Your Guide to the Vancouver Winter Olympics 2010

What does the Olympic symbol mean?
The Inukshuk, which means "likeness of person" was first used by the Inuit People to mark trails, indicate caches of food, locate nearby settlements as well as good places to hunt or fish. Most of the Canadian arctic is dominated year round by permafrost and only has a few natural landmarks which could be used for orientation, that's why Inukshuk are used as directional markers.

• Official Olympic Site
• Torch Relay in Pictures
• The Olympic Playground~ Classroom Site with lessons and interactive games
• Interactive Venue Tour
• Olympic-themed lesson plans to use in your classroom
• More great sites for teaching the Olympics

Don't forget to search Olympics in DE Streaming... there are over 284 resources related to the Olympics available!

Tuesday's TechKnow Tips- H1N1 Resources for Educators, Students and Parents!

• Discovery Education's H1N1 Ready Zone~ Use these pages to get informed about the H1N1 flu virus and learn about actions you can take to keep yourself, your family, and your community safe. K-12 lessons, videos, information and posters.

• Flu Tracker ~ This map and the data behind it were compiled by Dr. Henry Niman, a biomedical researcher in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, using technology provided by Rhiza Labs and Google. The map is compiled using data from official sources, news reports and user-contributions and updated multiple times per day.

• Google's Flu Trends~ Google Flu Trends uses aggregated Google search data to estimate flu activity.

Obama's Historic Speech to America's Students!

President Barrack Obama will address the nation's students on
September 8, 2009 at 9:00 a.m. PST.

The speech will air on C-SPAN cable network, stream on the White House website and air live on C-SPAN Radio (90.1 FM in Washington, D.C., and channel 132 on XM Satellite Radio).

Be advised that Technology Services recommends that you do not attempt to stream the speech live from the internet- you WILL be disappointed!

If you wish to view the speech after the live stream I will create a stand-alone video file that you can play from your teacher computer at a later date so you and your students may view without the buffering issues.

Classroom Activities (Pre-K–6)
Classroom Activities (7–12)

Download-able video of the speech will be made available at http://www.whitehouse.gov/mediaresources/ as well as on www.ed.gov. C-SPAN.org will provide archived and "on-demand" viewing options.

VIDEO CONTEST OPPORTUNITY
The Dept. of Ed. is launching the “I Am What I Learn” video contest geared towards students 13 and over. Beginning September 8, students will be able to upload their responses to the presidents challenge – what steps will they take to improve their education and what role will education play in fulfilling their dreams? They will have until October 8 to post their videos on YouTube, where a panel of judges that will include U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan, will review the top 20 finalists. Three winners will each receive a $1,000 cash prize.

Let's Make Earth Day Last All Year Long!

How many times can the newspaper you read today be recycled?

How much can one compact fluorescent lamp (CFL) save in electricity costs over its lifetime?

What single innovation is causing more people to recycle more products than ever?

Which clean alternative energy source is created by landfills?

How much energy can you save by recycling one aluminum can every day for a month?

Find answers to these questions and raise your students' awareness of environmental issues with ready-to-use classroom materials, lesson plans, worksheets, puzzles, quizzes, and activities at ThinkGreen.

ThinkGreen is a site created by Waste Management and powered by Discovery Education.

NOTE: To view the videos from this site without buffering issues log in to your Discovery account. Search for the video title from the ThinkGreen site. Follow these directions for saving video directly to your workstation for a "buffer free" viewing experience.

Visit the Earth Day Network to learn how make every day an "Earth Day."

Google Goes to School

TechKnowTuesday_ Cartoons in the History/Social Studies Classroom

It's No Laughing Matter-Analyzing Political Cartoons - A good political cartoon makes you think about current events, but it also tries to sway your opinion toward the cartoonist’s point of view.

Still More cartoons to use with your class @ Cartoons For the Classroom.
The Opper Project- teaching history through political cartoons.


Happy Tuesday,
Diana

My Fellow Americans

Yes We Can! Was this year's campaign slogan. What issue do you feel we can work on as Americans? What advice do you have for our 44th president? Lend your voice to this project and let the world know that Yes, WE CAN!

Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About the Digital TV Transisition & More!

I've received numerous questions regarding the digital TV transition taking effect on February 17, 2009. In my quest to adequately answer those questions I came across our government's site answering all your questions and then some!

****I can tell you that cable service in AUSD is a site based decision. If you don't currently have cable and would like it you will need to contact Comcast directly.

Diana

Pixar to Educators, "The Core Skill of Innovators is to Be Good at Error Recovery, Not Failure Avoidance."

Learning and Working in the Collaborative Age: A New Model for the Workplace. Pixar University's Randy Nelson explains what schools must do to prepare students for jobs in new media.

Inauguration Fever! Websites and More...

With the 2009 Inauguration just 15 days away I thought I better get on the ball and send out a few sites that you may find worthwhile visiting with your students.

****If you know of other sites please share in the comments section after this post.

• Middle and High School teachers check out- PBS News Hour
• District of Colombia's 2009 Inaugural Site
  
• Kids Capitol Online Games
  

• Ever wonder how the president elect does to get ready for the big day? View his Inauguration Schedule
• Take your students inside the Obama's new home-The White House! View the panoramic tour here
• View the Presidential Inaugural Committee's Flickr photostream
• Weekly photos of the Inauguration Day Platform construction!
• Education World's Hail to the Chief!
• Scholastic Teaching Resources for Barack Obama
  

Give your students a voice...Tell President Elect Obama what you think about the important issues?

PBS Kids Go

Printable Worksheets and Crafts

1. Play the Presidential Memory Game
2. Paper Plate Obama Symbol
3. Obama Stencil Silhouette

Encinal High's Songfest is a Smashing Success!

Brian Rodriguez's AP Euro and American History students put on their annual Song Fest last week. The students sang and danced their way through historical European and American historical events. What a fantastic night!

Under the MicroScope with Henry Haight's Joyce Craig!

Henry Haight's teacher Joyce Craig is featured in KQED's Quest Science Series!
Joyce has been passionate about teaching elementary school science for the past 20 years. Her students receive an average of five hours of science instruction per week! This is well above the national average.
Watch this inspirational video to find out how Joyce along with other bay area science educators are motivating their students to become 21st Century scientists.

Feel free to leave feedback for Joyce in the comment section at the bottom of this blog post.

If you try viewing from within the district, let the video play through once to eliminate the buffering (sluggish) play quality of the video.

Renzulli Election Resources Galore!

Renzulli Learning has created a .pdf with loads of election activities for your students. Check it out!

Take me there now!

Renzulli Learning Site...Loads of Activities

Mark Your Calendar! Discovery Educator Network Offers Free Webinars

Discovery Education is sponsoring a series of innovative online webinars this fall.

The beauty of the webinar is that you attend via your computer and it's all for FREE! Just check out the amazing line-up of events below!

One not to miss...Fall Discovery Virtual Conference... it's on a Saturday.
Last year I stayed in my pajamas, drank coffee, did laundry all while attending some of the best PD ever!

Go to the Discovery to ENROLL for the sessions you'd like to attend.

Enjoy! Diana

October 22 4:00 -5:00 p.m	Father of the Web Quest- Bernie Dodge
October 25 6:00 a.m - 2:00 p.m.	Fall Discovery Education Virtual Conference
October 28 4:00 – 5:00 p.m.	Tech or Treat Web 2.0 Tools
November 4 4:00-5:00 p.m.	PowerPoint- Integration Ideas
November 11 4:00-5:00 p.m.	Storytelling with PhotoStory
November 19 4:00-5:00 p.m.	EdTechConnect with Alan Kay
November 25 4:00-5:00 p.m.	Thanksgiving Special
December 2 4:00-5:00 p.m.	Podcasting Throughout the Classroom
December 9 4:00-5:00 p.m.	Ten Things You didn't Know You Could Do with Cellphones
December 16 4:00-5:00 p.m.	Closed Captioning Tricks for PCs and Macs.

Google "Quotes" the Candidates!

Every time I turn around Google has created another useful educational tool.
In Quotes allows users to compare what politicians have to say on popular issues. Users are in control what politician and topic they want to compare. Mix, match and let the dialogue begin!

Where In the World is Matt?

TechKnowTuesday- Election Central

Here is a great video to illustrate how the electoral college works in our country. Great for classroom use. Check out this new CommonCraft video called...

The Electoral College in Plain English

Tons of Google Election Tools

Check out the election maps. I've embedded one below...but there are many more!

C-Span in the Classroom Free resources for teaching Civics and U.S. Government!

September 16, 2008

TechknowTuesday will feature grant resources, 21st Century learning resources & just plain fun Web 2.0 TechKnowTools!

• Science, Technology, Engineering Grant Cognex funds education projects. Some examples include computer labs, robotics competitions, science projects, etc. To apply, you will need to submit a one-page proposal describing the project/need, who will be affected, and the costs. Send/Email your application by September 22nd to Nora Toy-Desmond, Alameda Education Foundation, ndesmond@alameda.k12.ca.us

• DonorChoose Easy to application process! See earlier blog post about Washington's teacher Liza Young.

• Digital Wish Over 45 grants available for putting technology in the classroom

• Discovery Education Online Stream-a-Thon Tuesday, September 23 9:00 a.m. ending 6:00 p.m.

• Discovery Education Network Virtual Conference Saturday, October 25, 2008 - 6:00 a.m to 2:00 p.m. Fire up your computer, grab a cup of coffee & stay in your pajamas for this one!
• Computer Using Educators Conference CUE October 14-16 in San Jose

  Pre-registration: On or before September 19, 2008:
  Full Conference Registration Fee (3 days)	$295

• Google Apps for Education: AUSD has secured over 700 secure Google Apps for Education accounts. Accounts include the use of Gmail & Google Docs which includes word processing, presentation program with the ability to use back-channel chat, spreadsheets and survey form generator. Contact Diana to set your students up with an account.
• Seeking Class to Collaborate: Contact Kim Corino 21st Century Literacy Specialist at the International School Bangkok in Thailand. Read Kim's blog post for more information on how to collaborate with her students throughout the year.
• Tikatok Create a story program. Check out the Education portion of the site.

Diana 1962



Yearbookyourself

Diana in 1974

• Shelfari social network for people who love books. Create a virtual shelf to show off your books, see what your friends are reading and recommend books for your students- free!

Check out my books in my Shelfari gadget on my blog.


Periodic Tables Videos
Short videos explaining the each element on the Periodic Table

CyberSafety- Do You Know the Rules of the Road?

The internet can be a complicated place to navigate even for the most tech "savvy" individuals. Imagine what kinds of obstacles & hazards our students must go through each time they log-on to the internet.
Educators have traditionally accepted the responsibility of teaching face-to-face socialization with their students. Now, even more, whether we like it or not, I feel we should accept the responsibility of teaching how to socialize on the Cyber-Highway with our students.

Below is a collection of sites with Cyber-Safety teaching resources!

• CTAP IV Cyber Safety Project
• iSafe K-5 Curriculum
• iSafe 6-12 Student Toolkit
• Predator Tipsheet

:) Diana

Innovative Site of the Month: READ THE WORDS

Listen to my blog post!

ReadtheWords