Instructify

Three questions for you:

1. Do you enjoy reading Instructify? 2. Are you a teacher who likes writing timely content for an Internet-based audience, injecting your thoughts and opinions into your work (or, as the kids say, “blogging”)? 3. Do you have lots of free time?

Since you wouldn’t be here if you answered “no” to the first question, and since I know nobody answered “yes” to the third question, it basically comes down to #2. If you answered “yes” to that one, you may have what it takes to write for Instructify.

As a blogger for Instructify, you’ll find and report on nifty web apps, tools, time-savers and ideas that teachers can use in their classrooms. You’ll be paid on a per-article basis. You won’t be able to quit your day job, but you won’t be writing for free, either.

If you’re interested, please send your resume and two writing samples to instructify[at]learnnc.org.

We’ll accept applications until December 9, 2008. Good luck! -BILL FERRIS

Photo credit: Looking Glass on flickr

Have you ever seen the words “embed” or “embed code” on a web site, and wondered what that meant? Embed refers to code that you can use to create a small version of a multimedia (visual and/or audio based) Web application on another Web page outside the service that it resides on.

For example, you can put (embed) a YouTube video on a blog or wiki page. But first, you have to face the code — don’t worry, it won’t be painful. First, copy the code. Services like You Tube, Slideshare, Flickr, and many others will usually have the embed code on the page for the video (see above for an example. If you see the video or slide show somewhere else, it might list a link to the embed code). Then copy the code.

Next figure out what you want to do with the code — in a blog post, a wiki (Wikispaces, Wet Paint, and PB Wiki all take embed code), or simple web page sites like Jottit.com? You will either look for an embed tool (usually, it looks like a TV set), or if it gives you the option of seeing “Code,” click on that. Paste the code where asked. In some cases (say, embedding You Tube video) you may just need to paste the page URL without all those pesky brackets.  You can also use this trick to add video to Google Earth place marks (just go to the properties page for a place mark, and add the You Tube embed code).

I hope this lets you see how EASY it is to add multimedia to your wikis, blog posts, and other places on the web. -ALICE MERCER

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5 Sources for Free and Legal Images -If you blog or use any sort of photography in your presentations, you might want to start thinking about making sure those photos and images are legal for you to use. If you want to skip that step, try using one of these five sources from The Blog Herald. The best part is that they are free, so you won’t have to dole out any hard-earned cash, and you’ll still feel fine about using the images copyright free. Of course, there is always Creative Commons Flickr if all else fails.

Classroom Survival Kit: 25 Items You Need to Have on Hand In Your Classroom - From TeachingChildren.ca, this list includes all of the essentials for teachers, not  necessarily students. Though some of the items sound more like things you might need if you were going to commit a crime (tool box, dice, metal nail file, duct tape), most of the items here are crucially handy to have around. I personally would have never thought of keeping “thank you” cards around until the last minute, but I guess preparation helps.

11 Things You Shouldn’t Leave for School Without- This article from Dumb Little Man is meant for the college-bound, and it is never too early for seniors to start thinking about preparing themselves for success. These are all online resources, so if nothing else, sites like Ottobib.com — an online bibliography — provide resources students of all ages can use.

10 Quick Lesson Ideas for Substitute Teachers - Substitutes have it tough. My own mother substitute taught many classes in my school system, and though she had it pretty easy because many people loved her, most other subs didn’t top the list of people students respected.  These tips from Work Sheet Library should come in handy for any subs out there who might otherwise spend their whole day asking students to “settle down.” My favorite on the list: magic tricks. Nobody can make fun of a substitute teacher who does magic tricks…right?  -JEREMY S. GRIFFIN

Photo credit: curly_exp(l)osure on Flickr

LEARN NC, the same group of good-looking, smart and cool people who bring you Instructify, is now on Twitter! LEARN NC finds the most innovative and successful practices in K-12 education and makes them available to the teachers and students of North Carolina — and the world.

So after you’ve got your regular-sized blog fix at Instructify, head on over to twitter.com/learnnc to get your dose of micro-blogging. Oh yeah, and we want that section of who’s following our tweets to get packed so full of people it crashes the Twitter site, so follow along! -NICK YINGLING

LEARN NC on Twitter

A few months ago, I posted about reasons you should be blogging, but now, I want to extend that idea and give you some more reasons why. As if the first post wasn’t convincing enough.

• Not Enough of You Are Doing It - For those of you who are already blogging, skip to the next tip. For those of you who aren’t: why not? Blogging is a great avenue to connecting with other teachers and sharing information. Of the blogs I search on a daily basis, not enough are based in personal experience and lessons learned from the classroom. Sites like ours are designed to share tools and tips, but you are the ones on the battlefield. Who knows? You might connect with someone and learn some valuable lessons yourself.
• Your students are already doing it - Your students are already spending a boatload of time on the web. In fact they’re the ones who are making it. Do your part and represent your teacher brethren and sistren by having an online presence. In order to understand what youngsters like these days, you have to get in there and take a look around yourself. I’m not saying you should be a snoop or a tattler, but it is a good idea to know how and what they are talking about in hushed snickers around Billy’s iPhone.
• Organization - Remember last year when you had that one great comparison of Tom Sawyer to Sawyer from LOST? How did that metaphor go again? Drat, if only you had blogged about it when you got home, you could use it this year, too. Oh well. Blogging can help you keep a searchable record of your lessons.
• Get Some Attention - The web is a big, big place, and just because you teach in Greasy Corner, AR doesn’t mean you can’t be a rockstar on the web. With social networking sites in your niche, it is easy to become a teaching authority by accessing information from all over the world and helping to aggregate it.
• The Tools Are There - Remember that the web is growing, so you might want to have a good grasp of the tools that are available before 20 more pop up. There are some great blogging platforms out there, many of which are free. Check out Wordpress, Blogger, and perhaps a more appropriate, niche built-in platform like TeacherLingo.

Until next time, friends. Remember: there’s no better time than the present to get going. -JEREMY S. GRIFFIN

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Photo credit: aditza on Flickr

Top 100 Language Blogs: Whether you teach a foreign language or English as a second language, you’ll want to pay a visit to these language blogs. You’ll find useful info about food, travel and culture. And, you know, words too.

50 Tips and Tricks to Create a Learning Space in Second Life: Second Life, that online realm where you can interact with semi-realistic avatars of folks from around the world, can be a powerful educational tool if you know how to use it right. Read up on these strategies and turn Second Life into a virtual classroom.

40 Places for College Students to Find Free Unabridged Books Online and 20 Best Websites to Download Free EBooks: I like free books. You like free books. Now you don’t even have to go to the library to get books for free thanks lists that are pretty much what they sound like.

50 Useful Blogging Tools for Teachers: Still thinking about jumping into blogging? If you’re itching to get started, check out this list of useful blogging tools for teachers called…well, you get the idea.

Photo credit: zen on flickr.

The first time I heard someone talk about Seesmic, I thought to myself: “This person has to be saying it wrong. ‘Seismic‘ is a word, and it’s not pronounced ’seesmic’!” Well, although it is very rare for me to be wrong about something (really, very rare), I was in this case. And not only was I wrong, but I was also totally in the dark about a new, conversational video-sharing site that is changing the way people are able to communicate with each other!

Seesmic is an innovative new site that lets users communicate and connect online through video conversation, and has become known as the “Twitter of video” because of its micro-blogging appeal. Unlike most video hosting sites, though, it’s intended for posting instant videos of what you are doing or thinking about and having others respond to the conversation over time. It’s kind of like a message board, minus the anonymity.

What’s also pretty neat about Seesmic is that you can record your videos directly onto the website (which is handy if you want to post a quick update, or don’t have a lot of editing to do). But you also have the option to use your own camera or mobile phone, upload an existing video straight from your computer, or link to a video posted on a social network.

Seesmic could be a great tool to host an online debate on something you’re discussing in class and share with your students the perspectives of other people from around the world. You can start a thread by posting a video about a specific topic and other users can respond, starting a whole video conversation about your topic. And because conversations on Seesmic don’t happen in real time, you will have control over what you share with your students (as not everyone in the world is a friendly debater!).

While the community is still growing, people on Seesmic are already using the site to have conversations about all kinds of topics, from debates about “hummus vs. haggis,” to discussions about quality and quantity in terms of statistics, to just about anything. So go on, ask an open-ended question or state your opinion on something, and see what kind of conversation you can start! -LAUREN FROHNE

Seesmic

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10 Virtually Instant Ways to Improve Your Life - I’m all for improving my life, but why does it have to take soooo long? Here are ten easy ways to pull yourself up by your boot straps courtesy of Stepcase Lifehack. If you find yourself wanting to change something about your life, then why not start out with the simple stuff like Don’t over-generalize and Don’t take things too personally.

12 Ways to Use Project Censored in Your Classroom - Project Censored is an intiative designed to help aggregate news stories that often go under reported. This guide offers ways teachers can educate their students in fair journalism methods and help them understand the practice and importance of research. There are in-class activities and projects on the list, so if your students are studying media and journalism, this is a good place to start them on the right path.

 101 Scholarships Just For Teachers - From TeachingTips.com comes this amazing list of scholarships available for teachers working their way through college. It might be too late for most of us, but if you have some students who are interested in becoming teachers themselves, give them this list to ease college’s financial burdens. Some are region specific, so all 101 might not be completely pertinent. By the way, be sure and check out some of the other amazing lists on TeachingTips, they’ve got some great stuff there.

101 Things to Do When You’re Bored - I don’t know how anybody could possibly get bored when there are hundreds of Instructify posts to read, but if you find yourself with some idle time, then try out a few of these activities to rescue yourself from ennui. Lists Galore recommends flying a kite, starting a blog, or you know, making a list. - JEREMY S. GRIFFIN

Photo credit: Wetsun on Flickr

I’m completely fine with a writer who bends the rules. There’s a little thing called style, right? I’m sure that as an educator you’ve no doubt had a student try to pass off errors as style. I know I tried when I was in school.

As they grow and mature as writers, it’s necessary for your students to crawl before they can walk. They should at least know the ground rules before they start breaking them in the name of style. And as we all know, there are plenty of rules. There is one rule—out of a whole set of rules about the use of quotation marks—that can be very effective in conveying irony, sarcasm and subtlety. Or, it can be very effective in unintentionally looking ironic, sarcastic and boldly unusual. That rule is the use of quotation marks around words and short phrases.

The “Blog” of “Unnecessary” Quotation Marks is a great site that features the abuse of quotation marks and the amusing results. While this site is intended to show the humor of misinterpreting other peoples’ bad punctuation, you can use it as an effective tool to demonstrate to your students what not to do. You might even want to mention that anyone can submit a photo to this blog. It could give your students a strange motivation to pay attention to punctuation as they walk around in their day-to-day lives. What sort of strange world would that be? –NICK YINGLING

The “Blog” of “Unnecessary” Quotation Marks

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Looking for a platform for a school or classroom website? Have you always wanted to have a classroom blog that allows blogging between parents and you, or you and your students? If so, WordPress has everything you are looking for and a lot more - plus it’s the platform that powers Instructify, so you know it’s high quality.

WordPress is a free publishing platform. This site is extremely user friendly - in addition to being a quick sign-up, the site has great tutorials to help walk you through setting up your blog or website. All you need is a computer, Internet access, and an email address to get started. WordPress has more than 60 different themes for you to customize your blog to fit your needs. You can switch between your themes at any time with a few clicks of your mouse. You can also add event calenders, links and pages. Upload your own pictures, or included images from Flickr or Photobucket. Don’t forget to add a stats collector to your site that will give you instant statistics on the different visitors you have to your site.

The choice is yours whether to share your page with the public or a selected few. As for interactivity, WordPress gives you the freedom and security to allow you to have comments posted on your site with or without your prior approval. You can even set your site up to not allow any comments at all.

Blogging is a great way to keep parents informed about what’s going on in your classroom. If you blog with WordPress, you can allow parents to become active participants in your class activities. WordPress is also a great tool to allow students to collaborate on group projects. You can have as many blogs as you want. The sky is the limit. -MONIQUE ST. LOUIS

WordPress

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Bizcovering had an interesting post I came across, 10 Universal Truths About Teaching. The article covers some things that educators will inevitably encounter during their careers. Among my favorite was on ‘Meetings’:

They didn’t tell you about the meetings when you were training, did they? You know, the meetings that take place before, during and after the working day? The meetings where others teachers you don’t know talk about students you have never heard about - interminably, without pausing for breath or comment.

This article is well written and quite funny. They’ve also put together a fun graphic for each truth, accompanied by an appropriate quote. For example, the truth ‘Explaining Stuff’ is paired with this:

“To describe what you’ve read is like trying to explain music in writing.” - Peter Hoeg

It’s nice to hear some of these truths coming from a more business oriented voice, as writer R J Evans has also written a series on ICT Training. Blog Bizcovering does a nice job presenting this article amongst some of their less accessible for teachers material. The #1 Truth on the list is open ended, and we’d love to hear in our own comments section of some of the truths you’ve found in your teaching experience. -JEREMY S. GRIFFIN

10 Universal Truths About Teaching

You’ve finally gotten a laptop to work with, and maybe you’ve started to use it in the classroom. Now you’re going to conferences, and you’ve heard about people “blogging” and using laptops at conferencing, but you’re wondering how to do this, and why?

First, think of blogging as a more efficient and effective way to take and share notes from your conference experience. Next, you don’t have to have or keep a blog to more effectively share what you learn. Now that we have that out of the way let’s think about this some more. You are probably being sent to that conference so that you can learn lots of new stuff, and then come back and share what you learn with others. Traditionally, you’d take handwritten notes, but unless you take shorthand, even minimal touch typing skills (I’m only a 35-50 wpm gal myself) are much more efficient than hand-writing notes. Give up the note pad, and use your laptop. In electronic form your notes can go to the whole district, and save you the awkwardness of reading your chicken scratch notes at your department meeting.

Now for the how part. I recommend this great article on blogging conferences from the TED site. As they point out, “Even if you don’t blog, it’s worth reading before your next conference, for tips on getting the most out of your time in the audience.” Here are some highlights:

1. Set up your documents in advance, and type in background links (their website, blog, who they work for, etc.) and the name of the presenter before the session.
2. Arrive early and have your physical setup (the back or somewhere near an outlet. My tip is to bring a good surge protector with a long cord - mine is eight feet long). Keep your laptop fully charged and plugged in whenever possible, so that it is ready to go should you not have power access.
3. Check in with others who are blogging or using laptops, to share notes and fill in any gaps.

But what should you use to take notes? Start with your word processing software of choice. If you are not publishing on the Web but will be emailing the notes, what I often do at district meetings is take notes in Power Point. This forces you to summarize, because if it won’t fit on one slide without reducing the font below 24 point, you are probably writing too much. Whatever you use, save often (most blogging editors have a way to save without publishing).

How do you share the information if you don’t have a blog of your own? Use your school/district LMS, email it, put a wiki page up, or put it on a Pageflake.

Now, if you are working on a blog, and expecting wifi at your conference, you may be disappointed. Some convention centers like to charge for access, some conferences (especially education technology ones) have been having their wifi overwhelmed by all of us coming in with our spiffy new wifi laptops. Do not count on having online access all the time, be prepared to type in Word now, and post and share later. -ALICE MERCER

How to blog a confeence via TED

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Photo credit: Arbron on Flickr

Let’s face it, building a Web site from scratch is tough. You need Web space and design software and knowledge about HTML and stuff. And in general, it’s difficult for both students and teachers to get the hang of. However, the Internet is a lot easier than it used to be, and with programs like Webon, you don’t need any of that to, well, get your Web on.

Webon is a free online hosting site that integrates tools for creating, building and maintaining a completely free (and ad-free) Web site. The site offers different “kits” depending on the purpose of your site, including basic, photo album, travelogue and personal kits, which let you set up blogs and other pages for photos, links, maps, anything you want really.

Webon is a great tool to use in the classroom for both middle and high schoolers because its drag-and-drop interface is intuitive, so your students can easily add and remove elements from their personalized pages. You can use it for group projects and let your students build and maintain an informative Web site on a specific topic. Your students can even keep online journals or post their homework assignments to their Web site.

With lots of design templates and options to choose from, your students can express themselves and you can sidestep all of that complicated web development stuff. So go on, get your Web on! - LAUREN FROHNE

Webon

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If you’ve ever wanted to write a book, but you never thought about how it could possibly come to fruition, then you should know it’s easier than you think. With Blurb, you can create a book of just about any size or shape, with any number of pages, and a fully customized look and feel. The content is all up to you, though, so you’ll be responsible for the hard part.

Once you finish your masterpiece, you can download the easy-to-use editor software to arrange and layout the book the way you want it. After that, pricing per individual book starts at $12.95. You can order as few or many as you like, and your work can be featured on the site for purchase by others if you wish. You’ll retain the copyrights, and you can even set your price to determine your own profit level.

Blurb’s self-publishing platform could make for an awesome class project. Your students could be responsible for creating a collaborative project full of their own musings, pictures, stories and drawings. If you’ve got a web-savvy class, you can also take advantage of the blog-to-book feature and have them blog throughout the year, and then collect their works into a group project or individual books. The service and software are so easy to use, who knows, maybe you’ll see an Instructify book sometime soon. -JEREMY S. GRIFFIN

Blurb

I don’t know how I’ve been living without Skitch. This Mac only (sorry Windows users!) application has loads of great features wrapped around a simple screen grabber. I use the built in screen capture function on my Mac (shift+apple+fn+3 (or 4) will copy it to your clipboard) all the time for blogging, but Skitch goes an extra mile and a half with all the extra bells and whistles you could ask for. For starters, it’s a free application that sits as a tiny heart icon in your top toolbar, and all you need to do to take a crosshair or full screen snapshot is click the drop-down menu.

Things just get easier from there, as you can then take advantage of the stuff that really makes Skitch stand out. You can resize, draw, add arrows and other shapes, add text, and easily upload your caps to your free account, which you have to set up in order to download the application. There’s even a sharp intro video that will get you started in minutes. I could go on about this amazing tool, but I really recommend grabbing it for yourself.

Windows users, fret not, we haven’t forgotten about you. While I can’t completely verify that any of the tools available are what you might get with Skitch, they at least sound comparable in usability. Try Screenshot Captor which has features like a deluxe thumbnail maker, or Jing, which is available for both Windows and Mac. -JEREMY S. GRIFFIN