Spotlight

Finding new templates can be a tiresome task. Now there is a site that has many in one location!
These templates can easily be used by PPT or Keynote. There is a unique newspaper style template and there are many many more on the links on the side of the page. They are all FREE and some of the themes include birthday, trains, maps, soccer, education, Easter, Christmas, more, more and more. There are over 100 different templates from which to choose. Enjoy browsing and make sure you have a lot of time because you will get lost in looking!

"Welcome to BiologyInMotion! Here you will find animations, interactive activities, and cartoons designed to make learning biology a richer, more engaging experience. After years of teaching biology in various colleges and universities, I began developing my own graphics and multimedia, mainly for in-class presentation. The many positive responses I received led me to initiate this website, where you will find an ever-growing collection of resources. New additions will include interactive tutorials, quizzes, and other activities, in addition to updated versions of the many biology cartoons currently gathering dust in my portfolio."

Look like this has many resources for you to explore.



Quote and image from: Biology in Motion website: http://www.biologyinmotion.com/welcome.html

Image by churl via Flickr

If you are looking for a resource to help struggling writers, try visiting this site for some video tools: Great Source iwrite. Videos are included for grammar, and writing techniques along with links for the following:

• Forms of Writing
• Writing Process
• Mini Lessons
• State Writing Standards
• For New Teachers
• Differentiating Instruction
• Ask the Expert
• Assessment

Image via Wikipedia

This show, Science of the Movies, looks like a lot of fun to me! It is a new show on The Science Channel. We do not get that on our cable line up, but I will be watching the archived shows online! Of course it is going to be a top notch show because it is produced by The Discovery Channel. In addition to the Science of Movies, there are videos, puzzles, games, newsletters, quizzes, and a top ten list of some really crazy things.

And do not forget, if you are a teacher, you should be a member of the best FREE educational portal there is: Discovery Education Network or the DEN for short! You will come into contact with great people and learn much at this destination. Be sure to take advantage of the webinar series, blogs and seminars that the DEN organizes. If you are a SecondLife participant, then you can attend events in SL also.

The site, WeAreTeachers has a contest running for you to choose the winner. Please vote for ME!! Here are the details: http://tinyurl.com/qhk4cp

The winner will receive $200 to complete the proposed project. I plan to use that cash to go to NECC and learn what's new and share it with all of you!! i

Image by KATsVIEW via Flickr

This summer why not visit the Philadelphia Zoo to join in their 150th anniversary celebration! If you are a teacher, you can get a free pass for the whole summer! Fill out the form at this link to sign up for your FREE admission. Did you know that the Philadelphia Zoo was the first zoo in the US? You can bring a picnic lunch, visit the petting zoo or wander around to the many exhibits. Some teacher workshops can be found HERE. Act 48 credit is available for the workshops.

It is that time of year when we are in a scurry mode to get all things completed before the end of the year. Most people don't have time for a little entertainment, so just set this as your start page on your browser, and you will be tempted to play with the fish! Choose SharkBreak and you can change the fish, change the background, get a widget for your page, visit the web page, or if you really like sharks, visit the SharkBreak Store. There are other fish besides sharks in this little virtual aquarium too.

I'll bet your could find any number of ways to use the information on this site. Math, science, language arts writing prompt, lesson plans, puzzles and video are available to anyone. Being green is so vogue right now and many companies are providing a rich variety of materials for educators, this site is one of them. If you are stuck inside for a rainy day activity, have students sketch their idea for a car of the future!

Topics include:

• fuel efficiency
• energy conservation
• fossil fuels
• car emissions
• greenhouse effect

• global warming
• biofuels
• hybrid/electric cars
• ...and more!

Image by maubrowncow via Flickr

I am afraid there are just some quirky things about the English language that still confuse me. However, with the help of Grammar Girl and a few other sites I can probably get it right some day. Did you know that there is a debate about the use of the semi-colon and the dash. Don't you think it is odd that there is a dash in the semi-colon? Maybe it is a hyphen. Either way, this site offers a proper British explanation of the dash vs. the semi-colon. Click here for your viewing pleasure.

Image by Leo Reynolds via Flickr

Do you keep a poster or cheat sheet of how to put accents on certain words, or those funny little characters like: Ê ê α Á Ö Ç  ☃ ☂ You can easily copy and paste these items and resize them in a text document. Simply visit this site and select which character you need. Return to your text document and paste. This is much easier than printing the alphabet and trying to remember what combination of keystrokes will give the desired result!
¼ ½ ‰ ± π ™ © ¿ ☞ ✔ † Ω

Image via CrunchBase

I am overwhelmed with the incredible links and projects that are shared on plurk and twitter. Yesterday I did a demo of Twitter for our staff. I chose Twitter because it is getting the most press these days and it was a short informal demonstration. They were not actually setting up accounts at the meeting. We showed some ways Twitter is being used in education, politics, by celebrities, and other groups. I have included the links I found for using Twitter in education:

1. Alan Hasvitz

2. Academhack

3. Google Document of twitter teachers and the way they use it in education

So back to the NEXT10 ideas from Plurk.com:

1. Fabric on Demand - design your own fabric patterns and have the material made
2. PhotoPeach - a new way to display photos online, choices include captions
3. 101 Creative Ideas for teaching geography
   
4. ScribbleMap
5. Best on the Web
6. Your Digital Footprint
7. Nature Photography - don't forget to CITE the image if you use them in a document. Also, many are "pay for use" so read the details. They are magnificent to look at however.
8. $5 Dinners - Let's face it, we all need shortcuts at home too!
9. Science Fair Central - developed by DiscoveryEducation
10. Think Like a Designer - by Garr Reynolds, great site about creating presentations
    

Image by Wesley Fryer via Flickr

It was such a lousy rainy day, I guess most of the plurk.com universe was indoors playing. There are so many great sites posted today on plurk, that I wanted to share them with you all.

1. Name the states and spell them correctly - FYI, the lowest time I saw online today was 6:45 remaining. Try it.
2. Special effects - Graphic design and other things it looks like fun.
3. Me and My Movie - Create a simple movie with a lot of effects. Enter the contests.
4. Brain Boosters - I didn't know this was on the DiscoveryEducation site! Too many activities to explain here.
5. Twitter Polls - use a poll on Twitter to get quick feedback.
6. Paper that blooms - send a card and the recipient can plant the card for flowers!
7. Top 10 Healthy Fast Foods- and bottom 10 as well.
8. ShoutEm - create your own microblogging community
9. Listen and See - digital stories about books - Wes Fryer
10. Podstock - event notes and handouts - this was fun to listen to and watch on Elluminate
11. OK JUST ONE MORE - Newspaper clipping - create your own newspaper headline and story.