ICY+TEA+OCTOBER+2012

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 * === Dear colleagues, ===

=== I have really enjoyed my first few weeks at ISL. Thank you for your kind welcome. I have met many staff through the surveys I am conducting to measure how ISL staff use computers in their work and to find out what you expect of me. Others have sought me out for help and ideas in the use of ICT in the classroom. As a result, I know that there is a lot of great teaching using ICT at ISL, often hidden from view. One of my tasks is to bring this work out into the open. From my most recent job in which I taught Physics, Science and ToK using ICT every day, I have gathered a lot of ideas. Icy Tea is a wiki-page which will regularly bring you some of these and some new ones. I'd also be grateful for any tips which colleagues would like to pass on. ===

Steve
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"YOU COULD USE A WIKI FOR THAT"
=== In 2009, I attended a workshop on using wikis in the classroom which changed the way I organised, and ultimately how I taught, my lessons. Already, many of you know that one of my most common responses is 'you could use a wiki for that'. A wiki is a self-produced website with many uses which also gives the opportunity for collaborative work (you are reading a wiki right now). In addition, the students can access all of their course resources and information from home, organised in an intuitive way. I have created a course on wikis which I have been teaching to many students in the Middle School and to teachers in Shanghai over the last few years. It is called The Wiki Wand and I would like to offer it to any colleagues who wish to attend on Thursdays 25 October and 8 November. The venue will be the library and the training will run from 1545 until 1700. Please email me if you would like to take part. ===

This is what he has to say about using Google Advanced Search.
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SOME GREAT RESOURCES
=== Last week, I wanted to quickly put together a slideshow of the photos which had been taken on the Grade 9 field trip. The best way at ISL is to use Windows Movie Maker, but I haven't used that program for a long time so I was a bit stuck as to how to start. Fortunately, I spoke to Seth who directed me to the huge collection of videos which exists on the school server. In no time, I had found the information I needed. Although the version of Movie Maker has changed in the meantime, Seth's tutorial showed me everything I needed to know. I recommend this resource to everyone, in particular to the new teachers who may not know where to find it (First Class desktop > ICT help > Using ICT Technology) or this link: [|USING ISL TECHNOLOGY VIDEOS]. ===

GREAT PROJECTS SERIES
=== Have you heard of [|LISA, the Luxembourg Space Agency]? It is a project from the International School of Luxembourg which Jane Powell told me about. Go to the link to see what's possible in terms of putting your work online so that students can access easily their own information with high production values. ===

Maybe many of you have made your peace with First Class, but for the rest, I have found some useful tricks. I shall happily publicise any other ideas you have.

 * 1) === As a user for several years, I am pleased that the school is exploring Google Calendar. Like First Class, however, it can't easily enter events which repeat irregularly, such as our A to G days. I have found that the easiest way to put lessons into the calendar, rather than posting them individually, is to make a repeating event for each week day and then to delete six out of seven of the occurrences That may sound a little complicated, but I am happy to show anyone who would like to try it. ===
 * 2) === It is easy to close the First Class Desktop by mistake. Even though other windows are open, it's difficult to get back to the Desktop. The easiest solution is Control-zero which reopens the Desktop. ===
 * 3) === Also in First Class, I recommend the Next Unread icon as a quick way to get around your Inbox where some of the little red flags may have sunk out of sight. ===

SCOOP.IT
=== The sheer amount of tools, programs, widgets and apps which are available can be quite intimidating. It is impossible to know them all, but it's always nice to see a new one. I use Scoop.it to collect together good ideas whenever I find them. You can see a few of them in the widget below. === media type="custom" key="20996594"

SLIDESHARE
=== Many teachers at ISL are using slideshows in their lessons. In recent years, this has also been one of my main ways of getting information across to students. They often appreciate being able to play the slides again later, and rather than send the student the slideshow, I have used the Slideshare.net website where you can leave your slideshow for your students to watch it as much as they want and to download if they wish. You may also find that other people like your slides. It is very easy to embed the slides in a wiki or website. However, I have been having problems with some browsers (Chrome!), please let me know if this doesn't play as a slideshow. There are several other websites which offer the same free service. === media type="custom" key="20996302"

RADIOLAB
=== ToK teachers will like the Radiolab podcast whose hour-long episodes rove over the whole IB ToK diagram from Reason and Emotion to Science and History. I have often used them in ToK lessons. Here is the latest edition, all the others are in their archives. The episodes are easy to obtain in shorter chunks and you can embed them (see below) so that students can listen at home or in class. If you have an hour (or less) to listen, I think you'll enjoy this show. === media type="custom" key="20990660"

WHEN WILL WE GET THE SIXTH SENSE?
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DO YOU REMEMBER 1985?
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