Techie Thomas
Denise Thomas loves how technology makes teaching and learning fun.
Where in the World is Gizmoz?
November 17th, 2009 by Denise Thomas in Home Page No Comments

At one time we were wondering where Hall was in the world. Now I am looking for the original Gizmoz site. It is gone. The original site was used to create the famous Gizmoz  Girl . I used this Gizmoz clip in most of my videos. At one point I found the Beta version […]

What does the file extension .hd2 mean?
October 22nd, 2009 by Denise Thomas in Home Page 1 Comment

Have you ever wondered what a particular file extension meant? Have you ever received a file and didn’t know what kind of file it was? Have you ever needed to convert a file and didn’t know which extension to use for the conversion? Well this site, the File Extension Resource will help. Click on a […]

A Great Start to the Year!
September 27th, 2009 by Denise Thomas in Home Page No Comments

Hello everyone,
I hope everyone had a wonderful summer and a great start to the new school year. I am excited because I’m starting without a cast (I had a cast for three months then therapy for 7). I had the opporunity to rest and to also enjoy having both of my college kids home at […]

Photos from DEN Event-ETLC
December 13th, 2008 by Denise Thomas in Home Page No Comments

Here are the photos from ETLC, Roanoke, VA. The booth was small but Alex, Matt and Darnai were able to attract a lot of attention  . Later that day I attended the DEN hospitality event from 6-9 pm. I was able to encourage several of my colleagues to attend . In fact, Diane and I were able to […]

i-Report from ETLC: Roanoke, VA
December 11th, 2008 by Denise Thomas in Home Page No Comments

Hello everyone,
The ETLC is being held in Roanoke, VA at the Hotel Roanoke. Of course, my room isn’t in the hotel but more on that later. The sessions are great but so far the best thing was seeing Matt, Darnai, and Alex from Discovery. They are located at what appears to be the smallest booth […]

Discovery Writing Prompt Builder is SUPER!
September 21st, 2008 by Denise Thomas in Home Page No Comments

Have you tried this yet? If not, then I suggest you do. It took me fifteen minutes to build this prompt. You can pull up the the site ahead  of time as a activity for the students to complete while you are conducting a reading group. It can be assigned as a homework assignment (be sure all students have internet at home). […]

Internet Safety-Presentation
August 6th, 2008 by Denise Thomas in Home Page 1 Comment

My presentation at a Technology Fair for Private Schools in Norfolk, VA was about Internet Safety. I sat up last night trying to think of a simple way to explain how to implement into schools. The Virginia Department of Education published a wonderful resource aligning Internet Safety with VA Standards of Learning. My district, Norfolk Public […]

Thank You
May 12th, 2008 by Denise Thomas in Home Page No Comments

Last week was Teacher Appreciation Week. When I was a teacher with my own classroom, I remember the great gifts I received from my students and parents. My students would bring in pictures they drew or colored from coloring books. Parents would send in personal notes or small gifts. I have the mugs from my […]

Creating a Gizmoz
April 20th, 2008 by Denise Thomas in Home Page 1 Comment

It is now 1:28 in the morning and I just finished the  Gizmoz training video             showing you how I created my famous Gizmoz clip discussed in Media Matters. It is a free site so don’t forget to register.  Finally,  this video is not for instructional use. It is designed to give you a brief overview about how to create […]

Norfolk ITRTs Rock!
April 16th, 2008 by Denise Thomas in Home Page No Comments

Most of Norfolk Public Schools Instructional Technology Resource Teachers (ITRT) have completed the PBS Teacherline International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) Capstone Certificate Program (yes, I’m one of them). This program is just one of many professional development activities provided by my department. Was it easy? NO. Would I do it again? Yes!!!!
I’m in the picture […]