Last spring, when Mrs. Mauro’s sixth grade students learned about the periodic table of elements as part of their Physical and Chemical changes unit in Science, they got a chance to use technology to do it in a fun and exciting way. In an effort to infuse technology into her teaching, Mrs. Rose Mauro (pictured below working with some of her students) had her class work in collaborative groups of three to learn about a family of the elements they were assigned. Working together, the students conducted Internet research and then developed a Microsoft Word brochure on their findings. In addition, students were also asked to create a podcast in GarageBand that they would use to present their family of elements to the class. To start out, Mrs. Mauro created a brochure template in Word for the students to use. Each flap of the brochure required different information. The cover had to have the family name, group number and the names and symbols of the elements in that family. The inside flap contained the properties of that family. The inside pages included the element name, symbol, atomic number, atomic mass, picture and everyday uses of that element. The final page of the brochure had the work cited information and the group members’ names. Each student in the group was responsible for specific parts of the brochure. Mrs. Mauro researched websites that the students could use and posted them on her useful links page of her website. The students worked on researching and developing their brochures for several days. Once they completed their brochures, they were ready to create their podcasts. With the help of Mrs. Christine Raynard, the Technology Teaching Assistant at Bradley Elementary, Mrs. Mauro’s students used GarageBand software to record their information. The students used their brochures to guide them through their podcast recording. Pictures from their brochures were captured using the Grab program and also placed in the GarageBand software to enhance the podcasts with photos to accompany the audio recordings. Once the students completed their podcasts, Mrs. Mauro posted them on her website. These podcasts can be seen here if you want to check them out! The students were very excited while doing this project. They learned quickly how to use the template and navigate through the websites to gather the important information required. They were also comfortable using the GarageBand software from their work with Mrs. Sue Gleason, the General Music Teacher at Bradley Elementary, who uses the program for music projects with the students. Mrs. Mauro was able to share the students’ podcasts with parents during the Spring Open House and parents were thrilled to see what their kids could do! So, if you see a sixth grade student listening to their iPod, they just might be listening to a chemistry presentation! Well, we can only hope! To learn more about how you can use podcasting creatively in your classroom, check out My Learning Plan for workshops in the near future on GarageBand today!

Do you ever feel your Mac OS X account is not as responsive as you'd like? Following a few simple techniques on a regular basis can make your Mac OS X account work much more efficiently and more responsive. Here are some simple ways to eliminate the typical bottlenecks that can slow down the system and keep your Mac OS X account running smoothly.

REDUCE FILES ON YOUR DESKTOP
Probably the biggest source of clutter in Mac OS X is the Desktop. When you dump files on your Desktop, not only is it harder to find those files quickly, and it can also slows down your account. In Mac OS X, each icon is treated as a separate window so if you have a lot of them on your Desktop, Mac OS X has to regularly refresh them thus taking away from performance. Therefore, a dirty desktop can be a big source of speed reduction!

SOLUTION: If you want to use the Desktop as a temporary storage area, simply create a folder on the Desktop for files your want to keep there. That way, you will only have one item on the Desktop instead of many and Mac OS X should work a little preppier for you.

EMPTY YOUR SAFARI CACHE
To reduce the time it takes to load pages and images, Safari stores previously viewed content in its cache. But if this cache gets too big, performance can actually slow down as Safari sorts through it.

SOLUTION: Start over fresh and reduce those lookup times by choosing Safari > Empty Cache. Safari should run much quicker in the future.

EMPTY YOUR TRASH CAN
In Mac OS X, each user account has its own separate, invisible Trash folder that is in part of your home folder. When files are moved into the trash or deleted, they remain there indefinitely until you remove them from the system. Everytime you log in those files are loaded into the system for use therefore files you don't even want to use anymore can slow your account! As obvious as it may sound, some folks regularly Trash files but neglect to periodically empty the Trash.

SOLUTION: Empty your Trash can regularly by either choosing Finder > Empty Trash OR use Shift + Apple + Delete key on the Keyboard.

The New York Times Learning Network is a free service for students in grades 3-12, their teachers and parents. The site is updated Monday through Friday throughout the year. Students can read the day's top stories using Knowledge Tools, take a news quiz about today's world, and play special crossword puzzles. Students can also submit a letter to the editor, ask a reporter a question, or submit a science question and search through the Science Q&A archive. They can also expand their vocabularies and practice their verbal test-taking skills, and even take a Web Exploration on a variety of topics. Teachers can access a daily lesson plan for grades 6-12, written in partnership with The Bank Street College of Education in New York City. Each lesson plan and the article it references can be printed out for classroom use. Previous lessons are available in the archive and in thematic lesson plan units. Teachers can also use News Snapshot, aimed for grades 3-5, to explore current events through New York Times photos and related questions. The site additionally provides teachers with the latest education news from the newspaper. Parents can enhance their child's understanding of current events using Conversation Starters, join an online discussion, explore the family movie guide or participate with their children in the activities in the student section.

In addition, visitors can browse the Navigator, New York Times Learning Network's list of recommended Web sites, to access Issues in Depth on both current and historic events, or take a look back at a historic New York Times front page, current and historic birthdays and historic editorial cartoons in the On This Day section. With all of the rich features it offers to so many groups, the site is sure to find its way into many of our classrooms into the near future. The QuickLinks above connect you to some of the key areas of this excellent resource for the classroom. Check out the site today to see what it can offer you and your students to enhance your classroom teaching and learning for yourself, your students, and their parents alike!

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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, October 2
Creating Posters for the Teacher Center's Large Format Printer

Wednesday, October 3
Creating Open Court CDs Using iTunes - Myles

Thursday, October 11
The Art & Magic of Digital Presentations - October

Monday, October 15
OS X "Tech Talk Tips and Tricks" - October

Thursday, October 18
Classroom Webpage Construction Zone

Wednesday, October 24
SchoolCenter School: Exploring the New Features of Your School Website - October

Fridays, October 12, 19, & 26
Introduction to Classroom Web Publishing

iCal Users
Download October Events