Tech Tues: Cyber bullying Prevention

Did you know that 43% of high school teens have been victims of cyber bullying in the last year? This information is provided by Enough is Enough,  Internet Safety 101. 

Bullying no longer thrives in our unguarded hallways but online via cell phones, internet, or gaming systems. Don't become another statistic.Here are four ways you can protect yourself from online abuse:

• Never give out personal information online including your name, address, phone number, school’s name or credit card numbers
• Don’t share photos of yourself online that you wouldn't share with your parents. Know that everything you share online is permanent including Aps as “Snap Chat” 
• Never arrange face-to-face meetings with someone you met online
• Block any unfriendly person from contacting you on your phone, email, and from all social media accounts, Twitter, FB, You Tube, etc.

Keep yourself informed and prevent yourself from becoming a statistic: Go to Wired Safety or Stop Cyber Bullying for more information on staying safe online

Tech Tuesday: Discovery Streaming Videos for your Students

Discovery Streaming an encyclopedia of educational videos. Find everything from biographies to career information.

Getting Started:
The getting started menu provides information on search/play, downloading and sharing videos.

• The teacher center provides over 200 lesson plans designed to be used with Discovery Streaming videos.
• Build and store assignments for your students using curriculum content from Discovery Education. 
• Give students writing practice with these images that include composition prompts. 
• There's even a Quiz Builder to incorporate video clips into interactive quizzes.

Do your students have access to this great resource?  You can set up a classroom by using the Classroom Manager and add students individually by typing in their first and last names a unique login and a 6 digit password from the Classroom Manager tab. Need help? Ask your friendly librarians, we are more than happy to help you.

Tech Tues: Keeping Time

Sometimes we need a timer whether were keeping a class on task or creating interactive presentations requiring the audience to interact with each other such as “Think, Pair and Share”.  Online Stop watch.com offers a variety of timers such as the classic stop watch, egg timers and even a quirky bomb.

Timers can be embedded into a Power Point slide by first saving the picture of the timer you would like to use and insert it into your Power Point presentation. Next link the picture to the online timer you have chosen, make sure to insert the full screen link this way during your presentation it will only take a second to set the time interval. Try this Egg timer by Online Stop Watch.com.

Many of you are creating Google sites, Blogs & My Big Campus sites to communicate with your students, parents and organizations . Time and Date.com offers a plethora of free clocks and timers to embed on your webpage. After selecting the best clock for your purpose, it can be custom made as the Summer Vacation count down  below. Once your clock is selected and custom designed to fit your website Time and Date.com  provides  the free html code to copy and paste into your website.

                             
 Staying on time and making each day count!

Tech Tuesday: Google Sites

Today's Tech Tuesday brings to you valuable information on setting up a Google Site for your classroom or project. The video below will show you how to find Google Sites and how to create your own website using Google Sites. Students and staff at CHS have been set up with a Google Account. Your account can be accessed from the school's Home Page under Staff or Student tabs. You will need to sign in using your school login and password + 94. Once you have access to your Google Account you can follow this short (4 min.) video and create your own website for your class or project.

Building a Google Site (web page) for student projects can be an innovative and creative format for presenting research projects.  Visit the project on Henry Wadworth Longfellow a website designed for a Sophomore Research Project on poets using Google sites to present information. Students use this digital portfolio to include their research, writing process, works cited and audio visual gallery created by Jeff Pisauro.

Please visit the LRC if you would like individual help setting up your Google Site.

Tech Tues: Cat Fishing?

Today's post isn't really about fishing but about not getting caught in the net of an internet hoax. "Catfish hoax" and the term "cat fishing" are used to label social media deceptions. See the Catfish Hoax trailer from this You Tube video below.

"Cat fishing" has made headlines this week largely because of the latest catfish hoax  involving Notre Dame's linebacker Manti T'eo. He has been involved in a widely publicized Catfishing hoax. The verdict is still out on whether or not T'eo took part in the hoax. Was he looking to gain publicity for the NFL football draft? If so, it worked since many first learned of Manti T'eo when the news media announced he lost both his grandmother and his girlfriend on the same day while leading Nortre Dame's football team to victory.  Or was he simply a boy involved in school, studying, and sports with little time for a social life and fell in love using, Twitter, Face book and texting without ever meeting his girlfriend face to face?

Our Teen Health and Wellness database offers helpful information on "How much sharing and showing is too much?

Staying safe of social network sites by US-CERT

Keep yourself safe by using Skype to meet someone you don't know face to face. Remember if you're not comfortable talking to someone face to face it's probably not wise to add that person as a friend to a social media site where they can access your photo's and personal information.

Tuesday Tech Tip: Getting Organized

Happy New Year CHS!

Did you include a New Year’s Resolution to get organized? Today’s tech tip will help you organize your Desk Top, by creating new folders in My Documents. Toward the end of every semester student files begin to pile up on the Desk Top and My Documents areas. By following the steps below, you can quickly organize your computer. This will leave you feeling great and your computer running more effieciently without breaking into a sweat! (Sweating is for another New Years resolution)

Open My Documents and right click anywhere on the white space and you will see a pop up window, scroll down to New and select Folder. Name your new folder by class or assignment.  Be sure to label your new folders with enough information so it's easy to find later.

Create folders within folders and move your desk top files into your My Documents folder to really clean up!  Here's a short You Tube video with tips to help clean up your My Documents Folder.

 

Tech Tuesday: Hanging Indents

Tis the season for research papers and along with them work cited entries. If you rather not use Noodle Tools to create your bibliography, you may need today's tech tip to help in formating a work cited page.

The second line of an MLA citation needs to indent but when the tab key is used the entire citation moves to the right, causing many students anquish and frustration.

Use a "hanging indent" not the tab key when using MS Word 2010 to indent the second line of your citation entry. Watch this short video and save yourself valuable time with this simple how to video.

Courtesy of DeIong Science and You Tube



You're only a few clicks away from formating the perfect citation!

Using Common Sense When Posting to Social Media

What is proper etiquette when using social media?
The days are gone when most people consult Emily Post's book of etiquette before attending a special celebration or sending a thank you letter. Today we have the unrestrained freedom to log in to our favorite social media sites and post comments and pictures of others without thinking about the consequences of our actions.

Use common sense when using social media sites such as Face Book or My Big Campus (MBC) which is being introduced this week at Community High School.
Here are a few do's and don'ts to help make using social media sites a positive experience:

• Don't edit or delete the work of another student without their permission
• Don't posts pictures or information that could compromise the safety or be disrespectful of fellow students
• Be respectful of others, use common sense and don't use profanity, threatening or  discriminatory remarks
• Don't share your login information with anyone, if you feel your login has been compromised see your teacher
• All of you have signed an Internet Agreement Policy, please adhere to this policy and report misuses to your teacher

Tamar Weinberg a social media enthusiast owns a website called Techipedia that offers helpful information on posting etiquette to social media sites. Social media is a great way to stay connected, using a little common sense will make it a positive experience for all.

Tech Tuesday: Three Simple Solutions Using Google

Try these three simple solutions to help make your life easier, thanks to our friends at Google.

Need the definition of a word at your fingertips? Try Google’s Define Feature. In the search box type define followed by the word you want to define and Google will provide you with the definition.

Ever wonder what the weather’s like just outside your door or anywhere? Try Google’s Weather Feature. In the search box type weather and add your zip code or city and instantly you will have a weather report for that area.

Calculating simple to complex problems can be done using Google’s Calculator. Use Google calculator to convert measurements and currency. See Nancy Blachman's Google Reference Guide for additional uses.

Tech Tuesday: WebQuests

What is a WebQuest?
They are inquiry-based lessons or activities that guide learners through information provided on the web. Done correctly, WebQuest engage learners in critical thinking with activities that can be completed independently or in groups.

WebQuests can contain video segments, images, encyclopedia articles and websites. Students make the best use out of the internet while activating critical thinking. “For more information on WebQuests” 

Bernie Dodge at San Diego State University designed the first WebQuest model. Since then waves of educators have embraced WebQuests around the world. A plethora of WebQuests exist that require higher levels of thinking not just summarizing. For more information on “selecting a good WebQuest”  visit this link.


How to create a WebQuest?

http://www.educationworld.com/a_tech/tech/tech011.shtml

http://legacy.teachersfirst.com/summer/webquest/quest-a.shtml

http://questgarden.com/45/16/9/070114102531/t-index.htm

http://www.greenwichschools.org/page.cfm?p=1674

http://www.educationworld.com/a_tech/archives/webquest_orig.shtml

http://eduscapes.com/tap/topic4.htm

http://www.bestwebquests.com/

The wheel needn't be invented twice so search through the available WebQuests and adapt one for your class. Just remember to give credit to the author/s.

Classroom Publishing

Show what you can do with Yudu.

ebooks are all the rage so why not join in the fun it’s as easy as downloading a Word document, PDF, or PowerPoint to create and publish your own magazine using Yudu for free. Your ebook will have zoom options and page turning features, then share it with others or keep it private.

Teachers can set up an account and have students download their work creating a classroom library. This can be embedded to your classroom Wiki, blog or website.

The ebook below was created in a couple of minutes using a summary of the new Abraham Lincoln Award nominees.

Enlarge this document in a new window
Publishing Software from YUDU

To Google or not to Google: That is the question…

Tuesday’s Tech Tip is about finding information on the web without Googling. Nothing against Google off course but other search engines can do an effective job with added features to suit your learning style. Here are a few you might want to add to your favorites bar.
 

Twurdy.com is a search engine powered by bing that offers reading levels for each of the 10 articles found on a page. The color coding makes it easy to identify basic, intermediate or advanced reading levels at a glance and the corresponding reading level is offered in the summary.

Boolify.org  is an interactive search engine also by bing and a cool way to learn how to use a Boolean search. Just click on a word puzzle piece and drag into the workspace. You can continue to add words, using (and,or & not) puzzle pieces to your searches. By choosing the URL puzzle piece and dragging it onto the workspace you can search specific domains such as .edu for education sites and .gov for government sites. Try it!

Sweet Search.com this search engine is organized by educators, librarians and research experts to return reliable information back to you. Over 100,000 hours of work went into creating Sweet Search by Dulcinea with over 35,000 approved websites. Sweet Search also offers four other search vehicles for biographies, social studies, 2 day (learn something new each day) and 4 me for emerging learners.

Off course you will need to have good search phrases or keywords for best results. Search this blog for more information on creating effective keywords and search phrases.