16 Free Alternatives to Microsoft PowerPoint: Create and Store Online!

 I have never been a fan of PowerPoint. My school computer is a Windows Dell and at home I have all Macs. Microsoft's version for the PC is a better interface than the Macintosh. Coincidence? Hardly. Microsoft has succeeded in gaining the lion's share of the computer market, but Apple has had an incredible showing the last several years. I will always be a Mac girl. All right, I seem to have gotten off point. When students are working on presentations for class, it is always easy for them to lose track of where they last saved it, and that's why using the cloud works out best. EXAMPLE: Due date for the school project is after the school vacation and one kid chimes in "But our family is going to the Bahamas for spring break!" No problem, dear. Do you have access to the Internet at your hotel? (They answer "yes") Then you'll be able to get to your project on the website. Here are 16 free presentation programs which store your projects in the cloud:

9Slides

280 Slides- Beta ended on this program in December 2011; nice, simple interface

Ease- part of GNOME desktop

Empressr

Google Docs Presentation- not my favorite, but it does the job 

KOffice- online open source software includes KPresenter; works on Windows, Mac and Linux.

Kizoa- free slideshow and collage maker

Knovio

Libre Office Impress-the presentation part of this free office suite

NeoOffice- made for Mac computers; includes a  presentation module; download required; also available for Android smartphones.

Powtoon- "bringing awesomeness to your presentations"; use their cartoon characters to make a great presentation for you

Prezi- "make your presentations zoom"

PreZentit- "Create, share and show your presentations online"

Sliderocket- my students love the program for its ease; teachers love it because students can't lose their work because it resides on their site

ThinkFree- office suite like MS office

Zoho Show

Political Corruption: A Timely Topic: 22 Places to Find Resources

Former Illinois governor Rod Blagjovich reported to prison in Colorado to begin serving a 14 year prison term. He might be the current corrupt politician in the news, but he's hardly the only one with a colored past. If you teach history or political science, here are a list of resources.

10 Worst Political Scandals - from Newsweek Magazine

America's 50 Most Scandalous Political Scandals- some are a bit racy

Articles About Political Corruption- N.Y.Times

The Battle Over Reconstruction- three lessons

Bartelby.com- search "political corruption" and you'll get results from all over the world

Chicago Times Articles on Political Corruption

Daryl Cagle's Political Corruption Cartoons- many cartoonists represented here from all over the country

Government Statistics- chart shows corruption by country

Infoplease Encyclopedia

Newsweek Magazine- articles on political corruption

N.J. Corruption- my state has been in the news a lot lately...

Political Cartoons- democracy and corruption

Political Cartoons from Nixon's Presidency- Watergate

Political Corruption in American History- this timeline covers 1760-2010

Political Corruption Lesson Plans- from the Lesson Planet

Presidential Scandals

Rage Against the Machine- N.Y.Times lesson plan compares Blagjovich scandal with a Times article about machine politics from 1876.

Rod Blagjovich- Illinois Governor who was impeached for trying to sell Obama's vacated senate seat

TeacherVision Resources on Political Corruption

Time Magazine- articles on political corruption

Timeline for Scandals in American History- from Google; covers 1900-2009

Ulysses S. Grant: Savior and Blunderer

Pre-Construction...Construction...Finished Project By Tomorrow?

Yesterday was a blur. Sometime in the mid-morning, the custodians came in with our principal and I was informed that the workers would be arriving shortly to begin construction in the library. I immediately needed to clear three bookshelves (both sides) so that the wall would be able to pass through that area. Luckily, our principal provided many student helpers to move large quantities of books. Of course I was more concerned with keeping the books in numerical order, something that only I and my library council members understood. By the end of the day, I had lost my glasses, filled many tabletops with books, and prayed that teachers would claim some of the hundreds of books I didn't want to throw out.According to one of the workers, the project should be done tomorrow, three days of work. No new bookcases. New walls, though. I'm keeping a positive attitude, because I've been told that with classes no longer in the library (we had a couple of periods which were class-free) I can look forward to making the library-media center the center of the school again. I'll let you know on Monday how everything looks. Are you in a similar position? Please leave your comments? Thank you to those who posted yesterday!

The Ups and Downs of Downsizing

Oh boy. Just found out today that the library will be losing close to one third of its space. Offices. Classrooms. Study space. Not sure what, but all I know is that reorganization, more weeding and moving hundreds of books will be taking place very soon. Am I angry? Of course not. We just don't have enough space, and thanks to all the huge budget cuts (and lack of that "angel benefactor" we need) there simply is no other choice but to cut into the library's space. So today I began the arduous and painful task of more weeding and moving stacks and stacks of our books to make room for the demolition. Giving away five sets of encyclopedias to various classrooms is where I started.

Day 2. I've been trying to get teachers to take books to their classrooms as opposed to throwing them out. A few have come down and taken some books, but the majority are either not interested, don't have room for them or travel to many rooms and don't have a home base. Just heard from the custodians that I can't have any more garbage barrels because the dumpster is full. As I write this, I can see the piles of books on the table, and I'm only halfway through the reference section. I feel for those books. I have also run out of dusting cloths. (I purchase my own Swiffers because they are the best) Years of dust have greeted me with every shelf that I empty.

I began working on redesigning the floor-plan since things were about to change with my square footage. I found an online program called Floor Planner, and began to create a 3D model of our space.(It's free)

Day 3. I'm sore all over from lifting and moving and bending and stretching. I'm going to do other things today like deleting barcodes and updating the collection. I just read an article in School Library Journal about survey results involving spending. At the moment I am amazed that my budget is FAR below the $$ listed (median) for a high school. My fundraising has still not been able to put me at that number. Is anyone else out there feeling the sting of this survey? Projected changes in budget $$ for the northeast (I'm in NJ) for next year are -1.8%.

So I guess you are asking yourself when I am going to mention the ups of downsizing. Any type of cleaning can be therapeutic, you know? Getting the shelves all neat and in order, eliminating books which have sat for decades since they were last used. In the end, the library will be streamlined, clean and ready to service all who enter. Too optimistic? Maybe. Do you have a similar situation in your school? Please share in the comments section. I'd like to know I'm in good company.

Is the Flipped Classroom The Classroom of the Future? Salman Khan Thinks So

We are all familiar with the typical classroom situation where the students sit in their seats and listen to the teacher lecture about a specific topic.That's the only way I remember learning in school. When we had an extended period (block) it could be very boring. Then, during 2007, along came a new concept: the flipped classroom. Now students could work at their own pace viewing video tutorials and the teacher did not have to worry about a "one size fits all" lecture. If you are familiar with the Khan Academy, you know that when they began, their video tutorials were mainly for math. If you check the site today, you will notice the addition of Art History, Banking and Money, Biology, Chemistry, Computer Science, Cosmology and Astronomy, Economics, Finance, History, Physics, SAT Prep, Statistics and so much more! Khan Academy would like to "create the world's totally free virtual school." Below you will find posts, articles and videos which explain the flipped classroom. Last night's interview with Sal Khan on 60 Minutes is especially interesting.

15 Schools Using Flipped Classrooms Right Now - Edudemic article

Advancing the Flip: Developments in Reverse Instruction

The Flip: Why I Love It, How I Use It- by teacher Shelly Wright

Flip your Classroom Through Reverse Instruction- an anatomy and physiology teacher's experience


The Flipped Class: Myths VS Reality -three part article

The Flipped Classroom: Can Videos Teach Our Children?

The Flipped Classroom Explained- blog post from N.J. Principal Eric Sheninger

The Flipped Classroom Model: A Full Picture- great overview of the process

Khan Academy: School of the Future


Should You Flip Your Classroom?- article from Edutopia

Created by Knewton and Column Five Media

All Shakespeare: 41 Websites to Fill Your Lessons With the Bard

 The Internet is loaded with information about Shakespeare. I have only tipped the iceberg with this list. Be sure and let me know if you are looking for specific resources for a certain subject area.

60 Second Shakespeare- students create their 60-second interpretation of Shakespeare; BBC site
Absolute Shakespeare- plays are listed by comedies, histories and tragedies; find study guides and trivia 

The App's the Thing: Shakespeare Goes Social- iPad app for The Tempest
The Complete Works of William Shakespeare- M.I.T. site
eNotes- study guides and lesson plans
Folger Shakespeare Library 
Free Kids Word Searches-Some Shakespeare Plays 

How to Teach Critical Analysis of Romeo and Juliet to High Schoolers
In Search of Shakespeare- from PBS; covers grades K-12

Insults By Shakespeare- lesson from TED-ED
Interactive Folio: Romeo and Juliet

Internet Shakespeare Editions-"The aim of the Internet Shakespeare Editions is to make scholarly, fully annotated texts of Shakespeare's plays available in a form native to the medium of the Internet. ... The Library itself will contain fully refereed materials only, and in due course will be the core of the Editions; at present, however, there are no fully developed texts yet available."

Learning Network Lesson Plan- from NY Times

The Life and Times of William Shakespeare- interactive

Literary Criticism About William Shakespeare- lists critical, biographical and other sites

Mr. William Shakespeare and the Internet-includes a Shakespeare timeline, biography quiz and more

The Oxford Shakespeare- from Bartleby.com

Shakespeare Animated- YouTube channel with 12 playlists

Shakespeare Biography- LiveBinder

Shakespeare Documented- online exhibition about Shakespeare

Shakespeare High- "your Shakespeare classroom on the Internet"

Shakespeare and His Critics- 17 resources are here, from essays to letters to directories

Shakespeare in the Classroom- from PBS;includes lessons for K-12, teaching Shakespeare with primary sources and much more

Shakespeare Internet Scavenger Hunt- for grades 9-12

Shakespeare is Elementary- "created by elementary students at Crichton Park School in Nova Scotia"

Shakespeare Magazine- "an educational and learning resource about the works of Shakespeare and the role and influence they have had on our history and language."

Shakespeare Uncovered -from PBS

Shakespeare Study Guides- PDF downloads from the American Shakespeare Center

Shakespeare: Teacher Resources- from TeacherVision; nice listing includes lesson plans, printables, resources

Shakespeare's Characters Online Quiz

Shakespeare's Grammar- from the Shakespeare Resource Center

Shakespeare's Language- online etymology dictionary

Shakespeare's Most Popular Lines- list of 500

Shakespeare's Sonnets

Surfing the Bard- the Bard Zones include a discussion section, play listing and fun

The Taming of the Shrew Lesson Plan- 26 days of lessons includes PDF printables

TeachersFirst Shakespeare Resources- choose grade level and find podcasts, lessons

TeacherVision's Shakespeare- printables and lessons

William Shakespeare Background Information and Teaching Ideas - from Web English Teacher

William Shakespeare PowerPoint Presentations

WordNet- a lexical database for the English language

Time for a New Design!

Thanks to Jo from The Book Bug for introducing me to Pixelista! Jessica Barnard's designs are so "girly-perfect" that I was able to find one to use (yes, it was FREE) on "A Media Specialist's Guide to the Internet!"  What do you think?