Sunday, August 25, 2013

Safely Show You Tube Videos in Your Classroom



Do you find great online videos or ebooks for your lessons only to get discouraged by all of the ads, etc. that come with it?  Well, I just learned of an easy fix for that problem!  The video above shows how easy it is to convert a YouTube video to a Safeshare.tv video.  SaveShare is a website that takes YouTube videos and gets rid of almost ALL of the advertisements and extra stuff around the main video.  Safeshare even removes the ads that are often shown before popular videos.  Using it is VERY simple.  All you do is copy the YouTube link and past it into Safeshare.tv (see image below).  Then, you are given a new link to use instead of the YouTube link.  Save that to your favorites and you are all set!  Sometimes its just these little things that make our job as teachers so much easier and less stressful.  Happy viewing and have a great school year!



http://safeshare.tv/

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Sunday, July 28, 2013

Free webinars, resources, and collaboration!


I am so excited that I am now an official "Ambassador" for Simple K12!  

Ambassador blog badge
Hi friends,

I wanted to tell you about SimpleK12's Teacher Learning Community.  I'm a Member and love all of their resources for educators. You should join!





There is a free basic membership that allows you to:
  • Learn from subject matter experts in live webinars
  • Join in ongoing discussions on the hottest education topics
  • View and share the most popular teacher resources
  • Connect with educators from around the world
  • and more!


I've learned so much and would love to connect with you inside of the Teacher Learning Community.  See you inside!



P.S.  There are many more webinars coming up in August with topics to help you get ready for those first days of school.  



Flower Clip Art

Wednesday, June 26, 2013

Do You Know About Google Alerts?

Do you have a special interest that you would like to follow but just can't always find the time to search for the latest information? Google Alerts can help. 

Google Alerts are e-mails that are automatically sent to your inbox whenever new information becomes available on your search terms. Depending on your search preferences, Google will monitor News, Web, Blogs, Video and Groups (or all of them) for new information, and send it to you on the schedule you've set up.

For example, suppose you are interested in following the latest posts on CCSS elementary math, or CCSS early language, or have a particular professional interest, if so, then, set up a Google Alert. When new information is available, an e-mail and snippet will be sent to your inbox.


The image below outlines how to set up Google Alerts:

Applications for Education
Google Alerts can be a great way to find resources you can use in your classroom.  For example, if you're a mathematics teacher, set up an alert for "mathematics lessons" or mathematics games" and new content will be delivered to you.  In a course that requires students to share current events stories, Google Alerts could be useful for students to track stories on a particular news topic.

This is an especially great tool for us busy teachers!  Check it out soon, if you haven't already!


Flower Clip Art