Fantastic Fridays: April 8

Fantastic Fridays: April 8


1. Classroom Spotlight Project: Creative Use of Your MacBooks; Online Travel Journals

On St. Patrick's Day, Susan H. was treated to a surprise visitor, but didn't have a camera handy. She used her MacBook's "PhotoBooth" to snap a quick shot before the leprechaun vanished. We sometimes forget that these tech tools can be used to record sound, video and pictures!

Also, 4th grade Spanish students are taking advantage of an awesome, free Travel Journal activity at http://teacher.scholastic.com/activities/globaltrek/tguide.htm. Ask Ellen about it!  

2. Student Websites: Easter (K-3) and Online Projects(4-8)

Easter (K-3): This Easter Scavenger Hunt and accompanying "worksheet" make a great lesson for grades K-3! For K-1, you might want to skip the worksheet, or complete it orally. I'd be happy to add a link to the website to the dock for your grade-- just let me know!

• Easter Web Tour: https://sites.google.com/site/ihmhighpoint/easter
• Document to Print: http://cid-dc10914a0bf7cf2d.office.live.com/view.aspx/IHM%20Documents/Easter^_Scavenger^_Hunt.doc
• Older students may also appreciate this Stations of the Cross presentation from Loyola Press: http://www.loyolapress.com/assets/lp/stations-of-the-cross-powerpoint.swf 
  

Online Projects(4-8)  

So, you've tried Prezi. You've tried Glogster. What's next?

• Animoto: This online tool allows students to create and publish a 30-second video on the web. http://animoto.com/education 
• Voki: Voki is a free service that allows you to create personalized speaking avatars and use them on your blog, profile, and in email messages. http://www.voki.com/Voki_for_education.php   If you're not sure how to start, click here: http://www.voki.com/voki_faq.php#4
• BigHugeLabs: http://bighugelabs.com/ I used this last year with 5th grade science. They created magazine covers of famous scientists for a quick 1-day activity. There are many other possible uses. To log in, please use the following:

Username: abragg@ihm-school.com
Password: IHM123

Keep in mind that links to the students' projects can be added to Edline-- what a great way to showcase the awesome things happening in your classroom! Let me know if I can help you add them to your Edline pages.

3. Teacher Productivity Tool: Lesson Planning Tools

The traditional lesson plan book is a standby for many teachers. We may have a whole closet full of them! In the last 10 years, many other resources have become available for lesson planning. Please take a minute to check these out! Professionally organized lesson plans are shared easily with all of our school stakeholders, and allow parents to see what a fantastic job you are doing in the classroom. You might also enjoy being able to adjust your lesson plans from previous years without having to re-write them completely.

1. IHM Lesson Plans By Period: http://cid-dc10914a0bf7cf2d.office.live.com/view.aspx/IHM%20Documents/Weekly^_Plan^_By^_Period.doc 

2. IHM Lesson Plans By Day: http://cid-dc10914a0bf7cf2d.office.live.com/view.aspx/IHM%20Documents/Weekly^_Plan^_By^_Day.doc 

3. TrackStar (by the same creator as Rubistar, one of my favorites!) http://trackstar.4teachers.org/ 

4. North Carolina 6 Point Lesson Plan: http://www4.ncsu.edu/~jrbusby/TED%20207/6pointlessonplan-1.doc  

Video of the Week:

Here's a great idea for using your Macbook with a projector as a document camera! Very cool!