Lahaise's Lair

TEDxTeen Talks

PLahaise — Sun, 13 May 2012 05:37:08 +0000

I’ve been watching a bunch of TED’s, and while the TEDxTeen talks are good, I am not sure they are right to show in class. However, I wanted to highlight a few of my favorites. I encourage you to go to YouTube and explore more.

Natalie Warne

Tavi Gevinson

Sujay Tyle

Zander Srodes

Sejal Hathi

P-Star

BTW you might want to check out the new TEDEducation site on YouTube. There are some cool videos there. Not all of them fit in the TED format, but still worth your time.

Quizlet

PLahaise — Fri, 04 May 2012 19:46:12 +0000

I accidentally came across a very nifty site that I think you will all like. I’m linking you to the English portion of the site, but there are many other sections I think you will find useful. Just click on the logo and you will be directed there.

Tech Tip Friday

PLahaise — Fri, 13 Apr 2012 18:34:09 +0000

Recently I’ve had a great many students ask me about using PowerPoint for their presentations. While PowerPoint (or something similar) is okay in a pinch, why not explore something new and a tad more interesting? Here are just a few things (I have loads more) you might want to look into.

Use Stupeflix to mix photos, video and music into your own creative video.

One True Media is similar to Stupeflix.

Prezi is an excellent alternative to a boring Powerpoint.

Want a really fun way to gather some information and opinions? Check out aMap.

One last tip that I know many of you already know about…

When you want to perform a search you don’t have to go to Google or Yahoo (or whatever search engine you have set as a default). Simple type your search query into the address bar of your browser. It works with all browsers and saves you a step or two.

Check-out more tools and tips in my

Diigo Cool Tools .

Tech Tip: Evernote

PLahaise — Mon, 26 Mar 2012 05:36:51 +0000

So many of my students are “plugged in” when it comes to smartphones and pads, yet I’ve noticed not many of you have the very best app around: Evernote. Besides the Google suite this is my #1 go to app. The best part is the syncing ability which I think you will all appreciate. Check it out and download it on all your devices ASAP.

TED Talks 2012

PLahaise — Tue, 20 Mar 2012 05:47:40 +0000

There are some great TED talks being posted from the current conference going on in Long Beach (BTW I now understand the purpose of the TEDx talks!). Because I know some of you are into the TEDs as much as I am I would ask you to not use any 2012 talks for blog posts. Let me sift through them and see what I want to show in class. Then you can use the others for your bi-weekly blog posts.

What Is School For?

PLahaise — Sun, 18 Mar 2012 18:09:54 +0000

On the heals of last weeks TED talk by Mike Rowe, I highly recommend taking a look at Seth Godin’s newly created manifesto about school and education. Feel free to blog about any of his ideas. I’ve send this out to teachers but I think my students may have more to say about the ideas presented.

More Blogging Tips

PLahaise — Sat, 17 Mar 2012 19:30:38 +0000

A blogger/educator that I follow is Richard Byrne. He has great tips about everything, but I think his 11 Things You Should Know About Blogging post is highly relevant to all of my students. You are all bloggers now, and while in the future I’ll share this at the beginning of the year, it’s never too late to refresh, remind and renew one’s commitment to their blog. Oh, and the “niche” that he refers to…remember “your sentence”?

Presentation Tips

PLahaise — Fri, 16 Mar 2012 19:21:56 +0000

Guy Kawasaki (Apple guru) gives some great tips for presentations:

Student Absences

PLahaise — Mon, 27 Feb 2012 23:21:27 +0000

I’ve added a calendar for students who give me notice that they are going to be out a week in advance. This way you can be sure if you’ve notified me or not by checking to make sure your name has been added. This should be more efficient than my previous little scraps of paper.

Blogging Checklist

PLahaise — Mon, 27 Feb 2012 20:41:45 +0000

I’ve added some things to the blogging instructions and put it in the important docs. These are things I look for when grading your blog. I’ve discussed all of this in class, but maybe having it in writing will help some of you.