Links from Fall Kick-off Tutoring Event : Great Websites

Great Websites for Learning and Life

http://www.techsmith.com/jing/
Allows you to download Jing which lets you do screen captures of graphics and videos. It is FREE and extremely easy to use.

http://www.scribblar.com/
This website allows for simple, free online collaboration.
http://www.freerice.com/
Playing this vocabulary game not only increases your knowledge but also donates 10 grains of rice for each correct answer. Get smarter and feed the world at the same time.

http://visual.merriamwebster.com/
A great visual dictionary with lots of diagrams and views. Very helpful !

http://www.visuwords.com/
Enter a word and it becomes a universe. The colors correspond to related words and definitions. Click on an orbiting sphere and it expands as well.

http://inpics.net/
easy-to-follow pictorial lessons on using various versions of Word, Access, Excel, PowerPoint, Publisher, Open Office and more

Mac Users find help here: http://www.apple.com/findouthow/mac/

http://www.literacyactionnetwork.org/2011_Presentation_Handouts.html
Check out over 50 handouts from the Statewide ABE Conference

http://10minutemail.com/
Create a temporary email account for those times you need to click something to confirm your email but don’t want the baggage that comes with it.

http://maps.google.com/ and http://earth.google.com/
Use the satellite images to learn about the world around you.

http://lifehacker.com/ Cool, interesting and helpful tips on how to make your life better.

Minnesota Literacy Council Website Resources
http://www.themlc.org/techgrants
http://www.themlc.org/library.html
http://www.themlc.org/edweb.html
http://www.themlc.org/techtrainings


http://www.mnpanda.org/ Minnesota ABE Disability Specialsits

http://larryferlazzo.edublogs.org/  Award Winning Daily Posts of websites specifically for Teaching ESL/EFL& ELL

Literacy and Technology in Minnesota http://literacytechmn.blogspot.com/


Volunteer Match http://www.volunteermatch.org/ With this site, organizations can find a great volunteer, or volunteers can find a great organization. Search results can be narrowed to as close as five miles from home or expanded to encompass the volunteer’s state. Opportunities to volunteer include arts and culture, education, homelessness, immigration and many others.

Dropbox Pro for Life Contest

App Sumo ( a daily geek deals website ) is holding a contest to give away ten 50GB Lifetime Dropbox accounts.

If you are already a fan you know how useful Dropbox can be and a Free , Lifetime, Pro account would be awesome !

If you are not familar with Dropbox, it is a handy software program that allows you to store and share data across multiple computers. I use the free version but the Pro version is much larger and normally runs $99 a year.

To enter simply go the the link below and enter your email address.

(Yes, I  do assume this will mean they will send me their newsletter or some other promotional email at some point)

Link: http://appsumo.com/dropbox/

Best of Luck ! Hope you are one of the other 9 winners!

3 Sorts to Lighten Your Email Load

1. Sort by Size, find the biggest email and you will usually discover photos or powerpoint presentations. If you dont need them, ditch them. If you really want to keep them, save them in Dropbox, on a jumpdrive or even on your hard drive. 

Messages sent via email do not need to stay in email.

2. Sort by Date. List your emails from oldest to newest and you will discover that you really do have emails from 2007. Delete the relics. Most people can get by with stuff no older than 6 months.

3. Sort by Sender. I get tons of newsletters that seem like a good thing to read later and they hide amoung the emails I really need. Sorting by sender lets you rid yourself of hidden non-treasures. This sort is also a good way to rediscover those emails from past fellow employees letting you know what their new email address is. Read it, add their info to your contacts, delete the email.

Geek Secret

Many email programs allow to to see how many total (not just new) emails  you have in your Inbox and other email folders. In MS Office you can right click on an email folder > Choose Properties> Check the box for Show Total Number of Items.

  

Fall Tutoring Kickoff

Join other tutors and get some fresh ideas for spring!

This mini-conference will feature a variety of 50-minute

sessions designed to give you practical activities and ideas.

There is no charge for the training.

Saturday, October 15, -- 8:30 am - 1:00 pm

http://www.themlc.org/STR.html

O' Brother Why Art Thou Not Printing ?

While I am someone who lives in the digital age , I still love  paper and loving paper means loving my printer; even when it doesn't love me back.

Often times when we get a printing error, we try things like looking for a paper jam or turning it off and then back on. Both are valid  trouble shooting steps but don't forget to actually look to the printer for help. We currently have a number of Brother printers within our organizaiton and they have stood the test of time very well, but when they don't the first thing I do is look for the flashing led lights  to determine what the problem is. 

Sometimes it is something simple like low toner cartridge.

Other times the problem may be indicated my multiple blinking lights. Either way, the Brother Solution Center has very nice trouble shooting instructions complete with blinking lights to mimic what you might see on your printer.

There are dozens of printer brands out there so if a Brother is not what you have, check your printer manufactor's website for helpful troubleshooting tips.

Epson Support
Lexmark Support
Dell Printer Support


  Now if  I could only fix the jam in my stapler....

50+ Summer Institute 2011 Handouts Available

Once again Summer Institute was a great way for me to network and recharge my training batteries. I presented a session called "Cell Phones in the Classroom" and enjoyed every minute of it. The attendees were eager to participate in activities and engaged in lively and informative debate.

A copy of my presentation handout and the handouts of many of the presenters can be found on the Literacy Action Network's website.

Enjoy!

11 Tools for 2011

Here are the links to the tools we will be looking at for this training.

10 Minute Mail http://10minutemail.com

Remember the Milk http://www.rememberthemilk.com

Dropbox http://dropbox.com

Visuwords http://www.visuwords.com

Webspiration http://www.mywebspiration.com

Poll Everywhere http://www.polleverywhere.com

Photobucket http://www.photobucket.com

MLC Educational Website Search http://www.themlc.org/edweb.html

MLC Curicculum Development Grants http://www.themlc.org/techgrants

Computer Tutorials http://inpics.net

Free Online Courses from HP http://h30187.www3.hp.com/all_courses.jsp

HP Templates and worksheets for learners.
http://www.hp.com/hho/hp_create/toys_games-learning_activities.html

Blogs

Jason Brazier’s Training Blog http://jaytrains.blogspot.com

Susan Wentenkamp-Brandt tech blog: http://literacytechmn.blogspot.com

Jessica Jones maintains a blog on working with blind ESL students:
www.eslfortheblind.blogspot.com

50 Best Blogs for Education Leaders
http://www.onlineuniversities.com/blog/2010/02/50-best-blogs-for-education-leaders


Newsletters and Magazines

Tech and Learning http://www.techlearning.com

The Journal http://thejournal.com

BNet http://www.bnet.com

Tech Republic http://www.techrepublic.com

Campus Technology http://campustechnology.com

School CIO http://www.schoolcio.com