How to Search Google?

Greetings,

Hope you are doing well today. I will be blogging about how to do a Google search for documents, pictures, and videos. When you go to http://www.google.com/ you need to type in the search box you topic of interest, and then you type the following file extension in quotes:

1. For MS PowerPoint Documents you type “ppt”

2. For MS Word Documents you type “doc”

3. For MS Excel Documents you type “xls”

4. For Adobe PDF Documents you type “pdf”

5. For Flash Videos you type “swf”

6. For a specific phrase you need to type it all in quotes

If you want more options, then click on the right side of the box under Advance Search. Next, you will see the following options under Advance Search.




Then you can follow the instructions in the search boxes. If you go to the last topic on Need more tools, you can pull down the drop down arrow boxes to get more options on your search. You can even narrow down the file search to a particular type of file.


For example, let’s say you are looking for an interactive flash web site when teaching a concept or objective; all you have to do is pull down the drop down box and choose Shockwave Flash. Once you chose this option, then all you will find are flash video sites. Try it out with the water cycle. If you want more search options, please visit the following: Advanced Search Tips

To look for pictures you need to go to http://www.google.com/ and hover your mouse on the top left side of the screen, and you will see a blue Images link. Click on the link, and then type the name of picture you are searching for in the search box. You will do the same for Videos. Hope these helpful tips help you out. I will see you next week with another topic.

What is the Hat?

Greetings,

Today, I will be blogging about the Hat. The Hat is a random number/name generator you can use with your students. This application makes sure each person is randomly drawn equally. What's neat about this application is once you download it, you do not need to be connected to the internet.

One of the great features of this application are the fun special effects. The generator will make a toggle noise and a drum beat noise as the names are being shuffled and selected. This tool has given me another option to use, besides my traditional popsicle sticks in a cup. The popsicle sticks in a cup still works, except this generator has sound effects and is very visual. This makes it more exciting for the students.

To download this free and fun tool you can visit the following web site: http://www.harmonyhollow.net/hat.shtml
Here is what it looks like after you have downloaded it.

The fist thing you want to do is input the students names manually.


Once you select the Add Names Manually button, you will see the following window screen. You will need to type in your students name to add them to your list.

After you have all the names of your students in your class. You have two choices.

1. You can shuffle the names and the names will jump around from top to bottom to different position. You can either chose the name on the very top of the list or the bottom of the list. Then you can chose to delete the name.

2. You can chose to draw the names randomly out of the Magic Hat. The student will see his or her name appear on the middle part of the hat.

I personally like using the Magic Hat, that way the students are selected randomly to answer questions when I am presenting a lesson to the students. The names can only be chosen one time, so it is a true random sample.

Once you have drawn all the names of the students, you will see an indicator that says all the names have been drawn out. Then you can reshuffle, and continue to draw out the same names randomly.

If you have more classes you can chose to delete the names, clear the list or import the names into the generator.

You can also go into the options setting and change the interface or sound effects if you would like.

I hope you enjoy this fun and useful tool. I know your students will enjoy it. Remember download it and play with it, and you will be ready for your students when you need to ask questions to your students randomly. Hope his helps you out. See you next week.

What is Cool Timer?

Greetings,

Hopefully you had a great Fourth of July spending time with family and friends. This week I am sharing with you a timer you can download to use as a stopwatch or a count down timer with your students. All you need to do is visit the following site to download it for free: www.harmonyhollow.net/cool_timer.shtml

Once you download it you will not need an internet connection to run the program. Here is a screen shot of what it looks like, once you have downloaded it.

Your students will enjoy watching the countdown timer when they are in working in small groups, or independent practice. After you have downloaded the program, you can choose different built in alarm sounds to sound off when the time expires. You can even personalize the timer by having a short message scroll across the screen.


Another feature on this free timer is you can change the colors of the digits, buttons, and backgrounds to match your needs.

You and your students will enjoy all these unique features on this free timer. Hope you enjoy this tool. I would recommend you downloading this program to your home computer so you can play with it. Once you have learned all the different features I mentioned above, you will be ready to download it your computer at school.

Next week I will be sharing with you a fun random number generator you can use with your students to make sure they are picked randomly when you ask them questions. Yes, you can even type their name in the random generator to personalize it. See you next week.

Happy 4th Of July!

In observance of Independence day, I will resume my blog next Sunday. Hope you have a great Fourth of July Holiday. See you next week.