Prezi

www.prezi.com is a fantastic way to do an updated type of power point. They have several free suggestions on there already and you can update those as to what you need for your classroom. I am extremely impressed with them. They have their own photo gallery with a lot of cool pictures that can upload right into your file. As well, they have the neatest videos for differentiated instruction. Try it out!

Class blogs

I've enjoyed reading all the people in my technology class's blogs. They are doing a great job and have wonderful ideas on there. We are really using a lot of great ideas in this class!

Colors

I was just working on my delicious.com website for my class and ran across a page about colors. I thought it sounded interesting so I clicked on it. As I watched the video it was about monkeys who were a drab grey color, but their babies were a bright yellow. It was pretty interesting actually! Sounds weird, but reminds me of we can't always judge a book by it's cover. Another example is the delicious.com website my teacher asked me to join for class. I first thought, "Is this spam?" HA HA It is a very useful bookmarking tool that can be used on any computer to mark sites you use. I have labeled several! You can also post people to your network who teach and get some ideas of places from them! The only drawback...they have it blocked at our school. Oh well, can use it at home!

Power points for free

www.pppst.com Pete's Power points is a fantastic website with free power points for educators to use. It has all subjects and several different types for each subject. It is great - all teachers should check it out!

vocabcity.com

www.Vocabcity.com is awesome! I have a group of students who need some extra help with only a few of the spelling words. We played with the words online, said them out loud, used them in a sentence and then tested our spelling right there on the smart board! They loved it! Try it!

September 11

As I think back to 10 years ago and what I was watching unfold on TV on September 11th, I have to think about how my life has changed so drastically. It's scary how time flies. The sad part is the students I teach now were about 1 years old when that tragic day happened. So to feel the magnitude that we can describe to them, they will never get it. It's such a wonderful teaching moment, and a HUGE part of history...I would hate to relive it again, but wish they could feel the emotions that we as Americans went through in those days of terror. It was a time of very scary feelings and emotions, but also times of comfort to know that as Americans we stand as 1.

UT game

I went to the UT game today and watched them play Cincinnati. At one point in the game, they announced a person was donating $5 million dollars to the education department for the 2011-2012 school year. Immediately I started thinking what my school could do with that much money. We need two more smart boards for our teachers. Start there and then pave the track, get a new roof, get central heat and air, repave the parking lot, buy new uniforms, get a scoreboard for the football team, insulate the windows better in the rooms, etc. I love where I teach, and definitely love teaching. But I have to say I feel like schools these days are so neglicted compared to when I was in school. Or was it maybe I didn't realize it when I was attending? I feel like I am pretty aware of my surroundings and recognize things. I admit when I was young I used to think that houses were A LOT bigger than they really are now, but calling a spade a spade...our schools were in great shape. I wish that parents were as involved as they used to be. It's so sad for children these days. I feel very fortunate to have parents that were so involved in mine and my brother's lives. So many of my students need help....if only we had that $5 million to do it....