Flipboard...an IPad App I'm Adding....for Fun and for Teaching and Counseling!

   If you have an Ipad and you are browsing around the internet and just wasting time, you could actually do a little work too. By "work", I mean you could build a magazine of materials to read or review later. And you can make these by category and it could even be a category of articles or videos that you would later like to use for your teaching. Pair it with the IPad to projector app and  you can have the kids read and view your "magazine" as a classtime activity! You can do all of this with the app called "Flipboard".  I have embedded a video below that shows how to use Flipboard. I plan on putting this on my IPad today and starting a couple magazines on counseling topics. I may even make one of short "|Bell ringer" type videos so I can use those in class too. Watch the video and download the app if you think it could be good for your either professionally or personally.

Oh, and it is a FREE app. :)

Flipboard website click here!

Slow Motion Youtube Videos

Thank you to Richard Byrne of Free Technology for Teachers for alerting me to the idea of slow motion videos on Youtube. As a former science teacher, how awesome is it to be able to film some of your science experiments on the weekend or even in class and then upload them to Youtube AND put them in slow motion so you can explain what is going on and students can see what is going on!! Lots of applications for coaches, but I think teachers could really use this slow motion option too, especially science teachers. Very cool!

Here is Richard Byrne's blog post about this slow motion option.

TED Videos Starring Inspiring Teachers

If you need to start getting yourself psyched up and pumped up before the school year begins, inspiring TED videos by teachers might do the trick. I have viewed a few of these in the past, but hope to view all 10 before school starts (many TED videos are on Netflix now too!). Great ideas and some pretty powerful and interesting thoughts. Enjoy!

10 Inspiring TED videos by teachers (if you have never watched TED videos, you should. They are purposely very short, 20 minutes or less, and engaging!)

The Classroom of the Future? (Video)

Thank you to Scott McLeod and his blog "Dangerously Irrelevant", I found this very cool video by Intel about what the classroom of the near future may look like. Makes you think how far we have  come with technology and instruction and how far we may still have to go....

Puppet Pals HD for the IPad: Good Story-telling App for kids....and Counseling?

   I got this app idea from the School Counselor Blog (also where I got the great idea for Scribble Press...thank you Danielle Shultz!) and my own kids have made their first puppet story/video already. Puppet Pals HD is a free app (you can pay to get a super-charged version of the app called a Director's Pass) where kids/students can choose a variety of characters and settings to put on a short play or puppet show. If you download this to your IPad, as you move the characters and change the settings, the IPad will record your voice so you can have dialogue for each character. Students could act out part of a story they read or extend a story that they read. As for me, a counselor, I could have students mess around with this as they talk to me and maybe their stories will tell me more. Or they could use this as role play by controlling the characters or letting me play a role. The possibilities for this app are endless. For my own kids, I even uploaded the video to Youtube when they were done and now I can share it with friends, family, or on Facebook. Neat stuff! I can't wait to see what my kids will create next! Give it a try this summer and see how you might use it.

Click here for more information on Puppet Pals HD for the IPad

Great List of Discovery Education Tools

I think I have published once before, but thanks to Educational Technology Guy, here is the updated list. His blog post is a great one to bookmark whether or not you currently use Discovery Education. And if you don't use it, pick one or two things from his list and try to use them in the upcoming weeks. You will be glad you did!

Help Your Students Understand 9-11 By Watching It in Real-Time

This is something I have done twice since the tragic day of September 11, 2001. In the world of technology, everything gets archived and stored somewhere. Well, now, there is a site that includes dozens of new stations from around the world and their live reports before, during, and after the attack on our country that day. Our 6th graders were just barely born when this event happened! I will say that the videos are tough to watch knowing what we know now, but it is still one of the best ways to understand what our country went through during those hours and days, as you see the country react to what little information we had during that time. Even if you do not teach social studies or show this to your students, you might want to watch it as we approach the 10-year anniversary of the attack.

9-11 Video log site click here!

Slidestaxx....a Very Cool Site!

Teachers, so many possibilities with this site called Slidestaxx (click here to get to website). I am already putting it into my lesson plans as a way for my 8th graders to make a presentation of who they are. They can pick 10 pictures, videos, websites, and videos that show who they truly are. They will present these to the class and their staxx of visual information will be completely chosen and arranged by them. How cool! Not to mention, you could now make a Slidestaxx of a topic you are talking about. Instead of just talking and trying to work the technology, make a Slidestaxx of your pictures, videos, and information you want to share. Your presentation is now interactive and giving the students lots of resources. Not to mention, now your presentation is online for students to view at home or even their families. I am sure there are even more possibilities beyond these, but I will let you figure those out and teach me about them! For starters, here is my SlideStaxx that I made. Not a finished product, but close....

TED videos are great, now you can find the best in one spot!

I admit it, I love TED videos. But the good news is that millions of other people do as well. They are one of the most shared videos (besides Youtube) on the web. And the best part is they are all 20 minutes long or less. Even my students have enjoyed some of the TED videos. I just wish I knew which ones were the best. Now, I do. Using this website I am posting about, you can see which TED videos are shared the most or viewed the most, which likely means they are the best of the best. I have to admit, I have seen most of the ones that have been shared because I have tried watching the "best of the best" before. But some are new and I am excited to watch those. So, what good are these videos to you? Well, mostly, they are good to watch and make you think about our world and our lives. But some are good for students too. Watch a couple and you will be addicted too. They are great short videos to watch before bed or to start the day. Have fun!

TED Page/Rank

VuSafe, Another Safe Youtube Alternative

VuSafe appears to be another great Youtube video showing tool that is much safer and much less distracting. This site allows you to show a Youtube video in the event that Youtube is blocked. But it also cuts out the ads, the comments, and all the other junk that surrounds a typical Youtube video. And once you are signed up, you can save your videos to your VuSafe account and list appropriate age ranges and other information about each video. Students could view videos under your account as well. I haven't tried the site out, but I like the idea that it saves your videos and keeps them in one account. Enjoy!

VuSafe site.

Another Site to Use in Order to Clip Youtube Videos to What You Want to Show

Just a quick post to alert you to another site that allows you to cut a Youtube video down to just the parts you want to show. This time it is a site named "snipsnip.it". I haven't used it, but it looks very simple to use and you don't need to register to use it. In other words, it can be used quickly if you find a Youtube video you want to use and don't want all the extra junk that comes with Youtube videos (unwanted parts of video, ads, comments, etc.). Give it a try!

Click here for Snipsnip.It

DragONTape Getting Better

For teachers who like to show lots of Youtube Clips quickly and easily, again, I recommend DragonTape as a site to use. You go out and find the videos and paste them to this site. This site places all the videos in one continuous stream and plays them back to back to back, etc. No need searching for videos or having multiple windows open to show the videos. Use this site and put all your videos into one long video chain. The update to this site is that you can now post your video chain to a blog or Facebook. Cool!

Click here to make your own mixed tape.

Here is a simple sample that I made. Took me literally 2 minutes.