Create your own scratch off

Create your own Scratch Ticket

iPods for all students (and teachers too!) workshop links

iPod Links

Audiobooks and eBooks
American Rhetoric – Top 100 historic speeches
Audible- free 14 day trial
eBooks and Education
Free Audio Books - Audiobooks.net
Free Classic AudioBooks
LibriVox
The Audio Books Project - Gutenberg
The Official Robert Munsch Website – children’s author reads his own books

Lesson plan resources
Apple Education - iPod in the Classroom - Lesson Plans
Apple Learning Interchange 2007 - Teaching with iPod and iTunes

Articles, links, and other resources
Are iPod-banning schools cheating our kids?
iPod Helps Special-Needs Students Make the Grade
iPod in Education Links
learninginhand.com - iPods in Education
Louisa-Muscatine iPod Project
PBS Teachers learning.now-- The iPod of the Beholder
Schools banning iPods to beat cheaters - USATODAY.com
The Stingy Scholar ipod

Podcasts (many of these are in the iTunes music store)
10 Podcasts for Teachers and Kids- Scholastic.com
ABC News
B O O K W I N K
CNN.com
Colonial Williamsburg Past and Present Podcasts
Discovery Channel
Earth & Sky for Kids
ESL and Archie Comics
ESPN.com
Family Health Radio
Historical Sounds in MP3 Format - The Free Information Society
Kids Music, Children's Music - Free MP3 Downloads of Kids Songs
Living on Earth-- Sound Journalism for the Whole Planet
mathgrad.com
Monticello Podcasts
MSNBC.com
NASA - Digital Learning Network Podcast Directory
NASA Podcasting
National Geographic
NPR Podcast Directory
PBS
poetryfoundation.org
Reader's Digest- RD Out Loud
San Diego Zoo Podcasts
Storynory- Free Audio Stories for Kids
Vocab Minute Podcasts- The Princeton Review

Software and file conversion
iPod Notes Packager—create ebooks for your iPod
iQuiz Maker – works with iQuiz game available from iTunes music store
iTunes—free download from Apple, works with or without an iPod
mogopop – create your own content for the iPod
Scribd – convert documents to spoken words and download
Vixy.net -- free online flash video converter

Tips and tutorials
Aspira.org- iPod Education Resources Portal
iPod tutorial on Apple.com
iTunes - Hot Tips
iTunes 6 - Atomic Learning, Inc.
Apple iTunes Tutorial Apple - Introduction
playlistmag- iPod and iTunes Product Guide, News, Reviews, How-To’s and More

Video
National Archives – historic video on Google Video
TeacherTube – teacher created content

Unbelievable!

Earlier this school year someone pointed out how much I resemble White House Press Secretary Tony Snow. Well, the resemblance is getting even scarier! This week at church choir practice someone told me that Tony also plays the flute (which happened to be my major instrument in college) and that there is a YouTube video showcasing his skills.

I have got to email this guy and maybe get to meet him for a photo op, or for playing some flute duets.

Viruses, Spyware & Spoofs, OH MY!

Here are links to the websites referenced in my presentation on May 8.

Anti-Virus Resources:
Stinger http://vil.nai.com/vil/stinger/
AVG Anti-Virus www.grisoft.com/
avast! 4 Home Edition www.avast.com/

Anti-Spyware Resources:
Spybot Search & Destroy www.safer-networking.org/
Ad-aware SE Personal www.lavasoft.com/

Phishing, Spoofs, Scams, and Hoaxes Resources:
Urban Legends Reference Pages www.snopes.com/
Federal Trade Commission http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/menus/consumer/tech.shtm
Microsoft Security at Home www.microsoft.com/athome/security
OnGuard Online http://onguardonline.gov
Anti-Phishing Working Group http://www.antiphishing.org/phishing_archive/phishing_archive.html
Why phishing works
http://people.deas.harvard.edu/~rachna/papers/why_phishing_works.pdf

Stop school bullying

Here's a very moving video from YouTube via Vicki Davis via Steve Dembo .

Share it with your students! The video is by a high school student from Illinois. Permission was obtained from Atlantic Records to use the accompanying soundtrack, "Welcome to My Life" by the group Simple Plan.

Are iPod banning schools cheating our kids?

By now I'm sure you've seen the AP article "Schools banning iPods to catch cheaters" that made the USA Today, CNN, and other newspapers and websites. Well, a colleague sent me a link to a Computer World article by Mike Elgan that takes an opposing view: Why iPods and other electronic gadgets should be required, not banned!
http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=9018594

Here's a sample:

Most high school students prepare for tests by guessing what facts might be on the test, then trying to memorize those facts to maximize their grades. Hours after the test, those facts tend to be forgotten. This is a gross oversimplification, sure, but largely true. How much of your high school history, science or math do you still retain to this day? If you're like me, the answer is practically zero.

An iPod, when used during tests, is nothing more than a machine that stores and spits out data. By banning iPods and other gadgets, we're teaching kids to actually become iPods -- to become machines that store and spit out data. Instead, we should be teaching them to use iPods -- to use that data and to be human beings who can think -- and leave data storage to the machines.

Life imitates art-- 600 year old music decoded!

This is amazing! If you've seen the movie The DaVinci Code, the chapel at the end is the Rosslyn Chapel in Scotland. There's an absolutely fascinating story about a couple of musicians who literally broke the code of some symbols in the chapel and translated it into music! Watch the video below, then visit the website that explains it all in more detail.