FileLab

This was an ironic tool to come across, for me at least, because I just got done with a huge project involving windows movie maker. FileLab is a free movie maker as well but comes with a lot more options than movie maker, in my opinion its a lot better than windows movie maker. It is an audio and movie editor along with a system cleaner. All of these are completely free. So here is what it offers that is so amazing ->

        For the Movie Maker, for starters you can do a lot of different editing. You can cut out different voice recordings and pictures you put in, you can add effects and transitions between each slide, you can overlay your video in a sense where it isn't so orderly. It has a wide variety of different color schemes and again effects you can add to create a more realistic movie. The one downfall in my opinion is the complexity. With Windows Movie Maker it is quite simple and easily directed, FileLab is a bit more confusing but once you get the hang of it, it is much easier.

       They also have the Audio Editor, which is convenient for when you want to work on something that is not movie related. This really gives you an open opportunity for any file formatting, which is nice, you have the option to be lenient with how your saving files and such so that it is easier to transfer. There again is several different editing tools and adding affect tools, some of these may just be amplifying or cutting our certain sections. All of these are beneficial especially for live performances. I would of been very eager to have used something like this for my digital story board, the ability to edited live work of you speaking is very generous in this kind of project.

       FileLab also offers a computer cleaner, that you download and every couple of weeks sweeps through your system to make sure you have no viruses. All of these are really helpful tools in my opinion, I also think this program is much stronger than some others I have used before and am very eager to give this one a shot.

ScienceNetLinks STEM K-12 tool

Science Net Links is a resource used for K-12 Science related topics. It provides teaching tools, in class activities and resources for teachers specifically in the science area. The website opens up immediately to a search bar that allows you to navigate through the website in a sense where you can discover the grade levels and the different website activities along with in class room activities. In the upper right hand corner there is also a tool bar that provides more information.
        
               The lessons tool bar breaks down the search engine again into different science topics such as earth science, physics, astronomy, biology and more. I observed Kindergarten and was able to discover links raising awareness, lesson ideas and printed off sheets of all science topics within kindergarten science. I really like that it dissects the pages so much for you so you can observe what grade, what region of science and gives you many different options of links to choose from. The other links on the upper right hand corner will go over group activities and lab activities, after school program options and other extra curricular science activities to choose from.
              
                  The last link shows a lot of information on Science News. This is really helpful because it keeps you updated with what is currently going on in the world with science, this can be really helpful if you are a science teacher because than you can show your students how what they are learning can be compared to the real world and what is currently going on in the world. I think this tool is one of the strongest student resources I have seen, not only because it really concentrates on a specific topic but also because it really dissects that topic for you by giving the proper grade and specific science topic.

Empedia

What I discovered this week is this really cool tool featured on Technology Tidbits. It’s pretty much a social encyclopedia. So the information is not new, but what are new are the experiences behind it. Experiences can define people; describe you and our extremely helpful. The idea for this website erupted in 2007 with the creation of the online encyclopedia, it’s apparent that it was created then because while entering information on all these different topics it’s obvious how many are applicable to our lives. So here is an example- you click on the browse link and figure out what you want to enter. I just picked the artist Michael Jackson. It gave me a pretty long biography on him that you would read on any other encyclopedia but underneath it you found peoples comments. You can "thumbs up or thumbs down" the item and give feedback on who that person is, background information about him/her or the place or anything else for that matter that you may be aware of that the internet doesn't have. This could include personal experiences, if you have visited the location or met the person, this could include the impact it had on your life. It does not always have to be positive feedback; sometimes what you’re talking about was a negative experience for you and in that case writes about it. It is always good to see as many different points of views on something as possible. Now it is not really a credible website so wouldn't be the best tool to use for a research paper, but it’s got a lot of information that could come to great use for tons of different things. I really found it to be a cool encyclopedia resource that gives you a twist on information.

Doodling an essential skill to develop & support in our students?

The langwitches blog discusses a not very popular topic, because doodling has always been something that has been used to "kill time". Now that researchers are discovering it is in fact effective it could open several doors for teaching and for students to learn from. The first discussion talked about a movie a teacher played. She had students write notes on the movie and then she discovered the one student who doodled his drawings instead of hand wrote it took down much more information and detail. It depends on the type of learner you are of course, but it is obvious that this works well for visual learners. In a specific clip doodling was defined as to make spontaneous marks to help yourself think. How true, it really is extra detail on the side to help students think deeper into what they are learning. A couple questions that have been asked are, Does doodling calm a mind that is constantly bouncing off the wall? Yes. Is doodling beneficial for a visual learner? Yes. The problem is as I mentioned before it may be a learning device that is only successful for specific learners. But is has proven more positives than negatives and seems to be getting really high and positive ratings on the idea of getting this involved in classrooms more.

I Pads used in the first grade world

I was pretty crazy about the article I read, having to do with I pads. Even though this is a tool that is currently becoming popular, the reason I picked it because of the crazy things that can be done with it, even for kids as young as six! An I pad, as I noted before, is a pretty simple device, that is until you put it in front of a 6 year old. Reading this article I thought to myself, "It would be so unnerving and dangerous to give $500 I pads to 6 year olds!" but the things that these children were able to accomplish and learn about is amazing. First they were walked through steps on how to use the I pad, the teacher went over important "key words" so the children could identify what everything was on the I pad. After becoming familiar they were able to get deeper into all the apps, they utilized the EBooks for a bit, then moved onto the lesson part. The teacher had each student learn about the camera and take pictures of him/her self and then write a short excerpt about what they had learned that day. She noted that during this time the room was completely quiet, the children were in awe about what they were using it got a group of over 30 kids to be quiet! That is something in all my years of working with children I find the most difficult, I must admit I was sort of bias about technology (personal technology at least- I.I- IPhone, I pad and personal laptops) being a necessity. I didn't think children could handle it, but this article proved me otherwise. Technology amazes the old and the young, it is something most people can hardly wrap their brains around and all of us are eager to dig in and figure out what it is all about.