TechieTeacher5280

Wow, I can't believe it's been 2 weeks since my last post! I've been so swamped lately that my one post a week goal has gone by the wayside. I recently started taking classes to earn an administrator licence and have also been helping my roommate buy a house (I'm a real estate agent on the side). I've hardly had a minute free, but I'm hoping to get a new post up tomorrow night. I can do it; I know I can! So check back tomorrow for my next post on free and useful software!

One of my coworkers came to me a week or so ago, frustrated because he wanted to show a YouTube video to his art class but wasn't able to, since our district blocks YouTube access. As you probably know, YouTube videos can't be downloaded through the site, and TeacherTube, which lets you download their videos, doesn't always have the ones that are needed. I promised him I would do some research into freeware that lets you download YouTube and other videos to your computer. So Nate (our art teacher), this one's for you!

Oh budget cuts, how I loathe thee. We recently learned that our district would not be getting as much money from the state this year as expected, and so, our budgets have been slashed. Any money left in our classroom budgets is gone (and I had plenty!). Any outstanding receipts will most likely not be reimbursed (there goes $200!!) We have been given 3 reams, yes a measly 1500 pieces of paper, for copies, which is expected to last us until the end of the year. God forbid the copier jam! Thank goodness I have the lowest copy count in the school, thanks to the nature of my job, though I pity our poor language arts teachers--1500 pieces of paper/170 students a day = very few assignments will be printed out anymore. Hope those kids can hand-copy at a reasonable pace! So for those of us in the same boat, or with limited budgets to begin with, I thought I'd focus on free software available online, either as downloads, or Web2.0. This week, I'll be taking a look at keyboarding softw...

Internet Safety and responsible use of technology will always be a hot topic in schools. Internet predators are not going away, and it seems that "stranger danger" is not the only dark side of technology. Kids are commonly the perpetrators of harm, against others as well as themselves, thanks to Cyberbullying and Sexting. One in five U.S. teenagers received unwanted sexual solicitations online ( Crimes Against Children Research Center ). Cyberbullying has touched three-fourths of American teenagers according to a 2008 UCLA survey. 20% of teenagers have sent or posted nude or semi-nude pictures or videos of themselves and 39% of teens had sent or posted sexually suggestive messages ( The National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy ).  It's unfortunate, but as with so many things in life, we must take the good with the bad., but we don't have to take it lying down. So this week, as I kick off my Internet safety lessons with my students, I though...

My latest teaching goal is to create short video tutorials for my students on the various skills I'm teaching in class. That way, if they're absent or need a reminder of what to do, they can just watch one of my little videos. So this week, I researched free screen recording software looking for something that works well and is easy to use. I'm hoping to be able to install this software on all the computers in my lab, so I can also use it as an assessment tool and perhaps even have my more advanced students create the various tutorials I need. Below is a list of five free screen recording program that I tested with a short review of each. Each program was highly rated on CNET or referenced on many of the websites I visited while looking for these programs.

This week has been a tough week for me. My grandmother, who I'm extremely close to, passed away on Wednesday. Her health had been declining for quite some time, however, after having a wonderful visit with her on Saturday, I never expected that the next day she would slip into unconsciousness and remain that way until finally passing away on Wednesday. I learned of her condition after school on Monday and immediately rushed over to her nursing home to be with her. I took the rest of the week off to keep her company and then to be with my family after she passed. As I had not anticipated being out from work for so long (or at all really), I was not at a good point in my projects for a sub to step in and take over. Of course, most of my classes finished their work my first day out. As I did not know what type of computer skills my sub would have, or even if I would get the same one each day, I needed to write lesson plans that were simple enough for a non tech-savvy person to...

One of my biggest challenges this year has involved email. My school district does not currently give students access to email. They can't access webmail sites like Yahoo, Google, etc., and the district does not provide district email for the students. This has proven problematic for a couple of reasons. The biggest one is that 4 of my teaching standards involve students using email. Alas, I have not found a way around this. It'll be tough to teach kids how to email without email! A byproduct of not having email access has also been that it's difficult for me to use Web 2.0 sites with my students, as many of them require that new accounts be created with existing email addresses. Luckily, I found a solution to this second problem.