TechieTeacher5280

One of my new projects this year is a game design unit in which students program their own Frogger-type Game. We use a software program called AgentSheets , which allows students to program in a "drag and drop" programming type environment, providing an easy introduction to programming without the need to teach 7th graders a programming language. You can use the software to create any type of game. You can check out some of the games my latest group created here . I learned of this software when I taught in Boulder. The Boulder Valley School District was participating in a University of Colorado study lead by Alex Repenning, the creator of AgentSheets. I had the unique opportunity to be paid to attend a week-long class during the summer, gain graduate credits, and use the software for free with my class in exchange for participating in this study.

If you ever wanted to know how to make your own Talking Head animated clip like the folks at JibJab do ( http://sendables.jibjab.com/ ), check out this great video tutorial series I recently found! http://www.communitymx.com/content/article.cfm?cid=e520a Kim Cavanaugh has put together a series of 5 short video tutorials that show you how to create your own talking head using Flash & Fireworks. Better still you can download the videos to your computer in case you want to show them to your students but find the website blocked by your district! I hope you enjoy this amazing resource as much as I do!

It was suggested to me that I start a tech blog for teachers, since I spend most of my free time looking for resources and complaining that there aren't enough. Why not create my own resource for teachers? Why not, indeed! I'm a full time technology teacher at a middle school in Colorado, which keeps me pretty busy, but I hope to start posting my thoughts/ideas regularly so that others might find some of the great resources I've discovered over the years. Enjoy!