Thanks again, Google Docs!

I've blogged about Google Docs before.  With a recent update from Google, I've discovered the beauty of publishing documents (even large ones) as webpages.  Don't get me wrong, I've always been so thankful toward the developers of Google Docs, because it makes my life so convenient.  But, with the massive increase in students having hand-held web-enabled devices over computers, Google Docs used to let me down every so often.  Certain documents (often PDFs) couldn't be viewed on mobile devices, even if the permissions allowed for it.  

Now, though, I can publish my documents as webpages rather than a document, like this.  It doesn't use Flash (don't worry Steve Jobs!), so anyone can get it.  It makes things so much easier for my students, especially reviewing for the SOL (which is tomorrow).  I can send kids links to reminders and review packets and they can all get them. 

Just create a new Google Doc (click to enlarge):  

Then, when you're finished adding your content, click Share and select Publish as Web Page.

And, voila...your own content online.

 

So, thank you to Google Docs and good luck to my students taking the SOL!

Turning Points. Not gone (yet).

So, I have still been using Turning Points, as I don't have 32 wireless mice.  It works well, but it could be better.  I'm having trouble being able to review the results of each response card.  I've followed the instructions TP put online as well as watching the video, to no avail.  Any suggestions?

I heart Netflix

It's getting to be the end of the year, so I'm doing a lot of reviewing in my classes to get the kids ready for the SOL.  It's a busy time for me.  One way I've saved some time is by using Netflix.  I teach a history elective called Combating Intolerance and we watch a lot of movies/films about instances of intolerance.  In the past, I've had to borrow the videos from colleagues, the library, wherever...which can be a bit time-consuming.  However, my husband signed us up for Netflix this year and I've discovered that I can show these movies from my laptop to my projector, so rather than wasting time hunting down the videos, I can stream them to my class.  It even saves the video at the exact correct spot, so I don't have to worry where we stopped off.  

Even better, Netflix has a pretty good number of History Channel videos in their Instant stream collection.  I'm hoping that they'll add more and maybe advance this feature more for education.  It seems like this would be a great way to sell Netflix to school districts.  You can try Netflix free.  I think we spend ~$10/mo. and I would say it is definitely worth it.

Interesting...

I saw this great article on Mashable this morning.  It pretty much sums up where my school (and I think many others) is and where we're moving to.  Even last year Facebook was blocked on our network, now it isn't and many classes (especially foreign language) are using it as a part of instruction/enrichment.  


I think the part of this article that deals with teachers and other professionals in education embracing social media is a great way to lead into teaching students about digital citizenship.  It seems all too often that students think they are completely anonymous online, and make bad choices.  Once people are taught how to act online, it becomes a much more usable medium for learning.

I like it...

 I saw this article about classrooms that you student respsonse systems (Turning Points, Mouse Mischief).  Apparently by getting your kids actively involved in the business of learning, they will do better on state achievement tests.  Imagine that!  But seriously, the article does have some interesting data about the effect student response systems have on classes.  Hopefully, with data like this, more classes will use sytems and methods that engage students.

Flash Drives

Since projectors & SmartBoards have made their appearance at our school, more and more teachers use PowerPoint during their classes.  I am a huge fan of PowerPoint in my classes, but unfortunately, they take up a great deal of space-I use our school network to save all of my files, and back it up on an external drive at home.  But, I know other teachers that don't trust the network and they carry a large numbers of USB Flash drives around with them.  I started thinking about what happens if you lose your USB-how can you secure your files?

It turns out that Microsoft Office (which accounts for about 99% of the files on my main Flash Drive) has a built-in password protection option (no downloads necessary).  There are downloadable files that will let you do similar things to any files.  I'm on the hunt for one that will password-protect my entire Flash drive, I'll update the blog when I find a good, free one.

To password-protect your Office Files (2007):
(click the images to enlarge them)

1.  Click the Office Button at the top & click Save As...

2.  In the lower left portion of the Save As... dialog box that pops up, click on General Options.

3.  Enter your password in the fields, you can make the same or different passwords for opening the document and for modifying the document (it will prompt you to verify them).

4.  When you (or someone else) tries to open the file, it will ask for the password, just enter it to open the file.

5.  If you can't remember it (or someone is trying to access your data), you will see this...

Mischievious Monday

Microsoft has come out with a program to rival Turning Points (more to come on TP in another post).  I was a big fan of Turning Points, but I think Microsoft might have a winner here-it's called Mouse Mischief and it's a free download that works with PowerPoint 2007.  It actually works pretty similarly to Turning Points, but there are two major differences that I think makes Mouse Mischief the winner.

Basically the whole point of these two systems is to find a way to have students interact with your computer.  Turning Points does it with a remote of some sort (this is what I have):

So you can have students answer questions, take polls and quizzes.  It's pretty handy.

Where Mouse Mischief wins, is that you don't need expensive Turning Points remotes for the system to work, all you need is a wireless mouse.  The second thing that leads me to believe I would rather Mouse Mischief over Turning Points is that kids can move the mouse like they normally would.  With Turning Points, all they can do is press a button, whereas Mouse Mischief lets them circle things, draw lines and manipulate their icon like you would on a computer.

There is a promotional video that does a pretty good job of selling it (imagine that!) and gives you instructions on how to use it.  I put some images below, as well.

I am a fan and plan to try this out in my class and work on it's use in my school.  Download it (it's free), try it and let me know what you think!

This is the tab that adds itself to PowerPoint: