Apple Mac Book

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Dr. Seuss Inspired Classroom Theme

Since I don’t have a classroom of my own to set up this year, I dropped into a friends classroom to offer my bulletin board expertise (I LOVE decorating for the year and begged for her to let me help).  She is teaching first grade for the first time this year and wanted a fun theme.  Dr. Seuss is perfect!  I hunted down some good Dr. Seuss quotes that would tie in with what she wanted to display on the bulletin boards and we set to work pulling it all together.  I think it looks great! This is right next to the clock, it says "How did it get late so soon?" Above the door to the classroom it says: Today was good. Today was fun. Tomorrow is another one. This is the classroom jobs board and morning message board. Over the jobs board it says: This mess is too big and too deep and too tall. But, we can clean it up! We can clean it up all! Kings Kid is like a Star Student or VIP, they make a poster all about them to hang up for the week. This quote says: Today you are you, that is truer than true. There is no one alive who is youer than you. This is the reading corner, it turned out so cozy! Another angle of the reading center with the Cat in the Hat on the back of a bookshelf. On the closet door is Thing 2. Horton is on the girls bathroom door. Two fish is on the boys bathroom door. The backside of two bookcases in the reading center. This is where student work will be displayed. The quote above says: Think left and think right and think low and think high. Oh the Thinks you can think up if only you try! Front of the classroom with the Promethean board. Back of the classroom. Toward the reading center. Teacher desk The room turned out so cute!  Right now the calendar has purchased numbers on it, I suggested that she take pictures of all of the kids holding up their class number and using those as numbers on the calendar.  She only has 19 students this year so for the additional numbers she is going to have specialist teachers and admin hold up numbers.  To tie in with the Dr. Seuss theme, she is going to use Photo Booth’s green screen background to insert a Dr. Seuss background for the kids.  The kids will wear a Cat in the Hat hat for the pictures.    It is going to be cute! My favorite touches in the room are that each bulletin board is designed for student interaction or to display student work or accomplishments.  I can’t wait to see it when all of the student work is up! AdsSpy: 2 sites by this AdSense ID  AdsSpy: 2 sites by this AdSense ID

Digital Book Talk: Book Trailers for K-12 Posted: 20 Aug 2010 04:06 PM PDT What it is: There is a new trend in reading: book trailers.  It seems that lately book trailers are popping up on all of the video sharing sites.  Digital Book Talk is a collaborative effort from the University of Central Florida where Dr. Robert Kennedy and Dr. Glenda Gunter have completed research on what motivates reluctant and striving readers to select, read, and complete books.  “The student productions of DBT (Digital Book Talk) focus use the technological skills taught in the undergraduate Digital Media and graduate Educational Technology curricula that teach teachers how to create dynamic digital games, trailers, and Web sites. Many of these skills include research and writing, Flash animation, visual storytelling, video recording and editing, audio recording, graphic design, website development, programming, and database creation.”  On the Digital Book Talk site, you will find high quality book trailers that will whet your students appetite for a good book.  Students can search for books by content level, and interests. How to integrate Digital Book Talk into your curriculum: The Digital Book Talk site is an excellent place for students to start their search for a book that will hold their interest.  Just like a movie trailer, the book trailers give students just enough information to leave them wanting more.  The Digital Book Talks will help your reluctant readers understand the adventures that await them in a good book.  Find a book trailer to introduce a novel that the whole class will be reading or set up classroom computers with a link to Digital Book Talk where students can be inspired to find their next read.  After students read, they can create their own Digital Book Talks using video cameras or tools like Xtranormal, ZimmerTwins, or Kerpoof movie. A few years ago I had my students create bookcasts.  These were the same ideas as a book trailer but instead of being video, they were audio podcasts only.  I created a wiki where the students uploaded their bookcasts as they finished them.   The wiki was a place where students could recommend books to their peers, demonstrate their understanding of a book, and find the next book to read based on a classmates recommendation. Tips: Be sure to check out the student work tab to see book trailers created by k-12 students around the country. Please leave a comment and share how you are using Digital Book Talk: Book Trailers for k-12 in your classroom! AdsSpy: 2 sites by this AdSense ID

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Sony Ericsson Aspen

Sony Ericsson re-add it Qwerty phone line. This time, the company adds GreenHeart ™ portfolio of products that give consumers a choice for environmentally friendly in the Windows Phone.

He was the Sony Ericsson Aspen, mobile phone business with environmentally-friendly credentials. As part of the GreenHeart ™, this phone makes multitasking activities combined with touch screen and Qwerty keypad.

Users can set and adjust the panels to change throughout the day, so it can save energy consumption. users also can access quickly to the general features SlideView technology.

Equipped with Microsoft Office Mobile, users can use PowerPoint, as well as open and edit Word and Excel documents directly from the phone. Users can also explore the Windows Live that has been updated with feeds What's New. In it, users can also enable Windows Live Messenger and social networking sites like Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, and Flickr.

Windows Live presented at the Aspen Media Manager to synchronize the data archive at the phone. While of Windows Media player to play multimedia files like MP3, WAV, WMA, video and audio formats others.

"GreenHeart an affordable phone with a newer version of Windows Phone has a UI (user interface), a rich and strongly supports the productivity of their users," Djunadi Satrio, Head of Marketing Sony Ericsson Indonesia, in his statement, Thursday, August 19, 2010.

"But this is all not just about business phone. You can also enjoy entertainment with the Media Browser and PlayNow. Discover the fun via a-GPS, Google Maps and capture images with 3.2 megapixel camera." Djunadi said.

Sony Ericsson Aspen will be available in the Indonesian market in the third quarter to come in two color options, the iconic Black and White Silver. Unfortunately, no further information about the price.

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Copyright Exposed: Taking the Mystery Out of Copyright

What it is: Copyright can be tricky for students (and adults) to understand.  Copyright Exposed: Taking the Mystery Out of Copyright does a good job of just that, taking the mystery out of copyright.  Here your students will watch a short video/comic that explains copyright.  Next, students can explore how copyright came to be by looking at the milestone files on record.  Reading the Fine Print helps students answer questions such as: “Do I have to register a copyright to secure protection?”; “If it’s on the Internet can I use it?”; and “Is it okay to use up to 5% of someone else’s work?”.  Finally, students can learn what steps they need to take to secure a copyright for their work. How to integrate Copyright Exposed: Taking the Mystery Out of Copyright into your curriculum: Copyright law is important to teach our students of all ages.  As soon as we ask students to create original work, we should be teaching them about copyright.  I always found copyright difficult to teach, students had a hard time understanding what was fair use and when they were violating copyright.  It didn’t help that many of the adults in their lives weren’t model good copyright habits.  When students create their own original work, and you can walk them through the copyright process, it starts to resonate with them more.  Students may think nothing of “borrowing” something off of the Internet for their own use without permission but when they think about someone else claiming the work they created, they start to feel differently about it.  Copyright Exposed is an excellent presentation/site to go through as a class.  It helps answer those “sticky” situations of fair use, owning a copyright, and using content from the Internet.  The site is written in easy-to-understand language so students will have no trouble following along.  Students can navigate this site independently, but I prefer using it with a projector where the whole class can work through copyright together and discuss what they are learning with others. Tips: I wrote about Cyberbee in 2008, it is another great site for teaching about Copyright! Please leave a comment and share how you are using Copyright Exposed: Taking the Mystery Out of Copyright in your classroom! AdsSpy: 2 sites by this AdSense ID

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Motorola Flipout

This model is executed in the nonstandard in the form factor, this is rotator in the square housing with the 2,8 one inch sensory display, which with the turning on one of the angles opens the built in QWERTY keyboard. Novelty there is known narrower sufficiently much on the characteristics.

Device works in the honeycomb networks GSM/EDGE and WCDMA/HSDPA, it has the built in 3,1 camera, it is equipped with the wireless modules Of wi Fi and Bluetooth, and also with GPS receiver. Control is accomplished by means of the operating system Of android 2.1 and interface Of motoBlur.

The clock frequency of the built in processor - 700 MHz. The capacity of built in storage composes 512 megas byte ROM and 256 megas byte RAM. Known also that Motorola flipout are had the storage battery with a capacity of 940.

It is expected that the novelty will leave into sale in June of this year and it will be accessible in three color solutions black, green and pink. The cost Of motorola flipout will be about $149 taking into account the conclusion of 2-year contract.

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Rustle the Leaf

What it is: Rustle the Leaf is an enchanting site that I learned about from @alexgfrancisco’s excellent blog ZarcoEnglish-Tool of the Day.  Rustle the Leaf is a collection of online comic strips that teach about the environment.  The comics star Rustle the Leaf (don’t you just love the name?) and his friends.  Each comic is designed to help kids think about and understand their relationship to the planet and how their actions affect the Earth.  The site has a great collection of teaching resources that include lesson plans, offline games, and comics.  In the kids fun section, students will find Earth Day e-cards, printable cards, computer desktops, printable posters, and book downloads. How to integrate Rustle the Leaf into your curriculum: I feel like when I was in elementary school (in the 80′s), that protecting the environment was a much bigger theme in schools than it is now.  Maybe it just isn’t as widely taught at the schools I am in, or maybe it has been cut out of curriculum because it isn’t tested on.  Regardless, the environment is as important to teach today as it was when I was growing up.  Rustle the Leaf is a fun way to help your students think about and understand environmental issues.  Use the site as the basis for a unit around Earth Day or help your students understand that everyday is Earth Day by reading and discussing a new comic every day.  The comics would be great discussion starters at the beginning of the day.  The resources on Rustle the Leaf are really well done, these can be used throughout the year, monthly, or all together as a focused unit.  Set the desktops on classroom computers with Rustle the Leaf wallpapers as a daily reminder of how to care for the environment. I have a feeling that students will fall in love with the Rustle the Leaf character.  If this is the case for your students, they may enjoy creating their own Rustle the Leaf comics about the environment.  They could even create a Rustle the Leaf comic reminding others to turn off the water or lights to be posted next to sinks and light switches in the classroom. Tips: At the bottom of the Rustle the Leaf homepage in the left sidebar, you will find links to animated shorts starring Rustle the Leaf.  These are entertaining and have a great message that tie directly into the comics and lesson plans on the site.  Don’t miss them! Please leave a comment and share how you are using Rustle the Leaf in your classroom!

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Nokia X3-02 Touch and Type, Touchscreen on Platform S40

Nokia re-introduce the latest mobile phone, with labels X3-02 Touch and Type. Some time ago this phone is the natural had appeared in cyberspace, who was then rumored to be specifically targeting the Chinese market. Now, it turns out Nokia X3-02 really exist, and would have rotated to the global market.

From the side of his sound is unique, ie Touch and Type, which is believed to explain the position of the phone as to the completeness of supporting access mesagging touch screen (touchscreen). But it's also quite attractive and innovative, which for the first time the series 40 platform Nokia has been able to accommodate the touch screen interface is user friendly.

So, this Nokia phone did not appear in the QWERTY format, but the concept of a standard keypad with 12 buttons plus a 2.4-inch touch screen. This is the first time combines the design of this Nokia phone release.

Support large keypad bertombol claimed facilitate prospective users to run Access SMS, chat or other messaging with quick action. So, although the size of your thumb so prospective users are believed to GDP remain comfortable in messaging activities.

Lean body clad in a splash of color plus the thickness of metal less than 1cm, Nokia X3-02 appear attractive. Particularly unique navigation panel, which rely on shortcut icons on the outside, to access the menus.

Camera Nokia X3-02 Touch and Type-resolution 5 megapixel camera, with 4x digital zoom. Like today's mobile phones, roaming access to social networking portals such as Facebook and Twitter can be accommodated, with the presence application Communities.

Sector-02 connections from the X3 and Touch This Type was recorded okay, there were canal 3G (HSPA), Wi-Fi and Bluetooth. To expand storage capacity, this phone offers a microSD card slot, with a maximum quota of 16GB

The plan, this phone would be released into the market in the third quarter of 2010, with the tag of around 125 Euros or USD 1.52 million (not taxes, etc.). In some areas the market Nokia X3-Type 02 Touch and this would be bundled with Ovi Music Unlimited service, which allows access to download up to 11 million tracks.

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rcGIS Explorer Online

What it is: ArcGIS Explorer Online is a neat mapping experience powered by BING that lets you use, create, and share ArcGIS (Global Information System) maps online.  The online software lets you read and write ArcGIS maps that can be used with the website, ArcGIS for the iPhone, and ArcGIS desktop version.  Mark up maps with notes that have photos, text, and links embedded directly in the map. Measure distances on the map and include them as a layer of the map.    Create a presentation in the map that guides viewers from one location on the map to another. ArcGIS lets you create an interactive map experience. 1. choose a basemap to display your GIS data on top of. 2. Click on one of the map notes shapes to add a GIS note to your map. 3. Click "edit note" along the bottom of the note and add text, a picture, and a link. Create a slideshow presentation of you map by clicking "Edit Presentation" Click "Capture New Slide" to take a screen shot of your map to become a slide in the presentation. Format the slide with the formatting tools above the map. View slides in the slide pane to the left of the map. Click the home tab to return to the default tool bar. (You can switch back and forth between the two). Click Measure to measure distances on the map. Click "add to map" if you want to add the measurement to the map. How to integrate ArcGIS Explorer Online into your curriculum: ArcGIS Explorer is an impressive online mapping tool.  Use it to create guided tours for your students that can be played on classroom computers as an independent learning system or on the interactive whiteboard as a whole class map tour.  Embed links to informational websites, pictures relating to learning, and text to help guide your students through their journey.  Do one better by asking your students to create a map where they layer information, pictures, measurements, etc. on a map.  Students could create and swap tours of their home town with pen pals/blogging buddies around the world.  Create historical maps by adding notes with primary sources, pictures, links to additional learning (or blog posts that your students have written), and text that indicates the importance of the place.  Create literary maps by making note of key locations in literature that students are reading.  Students can add a note to the map with a quote from the book or a description of what happened there.  When they are finished reading, students can create a presentation/tour of the literature by creating a slide out of each place in the book.  An interactive literary tour of learning beats a traditional book report hands down!  ArcGIS would be a really neat way to plot a Flat Stanley project in the elementary classroom! Tips: ArcGIS requires the Microsoft Silverlight plugin to work.  You can download Silverlight for free directly from the ArcGIS website. Please leave a comment and share how you are using ArcGIS in your classroom!

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