wordpress how-to’s

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Years ago, Dreamweaver and FrontPage were THE products to use for web design. These days, most bloggers and developers like to use web-based products, with WordPress seeming to be the favorite. I’ve been using WordPress for about six years now, and I love it. I had to rely completely on tutorials and other free online resources to build my first sites. To make it easier on any of you that happen along, I have pulled together a number of WordPress tutorials to make your first or next website amazing. I’ll keep adding, so check back often. If you have any awesome resources, please share!

Beginner WordPress Tutorial Video by NuuVidea

Mashable’s 5 Essential WordPress Tips for the Beginner

Step by Step Video on How to Blog with WordPress (It’s a long one!)

UPDATED Step by Step Video on WordPress.com (A bit longer, but worth it!)

Wikiversity’s Web Design Portal

WordPress Tips – a cool portal with links to other blogs about wordpress.com

Matt’s Tips on WordPress.com

10 WordPress Tips to Make Your Blog Look Like a Website (For Beginners)

apps and resources for your classroom

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As you can imagine, this post will be updated frequently! I would certainly appreciate your input, so comment below to add your own awesome apps and resources, as well as let me know what you think about those I’ve shared:

SPOTLIGHT ON:

Grand Tour of Google Drive

Cool Links – this is my own collections of cool resources.

ClassDojo – FREE Behavior Management App for the Classroom

Typing Club – Full FREE Typing Course for Kids

Portland Press Herald App – Students have access to the newspaper every day!

Virtual Manipulatives – FREE Math Manipulatives App – Awesome reviews!

These TechEdge videos are great – the one I’ve shared is one of MANY. Check them out!

iPad Apps:

The 55 Best Free Educational Apps for iPad – by TeachThought

iPad Apps Tracker – Top 200 Free Apps for Education – by PadGadget

20 Amazing iPad Apps for Educators – by TeachHub.com

Best Free iPad Apps – by Gizmo’s Freeware

48 FREE Educational Apps Sorted by Grade Level – by Edudemic

Android Apps:

50 Free Android Apps Being Used in Education Right Now – by Edudemic

Top Android Apps for Kids to Download (Free) – by GetAndroidStuff

The 50 Best Education Apps for Android – by TeachThought (not all free – but worth a glance)

Thinglink – Make Your Images Interactive

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Thinglink is a cool free resource that’s making learning (and teaching!) even more fun and interactive.

According to the ThingLInk Toolkit, “ThingLink is a free and user friendly digital tool that provides users with the ability to turn any image into an interactive graphic. Create multiple “hot spots” on specific parts of an image and turn that image into a multimedia launcher. Include video, record audio or provide a link to any website with the click of a button. Easily embed an interactive ThingLink graphic into any blog or website. ThingLink is a truly amazing tool that allows users to pack a lot of content into a small space. ThingLink is a flexible tool that is well-suited for use in the classroom.”

Check it out if you have a few minutes to spare – you’ll thank me:

ThinkLink’s Homepage

ThingLink Toolkit – chock full of great stuff!

A ThingLink about ThingLink!

Seeking Jobs – In Maine

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I created a page today entitled Job Seekers, which links to some wonderful tips, tricks and resources on landing that perfect job. I also wanted to add some specialized info for my friends in Maine, with even more specialized info for those finding themselves unemployed in Education:

MAINE EMPLOYMENT LINKS

Jobs in Maine

JobsinME

Maine Career Center

Maine Department of Labor

Maine.gov Employment Portal

EDUCATION EMPLOYMENT LINKS

Serving Schools

SchoolSpring

Another Monday Ruined by Technology

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A productive afternoon at my desk turned to 30 minutes of pure horror today. I received a call from the good folks at LifeLine, which provides my just-turned-eighty mother with a necklace she can press in the event of a medical emergency. I have yet to discover if pressing this device emits a sound, but I plan to find out.

But I digress. It would appear that both my phone and my sister’s phone rang at about the same time, alerting us that our Mother had pressed her LifeLine button, but a call to her home phone was fruitless. Did I mention that the Fire Department entered the apartment, to discover it EMPTY?

Unaware that this contraption only works within 100 feet of her living room, I called the police so they could put out a BOLO on her Neon – bright red crocheted flag on the antenna and all . We Googled numbers and began making calls, our voices shaking and the tears welling up.

A call to my Aunt yielded paydirt: on Mondays, she goes to the Senior Center to play Scrabble. And yes, she had the number.

The gentleman at the Senior Center listened to my story and made an announcement to the room, calling her by name. I could hear her voice faintly in the background, “I’m over here!” I envisioned her placing a “Q” above an “I” to form “qi” for a triple-word score.

As far as we can figure, she must have hit the dang button getting into her car, which is parked right outside her apartment. It sent a crystal clear signal to the transponder, setting off a series of unfortunate events.

Normally at night, I play Words with Friends to relax. Not tonight.

Free Interactive Science Simulations for Everyone

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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.