ELED 412 Summer II, 2010

Welcome to ELED 412.........




















Tater people http://www.bluequaker.com/tater_people.htm

RDG 380 Summer II 2010

Good Afternoon............

Mid-Atlantic States-Summer 2010 Vacation

We just returned from a wonderful vacation to the mid-Altantic states - -we flew to Savannah, GA - did a motorcoach city tour, a carriage ride through the historic district, ate at the Pirate's House, strolled the river street shops, where we boarded a river cruise of the Savannah Harbor, dined at Paula Deen's Lady & Sons Restaurant (yum!... we put some "South in our mouth" as Paula says) - shopped at the city market and took in all the "Old South" charm....everything was SO green there - lots of Spanish moss hanging from trees - beautiful!!......loved Savannah!!

After a drive to Tybee Island - a few miles east from Savannah, we drove to Hilton Head, SC........beautiful there - although we didn't do any activities as it rained most of the day - we drove all around, admiring all the beautiful homes, golf courses, beaches, etc........




Due to the rain in Hilton Head, we proceeded on to the Lowcountry of Charleston, SC -wow!! Talk about Southern charm.......we stepped back in time and saw the sights and sounds of the historic district behind the clip clop of hooves on cobbled streets in a carriage ride, ate at The Fleet Landing - which was a great recommendation from Carolyn (thanks Carolyn!), shopped (a lot) at the Old City Market, we took a riverboat cruise of the Charleston Harbor - and saw Ft. Sumter up close and personal - as well as several dolphins that seemed to follow us along the way....we saw the Citadel, and walked along the palmetto-lined waterfront by so many historic mansions and so many beautiful old churches......out from Charleston, we rode over Charleston's diamond-tower design cable bridge to Mount Pleasant - and then Sullivan's Island.....beautiful white sand beaches......loved the history and charm of this historic Southern city!

We then headed west about 4 1/2 hours to Asheville, NC - home of the Biltmore Estate - the largest home in the U.S. - it was breath-taking! We spent most of one day there - taking in all the beauty of the home, gardens, etc. built by George Vanderbilt.

The next day, July 4, we headed up the Blue Ridge Parkway - one of America's favorite drives - winding roads through the Blue Ridge Mountains - - the best part was where we stayed that night - the area was called Little Switzerland - we stayed in a the Alpine Chalet over-looking the Blue Ridge Mountains and ate at the inn's open air restaurant, also over-looking the mountains - what a picture-book place with such majestic scenery! We spent most of the evening on the veranda - watching the sky (and mountains) appear to turn from blue to pink as the sun set over the mountains. When darkness came - fireworks started - in several spots as far as the eye could see.....

We continued on up the Blue Ridge Parkway Drive to Grandfather Mountain - we criss-crossed up steep inclines to get to the summit - at the summit was a mile-high swinging suspension bridge - breath-taking!.......

After continuing up the Parkway a bit further through Blowing Rock (wonderful little town) - and Boone - - then decided to start back east toward Norfolk.

In Norfolk, after dining at Joe's Crabshack on the waterfront, we rode the American Rover - a three-masted topsail passenger schooner!! I've always wanted to ride on a schooner - this was my first and it won't be my last!...we rode by the USS Wisconsin (WWII, Korean War & Desert Storm).....the ride was so smooth and relaxing - loved it! I wasn't able to get a good pic with the sails up (since we were on the boat) - so I've copied/pasted one from their website here.... what a fabulous afternoon!

We rode over the Chesapeake Bay Bridge -one of the top 10 bridges in the U.S. - - it's a 17-mile bridge that has two tunnels about mid-way going under the water (so that barges/ships can pass through above the tunnel) - - what an engineering marvel........on the other side of the bridge is the Eastern Shore of Virginia - - a quaint coastal area with a very relaxing atmosphere - we drove up the entire shore (just 4 miles from the Maryland state line) - and then went across another bridge to Chincoteague Island - the only resort island in VA - it's famous for wild ponies roaming about - as well as its picturesque marina & beaches.......beautiful!

We regretfully flew back to DFW from Norfolk - city of mermaids - - with many lasting memories - - relaxed and refreshed from this fantastic vacation.........

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Latest & Greatest Technology

One of the best ways to stay current on the latest technology - including lots of Web 2.0 tools is Free Technology for Teachers http://www.freetech4teachers.com/ You can sign up to receive it through your e-mail on a daily, weekly, etc. basis - or you can subscribe to a RSS feed. I've already learned so much from this blog

I also want to share with you a fantastic website for vocabulary http://www.visuwords.com/%3C/ - it's very cool - check it out...........

Finally, I also recommend you follow this blog - iTeach - Learning in a "FLAT" World http://iteach20.blogspot.com/2009/08/25-free-technology-tools-for-teachers.html lots of great things there!!

Have you read The World is Flat by Thomas L. Friedman ? If not, check out the wiki-summary here: http://www.wikisummaries.org/The_World_Is_Flat


There's enough here to keep you learning new technology/entertained for many hours/days/weeks/etc............


On Good Morning America (love that show!!) this morning, Juju Chang did a segment on the ever-increasing technology in Korea (she had just returned from a trip there) - - amazing and exciting as to what's to come.........check it out below:

Dr. Brown's class Monday, June 21

Technology for the 21st Century

http://www.pandora.com/ free music

http://sketch.odopod.com/ autoplay sketch slideshow

http://blabberize.com/ blabberize

http://www.xtranormal.com/xtranormal

http://www.voki.com/ consider showing a voki you created as a focus to a future lesson……. or to explain something within your lesson - or - better yet - have your students create their own voki talking about something they have recently learned (science concept, social studies information, book commercial, etc.)

www.dropbox.com store data in cybespace - free account

http://www.wordle.net/ make a visual of the main idea of a passage

http://www.tagxedo.com/make a visual of the main idea of a passage - in a selected shape

http://www.jigzone.com/ upload photos (or use photos on this website) and make them into a virtual puzzle

http://sites.google.com/site/trainprocomputing/ Promethean Board help – instructional handouts - interactive websites (can also be used with a mouse if you don’t have a smart board – other’s flipcharts

http://www.prometheanplanet.com/server.php?show=nav.1147 brief how-to videos for various skills on the Promethean board

http://www.polleverywhere.com/ students can answer questions via their cell phone

http://www.prezi.com/ totally free presentation program

http://animoto.com/ make fancy videos quick, easy

http://www.yodio.com/ Do you yodio???

http://www.mathtrain.tv/index.php Mathtrain.tv

http://delicious.com/ social bookmarking – always have your bookmarks with you – on any computer

http://www.todaysmeet.com/ backchannel website – like instant messaging – but within a confined – invitation only group……

http://www.funnelbrain.com/ Flashcards, study teams you create via online social networking, quizzes - search data base or make your own - view online or print


Sites with Flipcharts or Interactives Correlated to the TEKS and/or TAKS Objectives:
TEA Interactive TAKS Study Guides - On the right side of the screen, select the grade level, subject area and interactive

TAKS Vocabulary Flipchart - Sign in to Promethean Planet to download the Flipchart

SailOn Subject Area Interactives - Interactive sites correlated to TEKS created by 7 districts in the Houston area

Peer for Environmental Education and Rural Health (PEER - A&M-College Station) - Lesson plans corrlated to TEKS - search by subject and/or grade level

Round Rock ISD - Focuses on grades 3 and 5 Science and Math (links to the Flipcharts are in the left column)


Simulation Websites:
http://www.techtrekers.com/sim.htm
http://www.shodor.org/interactivate/activities/
http://www.edinformatics.com/kids_teens/kt_math.htm
http://www.emints.org/ethemes/resources/S00000592.shtml
http://nlvm.usu.edu/en/nav/vlibrary.html
http://www.learningscience.org/
http://ginaotto.com/math.html
http://www.mathplayground.com/math_manipulatives.html


For purchase:
http://wordtoons.com/make vocabulary words into cartoons for help remember them easily

Have High Expectations.........

Promethean Board Information

For A&M-C faculty & students.......


Here are instructions on how to download the ActivInspire software on your personal computer – we have permission for all of you to do this – be sure to download the “professional” version……also be sure to download lots of resource packs from http://www.prometheanplanet.com/ (graphic organizers/subject-related themes/etc.)


How-to handouts can be viewed/printed from this website: http://sites.google.com/site/trainprocomputing/ (handouts link on the left hand side)


How-to videos on various Promethean board/ActivInspire features http://www.prometheanplanet.com/server.php?show=nav.1147


To download the ActivInspire software on your own computer (totally free for all our students & faculty) – follow these steps……

Go to http://www.prometheanplanet.com/en/  

Click on the Register tab at the top to sign up for your free account - - establish a username and password.

Then click on the Support tab - -then click on the rectangle on the right that says Download ActivInspire

Click on US English

Download

At bottom of website enter the code

0016-6709-1884-4184-7684

Then click on Windows or Mac

Run software……(mine took approx.. 10 minutes….your download may be different – depending on internet speed)…………

You want ActivStudio – not ActivPrimary

Also download resource pack - - (clipart, templates, etc.)

Search the prometheanplanet website for more free resource packs to add to your ActivInspire software………