iTunes U

iTunes U is a great source for free content for your classroom:
"iTunes U is a part of the iTunes Store featuring free lectures, language lessons, audiobooks, and more, that you can enjoy on your iPod, iPhone, Mac or PC. Explore over 100,000 educational audio and video files from top universities, museums and public media organizations from around the world. With iTunes U, there's no end to what or where you can learn."

There is content from American Public Media, Carnegie Mellon, Cornell, Edutopia, Georgia State University, Indianapolis Museum of Art, MIT, Penn State, Stanford, Texas A&M, Vanderbilt, WGBH, Yale, among many others.

Here is a great introductory video to iTunes U.

Did I mention that iTunes U is free?! You will have to download iTunes to your computer. If you are interested in using iTunes U in your classroom and need help getting started, just ask!

Free Rice

Some of you may be familiar with the Free Rice game site that donates 10 grains of rice through the UN World Food Program for every correct vocabulary definition.

There is an expanded version of Free Rice which has games on various topics including famous paintings, chemical symbols, English grammar, identifying countries on the map, world capitals, language learning (including French, German, Italian, and Spanish) basic math (pre-algebra), and multiplication tables.

Check it out here:
http://www.freerice.com/subjects.php?t=32528793275

Wordle

What is Wordle? According to the Wordle web site, "Wordle is a toy for generating 'word clouds' from text that you provide. The clouds give greater prominence to words that appear more frequently in the source text. You can tweak your clouds with different fonts, layouts, and color schemes. The images you create with Wordle are yours to use however you like. You can print them out, or save them to the Wordle gallery to share with your friends."

You can create a Wordle from text you input. Wordle will also analyze a blog, blog feed, or any other web page that has an Atom or RSS feed. (Not sure what RSS is? Ask me!)

Here is a Wordle created from the text of Emily Dickinson's poem "Because I Could Not Stop for Death."




In the September 2008 issue of the New Hampshire Society for Technical Education newsletter, Nancy Keane describes 50 ways for using a Wordle in your classroom.

I would encourage you to explore Wordle. Read the FAQ on the Wordle to learn more about its features. Keep in mind though that Wordle is not filtered so beware when you are searching the Wordle gallery. You may want to create your Wordle ahead of time. If you are using a Promethean board, this post from ActivEducator blog talks about Wordle. Here are some ideas from the Promethean Planet forum as well.

You Can Vote However You Like

As a Personal PDP opportunity, some SHS teachers are reading and discussing The Essential 55 by Ron Clark. Appropriate to Election Day, here is a video of students from the Ron Clark Academy performing "You Can Vote However You Like."

Blog the Vote

I vote because I feel lucky to be an American and have the right to vote (a right that was not awarded to women until 1920). I like to think that my vote counts. Some disagree, but read about these Americans who have gone to great lengths (and expense) to be able to vote in our election on Tuesday, November 4. Think about it!

Blogging Books

Dairy Queen

By Catherine Murdock

I am SO glad this is a series, because I did not want this book to end! You will love the main character D.J. Schwenk for her humor and determination. Your heart will ache for her as she gives up practically everything in her life to take on the enormous responsibility of running the family farm. You will cheer her on as she trains Brian, the rival high school's quarterback and decides to try out for her own high school’s football team. This is a book I think a lot of young women can relate to. The main character struggles with who she really is and where she fits in and I believe that is a battle few women escape.

Blogging Books

Three Little Words: A Memoir
By Ashley Rhodes-Courter

This was a very inspirational read. I experienced a roller coaster of emotions while reading this book, sadness, anger, pity, happiness, and triumph. This is the true story about a girl trapped and shuffled around in the foster care system for nine years. Between the agonizing memories of being taken her mother and the horrible experiences she goes through in some of her many foster homes, three little words is all it takes to change everything. You will have to read it to find out what they are… the “three little words” are not what you think!