TIS Fletcher

My brother-in-law is da' bomb!

2008-10-30T18:22:00.001-07:00

Again....my brother in law ROCKS!!!

http://www.wsaz.com/news/headlines/33462094.html

I love the kids who play the secret service!!!

Maybe if my social studies teachers had been this fun...

2008-10-12T11:58:00.000-07:00

This post is to brag on my brother-in-law (shocking..........I know!).

He teaches in a Christian School in Cross Lanes, WV. From the moment I met my brother-in-law, it was obvious he was a teacher. The apparent signs, of course, are the worn briefcase, papers constantly stacked at his side (in piles of graded, needs to be graded, and "what in the world is this"), his almost un-human love for PowerPoint, and him constantly in a "lesson planning" mode.

But, as I got to know him more, it became evident that he was a great teacher..........one of the best I've ever seen. And finally, he's getting a little recognition for it (although, he does it happily without recognition everyday).

Just wanted to share:
http://www.wsaz.com/news/headlines/30822294.html

Congrats, Scott! I'm very proud of you!

Tell 'em what they've won, Johnny!

2008-10-12T05:03:00.000-07:00

I received this site the other day and thought I would share.

These are a collection of templates for various popular TV gameshows.

These are great to manipulate for review of any subject areas.

Enjoy!

http://www.murray.k12.ga.us/teacher/kara%20leonard/Mini%20T%27s/March%20Mini%20T-Games/Games.htm

Cool Worksheet Sites

2008-09-22T17:08:00.000-07:00

So, I'm sitting here on my couch. It's a typical night at our home.

Baby is asleep. 4 year old is sitting on the couch between me and my husband. 6 year old is on the computer in the office playing nick junior games.

My husband and I are both on our laptops.

As some of you know, he recently became a teacher at a private school. And low and behold, he has found several cool sites for free worksheets.

The first is a site that provides free math worksheets/puzzles and keys. As the teacher you can determine the type of math covered, the range of numbers and several other variables, thus creating an infinite amount of worksheets.

http://www.freemathworksheets.net

The second is a neat site that has all sorts of worksheets for various subject areas. Although they are a little elementary in style, they are still great for remedial work and help.

http://www.superteacherworksheets.com/

I have Electile Dysfunction...

2008-09-21T12:45:00.000-07:00

I can't get aroused to vote for either candidate. Well...the Palin thing kinda has helped that condition out a little, but I still feel that there could be a better candidate. So, I found this one.

http://www.tsgnet.com/pres.php?id=370743&altf=Sbdifm&altl=Gmfudifs

Happy Voting!

I feel like I could scream.....

2008-09-18T17:41:00.000-07:00

...Oh wait! I can't! I have no voice.

And so the tradition continues. I have laryngitis, again. I'm on an anti-biotic. But, wouldn't you know it. I had to do a training today.

It was during this that I realized NO TEACHER should have to teach with laryngitis. And what piece of technology could have possibly helped me out?

At first, I thought of the idea of using a text to speech tool, like this one:
http://tts.imtranslator.net/1gk2

But, the avatar made me feel too inferior (she looks like Angelina Jolie!). However, it did give me a good idea for our Spanish speaking ONLY student. Right now he uses just a website that he types what he wants to say and has it translate it into text for the teacher. This might be nicer.

Then, I thought I could have created a podcast and played it back to the class using a program like:

http://audacity.sourceforge.net/

But.........I would have had to make it when I HAD A VOICE! So, that was an unfortunate oversight on my part.

So, then I thought I might need to invest in one of those voice amplifiers.
http://www.voice-amplifier.com/
But I'm not "Brittany Spears"-ish enough for that.

So, with an iced coffee, diet Pepsi, hot tea, and fire balls at my side, I strove to do the best I could. And then it hit me................

.....we need a potty break!

Animoto is Awesome!

2008-09-14T10:06:00.001-07:00

Found this on my facebook, but then I checked out the website: http://animoto.com

Upload your pics, choose a song, and it edits it flawlessly.

Very cool!

I'm sooooooooooo photogenic.

2008-09-13T17:53:00.000-07:00

....NOT.

I've decided I wouldn't have fit in back in the 50's, 60's, and 70's with all those hair do's.

But, if you want to see what you would have looked like (or remember back to those days....if you are old enough), go to:

www.yearbookyourself.com

Have fun!

"My Credit was Whack!"--Credit Score Checking

2008-08-21T18:05:00.000-07:00

If you were like me, you fell for these catchy commercials with the guys at the pirate restaurant, the guy singing about his awful decision to marry a girl with horrible credit, or the guys in the compact car. However, don't fall for the name of the site. Freecreditreport.com is NOT free. Believe me. I fell for it a few years ago when I heard we get one free...and thinking the name of the website had to be true.

Unfortunately, if you use said site, you get a free report if you sign up for a monthly service....that you can cancel at any time, but it's hard to do, and the next thing you know your credit card has been charged 2 or 3 times.

So, today I was watching my "Morning Express with Robin Meade" and their financial consultant mentioned this site:
www.annualcreditreport.com

It works. Enjoy. And keep on top of your credit and any fraudulent charges.

Things your "Computer Guy" won't tell you...

2008-08-16T11:32:00.000-07:00

I read this while doing a little "bathroom reading". It was in the recent Reader's Digest.

1. Turn it off, turn it back on. “Nine times out of ten, rebooting your computer-and any equipment that connects to it-will solve the problem,” says Aaron Schildkraut, who owns a home tech-support service in the New York tristate area.

2. Just because we're “buddies” at work, don't expect me to come running every time you've got a problem. I've got a slew of IT problems to fix.

3. We're like Santa: We know if you've been bad or good. Fessing up to what really happened right before the system crashed is going to save time-and I'm going to figure it out anyway.

4. Use “strong” passwords. Geek Squad agent Derek Meister suggests combining letters and numbers-but not your birth date-to create a “base” password, and adding a unique suffix for each site you use. If your base password is your spouse's initials and
your anniversary date (say, SP061789), your Amazon password might be “SP061789AM.”

5. Make sure you have current antivirus and anti-spyware protection, and set it to update at least once a day and run a full-system scan at least once a week.

6. There's no free lunch. Downloading free music, movies, and games from file-sharing sites can open holes in your system for others to exploit. Play it safe and use established services like Rhapsody, iTunes, and Netflix.

7. Remember: Public Wi-Fi is public. If you don't have a compelling reason to check your e-mail or bank account while sipping a latte at the mall, don't do it. While you're on a public network, even one that's encrypted, a nearby hacker can capture your passwords.

8. Give it a rest. Turning off your computer when it's not in use saves energy and clears out the RAM, or temporary memory, which would otherwise slow your machine over time.

9. If you can't get online, call your Internet service provider first. Connection problems can often be checked and fixed-free.

10. If you want to see less of me, get a Mac. That's what we use. “Macs are actually a little bad for my business,” says Schildkraut.

11. No, you can't use your cell phone to pop popcorn. Next time an Internet rumor drops into your inbox, don't just pass it on-check it out at snopes.com first.

12. Sometimes we talk about you-in code. If you hear “HKI error” (for human-keyboard interface) or “PEBCAK” (problem exists between chair and keyboard), we're insulting you.

13. If you don't understand me, I'm not doing my job. Confusing tech jargon is a sign of insecurity, not intelligence.
--Interviews by Adam Bluestein. Sources: Derek Meister, Geek Squad; Aaron Schildkraut, myhometech.net; anonymous posters on TechRepublic .com; techcomedy.com.

Here's a few more they had:

Keep it clean. On a PC, run Disk Cleanup and Disk Defragmenter at least once a month. This will store files more efficiently so your system doesn’t slow down. After about four years, your computer is elderly. If you’re shelling out for a blazing-fast Internet connection, pony up for a new model.
Check the cables. “People are always shocked that a cable came loose,” says Geek Squad agent Derek Meister. Of course, everything that needs power is plugged into an outlet, right?
Got neighbors? If you do, protect your home wireless network with a password. “If a person knows what he’s doing, getting into a computer on a non-encrypted net-work is easy,” says Schildkraut.
You backed up your data, right? External hard drives with lots of memory now sell for under $200, and automated programs like Cobian Backup or Apple’s Time Machine make regular backups a no-brainer. Secure online backup services save your data offsite should anything happen to your home.
If you travel with your laptop, get a lock. A 2007 survey by the Computer Security Institute found that 50 percent of respondents had a laptop or other mobile device stolen in the past year. A simple cable lock (starting at about $20) lets you physically secure your laptop anywhere you go.
Remember: If your company owns the computer, they own what’s on it, too—even your email in some cases. Act accordingly.
Please remember: We didn’t create the problem; we’re just trying to help you fix it.

This list reminds me of "Nick Burns: The Computer Guy" from SNL.

"You're Welcome!" :)

Montage Madnes...

2008-08-14T18:17:00.000-07:00

I was just surfing the web and came across the site that I thought art teachers would enjoy............but I enjoyed it too.

http://grant.robinson.name/projects/montage-a-google/

Click on the Launch Project button. Do a search for an image (it will search Google images). Then create the montage.

Check out the ideas for use on the page above.

Here's the site's description of the project:

Montage-a-google is a simple web-based app that uses Google's image search to generate a large gridded montage of images based on keywords (search terms) entered by the user. Not only an interesting way of browsing the net, it can also be used to create desktop pictures or even posters (see examples below - more coming soon).

Here's my montage I did on Einstein:

Google Street View...

2008-08-14T15:12:00.000-07:00

I was watching the news the other morning, and they were discussing a story where Google had to remove an image of a guy passed out drunk off their server. Turns out he had accidentally been recorded during the process of creating this new feature of Google.

Google Street is available for MOST major cities in the US (maybe the world?). When you view a map on Google Maps, if there is a street view, you then move your little yellow guy icon to a street and navigate in 360 degrees and zoom in/out.

Here's a video on it:

Pretty cool!

Are you a Googlite? A Skyper?

2008-08-06T14:37:00.001-07:00

I am very excited about teaching this class on 8/7 at the Marion County Teacher Academy. Below are the tools and sites I plan to cover.

Google Tools:

1. Search Engine: http://www.google.com/

http://www.google.com/landing/searchtips/
A. Searches (video, images, basic…)
B. Maps
C. Books
D. Scholar

2. http://www.google.com/educators/tools.html

http://www.google.com/options/

A. Blogger-- https://www.blogger.com/
--My blog-- http://tisfletcher.blogspot.com/

--Another Example-- http://readingwithconstable.blogspot.com
B. Google Earth-- http://earth.google.com/
C. Sketchup-- http://sketchup.google.com/
D. Docs-- http://docs.google.com/
E. Calendar-- http://www.google.com/calendar/
F. Picasa-- http://picasa.google.com/
G. Sites-- http://sites.google.com/site/sites/
--One of my pages-- http://chadnrachel.googlepages.com/schoolonvacation%3F

3. 57 Useful Google Tools: http://www.collegeathome.com/blog/2008/06/18/57-useful-google-tools-youve-never-heard-of/
A. Web Accelerator-- http://webaccelerator.google.com/index.html
B. Google Scholar-- http://scholar.google.com/
C. Google Books-- http://books.google.com/
D. Goog-411: http://www.google.com/goog411/index.html

Skype:
http://www.skype.com/

I LOVE Google. I am soooooooooooooooooooo a Google-lite. I've converted and feel so Freeeeeeeeee! I will write more, later, on these individual tools.

You have 1 minute and 7.5 seconds to read this post...

2008-08-05T07:40:00.000-07:00

Do you ever feel like time is not on your side when it comes to the classroom? Do you feel like time gets away from you...and you're behind before you can attempt to take one step forward?

Maybe a stopwatch would help. Set time limits on the amount of time to present the lesson or for the kids to work on the lesson. Set time limits for clean up (i.e., "you have 2 minutes to clean up and put away all material").

A great website to "favoritize" for this is: http://www.online-stopwatch.com/ You can create a stop watch or a count down.

Are you a rubiSTAR?

2008-08-05T07:04:00.000-07:00

I would love to see more teachers using rubrics within their classes as they strive to use authentic assessments via student products and performances.

During a wonderful class from several of my teachers, we covered the need to use G.R.A.S.P.S. in the classroom.

G=State the GOAL of the activity
R=Describe the ROLE the student will play in the activity
A=Identify the intended AUDIENCE
S=Set up the SCENARIO (esplain the SITUATION that the activity would have to be performed in)
P=Clarify what the final PRODUCT will be
S=Provide students with a clear explanation of the STANDARDS they will be assessed by (a.k.a. a rubric)

Furthermore, they provided a way to make the rubrics (with more ease).

http://rubistar.4teachers.org/

There are 2 ways to use this site.

The easy way---the "tweeking" way, do a search for a brochure based upon your final product. Choose one that you like, then tweek it for your assignment.

The "work intense" way--create your own rubric. Choose the subject that the assignment is for, and then create your own.

Intro to my blog

2008-07-21T10:07:00.000-07:00

After being inspired by my good friend Kim (yes I do have friends), I decided to create my own blog on computer helps, hints, tricks, and humor. I hope you find this blog helpful. Above is my first bit of advice. Enjoy!