Tuesday, March 12, 2013

Todd's Tuesday Tech Tips #24: Google Drive


Dear Colleagues,

Happy Tuesday!

This week's tip is to learn to use Google Drive.


What is it?  It is a giant repository where you can save, share and create documents, pictures, presentations, spreadsheets and more.  If you are familiar with Drop Box or Evernote, you have a general idea of what Google Drive is.  The reason it is valuable for you is that you have 5GB of free storage available.  Do you have a document that you would like to send home, but don't have a disk on key or forgot your laptop?  Well, use Google Drive.  For those of you advanced users, you can share anything you can create in Google Drive with whomever you would like.  Google Drive makes it easy to do that and much more.


I poured over the internet for video tutorials on how to use Google Documents and Google Drive.  One of the best was made by a young adult, I would guess age 12.  It really is amazing what the Digital Natives can do at this point. 

For those of you who are not intimidated by a twelve year old teaching you how to use it, here is a very good video from traindude 390:

For those of you who are more print oriented, I found a nice and very basic tutorial on how to use Google Drive HERE

Here is a basic video from CNet that explains Google Drive in a succinct manner:  HERE

Please let me know if you find these tips useful.  I would love to know how many of you are successfully using Google Drive.

Sincerely,
Todd


Tuesday, March 5, 2013

Todd's Tuesday Tech Tip #23 Women's History Month

Dear Colleagues,

This week's tip is a mixture of tech and tools for helping you celebrate Women's History Month.

March is the month in which we celebrate achievements of females throughout history.  There are some terrific links and resources that I think you will find very enlightening.  In addition, I have included a list of notable women's history books that we will have on display in the RC.  If you have other titles that you think we should add to our bibliography, please let us know.

  • National Women's History Month Honorees
    This page, from the National Women's History Project, offers an annotated list of this year's honorees.
  • Women's History Month
    Time for Kids presents this special feature on Women's History Month. There are profiles, a quiz, a history of this event, and a timeline of women's history milestones.
  • Women Who Changed History
    This Scholastic Webpage highlights the achievements of five women who have changed history, including Amelia Earhart, Rosa Parks, Sally Ride, Dr. Mae Jemison, and Melba Pattillo.
  • My Hero: Women's History Month
    This resource, from the My Hero Project, includes information about women from all walks of life. Read about these artists, scientists, authors, educators, and other women who have made a difference.
Thank you to Larry Ferlazzo for his links; check out his site for tremendous resources on any topic!

The Children’s Encyclopedia Of Women
National Women’s Hall of Fame
National Women’s History Project
* Scholastic’s Women Who Changed History
* The Encyclopedia Britannica has a section called 300 Women Who Changed The World.
Spartacus International: USA History — Women’s Suffrage
The History Channel’s Women’s History Month site, which also includes a lot of multimedia resources.
The National Educational Association has many resources for Women’s History Month, including lesson plans.
Time For Kids Women’s History Month
* The Smithsonian has an online exhibition called Women Of Our Time. It focuses on influential women of the twentieth century.
* The California Museum has a Remarkable Women Trail feature on its website. A display of a map of California shows images of remarkable women. Click on one of them, and you get an accessible biography, images, and videos.  Visitors to the site can also submit information about other women they think should be included.
Women’s Rights: A Pictorial History is from Awesome Stories, and is very accessible to English Language Learners.  It looks like you can view this feature without subscribing, but it’s free to subscribe anyway.
Milpitas Chat shares a number of good online ESL lessons related to Women’s History.
International Women’s Day occurs every March 8th. Here is a series of photos from The Sacramento Bee showing how it is celebrated around the world.
The New York Times has created an interactive of “reader submitted photographs from around the world that illustrate the importance of educating girls and empowering women.”
Women’s History Month Across the Curriculum comes from the New York Times Learning Network.
The Wall Street Journal has a slideshow titled Marking International Women’s Day, and it shows how it was celebrated around the world.
The Weekly Reader has some nice online and downloadable resources on their Women’s History page.
“A Brief History Of Women In Power” is the title of a TIME Magazine slideshow.
“The 25 Most Powerful Women of the Past Century” is an accessible feature from TIME Magazine.
The Biography Channel has a very impressive collection of resources.
Gender Gap is an interesting interactive from The Wall Street Journal.
Using The New York Times for Teaching and Learning About Women is another excellent resource from The New York Times Learning Network.
International Women’s Day: Voices from around the world – interactive comes from The Guardian.
16 Of History’s Most Rebellious Women is a slideshow from TIME Magazine.
Celebrating 100th Women’s Day is a slideshow from The Wall Street Journal.
Women’s History is a great lesson collection from The Zinn Education Project.
Photo Essay: International Women’s Day 2011 comes from PBS.
100 years of scientific breakthroughs – by women is a slideshow from The Guardian.
Worst places in the world for women is an interactive from The Guardian.
World’s Most Dangerous Countries for Women is a photo gallery from The Boston Globe.

Thinkfinity has resources
 on Women’s History Month.
The Biography Channel has a Women’s History Timeline.


Suggested Picture Books:

“Females in the Spotlight: Strong Characters in Picture Books”

All by Herself by Ann Whitford Paul (Harcourt, 1999)

Amelia and Eleanor Go for a Ride by Pan Munoz Ryan (Scholastic, 1999)

Axle Annie by Robin Pulver and Tedd Arnold (Puffin Books, 1999)


Brave Irene by William Steig (Sunburst Books, 1986)


Fly High! The Story of Bessie Coleman
 by Louise Borden, Mary Kay Kroeger, and Teresa
Flavin (Margaret K. McElderry Books, 2001)

I Have Heard of a Land by Joyce Carol Thomas and Floyd Cooper (Trophy Picture Books,1998)

Mirette on the High Wire by Emily Arnold McCully (Putnam Juvenile, 1997)


Seven Brave Women by Betsy Hearne and Bethanne Anderson (Greenwillow Books, 1997)
The Legend of Bluebonnet by Tomie dePaola (Putnam Juvenile 1996)
They Called Her Molly Pitcher by Anne Rockwell and Cynthia Von Buhler (Knopf Books forYoung Readers, 2002)

Through My Eyes by Ruby Bridges (Scholastic, 1999)

Wilma Unlimited: How Wilma Rudolph Became the World’s Fastest Woman by Kathleen Krull (Voyager Books, 2000)