Google Earth: Adding Placemarks

Using Google Earth in classrooms sometimes mean making your own trips to guide students through valuable resources and avoiding the distractions.  It can also mean that the students create the tours and learn the process of designing a trip for their classmates.  Our 7th Grade students are going to teach the class about the Texas Revolution by presenting their research through placemarks in Google Earth.  The teacher is going to use the placemarks to teach the class about the different events in the Texas Revolution. 

Student and teacher need to know the basics of placemark creation to get started in this process. 

Here are some basic instructions to get you started:

Placemarkers in Google Earth

FormattingPlaceMarkers

Video Tutorial:

Google Earth: Layers

There is something powerful about having first hand knowledge.  My daughter and I were reading an animal book recently that asks you to match up the pictures with different features, like feet, fur, colors, etc.  Usually we struggle through this book and she can't quite seem to see all the connections.  This time however she got all the matches right off.  What was different?  We had recently gone to the zoo.  Now all those pictures represented real things and she was more in tune with what they were asking since she had her own experiences to pull from!

This started me thinking about the power of field trips and what it really means to have a student that has never left the town they live in.  Then I thought of all the powerul tools we have to give students "virtual" field trips.  Google Earth is a great venue to make this happen.  With the ability to turn on different layers you can take the basic sattelite images and explore anywhere you want to go, includign the ocean.  Turn on 3D building layer and see the skyline of major cities, or of historic sites like the Alamo.

Here is a quick tutorial on how to use layers in Google Earth.

Getting started with Audacity

I had a request from the 6th grade science teachers to create a video tutorial on Audacity so kids who choose to make a podcast in an upcoming webquest, could do so if they so chose.  I thought I would share the video here as well.



Here is the handout that goes with it.  Audacity Basics

Interactive Excel - Conditional Formating

One thing I learned at TCEA was how to use conditional formatting in Excel.  This is probably something everyone else knows how to do, but I had always wondered how this was done, but had never asked.  Since this is new to me, I thought I would share.

Conditional Formatting:

I always wondered how people made excel sheets that seemed interactive.  It comes down to formatting.

If you type in a question:  What is the capital of Texas?

In the cell you want an answer for, you tell it  - "If the text types in = Austin, turn the cell green.  If the text typed in does not = Austin then turn the cell red."

Here is a short tutorial video on how to do this in Excel 2003:

Excel - Conditional Formatting in 2003

Here is a short tutorial video for Excel 2007:

So how would you use this?

Computer to TV Instructions - Going Through Displays (NVIDIA)

If your desktop does not list the ATI Catalyst Control or it is not available when right clicking on your screen, chances are you have a different graphics card and will set the TV settings through the displays menu - or desktop properties.    This video covers the steps needed to get everything talking to each other.

Laptop Cart Basics

Having the laptop carts can be a little overwhelming at times if you are not familiar with how to get them started.  Here is a quick video that covers what to plug in, what to look for and what to do when things don’t work!

Del.icio.us - Social Bookmarking

or - How to Meet Friends and Influence People

With summer fast approaching (although not approaching soon enough) plans are already being made as to what people want to learn over the summer.  Most people have their favorite internet sites bookmarked on a computer and the question is how to access those sites from other computers to avoid having to find your resources again.

One solution is http://del.icio.us- It is a social bookmarking site where you can bookmark your favorite places and then have access to all of your links online by logging into your account from any internet connected computer. 

Web sites can be recalled by how you label or "tag" them.  Tags are key words that describe the site so later if you want to organize all your links to see what you tagged as "chemistry" you look on the right hand side column for your list of tags and click on chemistry.  Only those sites that you used that word for will appear.  The difference between that and using folders in Internet Explorer is that the sites can be filed under multiple "tags" and can be reorganized at any point by clicking on another tag.  Very flexible!




That is the basic function, but how can you make friends in delicious?   Delicious can also link you to people who are interested in the same things you are.  Once you bookmark a site, you can then see who else has bookmarked that site, and what else they have bookmarked.  If they have common interests you can add them to your network list and share internet sites you find with them and vice versa.   Once you have a friends list going, you can send them links that you think they might be interested in as well.

 

Getting Started:  Here are a few links to help you set up your account and to use Delicious to it's full extent.

• Step by Step Directions for Setting Up and Using Delicious


• 10 Ways to use Del.icio.us

Turning Points 2008 - Getting Started

Something I wish I had when I was teaching was a way to get instant feedback from students to see if they were "getting" what I was teaching, besides the look on their faces.  It would have been nice to know where I needed to stop and reexplain before the test came around.  New technology allows that to happen.  Student Response System translate those stares into answers.

 Student Response Systems are very useful in getting instant feedback about what students know and don't know.  You can reteach concepts right then and there instead of waiting until the papers have been graded and analyzing the results.

Turning Points 2008 is a student response system that partners with PowerPoint in creating interactive slides.  So if you know PowerPoint, getting started with Turning Points is a relatively smooth transition.

I have created 3 video tutorials on the program, as well as a 2 page quick start guide for those who would like to get started or need a refreshers with the new upgrade.

Turning Points 2008 Quick Start Guide - word document

Turning Points - Part 1 - Setting Up a Template - Step one in getting set-up correctly is creating the template for your presentation. 

Turning Points - Part 2 - Creating Question Slides - Turning Points gives you various chart options and has some pre-made slides to choose from.

Turning Points - Part 3 - Users Lists and Session Data - Users lists let the program know who responded which answer to each question.

Math Acces Quick Start Guide

The EduAide software - "Acces" has been upgraded to a much friendlier format.  You no longer have to have the manual and enter codes, you can browse the questions through the program itself.  This updated program was recently added on all the math teacher computers on campus.   Look for this icon on your desktop to access the program.

Instead of trying to schedule a time with everyone to show how it works, I created  a short video tutorial to help get you started.   



Math Acces Video Tutorial

 For more information and tutorials please see: http://www.educaide.com/support/howto.html

Excel - Fill Tool

Excel has many useful shortcuts to help the user enter data quickly.  one of the fastest to learn is the "fill" tool.  Basically it helps you fill in sequential data without having to type in every cell.

If you are trying to number each cell you do not have to type in each number as you go down.

1. Type the first 3 numbers in the series you are wanting to use, example 1,2, 3.


2. Click and highlight the three cells.


3. In the lower right corner a handle will appear.  Click and drag on the handle to fill in all the cells needed.

To fill in a row of cells with the same data:

1. Type in the information you want in your cells.


2. Copy that info into the next cell.


3. Click and highlight the cells with the information.


4. Click on the handle and drag down to cover the cells that you want the cells to fill.

For those who are visual learners, here is a quick video tutorial on this skill:

For more tips and tutorials on Excel, see:

Excel Tutorials from Microsoft:

Excel 2003 Tutorials on YouTube: