World Math Day is here

March 1  is World Math Day.

This is an online international math competition that first began in 2007 on the 14th of March. (Pi Day)

The Question sets have come under five categories: addition, subtraction, multiplication, division and simple equations. In each game, the student has one minute to answer as many of these questions of a random category as they can. The level of difficulty is approximately age appropriate.

When playing a game, the website will attempt to find other players of the same level to match the player against. If no matches are found, the player plays "against" a computer (which answers questions at pace similar to the past history of the student). After each game, the results are shown together with the competitors' results.

It has been a great experience for us here at school, and the kids love the fact that they are competing against someone else to get the highest score possible.

Free Audio Books from LearnoutLoud.com

If you are looking for free audio resources to use in your classes, Try out lookoutloud.com


"LearnOutLoud.com has scoured the Internet to bring you over 3000 free audio and video titles. This directory features free audio books, lectures, speeches, sermons, interviews, and many other great free audio and video resources. Most audio titles can be downloaded in digital formats such as MP3 and most video titles are available to stream online."


Here are some of their offerings in the Free Literature section. With many more on access to stream or to download.

1.		The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde Available on: Audio Download  This final play from the pen of Oscar Wilde is a stylish send-up of Victorian courtship and manners, complete with assumed names, mistaken lovers, and a lost handbag.
2.		Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare Available on: Audio Download  Romeo and Juliet is perhaps the most famous of Shakespeare’s plays and is thought to be the most famous love story in Western history.
3.		The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne Available on: Audio Download | Podcast  The Scarlet Letter is a novel published in 1850 and written by Nathaniel Hawthorne. Set in 17th-century Puritan Boston, it tells the story of Hester Prynne, who gives birth after committing adultery and struggles to create a new life of repentance and dignity.
4.		The Legend of Sleepy Hollow by Washington Irving Available on: Audio Download  The quiet Dutch community of Sleepy Hollow lay in the Adirondack mountains on the western shore of the mighty Hudson River in America’s colonial period.
5.		The Odyssey by Homer Available on: Audio Download  The Odyssey is one of the two major ancient Greek epic poems (the other being the Iliad), attributed to the poet Homer.

Online creation tools from Aviary Education

Aviary is a suite of powerful online creating and editing tools. The tools include an image editor, a color editor, an audio editor, an effects editor and an image markup tool.
They are all easy to use tools if you have a decent internet connection.

They have a special offer for educators. You can create private student accounts, manage assignments and projects, use the image editor, vector editor, audio editor & music creator and all content and images are 100% school safe.
The free account lets you sign up 50 students, so you could probably use it with one or two classes.

Have you wanted to convert files without the need for software? Use Zamzar.com

If you ever have the need to quickly convert files and you cannot install software on the computer you are sitting at, just use Zamzar.com.

You can convert between almost any types of files and then either email the link or download it to your machine. There is a file size limit of 100MB for the free to use version, which is great because most of the files that I have had to convert have been smaller than that, and when I need to convert video files, I do it on my machine. This year they have removed the pop-under ads, which makes the experience of using it better.

I would recommend this because of the sheer number of files it can handle, check out the entire list of supported file formats here

Watch YouTube videos without comments

Watch YouTube videos without comments, suggestions and other unnecessary things on a page.
This can help keep your class kids focussed on the video and not on what xyz has commented about it and what abc has replied to it.

Creating a Timeline for class

If you need to create a timeline, here is a great tool from the people at teach-nology.com. You can create a vertical or horizontal one with minimal fuss.

Is Online Safety a problem on your school network? Use OpenDNS

If you are worried about students on your school network and the sites they are accessing,  and you do not want to setup special software or hardware for that, you could check out OpenDNS.
We have been using it to limit usage of social networking, proxies and adult sites. It also provides protection against malware and phishing attempts.


The best part: OpenDNS Basic is totally free and comes with.

• Reliable DNS Infrastructure
• Web Content Filtering
• Phishing Protection
• Basic Customization
• Typo Correction

Apple in Education: Learning with Apple

Apple has a different approach to education that other companies. Their products are all that they feel are necessary for students. The iLife package which come free with the Mac and allows you to create great movies, podcasts, recordings, slideshows, photo books and much more.

Donate rice to the World Hunger Program

The Free Rice website has been around for a few years. You get asked questions and for each correct answer, 10 grains of rice are donated through the WFP to help end World Hunger. There are multiple subjects and even a language learning section.

What are you waiting for head over to http://www.freerice.com and donate some rice.

Free Ebooks for your Nook and Kindle

Do you or your students have the need to read more books? If you have an ebook reader this post is for you.
The average person who has an ebook reader needs to realize that you can get more ebooks for your reader than are offered on the relevant websites. There are plenty of websites where you can find free books. Just remember the nook uses .epub files by default and the Kindle uses .mobi files.

I have used both the Nook and the Kindle and have been personally using a Kindle since last August. I have truly enjoyed the ebook experience and am a fan. I think I have almost reached the stage where I prefer to read from an ebook rather than an actual book.

Here is where you can get some books formatted for your Nook or your Kindle.

Munseys: Munseys offers users with 20,000 titles in 12 formats compatible with Kindles, Nooks and Sony Readers.

Feed Books: Feedbooks provides high-quality titles in a variety of formats including ePub, PDF and MobiPocket/Kindle. Feedbooks provides public domain classic fiction and nonfiction titles with over 30 categories and 600 authors. All their high quality titles come with ePub, PDF, MobiPocket/Kindle format.

Intel Education Initiative

Did you know that Intel Education has been in India for 10 years?

Intel believes that young people are the key to solving global challenges, and a solid math and science foundation coupled with skills such as critical thinking, collaboration, and digital literacy are crucial for their success. That is why we get directly involved in education programs, advocacy, and technology access to enable tomorrow’s innovators.

"Intel believes that young people are the key to solving global challenges, and a solid math and science foundation coupled with skills such as critical thinking, collaboration, and digital literacy are crucial for their success. That is why we get directly involved in education programs, advocacy, and technology access to enable tomorrow’s innovators.
As part of its sustained global commitment, the Intel® Education Initiative in India has been working with government and other decision making bodies at the central, state and local levels since 1999 to improve teaching and learning in both formal and informal educational environments through the effective use of technology; inspire and expand students’ knowledge and enthusiasm for science and math; and bring cutting-edge technology expertise to universities."

Create a newspaper clipping for class

If you teach Social Studies, this can be a fun exercise. Instead of getting students to write down newspaper headlines on paper, just get them to use the Newspaper clipping generator.
Or you could use it to let them type out a headline for Current Events and then post the image to your wiki or blog.


Its a fun way to get kids excited for a few minutes.

http://www.fodey.com/generators/newspaper/snippet.asp

Online Video Editors

Have you tried editing video online in the last few years? There are now a few really good websites where you can upload and edit video for free.

Animoto
They have a special for educators where you get the pro version for free .

Stupeflix
Very similar to animoto with a lot of special effects.

A Random Name Generator and Free Super Teacher Tools for your classroom.

I have been looking for an onlinerandom name generator for ages. Maybe I have been looking in the wrong places, but today i came across Supertools.com which had just what I needed. It also had a whole bunch of games and classroom tools to use in class. They have Jeopardy, who wants to be a millionaire and a few more games...

http://www.superteachertools.com/index.php

Do you need to generate Bubble Test forms?

Do you need to generate a bubble test form?

Here is the # 1 option on the net. It is quick and easy and customizable too and there are about 50 styles of bubbles!

3 Free Online Backup websites

If you are in a school like mine, you know that every bit of money whether its dollars, rupees or taka counts. Your school data is important and I am sure that you have back up plans. How about back up plans for your documents and presentations for school? Many of us use pen/USB disks to save our data. But have you ever thought of storing it online (in the cloud) where you would be able to access it from anywhere? Here are 3 free solutions that would be a free way to backup your data.

1. Mozybackup Free (2GB storage)
Pros: Desktop program, runs on a schedule, makes local backup too, bandwidth throttle.
Cons: Setup can be confusing, 2Gb limit.

2. Box.net ( 5 Gb free storage)
Pros: Store and create files online, more than just storage, track sent files.
Cons: Desktop sync is only for paid version, no direct folder uploads.

3. Windows Live SkyDrive ( 25 Gb free storage)
Pros: 25 Gb free, works with office files too, password protection for files and folders, easy sharing folders and files.
Cons: You need a Windows Live id, still need to upload individual files.

There are many more, but I have used these 3 sites often and would recommend them.

Free Websites for your students with Weebly

A website for free! No design or HTML/CSS needed here.

Weebly has been one of the best drag and drop website creators for a few years. Creating a website is extremely easy and they even have free trials. Well this year, they have started a special Weebly for education account. You have to sign in as a teacher and then you get a special account for your classes. You can sign up 40 students to create either private or public websites. All the sites created can be then published as a sub-domain of weebly in an ad-free space.

Pros: Very, very easy to use, good templates, audio and video players, free ad free hosting, blog hosting, easy domain transfer.

Cons: Site editor sometimes can act up. But that's being picky.

Have you tried Education World for Technology Integration

Quick Review:

The Education world website has been around from the days of slow dial-up. It has always been a site for abundant resources for teachers. They have also had the technology channel which is extremely comprehensive. "Education World's goal is to make it easy for educators to integrate the Internet into the classroom. With 98 percent of the nation's public schools connected to the Internet, the need for a complete online educational guide is evident.

Pros: Incredible amount of resources, daily updates, lesson plans, technology integration plans.

Cons: Minor one.. the site has looked the same for many years.

Education World® : Technology Integration Channel

Are there Free Video Editing Alternatives to Windows MovieMaker?

Windows MovieMaker used to ship for free with windows but now is a part of the Windows Live Essentials. It is a staple for anyone who needs to make a simple video with easy edits.

I tried looking to see if there were any alternatives to MovieMaker and was suprised that there are very few programs out there. In fact each one that I tried had some features that were better, but then also had some that were missing. The best movie creator that is free does not ship on the PC, it is iMovie but that is a mac only program.

I am currently investigating and will update this post if I discover anything new.

The best free education printable websites

If you need to print out some quick blank page, like a calendar, or worksheets or a sign and you do not have the time to create it, there are many websites that have special printable templates for download.

Here are some that I have used and you can head over to for a quick and easy printable page or project.





Here are 3 Websites

1. Freeolgy        2. Freeprintable       3. School Express

Microsoft is moving Live@edu to Microsoft 365 for Education

Microsoft Live@EDU has been around and has been a great tool for educational institutions to provide collaboration and communication in the cloud. They are now going to improve the experience by integrating their Office 365 service.

This is competing directly with Google Apps for education. And that is what I am going to check out next.

Here are some of the benefits. ( from their website) Large 25 GB mailboxes and the ability to send attachments up to 25 MB

• Anywhere-access to email, important documents, contacts, and calendar on nearly any device*, including PC, Mac, Windows Phone, iPhone, Android, and BlackBerry
• Works with the programs students know and use most – Microsoft Outlook, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and OneNote
• Student access to Office Web Apps for viewing, sharing and light editing of documents
• Team sites to share documents, task lists, and schedules to keep workgroups in sync
• Industry-leading, always-up-to-date antivirus and anti-spam solutions
• Optional student access to 25 GB of free online storage on Windows Live SkyDrive
• Latest version of Microsoft Live@Edu, which has thousands of schools and millions of student users today.
  * Access from mobile devices requires WiFi capability or depends on carrier network availability. 

Free Teacher Resources and Tools from Microsoft

Did you know that Microsoft has a commitment to education beyond supplying Word, Powerpoint and Excel and other products at student prices?
They have a whole section of resources for educators. There are classroom resources, lesson plans, templates, a teacher community and a group of free software applications to use in the classrooms.

I discovered Mouse Mischief on the site which allows you to make your lessons more interactive with a powerpoint addon. You can then use many mice and have an interactive lesson with your class using powerpoint.