Cool Cat Teacher Blog is at coolcatteacher.com

These are my rough notes on the Microsoft one note session today. One note is usable on any Platform. iPhone app here, higher Rez ipad app coming. Android One note Mac is only available from skydive. Top tips on one note. In 2010 One Note became part of the office suite. FYI. Office 2007 one note won't sync to Skydrive Robyn Hrivnatz and Sarah ? the facilitators Pages on the right. Subpages, subsections. Any file from anywhere can be inserted. Can type anywhere you want, margins don't exist on the page. Click and type. There is a math add in for one note just like for word. When you install the one for Word it installs for office and is used in One Note also. On the fly tables. Just type and press tab! (This is cool!) Screen clipping is under insert but teachers should really use the snippet feature. Use Windows button + S it asks you where to put the notes. In 2007 it goes to unfiled notes. (windows + S is a cool feature.) Snippet reference is pasted automatically. This cites...

It is kind of like the time my husband and I drove up on a horrible motor cycle accident that must have happened milliseconds before. The man had flipped over his bike and slid several feet on his face. I didn't want to look but I did and will never forget it. That is how I feel about the book Ghost in the Wires: My Adventures as the World's Most Wanted Hacker , legendary hacker Kevin Mitnick's personal memoir. As a huge fan of Leo LaPorte 's old show the Screensavers , I knew who Kevin Mitnick was but really had no idea how much effect he had on my own life or what he had really done. [Video. Kevin Mitnick uses a computer for the first time after his sentence of being unable to use a computer expires on the Screensavers with Steve Wozniak and Leo Laporte] Cyber-enemy #1: Arrested February 1995 I missed his arrest in 1995 because I had just had my first child and was on maternity leave but I had been working for telephone companies since 1991 for one of Kevin's ta...

This week I am at the Microsoft Partners in Learning serving as a US judge for the International Competition and am blown away from the amazing innovations. What is most impressive is that although many incredible uses of Microsoft products are included that anything and everything is here. Oddly enough, I have seen Google, Apple, and just about anything as part of a classroom with many learning experiences. The purpose as judges is to recognize the best 21st century learning in the classroom based upon the current research. I can personally attest that the rubrics have no product bias, although every teacher here uses Microsoft in some way. (but honestly, who doesn't use Microsoft something in their classroom) I am finding that there are tons of one note uses and the new office 360 has some pretty amazing things built in! Ok, more from me later. I asked Microsoft Teach Tec Blogger, Rob Bayuk to write a guest post about what is happening here. Here goes. "Today 100 educato...

Thank you to the judges for the 2011 U.S. Innovative Education Forum - TeachTec - Site Home - MSDN Blogs It is exciting to be at the 2011 US Innovation Education Forum as a judge this week. To see who the judges are, what we're doing, and more about the process Rob (@TeachTec) has given an overview of what and who. tags: education learning msief msftpil Back to School Deal: Cram for Mac or iPhone FREE! | Flash Card Program – Cram Download GOOP on August 2nd and get Cram for Mac or iphone for FREE. Here are the details. Mark your calendars. We are giving Cram for Mac (usually $24.99) and Cram for iPhone (usually $3.99) FREE on August 2nd to those that download download upcoming iPhone/iPod touch game Goop (intro price of $0.99). Here are the specifics: http://simpleleapsoftware.com/blog/back-to-school-deal-cram-fo...

We should love our students and see the best in... Ideas for encouraging writing. tags: education writing composition_teacher composition language Bloom's Digital Taxonomy An excellent document from Andrew Churches explaining the evolution of Bloom's Taxonomy into Bloom's Digital Taxonomy. This is an excellent reference for educators and is very easy to understand. tags: education blooms_taxonomy teaching all_teachers professionaldevelopment Leadership character: The role of selflessness - Guest Insights - The Washington Post This well written post should be a must read for every principal, administrator, or teacher that wants to lead in their school a...

Image via Wikipedia "It is so exciting that you are publishing a book! I already signed up for the e-mail list. I can not wait to buy it. By the way, does Westwood teach a film class? I think I remember you telling me that you have a class based around video production, but it is only a semester long. If such a class exists, I would love to sit in on one of your lectures. Also, keep up the good work! Others will come around eventually, and when they do, you will be admired and rewarded for your astonishing ability to think into the future rather than think about the future... Each day, you pushed the bounds of my mind to question the impossible, dispute the certain, and reach for the unreachable. You will always be remembered, revered, and respecting in the minds of the young men and women that you teach. Our success is your success. Our achievements are your achievements. ...

Dictionary Squared - Improve your Vocabulary A website to help students with vocabulary. tags: sat education dictionary edu_newapp Think Like a Teacher » #eduwin, a MiracleGrowing EduBloggerConcept Eduwin is a hashtag for telling great teacher stories. Here is the history behind this hashtag. Hey! #eduwin tags: education eduwin hashtag inspiration teaching edu_news Link to russian website removed due to malware. Posted from Diigo . The rest of my favorite links are here .

Apple Declares the Optical Disc Obsolete With New Mac Minis - John Paczkowski - News - AllThingsD Optical Disk drives are obsolete? the mac Mini has no optical disc drive because Apple says the modern machine doesn't need one. tags: education apple technology edu_news More Than Two-Thirds of Google+ Activity Is Private - Liz Gannes - Social - AllThingsD Interestingly most Google+ traffic is PRIVATE not public which means people are using it to communicate between themselves. When it comes out of Beta and everyone can join, it will become more useful for me. I don't like anything that leaves out "certain" people. tags: education google+ edu_news Adobe AIR App Challenge For those of ...

Take the time to watch this video and remember the importance of your words and facial expressions. This video often comes through my Twitter feed and Google alerts because the young lady in the film's name is "Vicki Davis" (just like mine.) Think of the nobility of encouragement and smiling and the tragedy when someone takes it away. My friends, one reason I love blogging is that you do make me smile. Interestingly, this video came through my Google circle.

The Washington Post oped is live The greatest teacher incentive: The freedom to teach   and full of thoughts and words that echoed through my head as a result of the surveys you completed on Monday. How it was written Over 130 of you took the time and energy to share your thoughts. Your passion to teach and do what is right took my breath away. NONE of you asked for no accountability. You want to teach well and you want to be held accountable but you believe that the assessment of your proficiency as a teacher is unfair. The overarching theme If we told students that we would give them ONE test a year and that their entire grade for the whole year rested on that ONE test, nothing else. What would we see? We would see parents yelling. We would see students crying. We would see legislators acting against those "horrible teachers" who don't teach. Well, right now we're not teaching and it is because the assessment of learning happening in schools is not fair e...

‪Interview with DonTae‬‏ - YouTube This amazing student in Evansville Indiana was transformed by his senior project and a netbook. This is why we need MORE than standardized tests: senior projects and high school portfolios belong in the mix. tags: education portfolio inspiration student all_teachers techintegrator America's science job conundrum - Fortune Management STEM jobs are growing but our proficiency is not. This means that we'll have the jobs but not the people to fill the jobs within our borders. Time for STEM careers to become cool - they definitely pay well. I do wish STEM would become STEAM - add some arts into all that science technology and math. tags: education stem jobs guidance_counselor...

PickChow! Food Game for Kids - Food for Kids | ZisBoomBah A game to teach students how to pick foods that they like to have a healthy plate. tags: health games education Going Global: One Classroom’s Journey – Learn. Teach. Engage. I've "met" the engaging educators. I'm enjoying learning what they are doing and their journey into virtual and global collaborative learning. tags: education flatclassroom Graduates having difficulty finding jobs - JSOnline Tip from this story is that if you're getting ready to graduate and want to get a job, get a paid internship during college: ""While there have been some modest signs of improvement over the past few months, statistics show the employment situ...

My goal is to encourage and inspire teachers and part of that goal is to speak out for the nobility of our profession. I've been posed a question by a major media outlet and after a bit of back and forth (during which I disclosed that I'm a private school teacher NOT a public school teacher), I was reminded that beyond my own classroom I am a writer and encourager of teachers of all kinds. Because of this, I need to URGENTLY hear from some of you US public school teachers. I know what you've told me. I know what you email me, but now, I want to hear from YOU. Everywhere everybody is writing about teachers but how many of them actually teach in any location or anywhere? This is about what can be done to improve teaching IN YOUR CLASSROOM. (I'm not going to hit the political footballs here, let's get real about the classroom environment.) You have the choice to be anonymous or not. I plan to summarize and also quote anonymously or directly those who share infor...

Extreme Classroom Makeover! « blanchetBlog @coolcatteacher here's a post abt organizing my classrm yrs ago.--will update on current ideas when school starts! http://t.co/q9JN8lx tags: twitter Posted from Diigo . The rest of my favorite links are here .

Vicki Davis Interview | Q3-the flat classroom book (part 2) on Vimeo Tinashe edited and posted each question separately to make it easier for her readers to dive into the appropriate question of interest.This is one of my favorites about the Flat Classroom book, why we created it and how we hope it will be an experience to help connect and engage teachers. - just pardon the lovely look on my face in the thumbnail. ;-) tags: education flatclassroom Vicki Davis Interview 7.15.2011 on Vimeo I spent some time with Tinashe Blanchet and she recorded using FaceTime from my iPad. This is a one minute pull out of the interview that she called her "1 minute inspiration" - I'm not sure if the glitches were Facetime but I suspect it is my wireless as school! It is fascinating to see all the ways we can now record and communicate! ...

Introducing appointment slots in Google Calendar - Official Gmail Blog Introducing appointment slots in Google Calendar http://bit.ly/ncH4ua #productivity tags: productivity twitter TileSpeak: Play Mahjong, Learn Chinese! Play MahJong and learn to speak chinese with this cool app #ipadchat http://bit.ly/ntevET tags: ipadchat twitter Cool QR code treasure hunt generator from one of m Cool QR code treasure hunt generator from one of my favorite sites classtools.net http://bit.ly/nQdoUa tags: twitter » Cell Phones in Elementary Gold Star Teaching Reading Cell phones in the elementary classroom http://bit.ly/rhUr9M #edtech #teachers ...

Spelling mistakes 'cost millions' Spelling costs businesses money! Listen #teachers RT @shareski: Spelling counts and costs millions too. http://bit.ly/qdNNGU #education tags: teachers education twitter Facebook Awakening — bit by bit Understand what Facebook means to teens RT @bobsprankle: BitbyBit Post: Facebook Awakening http://bit.ly/pqAvC3 #education tags: education twitter ExamGeneral.com Another free place to give tests and exams online. Let computers do what they do best. What I do is IF I have a few multiple choice, etc. I may do them online BUT I also do other ways of assessment with my test. I just don't think the bubbles can get it all. That said, if you have to do it, you shouldn't have to grad...

Jibe and Unity3d | Google Groups Google group for those using Jibe and Unity 3d. Not just reactiongrid. tags: education virtual_world virtualworlds jibe unity3d technology edu_newapp UNITY: Game Development Tool Unity 3D editor is used to create images for the jibe platform. You can do most of what you need with the basic version. tags: education learning virtual_world virtualworld jibe reactiongrid unity3d edu_trends edu_newapp My Office Hours and Live Tutorials | Be Cunning and Full of Tricks Office hours in open sim and jibe to get help in either of these tools. Reactiongrid is my favorite ...

David Warlick tweeted about this amazing video from Martin Warlick's video a day blog . It is an incredible on-building animations of the Astronomical Clock for the 600th anniversary of Prague . Listen at the very beginning, you here someone quickly snipping at the beginning: "How anticlimactic." They were wrong. What emerges is a phenomenal on-building animation that will take your breath away even half a world away here in Camilla, Georgia . Do we jump to conclusions and prevent learning? This reminds me of a Tweet Jon Becker made at ISTE where he stated that he overheard a conversation from a teacher who said something like: "I give a presenter two minutes to get my attention and then, if they don't give me what I want, I'm out." Fast food learning.  We want a big Mac learning experience with a greasy side of 80 tools that provide us with very little nutrition but a satiated feeling that we've packed in everything we ca...

kibin Students are already peer reviewing each other's work using kibin. tags: education grammar peerreview p2p language literature bestpractices techintegrator Flat Classroom brings world closer - Pelican Press Another great local press coverage of how our amazing Flat Classroom teachers are collaborating. This is a story that our communities are hungry for. Social media is great but social learning is transformational. The best teachers are attracted to the Flat Classroom projects - apply now at www.flatclassroomproject.net tags: education flatclassroom inthenews digitalcitizenship edu_news The 35 Best Web 2.0 Classroom Tools Chosen B...