MATH - GeoGebra - Dynamic Math Software

www.geogebra.org/

GeoGebra is a free and multi-platform dynamic mathematics software for schools that joins geometry, algebra and calculus.

This program allows you to build drawings of almost any complexity. You can add points, lines, vectors, polygons, circles, angles, text and even images from files (.gif, .jpg, .png, .tiff) to your drawings. All objects have bindings to coordinates. So you may get to learn various information like distance or length, area, angle, equation. Besides standard figures, there are many additional elements for editing (parallel line, semicircle, locus, mirror at line, bisector, etc.). Every element can be changed dynamically afterwards. Just type-in an equation in the form and the element will be added ('(x-3)^2+(y-5)^2=100' for the circle).

Click here for a GeoGebra example of Pythagoras' theorem with a ladder against a wall.

GeoGebra has a very user friendly and beautiful interface and, don't know if I can say this enough, it is absolutely free. GeoGebra is fast, and works steadily. You may export the resulting image as a picture or save it on the disk in a special format. Also you can print your drawing (with scale mark) out. Also being Java-based, GeoGebra will run on any operating system and so thats a big plus.

Check out GeoGebra and reply below with what you think!

(Thanks to Dmitry Neganov for this post)

Music - Ricci Adams Music Theory

www.musictheory.net/

Here's a site that was introduced to to me by my Music Teacher buddy, Jeremy E.

Ricci Adams’ musictheory.net is an online resource available for learning and reinforcing basic music theory, it is probably the best single tool available for that purpose anywhere. And it’s free.

Lessons and drills are all Flash-based, so you must have Macromedia’s plugin for your browser. However, the benefits are many; the pages load quickly, the lessons are both clear and aesthetically pleasing, and it provides a web based platform to present the training modules.

Most of the lessons are pretty basic, but if you're a theory novice (or just looking for a bit of a refresher), this is a good place to start. Lessons cover such areas as key signatures, scales, chord theory, and basic composition.

Perhaps the site's most useful feature is its collection of exercises, or “Trainers.” At the time of this writing, there are ten different exercises available, broken up into three categories — Trainers, Ear Trainers, and Instrument Trainers. The first offers exercises dealing with notes, keys, intervals, and triads. The second consists of audio drills that help sharpen your skills in recognizing intervals, scales, and chords. The last provides practice on locating various notes on piano, guitar, and brass instruments.

The Trainers are well designed and make good use of audio. They can be downloaded, as well, if you'd rather use them offline. They're compatible with both Mac and Windows.

MusicTheory.net also offers a forum section, a chord calculator, and a Staff Paper Generator that lets you print your own blank music paper.

(Special thanks  to onstagemag.com & J.E. for this post)

Science - Take A Virtual Tour of the Solar System

To visit Planets CLICK HERE

Here is fabulous interactive website that lets students explore our solar system to get a much clearer understanding about planet orbits, size, and relative position to one another.

The site is simply called Planets and it's a fantastic resource for the interactive whiteboards.

The site allows the teacher or student to control how they are viewing the solar system. Users can touch and drag to move things around and they have a complete set of controls to change scale, speed of orbits (passing of time), or planetary object to follow. For example, if you follow the Sun, the Sun is stationary and it shows the other planets orbiting the Sun. If you follow the Earth, then it shows the other planetary objects with a stationary Earth.

For you Pluto lovers, this resource shows Pluto as being the farthest "planet" away from the Sun.

I hope you enjoy this incredible resource for interactive boards. Please share it with your fellow teachers.

(Special thanks to teacherslovesmartboards.com for this post)

Why "YOU" should use a document camera in your class room?

A document camera is one of the easiest and quickest ways to integrate technology into your classroom. There are very few special skills needed to use this piece of equipment. A classroom document camera can be connected to a DLP/LCD projector through a computer or connected directly to a DLP/ LCD projector. This one piece of classroom technology can be used to actively engage students in the learning process. Visual learners will benefit from the use of a classroom document camera by seeing small items, text, demonstrations in a much bigger way. Hands-on learners can also benefit from the use of a document camera by allowing them to be the ones placing objects or items under the document camera and explaining what they are showing. Another benefit of using a document camera is the decrease in copying expense. Schools are always looking at ways to maximize the financial resources that are available. A classroom document camera can drastically reduce the amount of copying a teacher has to do. Instead of copying 30 quizzes for a class, place 1 copy of the quiz under a document camera and either have students answer the questions on a sheet of paper or use clickers such as the Classroom Performance System (CPS) to have students answer the quiz questions.

How can you use a document camera in my classroom?

Preschool - Primary Grades Classroom Document Camera Ideas

•Show and Tell
•Science Experiments
•Zoom in on small items to see the details
•"Big Books" - Big books are expensive. You can turn any book into a big book by placing it under the document camera
•Math manipulatives
•Place a timer under the document camera to help with time management.
•ABC tiles - let students come up and rearrange the tiles to create words
•Maps
•Photos and images
•Worksheets - students can view you filling out the information instead of just listening
•Save images for later use. A classroom document camera connected to a computer can act as a scanner. Teachers can place items under the document camera and use them in class that day and "save" the image for future use.
•Save an image of what you did in class on the document camera to place on classroom websites. Parents can "see" what their children are learning throughout the day.
•Saved images can also be incorporated into PowerPoint Presentations and Windows Movie Maker to use in activities such as end of year programs, classroom review and back to school nights.

Intermediate/Middle School Classroom Document Camera Ideas

•Place a timer under the document camera to help with time management.
•Displaying student work
•Model note taking skills by using an actual piece of notebook paper.
•Model sentence and paragraph structure, punctuation and grammar editing
•Worksheets such as study guides or daily assignments. Fill out the worksheet with the students.
•Complete graphic organizers as a whole class
•Project a test for grading; students follow with their eyes and not just their ears
•Math Manipulatives such as compass, ruler, thermometer, base ten blocks, etc
•Demonstrate how to use a calculator
•Show students how to set up math problems using notebook paper
•Math workbook pages
•Displaying and creating graphs
•Science experiments
•Dissections
•Zoom in on small items to see the details
•Small items. Use the "zoom" feature to see the small details
•Valuable items you may not want to put in the hands of students
•Overhead transparencies (you may need to put a white sheet of paper behind it)
•Art pictures or projects
•Let the student be the "teacher"
•Save images for later use. A classroom document camera connected to a computer can act as a scanner. Teachers can place items under the document camera and use them in class that day and "save" the image for future use.
•Save an image of what you did in class on the document camera to place on classroom websites. Parents can "see" what their children are learning throughout the day.
•Saved images can also be incorporated into PowerPoint Presentations and Windows Movie Maker

High School Classroom Document Camera Ideas

•Model writing skills, editing, revising
•Worksheets such as study guides or daily assignments. Can be filled out as a classroom activity.
•Complete graphic organizers as a whole class
•Display textbooks
•Model how to use a calculator
•Graph paper
•Model setting up and steps for solving math problems
•Science experiments
•Dissections
•Microscope
•Science worksheets
•Science manipulatives
•Model chemistry problems, solving physics formulas
•Resource material you may only have one of or do not want to put in the hands of students
•Historical items
•Art projects
•Displaying student work
•Save images for later use. A classroom document camera connected to a computer can act as a scanner. Teachers can place items under the document camera and use them in class that day and "save" the image for future use.
•Save an image of what you did in class on the document camera to place on classroom websites. Parents can "see" what their children are learning throughout the day
•Saved images can also be incorporated into PowerPoint Presentations and Windows Movie Maker.

(Special thanks to edtechnetwork.com for this post)

Art - SUMO PAINT: Web Based Paint Program

http://www.sumopaint.com/

Even though Adobe Photoshop is the standard for creating professional image, not all school budgets can afford or want to pay the high pay for it. If you are looking for a free online alternative to Photoshop, then SUMO Paint is the best that you can get.

Below you can see some of the features and tricks you can do with the 1.0 release.

Sumo Paint is a free online image editor that looks like a complete clone of Adobe Photoshop. It is built with Adobe Flex and run completely from your browser. For those who are worrying that this application will take up tons of memory, I have tested it and found that it is stable, loads fairly fast and only takes up a fraction of my memory usage.

The impression you get when you first load up SUMO Paint is its Photoshop lookalike interface. Seasoned Photoshop user will find the floating toolbar, palettes and color bars far too familiar.

Unlike other online editors that focused mostly on image editing, SUMO Paint provides you with the necessary tools to create a professional image. You can find the Ink, Pencil tools for you to do your drawing (no Pen tool), custom shapes for vector work and add multiple layers for various effects. There is also a variety of brushes and filters effects that you can use.

To load an image in SUMO Paint, you can either upload the image from your computer, or simply grab an online image with its URL. Alternatively, you can create a SUMO account and load your image from there. Once you have finished your editing, you can download it to your computer in jpg/png format or save to your SUMO account for future re-editing. There is no social sharing feature here, but you can set the image that you save in your SUMO account to be available for public viewing.

When compared to Photoshop, there are still many features clearly lacking in SUMO Paint, but if you are looking for a free editor that gives you a good set of editing tool with easy to use Photoshop-like interface, SUMO Paint is definitely the one to go for.

(Special thanks to tutorials-tips-tricks.info for this post)

Create Your Own Story with Story Bird

http://www.storybird.com/

I've been following the progress of Storybird for a while now, and was so excited to hear today they'd launched their version 0.1. I suspected it would be another wonderful web space where kids could write for an authentic audience. But I didn't know I'd have so much fun creating stories there!

It really is super simple, and speedy. It took me one minute to register, two minutes to explore and then I was using their slick storymaker. The artwork available is just fabulous, so I decided to choose an artist I liked, and fling some captions together to create a test book, Peabody and Bear. Choosing one artist is difficult, as there are several artists, all with a range of illustrations. I chose a couple of pics that wouldn't load, but it wasn't so much of a problem, as there were plenty more, and I expect small glitches when they're in beta.

I'm fairly sure the site will later be a paying one, and of course, especially if you want to purchase a printed version. Right now though, it's free to join like I just did. Sharing stories is so important for children's literacy development, and this site encourages them to make and share their own stories. I hope you'll join me there!

The video below explains best how Storybird works.
 

Storybird Quick Tour from Storybird

(Special thanks to The Book Chook for this post)