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The Summer Challenge Tuesday, July 21, 2009 When I was little, I loved school so much that I would ask my mom to give me homework out of the encyclopedias during the summer. Well in the same tradition, I decided to offer summer homework to the teachers in my division. Totally optional, but there would be a reward in the end--four hours of professional development credit awarded upon the submission of a portfolio containing all eight challenges. To my surprise, several teachers have accepted the challenge. I have even had teachers from other divisions ask for my homework after hearing what the Early Childhood teachers were doing. They are having so much fun! They have proudly shown me some of their projects. Some say they probably won't do the portfolio for credit, but just wanted to complete the challenges to learn something new. I am linking to the project documents here if you would like to take the challenge. Summer is a great time to learn something new!

Touchcards is an iPhone app that supports loading cards from Quizlet and StudyStack, two of the most popular flash card sharing sites on the web. Thousands of great free sets are already available, and you can always create your own. You get the benefits of the hard work you or other people have put into creating sets on Quizlet and StudyStack, but also have the freedom to study the cards on your own. If the flashcards are edited and changed after you've imported them, you can easily re-sync them with Touchcards, so you'll always be up-to-date. If you need to create your own flash cards and don't want to use Quizlet.com or StudyStack.com, you can create a simple spreadsheet in Google Docs, with one column for questions (the front of a card) and one column for answers (the flipside of a card). Publish your spreadsheet as a web page and tell Touchcards where to find the set. Touchcards is easy to use and interactive, relying on swipes, taps, and shakes to study a flash card set. You can make your own cards in Google Docs or through Quizlet and StudyStack (both sites are free to use and have active communities). Thousands of free flash cards are already available, covering topics in math, Spanish, French, English, music, anatomy, the GRE, MCAT, SAT, LSAT, weather, body parts, history, algebra, geometry, chemistry, accounting, and many more. Flashcards can be an integral part of learning new material. It's important to mentally anticipate the answer or definition to a given card. Doing this increases retention of knowledge and facilitates building a mental model around the material. In short, you'll do better on tests.

The Top Ten Things Library Administrators Should Know About Technology By Roy Tennant - Posted on September 12th, 2009 Tagged: Administration It's not insulting to say that those who run libraries tend not to know all that much about technology. A very different set of skills are needed to run an organization, and those skills do not often come packaged along with technical knowledge and experience. But administrators need to know some specific things about technology in order to do their jobs well, so here is my list:

Technology Proficiency License: Do you think all schools should have teachers licensed to meet teacher technology competency standards? It would require them to complete coursework and pass a test. I know 21 schools in the states already do this.

" Other fab ideas from the same site: * Trading cards * Jigsaws * Pop art * Hockneyizer * Calendar john sutton: http://www.twitter.com/hgjohn 7.Make a photostory and add audio Scanned in images can be inserted into Photostory to develop a story with voice recordings and audio. The image to the left is from a scanned storyboard which the children put into the programme and then recorded the story adding music afterwards. Bill Lord www.twitter.com/@joga5 8 Create a twitpic. we brort aw toys to scool and we tuk sum fotos. Let the world know what you are doing! This is a twitpic from @giraffeclass - a Year 1 class which tweets to give the children a different audience and purpose for their writing. It has become a daily part of their routine."

" Other fab ideas from the same site: * Trading cards * Jigsaws * Pop art * Hockneyizer * Calendar john sutton: http://www.twitter.com/hgjohn 7.Make a photostory and add audio Scanned in images can be inserted into Photostory to develop a story with voice recordings and audio. The image to the left is from a scanned storyboard which the children put into the programme and then recorded the story adding music afterwards. Bill Lord www.twitter.com/@joga5 8 Create a twitpic. we brort aw toys to scool and we tuk sum fotos. Let the world know what you are doing! This is a twitpic from @giraffeclass - a Year 1 class which tweets to give the children a different audience and purpose for their writing. It has become a daily part of their routine."

Apple's new iPad is out, and the big question for us is how it might help teaching and learning in school. So to test it's metal, I'm writing this article on an iPad. Writing is first in line of the things students do most with their computers in school, so this should be a good test. But how about the other things at students need to do in a typical day? That's the real test. So we'll go back a few weeks to an article called A Day in the Life, and see how many of the things that Sally needed her computer for could be done with the iPad.

"If you're new to computers or simply need a refresher course on how to get the most out of your Mac, you've come to the right place. Welcome to Mac 101: Your guide to using a Mac effectively and efficiently. If you've switched to Mac from Windows, Switch 101 is just for you. Whether you want to learn how to get around your Mac desktop (or find out what a desktop is, for that matter); figure out how to connect your printer, iPod, digital camera, or other device; discover email and the Internet; learn how to do various tasks; learn how to use the software that came with your Mac; or even find out what to do when things don't go as planned; we have the answers. "

10 Things Not to Do on Facebook

"MyKidsTurn is about our kids -- yours and ours -- and how we're going to make sure that they have the best opportunity we can give them to succeed at school. As a parent, you want the best for your kids. You want them to enjoy learning, and to succeed at school. You want them to grow up excited and engaged with their teachers. The good news is that helping your kids succeed in school isn't just something the teachers and schools have control over -- there's a lot you can do, too! The MyKidsTurn shows are all created by parents and educators. They're about the things we can do with our kids -- games, exercises, strategies, and fun activities that will help them understand concepts and ideas that are going to be important for them in school."

"Apple's iOS 5 added new enhancements to its email app. To use them, you'll need to set up your email first. Here's how to do it. Open Settings and select Mail, Contacts, Calendars. Then under Accounts tap on Add Account. Add Account Now tap the email service you want to add. Here I'm going to set up my Hotmail email. Select Service Next, you're prompted to enter your email address, password and description for the account. Tap Next. Email Credentials Now turn on the features you want to have your iPad check. Click Save. Email Features You'll be taken back to the Mail, Contact, Calendars screen. You'll see the account you just added. Tap on it to change settings. New Account Ads by Google Galaxy Nexus Phone google.com/nexus Calling All Dessert Lovers New! Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich Sync All of Your Files www.SugarSync.com/Sync_Files No More USBs or Emails to Yourself Auto Sync Files to Your Own Cloud! Hilton Garden Inn ® www.HiltonGardenInn.Hilton.com Book Online or Call (888) 370-0984 for Our Best Rates. Guaranteed! The account screen will come up. Here you can turn features on or off - and delete the account if you want. Mail Selections On the Home Screen you'll see a red notification with the number of messages you have. Tap on it. Mail Notifications Now you can use your email account on your iPad. If you enable iCloud, it will sync your messages, calendar, and contacts between all of you iOS devices and Mac. iOS 5 Inbox New features in iOS 5 include dragging addresses to different fields, formatting message text and an enhanced search. iOS 5 Mail delicious facebook linkedin reddit stumble twitter email About the author Based in Pelican Rapids, MN, Brian Burgess is executive editor at groovyPost. Got an idea for a How To? Email it to Brian at Brian@groovyPost.com. Twitter | Google+ | More Posts Related posts: iOS 4.2.1 Released: Big Changes for iPad, Plus AirPlay and AirPrint for iPh... How

Do not train a child to learn by force or harshness; but direct them to it by what amuses their minds, so that you may be better able to discover with accuracy the peculiar bent of the genius of each." ― Plato

Definitions of Copyright: What Do They Know?

"What you can do here... · create your own animation · save it to your webspace · share and reuse artwork · collaborate with others · show your animation Follow your inspiration - it's fun and easy to use! Make an animation in a few simple steps and email it to a friend!"

"What you can do here... · create your own animation · save it to your webspace · share and reuse artwork · collaborate with others · show your animation Follow your inspiration - it's fun and easy to use! Make an animation in a few simple steps and email it to a friend!"

"Met Any Good Authors Lately? Classroom author visits can happen via Skype (here's a list of those who do it for free)"

"How To Do Everything On WordPress"

"Chartophiles and students, have you heard that Google has made it incredibly easy to generate your own slick-looking charts? It's true, and all it takes to make one is the ability to read and edit a URL. This has made it possible to get creative with charts and wow the audience for your next classroom presentation. Read on to see what's been done, and how you can easily do it yourself."

"Cloud storage of files is one of my favorite aspects of the modern Internet. Cloud storage services make it easy to access all of my important files from any computer and most mobile devices. And for students cloud storage eliminates the I forgot my flashdrive excuse for not having an assignment ready for class. The potential problem with cloud storage, and any other online service for that matter, is having your account compromised. One way to make it more difficult for your account to be compromised is to enable two-step authentication. Two-step authentication for a Google account requires entering a verification code that Google sends to your cell phone. Click here for directions or watch this video to learn more."