360 Views of Mars Landscapes

All of the recent excitement and interest in Mars because of the landing of the Curiosity Rover, means you should really stop what you're doing to click this link.  I mean, like, right now!

Panoramas.dk gives you several Martian landscapes to investigate like you're standing there in its red dust.  Heck, I might shave my head for that!

Google is One Step Closer to Global Domination

With the announcement of Google Fiber, Google is one step closer to virtual global domination - not that that is necessarily a bad thing.  Truth be told, I'm pretty excited about Google Fiber and think the city council should get us on the list to bring it to Sweet Home.   You can read more about it: 

here and here

17 Year Old Google Science Fair Winner Designs App to Detect Cancer

Click here to enjoy this pretty fantastic read on a gorgeous summer day!

VIMEO Video of the Week!

Infographics!  You've probably seen them in your favorite magazine, news show, or website.  In a nutshell, an infographic provides a visualized - almost pictorial - display of data that is easily accessible (and entertaining) than your standard venn diagram or bar graph.  

Sorry Youtube (I still heart you), but this week's video comes from Vimeo - another video hosting/posting website - and it presents how to create your own infographic at a nifty little website called Easel.ly.  To use Easel.ly you must create a free account, using an active email.

Youtube Video of the Week!

I've been a fan of the Green Brothers since their pretty awesome viral ode to Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows in 2007, since then they've teamed up with Youtube EDU to create their own channel: Crash Course.  The videos on this channel focus on World History and Biology...here's a respective sampling:

Youtube Video of the Week!

I wanted to get a last post in before Spring Break "officially" starts.  First, a little background.  Sony, in an ad campaign for their new cell phone, asked kids to explain how cell phones work.  Adorable, right?  Then they asked award winning film maker Wes Anderson (Rushmore, Fantastic Mr. Fox) to take the stories and animate them.  The following two videos show you the end results: the power of imagination and storytelling.

Youtube Video of the Week!

What is a Leap Year?  This video helps to: Explain. It. All.

ITSC 2012: Flat Stanley with Rushton Hurley at ITSC

ITSC 2012: Flat Stanley Speaking at ITSC

ITSC 2012: Gobsmack of the Day

10x10 - 100 Words and Pictures

Get a picture, well a hundred really, of world news updated hourly!  Take a look at this...

Online Talking Dictionary!

Ever come across a word that you don't know how to pronounce?  Well wonder no longer thanks to Howjsay.com. 

According to the website's homepage, the directions are pretty straightforward: 

When your entry appears in pink, [hover the] mouse over to hear it pronounced.  You can list up to 15 entries like this: cat;cart;cut;cot;caught;coat;.  There are currently 153030 entries in the dictionary.

This is a great, free classroom tool for struggling readers and ESL students. 

Download This!

While I love the ability to access my :H drive from home, it's not as "portable" as I'd like it to be - meaning I'm restricted (for good reason) on how I can access the district server.  Enter Dropbox.  Dropbox provides free online storage and cloud syncing, it's cross-platform compatible, and can be used on almost any "smart" device (smartphone, iPad, netbook, etc.).

Busy Teacher.org

Busyteacher.org boasts a database of over 5,000 worksheets available for teachers to download and print to create fast, fun lessons in a flash. 

Download This!

The VideoLAN VLC Media Player is my favorite tool of the moment.  Not only is it a great cross platform device that you can use to rip, stream, save, and convert video for different classroom applications.  For example, I used the VLC Media Player to rip and convert a video clip from a promotional DVD sent to the jr. high to play on our digital signage. 

I found the VideoLAN Wiki's "HowTo" page particularly helpful in this regard, and there are a ton of other uses for this quiet, low-frills download.

Youtube Video of the Week!

What does it feel like to fly over the planet Earth? (check out this video from Infinity Imagined).

YouTube Video of the Week!

So if you've spoken with Tim Swanson since the start of school, he's probably tried to show you this video (you should just watch it now...he's right, it's pretty cool!)

Youtube Video of the Week!

Vedic Math (or Solving Math Problems by Drawing Lines) will blow your mind!