Plagiarism Checkers

I've been asked about catching plagiarism several times recently so here are some tools that could help out with this. 

One of the easiest things you can do is to copy and paste a small section of the text in question into Google and put quotes around it.  If the work is plagiarized, Google will often return a search with the page(s) that contain the exact phrase you searched for.  From there, it's usually easy enough to spot the rest of the plagiarized text on the webpage.

There are free tools that can make this even easier.  The Plagiarism Checker is a tool that allows you to copy and paste a section of text into a field on their website and search for plagiarism.  In my tests it worked better than some of the alternatives.

The one free tool for detecting plagiarism that I thought detected plagiarism the best was Plag Tracker.  I liked this tool because it gave a percentage of plagiarized work in its report and reported multiple sites where the identical work appeared.  One thing I didn't like about this site as much is that it doesn't consistently seem to be as fast as Plagiarism Checker.  One of the times I attempted to use it, the service delayed my results and emailed a report to me later in the day.  I still appreciated the detailed report, but I found having to wait a bit of a turn off.

There are other services out there, but I found both of these to be better than the others I tested.  Feel free to recommend you favorite resource for catching plagiarism and I'll be sure to pass it along.

 

Fun, Teacher Approved Resources

The following three resources have earned a great deal of positive feedback from teachers.  They're easy to set up and easy to use. 

1.  Jeopardy Labs allows you to create Jeopardy games very easily.  Forget setting up hyperlinks in a notebook file, or PowerPoint presentation.  Jeopardy labs makes it so easy with their template based creation tool.  They store the game online for you and you can easily modify it after it's been created.  They give you a direct link to your game, so playing it in class is a snap.  It was a huge hit this summer and I highly recommend it.

2.  Bingo Baker is great for creating Bingo style review games.  This online tools is easy to use and creates .pdf files that can be printed and distributed to your students.  Teachers who came to our summer training loved this tool.

3.  Crosswordlabs is another great tool.  It allows you to make crossword puzzles that can easily be printed.  Teachers loved how easy it was to use.

I'd be happy to help out if you have any questions with these or any other resources recommended on this blog.

Remind 101

     Remind 101 is a service that we blogged about last year and we encourage anyone who has not used it to take a look at what it can do for you.  Basically, it provides a way for you to send messages and reminders (via texting) to parents and students with-out either party having access to phone numbers.  The one minute video below should give you lots of ideas on how you can use this free and easy-to-use service. 

Use it first because it will help your students and parents, but also realize the impact it could have on your APPR. 




Want to try it?  Send a text to:  415-418-7433  In the message type:  @dud 
I'll send you a text at 8:00 tonight.

Volunteer Spot

If you've ever tried coordinating volunteers for something you know the amount of work involved.  Volunteerspot offers a free and easy way to coordinate volunteers.  I've embedded a video below for you to get an overview of the services they provide.  Again, if you have questions feel free to get in touch with us. 

Doodle It

If you've ever taken on the task of scheduling a meeting, you know it can be challenging.  Doodle seeks to make the whole process as quick and painless as possible.  It allows you to give the participants a few different dates and times from which to choose so that you can pick the one that works best.  You can already do that through email, texts, or phone calls though right?  Yes, but if you give Doodle a try you may never want to again.  It's so much easier.  Check out the short video below to learn more.

Qwiki, Anyone?

If you haven't tried Qwiki yet, you should.  It's a great resource for finding information on a wide variety of topics.  Results are shown in short video explanations.  Check it out!
http://www.qwiki.com/

Instructional Tech Newsletter

Sandy Paben's newsletter is back with more great stuff to share.  Check it out!

March april 2012

View more documents from dudleyteaches.

Watch Know Learn

Here's another resource for finding educational videos online.  Everything is categorized which makes searching a lot easier.  Enjoy!

http://www.watchknowlearn.org/

And Bingo was his Name-o

Here is another great tool for building a review game.  I've seen teachers here using homemade bingo boards to review for tests and quizzes and this tool may just make their lives a little easier.  For those of you who haven't used Bingo in the past, perhaps checking out some of the examples on Bingobaker.com will inspire you to give it a try.

In addition to a few pre-made examples, you will find a free and easy-to-use bingo game generator.  It really couldn't be much easier.  You can even give the board a title and change the headings from BINGO to a 5 letter word of your choice.  Check it out!

It's Time For...

Jeopardy!


Many of us have made our own adaptations of the popular game show for our classrooms.  From paper and pencil to digital versions, variations have been used in classrooms many times over.

Have you tried creating your own version in PowerPoint or Smart Notebook?  If so, you know more about the time investment required than those of us who found templates and customized them.  Either way, it takes a fair amount of time, and one incorrectly linked slide can turn a fun review game into a frustrating experience.

Jeopardylabs.com offers a free and easy-to-use online template tool for building and playing your jeopardy games.  It's worth checking out!  As always, feel free to stop by the mountain or respond in the comments section to let us know what you think.  

Discovery Education

     Discovery education is more than just an educational video warehouse, however the way that it breaks large videos into segments is worth a look alone.  You can stream or download videos as well as generate assignments, questions, and writing prompts.  The video below will explain more.  Directions were sent out at the beginning of the year for logging in and we would be happy to share them with you again if need be.  Just shoot us an email and we'll send them to you.

Free Flash Drive Treasure Hunt

Would you like a 2GB flash drive courtesy of your fun tech coaches?  Be the first to answer all of the questions below as a comment to this post and it's yours.  All answers must come from previous posts. 

1.  What web-based service allows you to make free flash cards that can be embedded and shared in a variety of ways?
2.  Name 2 services that can be used to share large files.
3.  What free service allows you to embed and share PowerPoint presentations and .pdfs?
4.  What service refers to itself as the "zooming presentation editor"?
5.  What free service allows you to send text messages to students and parents?
6.  Name a free service for building and hosting a website.

Please number your answers accordingly.

April Fool's Day

We're taking a break from the sharing of resources today to watch something by a pretty creative and innovative teacher.  Matthew Weathers has several very clever videos on youtube along with some tutorials on how he creates his effects.  The video below was from April Fool's Day (technically the day before) in 2010.  It's worth the watch.  Do we have anyone that can create something similar?  It would be pretty cool to see.  Let us know your thoughts.

Screencast-o-matic

Screen casting is the process of recording of what is being displayed on your computer monitor (screen).  It allows you to make instructional and tutorial videos.  I've had great luck using www.screencast-o-matic.com which allows you to make screen casts for free with-out the need to download anything to your machine.  Below is a quick overview of the screen casting process.  I'll be using screencast-o-matic to show you how to create a free, easy, and dynamic website in future blogs.  Stay tuned!

Did You Know 4.0

This is video is a couple of years old now, but it really speaks to our changing world.  How are we preparing our children for these changes?  What else can we be doing?  What are the obstacles?  There are many discussions to be had around this one.  Enjoy!

Regents Review 2.0

http://www.regentsreviewlive.net/default.htm

   
     This may not be new to all of you, but it seems to definitely be worth checking out. It's a regents review website with playlists of instructional youtube videos embedded throughout it. There are PowerPoint presentations and other resources for you to use as well.
     For those of you who have some sort of web presence or are working on establishing one and teach a regents course, this should prove to be a valuable resource. Instead of just linking to the main page, consider embedding the videos you find most important on your pages. Use Slideshare to embed the PowerPoints and other documents. Use the format for the way some of the videos were shot to create your own instructional videos for your students that can be embedded on your website. Combine those things along with Quizlet flashcards and a few of the other tools we've shown and you can really springboard your tech game as you better prepare your students.
     We're here to help, so if some (or all) of this sounds a bit overwhelming stop up and talk to us or shoot us an email.

21st Century Teachers

Remember when I posted the video of 21st Century learners?  If not, you may want to look back and check it out.  It's pretty interesting.  This is one of many spin-offs and although it may not be as slick as the other one, I think you will enjoy watching it.  If some of this looks or sounds unfamiliar to you, feel free to check in with your friendly coaches :)

A Vision of Students

Here's another video/discussion piece.  What would be said if we replicated the Googledoc piece?

February Instructional Tech Newsletter

Sandy Paben is a tremendous resource for teachers and students and we are very fortunate that she continues to publish the following newsletter.  You may have received it in your email last week but I wanted to give you another opportunity to check it out.  Also, take notice of how slideshare (from last week) was used to make it view-able right here.

February 2012

View more documents from dudleyteaches.

Fun With Voki

Create your own Voki at http://www.voki.com/

Glogster- Poster Yourself

Think digital posters. That's what we're talking about here. Virtual posters that students can customize with text, images, and videos. Below is a short video about Glogster followed by a sample "glog". I apologize in advance if the glog displays outside of the main column. I felt it was important to share it despite that. Feel free to leave a comment or stop up to the mountain to talk with us about it.

Prezi- The Zooming Presentation Editor

     For those of you looking for a twisting and zooming version of PowerPoint, this free service is for you.  If you're not sure exactly what that means watch the videos below.  Students seem to really enjoy creating presentations in Prezi.  A nice benefit to using Prezi is that the presentations are web-based and therefore easily accessible and shared.



The presentation below is from a group that trains people how to use Prezi (for a fee I'm sure).  I posted it because it will give you more of an idea of some things that Prezi can do.

What is Prezi? Press the play button! on Prezi

Slideshare- Present Yourself

Slideshare.net offers a way to upload presentation files (PPT, PDF) so they can be viewed or downloaded from the web.  You can also embed the presentations on your website, wiki, or blog.  There are many benefits to doing this which we would be happy to discuss with you further along with the process.    

Below is a presentation that about things to watch for in 2012 that I've embedded.  I've also embedded a presentation that explains more about slideshare.  Some features of slideshare may not have educational implications, but there are plenty of ways to use the free portion of this service to help students.  The button to full screen the presentations is on the lower right (4-way arrow).

JWT: 100 Things to Watch in 2012

View more presentations from JWTIntelligence

SlideShare 101

View more presentations from Amit Ranjan

"Love is" Contest Winner

"Congratulations to Jeff Yeager for the following definition of what love is:
 

"Love is a feeling that motivates you to be a better person and do more to serve those around you."

Stop up to the mountain to claim your prize.

Thanks to all who participated, including the students of Ms. Connely's class!

PowerPoint Resources

There are a few PowerPoint resources that I wanted to share with you. For a Powerpoint lesson bank check out www.pppst.com It's pretty user friendly and there are many, many free PowerPoint presentations to download.

I also wanted to share a few tutorial websites with you. During the past week, I've helped several teachers do a variety of things in PowerPoint and I wanted to make sure that you all have access to resources that could be helpful at some point.

Here's Microsoft's web help address for PowerPoint. Answers can usually be found here.
http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/powerpoint-help/

This is one is interesting, but it can be very helpful. It's in a sort of cheesy game show format, but it has screen shots and quizzes to check for understanding.
http://www.actden.com/pp2007/index.htm

You can also use Google and/or Youtube to find most answers. You may be surprised at how effective that can be.

I hope you find these resources helpful.

Life After Death of PowerPoint

     This week I'm going share some resources for PowerPoint and also take a look at some free alternatives for presentations.  For today's post however, we're going to take a quick look at how not to use PowerPoint (or other presentation platforms).  Comedian Don McMillan has a funny routine about poor uses of PowerPoint.  The more of these mistakes you've either been subjected to or made yourself, the funnier the video.  Enjoy!

Attention Math Teachers and Movie Buffs

Mathematics has appeared in many movies over the years and the following link has many clips from these movies.  Here's the link: http://www.math.harvard.edu/~knill/mathmovies/index.html

You can view a small flash version of them or download the clips.  You could also search for the clip title on youtube and embed them on wikis, websites, and blogs once you find them.  That's what I did for the following clips.  Enjoy!



This one has been set up to use in a classroom by someone on youtube.  It's a little drawn out, but the problem is one I saw suggested to use many times at Tech Valley over the summer.



Have a great week!

Another Search Engine With a Strange Name

Have you heard of oolone yet?  It's a pretty interesting search engine in that it displays mini versions of websites as opposed to lists of search results with short descriptions.  Below is a short video of it in action.  A few changes have been made since the shooting of the video including the removal of the "adult filter" button that may jump right out at you.  A filter option is still available however.  I'm not sure we'll be saying "oolone it" anytime soon, however it worked nicely and made it quick and easy to sort out search results when I tried it.

Beaming and Sharing Files

We often get asked about workarounds for sharing files that are too large to share through email.  Below are a couple of services that should work just fine provided that the fall out from the megaupload fiasco doesn't wipe these out too.

Just Beam It

JustBeamIt from JustBeamIt on Vimeo.

Let's Crate

www.divshare.com
www.uploaderbox.com
www.minus.com

There are many more.  Please share your experiences with us.

An Educator Must be Relevant...

This video uses a number of quotes and images regarding the shifting roles of teachers in our technology rich world with our digital native students.  Enjoy!

Send Texts to Your Students!

It seems like our students are living by their phones. It's estimated that the average teen is sending over 2,000 texts per month. It's how they communicate with one another and now we can get in on the party at no cost. Remind 101 provides an easy and direct way to reach your students and parents; directly to their cell phones. Don't worry, they won't see your number. Check out the video below regarding this promising service.  Let us know if you use it so we can share the experience with others.

Remind101 from remind101 on Vimeo.

Quizlet!!!

          Many of you who have worked with me know that I won't pass up an opportunity to suggest quizlet.com.  It was an extremely useful tool for me as a classroom teacher and I love to share it with others.  Watch this short video, and if you’re interested in learning more about this tool contact one of us at the mountain.

Free Website Builders

There are many free services for building websites.  They differ in things such as user interface and learning curve, allowed bandwith usage and storage space among others.  Here are a few that you are likely to come across if you decide to create a website.  As always, we're willing to help you through the process of choosing what will work best and supporting you in its creation.

Class Jump is a website that many teachers here are already using. Read more about it here:
classjump.com

Weebly (which also has a classroom and campus edition)



Yola


Google sites


Snap pages


Webnode


We don't want you to feel overwhelmed, we want you to realize that you have many, many options (these are just a few). If you're serious about creating a class website, take some time to think about how you, your students, and parents would use it. We can help you find the tool that will best fit your skills and needs.

Websites, Wikis, and Blogs

     We enjoyed our time with those of you who came to the "Web Walk" this week!  Thank you for taking the time out of your busy schedules to do so.  For those of you who were unable to attend, I’ve included some of the links to the sites and services we discussed. 

www.classjump.com/b/ballato

http://www.classjump.com/N/Nizinkirck/

https://5thgradereading.pbworks.com/w/page/32205210/FrontPage

www.ahsinnovation.weebly.com

www.mrgale.com

www.mrvacanti.blogspot.com

I’ve also embedded a video below regarding the classroom management system, Edmodo.

AHS Science Teachers!

     It was nice working with so many of you last week!  I've posted a video below regarding exporting data to Excel after giving an assessment.  There were other videos on our wiki about exporting the data from the teacher tools (class reports, and student reports) but if you're looking to see how every student responded to each question as well as class and student averages, then this video is for you.  As always, if you run into trouble, need help getting started, or just want someone to bounce some ideas off of please stop by the mountain or email one of us.          

A Glimpse and a Thank You

     There are many great things happening at AHS this year and a lot of it is due to the open minded, hard working staff that continues to fight the good fight.  Thank you for all that you do.       

    

"Winning"

The following people may or may not have tiger blood flowing through their veins but they have all won Elmos for their classrooms.  Congratulations to all who applied. 

The winners are...

Tom Vacanti*

Martha Shkreli/Joann Battaglia

Mike Karp/Nick Lettieri

Suzanne Marks

Jen McCormack/Diana Hagan*

Ellen Mall-John*

Dan McCarthy*

Cathy Vitas

 (A * indicates teachers who were also awarded Student Response Systems two weeks ago.)