Microsoft Office Add-in Embeds Creative Commons License

 Office 2007 users can download an add-in that will allow them to embed a Creative Commons license into a document. The add-in creates a Creative Commons tab that takes users directly to the Creative Commons Web site to select the appropriate license.
Creative Commons is a nonprofit organization that provides free licenses for creators to choose from that allows others to share, remix, use commercially, or any combination of the above.
One of the best ways to teach students to respect the work of others is to have them select a Creative Commons license for the projects they produce. The process of selecting the license of their choice provides a teachable moment when students can view copyright from the perspective of the owner rather than the consumer.
Even if you do not have Office 2007, check out the Creative Commons website and see how easy it is to choose a license and download the appropriate label to place within documents and video files.

YouTube Unveils Safety Mode

YouTube announced their new Safety Mode that makes YouTube a viable option for schools. Check out the video below for details.

Lonestar EduBloggerCon

Academic Language: Everyone's “Second” Language - National Writing Project

I am attending a two-day training in San Antonio about implementing the English Language Proficiency Standards, and we discussed the fact that we have students in our classes that whose native language is English, but they come to school without strong language skills. The same scaffolds that develop academic language for our ELL students help all of our native speakers also.
Check out this article written by Norma Mota-Altman:
Academic Language: Everyone's “Second” Language - National Writing Project

EBSCOhost Mobile

EBSCO library databases now has a mobile interface that allows users to search for articles and images from a mobile device! I was easily able to choose my database and perform a search on my iphone; results are displayed 10 at a time in a clean list that still includes thumbnails of images that can be previewed. I selected one of the articles from the list, previewed it, and emailed the PDF to myself using the email feature within the EBSCO interface.
Read more about EBSCOhost mobile on their website. According to EBSCO's support website, once the "library administrator has created a profile in EBSCOadmin for EBSCOhost Mobile, the interface will be available to all users who have access" to the school's account.
Why bother? Well, having mobile access anywhere/anytime is very powerful. Being able to research from their phones just might motivate some of our students to complete their research throughout the semester instead of waiting until the day before the project is due. Hope springs eternal, right?

Wordle: What a Cool Tool!

Wordle is a free online application for generating word clouds with words that occur more frequently appearing larger. You can print your Wordle or save it. I saved the Wordle above and then uploaded it as an image to this blog post.

One great educational use that comes to mind is to have students copy and paste their essay into Wordle and print it to use as a cover page for their paper. Or print them and hang them up in the room or hallway.

Study Shows No Evidence that Saturated Fat Causes Heart Disease

Stephan Guyenet who writes the Whole Health Source Blog posted a link to an interesting study on his blog today. Dr. Ronald Krauss' study found that "there is no significant evidence for concluding that dietary saturated fat is associated with an increased risk of CHD or CVD." It is so amazing to me that after all these years, it seems that Dr. Atkins was correct in asking people to cut out carbs and eat more meat.
I was one of the nay-sayers who couldn't believe that THE Food Pyramid could be wrong. It was, after all, based on research, right? I am reading Gary Taubes book Good Calories, Bad Calories, and I'm beginning to see that I haven't been so noble after all, denying myself meat and eating pasta, bread (whole grain, of course). My husband and I have adopted a moderate version of an Atkins diet, and we have been surprised at how much better we feel while taking off pounds over the last year. I would recommend Taube's book to everyone

A Crafty New Year to You!

It's been great to be at home these past two weeks, having a chance to step outside of my professional life and spend time "feathering my nest," baking holiday treats, and catching up on all the craft blogs I've been intending to read since about July. Reading these blogs has inspired me to take up paper crafting again. Yet again, I have resolved to carve out some time each day for creative pursuits outside of work. (This resolution lasted nearly all the way through January last year!)

This year, as I craft, I also intend to do more blogging. I have a running list of ideas that I would like to develop, and I know that one of the best ways for me to learn more about what I think is to write about it! Nearly every morning as I'm driving the loop to work, I write posts in my head on various topics, but by the time lunch rolls around, those ideas have been scattered by all the details of the morning. Well, I'm attempting to change that by making quick notes and then taking time later to write--at LEAST three times a week. I've also come to terms with the fact that this blog may become a hodgepodge of diverse topics. My solution is to bring some organization to the mess with my tags.

Now that we have it in writing, we will see how well I follow through on this resolution....  Thanks for stopping by and spending a few minutes with me!