Weekly Byte 1.10.10

Happy New Year!
Welcome back to school. We had an interesting first week with all the snow. Its always a good day when you get that 2hr delay. That rhymes! Anyways we have alot going on and a lot of technology coming up.
I will be working next week with the NGA on a technology unit. It kicks off Wednesday with a speaker on Technology Ethics! We will then be working with the 9th graders on Moodle and Google Docs! Good stuff.
I have also been approved to offer six technology sessions after school for Act 48 credits. Sessions on Using Moodle effectively, ActivInspire, Photostory, Google Docs, and advanced technologies will be offered. Watch your email for more info.
Teacher Highlight
I have been working with Melissa, Lisa and Samantha using Google Docs in the Social Studies Department. We had some issues with Google Docs so it was not a complete success but we learned alot about the product and will use this information to better use Google Docs in the future. Thank you ladies for having me in your classrooms!
In case you are wondering what Google Docs is:Tour of Google Docs
Website of the Week
Brightstorm
This is a math resource that provides free online math tutorials that show how to solve different types of math problems in Algebra, Geometry, Trigonometry and Calculus. The tutorials are free but the SAT and ACT prep sections are a fee based service. This would be a good tool for remediation/enrichment on a variety of math concepts.
Advanced Technology Tool of the Week
Cacoo
Cacoo is a feature-rich collaborative diagram creation resource. Like similar diagram creation tools, Cacoo allows you to draw shapes, type, and drag and drop elements of your diagram. One of the unique aspects of Cacoo is that you can also upload images to include in your diagrams. The collaborative aspect of Cacoo is that you can invite other people to contribute to your diagrams. Cacoo allows you to chat with your collaborators in real-time while you work on your diagrams.
As always please contact me if you are interested in using any technologies in your classroom and we can discuss how I can help you.
thanks