YouTube Hack

Here is a YouTube Hack inspired by an exchange with one of my 7th graders today.


We set out to see if specifying the end point of a YouTube video is possible. Here is what we came up with:
http://www.youtube.com/v/QDqskltCixA&start=0&end=175&version=3;rel=0

&start=0 indicates a starting point of 0 seconds
&end=175 indicates an ending at 2 minutes, 55 seconds
;rel=0 removes the related videos at the end

In a more generic form where you just have to change the info in []:
http://www.youtube.com/v/[video reference]&start=[start time in seconds]&end=[end time in seconds]&version=3;rel=0

Works for embed code, too:


Disclaimer #1 - judging by the yellow rectangle in the corner, this video may not quite play by fair use rules
Disclaimer #2 - the ending point can be fairly easily removed by hovering over the end point and clicking the X
Disclaimer #3 - this video may try to sign you up for a local dating site

Intro to Twitter for Teachers

Here are some of my favorite "Twitter as an PD tool for teachers" resources:

The 21 Day Twitter Guide for Beginners

http://goo.gl/eFJyS

** This one is awesome - it gives little daily assignments to get you started...and is a byproduct of Twitter collaboration which makes it doubly cool.

How Twitter is Reinventing Collaboration Among Educators:

http://goo.gl/44hE0

Twitter list (good #OREdu people to follow) from Collette Cassinelli:

http://goo.gl/eqJYq

Twitter and Facebook Might Soon Replace Traditional Teacher Professional Development
http://goo.gl/QHViU

Personalizing Teacher Training Through Social Media-Based Improvement
http://goo.gl/q9IHo

Turn Your Digital Whiteboard into a Rotating Slideshow

Since my dream of replacing bulletin boards with wall to wall HD TVs (think Buffalo Wild Wings) to display tech projects seems like a long shot...I went with the next best thing and turned my SmartBoard into a rotating slideshow that adds to the "Print Rich Environment" in my classroom.

Supplies:

- Digital whiteboard connected to computer with internet (Windows 7 in this example)

- Cloud storage with app that syncs to local storage (Drive, Dropbox, and Copy will all work fine)

- iPad (not required but helpful for gathering images)

Simplified Idea:

When I find share-worthy images, I save them on my iPad and then upload them to a folder in Drive. I pointed the desktop background to that folder on my SmartBoard computer and then you will have a slideshow playing in the background.

Detailed Steps:

1) Images can come from any source, but I like to use Twitter images from Commander Chris Hadfield (@Cmdr_Hadfield) on the ISS. If you go to his profile page on the iPad and tap one of his images, it will appear in full screen with the Tweeted text below. When I find one I want to display, I do a screen capture (hold power button and then press the home button).

2) Create a folder in the cloud storage service of your choice. The screencast shows Drive. I named the folder "Desktop Pictures" so it is easy to find.

3) Navigate to that folder and tap "+" in the top right corner. Then tap "Upload Photos or Videos" and "Camera Roll." You can select photos to upload by tapping multiple thumbnails and then tapping "Upload."

4) On your Windows computer, double click the Drive app to open your folders. Open the "Desktop Pictures" folder. Click in the address bar to select the path and then Copy it.
5) Open desktop background settings. It is easy to find by hitting start and then typing "wallpaper" or "Change Desktop Background."

6) Change "Picture Location" to "Pictures Library" by selecting it from the drop down menu. Remove the libraries that are already there unless you want them to display in addition to your new images in Drive. Click "Browse," clear the box and Paste the path that you copied in step 4.

7) Set "Picture Position" to "Fit" and adjust the setting for "Change picture every:" to a shorter time like 30 seconds or 1 minute.

8) Save changes and your slideshow will be live.

This is a also a great motivator for cleaning up desktop icons!

Portland Area 1:1 Summit

March 19th was a 1:1 Summit involving Portland area Catholic High Schools and Elementary Schools. Here are the resources from our meeting.

Video from Hangout


Today's Meet Transcript - http://goo.gl/pz5mi

Building a Meta-Symbaloo

Symbaloo.com is a great, free service for sharing links with students. It allows you to place clickable tiles on a Jeopardy-style board. As its use around school has started to grow, I wanted an alternative to publishing each shortcut to the shared student desktop (we are a very Windows-centric environment). This led me to the Meta-Symbaloo - i.e. a Symbaloo for the whole school where each tile is a link to a Symbaloo for a specific grade or subject. This will help to clean up our desktop since there only needs to be one internet shortcut. Teachers can now easily share links to their classes by adding tiles to their own Symbaloo. Students can easily find the links with two clicks (Meta-Symbaloo + their class).


Here is a screencap of our Meta-Symbaloo: