If you're jonesing for some lovely new fonts for the new year, check out these handy sites and download to your heart's content.
Font Squirrel: 100% free handpicked fonts OK for commercial use. Uh-MAZ-ing!
A quick look at the NEW fonts at dafont.com will convince you this is a great place to check out Da Fonts.
Cute, cute, CUTE free fonts on an adorable site . . . count me in, Thrift and Thistle.
Don't miss The League of Moveable Type, advertised as "only the most well-made, free & open-source, @font-face ready fonts" on a lovely site with GREAT previews. There is a "bad" word on the front page, but for this site, I can just look away.
And in case you've been living in a cave, Google Docs now has tons of BEAUTIFUL fonts. One MS Word addicted teacher recently asked me how she could get all those fonts in Word. What a great question! No need . . . just use Google Docs instead!
You are probably familiar with Remind 101 and Class Parrot, but perhaps you haven't yet tried Cel.ly because you thought you already had your texting needs covered or maybe initially it looked too complicated; however, Cel.ly is in a whole other league from those other popular tools and is well worth the effort. A tool with enterprise level power that is completely free is too good to pass up.
A reminder to teachers: Don't take the risk of texting your students directly. It's just not worth it when there's another way to have the same result with none of the risk. Don't put yourself in a position of having a "he said/she said" that could end up in court. ALSO: Group texting is a pain in most apps. Cel.ly solves all of the above.
Here are ten things your school (or district or classroom) can do better and cheaper with Cel.ly.
1. Set up a cell for your entire district for mass notifications, for example, "No school tomorrow due to Hurricane. Check local radio stations for updates."
2. Set up cells for each of your campuses, "Hispanic Heritage Night Tonight 6 p.m. Hope to see you there!"
3. Create QR codes for each cell so that parents can easily sign up. You can use any number of QR code creators (like Zebra Crossing) to make an SMS message. All users have to do is scan the code, and a message is automatically created to the correct number with the correct text information. Here's a sample you can scan to see how it works, or you can go to this URL. (The video below shows how to create this code.) 4. Use your school's cell to collect votes for student council, homecoming queen, and anything else for which you need to gather opinions.
5. Create a cell for each class you teach so that you can do knowledge checks in class or send homework advice. 6. Ask school sponsors and coaches to use Cel.ly for away games and field trips to notify parents exactly when to pick their students up. No more waiting around until an hour after the group returns. 7. Send reminders to your students, "Don't forget to study for the quiz tomorrow." 8. Use Cel.ly to create a "Twitter Wall" where Twitter is blocked. 9. Create tip lines for bullying, crime, etc. 10. Schedule messages up to 90 days in advance so you never forget to remind students, teachers, parents, or the public about important events. Here's how to create a cell and a QR code to direct people to it . . .
I think every Chromebook should come with this page. Print it out and put it in the box this Christmas! And if you see something we left out, please comment on this post and let us know. 15 Things to Know about Your New Chromebook 1. There are a few things you can do with your Chromebook offline, but you will like your Chromebook best when it is on a wireless network.
2. You can log in with any Gmail address and password, including your work account if your company or school uses Google.
3. Any apps or themes you install in your Chrome browser on your computer will appear on your Chromebook automatically.
4. You do not have to just use Apps from the App Store; almost any website will work on a Chromebook. For example, Animoto.com, Prezi.com, etc.
5. Go through the tutorial to learn about right clicking and scrolling by using two fingers, pushing down instead of just tapping, and using ALT+Search to turn caps lock on and off.
6. Microsoft Office (and other traditional software) lives on your desktop computer; on a Chromebook, we use Google Docs.
7. You can save pictures or other files right to your cloud-based Google Drive, a USB drive, or the small hard drive on the Chromebook itself, but the Google Drive is best.
8. Startup and shutdown take only a few seconds.
9. Closing the lid puts your Chromebook to sleep but does not turn it off. Hold down the power key until the screen goes completely black or click the shutdown button in the bottom right hand corner to completely turn off your Chromebook.
10. The battery will last about 8 hours.
11. Multiple users can use the Chromebook simply by logging off and back on; no data will be lost.
12. Apps are listed at the bottom and can be accessed by clicking the grid icon.
13. You can use any USB mouse with your Chromebook.
14. Using Google Hangouts and the built-in camera on the Chromebook, you can video chat for free with up to 14 people (or 9 people if you use your personal Gmail account).
15. Install Webcam Toy to take cool pictures with the built in camera http://goo.gl/DNXO4.
I'm impressed with what I've read so far of Engaging Students: The Next Level of Working on the Work by Phillip C. Schlechty. Below is a portion that especially stood out. I wish I could Tweet the highlights from my Kindle Cloud Reader, though if I shared everything I like, I would undoubtedly severely violate copyright restrictions.
If you are interested in student engagement, check out this book.
The warning that follows this passage is to all educators: Take care not to confuse "on-task behaviors" with student engagement. You can tell the difference by asking yourself, if the reward or punishments were removed, would the good behavior continue? If students would still work on the project even if it weren't graded, they are engaged. If not, they may just be "on-task."
Yesterday I had Instructional Rounds scheduled with a group of teachers involved in a special project. One of the 7th grade teachers I was scheduled to visit had a family emergency and wasn't able to be at school. I decided to go ahead and see what was going on since I already had the time set aside, and I have to tell you . . .
It was amazing.
The students are engaged in Project Based Learning and were finishing up their "Dream Big" project where they design their dream bedrooms in collaborative teams using Chromebooks. They must know furniture and building costs, calculate dimensions, and keep up with lots of spreadsheets and calculations, as well as use tools like MyDeco.com and Autodesk Homestyler to create their rooms in 2 and 3D.
Everywhere students were discussing projects and solving problems.
It was TRULY a WOW! moment.
Way to go Mrs. Brenda Schultz and class. We couldn't stop talking about you!
Photograph Used with Permission from Andy Carlos Photography, Houston, TX. If you like it, please use the link to visit and like Andy's Facebook page where there are beautiful photos with unique perspectives and lighting like the one you see above, and this one, my other favorite.
I heard a story recently about an Instructional Technology Specialist who observed a great lesson in a teacher's room. The ITS said to the teacher, "Wow! That was wonderful! I'm so impressed!" and the teacher replied, "I know, but don't tell anyone or they'll all want to steal my lesson, then everyone will be doing it." The ITS person walked away in disbelief. In our field, "everyone is doing it" when "it" is a great lesson is our #1 goal. How could anyone have so completely missed the point? Sharing, being copied, or whatever you want to call it is WINNING in education! Be a winner today; share something.
(Be sure to display image via email to see the graphic above, which is adorable and totally worth the one click.)
