Within the last few weeks, seventh grade English students of Ms. Sue Julian (pictured below working with one of her students) have been actively engaged in poetry appreciation in a whole new way! After reading seasonal poems from a specific website and choosing their favorite, they were informed that the poem will be used for a hypothetical job task. They are to look ahead to the future . . . just having graduated from college, they are starting a new job at a literary agency. Their first assignment is to develop a podcast of a seasonal poem. This is where the excitement begins! In the Perry Junior High computer lab, they placed the poem’s text from the website into a word processed document. The students then arranged their poem’s stanzas onto slides in Keynote, the presentation software that is part of Apple’s iWork productivty suite. To illustrate each slide, pictures were chosen from Google Images and downloaded to their iPhoto Library for use in this project. The final step was to carefully make a vocal recording for each poetic slide. Outside the classroom, students independently analyzed their poems using reading strategies. They completed a graphic organizer to highlight the techniques used throughout the poem. Then they wrote a poetry analysis to show how the poem’s author conveyed the theme to the reader with the use of those techniques. Upon their return from the computer lab, the “Poetry Meets Keynote” presentations began in class. Students viewed the poetic illustrations and listened to the recordings made by their fellow classmates.Following each Keynote presentation, a poetry analysis was read aloud in front of the class. Working with the guidance of Mr. Mike Amante and Mr. Jim Dieso, Mrs. Julian was able to take this project well beyond a traditional assignment. It did so by creatively engaging students in reading, writing, listening, speaking, AND thinking about poetry through the use of technology. A survey Mrs. Julian gave after the project revealed that the students felt it was an extremely positive experience. They enjoyed choosing pictures from Google Images to illustrate their poems and liked going to the computer lab for classes. The final projects truly look and sound professional. Check out a student example here. One amazed student remarked,"I never knew my voice sounded that great!" The students and Ms. Julian had learning experiences they will never forget! Future plans include having students write their own poetry so that the project developed will be even more student centered. To learn more about creatively using Keynote and iPhoto in your classroom, log onto My Learning Plan for training class opportunities. All it takes is a little knowhow and a creative idea to develop a great project like this one!

Do you have an application, server or file you want to use a regular basis but it does not appear in the Dock? For example, if you have a SMART Board, you may want to have quick access to the SMART Notebook software but it does not appear in the Dock. If this is the case, did you know that you can make your own shortcut to the program quickly with just a simple keystroke? In Mac OS X (and many older versions of the Mac OS), this is done using an alias. An alias is a "pointer file" that is used by the system as a shortcut to a file, application, or volume elsewhere on the computer or network. When you double-click the alias, it opens the file it points to (the parent). Here are some tips for creating and using aliases.

CREATING AN ALIAS USING DRAG & DROP
In our network managed environment in school, the easiest and more reliable method of creating an alias of any application, server, or file is using the drag-and-drop method. Here are the steps to create an alias using drag and drop.

1. First, click on the item you wish to alias and hold down the mouse button.
2. Next, while holding down the Command and Option keys simultaneously, drag the item to where you want the alias to appear. A ghosted version of the icon will appear with a curved arrow superimposed on the lower half of the ghost icon, (see digram below). This lets you know you are creating an alias rather than copying or moving the file.
   
   
   
   
3. Navigate to where you want the alias to be placed and let go of the mouse button. Instead of moving the original item, this process creates an alias at the new location, leaving the original untouched.
4. Note that this method of creating an alias does so without the word “alias” attached to its name. (Note: Don’t worry, you’ll still know it’s an alias, because its icon will have a tiny arrow at the bottom left-hand corner, (see diagram below for how to see how an alias icon looks compared to the original file.)

FINDING AN ALIAS' ORIGINAL (ITS PARENT)
As discussed above, an alias is a just "pointer file" that is used by Mac OS X as a shortcut to a file, application, or volume elsewhere and when you double-click the alias, it opens the file it points to (the parent). Sometimes, you may want to find or open the original program. Also, alias sometimes get "broken" and you will need to connect it to its original again for it to work.

To find the parent of an alias, simply Control-click the alias and choose Show Original from the pop-up menu, (see diagram below). After choosing this command, the original file should be revealed in the Finder.

Alternatively, you can also select the alias icon, and from the File menu and select Show Original. Another method is that you can select the alias, then press Command and R keys to show the original in the Finder.

Teachers Count is a non-profit organization whose mission is to raise the status of the teaching profession and provide resources to the education community. Using a public service announcement national ad campaign and related initiatives, TeachersCount is working to create a permanent culture of teacher appreciation in the United States. TeachersCount’s most visible program is the “Behind Every Famous Person Is a Fabulous Teacher” Campaign, a series of print public service announcements in the Time Inc. family of magazine.  Each ad features a celebrity and his or her teacher, along with a few uplifting words about teaching. In October, 2006, First Lady Laura Bush, who posed for an ad with her favorite teacher, spoke at the official launch of the campaign in New York City. Other famous faces in the campaign include actor Jeremy Piven, NFL player Curtis Martin, American Express CEO Kenneth Chenault, and many others.  Time Inc., which has donated millions of dollars worth of ad space, and Jones New York In The Classroom, which underwrites the production costs of the ads, are the campaign’s biggest supporters. In addition to partnerships with Time Inc. and Jones New York In The Classroom, TeachersCount also has past or present partnerships with Scholastic, Hallmark, Google, Marvel Entertainment, and OfficeMax, among other companies. In each issue of Scholastic’s Instructor magazine, TeachersCount authors the Making a Difference column, which is based on the theme, “Behind every incredible kid is an inspiring teacher.”  Each article highlights a kid or group of kids that have accomplished something incredible and the teacher who helped make the success possible. In 2006, TeachersCount worked with OfficeMax and Marvel to present the Super Hero Teacher of the Year Contest, which turned real teachers and the middle school students who nominated them into comic book characters in a special-edition Marvel comic book.  The books were distributed for free in OfficeMax stores across the nation that summer.

In addition to working to raise the status of the teaching profession, TeachersCount also provides resources to the education community, primarily via this website.  Lesson plans, information about professional development, teacher appreciation ideas, education news, editorial features, resources for prospective teachers, and a retail savings program are just a few examples of the many free resources on TeachersCount.org. Check out the site to learn about some of these amazing resources it has for teachers about teachers . Even easier, just check use some of the QuickLinks above to visit key areas of this site now!

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Eager to learn about new ways to use Mac OS X even better? Come to our monthly OS X "Talk, Tips & Tricks" session. Find out more.

Below are select technology courses to be offered by the Teacher Center this month. To learn more, log onto My Learning Plan then click the links below for more details about each class and/or to sign up right now online!

Tuesday, April 1
Intro to Pages

Thursday, April 3
The Art & Magic of Digital Presentations - April

Monday, April 8
Intro to Sound Studio 3

Wednesday, April 9
Creating Your Classroom Webpage

Monday, April 21
OS X "Tech Talk Tips and Tricks" - April

Tuesday, April 22
Using the Teacher Center SMART Board for Workshops & Meetings

Wednesday, April 30
SchoolCenter School: Exploring the New Features of Your School Website - April

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