Tuesday Tips December 10, 2019

TECH TIP:  Image Annotator

This is a new tool at the great Classtools.net site. The Image Annotator allows you to make any image interactive.  Once you've uploaded an image, you can add in your content that can include text and links to relevant websites.  Images can embedded, share with a link or a QR code.

Here's an example.  In the "live" version, if you click on any of the red dots, a pop up box appears with the content that's been added.

BOOK TIP:  On the Come Up by Angie Thomas

This is the latest book by the author of the very successful The Hate U Give.  In this novel, 16 year old Bri wants to become a famous rapper like her father, who died when she was young.  She has a shot at making a name for herself in the field, but life is not so easy.  Her mother lost her job  and as the bills pile up and homelessness and hunger become a reality of her life.  An homage to hip-hop and overcoming what others expect from you.  

All of these are archived at my blog:  http://monumentpd.blogspot.com/

Looking forward to working with you sometime!

Kara

Tuesday Tips December 3, 2019

TECH TIP:  Check123 Video Encyclopedia

Check123 is a video encyclopedia.  It has curated over 20,000 videos, all of which have been professionally approved.  They are all between one and 3 minutes long, so they could provide a good lesson opener or quick review.  Videos are from all disciplines.  All videos have been rated on a school of 1 to 10 for both how Informative they are and their Entertainment Value.

BOOK TIP:  The Dutch House by Ann Patchett

  Ann Patchett has long been a favorite author of mine and her latest book does not disappoint.  Brother and sister duo Danny and Maeve Conroy grow up in the famed Dutch House.  However, they are exiled from the Dutch House by their stepmother, which sets them on a path where the only people they can count on are each other.  A powerful saga spanning decades.  A bonus was I did this as an audiobook and Tom Hanks is the narrator; he's a total delight.  

Tuesday Tips November 26, 2019

TECH TIP:  Animoto for Making Videos

Animoto has been a long time favorite of mine for making videos, but they have recently added the ability to do voice overs.  This is a huge improvement, as it allows students to share more of their own knowledge with their personal narration and not a limited amount of text.  

I used Animoto to make this quarter's report on library events.  You can see how the voiceover narration works.  It is a one minute long video.  

BOOK TIP:  Happy Thanksgiving!

Wishing you lots of time to read and eat this vacation!

Tuesday Tips November 19, 2019

TECH TIP:  And Then I Was Like: GIF Maker

A little Thanksgiving message as a 3 second GIF from me to you!  I used the site https://andtheniwaslike.co/ to create this.  It uses your computer's webcam, hit record and you've made a GIF!  

  

BOOK TIP:  Faculty Book Club Meets Thursday

The Faculty Book Club will meet this Thursday after school in the library to discuss Teach Like a Pirate.  The mission of the MMRHS Faculty Book Club is to promote reading and the discussion of professional and inspirational works in an atmosphere that fosters positivity and community. Even if you haven't read the book, please feel free to join us for the discussion.

Tuesday Tips November 12, 2019

TECH TIP:  Fling the Teacher Review Game

Classtools.net has a whole array of games and tools you can customize for your classes.  The latest game is called "Fling the Teacher" and is a play on Angry Birds.  If students answer 15 questions correctly, they have 60 seconds to "fling" the teacher as many times as they can into a hole.  

You can create your own questions and put your face on the bird (imagine your face there).  Try out the demo game to see how it works (I was not very good at the flinging!)

BOOK TIP:  Internment by Samira Ahmen

  Internment is set a not so distant future United States, where Muslims are being sent to camps.  In fact, they are put in Manzanar, where Japanese were held in WWII.  Layla Amin and her family are sent here and Layla quickly sets to leading a revolution from within.  The book tackles themes of discrimination, fear, and what happens when the world stays silent.

Tuesday Tips October 29, 2019

TECH TIP:  Hyperdocs: Using Google Docs and Forms

Emery Gagnon was looking for:

• A way for his students to easily share their writing with each other
• A method for them to vote on which submissions were the best in each category

I suggested that he create a hyperdoc using both Google Docs and Google Forms.  A hyperdoc is an interactive document that provides for collaboration and connection and, at its best, also allows for student voice to be heard.  It also keeps the work focused on the task at hand as there is no "clicking through", as all links are on one clean document.  Here is a screenshot of what Emery created:

Let me know if you'd like to create one for any of your classes!

BOOK TIP:  Publisher's Weekly Best Books of 2019

 It is that time of year, when the publishing and book industry begin to put out their best books of the year list.  Publisher's Weekly just put out their Best Books of 2019 list.  There is a top ten books, and a breakdown of the best books in other categories like Fiction, Non-Fiction, Mystery, Young Adult and more.  A great place to add to your to-be-read list!

Tuesday Tips October 22, 2019

TECH TIP & BOOK TIP:  Google Books 15 Year Anniversary and Updates

An all in one this week as books and technology collide!  Google Books is celebrating its 15th anniversary with some new updates.  The goal of Google Books was to digitize the world's books so they would be available for all.  Currently, there are 40 million books in 400 languages at Google Books.  

To access the updated Google Books, do a search on whatever topic you want, click on a book and then select the "Try New Google Books" on the right hand side. 

Once in the new format, you can now see on the book's landing page a description of the book, an author history, and full citations in all the major formats.  

They also have a fun interactive experiment where Google will pick a book for you based on what images you select. 

 And I love this Icelandic tradition, reading books and eating chocolate!  Sounds like the best day ever to me