Intel® Core™ Duo Processor T7200 2GHz, 667MHz, 4MB L2 Cache
2GB DDR2 (1GBx2) PC2-5300, 667MHz
2GB max. Hard Drive and Multimedia Drives:
320GB 7200rpm Serial ATA
This was the first exposure for me to Vista. I liked it. I could never figure out how to make the web cam that is built into the 19 monitor. The user interface seemed responsive and very OS X-like. I thought PC were cheaper than Apple computers. Not so. I was in the Apple Store today and the iMac, $1499.00 (retail) I used there was just as nice and
2.4GHz Intel Core 2 Duo
1GB memory
320GB hard drive1
8x double-layer SuperDrive
ATI Radeon HD 2600 PRO with 256MB memory
If I boost up the memory to 2 GB, Crucial offers 1 Gigs for $45. But the factory standard 1 G works fine for 90% of my video and photo editing. I used a PowerBook for years with 512 Meg of RAM for 4 years and did everything I wanted to do on a laptop.
My attention shifted quickly to the shiny new iPods. My fav immediately was the aluminum colored iPod Classic (with the 160GB HD). I would love to have one of those to use along with my laptops in the classroom. Set it up as a portable hard drive. It would be a great way to share photos and videos in a laptop lab and to backup student projects.
I looked at the iPod Touch. I did not like how slow the wireless was in the store. I know they have a nice wifi setup. I have used their wifi with my MacBook. I was not excited with how sluggish the menus operated on the iPod Touch. I would buy the iPhone in a second over the iPod Touch. I am going to wait until the next generation of the iPhone. I can not wait to see what improvements they will have.
Oh well, back to reality. Teachers do not get paid enough to afford all these high tech toys. It is still nice to dream.
Planning an activity so our school will celebrate Constitution Day. Thanks to Scott Weatherson’s great image of the document. I am researching the possible use of Nintendo Wii with our alternative school students. I have found several blog posts to read.
Back to the activity, I want to use Constitution Day as a possible podcast theme. When planning a podcast, students will need to brainstorm and come up with a list of questions about the Constitution. We will use a KWL or fishbone diagram to focus discussion. After the list of questions are created, they will need to research the answers and then come up with a rough draft of a report. The reports will be part of their writing assignment. Editing reports and re-writing will take until Wednesday. So, maybe the podcasts can be recorded next week.
My first impression from yesterday’s 9/11 remembrance activity at my school was that the students in 8th grade, were in 2nd grade when NYC was attacked. They did not remember anything about it. I was disappointed that they had never even seen the any of the videos of the day. We watched it. YouTube videos of 9/11 are blocked but I downloaded them from home. We have videos of 9/11 on UnitedStreaming.
We had an activity around the flagpole. I have photos and will post them soon. I downloaded them at school to create a slideshow and my camera’s battery needs to be charged. Was going to download the photos at home but can not due to low battery.
For this year, our school is going to keep a scrapbook. This will be fun.
Students in my 8th grade class are hard at work on their studies. We are working learning about scientific modeling and the scientific method. This photo shows them making an earth “sun catcher”. They are expected to learn the names of the continents, and major oceans. We used Google Earth, a large wall map, and globe, to reinforce the concepts.
Bio-tech lab visited the campus of our community college today. I was impressed by the mobile lab. I really enjoyed chatting with Becky Westbrooks, SCC science instructor. She and her fellow
If you’re looking for a motivating project and you teach science — this flu flux contest opens up September 15th - October 28th and has you creating videos about how people get the flu and how to prevent it in three categories: kids and the flu, sports and the flu, and flu in the workplace.
I am thinking- claymation time!
This will make a meaningful digital storytelling - science cross curricular project!
This is really an improvement for Bloglines. Still in Beta testing but I like the changes. I have almost abandended my Bloglines and have been using Netvibes to read my RSS feeds. I may be using the new Bloglines again. If you have not checked Bloglines and are using Google Reader, take a trip over to Bloglines and cruise the new version. I like the different view feature. Provides a way to customize the view on the go.
I am on pins an needs about this device. I wanted an iPhone, but after trying the iPhone in the Apple Store, decided that it was just to difficult to type on and I really would not use all the whistles and bells. All I want on my phone is a button to answer my incoming calls and an easy way to dial emergency numbers and my family.
Also, I want to see the next generation of the iPhone.
When I saw that the new ipod would have WiFi and touch screen, my mind started racing.
As if you need another source “confirming” the launch of new iPods at Apple’s September 5th event, along comes DigiTimes riding their wave of Taiwanese component manufacturing insiders. According to the folks who brought us the Powerbook G5 (No DigiTimes, we won’t forget), Apple is due to drop a new Inventec Appliances manufactured, flash-based widescreen “iPod video” with touch-interface (widely rumored to carry the iPod Touch brand) sporting WiFi and an iPhone-like UI when it ships “at the end of this month or early October.” Also in the cards is a Foxconn manufactured iPod nano with more storage and iPhone-like UI at the same prices as existing models and higher capacity iPod shuffles from Asustek. So yeah, it falls in line with all the other rumors but that doesn’t mean we’re buying it.
Academic scrapbooking falls under the category of differentiated instruction. Differentiated instruction is the means of choice for most teachers these days as the needs of our learners change and we need to include all students in our classes regardless of skill levels. As you know, differentiated instruction encourages personal choice for students to demonstrate their skill levels in a manner that is comfortable to them. The other aspect of differentiated instruction that I like is that is does not make assumptions about presumed beginning skill levels.
I suppose before you can sigh with relief, you want to know if this type of student response is gradable. Absolutely and to get you started, I am providing a free download: a grading rubric. And, because we all have those days where we need a break and are in-between units, or decide to take a personal day, I have a Down Time Plan for you to download for free. If I may offer a suggestion, at the beginning of the school year, set up the Down Time Plan in a plastic tub or basket for under your desk, and keep it updated after each use while the students are working independently. Also, the beginning of the school year is a great time to introduce academic scrapbooking to your students. You might want to refer them to this site too!
