Gratitude

In this time of new beginnings how about taking a moment and thinking about what you are grateful for?
Here is a nice online gratitude journal that you can contribute to or just start one of your own!

http://www.iamthankful.com/gratitude-journal/

Wishes for a fun, happy and peaceful New Year to you!

Google resources

So many people are starting to embrace Google Apps for Education in our school district.  It is exciting to see all the ways that you can use Google Apps for things in your work and life.  I recently found 2 Google resources that I think will be very useful for you if you use Google Apps.

The first one is 100+ Google Tricks for Teachers.
http://www.teachhub.com/100-google-tricks-teachers

2nd is the Google Template area where you can find all sorts of templates to use in Google Apps.
https://docs.google.com/templates?hl=en_US

So browse around and see what you might find useful here!
 

Must Have Tech Skills for Teachers!

Just read a really good article from Kathy Schrock and she listed these as the Must Have Tech Skills for Teachers.  I totally agree with her breakdown.  These are things we often get asked at Helpdesk and teachers frequently need help with.   I am hoping to put this together in an inservice training which will be hands on, fun, and informative for teachers.  Is there anything else I should add to the list?  Comment below and let me know! 

•    Know what all the cords and plugs are for and attached to
•    Know how to hook up a document camera & projector
•    Learn how to create a CSV file for importing
•    Learn what the lights on your printer indicate
•    Understand the difference between the operating system, a browser, and a search engine
•    Learn how to upload files and download them to a location of your choice
•    Learn the three ways to use an interactive whiteboard
•    Know how to attach a document to an email
•    Know how to resize an image to decrease its file size before sending as an email attachment
•    Know how to get the photos off your digital camera
•    Know how to quickly create a PowerPoint slide show from images
•    Know how to get an answer to a question about using a computer in less than 5 minutes
•    Learn to conduct a good search and use alternate search tools
•     Learn to shoot and edit video footage
•    Learn the difference between .doc and .docx
•    Learn what makes an effective hypermedia presentation
•    When using email, know the difference between reply and reply all
•    Learn about cloud-based file storage
•    Become a proficient typist
•    Find the most important functions in an application to rapidly teach yourself the basics

21 Century Skills

This film was created by my friend and Principal Jen Botzojorns.  She and I collaborate on the 1 to 1 laptop program at Mount Mansfield Union High School along with other teachers and technology integration specialists.  Thought you might like this.

How to print a webpage as a pdf

Hi,
Have you ever been trying to print a webpage or blog or article online and have it chop off part or print it out in a weird way that doesn't look quite right?  Here is a link to a cool little online tool that will print a webpage as a pdf file and make it look just right!

http://joliprint.com/

SummerTime!

Hey, it is the last day of school for kids and Woot!  I am on my way to bliss out at a 4 day yoga Festival!
http://stratton.wanderlustfestival.com

There are no words to explain how we folks in education feel on this last day of school.  It is almost as much excitement as the kids have when they are done!  I work all summer long getting the technology ready for the next school year but just having it be the last day of school is sooo exciting!  It means time to slow down a bit and smell the roses.  Or read a good book.  Check out this site to give you some great reading ideas.
http://www.whatshouldireadnext.com

On these long hot summer days I hope you take time to renew and recharge and let your imagination go wild and have great dreams for what is to come!
Peace Out! Jean

New App Alert!!

New App Alert!  New App Alert!  If you have an IPad or IPhone try Leafsnap for f-r-e-e and start having fun identifying some trees in your area.  http://leafsnap.com

 I heard about this App from a few coworkers of mine and gave it a try and thought you might like to know about it.  LeafSnap is an electronic  field guides for trees being developed by researchers from Columbia University, the University of Maryland, and the Smithsonian Institution.  Leafsnap contains beautiful high-resolution images of leaves, flowers, fruit, petiole, seeds, and bark.

What is even cooler is that you can go outside and collect some leaf samples, then you place them on a piece of paper and take a picture of them.  Leafsnap helps you identify it by bringing up images of the likely tree it is from.  You can then see all these really cool images of the bark, flowers and parts of the tree.    Here is my picture of a red maple that I took:

Here is just a screen shot of some of the info that Leafsnap shows me about that species.  It is so cool and it has the scientific name and tons of details of about 185 species of trees.

Hope you get out and enjoy some summer weather and figure out the name of a tree or 2 with this fun app.   Peace, Jean