Learning Technology 2.0

Langwitches - Get Globally Connected

2012-03-05T16:20:00.001-05:00

Get Globally Connected
View more presentations from Silvia Rosenthal Tolisano

Resources:

Global Competency Matrix- download the matrix here (pdf)
Global Curriculum Menu - download the menu here(pdf)
Flat Classroom ProjectWork together with others around the world to crete students who are globally minded
http://flatclassroomproject.org

via langwitches.wikispaces.com

Ways to connect globally. Great resources!

Free Technology for Teachers: Wordia - Vocabulary Videos and Games

2012-03-02T09:21:00.001-05:00

Wordia - Vocabulary Videos and Games

Wordia, a vocabulary resource that I initially reviewed last year, recently underwent a facelift. The new Wordia is much more student-friendly than the previous version of the service. Wordia now features word lists arranged by subject area and the age of students. Wordia now offers games based on the words in the word lists. Students and teachers now have the option to create their own word lists and videos to upload to Wordia. And coming soon, students will be able to track their progress and earn digital reward badges.

via freetech4teachers.com

Wordia is free for teachers and students. Teachers and students can upload their own words to Wordia. Check it out. It looks Awesome!

Blogging About The Web 2.0 Connected Classroom: What Do You Mean Evernote Could Get Better?

2012-03-01T07:35:00.001-05:00

What Do You Mean Evernote Could Get Better?

Last time I wrote about the way I organize myself completely changed for the better with Evernote. Really, I can't talk enough about this program and the endless possibilities there are for it. (Just look at the comments from that post.)
In that post I gave a few resources for learning about Evernote and even fewer with how to use it in the classroom. Well, lots of people have sent me lots of great resources and I wanted to follow-up and post some more. These are sites, lists and ideas all for using Evernote for your personal use or in the classroom.

via blog.web20classroom.org

LitLad: Sight Words in Kindergarten

2012-02-29T15:20:00.001-05:00

Sight Words in Kindergarten

This year I've been helping some of Johnny Boo's kindergarten classmates with letters and sight words. I've also become addicted to Pinterest, much to my husband's chagrin (Chagrinterest?). Following are a couple of sight word games copied from or inspired by pins I've made:
Sight Word Parking Lot (based on a bigger parking lot game at Juggling With Kids)

via litlad.blogspot.com

10 Steps to Teaching Your Child to Read

2012-02-29T14:54:00.001-05:00

10 Steps to Teaching Your Child to Read

February 24, 2012 by Jenae — 20 Comments

As a former first grade teacher, teaching children to read is one of my greatest passions! But because most children don’t start actually “reading” until around 6 years old (which is upwards of the targeted age range for my blog), I didn’t want parents to feel pressured that their 3-year old needs to start reading (which, by the way, they don’t!). However, the information shared below is general information that is beneficial for children of all ages, whether your child is ready to read or not. Don’t implement all of these strategies at once, nor should you expect your child to be able to do everything right away. It is a process and this information is simply for you to implement when you feel your child is ready.

via icanteachmychild.com

In Touch: Dr. Seuss Day

2012-02-29T14:42:00.003-05:00

Dr. Seuss Day

March 2 is Dr. Seuss Day. Who could ever forget those crazy rhyming books? I think my favorite has been One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish. My favorite movie is How The Grinch Stole Christmas. What are some of your favorites?
Here are some resources for teaching about Dr. Seuss on Dr. Seuss day:
BrainPOP Jr. has a movie of the week on Dr. Seuss.

via wsfcsintouch.blogspot.com

Cool Cat Teacher Blog: Teach This! Teaching with lesson plans and ideas that rock #teaching 02/29/2012

2012-02-29T14:42:00.001-05:00

THe hungry caterpillar electronic book. - Resources - TES

The hungry caterpillar ebook (in a powerpoint) that uses sound effects and animations. You could use this on your board to retell the story.

tags: education lessonplans teaching elemchat literature reading literacy

Drawing a Fairy Tale - Resources - TES

How to draw a fairy tale. This is an elementary level project that lets students draw the stories of the three little pigs and Cinderella. This is a downloadable worksheet.

tags: education elemchat lessonplan teaching

via coolcatteacher.blogspot.com

Edu-pinning: Pinterest in Education « ErHead

2012-02-29T07:37:00.001-05:00

Edu-pinning: Pinterest in Education

February 26, 2012 Erin Paynter Leave a comment Go to comments

My name is Erin Paynter and I am addicted to Pinterest.

Pinterest has been named over and over as the hottest new website for 2012, with the rate of new users rising every week at a seemingly exponential rate. Some of what is driving the huge rate of growth is its “viral” nature, meaning re-pins account for most of the activity on the site (MarktetingProfs article: Social Media: What’s Driving Pinterest’s Amazing Growth). My husband was at first fascinated by my fascination, but now he looks at me quizzically and asks, “Seriously, what’s it for?”. I found Courtney Lowery Cowgill’s article on MediaShift to be a great explanation: it’s part social networking (kind of), part bookmarking, part curating, part blogging.

via erinpaynter.wordpress.com

How Teachers Actually Feel About Education Technology [Infographic] | Edudemic

2012-02-27T15:12:00.001-05:00

Got a minute? Literally just a minute or so? Take a look at this infographic with some surprising stats courtesy of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation via Socrato. In the below image (you’ll wanna click it to enlarge it) you can see that the vast majority of teachers agree that technology helps in the learning process. Heck, the teachers they polled even agree that ANY multimedia can help in the process of learning. That includes magazines and newspapers.

According to this study, teachers agree digital learning tools help improve the ability to learn. The next step is figuring out 1) financing and 2) the proper way to implement this technology so it’s as effective as possible.

So, file this infographic / study under ‘no duh’ but let it start getting your mind working on the best ways to incorporate the technology that most teachers demand.

via edudemic.com

How Teachers Actually Feel About Education Technology (infographic) via edudemic

SpellingCity - Promethean Planet

2012-02-27T15:06:00.001-05:00

SpellingCity
http://www.spellingcity.com

Vocabulary SpellingCity is an interactive educational web site where students build vocabulary knowledge and improve spelling skills. Our learning activities are informative for teachers and engaging for students. Students can do a variety of activities based on their word list. They can even take weekly vocabulary or spelling test directly on spellingcity.com

via prometheanplanet.com

TeachersFirst - Featured Sites

2012-02-27T14:51:00.001-05:00

TeachersFirst - Featured Sites: Week of Feb 26, 2012

Here are this week's features. Clicking the tags in the description area of each listing will present a list of other resources with this topic. | Click here to return to the Featured Sites Archive

via teachersfirst.com

8 Great Sites for Reluctant Writers « Ed Tech Ideas

2012-02-27T14:37:00.001-05:00

me

8 Great Sites for Reluctant Writers

8 Comments Posted by @k_ferrell on February 21, 2012

1. Storyjumper

Storyjumper allows you to create online books using a plethora of characters, scenes, and props. Teachers can, for free, create classes to register students so they each have their own account. As of this writing, there does not seem to be a limit as to how many student accounts you can create.

2. Read Write Think Printing Press

ReadWriteThink creates a lot of great educational resources. With Printing Press students can create a booklet, flyer, brochure, or newspaper fairly easily. There is a nice guide that walks you through the process and the focus is on writing. There is a place within each publication for a picture, but not one that you can add from your computer. This space is reserved for students to draw a picture after printing.

via edtechideas.com

Great websites, check them out.

Weekly Diigo Links (weekly)

2012-02-26T03:31:00.001-05:00

10 Tips for Using Evernote Effectively

tags: evernote tips
- diigo.com
  - post by Rios Francisco
- white flower girl dresses - post by Rios Francisco
- 2
  
  Venham Conhecer a Nova Temporada da Jogando.Net na versão Season6, com muitas Novidades, Eventos, Itens e Muito mais, para os jogadores do Jogando.Net
  
  War- 1.000x
  Super - 10.000x
  Pvp 15.000x
  Very Easy - 5.000x
  Hard 100 x
  Extreme 10x
  
  Vejam algumas novidades:
  
  >> Promoção Limitida Compre 2 Set Especial e Ganhe + 1 Gratis!
  >> Kit Duel v4 SUPREMO {Novo}
  >> Kit Siege v3 {Novo}
  >> Novos Sets Especiais do DragonBall-Z e Set Cloud.
  >> Shilds Power 18 Option {Novo}
  >> Novo char: Rage Fighter
  >> Novos itens do novo char
  >> Novos mapas
  >> Novos PVPs
  >> Novo site
  >> Novos rankings será implantado.
  >> Nova skin no forum com novas opções.
  >> Evento todos os dias com GMs e muinta mais
  >> Colete “Coins of Gold Fortune” e troque por itens no NPC Delgado.
  >> Novo Duel Arena, o top 1 do ranking ganha 100 GOLDs.
  >> Compre muitas armas com ZEN no evento Moss the Gambler.
  >> Fique logado e ganhe golds, Free ganha 1 GOLD por minuto e VIP 2 GOLDs.
  >> Novas invasões de DOURADOS.
  >> Novo mapa Karutan com novos MOBs, drops exclusivos e muita XP.
  >> Ganhe Chaos Castle e receba itens ancients.
  >> Todo dia sorteio de GOLDs entre os players logado.
  >> Dezenas de invasões todos os dias.
  >> Frutas de resetar stats, use a fruta e re-distribua seus pontos.
  >> O TOP ranking da semanal e do mês ganha muitos GOLDs seja TOP você também.
  >> Leo the Helper, ganhe todo dia um novo item clicando no NPC.
  >> Sit: www.jogando.net/mu
  >> Forum: www.jogando.net/forum
  Ta Esperando o que para começar a jogar ?
  Go Go Go
  
  - post by Rodrigues Arauajo
5 Creative Ways to use QR Codes in Music

tags: qr qr codes music
Liberty's Kids . Now & Then

Found this site with short videos from Liberty's Kidss for comparing now and the 1700's in different areas. http://t.co/ub0E3euB

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

Pinterest 101 for Teachers: 5 Power Pinners You Should Follow | Education World Community

2012-02-22T15:16:00.001-05:00

via coolcatteacher.visibli.com

Weekly Diigo Links (weekly)

2012-02-19T03:31:00.001-05:00

50 Rules for Social Media Etiquette

tags: digital etiquette netiquette ites
Digital Etiquette

tags: digital etiquette netiquette ites
- flame wars- have arguments between 2 or more users
  
  flaming causes flame wars
  
  flaming-sending rude emails,ims or starting arguments (that is called flaming) - post by viviana peralta

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

Weekly Diigo Links (weekly)

2012-02-12T03:31:00.001-05:00

Holiday Resources and Activities

tags: holiday elementary
Energy Resources for NC

tags: science NC
U.S. State and Territory Online Encyclopedias | EDSITEment

State Online Encyclopedias http://t.co/yj0y2Nde #sschat

tags: sschat

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

Weekly Diigo Links (weekly)

2012-02-05T03:31:00.001-05:00

Pinterest

tags: pinterest cybraryman
Evernote Livebinder for Educators

tags: livebinders evernote notetaking collaboration
Evernote

Free notetaking, create notebooks, collaboration

tags: notetaking free collaboration
- Check out what I can do with Evernote. - post by Kay Morris
Thinkbinder

free, notes, chats, whiteboard, group collaboration

tags: free notetaking freetech4teachers collaboration

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

Weekly Diigo Links (weekly)

2012-01-15T03:31:00.001-05:00

Physical Education Update

tags: pe physical education elementary
PE Central

tags: pe physical education elementary
- Good ideas for Physical education and great equitment to buy for the students to use. Also give tips and creative ways for lesson plans. - post by terence buckley
- Physical education ideas, equipment, and lesson plans - post by Carley Thompson
Study Blue LiveBinder

tags: livebinder livebinders studyblue

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

Weekly Diigo Links (weekly)

2012-01-08T03:31:00.001-05:00

About QR Codes

The Adventures of Library Girl: From Tech Trend to Teaching Tool - Taking the QR Code Plunge!

tags: blog qr qr codes
Fractions & Decimals Made Easy

tags: free ebook math elementary

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

Weekly Diigo Links (weekly)

2012-01-01T03:31:00.001-05:00

Teacher Action Blog

1st grade teacher blog. Great ideas for formative assessment, compound words, etc.

tags: blog elementary language arts languagearts
Replace Glogster Posters with QR Posters

tags: qr qr codes free posters
Education in the Cloud with Web 2.0 tools

study guides, etc.

tags: blog tools Web 2.0 web2.0
Kozzi

Completely free photographs

tags: free photograph photos images

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

Weekly Diigo Links (weekly)

2011-12-25T03:30:00.001-05:00

Common Core for Math

tags: livebinder livebinders math Commoncore
Interactive History LiveBinder

tags: livebinder livebinders social studies socialstudies
Grammar Task Cards

tags: livebinder livebinders grammar languagearts language arts elementary
EduTeacher

resources, links, etc.

tags: elementary
Common Core Livebinders

tags: commoncore livebinder livebinders
A Guide on Embedding Objects and HTML

how to embed objects and html code into a livebinder

tags: livebinder livebinders
Scrabble Letters

via KBKonnected

tags: elementary math language arts languagearts

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

Basic Use of ActivExpressions

2011-12-20T12:18:00.019-05:00

Let's talk about Ad Hoc questions in ActivInspire using ActivExpressions. First of all, Ad Hoc is more like asking a question spontaneously. In order to do this, there is a button on the toolbar in ActivInspire. this button has a question mark in the middle of it and the tag is Express Poll. Once it has been clicked, a button will be placed into the flipchart. Hover over that button to see the different types of questions that can be asked. Some of the question types are: likert scale, multiple choice, text, number, sort in order, yes/no, and true/false.

If a teacher is using the text response, both letters and numbers can be used to answer a question. If they use the number response, only the numbers are used to answer a question.

With an Ad Hoc question, the correct answer is not shown until after all the voting has stopped. The teacher can then go into the upper right corner where there is an image of AB and a check mark and choose the correct answer. This changes the correct answer to green (bar chart or pie chart) so that the teacher can quickly see if they need to re-teach that goal, or did the students really understand it.

Another tip that I learned is that once you start an Express Poll, if a student is putting in incorrect answers or silly answers, you can turn that voting device off at the board. That way the teacher doesn't waste time by talking to that particular student. I thought that was a very clever idea.

Image: 'Questions' http://www.flickr.com/photos/42788859@N00/318947873

Weekly Diigo Links (weekly)

2011-12-18T03:31:00.001-05:00

12 Ideas for Teaching with QR Codes

tags: qr codes qr
- thanks for sharing.slewing ring bearing. - post by ysfabian01
- nice topic - post by hotel southern
- nice topic - post by hotel southern
- Moncler offre una grande varietà di stili e abbigliamento variazioni. Cappotti Moncler hanno la tendenza ad acquisire creduto di acquisire convenzionali principalmente perché appartenenti verso realtà che sono comodi, senza alcuna preoccupazione, in cui in realtà nessuno procedere, Moncler individuale in tutta la terra per mezzo di donne attraverso piumini donna moncler
  occupazioni e in piedi. Ciò richiede l'utilizzo luogo di produzione a due vie squat uno con l'altro con la produzione di utilizzo del coperchio estraibile con coulisse. Questi tipi di Moncler cappotti può essere la stragrande maggioranza di guardare alla moda all'interno delle attività di progettazione generale.
  Giubbotto Moncler è criticamente un abito terrà trattamento appartenenza verso un'area del tronco reale così come le mani. ci sono un sacco di negozi e attività sportive azioni prodotti per l'opzione. moncler giubbotti uomo
  è criticamente una nazione enorme, così come i vestiti Moncler unito commercio internazionale di valuta. Moncler offre disposti themself molto probabilmente probabilmente le destinazioni più piccole all'interno di stile Moncler Giubbotti, attraverso la maglietta in modo che si può semplicemente abbigliamento, per mezzo di Moncler si adatta in modo che si può semplicemente ridurre abbigliamento Moncler, ridurre cappotti all'interno dello strato di acquisto. Moncler Giubbotti di conseguenza tutti appartenenti verso vestiti esperto stata andare con il momento in momento successivo lei o lui spediti, in modo che si può semplicemente andare con il fuori con questo acquisto, a capofitto moncler himalaya
  da non estremamente terrificante in modo che si può semplicemente riempire abbigliamento , solo per scoprire tutti i vestiti lunghi dodici settimane può forse organizzato questo tipo di progettazione. Inhancing tuo carattere individuale, nonché di migliorare la tua persona Moncler effetto di altri individui tra di loro con Moncler in pelle a base di cappotto. consumare Giacche bere Moncler all'interno del materiale potrebbe non essere degne di nota, altrimenti nessuno ti impressionante inferiore.
  
  - post by requin tn

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

Learning About ActivExpressions

2011-12-13T12:17:00.000-05:00

The other day I was learning about how to register ActivExpressions. Here is what I learned:

To register ActivExpressions, you need to have your voting browser open. Click on View, and then click on Browsers. The Voting Browser is the last browser in your list and has a picture of a voting device on it. Once you have opened the browser, click on the image of the clipboard (which is Device Registration). Click on Expressions and click Register. From here, the easiest thing to do is to follow the on-screen instructions. Usually you only have to register your voting devices once a year. You can register all of your voting devices, or just register the number of students in your class using your voting devices. If a student leaves your classroom or you get a new student, it is very easy to add or delete one voting device.

A good rule to follow is to add a name of some sort to your voting devices. For instance, you might want to put your name in front of the number of the device. One of the reasons for doing this, is that if your voting device develops legs and walks out of the room, you can turn the device on and see who it belongs to. To name your devices all at once, go to the Device Registration (see above) and click Rename. Once again, follow the on-screen instructions. You have up to 14 characters that you can use. Make sure to put a space at the end of your prefix, it just looks nicer. One thing that you may notice is that ActivInspire renames your voting devices and starts with 0. You can easily change this by clicking on that device, click rename, and change it to the last number in your sequence. Make sure to click on Done.

Weekly Diigo Links (weekly)

2011-12-11T03:31:00.001-05:00

Student Writing Guides

tags: elementary writing

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

Weekly Diigo Links (weekly)

2011-12-04T03:31:00.001-05:00

Tech Ed Matrix

tags: technology technologyintegration
- Eclipse LED digital ballasts provides you with more research and data on LED light technology than the common LED retailer. Digital ballasts - post by david michal
- This really shows me how far I have to go. Nice tool to go along side standards for lesson planning. - post by Gail Rebuck
- Nice. - post by revoseek
Tech Ed Matrix

tags: technology technologyintegration
- The matrix is very descriptive and makes a great deal of sense. - post by Jim Gamble
That Quiz

Create quizzes in math for students

tags: free math elementary
- french fishy - post by Kate E
Mr. Nussbaum's page

tags: decimals math elementary game

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

Weekly Diigo Links (weekly)

2011-11-27T03:30:00.001-05:00

More Free Resources from Publishers

tags: elementary reading language arts
50 Coolest Online Tools for Word Nerds

tags: vocabulary elementary language arts
Native American museum

tags: elementary social studies
Harvey's Homepage

tags: IWB lessons elementary
Icons & Icon Packs

tags: free graphics icons IWB
- From miura
  MyThreeWords.com is a sentence sharing game. Three words start a sentence off. Players are then able to enter three words at a time to continue the story. Any number of people can play at once. A fullstop, question mark or exclamation mark will end the story.
  All you need is a quick wit, fast fingers and some lightning fast connection! Are you any good?  
  MyThreeWords
  
  - post by jane words

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

Weekly Diigo Links (weekly)

2011-11-20T03:31:00.001-05:00

ASCD Common Core Webinar

tags: common core
Plant Adaptations

tags: science elementary video
The Wild Classroom

tags: biology science elementary
Classroom Strategies

tags: reading elementary thinking maps
- Explicit strategy instruction is at the core of good comprehension instruction. "Before" strategies activate students' prior knowledge and set a purpose for reading. "During" strategies help students make connections, monitor their understanding, generate questions, and stay focused. "After" strategies provide students an opportunity to summarize, question, reflect, discuss, and respond to text. - post by Danielle Edmunds
- WOW! Looks great! - post by Kate Kramer

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

Weekly Diigo Links (weekly)

2011-11-13T03:31:00.001-05:00

Thinking Maps

Creative thinking maps - Literacy Head

tags: thinking maps venndiagrams elementary
Teaching Channel

tags: teachers elementary video lessonplans

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

Finding Resources

2011-11-10T13:09:00.001-05:00

While working in schools, teachers ask me to find resources for them to help enrich their lessons. When I went back to the office I was talking about finding some really great resources and what some of my "go to" sites are with my co-worker Melissa Edwards. She suggested that this should go into a blog.

First stop on the "go to" places that I automatically look at when a teacher asks for help finding resources are: Learning Village; Thinkfinity (and the partner sites); and netTrekker.

Learning Village is a repository of information for teachers in WSFCS schools. Teachers can find just about everything in Learning Village. There are blackline masters, week by week essentials, pacing guides, lesson plan ideas, and many more things for teachers.
Thinkfinity (which I have written about many times before), consists of several partner sites that teachers can find great resources. There is math, science, language arts, history, humanities, arts, and foreign language lessons that can be found within the Thinkfinity community. Thinkfinity is free and teachers everywhere can access lesson plans from there.
netTrekker is a database that teachers can search for web sites. Teachers can search by subject area, grade level, or keyword. Just in the past few weeks, I have found resources for rocks and minerals, water cycle, and soil. Some of these are web sites, others are interactives teachers can use on their IWB or have students work on using the computers.

Some other places I find resources are: reading educator blogs to find out what other teachers are doing in their classroom. I know that everyone is busy and they say they don't have "time" for anything else; especially reading someone's blog post! If you just choose a couple of blogs that you really like and read those, I feel that you will become hooked and look for more blogs. One of the blogs that I get a lot of resources from is "Free Technology for Teachers" by Richard Byrne. He always has some great resources and he always says how they could be used in education.

I follow some great educators on Twitter, along with following the #elemchat stream. Twitter is where educators can quickly share resources with each other or ask if anyone has a resource for a particular item they are getting ready to study. Another resource I use is my Skype group. We have a group of North Carolina educators that chat regularly about resources and helping each other with problems. It is a great group.

You can also find great resources. Next blog I will write about how I organize my resources. Join me, won't you?

Weekly Diigo Links (weekly)

2011-10-30T04:31:00.001-04:00

Captain Underpants Names

tags: elementary
Language Arts Activities

tags: activities language arts languagearts elementary
Learning Ideas Blog

All about pyramids and 3D shapes

tags: elementary math
Digital Tattoo

Find your digital tattoo

tags: personal digitaltootprints
How to Embed Livebinders

How to Redesign Livebinder's adding embedded resources

tags: livebinders embed
Edmodo: A guide to everything

tags: edmodo
Ideas for using Edmodo

tags: edmodo
Bloomin Android Apps

tags: Kathy Schrock android apps blooms digital taxonomy
- Protégez vos yeux du soleil et ayez une attract superbe en même conditions. Fabriquée en toile de coton de qualité, avec des languettes d'ajustement en cuir véritable, cette casquette s'avère être faite dump durer. Remarquez le brand Polo Ralph Lauren finement brodé et le lettrage au dos. - post by hogab91511
Avatar Generators

tags: avatar
Unitag

customizable QR Codes

tags: qr codes

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

Weekly Diigo Links (weekly)

2011-10-23T04:31:00.001-04:00

Digital Storytelling: Funky Fairytales | Catlin Tucker, Honors English Teacher

Digital Storytelling: Funky Fairytale -teach writing, collaboration & media literacy! http://t.co/oFJ0x8PD #edchat #ISTE #blendedlearning

tags: edchat ISTE blendedlearning
StudyBlue Teacher Guide

tags: edmodo studyblue app free android
Kindergarten blog

tags: BLog Kindergarten elementary
Virtual Classroom: Study Blue & Edmodo

tags: edmodo studyblue blog elementary
Graphs, Data, Probability

tags: math elementary
Daily WarmUp

tags: writing reading elementary
Writing Resources

tags: cybraryman writing elementary
Katie Davis For Educators

tags: elementary free
Best Websites for Learning About Halloween

tags: holiday Larry Ferlazzo halloween

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

"Wonder" What's Happening

2011-10-17T10:00:00.003-04:00

A few weeks ago in my blog post on "What I Learned This Week ... " I mentioned a teacher at one of our elementary schools had her students create "Wonder" books and how I introduced her to Wonderopolis. This week as I was talking to teachers in their grade level planning times, I was talking about resources. I was showing some science resources my coworker, Melissa Edwards, had found and one of them was on Wonderopolis (Does Matter Really Matter).

After I finished the workshop, a teacher came up to me to show me what she was doing. She had materials that were several years old on reading strategies. Within this packet of information, were several pages of "wonders". What this meant was that students "wondered" what would happen next in a story. She was very excited that I shared Wonderopolis with them and how she was going to start using Wonderopolis as part of her reading strategies.

As you can probably tell, Wonderopolis is one of my favorite go-to web resources. I always mention the archived Wonders and the fact that students can comment on the Wonder of the Day and that Wonderopolis always answers back. Be sure to go and check out all the past Wonders as well as the current ones.

Be sure to check out today's Wonder with all the candy corn background! I love candy corn:)

Weekly Diigo Links (weekly)

2011-10-16T04:30:00.001-04:00

Ed Tech Map

tags: Commoncore

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

Weekly Diigo Links (weekly)

2011-10-02T04:31:00.001-04:00

Schoolhouse Rock Videos

tags: videos schoolhouse rocks

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

Weekly Diigo Links (weekly)

2011-09-18T04:31:00.001-04:00

6 Reasons Why Kids Should Know How to Blog

tags: blog blogging languagearts language arts elementary
- Older leather-based manufacturer sac longchamp offers 60 DuoNian background, as well as because possess Uk supermodel Kate Moss, after that to existence within recommendation along with brand new vigor in to, which summer's brand new tote, longchamp sac cher continues to be exactly the same is actually thorough beautiful function, however the kinds of totes, designs as well as colours tend to be more potent compared to fall as well as winter season, along with numerous "dumpling package" logo design is actually shattered with the prior sac longchamp pas cher traditional style. - post by hogan111
Posterous Spaces

Ideas for student blogging via Richard Byrne

tags: blogging posterous elementary writing
Constitution Day Links

tags: cybraryman social studies socialstudies elementary
Top Secret Common Sense

tags: cybersafety elementary
Dot to Dot

tags: iwb elementary math language arts languagearts
Make Beliefs Comix

tags: free elementary comics
Paper 2

tags: elementary
Student Challenge EduBlogs

tags: elementary writing blogs
- From miura
  MyThreeWords.com is a sentence sharing game. Three words start a sentence off. Players are then able to enter three words at a time to continue the story. Any number of people can play at once. A fullstop, question mark or exclamation mark will end the story.
  All you need is a quick wit, fast fingers and some lightning fast connection! Are you any good?  
  MyThreeWords
  - post by jane words

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

Weekly Diigo Links (weekly)

2011-09-11T04:30:00.001-04:00

Character Story Graphic Organizers

tags: graphic organizers Elementary
Literacy & Math Family Game Night

Lessons to use for literacy and math from Thinkfinity

tags: elementary
Mission US: For Crown or Colony?

American Revolution Game from EDSITEment

tags: elementary social studies socialstudies 5th Grade
Integrating Social Studies Blog

tags: social studies socialstudies elementary blog
Cross Curricular Web Links

tags: cybraryman social studies socialstudies elementary
The Consitution

tags: elementary social studies socialstudies
2nd grade Symbaloo

tags: elementary 2nd grade Cindy Brock
Ecosystems Lessons

tags: elementary science
Punctuation Lessons

tags: elementary K-3 reading literacy language arts languagearts
How Stuff Works

tags: science elementary
Colonial Williamsburg e-Field Trips

Free from September 6 - September 30, 2011

tags: social studies socialstudies history fieldtrips e-fieldtrips
Thinking Blocks

tags: elementary math
Frogs in First Blog

tags: elementary

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

Weekly Diigo Links (weekly)

2011-09-04T04:30:00.001-04:00

Back To School Icebreakers

tags: write-to-learn icebreakers elementary
Kinetic City: Shape It Up

tags: games iwb elementary science
Yellowstone Volcano Observatory

tags: elementary Science
- Den offisielle nettsiden til Yellowstone Volcano Observatory - post by Jan-Arve Overland
National Geographic for Kids

tags: elementary Science
- I like to use photos with various guidance and counseling lessons. This site has some great animal pictures. I had a subscription for the magazine at one time and like it. The benefit for me now is the photos are easily accessible and I can choose which ones would work best at a particular time. - post by Joan Moore
Forces of Nature

tags: elementary science
Children's University of Mancheester

tags: elementary science math socialstudes languagearts encore
2 Classroom Computer Management

K. Tenkley blog on having 2 computers in the classroom and not a lot of other technology.

tags: Kelly Tenkley classroom management
Blooming Questions

tags: blooms blooms digital taxonomy storybird language arts languagearts

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

Weekly Diigo Links (weekly)

2011-08-21T04:30:00.001-04:00

QR treasure note

tags: QR qr codes
- FREE Bankruptcy Advice. If you need advice contact our expert team today - post by wes lally
- Debt Help Debt Advice Consolidation Loan Bankruptcy Advice Debt Solutions Debt Blog N244 Default Notice Bankruptcy Advice Timeshare Scam Mis-sold Pension Pension Review Car Crash Claim Car Accident Claim Work Accident Claim Medical Claim Harassment Claim Cancer Claim Personal Injury Claim Compensation Claim Money Advice IVA Repossession Advice SEO Manchester Minus 5 IVA Help Car Dealers in Manchester Car Dealers in Clubs in Cheap Solar Panels Free Solar Panels - post by wes lally
Laura Candler Teacher Resources

tags: elementary resources teachers
Math Pickle Videos

tags: videos math

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

Weekly Diigo Links (weekly)

2011-08-14T04:31:00.001-04:00

Learning From Mistakes

tags: cybraryman mistakes education

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

Weekly Diigo Links (weekly)

2011-08-07T04:31:00.001-04:00

Bread

Web page visuals

tags: Web 2.0 Links visuals bookmarks
Socrative

tags: voting device clickers free ipad apps galaxy
The Old Time Radio Show

Free old time radio shows in alphabetical order. Use for pop culture or 20th century history lessons.

tags: radio free shows 20th century
- Over 10,000 old time radio shows you can listen to for free. We add at least 100 more every week. - post by Kyle
- "The OTR.Network is a new online resource for Old Time Radio (OTR) enthusiasts. We have over 11,000 OTR shows available for instant listening, and we add at least 100 more every week." - post by Karen
Teacher Tech Vids

tags: videos

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

“How to Moodle 2.0″ course available for enrollment on the Mooch | Moodle News

2011-08-03T08:13:00.001-04:00

“How to Moodle 2.0″ course available for enrollment on the Mooch

If you’re interested in the primer for getting started/evaluating the look, feel and changes to a Moodle 2.0 course then you should take a peak at the “How to Moodle 2.0″ course on the Mooch.

via moodlenews.com

Weekly Diigo Links (weekly)

2011-07-31T04:31:00.001-04:00

Word Hippo

Definitions, Similar words, opposite words, etc.

tags: language arts languagearts elementary
Twitter Symbols

Add symbols to your tweets

tags: twitter symbals
EasyBib

Free bibliography maker

tags: citations bibliography free
Into the Book

tags: reading language arts languagearts elementary comprehension
Math Wiki

tags: interactive math elementary
Put Voki in Glogster

tags: voki glogster glog how to

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

Tracking hurricanes in Google Earth | Google Earth Blog

2011-07-28T09:17:00.001-04:00

Tracking hurricanes in Google Earth

The 2011 hurricane season is in full swing, and Google has recently added a nice set of hurricane-related data to Google Earth. Simply make sure that your "Places" layer is enabled, and you'll see icons appear in the water wherever hurricanes and/or tropical storms exist. For example, here is Tropical Storm Don, currently located in the southern part of the Gulf of Mexico

via gearthblog.com

Weekly Diigo Links (weekly)

2011-07-24T04:31:00.001-04:00

Glass Gian

tags: images free

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

Weekly Diigo Links (weekly)

2011-07-17T04:31:00.001-04:00

QR Challenge Quiz

tags: qr qr codes
Clockwords

tags: games typing
Online Posters

tags: blog glogster
Hear Me

tags: students voices elementary
Integrating Technology into the LA Classroom

tags: elementary livebinders language arts languagearts
QR Code Periodic Table

tags: science qr qr codes
K-12 Educational Resources

tags: elementary science
The Bill of Rights Institute

tags: elementary social studies socialstudies

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

Spooky Stories

2011-07-15T10:07:00.000-04:00

On Thursday nights this summer, Wonderopolis created Camp What-A-Wonder on Twitter from 8:00 - 9:00 ET (follow #WonderChat). Each week is on a different topic. The first night was about camp memories, the second Thursday about bugs, the third Thursday favorite or worst camp recipes, and last night we talked about spooky stories. Wonderopolis shared a couple of lesson ideas from their partner site Thinkfinity, and that got me to thinking. So, I created a glog on Spooky Stories with links to lesson plans from Wonderopolis, EDSITEment, ReadWriteThink, and ARTSEDGE. All are partners with Thinkfinity.

These look like very interesting lesson plans to help promote literacy, comprehension, and reading. I don't quite understand it, because spooky was never my favorite genre, but young people love reading scary stories. Why not give these lessons a try?

Weekly Diigo Links (weekly)

2011-07-10T04:31:00.001-04:00

Boom Writer

tags: free writing language arts languagearts
PBS LearningMedia offers 14,000-plus free teaching resources | Featured Site of the Week | eSchoolNews.com

RT @NMHS_Principal: PBS LearningMedia offers 14,000-plus free teaching resources http://bit.ly/ndGmbw #edtech #ljhsed

tags: edtech ljhsed
Spongelab

tags: stem science
Spigot Science Magazine

tags: science magazine
Automatoon

tags: animation drawing art
Embed Voki in Glogster

tags: glogster Mark Brumley voki
- Hahaha I see you found it. :) - post by Michelle Hapich
Movie Clips

tags: videos movies clips
- Cool Clips.
  -------------------------------------------------------------
  Call me crazy but I'm a ceiling fan fanatic. - post by Jenius Tanner
- Loved it! :-) - post by Jody Valdez
YouTube - ‪Evernote 101‬‏

And to get started, I am going to use this @evernote tutorial from @stumpteacher. http://youtu.be/XjJviCF69GQ
Connecting to the iTunes Store.

Vulcano and Quakes 4D for all iOS devices is free for a limited time. Great maps! http://bit.ly/e09KIi
Rushton at NCTIES 2011

Sites from @rushtonh http://t.co/LaKuTBr. #ncties11

tags: ncties11
Figurative Language Livebinder

tags: livebinder language arts languagearts Sally Boone writing
Readilicious

tags: wikis wikispaces reading elementary languagearts language arts
An App for that

tags: app ipad apps
Teach Engineering

K-12 resources

tags: science elementary STEM

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

First Year ...

2011-07-07T10:23:00.004-04:00

... A Reflection

created from Wordle.net

Next Tuesday, July 12, marks my first year as a District Instructional Technologist with the Winston-Salem/Forsyth County School System. I have very much enjoyed my first year. I have learned a lot during this year. There have been some highs and lows, but overall a great first year.

Blogging: I have been blogging more this year. I am still not great at it, but by continuing to write, I have gotten better and will continue to get better. My biggest challenges with writing a blog is figuring out what to write about and coming up with a catchy title. As you can see from this title, I still haven't conquered that. I will continue to work on this. We write on a weekly basis (sometimes more than that) for our departmental blog. I have enjoyed this, and I think our department writes about a lot of interesting tools, web sites, ideas, etc.

Twitter: I was pretty much a "lurker"on Twitter for a long time. I kept thinking that I really had nothing to share with people and would re-tweet people who I knew had something more important to say than I did. As I got used to Twitter, I started adding to who I was following. I follow some very amazing people. Through them, I have learned so much. I have learned that by talking with each other virtually, you still get to know a person. When you are lucky enough to meet them in person, it is like meeting a good friend. I hope to meet more of my Twitter friends in the future. Someone from my PLN said this and it has always stuck with me: I am fairly bright on my own, but with my PLN behind me I am brilliant!

Web 2.0 Tools: Because of my friends in our Skype group, my Twitter friends, and the people in my department, I have started using more Web 2.0 tools. My top 5 favorites (I will exclude Blogger and Twitter since I have talked about them previously) are:Glogster EDU; Edmodo; Symbaloo; Livebinders; and Wonderopolis/Thinkfinity. I have written about most of these in previuos blog posts.

ActivInspire: A big part of my time the last several months have been learning about ActivInspire and the Promethean ActivBoards. I have enjoyed learning the software and the educational activities that can be created with it.

Some of my highs this year was presenting for the first time at the state technology conference (NCTies), presenting for the first time at a national conference (National Center for Family Literacy), and working with teachers to help them integrate technology into their lesson plans. A low point was realizing that sometimes you can't please everyone. Let me just say that my high points far outweighed the few low points I had.

I am eagerly looking forward to year 2 and all the learning it will bring.

Best and Worst Camping Recipes - Camp What-A-Wonder

2011-07-07T08:39:00.000-04:00

Come and join us tonight for Camp What-A-Wonder from 8:00 - 9:00 ET. Remember the hashtag #WonderChat.


Wonderopolis: http://twitpic.com/5mgsjv

How many of you remember camping maybe as a boy scout or girl scout? I remember some really bad experiments for campfire cooking. One is where you put everything in 1 pot and cook it together. I don't remember what is was called, I just know that I didn't like it! The best meals were cooking hot dogs over a campfire on sticks and roasting marshmallows. Sometimes the roasted marshmallows were for S'mores; sometimes they were just to eat by themselves.

What are some of your favorite foods that you cooked over a campfire? What are some of your worst camping recipes? Share your stories tonight on Twitter with fellow campers at Camp What-A-Wonder. I can guarantee you will have fun. Maybe even come away with new friends or new recipes!

Guidelines for the chat can be found here. Transcripts from last week's camp with @ProfessorBug can be found here. Remember to use the hashtag #WonderChat and come join our virtual campfire tonight on Twitter at 8:00 ET. I hope to see you there!

Weekly Diigo Links (weekly)

2011-07-03T04:31:00.001-04:00

Teachers First

Great resources and websites. Lesson plans, life cycles, etc.

tags: resources elementary science math languagearts socialstudies
iPad Workshop

tags: iste11 ipad
Engaging Educators

classroom quest to connect globally

tags: prezi globalclassroom
Presidential Timeline

tags: elementary social studies socialstudies presidents
The Ocean Portal

tags: museum ocean science smithsonian elementary
Symbaloo Certification

tags: symbaloo
Animal Photos

tags: free creative commons creativecommons images
Photos 8

tags: free photos creative commons creativecommons images
Image Base

tags: free creative commons creativecommons images clipart
Wylio

tags: free creative commons creativecommons clipart images
- Another great tool for kids to use to find and attribute creative commons images easily. - post by Pam Thompson
EduPic

tags: free clipart images creative commons creativecommons
- Not very satisfied by the interface to this website. Looks like a 90s website. Also, it seems most free graphics are pretty inadequate for real use. Just me, I guess. - post by M Skramstad

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

Camp What-A-Wonder 6/30

2011-06-27T11:15:00.005-04:00

http://wonderopolis.org/

Does a Praying Mantis Pray? This is today's (Thursday, June 30) Wonder of the Day. Be sure to check out this wonder and find out about the praying mantis and carnivorous insects. If you would like to find out more about insects, check out the past Wonder of the Day #120 Why Do Spiders Spin Webs and #258 Why Do Ants Think They are Invited to Picnics. I really like this week's background, it makes me think about camping with the girl scouts. Brings back a lot of memories!

This week at Camp What-A-Wonder we will be talking about Creepy Crawlies with @ProfessorBug and @Wonderopolis. Come and join us Thursday evening June 30 at 8:00 ET. Remember to use the hashtag #WonderChat to follow the conversation.

Remember the guidelines to the chat so that everyone has an enjoyable time. Want to find out what was said last week at Camp What-A-Wonder? Read the transcripts here.

See you at camp!

Camp What-A-Wonder

2011-06-22T11:23:00.004-04:00

Wonderopolis is going to be having a great summer! Come and find out what Camp What-A-Wonder is all about. It starts tomorrow night, June 23, from 8:00 - 9:00 p.m (ET). Join Wonderopolis via Facebook, Twitter, or in the comment section of their daily Wonders. Each Thursday for the next 8 weeks (June 23 - August 11) there will be a different topic or theme. Tomorrow night's topic is Happy Campers. Every Thursday's Wonder will be dedicated to a different Camp What-A-Wonder topic. Here is a hint for tomorrow's Wonder: what do you need to look out for when you are at camp? Hmmm.... sounds like an itchy topic!

This will be another wonderful opportunity for families to get together and discuss their favorite camp memories with each other, other families and Wonderopolis.

So, come on and join us tomorrow night at 8:00 on Twitter, Facebook, or through the comment section at Wonderopolis Wonder of the Day. Make sure to use the #WonderChat hashtag so you can follow what other people are saying.

Image from Camp What-A-Wonder Image from Wonderopolis

[#MDL-22414] META: Restore 1.9 backups into Moodle 2.1 (phase 1) - Moodle Tracker

2011-06-14T09:25:00.001-04:00

Testing Instructions:

Hide
* Take a course backup created in Moodle 1.9
* Pick the ZIP file in Moodle 2.1 restore process
* TEST: make sure that the course contents is restored correctly
Things to focus on: the order of the modules, the modules settings, embedded images, question bank, resources
Notes: no user data (users, grades, posts, submissions etc) are converted. No blocks are converted.

Show
* Take a course backup created in Moodle 1.9 * Pick the ZIP file in Moodle 2.1 restore process * TEST: make sure that the course contents is restored correctly Things to focus on: the order of the modules, the modules settings, embedded images, question bank, resources Notes: no user data (users, grades, posts, submissions etc) are converted. No blocks are converted.

URL:
http://docs.moodle.org/en/Development:Backup_2.0_-_Provide_upwards_compatibility_of_Moodle_1.9.x_backups

via tracker.moodle.org

What’s Your Favorite Font For Standard Web Text? [MakeUseOf Poll]

2011-06-13T10:30:00.001-04:00

This week’s poll question is: What’s Your Favourite Font For Standard Web Text?
This is mainly for the web designers out there, because we know you’ll have a favourite font up your sleeve. But I’m sure there are other designers and aficionados of good fonts who have clear preferences as to what they like to see on websites. So, what are they?

via makeuseof.com

LifeDropper – An Eyedropper Tool For Reality [Android]

2011-06-10T14:42:00.001-04:00

The eyedropper is one of the most useful tools in any full-featured image editing software. With this one little gadget it’s possible to pick up the color from one image and use it elsewhere. This makes matching the color of new images with those of older images easy, and is also helpful as a way of experimenting with color to see what works and what doesn’t.
Of course, the tool only works within the confines of the software offering it. But what if you could go beyond that, instead extracting color directly from your surroundings? LifeDropper makes that possible.

via makeuseof.com

This looks very interesting!

Cool Cat Teacher Blog: Making Movies on the iPad

2011-06-10T10:52:00.001-04:00

Making movies on the iPad is pretty simple. I will share more later, but you will need iMovie. I found the app Clipish Pro to make screens with text.

For school videos, this is an easy alternative. Another essential for me is dropbox which let's me quickly move video from my iPod touch to iPad. (I know icloud will do this eventually, but for now, this is what I use.)

via coolcatteacher.blogspot.com

Very interesting way to use iPad. Can't wait to try it!

Free Technology for Teachers: Explore Nat Geo Traveler and Fotopedia on Your iPad

2011-06-10T09:38:00.003-04:00

Explore Nat Geo Traveler and Fotopedia on Your iPad

As I've mentioned in the past, Fotopedia is a great place to explore fantastic images of all kinds of wild places like National Parks. Now Fotopedia has partnered with National Geographic Traveler to bring you Dreams of Burma on your iPad. Dreams of Burma contains more than one thousand images of the places and people that make Burma unique.

via freetech4teachers.com

Free Up Your Hands With Speech-To-Text [Android]

2011-06-10T09:38:00.001-04:00

If you’re an Android user, you’ve probably already heard that there’s in-built voice recognition software and text-to-speech capability. But have you used it? Did you know it works pretty darn well? Time to give it a try!
Android’s voice software is easy to customise and is already ready to use RIGHT NOW on your Android phone. There’s no need to scour the Android market for decent speech-to-text software because you already have access to it. It’s also unlikely you’ll need to find a paid alternative because this works quite well. I think you’ll be surprised.

via makeuseof.com

20 must know features and tricks on Youtube that you simply have to know | Diigo

2011-06-10T09:05:00.001-04:00

20 must know features and tricks on Youtube that you simply have to know - The Diigo Meta page

www.simplyzesty.com/...es-and-tricks-you-need-to-know

Share This

via diigo.com

One Dropbox Tip We Bet You Don’t Know About

2011-06-09T09:32:00.001-04:00

Dropbox is a sweet little application that syncs your files and folders across multiple computers and makes them all accessible from a web-based interface. In addition to that, the application also lets you restore deleted files in a jiffy.

So, what’s the tip?

There is a hidden folder inside your Dropbox folder that caches your deleted content. Deleted files from your Dropbox folder are stored locally in this folder. When you restore your deleted files, Dropbox quickly ‘recovers’ the documents from cache, instead of downloading it from Dropbox servers – saving you time and bandwidth.

via killertechtips.com

A gem of a tool for English teachers: Marginalia forum web annotation tool for Moodle 1.9 and Moodle 2.0 | Moodle News

2011-06-09T08:35:00.001-04:00

Marginalia

Add web annotation to your Moodle forums! This is a great pedagogical tool, from 2008, for those of you teaching English. You can use the Marginalia Moodle plugin to type corrections to your students’ forum posts.

Here’s a Youtube video showing you the plugin in action. No audio, so don’t bother turning on the volume knob on your speakers:

via moodlenews.com

This sounds pretty good. I will have to see if I want to use this in my Moodle courses. Thanks Moodle News!

Moodle Monday: Big Blue Button | tdalton.co.uk

2011-06-06T13:26:00.001-04:00

In Moodle

Moodle Monday: Big Blue Button

Posted by: Tim Dalton on Jun 6, 2011 | 0 Comments and 0 Reactions

Following on from the post on Moodlenews announcing the activity module for Big Blue Button we have had it installed and in testing for a little while now. Big Blue Button is a fantastic piece of open source software for delivering remote classroom/training type sessions.

via tdalton.co.uk

This looks impressive. I need to remember this!

Primary Maths Learning Clips | The Whiteboard Blog

2011-05-26T09:43:00.001-04:00

Primary Maths Learning Clips

Posted by Danny on May 26, 2011 in Numeracy Resources, Voting Kits | 0 comments

Learning Clips is a growing bank of resources for teaching Primary (Elementary) math. Some resources are free

Free Learning Clips can be accessed here. You will need to register, but it’s free. Additional resources are available by subscription. The resources are ideal for KS1 and KS2 for use with Interactive Whiteboards and include video, interactive activities and some worksheets. If you just want to take a look, you can access resources on a time-limited basis.

Many activities come with a flash video alongside which sets the scene, and a further video provides a plenary. The main interactive activity can be made full-screen. You can search for resources by Year and Unit, or via Topic list. More free examples can be found here.

via whiteboardblog.co.uk

Great resources for Interactive White Boards. Make sure to check out the Free Learning clips from the Whiteboard Blog.

Digital Storytelling With Animation Tools | Ozge Karaoglu's Blog

2011-05-26T09:06:00.001-04:00

Digital Storytelling With Animation Tools

Filed Under (Uncategorized) by ozge on 26-05-2011

“Begin at the beginning,” the King said gravely, “and go on till you come to the end: then stop.”

Animation tools are great for imaginative narrative expression and creating a learner-centered environment for collaborative and cross-curricular learning. There are many free animation tools to tell your stories in a fun and an interesting way. Like other tools, they are great sources to engage our students into their own learning, encourage problem solving/technology skills and facilitate learning.

via ozgekaraoglu.edublogs.org

This looks really interesting. Go to the original blog for a list of animation tools and what they can be used for.

4 Ways To Easily Embed Part Of A YouTube Video

2011-05-23T08:26:00.001-04:00

We have shared quite a few useful YouTube-related tips so far. Here are 10 YouTube URL tricks to play with as well as some YouTube annoyances and ways to get rid of them. You may also get inspired by this post listing 10 cool things to do with a YouTube video. This post shares another quick tip: embedding only part of a YouTube video.
While there’s really only one way to do that (the first one listed below), there are also a few well-used tools that can help you cut off a part of the video and embed it. This post is intended to shed some light on how these tools work and what they actually do.
1. Use the Embedded Player Parameter

via makeuseof.com

Read the rest of the blog from MakeUseOf.com for the ways to easily embed part of a YouTube Video.

Digital Storytelling With Audio Tools | Ozge Karaoglu's Blog

2011-05-23T08:12:00.001-04:00

Digital Storytelling With Audio Tools

Filed Under (Uncategorized) by ozge on 23-05-2011 and tagged digital storytelling, web 2.0 tools

“What is the use of a book, without pictures or conversations? said Alice…

With the coming of the 21st century, technology has added a new twist to our traditional storytelling. Beyond the scope of pen and pencil, we can now easily tell and share our stories digitally with mobile phones, flip cameras, recording our voice or using free web tools. There is no doubt that today’s students are more motivated and interested in using digital storytelling just like any other multimedia. It offers us, educators, a new and a very 21st century way to captivate students’ attention, facilitate learning, reach shy students and increase collaboration and community in a classroom. It’s a great way to give voice to ourselves and our students in an out of the classroom walls.

via ozgekaraoglu.edublogs.org

Check out the rest of Ozge's blog for the different types of tools you can use for telling stories digitally! Great for getting students to write!

Math Web Sites

2011-05-19T10:20:00.001-04:00

Here are some of my links for Math web sites.

Manga High - free web based games with resources and lesson plans

Study Ladder - Mathmatic activities

Super Maths World - free web based games

Math TV - math videos by topic

Maths Master - math videos

Khan Academy - math videos

Web 2.0 Tools for Math Educators - web based math tools

Mathematical Art - virtual math museum

Yummy Math - incorporate math into relevant topics for students

More math topics and web sites can be found here at my Diigo links on Math.

Twitter Style Book Review Lesson | The Daring Librarian

2011-05-17T14:25:00.001-04:00

Twitter Style Book Review Lesson

Email This BlogThis! Share to Twitter Share to Facebook Share to Google Buzz

Sweet Tweets About Good Reads
Here's an idea for a fun tech-social-media infused creative writing lesson and one I'll be sure to mention when I'm guest hosting the Twitter #EngChat event May 23rd at 7pm EST. The topic will be The Power of the Product and I'll be hosting with amazing MHMS co-worker Elizabeth Singleton (@emsingleton) & Geek Tribe buddy Diane Cordell (@dmcordell). This conversation will consist of viable, creative, meaningful, and daring products that demonstrate information mastery, go beyond the regular research report and span the digital divide.
On this second blog posting in one day (assuredly a first!) I must give a very special thank you to reading specialist & MHMS co-worker Deb Burkey! You inspired & gave me this idea during our conversation the other day talking about the Fakebook lesson. YAY, you rock! The text is written as directions to students.
Writing a short, concise, quality book review is a challenge! Using the Twitter style, create a short book review that hints at the story, not give TOO much away - add a shortened link to the Amazon book listing (for more information, buying, and expanded book reviews) and your emotion rating.=D
If you cannot say something in 140 characters or less, then it is not worth saying. Paring a review down to 140 characters and a rating really forces reviewers to get to the essential appeal or flaw of the work being reviewed --AND it's a challenge!

via thedaringlibrarian.com

What a great lesson idea. Once again, this is a great blog to follow. Always receive lots of good ideas from Gwyneth Jones!

Free Technology for Teachers: Snack Tools - Apps to Improve Your Website

2011-05-17T14:19:00.001-04:00

Snack Tools - Apps to Improve Your Website

Last week I shared with you a post about Flip Snack. Flip Snack is a free tool for displaying your PDFs with page turning effects. Flip Snack is a part of larger suite of free apps called Snack Tools.
Snack Tools offers six free applications that you can add to your website or blog. In addition to Flip Snack, Snack Tools offers Quiz Snack, Photo Snack, Tube Snack, Pod Snack, and Banner Snack.
Quiz Snack offers a free service for creating polls and quizzes to post in your blog or website. To use Quiz Snack you can sign in with your Twitter, Facebook, Google, or Quiz Snack account. Then select one of three poll/quiz formats, type your question(s) and answer choices, and select a template. Then copy the embed code provided by Quiz Snack and place it your blog or website.

via freetech4teachers.com

Free Technology for Teachers is a wonderful resource. If you do not follow this blog, you should!

Kleinspiration: Visual Vocabulary: Got Brainy?

2011-05-17T14:13:00.001-04:00

Visual Vocabulary: Got Brainy?

Got Brainy is a Perfect Site for Interactive and Visual Vocabulary... what a great way to add a fun flare to words!
Students can create a BrainyPic or a BrainyFlick. Simply upload a photo or video and add an original sentence or dialogue to demonstrate meaning of a particular word or concept.
If you don't want to create original content, feel free to just browse the submissions posted to enhance and encourage discussions surrounding vocabulary.
For quick reference, check out the word lists.

via kleinspiration.com

Free Tools Challenge #25: Using Jog the Web in the 24/7 Classroom | Teacher Challenge

2011-05-17T13:45:00.001-04:00

Objective

In this activity you will learn

more about JogTheWeb.

how to create a free account.

how to use JogTheWeb to create a guided lesson for students.

additional ways to use JogTheWeb in the 24/7 classroom.

Overview

JogTheWeb is free Web 2.0 tool that allows users to assemble tidy packages of web content. For teachers it can be a tool for providing students with easy access to guided learning. The websites within a Jog are live and can be explored right within the page frame, which solves problems related to students getting lost within multiple windows. Even better, Jog authors can annotate pages within the Jog and also create original pages with unique content. This appears to be a very promising tool for education because it’s user-friendly, engaging and interactive.

Uses in the classroom:
The chart below features examples of some different ways to use JogTheWeb for teaching and learning

Let’s Explore the Nervous System: Probably the best use for this tool is to create guided activities for students. Choose websites that allow them to access information through a variety of media. This Jog is featured in the video tutorial
View this jog

Ten Minutes of Tech for Busy Teachers: A quick jog through some user-friendly Web 2.0 tools for teachers to use right away.

View this jog

3rd Grade Whiz Kids – Class Portfolio: This jog is used as a portfolio to showcase the work of one 3rd grade class.
View this jog

Using Glogster to help students construct knowledge:
This Jog is a tutorial designed to help teachers design a lesson to use technology as a primary tool for learning.
View this jog

via teacherchallenge.edublogs.org

Creativity in Teaching: Ideas for Comic Strips (Part 2: You Can Toon, Too!) - PrometheanPlanet

2011-05-11T11:15:00.001-04:00

Creativity in Teaching: Ideas for Comic Strips (Part 2: You Can Toon, Too!)

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Lisa Dubernard

05-11-2011 12:30 PM

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I love to find new ways to tell a story. When iMovie first came out, I was really lucky to be working for Apple so I immediately had a digital camcorder and iMovie, and I was off making movies and exploring ways students could use this new tool to learn by telling video stories. I also spent five years helping students make multimedia projects using HyperStudio and then immediately fell in love with the lesson-creation possibilities when I was first introduced to the ActivClassroom (ActivBoard and ActivStudio at the time).

But recently, I've found a new love: making cartoon illustrations. I don't have the time nor talent to draw my own cartoons, but I can certainly use the tools that are available now. A couple of months ago, I wrote a blog article suggesting how cartoons can be used to aid learning and I listed a range of cartoon-making tools you may find useful. It proved to be a popular topic, so, having already covered some lesson ideas, I thought I'd follow it up with more detailed instructions on how to create the cartoons themselves. In my earlier article, I mentioned that my current favorite tool for doing this is called ToonDoo, so I'll focus on that one as each program is different.

Without meaning to sound like a sales person, I'll start by sharing with you some of the things I like about this particular program. First of all, I find it easy to use and it's free. I also think the results look great! The software is web-based, so I don't have to have any software installed, which I really like too. Of course, there are other programs out there, many of which I listed in "Ideas for Comic Strips (Part 1)"; if you've found one of those that you particularly like, please share the reasons why by adding a comment below.

via community.prometheanplanet.com

iLibrarian » QR Code Roundup: 10 Resources for Librarians and Educators

2011-05-06T11:32:00.001-04:00

QR Code Roundup: 10 Resources for Librarians and Educators

By now you’ve probably heard about QR, or quick-response 2-D barcodes. These nifty little images make scanning in website URLs and contact information a snap are already being adopted by innovative librarians and educators around the world. They’re incredibly easy to create and offer a quick and interactive way to promote library events and services as well as engage students and patrons. If you’re still getting up to speed, these 10 resources should get you started:

1. How To: Make Your QR Codes More Beautiful

Hamilton Chan, CEO and founder of Paperlinks, writes a quick guide for Mashable about How To: Make Your QR Codes More Beautiful. This excellent

via oedb.org

Cool Cat Teacher Blog: QR Code Classroom Implementation Guide

2011-05-05T15:08:00.001-04:00

QR Code Classroom Implementation Guide

Licensed for use from iStockPhoto

QR Codes (Quick Response Codes) are just barcodes. There is nothing fancy about them.
Just like the grocery store clerk uses barcodes to look up the product and scan the price into the computer, your mobile device or computer can look up QR codes to:

take you to a website,

read some text,

give you a phone number, or

generate a text message.

QR Codes are barcodes of information that hardlink the physical world with the online world. They are considered a form of simple augmented reality.
QR Codes in the Classroom
For the classroom teacher, they are valuable for three reasons:

via coolcatteacher.blogspot.com

Read the whole blog for ideas on how to use QR Codes in your classroom and some troubleshooting tips. Great blog by Vicki Davis.

Revisting the Past Wonders of the Day

2011-05-04T11:32:00.000-04:00

Because of being on vacation, I missed visiting Wonderopolis this past week. I thought I would write a blog post about the the Wonders that I missed.

Monday, April 25 Wonder of the Day was about tornadoes. This was very ironic since last week several states were hit very hard with massive tornadoes. This wonder talks about where tornado alley is. Last week it was in the south! After reading about the tornadoes, there was a link to a lesson plan on What to Do in a Tornado. I think that all teachers should use this lesson plan after all the devastation of last week's southern tornadoes.

Have you ever wanted to know how a TV script was written? Find out with Wonder #205. This Wonder talks with Michael Price who writes for the TV show The Simpsons. He talks about the steps writers have to go through to get their script on the air. And students grumble about having to re-write a paper! Families can get together to write about something they have done or are going to do, and then they can sit down together to read it. That would be fun to do! Teachers can go to ReadWriteThink for a lesson plan on Writing a Movie: Summarizing Rereading a Film Script. There are lots of ways in this Wonder to get students writing.

Wonder #206: What is a Mouse? Not Mickey Mouse, but a mouse for the computer! I didn't know that the "term "mouse" came from the fact that these devices had long, thin cords attached to their small, compact bodies that made them look a bit like common mice. The name stuck and has been used ever since." Great vocabulary words to look up and talk about in this Wonder. My favorites are prototype, experimental, royalties, cursor, and infrared. These are all good words to know. Visit the Art Zone to play games and create art using the mouse.

One of the things that we as teachers are always asking students is: What Do You Want to be When You Grow Up? That is exactly what Wonder #206 is all about. Review an EconEdLink Lesson Plan: To Be or Not To Be? about examining careers for students.

Wonder #208: What Do Astronauts Eat in Space? What, no pizza? I don't think I could eat food that comes in plastic tubes! Check out this Wonder to find out more about the "delectable foods" astronauts eat. Check out the Interactive page to find out where the meals are packaged and what it looks like on a tray. Can you imagine eating M&M's in microgravity?

Did you know that mustard is made from tiny mustard seeds? Check out Wonder #209 to find out What Is Mustard Made Of? Then check out the lesson plan on Spices in Your Favorite Foods. What is your favorite food to put mustard on? Mine is a hot dog!

The last two Wonders that I missed were #210 Who Was Mother Goose and #211 How Are Books Made? Lots of information on nursery rhymes which go hand in hand with making books. There are lots of ways to make a book, either by hand or on the computer.

Check out all these wonderful Wonders. Lots of good vocabulary, lots of ways to generate family discussions, and lots of different lesson plans to tie into the Wonders of the Day.

Vacation in Paradise ... Day 5, Day 6, Day 7

2011-05-04T10:41:00.000-04:00

Day 5 was another awesomely beautiful day. The only thing we had planned was to spend the day by the pool. We had a great set up. There were several of us in a row and our chairs were facing the ocean. The best thing was, the spinner dolphins were back in the bay and we watched them all day. They looked like they were having the best time jumping, spinning, splashing. It looked like they were on vacation also! I don't have a picture yet for this blog post; but I will be getting some of the pictures soon (I hope) from a friend that didn't leave their camera battery at home!

Day 6 - how sad. Our last day of relaxation. We made the best of it, once again by the pool. Unfortunately, no dolphins on day 6.That evening was the going away Luau. It was a lot of fun. There were traditional Luau foods: smoked pork, poi, kimchee, fish, etc. I did not try the poi. I know, I was in Hawaii and should try their traditional food. However, it looked like purple paste and I just couldn't do it. The pork and short ribs were very good.

Day 7 - the saddest of them all. We have to leave. It was a day of hurry up and wait. We had to be ready to go by 10:00 for the shuttle to the airport. Then we had to wait for an hour for the plane to leave. When we got to Honolulu, we waited for three hours in the airport for our flight to the mainland. Once we boarded, a sensor wouldn't show that the door was sealed - another 2 1/2 hours sitting on the plane. We missed our connecting flight (by this time it was Day 8), and were put on another flight. That flight was an hour late and then we ended up in the very back of the plane where it was very loud!

Somehow, all that relaxation just disappeared on Day 7 and 8 waiting for flights. Do you think it was worth it? I believe it was. Lots of fond memories, good friends, awesome scenery. Would I do it all again? In a heartbeat!

Vacation in Paradise ... Day 3 and Day 4

2011-05-04T10:25:00.002-04:00

Day 3 was a very restful day. We spent the day beside the pool, enjoying the sun, food, and friends. I love spending time just relaxing!

Day 4 we went on a catamaran along with some people who were going diving or snorkeling. As we were pulling out of the harbor, a pod of dolphins were off to the side. They immediately came over to the boat and started swimming all around the boat. It was awesome! Those dolphins (spinner dolphins) were right at the front of the boat. One of my friends got some pictures of them and I am waiting on copies. I can't wait! I did go into the ocean from the boat for a little bit. The water was cold at first (it is the Pacific Ocean after all!), but was not freezing like it has been in the past. The water was so clear, that I could look down and see fish.

Image from: Large, Molly. spinner_dolphins.jpg. January 18, 2009. Pics4Learning. 4 May 2011

Two Simple Ways To Disable Ping In iTunes [Mac & Windows]

2011-05-04T10:16:00.001-04:00

As we’ve noted on many occasions, iTunes is a program many of us use out of necessity rather than desire. Despite its many uses, iTunes has a plethora of niggling annoyances which most users would be happy to remove. Here at MakeUseOf, we’re happy to share what we know in order to make that possible for you.
We’re always looking for hacks and fixes to everyday iTunes problems and listening to iTunes users to see what they’re still troubled with. Since Ping is one of the newer features in iTunes, Apple is only just realising that many people have legitimate reasons to want to turn it off. So it’s understandable that few people have worked out the best ways to disable the feature yet. Thankfully, it’s quite easy to disable Ping in two very effective ways.
Ping is essentially a social network within iTunes. It allows you to share details of your iTunes purchases, favourite music and any reviews of albums that you care to make. Itunes Ping also allows you to receive social recommendations for music based on what your friends like and what you’ve purchased. For many people, this is just a bit of fun. But, for others this is something they don’t want available for themselves or their children. Not everyone wants to automatically share their purchases with the world, which is what occurs in Ping when you buy through the iTunes store.

via makeuseof.com

Vacation in Paradise ...

2011-05-04T09:39:00.001-04:00

... Day 1

What can I say about the first day of vacation? It was long! We had about a 14 hour flight (including connecting flight) and went through a lot of time zones. When we finally arrived at Lanai'i, we were exhausted. We got our room, put our luggage down and fell asleep.

... Day 2

We had decided to take the ferry to Maui that day, so I started looking for my camera. Found the camera, couldn't find the battery. Guess what ... I left the battery at home. ARRGHHH!!

Anyway, it was a beautiful day, sunny and warm. The ferry put into the city of Lahaina. We walked around the town for a while, then we wondered if there was a Harley Davidson store in town (my husband owns 2 Harley's, so we are always looking out for the stores). Of course there was a HD store in town! We went and looked around, bought shirts, and talked to the manager about the cost of renting an HD for the day on Maui. It was a fairly reasonable price, so if we ever get back to Maui, we will probably rent a motorcycle for the day. That would be a great way to spend time in Maui and see the sights. Then we went to Cheeseburger in Paradise for lunch. It was so good and they put us right by the window overlooking the ocean.

After a late lunch, we were walking back to the ferry and went to sit under the Banyon Tree. This tree was amazing! One tree covered a whole acre. The original tree was planted in the 1800's, and the people of Lahaina cared for this tree for all these years. The main tree has tree limbs from which roots hang down and plant themselves. They then grow into trees themselves shooting out more roots. One tree had created more than 16 other trees within this one acre. The thing that amazed me the most was that they were all connected to each other.

On the way back in the ferry, we saw a humpback whale and her calf. They weren't very close, but we got to see them breach. I was so excited! As it turns out, that was the only whale sighting I had the whole time we were in Hawaii. It was pretty late in the season for humpbacks; most of them had already started migrating back to their feeding grounds.

Stay tuned for more of my vacation!

Ocean image from Eastridge, Julie. blueocean.jpg. July, 2007. Pics4Learning. 4 May 2011

Banyon tree image from Gilmer, Lori. img_0488.jpg. March 2007. Pics4Learning. 4 May 2011

FlipSnack | PDF to Flash page flip - flipping book software

2011-05-04T08:29:00.001-04:00

Make beautiful flipping books!

Add a pdf document

Convert it to a flipping book

Embed & share your flipping book

Now you get FREE unlimited hosting for all our apps. Read more

Share on

View examples

See how FlipSnack can convert your digital
publications into stylish and interactive
flipping books. View examples

Convert PDFs into stylish page flip books

via flipsnack.com

This looks very interesting. I am going to check this out more fully.

Free Technology for Teachers: Edmodo:The Total Classroom Solution

2011-05-03T15:21:00.001-04:00

Edmodo:The Total Classroom Solution

In a digital world where we can easily "find an app for that" to help solve many problems, rarely do teachers have a one stop shopping place for all their classroom digital needs. There are many individual tools that can aid a teacher in retrieving student's digital work, polling/quizzing students or assigning work, but each of these tools usually requires a separate account. However, there is one, free, Web 2.0 app that brings everything together that you need for your classroom, including a social learning environment. The app that does all of this is called Edmodo. Here are just a few features that make Edmodo so great for teachers and students:
A place to assign and turn in work: The teacher can attach any file they may need for an assignment (rubric, worksheet, etc.) and students can upload any file to turn in their work. Links and embed codes can also be used to publish and share work easily.
A calendar to help students keep up with important dates: Assignment due dates, dates you'll be out, holidays, classroom birthdays or anything you can think of to post. Studentscan also add their own personal notes to dates that only they can see. The notes the students add to the calendar are not published to the class.
A digital library that will replace a student's flash drive: They can upload files into their "digital backpack" and download them when on any computer. The teacher can add necessary files to their library as well.
A place to post messages--urgent or not: Only teachers and students can interact with one another, student to student messages are not allowed. This feature is the most powerful and it's what makes Edmodo a "social LEARNING network." This feature looks and works a lot like a "wall" on Facebook.
A parent connection: every student is assigned a parent code so that parents can connect with the teacher on Edmodo, check grades and see posts to the class by the teacher and their child.
Groups: Teachers can create groups for classes, parents, study groups or connecting with distant classrooms. This feature keeps students safe and contains content only specific to certain groups. When students sign up for an account they don't need an email address, just the group code to join groups set up by their teachers.

via freetech4teachers.com

I love Edmodo. Be sure to read more on Richard's blog if you are interested in how best to use Edmodo in your classroom.

Free Technology for Teachers: A Tale of Two Stories: Storyline Online & Storybird (Guest Post)

2011-05-03T15:19:00.001-04:00

A Tale of Two Stories: Storyline Online & Storybird (Guest Post)

Richard asked me to be a guest blogger today. As a frequent reader of Free Technology for Teachers, I consider it quite an honor to contribute to this fantastic teacher resource. I'd like to share with you two free technology tools that I use, in tandem, to get my students working creatively and collaboratively, and liking it!
1. Listen to a story, get inspired
2. Brainstorm ideas
3. Create your story
4. Share your story with us
Those are the four directives I give my students before they embark on a writing activity I call the "Picture Book Challenge". The Picture Book Challenge culminates in students working together to make a well written digital picture book. When the challenge is over we embed the books on our class wiki. That way peers and family members can enjoy the fruits of their labors. I use two tools to help my students accomplish their goals. One tool is called Storyline Online, and the other is called Storybird.

via freetech4teachers.com

Great ideas for using in the classroom. Be sure to read the full blog and how Storyline Online and Storybird can be used in the classroom.

Office 2010 Ultimate Tips and Tricks–Free Manual! — Tech the Plunge

2011-05-03T15:12:00.001-04:00

Office 2010 Ultimate Tips and Tricks–Free Manual!
by Jeffrey Thomas on May 2, 2011

The folks at MakeUseOf.com are at it again!
MakeUseOf.com is offering “Office 2010 Ultimate Tips and Tricks” as a free downloadable manual.
Even if you haven’t upgraded to Office 2010 it is worth the time to add this guide to your edtech library.
Although I am still on Office 2007 I plan to add this to my library as I know that Office 2010 is right around the corner for me. I am especially interested in its new cloud features.
MakeUseOf.com – Office 2010 Tips & Tricks

via jeffthomastech.com

Using Copyright-friendly Images Effectively in Presentations « Moving at the Speed of Creativity

2011-05-03T15:09:00.001-04:00

"Using Copyright-friendly Images Effectively in Presentations." The recorded audio from this workshop is available in two parts on my secondary "Fuel for Educational Change Agents" podcast channel. (part 1 and part 2) Referenced resources are available on the presentation wiki as well as the Images page of talkwithmedia.com. The workshop included two main themes: Guidelines for using copyright-friendly media as well as complying with fair use law, and using images effectively in presentations following "Presentation Zen" guidelines. When choosing media to use in a presentation or project, I recommend using the following sources in this order:

H: Homegrown or Public Domain

C: Creative Commons licensed media

F: Fair Use (copyrighted media used under fair use terms)

As educators like Renee Hobbs encourage, we need to exercise our fair use rights as learners and educators. Conversations about "fair use" are important and needed, we shouldn't shy away from these as educators using media and encouraging the appropriate use of media. Those "fair use conversations" are often less black and white than discussions about homegrown, public domain or Creative Commons licensed media, however, so that is why I encourage learners to utilize the first two sources (if possible) for media projects before considering copyrighted materials used under fair use.

via speedofcreativity.org

View the entire blog for more information on copyright friendly images. Also listen to Wes Fryer's podcast from his workshop.

3 More Ways To Manage Your Dropbox Files You May Not Know About

2011-05-03T13:01:00.001-04:00

Our favorite, all-time file sharing service, Dropbox, generously provides up to 2 gigs of file space for free. For many users this might be enough, but now that Dropbox is becoming the central cloud syncing service for shuffling and sharing stuff between computers and mobile devices, the allotted free space may fill up rather quickly if it’s not probably managed and organized.
If you’re finding yourself using Dropbox on a regular basis, you might want to check out of some of the following tips for both locating and managing lost Dropbox files on your account. If you’re new to Dropbox, download our free PDF Unofficial Guide to Dropbox

via makeuseof.com

Studyladder - Online English Literacy & Mathematics

2011-04-21T13:12:00.003-04:00

As I was scrolling through Twitter this morning, I came across a tweet from @teachersharetp (Toby Price). He created a Livebinder on using Special Needs SMART Notebook Lessons. I am always on the lookout for something that can be used with Interactive White Boards (IWB). When I went to Mr. Price's resources web page, I found a link to something called Studyladder. (I also noticed that he has a Studyladder Livebinder on his resource page.) Anyway, I decided to go and check out Studyladder.

I first went and previewed some activities, and the next thing I looked at was pricing. As educators, we are always curious to find out how much something costs! Imagine my surprise when I saw that as a teacher, you can register and get a free account with Studyladder. Here is a video clip about Studyladder:

After creating my own account, I went in and started looking at some of the Literacy resources. I opened the one for Kindergarten and Concentration game. When I got to that page, I noticed in the upper right corner a link to "Open Whiteboard version". Score!!!

Studyladder also has activities for Math, Science, Music, and Art. Each interactivity has a whiteboard version so that you could use these on your Interactive White Board. Why not go and check out this resource for your class?

The Mountain

2011-04-20T14:03:00.001-04:00

via youtube.com

Love the video and the music!

Free Technology for Teachers: Five Ways to Make Word Clouds from Text

2011-04-20T12:08:00.001-04:00

Five Ways to Make Word Clouds from Text

Wordlings is a new service for creating word clouds from blocks of text. Sign into Wordlings with your Twitter or Facebook account to have it create a word cloud of your posts. You can also copy and paste chunks of text into Wordlings. Wordlings allows you to choose from a large variety of shapes and sizes for displaying your word clouds.

Tagul is a free word cloud generator that offers the option to link every word in your word cloud to a Google search. Click on any word in your word cloud to be taken directly to a Google search results page for that word. Tagul creates a word cloud from text you copy into your Tagul account. Tagul will also generate a word cloud from any url you specify. Just as you can with other word cloud generators, Tagul allows you to specify words to ignore in creating your word clouds. Once your word cloud is created Tagul provides you with an embed code to put your cloud on your blog or website.

Word It Out creates word clouds out of any text that you paste into the word cloud generator. Once the word cloud is created you can customize the size and color scheme of the cloud. You can also customize the font used in your word cloud. The feature of Word It Out that I like the best is that you can choose to have Word It Out ignore any word or words you choose. Ignoring words keeps them out of the word cloud.

via freetech4teachers.com

Here is a couple of new word cloud services. Thanks Richard Byrne for sharing.

DOWNLOAD Stuff Happens: The Backup & Restore Guide

2011-04-20T12:06:00.001-04:00

Disasters happen. Unless you’re okay with losing all of your data, you need a good backup system. If you know this but haven’t got around to setting up backup on your PC, this is the guide to read.
“Stuff Happens: The Backup and Restore Guide” outlines everything you need to regularly back up your PC. Author Tina Sieber outlines backup strategies, what to backup and what tools to use for the job.
Backups are necessary because data has value. Whether this is sentimental, commercial, or legal value, a backup is a way of securing valuable information. The worst loss would be files of which we own the only copy in existence, such as personal documents or photos.
Protect these priceless files. Back them up. This guide can teach you how.

via makeuseof.com

How many of us haven't done any backups lately or at all? I need to do this on my home computer!

Do You Know Why Flamingos Are Pink?

2011-04-19T11:33:00.008-04:00

DeSandies, ManYee. flamingos9.jpg. 11/01/2003. Pics4Learning. 19 Apr 2011

This morning I had the pleasure of visiting Ms. Linhart's 5th grade class. We talked about Wonderopolis. We visited the very first Wonder of the day, "Why Are Flamingos Pink". We watched the short video of the flamingos and then went to the Monterey Bay Aquarium web cam to see flamingos walking around in their pond. One of the things that impressed me the most was the immediate questions that students asked as soon as we started talking about flamingos.

The students knew that what the flamingos ate caused them to be pink. They came up with several very good questions. One of the questions was, "How does a gray shrimp turn the flamingos pink?" The students knew that when we boil shrimp they turn from gray to pink; but, since flamingos don't cook their food, how does eating gray shrimp turn the feathers of the flamingos pink? I thought this was a great question. Ms. Linhart told the students to write the questions down in their journal so they could research and find the answers. I told them that they could put a comment in the comment section of the Wonder of the Day and Wonderopolis would answer them back.

After we looked at a few more Wonders of the Day, I handed out tee-shirts to the students. Here is a picture of them with Ms. Linhart.

The students loved the tee-shirts and they put them on right away. What a great looking group!

One of the students wrote the website down right away. Ms. Linhart said she would put the website on the SMART Board for the students to take home with them. Another of the students said, they didn't need to write the website down, because it was on their shirts!

I definitely saw how this could become a family time discussion and also how this could introduce a new unit in the classroom.

Thank you to Wonderopolis for sending me the tee-shirts to share with Ms. Linhart's class.

Thank you to Ms. Linhart and your class for allowing me to come and share Wonderopolis with you. I hope you have a lifetime of wonders!

DEN Blog Network » Flipping Out!

2011-04-18T14:25:00.001-04:00

Flipping Out!

Cisco’s recent announcement discontinuing the popular Flip camera caught everyone, especially the education community, by surprise. I have always enjoyed walking into a school to do a “Makin’ Movies” workshop and finding a number of those handy little cameras ready for participants. I personally have always favored and recommended Kodak’s Zi line, especially for Mac users since they use a better quality QuickTime codec and the Zi8 has a jack for an external microphone. But wait! Cisco quietly went to that codec too, a model or two ago. I know because I admonished one of my grad students repeatedly because she could not get her clips into Movie Maker without converting them first. When I finally realized her dilemma, we were half way through the class. But wait again! Kodak has discontinued the Zi line. I have seen Zi8′s on sale for as low as $69 in office supply stores – that’s about $100 off the original MSRP! Run, don’t walk to pick up one or a few of these for your school.

I suppose we should have seen it coming. There are a number of less expensive, USB type, pocket camcorders. And though not all schools have embraced mobile learning devices (especially ones with cameras!), they are

via blog.discoveryeducation.com

Writing Better Blog Posts: What You NEED to Know | The Edublogger

2011-04-18T14:17:00.001-04:00

Writing good blog posts are more than just the words.

You might post great information but….

- if it doesn’t grab attention
- if it’s hard to read

….it might never be read!

So here’s 10 tips to help you write better blog posts.

1. Use attention grabbing titles

Titles on blog posts are like titles on books.

The better the title, the more it’ll grab the attention of readers and the greater the chance they’ll read what you’ve written.

Captivating and intriguing titles draw readers every time. Back that with a well written post and you won’t look back.

For further tips on writing post titles refer to 15 Ways to rework your next blog post title.

2. Use Short Paragraphs

via theedublogger.com

The Good, The Bad, The Ugly, When Using IWB | Upside Down Education

2011-04-15T13:54:00.001-04:00

The Good, The Bad, The Ugly, When Using IWB

So this past 3 weeks, I have been “earning my way” to #ISTE11. “EduStranded” in St. Louis wiped out the stash I had for the trip. So I reviewed 864 links and Promethean flipcharts in 3 weeks (I categorized them and write a description). Sounds easy but really wasn’t. I had to open each flipchart to view it, add in ADHD, 2 kids, teaching and coaching job, and you see why I finished at midnight the last day it was due. But that is not the point here, sorry, you know I digress.

So after hours and hours looking at these I would find myself either getting excited about some or very frusterated with others. You hear over and over people arguing against or for IWB. Some of these flipcharts I would look at and this “Yep, that’s why people hate these” then others would cause me to think “What a wonderful student-centered lesson, this is why IWB are not bad.” So I have decided to put in my 2 cents on these flipcharts.

via upsidedown.edublogs.org

Make sure to go to Amanda Dyke's website above and read her whole blog. I agree with most of what she is saying about IWB's. Good stuff.

Technology: figuring out how the pieces fit: KWL ... FQR ... Lots of letters ...

2011-04-15T13:30:00.001-04:00

KWL ... FQR ... Lots of letters ...

A slight variation on the KWL chart is the FQR chart. My 4th grade students enjoyed working with this kind of chart. While you can have a printed chart (like the one listed below), in class we often just folded a piece of notebook paper to make three columns. (We turned the notebook paper sideways and then folded the paper so the outside holes lined up with the middle hole.)

In the first column of the FQR Chart, children put facts they encounter as they read the text (this works especially in Social Studies and Science). In the second column, children put questions they have about what they are reading and questions they think of as they are reading. In the last column, children respond to the text they have read. This can be done by telling what they found interesting, telling what they did not understand, possibly answering some of the questions in the Q column, or even the things they thought of as they read the text.
Here are some various FQR Charts:
FQR Charts
Three Charts and the Power of 3s
Space Template Example

via mwedwardstechnology.blogspot.com

The Wax Museum and Blabberize

2011-04-14T13:49:00.001-04:00

The Wax Museum and Blabberize

Posted by Elizabeth Peterson

April 14, 2011

The Wax Museum project is a ten year tradition in the fourth grade at the Cashman Elementary School. In it, students choose and learn about a figure in history who has affected society in one way or another. Through research, students answer questions, create a poster and write a speech in the first person highlighting the important facts and contributions their person has made. Students work hard and look forward to completing this project, especially the performance. Today, the Thursday before April vacation, our school transforms into a Wax Museum where all the fourth graders line the hallways to portray their figures. Museum goers are welcome to walk the halls and press the buttons of those they wish to learn more about. It is truly a highlight of our fourth grade year!

This year, I have asked my students to take it a step further and Blabberize themselves by finding an image of their person and reciting the one-minute speech they have prepared for the Wax Museum. It has been a very fun extension of the project and many students have completed their Blabber. Through the day, I hope to have all of them up and live for your viewing pleasure.

Here are a couple:

Beatrix Potter

Mozart

It is a great experience trying new technologies alongside my students. We learned together on this one. There were only a few glitches along the way, but they are learning that they need to be patient and flexible with technology (and their teacher) especially when we are trying to get 25 students to do the same thing from the same account. (Which, by the way works pretty well on Blabberize.)

My account name is mrsepeterson and you can find all of our Blabbers (most are completed) here: http://blabberize.com/view?madeBy=mrsepeterson

via theinspiredclassroom.com

Very interesting project. I imagine all the students really love this. An idea would also to create a glog at EDUGlogster and embed the Blabberize onto the glog.

Who's scanning all these QR codes? [infographic] - Holy Kaw!

2011-04-14T13:31:00.001-04:00

Holy Kaw! All the topics that interest us

Who's scanning all these QR codes? [infographic]

Posted Mar 5th, 2011 at 8:31 AM and seen 71069 times

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It was predicted that QR codes would blow up this year. And they were right. You can’t look at a newspaper, poster, or cereal box anymore without stumbling upon one of the black and white scannable squares. But just because you see one, doesn’t mean you’ll pull out your phone and scan it.

QR code-focused JumpScan has compiled an infographic that offers insight into who’s interacting with them. Read the infographic below to learn more about who’s scanning QR codes, what devices people use to do it, and which brands are running QR code campaigns.

And you know what else is really neat? You can scan every QR code in the infographic.

via holykaw.alltop.com

Teaching students about copyright – the YouTube way | The Edublogger

2011-04-14T12:54:00.001-04:00

Teaching students about copyright – the YouTube way

Posted by Ronnie Burt on Thursday, April 14th 2011

Students (and educators alike) are sometimes guilty of using copyrighted material without permission.

In fact, many believe – falsely I might add – that when used for an educational purpose, you can throw copyright laws out the window.

This entertaining five minute video might be good to show your students to spark a discussion about what is and isn’t fair use. While this video discusses only YouTube videos, it applies to blog posts, school assignments, projects, and more.

YouTube will start requiring all copyright offenders to watch this video and then answer a short quiz about what they learned. Seems to me like an excellent way to enforce the law and educate the users!

What do you think?

How do you discuss copyright with your students?

via theedublogger.com

This would be a great discussion starter for students and talking about copyright.

Guess The Wordle »

2011-04-14T10:29:00.001-04:00

Guess The Wordle

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Please make sure you bookmark our new address:
http://projectsbyjen.com/GTW/

Welcome to Guess The Wordle

Every day (Monday - Friday) a new wordle will be posted for you and your students to view.

Monday & Wednesday Wordles
Monday's Wordle will be easy.
Wednesday's Wordle will be a bit more complex.

Tuesday, Thursday, Friday Wordles
Tuesday's Wordle will be the date of a famous event in world history.
Thursday's Wordle will be the title of a book, song, movie, etc..
Friday's Wordle will be a famous location.

Hover OVER the wordle to find out the answer!

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April 14, 2011

Jennifer April 13th, 2011

Today’s Topic: Title of Book, Song, Poem, Etc.
Work with your classmates FIRST to figure the answer.
Hover OVER the wordle to see the answer.

via projectsbyjen.com

What a great way to combine wordle's and blogs!

iGoogle

2011-04-14T10:24:00.001-04:00

VideoLan’s VLC media player is a real box of tricks. We’ve already established that it pretty much plays everything, requires little in the way of system resources and is just as effective on a Windows operating system as it is on Mac or Linux.
If you’ve not used VLC in the past (and are desperate for a decent media solution) then I’d urge you to download it and give it a go. Those of you who are already using VLC might be surprised to know there’s a few features that don’t really get the recognition they deserve.
Here are a few VLC tips and tricks that will hopefully help you get more use and enjoyment from VLC.
Streaming Capabilities
One use for VLC that not many users are too familiar with is its capacity as a network streaming workhorse. As you can see from the diagram below, using VLC as a streaming solution for your media gives you one of the best cross-compatible media sharing setups around, especially useful if you have a variety of PCs and operating systems in your household.

via google.com

	Let’s Explore the Nervous System: Probably the best use for this tool is to create guided activities for students. Choose websites that allow them to access information through a variety of media. This Jog is featured in the video tutorial View this jog
	Ten Minutes of Tech for Busy Teachers: A quick jog through some user-friendly Web 2.0 tools for teachers to use right away. View this jog
	3rd Grade Whiz Kids – Class Portfolio: This jog is used as a portfolio to showcase the work of one 3rd grade class. View this jog
	Using Glogster to help students construct knowledge: This Jog is a tutorial designed to help teachers design a lesson to use technology as a primary tool for learning. View this jog