While these tools are great, please, please, check with your district’s/school’s teacher acceptable use policy before using them. Many districts block certain sites for many reasons. We don’t want any teachers “in trouble” for going around the system….
~DEN Management
I’ve had a lot of success using the online file conversion tool, Zamzar. I’ve used it to change sound file types, compress files, create pdfs and, most frequently, rip Flash videos from YouTube.
I hope many other DEN members had found this tools useful as well. One thing that never occurred to me though was how I could get videos from YouTube while at school (aside from simply converting them at home) . In the past, I had always converted them at home (being that YouTube is blocked at my school and most others).
It completely skipped my mind that I could actually do a Google search (or Google Videos) for a YouTube video and then copy and paste the URL from the results page into Zamzar! Now you can have your banned YouTube videos at school! I love finding ways around “the man.” Just make sure that Zamzar’s emails are not blocked by your system. Needless to say Discovery’s videos should always remain top priority 
Hey CA DEN’rs! Getting lost trying to start using all these cool tech ideas we share? Don’t want to fight traffic to attend a conference? Trouble no more - here’s your chance to attend a great DEN training event right from your own home. The first DEN Virtual Conference is happening on Saturday, February 2nd (PST start time 9am). If you have an internet connection and speakers, you can attend.
Check out the Virtual Conference flier for more details on how to register. Don’t live near one of the listed locations? No problem, just register as ‘Virtual Attending Online’. But there’s no reason to keep all these good ideas to yourself. While you’re at it, why not get a group of 3-4 teachers and make it a party? Grab some munchies, your laptop & attend together at someone’s house (or if you dare on a Saturday, your classroom - shudder). You can listen/watch the virtual ‘breakout’ sessions in between the keynote speakers or have your own with your colleagues. No one will even know your in your pajamas. Now that’s my kind of professional development!
I teach elementary school (there, I said it. Please don’t judge me 
) In my classroom, I like to use quiet music in the background when students are working. I know a lot of teachers find the value in a peaceful work environment and students working quietly to the sound of Enya (or something else we would never listen to while driving in our car or sitting in our own living room). The “Old School” way to play your music would be to put on a CD and go.
The new school way is to rip all your CD’s on to your hard drive and play the music from your computer. On a Mac, iTunes will do this for you, on a PC, Windows Media Player will do this for you (both free). Once your music is on your computer you can just load up several albums/artists at a time.
The part that makes you really feel like a tech superstar is creating playlists and then making shortcuts to those playlists. I created a playlist for my classroom music (use the “help” button on the player if you don’t know how). Usually I add some albums more than once because I want the music to play for longer than my school day. Then I right click on the file for my playlist and create a custom shortcut for that playlist (on a PC this can be done by clicking on “Properties”). So, now when I want to start my classroom music I can just hold down CTRL+Alt+m (I chose “m” for music) and my music will play all day long!
I keep the music running in the background all day and just have my students turn up or down the volume depending on whether I am teaching or they are working.
Baroque music works great, as does simple piano music, rainforest music, Native American chants, Enya or anything thematic. Things with words can be distracting though. I also make playlists that are more “pop” feeling for when we are doing art projects or other more active classroom projects.
If your students say they are distracted anyway, you likely have the volume up too loud. Happy listening!
Dave Kootman
A special invite for CA DEN members! Join us for an evening in Sacramento for a special screening of the award winning In the Shadow of the Moon, including special guest Buzz Aldrin-Apollo Moonwalker. The event is free and space is limited! To see the invite, click on the image to the right. 
When: January 23, 2008
Where: The Crest Theatre, 1013 K Street, Sacramento, CA 95814
Time: 6pm
RSVP: colin_templeton@discovery.com
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