Earth Hour 2011

I find it awesome that at 8.30 PM on Saturday 26 March 2011, lights will be switched off around the globe for Earth Hour. The campaign is organized by World Wildlife Fund (WWF).

Just imagine all the lights as seen in this satellite image of Europe, Middle East and North Africa going out one by one until this part of the globe lies in the dark... Incredible!
I wish I could see it from space!



Apart from experiencing emotionally beautiful moment, we can use this action to teach the students some facts about this campaign or attract their attention to protecting and saving the planet which is our home.

Earth Hour started in 2007 in Sydney, Australia when 2.2 million individuals and more than 2,000 businesses turned their lights off for one hour to take a stand against climate change. Only a year later and Earth Hour had become a global sustainability movement with more than 50 million people across 35 countries participating.
(Quoted from the Earth Hour website. Visit the site to read on.)

my lantern

Younger students can go to the Earth Hour website and create a virtual lantern which will float around the virtual globe and  serve as a symbol of their care and devotion.
              

Download an excellent resource pack for primary students here (pdf). 
Do an online exercise here.

Finally you can watch the official Earth Hour video and it will speak for itself.

Reading stuff on YUDU

I regularly frequent the YUDU site which boasts a huge variety of online magazines and other reading stuff.
I recently discovered the magazine BRITAIN which should be of interest to every English teacher because of its wonderful materials about Britain, its geography, history, culture and people.

To view the magazines you need Adobe Flash.

The latest issue of the magazine April/May 2011 contains articles about the Royal Wedding (about to take place), Wales, City of Bath, the War of Roses and a lot more. Colourful 100 pages with loads of information!


Click to launch the full edition in a new window
Publishing Software from YUDU


February/March issue

Read BRITAIN Magazine Feb/Mar
Digital Publishing with YUDU

Widgets with images

I tried out GoodWidgets to see how the images work if put in a widget.
There are 8 styles to choose from. This turned out to be my favourite because of the smooth and inconspicuous image transition.

There is only one drawback to the site - it is rather old and looks a little forgotten.

These are my students getting ready for a big school event.

EDIT:  Just noticed today (3rd April) that the widget with the pictures of my students has disappeared. Checked the home site - gone! No wonder the website looked a bit sad, no one cared about it until it vanished completely.

Instant web hosting

The web offers a wonderful opportunity for everyone to create a simple instant web page for temporary needs. They are extremely convenient for posting some information which will expire or is intended for a small audience. There is no registration, no password, no login, just a blank page and a web address.

What you have to remember is save the address in your bookmarks or you will never be able to see it again (unless you have a brilliant visual memory).

One of the simplest tools is http://write.fm which at the moment of its opening has already created a new unique site. That's why I have not linked the address to the actual page because then you would be taken to MY page.

QuietWrite is described as a peaceful place to write. Just click and write.

Entri is useful for writing rough drafts of articles, jotting down ideas and sharing them with a specific group of people. Direct access to Twitter. No signup required.

Stashsite is advertised as a site for making a downloadable page for an e-book or presenting schoolwork to the teacher in a nice fashion.

Update: Stashsite is gone!

Jottit works in a similar way - you can write or post a text and edit it. The site also lets you format the page - you can change the background colour and fonts.

ShortText is an extremely simple tool, it lets you type or paste any text. There is also a possibility of adding a link to a video or an image. You can allow comments on the page.

DinkyPage looks a little more complicated but it serves the same purpose as the sites mentioned above. There are more formatting options than with other sites and you can get a fairly nice web page with images and links if you spend some time on it.

There are a lot more sites which offer online writing possibility but either they are more complicated or require sign up, that's why I have not mentioned them in this post.

Reading stories differently

I like to play with Wordle and admire the awesome word combinations this tool can generate. On one of such occasions I created a worksheet using Wordle clouds to mix together two stories about animals.
The students' task is to separate the stories and reconstruct them both. Of course, in the creative process of "sorting and combining words" new incredible stories may appear. That is what makes this method really exciting.
There are instructions for the students and some writing space. Finally there are both original stories which should be kept secret until the very end of the activity.

Online message boards with sticky notes

Many people like sticky notes. I love them too and use them as bookmarks or reminders.
Today we can use virtual sticky notes on virtual message boards. The choice of the tools is rather wide. Here are my favourites - all free to use.

The simplest message board is Corkboard which is what it says it is - a corkboard with plain yellow notes.
The tool is so down-home that it does not even have its own logo.
No registration is required. Open the page and start posting your notes. It can now be embedded on your site.

Another message board which does not ask for registration (and can be used instantly) is the well-known Wallwisher. It has a small range of features (variable background, changeable colours, the possibility to add links to images, videos, music.

One more message board which uses a virtual corkboard (and looks confusingly similar to Corkboard) is Listhings but it has taken one step towards more variable notes - you can change their colour.
You have to register to use Listhings.

The site for online stickies Linoit stands a level higher with its appearance (a variety of colours and shades) and features - you can add an image, upload a video and attach a document. You can create a group and use the canvas together, embed the canvas on your blog or send the stickies by email. To use it you have to register but it is neither complicated nor tedious.

Pindax is a fun real-time alternative to the traditional message board. You have to sign up for free and start posting. It has a lot of features, like posting images, files and polls in real time. You can send your posts by email.  There are various options for using your message board. 

As the creators have stated, Pindax can be used as

1) a forum for your website
2) a collaboration tool
3) a portfolio for your designs
4) a place to chat with friends
5) a place to exchange ideas
6) an internet clipboard
7) a comment collector
8) an event planner
9) an alternative to E-Mail.

Finally, my latest "discovery"  Squareleaf is a simple and intuitive virtual whiteboard, complete with all the sticky notes. It is not as versatile as Linoit or Pindax but it is perfectly usable for the usual purpose - to remind, organise, keep up-to-date, track things etc. Registration required.
 

How to quote in style

There are some web tools that let you add a quote to your web page in an unconventional way.

One of them is Kwout which offers an add-on to your Firefox browser (which you have to download) and then you can start quoting any piece on any website you wish.

 Here is an example of a paragraph taken from the website mentioned below.

Six favourite teaching online activities – e-moderation station via kwout

Another web tool for creating and publishing quotes is Citebite which works online. You have to copy a desired piece of text from a web page, paste the URL and you are given a unique web address which you paste on your website.

See the example.

http://pages.citebite.com/g3d4o1j5tvnq

It opens directly to your selection and highlights it.

These tools allow the teacher to attract students' attention to the page or paragraph they need to read or work on. Useful for doing research or gathering material for a report.

Poll creation tools

A new poll creation tool Pollmo - simple and easy to use, is one more useful application for setting up quick polls when you are in need of a feedback or public voting.

There are many various online tools for creation of survey polls. See the Answer Garden which I have mentioned before.
Very similar and as easy as Pollmo is Micropoll which also analyzes the results.

For more reading, here is a useful post on Richard Byrne's website Free Technology for Teachers - Nine Survey Tools for Teachers and Students.
Another article on making free polls - 7 Online Tools To Create Polls For Free.

Vote here to test the tool. You can vote only once, then the poll "freezes" to prevent multiple votes from one computer. 

Snow

I got into poetic mood today while I was watching the amazing snowfall.

There was no wind. The snow was falling in slow, languid motion drifting past my eyes as I was looking through the window at the breathtaking beauty. The snowflakes were enormous and looked heavy but they landed one upon another more tenderly than the fluffy down.

Then I took some pictures of them but could not capture their ethereal beauty.

What is snow?

Snow is precipitation in the form of crystalline water ice, consisting of a multitude of snowflakes. Since it is composed of small rough particles it is a granular material. It has an open and therefore soft structure, unless packed by external pressure. Snow is precipitation in the form of ice crystals, mainly of intricately branched, hexagonal form and often agglomerated into snowflakes, formed directly from the freezing of the water vapor in the air. Snow is ice crystals that fall from clouds and which may stick together to form snowflakes.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snow)

I read a wonderful poem by Robert Frost and enjoyed the fabulous winter day.

DUST OF SNOW

The way a crow 

Shook down on me 

The dust of snow 

From a hemlock tree 

Has given my heart 

A change of mood 

And saved some part 

Of a day I had rued.

Christmas time

Mistletoe

by Walter de la Mare

Sitting under the mistletoe
(Pale green, fairy mistletoe),
One last candle burning low,
All the sleepy dancers gone,
Just one candle burning on,
Shadows lurking everywhere:
Someone came, and kissed me there.


Tired I was; my head would go
Nodding under the mistletoe
(Pale green, fairy mistletoe)
No footsteps came, no voice, but only,
Just as I sat there, sleepy, lonely,
Stooped in the still and shadowy air
Lips unseen - and kissed me there.