An archived stack of papers: 'Technology'
No More Random Strings
In a stack of papers called Technology.
- Jul
- 05
- 2008
A favorite site of mine whose links adorn several of my handouts every year, TinyURL makes long and complicated Web addresses shorter and easier to type. It creates a random string of numbers and letters (like 6l9s9p) to stand in for that horribly complex URL you just got from YouTube (watch?v=xFO0Zo0IU5A). My classroom Web page is a lengthy address, so I created a... read more
All In A Day’s Work
In a stack of papers called Technology.
- Apr
- 09
- 2008
Yesterday was a 12.5 hour day. Here’s how it went:
Arrive at 7:43am, far later than I like to arrive but about as early as I can these days. My night owl ways take a toll on arrival time.
From 8:13 to 2:45, my classes run like normal. Group survey presentations in Speech. A few Greek/Latin roots, STAR prep, and reading Richard Wright’s Black Boy in English... read more
Need Timelines?
In a stack of papers called Technology.
- Dec
- 24
- 2007
A few sites for creating timelines briefly appeared previously, but I keep meaning to write a consolidated entry for posterity. That and I just found a new site today that’s way cooler than what I had before. Need timelines? You have a few options.
The... read more
Tell-A-Student
In a stack of papers called Technology.
- Oct
- 09
- 2007
TeleParent makes communication easy with parents, so easy that students have dubbed it “Tell A Parent.” A school or district buys an account, hooks up their information system to TeleParent, and all phone numbers and native languages are stored for future use. Teachers then log into the system and send home any of a series of pre-recorded messages... read more
Video Editing On Older Macs
In a stack of papers called Technology.
- Apr
- 24
- 2007
Out of date computers never stand in the unemployment line if teachers have anything to say about it. Pulling computers out of the trash and putting them to use in my room is not out of the question. As such, I have six blue-and-white G3 and two ... read more
Online Writing Drafts
In a stack of papers called Technology.
- Mar
- 12
- 2007
What a drag. AOL’s Writing Wizard is no longer free. You need to create an account to access a 30-day trial, but if you select “No thanks” at first, you’ll get a form to fill out for a 50-day trial. They want you to play hard to get.
Is there another free tool online that will check... read more
Online Writing Tool I Want
In a stack of papers called Technology.
- Jan
- 30
- 2007
Here’s my ideal system. Students all have accounts using the same information as their Blogger account. After logging into the system, students have a list of all open assignments, clearly indicating which assignments they need to complete and which are archived assignments already finished. Students type their essay into a textarea, in much the same way they currently type blog entries. Their... read more
A Review: CSU Online Writing Tool
In a stack of papers called Technology.
- Jan
- 29
- 2007
I tried out CSU English Success’s Calibrated Peer Review (CPR) a bit. The report isn’t positive, but I hope the system will eventually improve. For now, pen and paper are better than using computers here.
The amount of time it would take to explain the CPR system to the... read more
Subconscious Browsing
In a stack of papers called Technology.
- Jan
- 05
- 2007
I’m not quite sure what stream of consciousness led me to this, but I spent some time looking for online magnetic poetry sites. I don’t even teach much poetry.
I started off trying to perfect the way I’ll have my students put together time lines in class (I decided to use the Excel version: not as cool as... read more
Should I Give This To My Students?
In a stack of papers called Technology.
- Nov
- 26
- 2006
I’ve yet to start up the student commenting in this year’s blog project. While it’s been at the back of my mind, I simply haven’t walked students through the process I want them to use in order to track their comments (create an entry called “Comments” and post links to all comments there). Until I do that, I don’t want them wandering off and commenting –... read more