TWTW Teaching with the Web	The Instructional Technology Journal of Greenwood School District 50 http://www2.gwd50.org Volume 2, Number 26 July 15, 2007
Less than a Month! 7/15/07 Now is the time to think about things to do before school starts. The next few issues will contain information to help you prepare for the Big Day. The following suggestions have been seen and/or heard around the district: · Prepare a PowerPoint presentation or a movie made with Window’s Movie Maker to run automatically on a computer in your classroom during orientation, open house, and conference days. · Collect parent email addresses, create an email group, and send an “e-bulletin” each week with events, learning activities, lesson schedules, projects, your class web page address, and more. Also use the addresses to inform parents of specific information about their student. · Plan a laptop-and-projector lesson for the first day! · Plan to create your lesson plans as Word documents. By including your web links and having your laptop open while teaching, you have instant access to the links in your lesson!	Important Teacher Notes More interesting sites to enjoy this summer! · Ben and Jerry’s http://www.benjerry.com/ Have some mouth watering and interesting fun! · Find a Grave http://www.findagrave.com/ Here is a site that might scare some people away! It was recommended to me by a friend who does genealogy research. The site includes obituaries of famous people and grave sites of the famous and non-famous. There are some brief biographies and pictures of people and/or pictures of their headstones. · The Fugees http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/19448939/ http://www.fugeesfamily.org/index.html Read the touching and inspiring story of a once wealthy (now disinherited) young Jordanian woman and her selfless efforts for refugee children in Clarkston, Georgia.
2007-2008 Yearbooks Elementary school teachers and principals: is the cost of your school yearbook rising? Would you like an alternative? For the past few years, East End and Hodges Elementary Schools have been creating their own professional-looking yearbooks at a lower price and making a tidy profit for the school! Not only has it turned out to be a financially favorable venture, but also, because it is printed locally, the schools are able to include events like field day and other activities that occur closer to the end of the school year. Why is this information in the TWTW? Because the yearbook is created by teachers using technology – digital cameras, scanners, computers, etc. Can you envision using the same skills for classroom activities? Debbie Babb has graciously agreed to come to your school, demonstrate the process, help as needed through the process, and provide useful tips such as where to get the best deals on printing, etc. You can contact Debbie at: babbd@gwd50.org. Interested in appropriate music for your classroom? Read about Stefan Shepherd and his reviews of kids’ and family music “worth sharing” at NPR. Stefan’s site is: Zooglobble.com.	Site Survey: Websites that Educate, Enlighten, Entertain, and Engage The Fifty States – resources from EduHound: · State Master http://www.statemaster.com A unique statistical database which allows you to research and compare a multitude of different data on US states. · 50 States.com http://www.50states.com Extensive collection of factual information about each of the United States and their capitals. · EnchantedLearning.com: US States http://www.enchantedlearning.com/usa/states/ Facts, map and state symbols for the 50 states, with links to related quizzes and printouts. · USA Geography: Online Games http://www.sheppardsoftware.com/web_games.htm Learn the locations, capitals, abbreviations, and over 500 important facts about the 50 states of the USA. · TheUS50.com http://www.theus50.com Listing history, events, outdoors, attractions, and general information for each of the 50 states. · Netstate.com http://www.netstate.com/states/index.html Features state symbols, flags, capitals, outline maps, songs, facts, history, and geography.
	The Laptop-and-Projector Project Website Tech Project: http://www2.gwd50.org/TechPlans/TechPlan2006.htm Instr. Resources: http://www2.gwd50.org/TechPlans/StaffDevResources.htm Previous TWTW Issues: http://www2.gwd50.org/techplans/TWTW-Index.htm Instructional Technology Specialist: http://www2.gwd50.org/hughesc/hughes1.htm