Zoho tabs demonstration

July 9, 2008

Posted in Video Captures, video, zoho

Nerd Test

July 9, 2008

Ok so I just had to take the Nerd Test. How fun was that? Go ahead. You know you wanna click below and take it too!

Posted in jokes

Zoho: Sharing Notebooks, not Pages

July 8, 2008

This short video shows you how to add Zoho pages directly in Zoho notebook. It also explains how once a Notebook is shared, the owner does not need to share each page individually.

Click here to see the full size version of this video.

Posted in Video Captures, eng102, vidcasts, video, zoho

Grammar Girl’s book is coming!

July 7, 2008

Grammar Girl is Mignon Fogarty who has taken her award winning podcast and created a book! Her no nonsense look at grammar is refreshing (although I still believe we should all own a copy of Strunk and White’s Elements of Style, which I thought was about how to wear cardigan’s when my grandfather bought me a copy in 1986). Here’s an excerpt she shared with us on Twitter recently.

If you’d like to meet her, come on out to Changing Hands Bookstore in Tempe, AZ on Monday July 14th.

Excerpt from Changing Hands’ website:
Are you stumped by split infinitives? Terrified of using “who” when a “whom” is called for? Do you avoid the words “lay” and “lie” altogether? Grammar Girl is here to help! Mignon Fogarty, a.k.a. Grammar Girl, is determined to wipe out bad grammar—but she’s also determined to make the process as painless as possible. One year ago, she created a weekly podcast to tackle some of the most common mistakes people make while communicating. The podcasts have now been downloaded more than seven million times, and Mignon has dispensed grammar tips on Oprah and appeared on the pages of the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, and USA Today. Written with the wit, warmth, and accessability that the podcasts are known for, Grammar Girl’s Quick and Dirty Tips for Better Writing covers the grammar rules and word-choice guidelines that can confound even the best writers. From “between vs. among” and “although vs. while” to comma splices and misplaced modifiers, Mignon offers memory tricks and clear explanations that will help readers recall and apply those troublesome grammar rules. Chock-full of tips on style, business writing, and effective e-mailing, Grammar Girl’s print debut deserves a spot on every communicator’s desk.

Posted in books, grammar, writing

Zoho introduction

July 7, 2008

Last week my MCC dept chair gave me an online English 102 course for Summer Session II, and the course is running in Zoho Notebook. I created the following video to briefly introduce Zoho Notebook to my class and others.

zoho_intro

Posted in eng102, zoho

AP Institute Bellevue, WA

June 25, 2008

This week I am at the AP Institute in Bellevue, WA. Last year I came to this same institute alone, because I’d heard it’s the best around. I agree. Last year it rocked, and my presenter was the Chief Reader for AP Language. The beginning of the week began a bit quieter until my friends Ryan & Laura drove up; we spent week nights together after the conference and then the weekend before I flew home. This year I brought about 25 people with me. Ryan asked about coming up again, and I apologized that with so much work to do here this year I would be relatively MIA. I asked if that bothered him, and I didn’t hear back so I assume it was a problem. It’s cool. I just hope to see them again soon, and if they were in town, I’d keep worrying that I wasn’t seeing them enough.

So now here I am again, and Perry High sent Shirley Crabtree to this same conference. I didn’t realize how much I missed her until I saw her again, knowing in 3 weeks I wouldn’t see her every day. Sitting in my room. Copying with me. In-servicing with me. Talking with me. Teaching with me. I’ll miss that, and even talking with her about curriculum mapping, I realized we’d never plan together the same again. Sure, we’d share ideas. Sure, she’d give me her advice, but never would we be on the same page day in and day out, again.

As for the overall conference, I didn’t realize how much I like quiet traveling. This time I am mostly surrounded by my friends and peers. Out of class, we’re at dinner or walking somewhere. In class I am with my new friends, reading, working, thinking. Sylvia, my instructor, is amenable albeit a but flighty (but that’s her charm), and our group is smaller. Last year there were thirty of us, and I could zone out if I wanted. This year I can’t.

I need to work on our AP Calendar. I need to work on our English 11 scope & sequence. I need to revamp things, and I wish I weren’t level lead, but I am. I trudge away in the work that has become me.

Posted in AP Lang, conferences, curriculum, eng11, travel

Google: Pages Vs. Sites

June 21, 2008

In late spring a couple of up and coming students were working on a project where they needed to post something online. I just required these students to create GMAIL accounts, so I suggested Google Pages. Google Pages is a What You See Is What You Get (WYSIWYG) web page editor. This is free and built into Google APPS, so I figured it would work out pretty well for her.

So let me talk to you a little about what worked and what didn’t work so far in Google Pages. If you need to make some simple webpages or you don’t need anything too fancy, then go for it. If you don’t mind structured webpages with little freedom, then this will work ok for you. For example, I use to use Microsoft Publisher for webpages (yes, I admit that!) and it was so rigid, and Google Pages is like that. That student met with me during conference time and we worked on her website together, and I couldn’t believe how little control the user actually had (no matter which theme we chose). If you’re looking for quick and dirty, go ahead though.

Also, recently we see that Google Sites come online, and I’d like to point out a few differences. Google Sites has a wiki base to it, and for the layperson, steer clear at first. No luddites here. Albeit, if you understand the collaboration strategies in Google Docs, go for it! That’s how their “wiki” works, which is cool for those who’ve used Google Docs for awhile. A colleague of mine just made a site on teacherweb.com, and I wanted to bang my head against the wall because I’d been converting her over to Google Apps. Then she makes a rigid, ugly site. It’s not her fault, and it’s difficult to discuss that with her, but I wish I’d been asked beforehand.

Posted in google sites, wiki

My favorite song

June 20, 2008

Ok, I just installed Anarchy plug-in for WordPress 2.51. This is really a test post to show how you can use this to embed audio. While I have uploaded my favorite song, I will use this more for podcasting. Now let me ask you this. Am I breaking copyright? The song is Allison by the Pixies. So it’s a commercial song, albeit it’s a LIVE version from the Red Rocks show (in Colorado) about 5 years ago. Does it matter if it’s live? Does it matter if I give you an option to download the song, or in this case NOT download it? Post comments below. I’d love to hear from you. But for now, ENJOY THIS ROCKIN’ SONG!
Download

Posted in music

Summer Reading Assignment Directions

June 19, 2008

Posted in Summer Reading, vidcasts

Students 2.0

June 19, 2008

I got this tweet on my phone today about a site called Student 2.0. Since my own site is called Teacher 2.0, I was intrigued. Got back to the hotel and decided to check it out. Looks like a group of students from all over the world (Hawaii, Korea, NYC, New England, Washington State, etc…) who want to write about education. Students who are interested in making their own unique voices heard in the edublogosphere. (What a mouthful!). Anyway, check them out. Great message, and please subscribe. Looks like they got over 1,000 subscribers! CLICK ME.

Posted in student2.0