Last Assignment: Incorporating Classmates’ Strategies

1) I chose to incorporate the strategies of:
a)Pingomatic
b)Blog address on email signature
I chose these two because they were not ones I had tried before and I thought they would be the most effective out of the ones I had not tried. I especially liked the signature option as I send out over a hundred emails a week at work and personally.

2)I definitely found this project to be useful to me as an ITRT. Teachers tell me they enjoy my blogs and are using some of the ideas I have posted. I have greatly expanded my personal learning network. I have really enjoyed looking for things to post on my blog and have learned a lot by scouring the internet for ideas. I have enjoyed reading what others have posted as well. As for my project, I have really enjoyed learning more about ROAR and am looking forward to doing it next week with a class.

I just made a new Voki. See it here:

For example, one of the neat ideas I heard was to embed a Voki in your Quia quiz. Here's how to do it: In Quia, you'll notice a blue + sign. You can paste your voki html code in this box, and your voki will appear in the instructions, questions or answers, wherever you want them. As you make the quia activity, be sure to check the box that says "Activate HTML and LaTeX ".
You can embed a Voki into just about any program where you can embed code.
What a great way to review for SOLs!!
Have fun!

Free Paid Android Apps on Amazon

"Free" and "Paid" in the same sentence? How can that be? It is true that Amazon now has a daily free paid Android app that they feature. It is a great way to try some of those apps that you weren't sure if you should pay for as it may be a dud and you would have wasted your money.
If you have an Android phone, go ahead and put this link http://www.amazon.com/mobile-apps/b?ie=UTF8&node=2350149011 on your desktop and check it daily. You may find something you can actually use!

Should GPS devices be used to help lower truancy rates?

In Anaheim, California that is exactly what they are doing. Students that have issues with truancy are being required to wear tracking devices, much like those that criminals wear. They are being used as a final attempt at changing their behavior before being referred to a juvenile detention center. One thing to note is that the program is voluntary. Parents have to give permission for their student. The students do not have a choice. Proponents say that "truancy can cause many problems, kids who willingly ditch class are more likely to get involved in gangs, and crimes such as vandalism,theft and drug dealing." Others say it is "coming down too hard and it is a criminalization of kids who have trouble getting to class."
What do you think?

YouTube Launches "Copyright School"

Today, YouTube launched a brand new "Copyright School". This service is designed to educate YouTube users about their copyright policies. According to their announcement, users who have a video flagged for copyright violations will be required to attend their "Copyright School" before being able to upload more content. You can watch the video below:
You might want to turn the volume down or plug your ears first :-)

AirPrint - Ever wanted to print something from your iPod Touch, iPad or iPhone? Now you can!

AirPrint lets you print wirelessly from your i-device. There is no software, no drivers or cables. You can just click and the printing takes place in the background, allowing you to keep flipping through your photos. You can print to any AirPrint enabled printer as well as any non-Airprint enabled printer. How to print to a non-AirPrint enabled printer.
All you need is to update your device to the iOS 4.2.1 update!
Here is a demo of how AirPrint works:

Now your students can print their notes, pictures, website research, etc.!
Happy printing!

WEB 2.0 on the Rise for Educators

Need a great free site where you can create online tests, polls, brain games, and flashcards?
"ProProfs, the exceptional multi-tool site that is already on The Best Ways To Create Online Tests and The Best Tools To Make Online Flashcards lists, now may be the number one tool on The Best Sites For Creating Online Polls & Surveys list. Their new poll-making feature has just about everything I’m looking for in a tool to create polls — very accessible, you can easily add images or videos, you can include links, they’re embeddable, there are no limits in the number of responses, you can restrict voting and….it’s free."
This is a tip I found on another great website I recommend you adding to your bookmarks and that is: Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day