The Issue from The Secret Weapon Manefesto  From the time we are small, we are given tasks to perform, starting with “make your bed,” “clean your room,” “take out the trash,” and “be nice to your sister.” Once we attend school, those requests begin to increase as we are assigned homework and projects to complete. During high school and college we have further demands thrust upon us as we gain specific interests, hobbies and...

Continue reading...

Here are some tips you can use to increase the battery life on your iPad taken from the following article:   How To Make Your iPhone's Battery Last Longer Jay Yarow | Apr. 13, 2013, 9:11 AM | 15,016 | 8 There's one thing everyone hates about their iPhone — the battery life.  No matter how much juice you get from your iPhone, it could always be better. For some people, low battery life is a career hazard. For others, it's...

Continue reading...

Individual student accounts are the key to making Bookshare easy for students to access digital books at school and at home.  With an individual account, students can surch for and read books on their own.  Individual accounts also make things much easier on the teachers too because they can assign all their books to a book shelf and let the students get the books from that bookshelf. Step-By-Step Instructionsby Adreana Aro To give students individual access, we need to create accounts...

Continue reading...

Help your students get books quickly and easily!  With Bookshare Web Reader, students with Individual Memberships can read books at school, home, or anywhere they have Internet access.   How do students use it? Students log in to www.bookshare.org on a PC or Mac with their Individual Membership (not the organizational account from school). Find a book. Select “Read Now.”  That’s it! No more downloads, no need to install specialized reading...

Continue reading...

March 6th, 2013 Kelly Forrister - Staff Contributor  A client recently asked us for our best practices around email communications, to share with their globally dispersed teams. They had learned the keys to getting inbox zero, but their productivity was stymied by the sheer volume of unproductive emails being sent around the company. These tips were born out of the shared practices we use here at the David Allen Company with our own staff, and I wanted to share them with the Get Things...

Continue reading...

    Step-by-step Setup Videos   http://www.thesecretweapon.org   The Way to Better EMail If you dreamed of the “perfect emial system” what attributes would it have? We think it would: Keep everything in one system (versus one way for one kind of to-dos and another method for other types of to-dos). Allow you to group items in different ways, so that you’re not staring at all 80 to-dos that you’ve written down. Instead, you...

Continue reading...

From THE Journal  By David Nagel   03/05/13 PARCC--one of the two organizations tasked with developing assessments for Common Core State Standards--has released a new set of resources designed to help teachers and administrators prepare for the impending 2014 assessments. The Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC), a consortium of 22 states, is focused on an approach designed to eliminate end of term tests with assessments administered...

Continue reading...

CloudOn is an easy to use app that lets you edit and create Word, Excel, and PowerPoint documents.  It works in conjunction with Box.net (tutorial link) to give you seamless access to your files.   How it Works CloudOn is a free app that you can install from the Apple App Store. (Install Link)

Continue reading...

There are several ways to access files on your iPad.  One of the simplest ways is using the Box app from Box.net.  It works in conjunction with PC and iPad applications to let you use your files from both your PC and iPad*.  Your Hard Drive in the Cloud: Box.net Online Storage What if the files you need are on your PC – but you're out of the office using your iPad? With Box, you store files online – then access them anywhere in your iPad or even our home PC. 5...

Continue reading...

Get books easily and quickly with Bookshelf! Save books and stay organized with virtual Bookshelves that allow you to: Create reading lists by class, student, topic, author or any way you like Access your Bookshelf and download titles anywhere you have Internet Help students be more independent and get books quicker by sharing Bookshelves with students Students with Individual Memberships can download books from shared Bookshelves, including NIMAC textbooks! Start now by getting Individual...

Continue reading...

Get books easily and quickly with Bookshare Bookshelf! Save books and stay organized with virtual Bookshelves that allow you to: Create reading lists by class, student, topic, author or any way you like Access your Bookshelf and download titles anywhere you have Internet Help you be more independent and get books quicker Students with Individual Memberships can download books from shared Bookshelves, including NIMAC textbooks!* Ask your teacher if you need an Individual Memgership....

Continue reading...

Bookshare Web Reader (For Individual Members only) Read books quick and easy in your Internet browser: No need to download files Simply select “Read Now” to open the book in your browser Read with text-to-speech and word highlighting in Google Chrome Read with a screen reader in Internet Explorer, Firefox, and Safari (no word highlighting) Customize reading with font size, colors, and display format

Continue reading...

Dear Certificated Staff, I have heard that many teachers do not know how to access cruncher to identify their English Learner students so that they can use the proper SDAIE strategies for these students. I thought I would give you the directions for accessing Cruncher and where to find the identification: Please go to your useful shortcuts folder and click on the Cruncher icon. Log on using your regular district id and password. Your view might be different from mine but you should be able...

Continue reading...

Preparing for digital education by 2017. By: Dawn Reiss District Administration, Feb 2013 For years, there’s been an ongoing discussion about the digital divide between the “haves” and the “have nots.” As technology has advanced, so has that gap, which is driving fundamental changes in how we work, learn, and live. Administrators, educators, and nonprofit entities nationwide have been trying to lessen that gap over the past decade. With...

Continue reading...

The Epson ELPDC11 Document Camera Introduction The Epson ELP-DC11 provide you with an easy way to share books, experiments, 3D objects, and even living things.  It is so simple to use that students can use it make their own class presentations and demos. Here is an brief introduction to this document camera.  It includes: a video introdiction  documentation educational reviews Video Introduction Here's a short video of the Epson ELPDC11 Document Camera...

Continue reading...

Have you ever wished that you could see a Google calendar from Outlook?  Well their is an easy way to add a Google calendar in Outlook 2010.  You will then be able to overlay it on top of your Outlook calendar just by checking a box. First Step - Getting the Google Calendar Link Go to the google calender you want to add and copy the URL that shows in the top of your browser.  (It should start with "http://".) Here is how to copy it: Highlight the URL Press "Ctrl" and "C"...

Continue reading...

Want to synchronize your Outlook calendar with a Google Calendar and your iPhone? With the right setup, all the synchronizing can happen automatically. Enter an appointment in Outlook, and it will show up in your Gmail and iPhone calendars automatically. Edit the event later in Google Calendar, and the changes will be reflected in Outlook and on the iPhone instantaneously. Later, from home, delete all commitments for the next 10 days — and they'll be gone from Google...

Continue reading...

By KATHRYN BOUGHTON FALLS VILLAGE, CONETECUT—Kent’s representative to the Region 1 Board of Education suggested that the board lead the way into a paperless universe this year, saving the district up to $70,000 in copying expenses, paper and postage. The savings, he said, could be equivalent to providing 88 iPads for the school, the amount paid for coaching stipends or the cost of a step 10 teacher with a master’s degree. “[Principal Matt Harnett]...

Continue reading...

"Using digital textbooks, schools can save money on hard copies and get updated material to students more quickly." Thursday, October 4, 2012 WASHINGTON (AP) -- Worried your kids spend too much time with their faces buried in a computer screen? Their schoolwork may soon depend on it. Education Secretary Arne Duncan called Tuesday for the nation to move as fast as possible away from printed textbooks and toward digital ones. "Over the next few years, textbooks...

Continue reading...