Embedr

For those people who are bloggers and run a website, Embedr is a very easy and rather fast software you can use to create your own video player that you can insert your favorite videos from Youtube, Teachertube, Schooltube, etc.  I have created one both in this blog, as well as on the main page of the Wiki I have created in the hope of uploading videos that students and teachers create that we want to share with other educators.

It makes sharing videos easy.  Once you save a playlist, you can easily go back and edit it, get the new embed coade and easily upload it to your website or blog.

You could even create different players for different subjects....which brings me to classroom use.  If you have students constently creating video, this would be a great way to organize them.  You don't have to embed them to use them.  They are still in a playlist on the website for you to play and watch when the time is necessary.  It would also be of use to create a website to showcase student videos. 

So as you can see, the software is not just for use with a blog or website, you can easily use it in a classroom as well.

The People Speak

Normally I try to post links and resources that I think will be useful in all subject matters, but as I posted on Twitter last night, I got to watching The People Speak on the History Channel.  What a great 2 hours that I spent on TV.  Real people reading real diairies of people who sought Change for American Democracy.  The purpose...that "Democracy is not a Spectator Sport." 

So in reality, maybe the site is for everyone who visits, because whether you live in a country who practices democracy, or in a country fighting for democracy, it is good to see that America had its trials and tribulations moving towards being an example of democracy for everyone.

The website offers curriculum guides for High School and College students, as well as video clips of some of the actors monologues.  Here is a video introduction about what The People Speak is.

Whether you teach Government or History or not, I highly recommend you viewing this history of America...told in a new way.

Visuwords

Recently there has been a major push in vocabulary and its importance to doing well on testing.  Visuwords is one of those programs that makes learning voabulary interesting and entertaining.  You type in a word and it will show you other words that are:

It presents those words in visual web form showing you all the options.  When you hover over a word it provides you the definition.  Below is a sample for the word "Integration"

Think of it as a dictionary and thesaurus all in one.  Great for writers, journalists, educators.  Could really come in handy in writing classes, especially yearbook and journalism.  If you have an advanced computer class, you can download the source code and input it on your web server...for FREE.

Jackson Pollock

I guess I am on an art fix the past 24 hours. I need to thank the Art teacher at my school for passing this site along to me.  I shared with him the Sand website, and from there he shared with me a website by Jackson Pollock.  Think of having a blank white canvas and then someone gives you a bunch of paint brushes and paint cans.  Your job is to then throw that onto this digital blank canvas.  To get your paint, just click on the left mouse button and drag it across the screen.  If you want a different color, just left click your mouse button.  The longer you hold it in one spot, the bigger the paint spots you get.  They are also looking at making this an Iphone application.

What you get can look like my example below:

Here is a video from the website:

This Is Sand

Ever see one of those bottles of colored sand in a store while on vacation?  Or even one of those cocoa mixes that someone has packed as a gift?  Imagine your computer screen being one of those.  Now...not much educational value, but it could be useful for Art classes...or as stress relief for teachers.  You can choose your color, or create a gradient of colors so that each mouse click changes the color.

ThisisSand is probably one of my favorite websites for creating something.  I HIGHLY recommend you take a visit and just play around with it for a while.  Below is sample image from the gallery that someone created.  Just goes to show you how creative you can be.

Word of Caution - The gallery has some inappropriate creations, as well some inappropriate language for titles...please be advised of this before allowing students to use the website.