lausd edtech resources

click here to go to lausd's edtech page.

World Cup Murals

From ESPN. Some of these are amazing!

And another language-learning site

This one, Hello-hello.com, is backed by the American Council of Foreign Language, which along with LA STARS, are my language-teaching gurus. And of course, I haven't figured it out yet- it's on my summer to-do list.

Teaching ecoliteracy to our students

Ecoliteracy.org has many resources for teaching our students about ecoliteracy and sustainability.  Applicable to many content areas/advisories. Here is a downloadable discussion guide for the film, Food, Inc.

Photo fun!

Ms. Estangui sent me this link.
Nuff said:)

And another...

Livemocha is a social language-learning site, which to me means less teacher control. But I haven't had the chance to explore and it might have a k-12 aspect to it. If not, I'll delete it.

Another language-learning site

Lingt has been recommended to me several times, but I haven't had the chance to explore. I'm sure it's good for English learners as well as Italian, French, and Spanish.

Nik Peachy's Blog

Much larger in scope. If you look at this first, it'll frighten you away. Mr. Peachy is an international consultant that writes about all edtech aspects, big, small, administrative, etc. He's been blogging for a long time about this, and his other blogs are also worth perusing.

Less techie. More Brainy.

I don't know why cogniton and brain function interests me. Here's a link to a Brain-based education site.

EdGalaxy Blog

This is one of those blogs that overwhelms me. If you want to filter through it and post links to good posts I'd be verra grateful. Lots of good stuff covering all aspects of technology in the classroom.
Oh, and look through his links for even more amazing, but overwhelming blogs...

Science Fair Projects

I have no idea how I got this link.  Looks large and covers many subjects.

Glogster.edu

Glogster is a kind of multi-media poster. It can be about anything, any topic, and students can add pics, videos, text, etc... Definitely has many applications across the curriculum. The regular glogster is NSFS, but the glogster.edu site is fine.

Wiki Wat?

I found this wiki explanation pretty straightforward. Liked it; still haven't used it. (again, thanks, Leigh, for the link.)

Google Docs

Here is a list of videos explaining how to use Google Docs in an educational setting.  There are better videos out there, i just can't find the links.  These are on YouTube, so you'll have to see them from home.

Google/moodle/wiki/blog

Here's a site that gives explanations about all of these different tools. If you have another/better site, post it in the comments: Thanks, Leigh, for the link.

Finding reproducible images on Google

Here's an explanation on how to find images to use in your assignments, blogs, etc without worrying about copyright issues.

English/Spanish/French language learners...

Zachary Jones has three amazing sites in English, Spanish, and French for language learners. High-interest blog posts with vocabulary, questions, and activities already created.  Look at Clozeline, crosswords, grammar in the side links and see pre-made activities. Fun!

Avatar! create your own!

Create your own avatar and use it on your blog, profile and email. I can see students liking this a lot. Limited educational use, but definitely motivational.

Secondlife- a virtual world

This is much further than I want to go, but secondlife creates a virtual world where you can create specific class-related situations and discussions virtually. Think Sims.  I think a surprising number of our students would enjoy this- but it still gives me the willies.

Kindle for iphone, ipods, pcs and macs(coming soon, i think.)

You need an amazon account to download the kindle app (for free) and get books, but almost all the classics are free and the kindle is a great, user-friendly e-reader. As much as I love the smell and feel of books, e-readers are pretty awesome. (just be careful when you're reading yourself to sleep;)

ELA/Science and more on itunesU

look up:

lit2go
the Cassiopia project
Quest

I believe the USF's Lit2Go is where Unversity of South Florida professors read the classics aloud. Great for having students read along. They can download them onto their ipod or listen from the computer. Great for lit with accents, or just for auditory support. You could have then read an Accelerated Reader book off the AR list as they listen to it and then take the test. Also, many of the classics are free online, on Kindle, etc...

The Cassiopeia Project is a plethora of science-related podcasts. Looks interesting...

There are podcasts for every subject possible, it seems. Amazing...

Citation tools

Make citations super-easy here and here.  Once students know how to write citations, they can streamline the process by using these sites.  Great for online resources- just copy/paste the url.

Download videos from youtube to your desktop

snagit.com will help you download videos. Haven't really looked at it but I think it's free- there are better, faster sites (www.telestream.net), but they charge you.

Mash-ups

Here is a site where you can create a mash-up, a site where you can embed videos, text, podcasts. The great thing about it is that you can create student accounts where they can type or record spoken/video responses to questions you post on the page. Students posts their responses and save them to their own folders.  You keep track of them privately; they are not shared. Oh, and it's free;)

Wordle

Wordle is a site where students make a cool graphics by inputing vocabulary. Simple and straightforward. Good way to stimulate conversation, express opinions, etc. Check it out.

Voicethread

Here is the link to Voicethread. It's a site where you upload a picture and students comment on it by typing a response or recording a spoken answer. I like that students can ear and see each other's responses. Lots of possibilities in multiple subjects. I paid a $10 educator fee that gives me a closed system with my students and only they and others I invite to my groups can post on my pictures. You can also do it for free.

Oh, and you can embed it to a website, a mashup, etc...pretty cool...
Annnd, you can always type text (i.e. a prompt) into the picture box and have them respond.

Quizlet Sign-ups-Extra Credit

Quizlet is a vocabulary review site started by a high school student to practice his French homework:) It's huge now and covers most, if not all, content areas, but it's still free. Basic review with basic games.  The great thing about it is that tons of vocabulary has already been entered. You can just search for a list and use it, or if it doesn't fit your needs (some have errors), create your own.

French Students:
Go to http://www.quizlet.com and create your own account. then ask to join hollywoodfrench- password is sheiks.

practice the vocabulary under our group.

if you want to enter vocab for credit contact me- but you have to make sure your spelling is accurate.

Earn 10 EXTRA-CREDIT points for signing up