

Read Write Think collection of Lesson Plans and Activities that can be

used or related to the Election of Barack Obama

Understanding the Issues

The candidates might disagree on the solutions, but they both agree on

the country's most pressing issues. Learn more with Thinkfinity

resources.The Economy

National Budget Simulation Lesson from EconEdLink

Interactive Simulation of National Budget from NCEEThe Environment

The Human Footprint website from National Geographic

http://foundation.verizon.com/about/press/newstory_verizon_lroom.shtml

Curated and hosted by Museum of the Moving Image, The Living Room

Candidate offers more than 300 commercials from every presidential

race since the start of television campaign advertising in 1952. The

redesign and relaunch of The Living Room Candidate website are made

possible through a $435,000 grant from the Verizon Foundation.Lessons

National Budget Simulation (EconEdLink)

The Economics of Voting: What Do You Mean My Vote Doesn't Count? (EconEdLink)

Propaganda Techniques in Literature and Online Political Ads (ReadWriteThink)

Getting Into the Electoral College (Illuminations)

The Art of Democracy (ARTSEDGE)

Where Were the US Presidents Born? (Xpeditions)

Science and Elections (Science NetLinks)

Will the Best Candidate Win? (Illuminations)

Electing America's President (EDSITEment)

Vote for Me! Developing, Writing, and Evaluating Persuasive Speeches

(ReadWriteThink)Voting! What's It All About? (ReadWriteThink)

Interactive Exhibits & Simulations

National Budget Interactive Simulation (EconEdLink)The Machinery of Democracy

(Smithsonian's History Explorer)The American Presidency: A Glorious Burden (Smithsonian's History Explorer)

Multimedia Resources

Human Footprint (Xpeditions)All About Elections from the Chatting About Books Podcast Series

(ReadWriteThink)News for You Online Newspaper (ProLiteracy)

Activities

Election Day Activity (ReadWriteThink)

Letters to the Next President (National Writing Project) (ReadWriteThink)

Bonus Site:

And to keep really current, check out:

http://twitter.com/Inauguration_DC

Friday Five - Inauguration Web Sites

This weeks Friday Five comes from Patricia Aigner from Rutland School District, submitted through Vermont's School IT List Serv

1.  http://inaugurationday2009.com/broadcast.html

2. This is from the NPS:

http://www.nps.gov/whho/historyculture/inaugural_events.htm

3. From the Senate:

http://inaugural.senate.gov/history/factsandfirsts/index.cfm

 

4. http://inaugural.senate.gov/history/index.cfm  video of Reagan,

Kennedy and other historical inauguration facts

 5.  From the District of Columbia:

http://inauguration.dc.gov/index.asp

 

6. Library of Congress

http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/pihtml/pihome.html

Friday Five - Inspiring Ted Talks For Educators

I thought we could all start the new year with Inspiration, so this week's Friday Five brings you inspiring words from the T.E.D. Conference archives.

For those of you who are wondering WHAT is TED.   Check out:

http://www.ted.com/index.php/pages/view/id/5

These range from 3 minutes to 20 minutes each.  I

tried to pick some that speak to my passion as an educator as

introduction to the TED conference.

1.  http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/ken_robinson_says_schools_kill_creativity.html

Sir Ken Robinson makes an entertaining and profoundly moving case for

creating an education system that nurtures (rather than undermines)

creativity.

2.  http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/gever_tulley_on_5_dangerous_things_for_kids.html

Gever Tulley, founder of the Tinkering School, spells out 5 dangerous

things you should let your kids do. From TED University 2007.

3. http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/richard_st_john_s_8_secrets_of_success.html

Why do people succeed? Is it because they're smart? Or are they just

lucky? Neither. Analyst Richard St. John condenses years of interviews

into an unmissable 3-minute slideshow on the real secrets of success.

(Great one to share with students)

4. http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/benjamin_zander_on_music_and_passion.html

Benjamin Zander has two infectious passions: classical music, and

helping us all realize our untapped love for it -- and by extension,

our untapped love for all new possibilities, new experiences, new

connections.   (Can be applied to any educator's passion)

5. http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/dave_eggers_makes_his_ted_prize_wish_once_upon_a_school.html

Accepting his 2008 TED Prize, author Dave Eggers asks the TED

community to personally, creatively engage with local public schools.

With spellbinding eagerness, he talks about how his 826 Valencia

tutoring center inspired others around the world to open--

Friday Five - Graphing Tools

This week's Friday Five is filled with tutorials and tools for turning

data into graphs for both the primary classrooms and advanced data

users along with this Bonus Link.

Bonus Link:  5 lesson series covering several mathematics concepts

relating to data and graphs

http://illuminations.nctm.org/LessonDetail.aspx?ID=U151

Along with some tools you can use for these and other lessons that

include charting data

1.  http://illuminations.nctm.org/ActivityDetail.aspx?ID=63

Very basic bar graphs maker

2.http://nces.ed.gov/nceskids/createagraph/default.aspxThis graphing tools is a Kid friendly web interface for creating

different types of graphs (pies, line, bars, columns, etc)

3.  http://nlvm.usu.edu/en/applets/controller/query/query.htm?qt=chart&lang=en

The popular virtual manipulative site has many tools and related

activities for turning data into graphs

4.  http://www.fgcu.edu/Support/office2000/excel/charts.htmlThe most common way to create graphs is to use spreadsheet's chart tools.

These tutorials cover how to do this using Microsoft Excel

5.  http://openoffice.blogs.com/openoffice/charts/

For those of you who use Open Source Tools - Open Office CALC is the

equivalent of Microsoft Excel.  It's graphing features were a little

cumbersome until version 2.4 and 3.0.  This site has some tips and

tutorials from Solveig Hauglaud

Friday Five - Legal Music Your Students Can Use

This week's Friday Five will benefit any of you who have students who

use music in their school projects.

1. http://wiki.creativecommons.org/Comics

This is a must have comic  to help you and your understanding of

copyright and the NEW creative commons license will does allow you and

your students to use photos, music,  and other materials besides

copyrighted materials in their presenation.

2. http://edtechgoldrush.blogspot.com/2008/09/multimedia-and-music-remix-reuse.html

Nice short blog post on sites to use for remixing music for project.

3.  http://www.centerforsocialmedia.org/resources/publications/fair_use_in_online_video/

The Center for Social Media makes the case for remix and reuse of

copyright-protected media in their publication "Code of Best Practices

in Fair Use for Online Video."

4.  http://www.royaltyfreemusic.com/free-music-resources.html

Royalty Free Music section provides you with the resources you need to

complete a variety of educational, personal, and non-profit projects.   Make sure you are on the FREE page.  Some of the music is royalty free, but you have to buy the rights.  They do have ONE free page that they use to rotate free music in and out of.  Recently, we've had to log in to do it, so we created one school log in that we share with classes that need 'quick and easy' free music.  We find this a good starting point when you need music  quickly initially.  Later the kids can explore other sites.

5. Other sites with music you and your students can use legally.   (You

can do a Google Search for any of these and more.

Freesound   http://www.freesound.org/

Soundsnap http://www.soundsnap.com/

Free-Loops http://www.freeloops.com/   http://free-loops.com/

Looperman http://www.looperman.com/

Glooped http://www.glooped.com/

iBeat http://ibeat.org/

Samplenet http://www.samplenet.co.uk/

Ccmixer  http://ccmixter.org/

Friday Five - Thanksgiving Theme

Sorry  I forgot to post last week's Friday Five on Friday,  but the

wealth of resources you will find on this first website will make it

worth your wait!

1. http://www.midgefrazel.net/wqthanks.html

There are two major Web pages filled with Thanksgiving Resources.

Incredible collection.

Each part contains resources for the history of the Pilgrims,

primary resource materials, Thanksgiving facts and myths plus plenty

of activities to use in all classrooms. Don't miss the Web

presentation and WebQuest in Part 1 to get your adventure off to a

good start!The next 3 sites are all from the Library of Congress.  If you have

not discovered the wealth of information available to you through this

site, this is a perfect time to explore it.

2. http://memory.loc.gov/learn/features/thanks/thanks.html

Thanksgiving in American Memory including a Thanksgiving Timeline from

the Library of Congress

3. http://memory.loc.gov/learn/features/thanksgiving/timeline/1939.html

4. http://memory.loc.gov/learn/start/index.html

Library of Congress Learning MaterialsThe Learning Page is designed to help educators use the American

Memory Collections to teach history and culture. It offers tips and

tricks, definitions and rationale for using primary sources,

activities, discussions, lesson plans and suggestions for using the

collections in classroom curriculum

5. .The last Friday Five is a place to get some specific Thankgiving

related Clipart and Templates for Microsoft Office.

http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/clipart/HA102415181033.aspx#16

Thanksgiving Clipart and Templates (Recipe Cards, etc)