Monday, January 3, 2011

Surf's Up

This interwebz thing is the best invention ever; I sure hope it sticks around. Since I surf a lot (i.e. procrastinate when I should be working), I've discovered some gems to share. Check out some of this FREE technological goodness:

Color Cop: For those of you who are uber-anal about matching the exact right color, download this immediately and pin it to your start menu. No more looking up hex codes and taking a wild guess at blue vs. navy blue vs. midnight blue vs. pacific blue vs. dress blue. Or my favorite, dumpster vs. park bench. (I'm not kidding - dumpster=#004F00 and park bench=#2E6444.)

Free Technology for Teachers: Let's face it, I'm a teacher at heart. I left many years ago because I was tired of living like a pauper (don't get me started on my soapbox), but the bottom line is, if I could do anything in the world and money didn't matter, I'd still be teaching. Anyway, this website makes me drool. It has resources, lesson plans, e-books, apps, downloads...it's a combo of teacher and techie fantasyland.

Rescue Time: Secret's out...I procrastinate. Even as I sit here writing this, I know that I have about 40 hours of work I need to complete today, yet here I am. I keep thinking if I could just get a handle on my time-management issues, my life would be so much better. Well, that and a winning lottery ticket. So anyway, imagine my delight when I found this little tool that would micro-manage me. It monitors every moment you spend on your computer and categorizes it so you can see that you spent 1 hour on your PPT presentation and 5 hours on facebook. It's a cold, hard slap in the face, trust me.

TeAchnology: Again with the drooling. This site has resources, lesson plans, printable worksheets, rubrics, and all the stuff teacher dreams are made of.

Vodafone Parents' Guide: If you're a parent, chances are your 6-yr-old has helped you with a technology issue. While they're running circles around us in cyberspace, remember that they still have the common sense of, well, a kid. This site helps parents get up to speed on what kids are doing online and how to keep them safe doing it. There are quizzes (how much do you know), tips, tutorials, and resources all dedicated to keeping your kids safe online. Sadly, "don't talk to strangers" just isn't enough anymore.

So many more to share, but my Rescue Time alert is nagging me to get back to work, so it'll have to wait. Stay tuned...

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