What are you using your LCD projector for?

Looking for ways to use your projector besides  the same old powerpoint?  Take these tips from Tech and Learning:  http://techlearning.com/article/17198  If you have tips of your own, comment on this article.  Tell us what you do that's outside of the box.  We'd love to hear from you.

The Smart Table

Recently Smart (maker of the Airliner and the SmartBoard) released the Smart Table.  This tool allows elementary educators to create themed lessons that can be pushed out to a stand alone table.   Because the table has a multi-touch feature, several students can interact and work through the lesson at the same time.  Smart has produced a video to introduce the product here:  


If you're interested in how the table works, call the 8th Floor and sign up for our Smart Table class.  Classes are available on October 22nd and November 5th.  This is a new offering, so classes will fill up fast!

National Board Certification

Are you working on your National Board Certification? If so, you will probably be interested in a class we are offering on the Eighth Floor this Thursday after school.

Technology Tips & Tools for National Board Certification

Being organized is never easy. Whether you are a first-time candidate or renewing your certification for the National Boards, you need this class. We will discuss tips and technology that will help you get and stay organized throughout the certification process. Innovative uses of technology for entries will be shared. Bring a flash drive to class.

Oct 3rd, Thursday, 4:30 - 7:30 pm

If you are a member of the Eighth Floor consortium, contact your Advisory Committee member for enrollment procedures or contact Phyllis Lawson on the Eighth Floor, phyllis.lawson@tulsatech.org.

Just Sharin'
Lee Anne

Upside Down and Inside Out

This comes under the category of COOL TOOLS. I'm not sure what purpose a tool like this has other than to just be fun, and when is that ever wrong. It has the added bonus of reminding me of a Diana Ross song . . . upside down, boy you turn me inside out and round and round.

http://www.sevenwires.com/play/UpsideDownLetters.html

Go check it out and send someone and upside down and backwards message.

It occurs to me that much of my communication is tumbled just like that, with no help from JavaScript!

Just Sharin'
Lee Anne

Text Texted Texed Tuxted

I am enjoying my Writing II class on Monday nights. They are a rare weave of adult students. They keep me on my toes, and I’m trying to keep them on theirs. Last night we got into a discussion about nouns that have become verbs as of late. The discussion started as a question about the past tense of the verb form of “text.” Is it “text” or “texted” or “texed” or even “tuxted”? Good question! I went with texted – I assumed it was texted. The truth was, I didn’t really know for sure. That was what felt natural and what I had probably heard the most. Many of the students felt that texted was unnatural and that just plain text was correct. Okay. Gee, I suppose it is possible I could be wrong. They wanted me to go right for the computer to find the answer. Honestly, that was my first impulse, too. But, the computer wasn’t going to tell me why I assumed that text would be a regular as opposed to an irregular verb as it made the transition from noun to verb. We came up with other examples of similar noun to verb words: Google, Twitter, and email. We played with those in past tense. There is Googled, Twittered, emailed. So, there is a pattern. Wouldn’t it follow that we would say texted? We came up with all kinds of noun to verb examples that were “regular.” For the life of me, I couldn’t come up with an irregular example. There have to be instances out there. We did eventually go to Dictionary.com to see what that resource had to say. They defined it as a transitive verb: texting, texted, texts.

Does it surprise anyone that in my search for the correct form of “text” in the past tense that I emailed a friend, Googled information, Twittered for others’ thoughts, posted on Facebook, and now I am blogging about it? In the end, all I had to do was trust my instincts.

Just thinkin’
Lee Anne

Are you Ready for some Eighth Floor Classes?

It is incredibly hard to believe that we are almost into September, but in fact, we are. With September comes the start of our classes here on the Eighth Floor.

We are pretty proud of our schedule this coming semester.

• We have packed in more classes than ever.


• We have quadrupled our Smart technology offerings.


• We continue to offer our most popular courses.


• We have added six new classes: Using the Smart Table, Social Networking Tools for Educators, Cell Phones in the Classroom, Easy Internet Search Techniques, Skype - Bringing the Outside In, and Technology Tips and Tools for National Board Certification.

Enrollment will start tomorrow, Friday, August 28th, 2009. Check out our list of classes: http://www.eighthfloor.org/class.html

Just Sharin'

Lee Anne

Is social media a fad?

What About Blogs - August 2009

What About Blogs?
Welcome to the Eighth Floor class about blogging in education. As a collaborative and constructive tool, blogs have found their place in education. As educators, we are using them as learning tools not only for our students, but also for ourselves. Our objectives for this short workshop are to become familiar with blogs as a Web 2.0 tool, explore uses for your classroom or professional development, and set up a practice blog of your own.

Blogs in Plain English


Lee LeFever of the Common Craft Show


So What’s a Blog?
Let the 6 & 7 year olds from Room 9 at Nelson Central School educate you about what they think a blog is and why they love using them!




Top 10 Reasons to Use a Blog in the Classroom



Education Professional Development Blogs
Weblogg-ed - A blog by Will Richardson
Moving at the Speed of Creativity - A blog by Wesley Fryer
Blog of Proximal Development - a blog by Konrad Glogowski
Blogs about Educational Blogging - a wiki by Support Blogging.com

Classroom/Student Blogs
Mrs. Arnold's Class (2nd grade)
Mrs. Fine's Fouth Grade Gate
Elementary Writing
High School Sports Blog
Arthus - NewlyAncient (high school student blog)
AP Calculus AB (An interactive log for students and parents in my AP Calculus class. This ongoing dialogue is as rich as YOU make it. Visit often and post your comments freely.)
The Good Habits Blog (blog for students and teachers)
Mrs Cassidy's Classroom Blog (elementary)
Blogical Minds (This is a blog created to explore what happens when 5th graders blog and converse about literacies in class and beyond)

Google Search for Blogs
http://blogsearch.google.com/?hl=en&tab=wb

Check out the following education/safety focused postings and articles:
MySpace Education
Change Agency BlogSafety.com
Blogs, Fair Use, and Paying to Play

Blogging Tips and Tricks:
Science Blogs in Middle and HS classrooms
Web Blog Basics Blogs - Anatomy
Blogs for Learning
Evaluating Blogging
Blogging Best Practices Top 10 Blog Writing Tips
Use of Blogs in an Online College Classroom

Let’s Talk About Blogs

• How is a blog different from a website?
• How is blogging different from other types of writing or online communication?
• Why do you think you or your students might be attracted to this as a form of expression?
• How might you use a blog in your classroom or for your professional development?
• What obstacles might you face using blogs with your students?
• The first step to being a good blogger is to be a good blog ____________?

___________________________________________________________
QUESTION!

Since this is a class about blogging, we thought you might want to do a little, well, blogging. So, what are some advantages to using blogs? What are some disadvantages? What can you do to minimize the disadvantages? ___________________________________________________________

Add your comment to this post. Take a minute to think about the above questions. (Or share something else, if you choose, like an idea you're already have for using blogs) Click on the "comments" link below and then type your answer. You can comment as "anonymous or other." Be sure to include your name somewhere so we know who you are. Read others’ comments and feel free to comment on their comments!

Thanks!
Lee Anne

How do you know that?

I get asked during almost every class I teach up here on The Eight Floor, “How do you know that?” I always give the same answer, “I have no idea I just do”. So, for some reason I remember those little key strokes, back door tips and shortcuts. I can’t always remember how old I am or my phone number but that stuff sticks.

For those of you who don’t have the gift for remembering useless little facts I found a really cool Web site that will help you out. Custom Guide, Learn on Demand offers free Quick Reference cards for all of the popular software titles.

From the Custom Guide Web site here are some of the ways you can use their materials;

• Distribute them at your organization.
• Forward them to users with support issues.
• Post them on your organization's Website.

Also by signing up you can be notified when new Quick References are released — and get a free Online Learning evaluation.

New year a new opportunity

"I bet deep down you still wish your mom would take you clothes shopping every August for the new school year."

Bridget Willard

As summer starts to wind down (not the temperatures, just the fun) I found myself thinking back to my first days back to school. I asked my daughters if they were ready to get back in to the groove and back in school. Of course the answer was "no"… but then we started talking about all of the possibilities that layout in front of them in the coming year. My oldest will graduate from the 8^th grade, last year of middle school and according to her the year her class "rules the school". One more chance to try to win the speech contest, get a leading part in the school play, field trips, basketball the list started getting bigger and bigger. After awhile I think both girls were ready to get after this last year!

I remembered the excitement of a fresh start with new notebooks, clothes and renewed energy. So I went out and did a little research to see what others are doing to get ready for the new school year and found the 101 THINGS YOU CAN DO THE FIRST THREE WEEKS OF CLASS.

Take a look and add to the list!