Winner! Winner!

 

Thanks to all that entered the Extraordinary Educator Conference give away! I am tickled to announce the winners selected by the Random Number Generator, which by the way you might want to use in your classroom! If you are on the list, please email me at lelliott@sde.com in the next day and I will send you your certificate! Congratulations!!

• Momto4GreatKids
• Miss King
• Mrs. Frazier
• Leanne Hinton
• Whitney
• Crystal Cline
• Mrs. Tyler
• KGraham
• pmBronn
• Jennifer Vise

Real Life Tech Stuff

I get asked pretty often things like,"Where did you find that?" or "When do you have time to do this stuff?" I guess the most simple answer is that I actually use technology for my personal life and the tools seem to naturally slide into my teaching and professional life. It is difficult to understand why and how to use technology in the classroom if you don't use it for yourself to accomplish real goals. So, I decided I will try to post ever so often what I am trying out and doing. This might inspire you to use the same things in your personal life and/or classroom. So, what have I been up to lately?

1) Smilebox: Ok, I know I have mentioned Smilebox many times, but I returned from vacation just 2 weeks ago with a slug of pictures just begging to be put in a collage. Usually I would run over to iPiccy or PicMonkey or even WalMart online photo to make a simple collage, but I wanted something different. So I remembered that Smilebox has a collage feature and the collages aren't just in a single color, but in designs! I do pay the basic membership in Smilebox now because I use it for so many things. With this membership I can make the collage and print it or have it printed at my local store. Here is one of the collages I made.

2) Real Player Plus: This week was Vacation Bible School at our church and my daughter taught 3rd/4th graders. She wanted to use some video clips in her lesson and asked me to help. Because she wouldn't have wifi accessibility in the room she would be teaching we needed to download the videos and drop them into PowerPoint for a smooth transition from clip to clip. I quickly used Real Player to download and convert the videos.I have used Real Player for several years. It is great for editing video clips, converting files to another format, and of course downloading videos. Recently I took the plunge and upgraded to the paid version. Why? I needed to convert my videos to MP4 for my iPad and the free version wouldn't let me select that option without upgrading. So, now I can convert the video for any format or device, no sweat. Also, the paid version works much faster.

3) Dustin: My iPad and iPhone screens get so nasty! Fingerprints and smudges everywhere. I've used screen cloths but I recently found these new gizmos at Target called Dustin. They are round and have 2 sides with different cloths and they work like a charm. Brookstone makes them and they cost around $9. I love how the screen looks new, not smudged when I use them. Such a good find!

4) Videos are Powerful: As I mentioned in an earlier post, my kids are both serving in various projects this summer. My son left on Monday for Uganda and will be there for 5 weeks. The day before he left I saw this video clip on Richard Byrne's blog and it was perfect for all my worries about my child traveling so far away. This video of Africa was filmed partly in Uganda. It really helped me get a sense of the landscape and culture Austin would be living in for the summer. It made me want to go with him!


THIS IS AFRICA from Benjamin Dowie on Vimeo.

Well, Austin and the gang made it safely to Uganda and are documenting their journey on a blog with pics and videos. I am one happy Mama! Being able to see your kid in the environment where he is working brings such joy! So, when I say that technology is part of my everyday experience... it is not just for kicks but is a necessity! This is a short video of the travel and arrival in Uganda.



Icthus Uganda 2013 Blog

5) Mini Fruit Pizzas: My daughter was hosting a planning meeting/luncheon today at the house for her Thespians organization. This really means that I was hosting a luncheon today and I love doing stuff like this. We have true summer temperatures finally here in Missouri so I wanted something really light and fresh for dessert. I checked out Pinterest and immediately was reminded of fruit pizza. I found this pin and tweaked it just a bit to make it easier. I wanted single servings the kids could grab and munch. The results were delicious and so simple to do. What did I ever do before Pinterest for recipes and decorating?

Recipe:
Cookies: I used Pillsbury break and bake sugar cookies. Too easy!

Fruit: I just used strawberries and blueberries.

Frosting:
** Package of Cream Cheese (I let this sit out for a few minutes while the cookies baked to get soft.)
** 7 oz. container of Marshmallow Crème/Fluff
** Juice from Half a Lemon
Whip together until smooth.

Original Recipe Pinned on Pinterest

 

 

 

Roller Coaster Learning

This is an example of ThingLink, one of my new favorite sites. ThingLink helps you to create interactive images to share with others. Whether you are telling a digital story or organizing resources you can use ThingLink to keep your audience engaged with your topic. Perfect for students to create their own versions to show what they know about a topic or for you to use in your instruction. In this ThingLink you will find resources for learning and creating roller coasters. Scroll over the picture and tap on the targets to get to each resource.

There is also a ThingLink app for iPad and iPhone.

Summer Reading

I am not sure anything can beat the feeling when you go to your school mailbox and find a box of books from Scholastic, but getting a box of books from Amazon is pretty close! I just received my box of professional books for summer reading. I am anxious to jump in and see what all these authors have to say about teaching, technology, and best practices. I would love to hear from you if you have read or are reading any of the titles. Happy Summer Reading!

My Book Picks:
The Age of the Image: Redefining Literacy in a World of Screens by Stephen Apkon
The Social Neuroscience of Education: Optimize Attachment & Learning in the Classroom by Louis Cozolino
The New Digital Age: Reshaping the Future of People, Nations, and Business by Eric Schmidt & Jared Cohen
The 5 Dimensions of Engaged Teaching: A Practical Guide for Educators by Laura Weaver & Mark Wilding
Invent to Learn: Making, Tinkering, and Engineering in the Classroom by Sylvia Libow Martinez & Gary Stager

I also read lots of things just for fun. I love Mary Kay Andrews and I waited all spring for her latest book. Just got it too!

Be A Winner! Chicago

 

 Chicago has become one of my favorite cities to visit every year. I love the shopping, Sprinkles Cupcakes...Yum!!!, museums, Navy Pier, Garrett Popcorn, and on and on. Each July I love Chicago even more because SDE has a national conference right on the best street in town. This year's conference is called the Extraordinary Educators Conference and will take place July 20-24. This conference is a totally new format and has new sessions. You are going to love it. Presenters this year include Rick Wormeli, Erin Klein, Kyle Pace, Marcia Tate, Julie Ramsay, Greg Tang, Betty Hollas, Laureen Reynolds and many more fabulous folks! I'll be there too! I am presenting topics such as Creating Content with iPads, Content Trailer Creation, Using KidBlogs and Edmodo, and using iMovie on the iPad. It is going to be a blast.

Here is the whole reason I am bringing this up for you to consider. SDE just sent me 10, yes 10, FREE registrations to give away to my teacher friends that follow me on Twitter and Lori's Latest Links. How exciting is that?

The Extraordinary Educators Conference is July 20-24 in Chicago, right on the Magnificent Mile.The cost is $599. But like I said, SDE has given me 10 FREE registrations to share with my friends that follow Lori's Latest Links. If you win, all you have to do is take care of the hotel (Marriott Chicago Downtown Magnificent Mile) and travel. I have the conference cost covered for you! To enter, please leave a comment below and tell me about what you want to learn at the conference or who you want to see.  I will use an online generator to select 10 names and each winner will have 24 hours to respond. The DEADLINE to enter is Saturday, June 15 at noon Central Time. I will announce the winners by Monday, June 17. So take a minute write a quick comment and get ready to join me in Chicago. Enter now!

** When you leave a comment it won't post immediately. The comments come to me for moderation. I will post as quick as I can. Thanks. 

QR Just Gets Better

QR Codes (Quick Response Codes) are nothing new. I've written several posts and lessons here on the blog about QR codes and I was starting to get a little bored with the same ole thing. But just when I was yawning, I found a couple new ways to use QR codes and now I am pumped! Hope you will be too. 

1) QR Code Generator: As I tweeted in the last few days, my new favorite QR code maker is the QR Code Generator. This is a free website that helps you make your own QR codes. It is so easy to use and you can make a QR code for a message, url, contact, phone number, or even text message. So I LOVE the QR code for a message. What a great way to share a thought, directions, or fun with students! I also love using the QR Code Generator on the iPad because when you make the code you just tap and hold on the generated QR code and add to the camera roll. Super Easy!

2) As I was strolling through Richard Byrne's blog Free Technology for Teachers, I found the next 2 gems. The first is brilliant. In fact someone yesterday asked me about making QR Codes for pdf files. Here's the answer- Tag My Doc. Now I would like to say that Tag My Doc is free, but sadly there is a fee. However, you can try it out for 14 days for free! The deal is you can create a QR code that let's those that scan the code immediately download a PDF file you want to share. How great is that! I am so going to use this for my training handouts. Love it!

3) Last, but not least... This is QR Voice. This free website lets you record a message (100 characters) and then creates a QR code that can be scanned to listen to the message. Try out the one I made. Isn't that a hoot! Click on the little microphone and talk. Make sure to speak slow and clear! The words will appear in the box next to mic. If it is correct click on the blue icon next to mic to get the QR Code. Then copy and paste or save QR code to your pics to use wherever you need it. To make a new one you will need to refresh the page to the original QR Voice address. 

North Carolina: June 6