Petition

Hello everybody,


If you agree with me, please sign (online) my petition! Thank you in advance for your conscientiousness and don't forget to spread the word, I mean the link. I need 25,000 signatures so my petition can be seen by the White House administration. 

Please, click here to sign http://wh.gov/jhR

My Petition:


WE PETITION THE OBAMA ADMINISTRATION TO:

Save energy by inverting daylight savings time during winter.

As we now live in the 21st Century, we also need to think as 21st Century citizens and leave the preconceptions and misconceptions of the past behind. We need immediate attention to this petition! Benjamin Franklin in the 18th Century suggested at that time that it would make more sense for farmers to have more daylight in the morning so they could save on candles by rising earlier to use morning sunlight. But this is no longer part of our reality, with the invention of modern farming equipment this is obsolete today. We need to concentrate in saving the planet by economizing energy. If we had longer daylight in the evenings during winter, we would save an enormous amount of money and energy. Doesn't it make more sense to have longer evenings during winter in this era?
Created: Dec 01, 2011
Issues: Energy

Presentation about Brazil

Jill Litwin a 4th Grade Teacher at Rutledge Hall kindly invited me to her classroom so her students could ask me some questions about Brazil. I put together a presentation about Brazilian food, currency, and other curiosities. See the ppt presentation below and also watch the video of the presentation. Have fun!


Untitled from Camila Sousa on Vimeo.

Great ppt presentation - Teachers' Day

Institute Day Presentations

Watch the Institute Day Presentations Here!

Watch the presentation with Ana Maria Menezes - Global Connections: Homework Assignments using web 2.0


  
Global Connections: Homework Assignments using Web 2.0 from Camila Sousa on Vimeo.






Watch the presentation about Google Sites



Google Sites from Camila Sousa on Vimeo.

Global Connections: Homework Assignments using Web 2.0

The district I work at is very diverse. There are students and parents from all over the world so the school values global connections and thinks it is important for the community. We are a community who understands the importance of differentiation and we know that every individual learns differently from others. 


I really like the picture below because it shows exactly what teachers used to do in the past by not considering the differences. 






On our institute day on September 23rd I had to present two sessions of two hours each so for one of the sessions I invited my friend and former co-worker from Brazil, Ana Maria Menezes


BIO: Ana Maria Menezes
EFL teacher and teacher trainer in Brazil. Head of the EDtech department at Cultura Inglesa Uberlândia. Helps teachers integrate technology with their classes by facilitating two online courses: “Cultura EDtech” and “Moving Beyond”. Writer of two books dedicated to language teachers: “Webtools applied to teaching” and “Developing the 4 Skills using Webtools”.

Ana Maria presented about Global Connections: Homework Assignments using Web 2.0. We had decided that for a lot of reasons we would be using WiZiQ to present but were prepared to use Skype as a backup in case things went wrong with the platform! 

The presentation went very smoothly and the teachers in my school really enjoyed it. It was the first time that they had experienced an online presentation in this format. I had my computer set up facing them so Ana Maria could see the teachers and I had her presentation and her video projected to a big screen in the room.

Every time teachers wanted to talk to each other they would do it quietly, I think that they thought that Ana Maria could hear them, but the microfone was muted for most of the time that  she was presenting and was given to us when we had group discussions or questions to ask. 

I saw a lot of teacher with their iPads taking pictures of the screen that was projecting the presentation because they wanted to "save the slides" even though I told them that I would share the recording with them later. I also experienced a lot of shy teachers when they saw themselves on the camera.

The feedback of the presentation was very positive and I already have some teachers e-mailing me to send them the link to the recording, even though it is not available yet. 

Let's put our hands together one more time to Ana Maria on the great job she did presenting to us! Thank you again Aninha. 





QR Codes

How have we been using QR Codes in our school?

We are piloting an iPad project for 6th graders in our district and they get to take home their iPads. I know right? Awesome...

We used QR Codes for the first week of school where they had to go in a scavanger hunt around the building to get to know it and also use their apps along the way. So the clues were:

LOCATION = Office
CLUE = We are here to help. Who are we?
DOCUMENTATION = "This is the Office - use your camera app to take a picture of yourselves outside"
App 2 Use = Camera


We have been using the i-nigma QR Code reader by 3GVision:






















And also, QR Code reader and scanner by shopSavvy, Inc.













We used the QR Code Generators:


Here is my QR Code - Have fun creating yours!

Finding "APPiness"

Thank you to Ana Maria at LifeFeast who invited me to write a guest post for her blog. I am very happy to be sharing with you all. Those who know me understand that my philosophy and motto is - Sharing is caring! :-)

I have been researching apps because the school district I work at is implementing a program that provides iPads for all 6th grade students and, believe it or not, they get to take their devices home!! I know, right?? These kids are so lucky!! I wish I was studying there. LOL I am the Technology Facilitator so I get to help them learn to use their iPads. It has been great hopping from site to site and  finding some amazing educators' blogs, wikis and social media pages that review apps or just list them.

These are the free educational apps I have been collecting and sharing with the district staff I work with. I am very "APPy" to be sharing them with you all. My suggestions are based on schools I am currently working with.

Free Educational Apps

You can also find a list of educators' blogs with their app recommendation on my online bookmarking website.


The Reform Symposium

Are you attending?

You really shouldn't miss out on this opportunity of attending a free online conference with teachers from all over the world!



Get your own badge at: The Reform Symposium Website!

Online Bookmarking Tools

Famous?

I am on Between the Lines' post!
Am I famous? Nooooo.... Its just my picture my wonderful sister-in-law added on her blog along with her post. Check out her post!

I love SOCIAL MEDIA!!

I was checking my social media network on twitter and facebook and came across this information: 

"US friends beware: creepiest website ever: Spokeo.com . New online "USA" phone book w/personal information: pics you've posted on FB or web, your approx credit score, home value, income, age, etc. You can remove yourself by searching for yourself on their site, copying the URL of your page, then go to the bottom of the page and click on Privacy button to remove yourself. Copy & repost so your US FB friends are aware."


Within seconds a lot of friends and followers read this information and "spread the word" for their network friends. That's the power of social media and I love it.

Reaching APPiness!!

Amazing App

This is an amazing app that I came across and it is free but don't know if it will become paid so go ahead and get yours!

ShowMe app

Take a look at my demo:


















http://www.showmeapp.com/

Apple Tune-in Series: Technology Seminars for Educations and IT Leaders 5.2 - 7.29

The Tune-in Series is a collection of free webinars focused on introducing educators and IT leaders to the capabilities of Apple technology in education.

How to register:

Register for the whole series or just for a single topic. Join any day from May 2 to July 29, 2011.

•Monday http://edseminars.apple.com/event/4298
•Tuesday http://edseminars.apple.com/event/4299
•Wednesday http://edseminars.apple.com/event/4300
•Thursday http://edseminars.apple.com/event/4301
•Friday http://edseminars.apple.com/event/4303

Answergarden: Hey there! Who are you visiting my blog?...


Hey there! Who are you visiting my blog?... at AnswerGarden.ch.

Digital Storytelling

Useful apps and web 2.0 tools to use with our students.

Coincidence?

A friend sent me an e-mail with these pictures. What do you think? 

HeyWire

http://www.heywire.com/

Diigo - My Online Bookmarking

My online portfolio

Learn it in 5

http://www.learnitin5.com/
Learn It In 5 - Home via kwout


What is Web 2.0? Learn it in 5 minutes or less

 
At Learn it in 5, you'll learn what is Web 2.0, and strategies for using Web 2.0 technology in the digital classroom - all in 5 minutes or less.
Learn it in 5 is a powerful library of how-to videos, produced by technology teachers, for the purpose of helping teachers and students create classroom strategies for today's 21st century's digital classroom. These step-by-step how-to videos walk teachers through Web 2.0 technology, demonstrating how to use Web 2.0 applications like blogs, social networks, podcasts, interactive videos, wikis, slide sharing and much more.
Read more: http://www.learnitin5.com/#ixzz1LtRKO17Y

Happy Mother's day!!

Prezi

Saint Patrick's Day!!

Before we came to Chicago the only thing people told us not to miss was the Chicago river dyed green during the Saint Patrick's Day Celebration. Here it is so you all won't miss seeing it too. LOL!!



Blizzard of 2011

Chicago February, 01st 2011






Chicago February, 02nd 2011









Orglamix

My sister-in-law does the PR for Orglamix so I decided to try their organic make-up. I am a make-up lover and do not like everything; I am very picky. I got it in the mail today and absolutely loved the colors I got. The website even suggested the best colors of eye shadows for the color of my eyes, I thought it was awesome!! The company is very professional and I really enjoyed the fact the owner answered some questions I had. I love the package it came in which was very girlie and fun! I have to say that it arrived pretty quick as well.

Here are the pictures of the products I got in the mail today. Hope you all enjoy it as I did :-))





Culture is a funny thing!!

Growing up in Brazil I always remember going to parties or birthdays parties and eating hot dog sausages, my mom would chop them up and put on the table and we would get them with toothpicks it was awesome eating those. The way I have seen them in parties in Brazil, the hot dog sausages are taken right out of the package, chopped  up and sometimes we would see them in a plate with chopped cheese and sometimes with olives or even both. Fun memories :-))



Last week I was happily in the kitchen keeping my husband company while he was cooking some hot dog sausages for himself while I was waiting for my soup to be ready then he chopped the hot dog sausages and I just grabbed one and put in my mouth as I would do in Brazil!! He was disgusted by it.... He shouted Noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo...... It's uncooked DO NOT EAT THOSE!!!! and I kept eating them and I even grabbed another one.... He was soooooo worried about me, he advised I was going to be sick for doing it and I explained that if I did not die until today it is not going to be now that I would because I have been doing that since childhood....LOL!! But he kept his concern to himself and did not want to kiss me afraid of the "uncooked" hot dog sausage.... Then he read the package and it attested that those were cooked indeed so he gave up on preventing me from eating them but he would not try!!

Culture is indeed a funny thing :-))

New Year's fireworks in Chicago!!

Navy Pier's fireworks.


Chicago


Wearing white to bring a lot of peace in 2011!!