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Atomic Learning Desktop

"Atomic Learning is proud to unveil the Atomic Desktop. This complimentary downloadable tool allows users to quickly and easily access on-demand software training by offering an easy-to-use interface to search and view tutorials that answer their common 'How do I do that?" questions - all directly from their desktop without ever having to open the browser or leave a software program."

We will put this on the student image for next year, but I highly encourage teachers to download and install it before you leave for the summer. It's like having a little teacher right on your desktop whenever you need to ask technology-related questions!

To download the Atomic Desktop, please select the Downloadable materials tab in the Atomic Toolkit (www.AtomicLearning.com/atomictoolkit).

I'm ashamed!

So, I am great at starting new ideas and creative projects and not necessarily following through with them 100%. Although this was one of the first blogs I ever created, I have drifted away from it over time and branched off into more specific blogs written for more specific audiences. Imagine, to my surprise, when the highly respected TechChicks (http://techchicktips.net) linked to this blog in their podcast episode notes! AHHH! Lesson learned: Keep your digital content current. If anyone wants to view blogs, podcasts, etc., that my students and I have worked on far more recently than this one, please check out www.mrsmorrow.com. I'll TRY to stay more organized in my future digital endeavors!

Upcoming ALI Writing Opportunities for Students

Hello high school English teachers!

These opportunities sound neat. The deadline for the 1st one is this Friday, April 20th. Read more about all three by clicking on the links.

~Katie


In celebration of National Poetry Month, the Apple Learning Interchange is pleased to announce the launch of "2:25PM / Real-World Writing," a collection from The Student Publishing Program that features exclusive poetry readings and writing advice from many of the world's top writers, including U.S. Poet Laureate Donald Hall.
These resources provide three educational programs through the latest technologies most prevalent in the lives of teens - on-demand video, podcasts and other mobile formats - with the common goal of bringing real-world writing into the classroom and classroom writing into the real world:

"Ask America's Poet Laureate" invites secondary students and educators nationwide to submit their text or video questions to U.S.
Poet Laureate Donald Hall until April 20th. On April 30th, we'll publish his video responses to the 10 questions that help student writers the most. Click here to submit a question!

http://edcommunity.apple.com/ali/story.php?itemID=10728

"Publish with the Poet Laureate!" invites secondary students to submit their text or video poetry for possible publication alongside the poems of U.S. Poet Laureate Donald Hall. This program is a free, ongoing contest to help inspire students to write for a larger audience, and to help students recognize their work as publish- worthy. Click here to submit a poem!

http://edcommunity.apple.com/ali/story.php?itemID=10726

"Greatest Living Writers Project" invites people of all ages to experience exclusive video poetry readings and writing advice from many of the world's greatest writers - Poet Laureates, Pulitzer Prize- winners, National Poetry Slam Champions, best-selling novelists, playwrights, and musicians. This resource not only preserves and shares the voices, writings and teachings of literary icons, but also brings these top writers into the classrooms through on-demand video as a means to inspire our next generation of literary icons (today's
students!) to share their own.

http://edcommunity.apple.com/ali/collection.php?collectionID=784

Palms, anyone?

Just a few new things that have surfaced recently regarding the Palm handhelds…

… Who knows, with all that free time everyone has on their hands, we may be able to look through it and actually use something! (Ha!)



All kidding aside, this Dale guy is a pre-service teacher who does his own programming and has created some GREAT apps. They can all be accessed from http://dalesapps.blogspot.com . Many are for elementary age students (clocks, money, double-digit multiplication, etc.) but some have applications for 7th graders as well. I like the SRC one which has simple reading strategy templates (KWL, 5Ws, etc.) for kids to use for reading comprehension help. Probably the coolest thing about his website is that you can watch short little videos on how his applications work before you download them. A picture is worth a thousand words!



I’m also linking to an “oldie, but a goodie.” It is a pdf file with 217 ideas (many quick and easy) for using Palms with students. Almost every one has a website that you can click on to find the information, application, or additional resources to go with the idea. Good ideas for a rainy day!



Finally, Go Know is sponsoring the 4th annual Sketchy contest. ( I think I already sent some of you the info.) Rules, etc., can be accessed at http://www.goknow.com/sketchycontest. We’ve had winners from O’Neill every year prior to this one, so the kids kind of know what it is about. If any student creates a Sketchy that they would like to enter, I would be happy to submit it for them so you don’t have to mess with it. Just give them the invitation and some students may surprise you!

New Things from Quizzler

We have exciting news for Quizzler owners, we have released some new products, more free quizzes, and good news for iPod owners...
We are pleased to announce a new product in the Quizzler family -- Quizzler Server. This application runs on a desktop computer and collects scores from other devices (handhelds or computers) over a wifi wireless network. This is the fastest way to collect scores from a classroom, as several scores can be transmitted all at once, and the results appear immediately on the Quizzler Server screen.
Quizzler Server also allows you to "poll the audience" and send out questions for immediate feedback. Just type in your question, and the students read it and send back the answers right on the spot. The privacy provided by this type of poll gets you fast, honest feedback.
Special pricing is available for Quizzler Server until the end of October.
If you don't use wifi on your handhelds, the Instructor Pack is still a great way to collect scores on a handheld. In addition to infrared support, we've added Bluetooth support, too. Quizzler Maker and the handheld Instructor Pack software are now priced separately so you can order exactly what you need. Instructor Pack is now available for both Palm and Pocket PC handhelds.
If you own an iPod, you have another way to view Quizzler quizzes! The latest version of Quizzler Maker (5.3) allows you to export to iPod.
Not all advanced features are supported there, but you can view your flashcards and multiple choice quizzes interactively, using the built-in Note reader.
Lastly, we're now giving away our premium quiz collection. You can now download free versions of these quizzes: Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, Simpsons, TV, and College Prep Test.
Visit http://www.quizzlerpro.com for the latest product information and downloads.
-John Covele
President, Pocket Mobility Inc.
www.quizzlerpro.com

SMARTBoard software update: Service Pack 3

Service Pack 3 is here and I encourage everyone to download it and test it out. As usual, if you find any issues with the software, please report it to usability@smarttech.com.

New Features

In addition to all the great new features available in version 9.5 (What's New in Version 9.5), Service Pack 3 offers these additional features.

Windows and Mac
Show All Links: When you select the Show all Links feature, all the linked objects on a Notebook page are briefly surrounded by an animated link indicator to help the presenter navigate the linked objects on the page.
Dual Page Display: Use this new feature to display two Notebook pages on the screen simultaneously. You can draw, make notes, import files and add links on either page.
Team Content access: Use the Team Content feature to connect to Gallery content on a shared network drive. Depending on your permission level (which you can see on the file’s security settings), you can use, add content to or delete items from Team Content folders without installing the software as a network administrator.

Windows download available at http://www.smarttech.com/support/software/sb_win.asp
Mac download available at http://www.smarttech.com/support/software/sb_mac.asp

It is important to note that when you download Service Pack 3 you get all the upgrades from service packs 1 and 2 also (if you haven’t downloaded them already).