One of my favorite sites to trip over, when looking for tech tips and tricks, is eHow. I’ve also used it for auto repair. However, I have not begun to scratch the surface of what eHow has to offer. Check it out, and keep it bookmarked – you’ll thank me for it!

A colleague shared this amazing site with me this morning, and I think it might be my favorite site of the year! Created by the University of Colorado at Boulder, PhET has 60 million – yes, I said 60 MILLION interactive science simulators. There are simulators for all grade levels starting with Kindergarten, tons of languages available – and more than anything, the quality is superb. Check it out and tell me what you think.

Here is a brief overview of what Google products have to offer for tech integration in the classroom.

GMAIL:

Ten Reasons to use Gmail

GOOGLE CALENDAR:

All About Google Calendar (printable!)

GOOGLE DOCS:

• Excellent Tour of Google Docs
• Google Docs in Plain English:
• Google Docs: A Tutorial (printable)!
• Idea: Docs for Teachers
• Using Forms in Google Docs:
• Collaborate in Google Docs
• Advanced: Creating images with Google Spreadsheets
• Advanced: Teach Collaborative Revision with Google Docs:

Prezi is a zooming presentation editor that is not only free, but also web-based. There is a bit of a learning curve if you are teaching yourself – but their “learn” tab is chock full of great stuff. I’ll be posting Prezis as I create them – please share your own here as well!

It’s time to dust off that crock pot and put it to good use – all the time! Check out these awesome recipes that will save you time, money and the stress of meal planning. If you’ve never thought about using that crock pot for breakfast, appetizers and desserts, you’ll be amazed at many of these recipes and ideas:

Here are some great links for free Excel tutorials and training:

Training for many software packages, including Excel and Calc – In Pics!

Microsoft Excel 2010 Training

Microsoft Excel 2003 Training

Microsoft Excel 2007 Training

More Excel 2007 Tutorials – includes other Office 2007 Tutorials

Microsoft Excel Chart Tutorial – with voice

OpenOffice Calc Tutorial

OpenOffice Calc Chart Tutorial – printable!

There is more than one way to skin a cat – or write a letter! Word Processing has grown up quite a bit since the olden days of ’95.  Although Microsoft Word remains the most commonly-used word processing software, there are many more to choose from – including open-source (free) choices. Check out a few of my favorites:

MICROSOFT WORD

• Word 2010, 2007 and 2003 Tutorials

OPENOFFICE WRITER

• OpenOffice Writer Guide – pdf
• Easy 10-Second Videos on Writer
• Writer InPics

GOOGLE DOCS

• Excellent Tour of Google Docs
• Google Docs in Plain English:
• Google Docs: A Tutorial (printable)!
• Idea: Docs for Teachers
• Using Forms in Google Docs:
• Collaborate in Google Docs
• Advanced: Creating images with Google Spreadsheets
• Advanced: Teach Collaborative Revision with Google Docs:

THINKFREE

We have all either sent or received that MSOffice document, spreadsheet or presentation, only to find it’s not a compatible version. It’s also becoming quite costly to purchase the latest and greatest MSOffice version. In my world of education, teachers and students simply don’t have the funds to purchase Office 2007, now 2010…. and beyond. I use all three of the FREE products below.

1. ThinkFree Online is a wonderful tool that allows the user to log in using their Google account or create a ThinkFree account. PDF’s are easily created out of many file types. Documents, spreadsheets and presentations can be created and shared, or uploaded, edited and/or shared. ThinkFree is friendly to Office 2007 and Office 2010 files. It even has a viewer, should you receive a file that you are unable to read.
2. Google Docs –  part of the Google suite of free products, Google Docs makes is simple to read, edit and share documents, spreadsheets, presentations and even pdf’s. It does have its limitations – but Google is constantly making changes to improve the quality of Google Docs. I forward anything attachments sent to my work email immediately to my gmail, allowing me to store them in Google Docs.    Here is a simple video to give you an overview: Google Docs in Plain English.
3. OpenOffice – Don’t purchase MSOffice with your next new computer – simply download OpenOffice, and you’ll be ready for any Office task. OpenOffice is amazing – in many ways, I like it better than MSOffice. Many school systems are moving to OpenOffice, because it saves thousands of dollars in licensing fees. The good folks at Oracle keep OpenOffice fresh, so you are always using a brand new product – not something created in 2003, 2007 or even 2010. There is a bit of a learning curve – especially in Calc and Base – but online resources are plentiful, so don’t panic.

Birmingham Grid for Learning’s Multiple Intelligence Quiz.