I am reading about..Internet safety

I learn Technology posts about Internet Safety with Professor Garfield.  This site seems a little elementary for me but still has some great resources.
I teach a unit on Internet Safety to all 8th grade students.  I focus on their online presence and profile.  For example that pictures they or others post online is search able.  I try and give student real world examples of people who make poor choices online, whether its using lime wire or pirate bay or posting inappropriate images online.   I take news articles I find and create screen shots and we discuss.   I also use some videos from the State Police to show what can happen when you are too out there.  This site is too elementary for me but is worth checking out.

Creating Bibliography in Word 2007

Creating a bibliography in Word 2007 is easy and if your a student at any level required in all research. This short video will show you how to create a bibliography, footnotes, endnotes, and citations. I hope you enjoy.

I am reading about..

TGDaily posted about Meedan.net a site that translates Arabic news into English.  A great way to see another perspective. Another article raises flags about attacks on cellphones.  With more cellphone users using the internet capabilities of their phone this is something important to keep and eye on.
Free Technologies for Teachers posts about NeatChat a free chatroom service.  This is awesome! I am always concerned about having students "Sign up" for online services.  I can see some real positive uses for this and will use it in the future.
Information Week posts about widespread data breaches.  this is what keeps people afraid of cloud computing. 
Cnet post about many ways to turn on a webcam.  A very well written and researched article.  I was not aware of some of these techniques or aware of how simple they were to implement. 
PCWorld posts about Twitters continued popularity.  My students don't get twitter yet.  I enjoy it but am too addicted to my RSS to switch totally to Twitter.
Xbit post about business users not ready to switch to the slate style PC.  I enjoy reading about what is going on in the business world.  I am trying to prepare students for college and beyond.  Staying on top of business trends helps.
Reuters posted a must read article on the U.S. broadband plan.  A great quick read but you really should check out the comment section.

I am reading about..peeping school, Wave takeovers, energy boxes

TGDaily has a cool article about an energy box.  Seriously cool that you can create your own energy. 
Educational Technology posts about Google Wave taking over the Web.  I am not sure if thats the case but I really think Wave is going to revolutionize communication WHEN it catches on.
Another post from Educational Technology discusses the top 50 social media creators.  A fun read that discusses how institutions are using social media to create buzz.
AFP India and China are a ticking timebomb of e-pollution.  The pictures are worth a thousand words here.  Enough said.
The Register posts about the Pennsylvania peeping school district.  This story is seriously too much. 

I am reading about..

TGDaily talks about Chinese Schools being the center of cyberattacks.  The school has ties to the military so it is likely not students....but still.  A second article of interest is Google selling electricity.  I love Google but I keep hearing Google and the M word in the same sentence way too often.
Instructify posts about PBS being a smorgasboard of teacher resources.  They are right there is tons of great useful information there.
Educational technology has 2 posts of note.  The first about how to use Google wave in the real world and the second about how 90+% of the user generated information on the web is spam.  I would enjoy "Waving" more I just don't have enough contacts to use it properly. 
Information Week posts about the Yahoo/Microsoft merger.
MSNBC posts about how the internet is making our brains think differently.  Very interesting.

Reformat me

Today we began working on the "Reformat Me" lesson.  This lesson is a 2 day group project designed to teach students how to reformat a Word 2007 document.  We review some common Keyboard shortcuts and the basics of formatting.  This can be a tedious lesson for them and confusing.  I have students download and save the "messy" version to their drives and view the "fancy" copy.  This way they are using 2 windows at the same time by we introducing split screen.  The lesson is written as a list of instruction so those who wish to may work ahead.

 

We go from this;

 

To this

Internet Search Video

I have posted a new video on my youtube channel.  This video will show you how Google ranks pages and how search results appear.  you will also see how to qualify a website for authenticity.  I great video for those who are going to use internet based information for research. 
Enjoy

I am reading about..apps.gov, free kindles, PleaseRobme.com

apps.gov  your source for approved cloud computing. 
CW.com posted an article about 75,000 systems under cyber attack.  As I stated yesterday this is scary stuff.  I keep my system at home updated with Norton and run system checks constantly.  I also run scans on any usb driver that I use.
Reuters.com posts about getting a free kindle app for your cell phone. The Kindle is all the rage and is the new way to carry your latest read around.  Will it replace the book?  No, but it is very convenient for text books travel books and more. 
BBC posted a fun yet scary article about a new website.  PleaseRobMe.com searches your social networking posts and lets would be criminals know when you are not at home.  You would be amazed how much people post online, way too much personal information.

Vocabulary Words Grade 7

I have students compile a list of vocabulary words during the cycle.
I teach 3 grades and have 3 different lists. This is the 7th grade
list of words. I use a PowerPoint to display the word and definition.
Where possible I post a picture or include a video to further
illustrate the word.
Byte- computer memory, 8 bits make up one of these
Nibble - half of a byte or four bits
Queue – a list of jobs waiting to be processed
Ram – a collection of small memory chips inside the computer that make
a program run faster
Twitter – a social networking & micro blogging service that enables
users to send and read updates known as tweets
Systray – The collection of small icons on the opposite side of the
start menu on the windows task bar
Cookie – data sent to your computer by a webserver that records your
actions on a certain website
ROM – memory containing hardwire instructions that the computer reads
when it boots up.  This memory is permanent.
Hyperlink – a word, phrase or image that when clicked will take you to
a new place within the current document
Phishing – is an email scam conducted for the purposes of information
or identity theft.
Java- is a programming language expressly designed for use in the
distributed environment of the internet
RSS- is a method of distributing links to content in your website that
you would like others to use – real simple syndication
Firewall – is used to protect a computer or network server from damage
by unauthorized users
USB – most common type of computer port used in today's computers -
universal serial bus
Podcasting – an audio broadcast that has been converted to an mp3 file
or other audio format for playback in a digital music player.
Widget -used to refer to objects on a computer screen the user
interacts within a software system for running applets on the web,
desktop or mobile phone
Blogs -A blog is basically a journal that is available on the web.
Wi-Fi - wireless networking technology that uses radio waves to
provide wireless high-speed Internet and network connections.
Wiki's - a collection of Web pages designed to enable anyone who
accesses it to contribute or
 modify content
Bandwidth - refers to how much data you can send through a network or
modem connection.  measured in bits per second, or "bps."

I am reading about cyberattacks, student blogging....

TGDaily has a great posting about Cyberattacks on the US.  A great article which gets you thinking about what could happen.  I have read about certain Govt's attacking us using cyber techniques for some time now.
Box of Tricks  posts about getting students to blog.  There have been a few studies out recently that show the under 18 crowd is missing out on blogging & Twitter.  They just don't get it yet. 
Eweek.com  Has a posting about Verizon Wireless offering Skype on smartphones.   Can't wait to see what this does to the cost of my calling plan =) seriously this could really change communication so I am really going to be looking out for this.  Stay tuned for more details in March 2010 the rumored release date of Skype on Blackberry devices.
Outlook Social Connector is Microsofts answer to Buzz.  Check out the details on Cnet.
PCWorld posts about Google showing MySpace status results in the search window.  I have shown students how Google posts results from blogs, twitter etc in real time.  They can't wrap their hands around this new concept yet. 

word 2007 Review Assignment Colors

Today students were given a list of guidelines on my school website
which I listed below.  The goal of the lesson is to see what students
could recall from last week's colors lesson.

You will create a Word document that contains 2 tables.
You should have a banner with word art across the top that reads "Tables"
Table 1 - will be 3 columns wide and 6 rows long.
You will compare and contrast the year you were born & any other
year you choose
You may compare things such as Presidents, Popular culture, etc.
Font size should be 12, font style Comic Sans
The first row should be a Title row.
All borders should be blue

Table 2 - Will be 3 columns wide and 6 rows long
You will compare and contrast 2 devices - example PC & Mac
The first row will be a title row
You font size should be 12
You may choose your font style and color
There should be no borders

I am reading about..hootsuit, ISTE, Buzz, TG Daily

I have been reading up on Google Sites a free website builder.  Not sure if I will create a site here or not but it is free.
Hootsuite is a site that will help you in managing and posting to various social networking sites.  I use hootsuite for my other sites to post blog postings to Twitter.
http://www.iste.org/   is the premier membership association for educators and education leaders engaged in improving learning and teaching by advancing the effective use of technology in PK-12 and higher education.  I should use this resource better.
http://weblist.me/ is something I came across at Free Technology for Teachers.  Not sure how I would use this yet.  It is definitely better than the table I list websites out on now.

PCWorld has an article about Google Buzz.  I have yet to hear a kind word about Buzz so I am really leery about using it.
TG Daily posted about the legality for students to complain about their teachers online.  This is interesting, many celebrities have been sued for complaining about certain things online via Twitter for example.  I like TGDaily and will be adding it to my RSS feed.

Word 2007 - part 2

Day 2 of Word 2007 we review how to insert a table and how to add or delete rows/columns.  Next we add a header / footer & discuss how to enter the automatic date into the footer section.  Next we add a banner and word art and group both.  Grouping two objects is a useful trick as it allows the user to take multiple objects and turn them into one.  This allows the user to move and re-size 1 object throughout the document.  The students love learning this step and find it to be extremely useful.  Once the objects are linked together we take a look at the picture tools tab on the ribbon.  We discuss text wrapping, picture shapes and effects.   Students find many uses for using picture shapes in other classes.  Finally students copy and paste a picture from the internet into their document.  When done they print their document out on a selected printer.

Makezine.com

Makezine.com is an online technology blog/magazine/how2/project guide. A cool place to find fun projects to build and create with a technology edge. I am going to explore further but I enjoy what I see so far.

Word 2007 Video

I have posted a new video to my youtube account which bives a brief overview of word 2007. Hope you enjoy.

Word 2007 - Colors part 1

Today we began our unit on Word 2007.  I like to start the class by showing a brief PowerPoint on Word 07 which accomplishes 2 tasks.  1 it makes certain that we are all using the same terms to describe the programs tools.  2 it gives those who are visual learners a chance to watch and learn.  I am in the process of turning that PowerPoint into a video and when complete will post it on my youtube channel.  When the PowerPoint is complete we review Tables and Font.  I have the students insert a table and then add the names of 16 colors.  When they are complete we change the names to match the color and change the font style.  The next step is to change the table borders by removing some and adding others.  We also discuss how to add / delete a row or column.

I am reading about.. WordItOut, wiki's vs text....

Free Technology for Teachers posted about Word It Out  a word cloud program similar to wordle. 
At first glance the 2 seem very simalar.  I will explore Word it Out further a little later on.
Free Technology for Teachers has a second great posing about a research assignment using Wikipedia and textbooks.
This is a great idea and I can't wait to really dig into the assignment.
Educational Technology has 2 interesting postings.  The first about a computer classroom without computers. I will let you draw your own conclusions here. The second is a laptop computer buying guide.   This is a good article for those in the market.

The delayed opening

I post my daily plans for students on a PowerPoint that is projected onto a screen using an LCD projector.  I do this everyday for every class, every student knows when they walk into the room they read the screen and begin their work.  I also show the days lesson objective and assessment.  I found by doing this my classroom management has grown successfully, I am now able to address individual needs instead of focusing on student behavior.  The delayed opening while such a pleasure in the morning before school starts can quickly turn into the most hectic and tiring of days.  I have created a special PowerPoint exclusively for delayed openings.  We have a standard schedule for those days.  Now I can post the students information on the PowerPoint including the times and schedule of classes.  Organizationally this has been a great help for me.  I no longer need to answer the question "What period is next?" or "Where do we go from here?" The information is posted to the big screen for all to see and it is business as close to usual.
MR

Doodle for google

The Doodle for Google contest is open for all schools.  This was a big success at our school, good luck to all.

Why?

Why did I start this blog?  I have had trouble as a computer science teacher finding new ways to teach my classes.  I have plenty of information out there regarding web based programs and applications, and there is a wealth of information regarding programing such as html.  What I struggle to find is information on applying applications in the classroom.  I currently teach students the basics of the Microsoft office suite.  I do my best to intergrate videos and talks on technology but my course is geared toward teaching students what they need to create presentations for classwork.  How to use Word, PowerPoint, Excel. 
What do you do?  How do your students use these programs?  What lessons plans do you use?  I plan on posting my information here as well as links to other blogs and website that I find useful.    I hope you enjoy and I welcome your comments.
Mr. Riley

I am reading about..more Facebook issues, Ipads, Doppleganger week, memonic

PcWorld wants me to imagine the Ipad.  The article does a great job of painting a picture of a well thought out product.
On a related note msnbc.com has 25 unanswered questions about the Ipad.  I loved this article combined with PCWorlds.  I feel I now have a better understanding of what an Ipad is.
At EWeek.com has a fabulous article about social networking security issues.
Educational Technology posts a link regarding facebook costing you your job or marriage.  A lot of hypotheticals here but still food for thought.  Great article to be used as an anticipatory set or lecture response.
Also related to facebook isa posting about Doppelganger Week on Cnet.  I sounds silly to me but the basic jist is people are posting carton or celebrity images on their profile image.  This violates FB terms of service agreement.
Free technology for teachers posts about memonic a cool website that allows you to capture pieces of different webpages.  I am going to play with this later but it definitely looks useful.
Computerworld has a posting about a fix for flickering MAC screens.
From reuters Google pushes its browser Chrome.  I have used chrome and enjoyed it.  Currently I am using firefox because of restrictions on our schools computers.
Also on Cnet is an article about Windows Azure.

GMAIL not loading or moved

I currently use Mozilla Firefox 3.6 as my browser. I just updated last night and since I have upgraded I have had issues accessing gmail.  Once I calmed myself from a total meltdown I Googled my problem.  Apparently I am not the only person to encounter this problem which helped my confidence.  It turns out that I was not accessing Gmail securely.  If you encounter the same problem do what I did.  First I cleared all of my cookies by going to Tools, Options, Privacy, check the box that clears when firefox closes, select settings and then OK.  Restart Firefox, then if Gmail still does not load make sure the address is https://mail... not http://mail...
From what I have read in other forums this issue has occured in Chrome as well.

I am reading about..selling lesson plans

Sell your lesson plans online? A post to Educational Technology addresses that.  An interesting article but it really doesn't answer the question of how it relates to policy. 
Smartgrid.com has a posting about smart energy. I enjoy reading about energy alternatives and this articles links definitely provide some great material.