Good Searching

Here's a new easy way to raise money for your favorite cause. Just start using Yahoo! powered GoodSearch.com as your search engine and they'll donate about a penny to your favorite cause every time you do a search!
In addition, do all of your shopping through their online shopping mall, GoodShop.com, where you can shop at more than 900 top online retailers and a percentage of your purchases will go to the charity or school of your choice. You pay the same price as you normally would, but a donation goes to your cause!
Here's the web site — http://www.goodsearch.com/. You can also read about GoodSearch in the NY Times, Oprah Magazine, CNN, ABC News and the Wall Street Journal

Teach Parents Tech by Google!

As a Google Certified Teacher, I couldn't be more excited! Google has just launched a new site, Teach Parents Tech. The purpose of the site is to explain, in layman's terms, how to do many comon tasks, like how to copy & paste, resize a picture, and how to crop pictures. This site is host to over 50 videos, most of which are an average of 40 seconds long. I have watched every single one of these informational videos and have come to the conclusion that they are NOT just for parents. As a matter of fact, I am a parent of three children myself and probably know way more than they do! (Of course, tech is my life...but that's another story). The videos are short and to the point. They cover topics from How To Make A Blog to How To View Live Traffic. When you visit the site, you will be able to send an email to someone, attaching the relevant videos. You can also just watch the videos on YouTube's Teach Parents Tech. There are 51 videos, and each one is narrated by a "young person" explaining in very clear terms how to perform different tasks. Enjoy!

Free Rice

I have been using Free Rice with my students for a few years now. According to their website, "FreeRice is a non-profit website run by the United Nations World Food Programme. Our partner is the Berkman Center for Internet & Society at Harvard University."

So far, nearly 83 billion grains of rice have been donated. If you are wondering how that translates to how much food that is, it's enough rice to feed more than 4.3 million people for one day!!

Here is how we use it at our school: Students go to the website and choose a subject. The choices are: Art, English, Chemistry, Geography, Language, and Math. There are a few sub-categories so for example, if you are interested in Language, you can choose from French, German, Italian, or Spanish. Once they have chosen their category, the students begin answering questions. The answers are always mutliple choice and begin at an easy level. As students answer questions correctly, the questions slowly become more difficult. You can change the subject at any time without affecting the amount of rice you have donated. For each correct answer, 10 grains of rice are donated.

I usually have the students spend 10 minutes on the site and the average number of rice donated is 800 grains per student. What a great way to help feed the world and learn at the same time. According to NBC News, it is "a simple way to bring kids to the Internet for a good reason, a way to feed their minds and . . . to feed a whole lot of people . . . helping fight world hunger, one grain of rice at a time."

The World Food Programme has created a site just for Students and Teachers. Teachers can register, create a Group and have their students compete against other classes to try and donate the most rice.

As Thanksgiving approaches, let's all try to remember that there are many people around the world who are hungry and need our help!

Audacity

I have been using Audacity in my classroom now for several years. Audacity is free, open source software that can be used to record and edit sounds. My students use this program to create podcasts, and to record voiceovers for their video projects. It is also compatible with many different operating systems.

Below is a sample of a student who recorded a commercial for a fashion store:

Below is a sample of a student who used Audacity to record his voice and then added music:

Storytelling Alice

Storytelling Alice is an animation program developed by Caitlin Kelleher, a graduate student at Carnegie Mellon University. According to her website, "Storytelling Alice is a programming environment designed to motivate a broad spectrum of middle school students (particularly girls) to learn to program computers through creating short 3D animated movies. To enable and encourage users to create animated stories, Storytelling Alice includes: High-level animations that enable users to program social interactions between characters. A story-based tutorial that introduces users to programming through building a story. A gallery of 3D characters and scenery with custom animations designed to spark story ideas"

I have begun using this software with my middle school students and the results have been extremely positive. Students are beginning to understand the concept of programming, and are creating their own animations. To download the software for your classroom, go to Alice's download page.

Life Round Here 2010

This year I participated in a global project created by Chris Craft entitled "Life Round Here". The purpose of this digital storytelling project is for kids around the world to tell each other what life is like in their town and in their school. According to Chris, this global collaboration was created because it was "a desire of mine to help students understand the differences and similarities between their own cultures and the cultures that are foreign to them." The only requirements are that the students should be between the ages of 8 and 15, the videos must be in English, and must be published to SchoolTube. The submissions this year are astounding and I invite you to watch them at the Life Round Here 2010 Completed Projects Page. The submission from Roosevelt Intermediate School can be seen below:

We Love The Flip

After my third Handycam broke, I decided that there had to be another camera that my 7th graders could use for my filmmaking class. I needed something easy to use, light weight, inexpensive, and most of all - easy to upload. The Flip meets all my criteria. I was worried that the quality wouldn't be as good as we were used to, but to my surprise, the clips look great and the sound is clear and loud. If you're interested, there is a Flip Video for Educators site with a list of preferred resellers. I ordered the Flip Ultra with a recording time of 2 hours, 8 GB of internal memory, a 320 x 240 LCD screen, and a 1280 x 720 resolution. The video format is mp4, which can be a problem if you use Movie Maker. We use Adobe Premiere Elements and had absolutely no problem uploading the clips directly to this program.

I'm An Author (Sort Of)

For the past two years, I have been collaborating on a book on Google Tools in the Classroom to be published by ISTE. Authors James Lerman and Ronique Hicks collaborated with eight other Google Certified Teachers (I'm one of them) to produce a book that shows how free Google Applications can be used to transform teaching. Retool Your School will be available in late spring/early summer. There are more than 40 lesson plans spanning elementary school through high school that show teachers how to use FREE Google tools like Sites, Blogger, and Documents to create interactive, collaborative lessons for the classroom. I am so proud to be a part of this book, and to be able to say "I'm published!"

Cyberbullying and the Curriculum

I am on a committee that is writing our district's State Technology Plan for 2010-2013. Mostly, it's pretty much the same as the last plan (2007-2010), but there are a few changes. One change is that New Jersey is requiring school districts to include CyberBullying in the curriculum. This is a serious problem in many schools, and the lack of information is astounding. Recently, I showed my 6th grade students the video below and had them respond. Their answers made me realize that most children are good hearted and care about each other. Their responses can be viewed on my Student Blog - Education 2.0

Ryan Halligan was in 8th grade when he committed suicide, after several years of bullying at school and online. His father, John Halligan, speaks to students across the country about his son in the hopes of preventing this from happening to anyone else. John has been outspoken about the need for more education and prevention of bullying, cyber bullying and teen suicide throughout the United States and Canada. His son’s story and his accomplishments in response to this tragedy have been told world-wide by print, radio and TV.

Digital Storytelling Presentation

Recently, I was invited as a guest lecturer to a Montclair State University Graduate School class of soon-to-be elementary school teachers. The topic was "Digital Stories in the Elementary Classroom". You can see the presentation I used below:

Digital Storytelling Presentation

View more presentations from pfriedman729.

10th Annual Tech-Savvy Superintendent Awards

The Tech-Savvy Superintendent Awards were just announced in the February issue of eSchool News. These awards are sponsored by K12 Inc., Promethean, the Pearson Foundation, and JDL Horizon's Eduvision. Chosen by the editors of eSchool News, with help from last year's winners, these exemplary leaders transform teaching and learning through the use of technology.

According to eSchool News, some of the criteria for selection include:

1) Models the effective use of technology in the day-to-day execution of the superintendency.

2) Demonstrates exceptional vision in leading the development and implementation of a districtwide technology plan.

3) Provides exceptional leadership in supporting the integration of technology into the curriculum.

Imagine my delight to find out that one of this year's recipients is Dr. Amy Sichel, Superintendent of the Abington School District in Pennsylvania. Dr. Sichel is a childhood friend of mine who I have known since Kindergarten. Besides this award, she was recently named the 2010 Pennsylvania Superintendent of the Year!

As a teacher and instructional technology specialist, I applaud the winners of the 10th Annual Tech-Savvy Superintendent Awards.

Kiva Loans Change Lives

I have been donating to Kiva for about a year now. It is so gratifying to know that I am helping people better their lives and the lives of those around them!

What is KIVA? Kiva's mission is to connect people, through lending, for the sake of alleviating poverty. Kiva empowers individuals to lend to an entrepreneur across the globe. By combining microfinance with the internet, Kiva is creating a global community of people connected through lending.

Kiva promotes:
Dignity: Kiva encourages partnership relationships as opposed to benefactor relationships. Partnership relationships are characterized by mutual dignity and respect.

Accountability: Loans encourage more accountability than donations where repayment is not expected.

Transparency: The Kiva website is an open platform where communication can flow freely around the world.

As of November 2009, Kiva has facilitated over $100 million in loans.

Today I donated to a Village Food Bank in Cambodia. Previously, I helped Suzzy Osayuki open a grocery store in Nigeria. A little bit goes a long way!!

Artsonia

My school is a member of Artsonia, the largest online student art museum. Artsonia showcases artwork from thousands of schools around the world. Artsonia’s goals are to help develop students’ pride and self-esteem, increase their multicultural understanding through art and involve parents and relatives in student education and accomplishments.

Besides showcasing our students’ artwork on the Internet for the world to see, Artsonia also offers parents high quality gift items imprinted with their child’s own artwork. Each school receives 15% of the total order revenue. Therefore, not only are these products excellent gifts for friends and family, but every order directly supports the educational program here at my school. Some of the gifts include t-shirts, jewelry boxes, key chains, and greeting cards.

Artsonia is a safe, secure site where teachers can create an account and upload images to an art gallery. I categorize my galleries by grade level and class period. Last year, my school received a check for $50 from all the gifts that parents ordered!!

Google SketchUp

I've been using Google SketchUp for the past two years in my 8th grade classroom. SketchUp is a free 3D software program that allows you to build models of most anything. It is very easy to use and the Tutorials are excellent. In fact, most of my students use the video and self-paced tutorials to teach themselves how to create the models. There is a Google 3D Warehouse where you can place your own models or upload someone else's. There are numerous ways to use SketchUp in the classroom to integrate different areas of the curriculum. Mathematically, students can use geometry as well as basic measurements when they are building structures. For history, students might create an ancient city. The Industrial Arts teacher at my school has her students create model cars using SketchUp before beginning the actual building process. One of my students built a model of a computer, and another student built an entire neighborhood! This is also a great way to involve visual learners. CLICK on the images to enlarge them!

Go!Animate

GoAnimate is a really cool site that I introduced to my students this week. You can create individual animations using your own stories and characters. There is a Character Creator tool where you can even design a character that looks like you or someone you know. The Animation Studio allows you to create your own story from scratch. You can upload your own pictures and combine them with the GoAnimate cast of characters. Each character comes with their own set of actions, movements, and facial expressions. There are also sounds, music, and word balloons for dialogue. Your imagination is all you need! The site often sponsors contests and here is my favorite winner from the Christmas Contest:

GoAnimate.com: Peace On Earth by Mojochi

Like it? Create your own at GoAnimate.com. It's free and fun!

Podcasts And Screencasts in Education

Here is our Presentation from Montclair State University's Classroom Reset 2010 Conference.

Podcasts And Screencasts

View more presentations from pfriedman729.

Audacity

Audacity is a free, open-source software program that I use in my classroom for sound recording. It can be used to record from a microphone, dub over existing tracks, monitor volume levels, edit and mix a number of tracks, and remove many types of background noises. There are many other features as well. This program was developed by a group of volunteers and distributed under the GNU General Public License (GPL).

Jill Baedke, a fellow Google Certified Teacher, has created an Audacity Video Tutorial that is incredibly helpful.

If you are considering or already using podcasting or digital storytelling in your classroom, I highly recommend using Audacity for sound recording.