I’m not gone…but I have moved

Hello MsDunnOnline viewers,

I wanted to check in to let you know that I am not gone…but I have moved.  For now, MsDunnOnline.net will be a place for me to showcase my personal educational feats.

Where Have I been? 

I have been spending time working as an occasional teacher (sweeeet!) and developing a great website (if I may say so myself) for new teachers called TheRookieTeacher.ca.  Along with Andrew Blake, Lauren Hughes, and several online contributors, we have been gathering resources, tips and tricks, and creating The Lounge Podcast.

Please feel free to follow me on Twitter @yoMsDunn or contact me via The Rookie Teacher collaboration project [@RookieTeacherCA, Facebook.com/TheRookieTeacher, natasha@TheRookieTeacher.ca].

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Books Books Books

If you’re looking to beef up your classroom or personal library, this is the blog post for you.  Warehouse Books Ink is a company that offers 50-90% off original book prices.  I have personally attended the book sale 4 times and scored many outstanding deals!

The book sale takes place in Burlington, Ontario (map).  Why not organize a carpool and head on down to enjoy the deals!

Warehouse Books Ink

December Loot

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Google Chrome Extension: Announcify

Great news…Yesterday I stumbled upon* a tool for students of all ages!
(*as seen on LifeHacker.com/5856460)

announcity logoAnnouncify is a great little extension for Google Chrome and Android Devices and it works like this:  (a) transfers any website to a text page, (b) zooms in and highlights, (c) reads the text aloud.

<<note: While testing this extension, I ran into one problem…occasionally it will read aloud the html code from the webpage.>>

Ideas for Tomorrow

  • Announcify listening center (all you need is a laptop & some headphones)
  • Have students create websites then listen back to what they wrote
  • Upload tasks/quiz/tests for accommodation

Sounds great…hook me up

  1. Download Google Chrome for WIN or MAC
  2. Visit the Announcify extension on the Chrome Web Store
  3. Download and enable the Announcify productivity extension

Please share how you are using Announcify as an educational tech tool in your classroom…post a comment below.

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Update – November 10, 2011

Here’s a quick snapshot about where I’ve been for the past couple weeks…

photo: By Silvio Tanaka, FlickrCC

  1. I had my very first interview for a teaching position
  2. I was offered a job as an occasional teacher with the Halton District School Board
  3. I accepted (with great joy) job described in #2
  4. I have been working along-side some great Rookie Teachers on an e-collaboration project
  5. (a) I finally recorded and published my first Podcast (The Lounge)
    (b) The Lounge was accepted by Apple and is now available on iTunes
  6. I am currently working on a multimedia project based on Tribes research by Dr.Gail Phillips, Brock University
  7. I am presently reading The Blue Orchard (J.Taylor) with my Book Club
  8. Today is the first day of my 30th year
  9. Tomorrow I will be remembering my Dad
  10. Did you know I love musical theater? …the countdown is on to my date with Mary Poppins

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Rick’s Rant – Teen Suicide

This clip is from last night’s episode [10/25/11] of the Rick Mercer Report.

Rick’s Rant: Teen Suicide

“300 kids is 300 too many”

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