Obama-Biden Fundraising Juggernaut

Link to article in The Atlantic on Obama's fundraising machine.

Drawings in Prezi

I have done a few posts of Prezi before, but today they announced that they have added a bunch of different drawings (triangles, squares, etc.) to the different things you can add to a presentation.  Above is a short video on it.

Google + Circles for the Classroom

I found this from a Tweet from "mrpotter".  It is exactly what I was looking for to be able to use in the classroom.  It details how you could create a "circle" which is where you could put your students.  Then when you (or they post something) you can set it to only send to that room so your students could be on at night and you could see their questions or even better they could see each others'. Also you can have up to ten people video chat at the same time which would be great for students working on projects at home (and what is scaring Facebook since you can only chat with one other there).

Google + For Teachers

I hope you are going to be hearing a lot more about Google + as it might help teachers where Facebook has not.  While Facebook is just a tremendous way that teachers could have kids talking about assignments after hours, most school systems ban it and in some cases for good reason.  But Google+ allows you to create "circles" that would allow you to say, make a class for your students and they could only see what you put there and not what you might put in a circle of your personal friends.  Imagine the benefits if people joined this.  There are four parts of Google + called circles, huddles, hangouts and sparks which you can find out about here.  Above is a short video showing you what it looks like if you are able to get an invitation to the beta testing of Google +.   Here is some more information on sharing pictures in it and more ideas for the classroom..

More on Jaycut

This is a great video I found on the Jaycut website.  It is nine minutes long, but it is really worth the time if you want to learn how to about how to do their free equivalent of Movie Maker.  The best part is that you can start on one computer and then go to another one to finish.  

One Document, Under Siege

One Document, Under Siege

The June 23rd edition of Time magazine has an article about the U.S. Constitution, including a discussion of current issues, the intent of the framers, the Tea Party movement and the Constitution, etc. The article could be used in its entirety or different elements could be used as a discussion in class. There is also a page of graphics available for analysis.

2010-11 US Supreme Court

The WashPost has a great set of graphics on the US Supreme Court's now finished term.  If you go here, you can mouse over any justice and see how often he/she agreed with the other ones.  Here is a link which shows how each voted for the different cases and finally this link is another graphic which shows how often each one voted in the majority and the minority. 

Jaycut

This afternoon I spent several hours at the Google station at the ISTE conference.  Part of that time was spent working with one the people whose job it is to improve Chromebooks for educators.  He showed me Jaycut which is basically a movie maker online that is free.  Students can put their own videos on it, pictures, audio, image and slides.  You can also create a narrative of your own film. I also noticed that Freetech4teachers.com also has a segment on making videos using Jaycut which is on page 24 - 31. 

Redistricting

Okay, first I should say that if you do get a Chromebook, I made this screen image using Pixlr.com which allows me to edit pictures and then insert them into my Picassa (Google) album.  At no point did I save anything on my desktop - indeed it was done all on the cloud.

The WashPost's "The Fix" has been doing a great overview of redistricting by the states.  He already has about 10 states including my hone state of VA.  The Fix does a good job of pointing out that VA is one of the first two states (NJ is the other one) to do redistricting and that since we have a Dem senate and Repub House and governor, the Repubs might be waiting for the fall elections since they have a shot at winning the senate as well.

Bloom's Taxonomy Via Google

Yes, I have a few days of vacation sandwiched in between shuttling my kids to all their summer sports.  I just found this great picture of all the ways you can carry out student learning via online tools from Google.  Go here to see a bigger version of Kathy Schrock's picture.  Definitely take a look at the close up as it is amazing what you can do to enhance your students' learning via the Internet.   Each picture can be clicked on and will take you to the site where you can create it.  

100 Chromebook Tips

Okay, so perhaps not all of you are jumping to get the Chromebook by Google, but I just got mine in the mail yesterday.  If you are into "the cloud," it is a cheap ($500 for the version that gives you 100 mgs of free access a month and it obviously has wifi).  It turns on in less than 10 seconds, and I quickly found an app that lets me split my windows so I can see two screens (which is big with me).  It is a bit slow occasionally and you can't get Netflix (which my kids will care about) yet although that is coming, but if live on the cloud as I do it is 1/3rd the price of the Macbook Air (although you can't manipulate the screen as you will be able to do when it comes out in a few weeks).  For my money it is also forcing me to do the few things I wasn't doing online (screen capture of pics and how to movies) on the Internet.  Yes, I know I am ahead of people who still like to put their files on their computers, but the Chromebook is where we will all be in a few years.  FINALLY, if you do purchase it, I found this lengthy document explaining how it works.  

Twitter

I just found these "Howcasts" which has a nice video on how to use Twitter.  I know I have given you information on Twitter before, but please know that it is not just about what people are doing at any one time.  I actually delete people who do that.  I use it because I want to get a lot of education ideas quickly.  Here is mine.  Click on the ones you like and you can follow them.   

iCivics

What is iCivics? on Prezi

This is a site that started last year.  The pictures might draw in civics teachers (ie middle schoolers) more than high schools), but it presents some great games to learn about civics.  The main emphasis is on courts (the site is the inspiration of Sandra Day O'Connor).  Above is a Prezi on it.  If you have never checked out a Prezi, that alone is worth looking at (for high or middle school). 

Dinner with the President!

Go to this link to sign-up to be eligible to have dinner with President Obama and 2 other people!

Explaining the National Debt

Above is a nice WashPost video explaining what is meant by the national debt.  Here are the competing budget proposals (House, Obama, etc.) and graphics to go along with it.