How are you backing up your documents these days? I don’t recommend thumb drives for your only backup; they are easily lost and occasionally break. If you have documents and files that you would really be in trouble without, you need to consider online file storage of some kind. My favorite is Dropbox.

If you want a document backup solution that is better than a thumb drive, give Dropbox a try. Save stuff to your Dropbox folder on your machine, just like you would use a folder. Those items are accessible on any machine you work on, plus your phone. It is especially handy for reading documents on the go, or if you work on different machines at different times. Use the linkabove if you want to build an account; I don’t get paid but I have earned some free storage over the years and am about ready to need some more.

Always have your stuff when you need it with Dropbox. 2GB account is free! http://db.tt/kumOUyh9

Enjoy!

The ABC book has the animal sounds and the word read aloud. The ABC video is cute, if a little cheesy. The best feature, in my opinion, of the site is the ability to type out your name (or whatever you want) and your word will be spelled out with the Alphabetimals.

The words and phrases you create can be printed or you can order novelty items such as mugs and t-shirts with your phrase.

Finally  there are printable instructional materials such as flashcards as well. Have fun learning the alphabet with Alphbetimals.

There is an iPhone app, so people can join your meeting while on the go.

I signed up for a referral link, so join Meeting Burner by clicking here and I can earn free stuff like upgraded accounts.

Tell me what you think of Meeting Burner.

Rather than trying to summarize the fine print, pasted below is the text of the promotional email I recently received.  If that date doesn’t work for you, they are running some terrific specials such as BOGO on 2/13 and others.

Support your (sort of) local ski resort!

From Paoli:

In celebration of teachers and their hard work, Paoli Peaks is offering a FREE day to you! On February 24th, 2012, teachers who present a Valid School ID or recent pay stub will receive a FREE snow pass and rental to Paoli Peaks. Teachers, visit the REGULAR ticket windows to receive your discount. Snow passes redeemed between 10am & 4:30pm end at 10pm.  Snow passes redeemed after 5pm end at 3am.  Those who have a day session ticket (ending at 10pm) and wish to stay later can upgrade to a Midnight ticket for $10.

If you are an elementary or high school teacher and are interested in bringing a school group to Paoli Peaks, and want to see how we operate first, then we have a deal for you.  On a few select dates we offer a brief orientation session that explains the Field Trip experience.  Once the session is done, you are taken through our rental department, then on to a complementary lesson.  After that, you are free to enjoy the rest of your day on the slopes! 

                    In-Service Dates: Friday, January 20th & Friday, February 10th. 

                                         Session times: 10am and 4:30pm

Appointments with the Group office are required at least 3 days prior to In-service dates. Offer available to those who did NOT book a group during the 2010/2011or 2011/2012 Season

www.paolipeaks.com

Tagged: Free Stuff, FYI, Just For Fun ]]> http://tablettalk.info/2012/02/07/teachers-ski-free-on-224/feed/ 0 tablettalkblog http://tablettalk.info/2012/01/20/storytime-for-me/ http://tablettalk.info/2012/01/20/storytime-for-me/#comments Fri, 20 Jan 2012 18:24:11 +0000 JR http://tablettalk.info/?p=1739 ]]> http://storytimeforme.com/

Story Time For Me has free online stories that your children can enjoy. The sound and picture quality is exceptional. I enjoy the large kid-friendly controls for playing and pausing a story. The site seems a little advertising heavy; if you plan on turning your kids loose on Story Time For Me, show them which items are ads and which items are stories. If you don’t mind navigating around some ads, you’ll  find about 12 animated, controllable, read aloud stories.
Enjoy.

Don’t forget to sign up for ext alerts from Fox 41! Click here for the form.

Also,  JCPS is tweeting these alerts, but Snow Fox is a great tool for staying on top of alerts for other counties, U of L, etc. Stay warm!

Report card time is just around the corner. Don’t forget to remind your students that they can get rewards for good grades. They can earn six free donuts at Krispy Kreme, a kid’s scoop at Graeter’s, and a free movie rental at Family Video.

Are there other area businesses who offer similar promotions?

If you take pictures with your smart phone, chances are that weeks go by before you “do” anything with them. I just learned a great way to instantly and automatically back up those photos.

As you may know, Google has re-branded Picasa web albums as part of Google+. I don’t do much with Google+ but I do like the improvements they have made in the online photo albums.

My favorite new feature is Instant-Upload. If you install the Google+ app on your smart phone, and enable Instant-Upload, each photo you take will instantly and automatically move to an online album. The online album is not publicly viewable. Obviously once they are in your albums you can easily share them, edit them and print them.

A step by step can be found here.

I have been thinking a lot lately about whether to start including mobile apps on TabletTalk. I have avoided discussing iOS and Android apps so far for several reasons:

1. The intended audience of the blog are JCPS teachers, who are Tablet PC users

2. JCPS hasn’t seen a large-scale adoption of mobile devices (yet)

3. It seems like everyone else is already listing and reviewing favorite apps.

With that out of the way, I want to mention one that has saved my work day twice this week.  As you know, we are experiencing considerable connection challenges with our network.

The Android App PDA Net allowed me to use my phone as a wireless hotspot. I got through two days of embedded PD, demonstrating what I needed to, updated my blog between sessions, and even stayed on top of my mail. Without the app I wouldn’t have accomplished much at all! The app allows you to connect via Bluetooth or connect with a USB cable.

The app is not free; but it is free for two weeks. I will almost certainly shell out the purchase price when my trial ends.

If you have an Android phone with unlimited data, and need to get online with your Tablet, this is the app for you.

Available in the Android Market.

I immediately thought of Infographics (sometimes called Infographs). An infograph is simply collection of data displayed in a visually appealing way. They are increasingly popular online; and as you can see below are even spoofed:

A well designed infographic can convey a great deal of data. Consider projecting different infographs for your students and challenging them to interpret them. Some places to obtain them include:

http://visual.ly/   (My favorite; they are categorized and searchable)

http://www.coolinfographics.com (Source for image above)

http://www.fastcodesign.com/tag/infographic (Especially graphic design oriented)

My all-time favorite one:

How To Use An Apostrophe

Tagged: charts and graphs, Common Core, visual aid ]]> http://tablettalk.info/2012/01/10/teaching-with-infographics/feed/ 0 tablettalkblog