Build Fences

"Don't build fences" is sage advice. When it comes to computer desktops, icons can quickly take over "screen real estate". Sometimes a point of diminishing returns occurs when there are so many icons on a desktop that considerable time is spent locating what you're seeking.

When the desktop becomes over-populated with icons and shortcuts, the very idea of placing items on the desktop for rapid retrieval becomes contradictory. Ever tried to herd cats? That's what I've experienced...at least until I discovered a nifty little application called Fences.

There are several ways to organize or "corral" all of those meandering icons. Fences is easily configured to produce a variety of layouts. Six fences reside along the bottom of my screen. They can be renamed, resized, and rearranged according to your preferences. Just "drag-n-drop! Aside from organizing and "de-cluttering" the desktop, Fences adds a degree of  "Windows 7" likeness to your computer.

Fences is free, small, and easy to learn. Give it a try. You won't be disappointed!

Music and Art - Universal Languages!

With Christmas (not "The Holidays" - it's the Advent season) now upon us, I thought I'd share a few discoveries that you might want to explore during your down time.

The arts, particularly music, are dear to me. They are universally understood. When language fails us across geographic borders, the arts can communicate in a manner that the spoken word can't approximate.

That being said, the following are a few that you'll want to explore and integrate into your classroom instruction:

1. Paint.net
   
2. PhotoFiltre
   
3. Jam Studio
   
4. Playlist

Paint.net is for digital image editing. Likewise for PhotoFiltre. JamStudio allows one to create music with all manner of complexity (instrumentation, voices, etc.). Playlist.com is a music social networking site. There are numerous genres from which to choose, listen, and share with others.

Observations and food for thought: The first decade of the 21st century is about to conclude. Web 2.0 has matured. Web 3.0 is developing.

• What have you learned about 21st century skills since the turn of the century?
  
• How many Web 2.0 skills have you learned in the past few years?
  
• Most importantly: How have you used these powerful skills in your instruction and shared your knowledge with others (especially with students)?

A side note: Explore the amazing opportunities at SharedTalk - Your Language Exchange Network. You and your students might just establish some global connections and learn more about spoken and written languages in an interactive, real-time manner!

Merry Christmas! May God bless you abundantly in the year ahead!

The Hat

Looking for a cool tool for grouping students when you want to "automate" the process? Let "The Hat" do it for you!

From the website:

"Just like pulling names from a hat to see who goes first, second, etc., this handy little program takes the time and tedium out of randomizing the order of a list of names. Now you can use the program to select individual names from a list one at a time, making it great for selecting winners of contests, etc. It features cool animation of the names actually coming out of a hat and optional sound effects."

The URL: http://www.harmonyhollow.net/teach/

PDF Power! (free- naturally)

PDF forms are great. They are cross-platform documents that take up little space. Cross-platform? That means they run on both PCs and Macs. A Word document converted to a PDF document is smaller in size than a PDF file, and keeps others from making changes to the original. The PDF format does quite well at preserving the original layout of the document in which it was created. Get your Word documents converted to PDF format at http://www.zamzar.com.

Ever received a PDF file that required you to "fill in the blanks", then print and mail the form?

Why not fill in the blanks, save the form,then email it? Wouldn't that be easier? Sure! The software exists, but it costs BIG BUCKS! There is a free alternative. Read below from http://www.pdfill.com

"Many of you are aware that Adobe Reader is a software program that has been installed in almost every computer and is used to view and fill PDF forms. With Adobe Reader, if the file is an interactive form, you may enter data on the form and print the form with the data, but the PDF file can not be saved locally. If the PDF file is a non fill-in form, Adobe Reader has no way of entering data on the form. The only solution to this up until now was to dish out more than $500 to purchase the complete Adobe Acrobat program in order to perform those tasks. But now with PDFill PDF Editor you can do all these tasks at a fraction of the cost. Furthermore, you can open PDF file, add commenting annotations or draw shapes. The edited documents can then be saved directly back to the original PDF file."