Sharing resources

I remember teaching when I had used the day textbook for so many years, and answered the same questions by students that I even had the page numbers memorized. "Yes Larry, the answer to that question is correct and we talked about it when we covered acids and bases in Chapter 12 and its on page 215." My students would shake their heads and mumble "dang, he has the whole book memorized". 

Back then, with 4X4 classes, teachers taught the same content twice in the year. That was fine, but it was repetitive. 

Today's classroom has changed. Students still use textbooks. However, iPads and MacBooks in our 1:1 classes enable learners to access video clips, tutorials, collaborative chats, and Skype sessions with experts. 

We started in 2008. One of the first tools for sharing we trained teachers to use was Delicious. Great tool. However, it faded in popularity. Some complained it was too much to worry with. Some said it was filling up their inbox. Whatever reason it is not used. 

Many of our teachers are Pinterest users. They share jewelry, Bible quotes, and receipts. However, social media is not without issues. Personally, I never got into Pinterest. I tried it one time on my phone to help locate resources for using iPads in our school. It is additive and there are many Pinners. 

However, it's not something I would want to explain to a 6th student. I have students that would spend the entire school year on Pinterest repinning bulldogs or rap stars. My concern is that Pinterest is not a classroom-friendly site. 

Much to my surprise, their is a site that combines the functionality of Pinterest with the power of Delicious and supports the classroom. EduClipper.net is promising. I set up my account and tried it on an iPad mini and iPhone. They need a mobile app for the small screen. It works ok on the iPad. 

Give it a try. Post your comments here. 

Closeup Image Tip for iPhone 5

image 2: closeup photo

Making closeup images (ref image 2) has been a challenging skill to master with my smartphone. I have been Googling the web for tips on how to create good closeups. I do not want to buy a lens for the phone's camera. I would never have it when I needed it.

image 3: AE/AF Locked

One trick I learned about was to lock the AE/AF by just holding my finger on the screen for several seconds. A box (ref image 1) will appear on the screen under your finger. When the lock feature is turned on, that box will flicker and the words "AE/AF Lock" (ref image 3) will appear on the bottom of the screen above the home button. A single tap of the screen with your finger unlocks it. The trick to making better closeups is focal point. If you hold your hand in front of the smartphone's front lens and hold your finger on the screen just right, the camera will focus on your hand. When the camera's AE/AF in the locked state, you can move the phone's camera lens in the correct location near the part of the plant of object you want to take the image of and make sure its focused by moving the camera to the correct distance way from your subject and it will be in focus.

image 1: that box will blink
when AE/AF is locked

The hard part is to be able to see the screen in adverse lighting conditions. If you want to get technical, try this tip: I am experimenting with holding a ruler and measuring the focal distance from between my hand initially prior to AE/AF locking. Then, moving the ruler to try and measure the distance between what I want to photograph and the camera lens.

You just have to practice. I am still learning. Auto focus is not always my favorite feature.



+Michelle Li , +Anthony Martin

iPad Tips and Tricks

iPad Tips and Tricks

Crayfish: Music Video

My view of the 3-mile-high mountain in the middle of Mars- Gale crater

June 6, 2012 Temperature

Wednesday morning cool temps

Back to Work After the Holidays

Hope your first week back from the Christmas Break was fruitful. Here is another excellent iPad app for creative teachers with iPads. 

"Millennia ago, all you needed to get a point across to your buddies was charcoal and a cave wall or a pointy stick and some sand. Now, we sit for hours crafting passive-aggressive emails to make a point that once was communicated with an arrow and a grunt. There’s beauty in that simplicity. Let’s return to it."

image source: http://blog.evernote.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/skitch_ipad_screens4.png 

The iPad 2 is a great tool with a cable connected to your data projector with the Skitch app. The iPad 2's mirroring feature allows teachers to use maps, diagrams, scanned pages, document, pdf and annotate and highlight important points. Students can share their mastery of concepts with a quick presentation using Skitch on the teacher's iPad. Nothing new in this strategy. However, when teachers can post this illustrated lesson on their wiki or in their digital locker for students that missed the lesson or for review before the EOG this helps students and even parents. In the classroom, Apple has a device called Apple TV that wirelessly connects the iPad and a data projector, interactive white board, or a classroom HDTV. They use AirPlay which is a slick feature of iOS on the MacBook, iPad, iPod Touch, and iPhone. This seamless integration is what makes it a classroom tool-- when the wifi works and your battery is not dead. Students can create presentations using this "tactile annotation"tool. Skitch is also available for MacBook.

To share the Skitch documents, Evernote can be used. Evernote is another app teachers like using to share learning and organize their digital library of documents.  

Read more about Skitch for iPad on Andrew Sinkov's blog post http://blog.evernote.com/2011/12/21/skitch-for-ipad-is-here/

Continue the conversation on Twitter by following @cmshelpdesk and Like my "Central Middle School Center for Digital Learning" Facebook page.

First Sunday of December

I have not gotten in the spirit of the season. Maybe it is because I have not helped put up any decorations. So, on my todo list I am informally listing: pray, eat, take a nap, go to a party, and move tree out of storage room.

It's the first Sunday of December.

Really?

Already?

Remembering a Friend

This made me laugh and sad at the same time, Virginia Lee Batten (right side of video), retired Cafeteria Manager at Central Middle School and long time friend lost her battle with cancer. I enjoyed many conversations with her over our love of country cooking. Each time I eat a plate of collards, grits, or go in the cafeteria at school, I look for her. I will miss her. 

R.I.P.

Looking at Blogger, Again

October 2004 seems like only yesterday. However, that was seven long years ago. I have be using Blogger on and off since that first post. I have not posted to my Blogger blog since in end of April and was pleasantly surprised to see there has been some changes to the way things work. In my last post, I was looking forward to the upcoming changes.

Schedules, location, and a clean text editor. The editor is very Google Doc like in design and feels like the +Google site too. This is great. Now, it's time to dig a little deeper and see what other features they have included in this update.

So far, I "like", "+G" what I see.

New Blogger Coming

I don't use this very often, but Blogger is talking about coming out with changes. We will see if it makes using Blogger worth the effort. Other social websites are so easy to post to from my Blackberry, and many other folks read what's on those sites, Blogger is like painting an oil painting on the wall of an abandoned building-- no one looks at it.

A REAL Power-Lunch

P021711PS-0705, originally uploaded by The White House.

This is what I call a Power Lunch.

I like this one

IMG_5856, originally uploaded by mdb0769.

Picking the best instructional strategy is almost as confusing as picking out the perfect pumpkin. How do you make that decission?

Fraser Speirs - Blog - The iPad Project: How It's Going | Diigo

Fraser Speirs - Blog - The iPad Project: How It's Going

iPad and Polarized Sunglass Don't Mix

While traveling during the Labor Day weekend, I discovered something about the iPad. I have a pair of aviator polarized sunglasses that I am fond of wearing. Bausch & Lomb are famous for darkly tinted lenses and they are comfortable. So, what does that have to do with an iPad?

Well, I had to think for a few seconds before I understood what I was observing. I taught physics early in my teaching career and remembered the hours spent trying to demonstrate the concepts of optics to high school students. Polarization of white light is a complex concept to master. But, while reading a webpage on the iPad in the bright sunshine made me thank the writers of the science curriculum.

I would have probably blamed Apple for building a defective device. When I rotated the iPad from the landscape orientation to the portrait orientation, the iPad screen when dark. Hum! Was there something wrong with the motion sensor in the iPad? Was the battery defective? Was the screen leaking? None of the above!

It was basic physics. When two polarized lenses (my Bausch & Lomb shades) and the screen on the iPad are oriented at 90 degrees from each other, light rays are blocked by the lenses.

Sent from an iPad

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polarizing_filter_(Photography)

iPad Running Windows 7 and Word?

The complaint I heard loud and clear from a parent about having Apple computers was "why a Mac"? He was quick to point out that the hospital where his wife worked used only PC and his CAD software was PC only. Schools are facing horrible budgets and still must not leave any teachers or children behind. What if you could actually run serious number crunching programs the school already owns, and edit videos on whatever computer or device available. The iPad has it limits but lots of potential with creative IT. I have changed my mind about using the iPad. After watching a demo from the folks at Citrix, my head is spinning. Their cloud computing solution looks promising. I am not sure about how it would perform with 600-700 devices trying to access it at one time, day after day. Using a server based portal, learners could fire up their iPad, iPhone, MacBook, netbook, or even legacy or refurbished PC desktops, and wirelessly launch Word, Excel, or CAD software. Take a look at this video and with a little imagination, think about how a state-wide initiative could deliver software solutions to the classrooms and run on whatever device the student has available. Droid phones, Blackberry, and Windows based phones. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z2pvN4eGKTk

Maybe instead of the school buying/leasing computers, we should instead invest in cloud computing solutions. Then, allow the kids and their parents decide PC, MAC, smartphone, netbook, tablet, or android. My biggest concern, is that does not address the digital divide. Who will help those kids in homes with that still do not have any of the above?

Snow Melt

I am testing to see if this blog post will include this picture. I have have several students with Blackberry smartphones and Droids and such. One educational use would be to post stories about sports events, classroom projects, and even video clips to illustrate what they are learning.

This message has been sent using the picture and Video service from Verizon Wireless!

To learn how you can snap pictures and capture videos with your wireless phone visit www.verizonwireless.com/picture.

Note: To play video messages sent to email, Quicktime@ 6.5 or higher is required.

Snow! and Stuff

Snow cancelled our family and friends plans to move out the contents of a relative's apartment this weekend. We probably could have made the journey, but it was too risky. On the news last night, we heard a report of a major highway accident along the road we would have needed to travel. So, we realized we had made a wise decision in "scrubbing" our travel plans. This week will be a busy one.

I am very excited that the school I work at will be a total 1:1 laptop school soon. Our 7th graders are in their second year of implementation, and this school year we added 7th and 8th grade. Classroom carts will be rolled out this coming week.

Back to School

Time to iron the white shirt, put up my short pants, and t-shirts. It is time to go back to work.