The world of Wiki is like having the old Encyclopedia Britannica at your fingertips.  It is an online collection of information, a database, which can be edited by others.  I have used the Wikipedia site for almost a year now.  Recently, it was helpful on findings MUDS and MOOS.  I found several versions of Wiki I did not know about.  The first one was the Wiki Wiki Web, located at http://c2.com/cgi/wiki?WikiWikiWeb.  What I found when researching this page is that it has lots of hyperlinks, and I ended up getting lost in a circular pattern of reading hyperlinks.  The page has a more programmer oriented discourse.  I decided after 15 minutes of exploring not to use this site as a resource for teaching. 

The one that was more user friendly was wikiHow.  Their main page is http://www.wikihow.com/Main-Page.  On the left side are most recent posts of articles posted by users, and I now know how to crack a master lock.  The articles I read were very insightful.  Creating a page was very easy, and it included an RSS feed, too.

The article on the top 100 Toolbox items were a very comprehensive list, and I hope that many of us are now putting them to good use.  I went back and thought about some of the tools that I use that make my life easier as a teacher, and here are mine.

CutePDF Writer:  http://www.cutepdf.com/Products/CutePDF/writer.asp

On this page, you will also see a link to install the Ghostscript 8.15.  You will want to do that, too.  What this program does is gives you a virtual printer and creates pdf files from any program.  I use it with my TestGenerator software because I can have the software generate multiple versions of the test, but if I sent it to a regular printer, it would print the test, answer key, Kentucky state standards, etc.  A six page test results in twelve pages of print.  By creating the pdf file, I then go in a choose only the test pages and the answer key, and I can pick the version of the test to give the student, which is great for eliminating cheating and for makeup tests.  You can use it to make a backup copy of your STI gradebook, too.  The system requirements are minimal.

The second tool I use is Adobe Acrobat Professional, although I am looking for something better. I use its graphic capture tool to clip pdf documents and use them in PowerPoints (like review games for tests).   The images don’t always clip well, and tend to be fuzzy when enlarged.  If someone has a screen capture tool that you like, please post and let me know.

Coming from a computer background, I still highly recommend system utilities like backup, disk defragmenter, scandisk, regclean, ccleaner, spybot, adaware, to keep your hard drive free of trouble. 

For CCleaner, you can also use it to uninstall a program that won’t show up in your Add/Remove programs, it gets rid of temporary internet files, and basically “crap”.  The website for it is: http://www.ccleaner.com/

Spybot Search and Destroy and Adaware take care of the spyware which slows down your system.

Spybot is located at http://www.download.com/3000-2144-10122137.html  This is the most recent copy I could find.

Adaware will find things that Spybot misses.  You can download it at:

http://www.download.com/Ad-Aware-2007/3000-8022_4-10731194.html?tag=lst-0-1

I use www.download.com for getting freeware or shareware because their download sites have proven reliable to me over the years.

Here I sit on my love seat with laptop a blazing getting in my final posts for the week, knowing that I am way behind on getting them in.  I like the flexibility that Nate spoke about, you can not do well on the grading for a particular week and still acheive the points needed for a good grade.  This has been my week for super busyness, but with good results.  I have been helping our senior class raise money for their trip, and we have raised over $500 this week at the local fair booth and car wash.  We are going to Cedar Point and the Rock and Roll History museum in May.  Also, my student council group volunteered to help with the local Spay and Neuter clinic on Saturday.  We had about 20 dogs and 30 cats.  It was wonderful watching the kids care for the animals, and the Woodstock Foundation deserves a National Merit award for the great work that they do.  Our local shelter was badly run.  A gentleman came in last year and really cleaned it up, and the community support has been phenomenal.  My kids plan to do several more fundraisers to help them pay for medical supplies and food for the animals.  If you have a group at your school that is looking for a community project, I highly recommend volunteering at your local shelter.

As the end of week 3 draws near, I can say that I am more comfortable with the technology and have enjoyed reading the articles and blog entries through my gator (Google reader).  This morning, I spent time adding the members from the Educational Games and Simulations class and used the management tool to put them in their own folder.  I have printed out the assignment list for each week and am keeping a notebook and checklist to make sure I don’t miss any of the assignment portions.  The hardest thing to get caught up on this week is the readings for all my classes.  I still need to read Chapters 2 and 3 of Kearsley and comment on them.

I was browsing through the math floor of TappedIn and found Barbara there.  I sent her an email to see what areas of high school math she teaches.  I have Geometry and am looking for someone to share ideas with.  When I did a search for Geometry on TappedIn, only one teacher came up.  Her name was Tammy Thibodeau and she is in Maine.  She has registered 30 of her students on her site.  I am going to email her and see how her experience has been with the TappedIn resources.

I also joined a group called Math Resources K-20+.  I found one activity so far on linear equations and target heartrate that I bookmarked.

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