thinglink

thinglink is the newest Web 2.0 tool that I am in love with! thinglink combines two of my favorite things together photography (in a sense if you use your own photos which I did for my first fun thinglink) and technology! It allows users to create interactive images simply by uploading an image and attaching links. Check out my first thinglink that I created about the National Cherry Blossom. Then learn how to make your own by watching my quick video blog tutorial.

National Cherry Blossom Festival thinglink

I would LOVE to hear what you think about thinglink or how you could use it in your classroom!

edcanvas

Edcanvas is a free Web 2.0 tool that I learned about at FETC this year that allows users to organize and share various educational resources in a visually appealing format! The "canvas" part of edcanvas is where you arrange pictures, videos, links, files, etc. You can search YouTube, Google (for images or links), Flickr, Educreations, Gooru, add website links or embed codes, upload files directly from your computer, your Dropbox account or you Google Drive account or import links from your internet Favorites! After you have the content all you have to do is drag it and drop it into the square! You can easily rearrange the content, add more rows/squares or change the layout/template of your edcanvas! 

Edcanvas is an amazing way to keep students engaged while hitting different types of learning styles. With the comment or speaking feature you could easily go paperless making grading that much easier! 

I desperately wanted to create a video blog to show you how EASY edcanvas' are to create BUT I'm having some technical trouble (yes, you should laugh since I am the TECHNOLOGY teacher)! First my Java wasn't up to date so none of my screen recoding programs would work. I've tried installing Java several times and restarting my laptop with no luck! I gave up on that and moved on to a screen recording MacBook app which only allows you to record for 5 minutes which would've worked! I got all set up started my video and edcanvas isn't loading properly in Chrome so I will share a few examples and perhaps come back to add a video blog later when things are being more cooperative with me! 

Edcanvas' are easy to share with a link or by embedding! Just click play or open in edcanvas to check out this 5th Grade Fractions edcanvas OR click any of the links below to see other examples! 

1st Grade Abraham Lincoln edcanvas

2nd Grade Math Review edcanvas

3rd Grade Weather and Erosion edcanvas

4th Grade Fractions edcanvas

5th Grade Geology edcanvas

I would love to hear what you think of edcanvas! How could you use it with your students?

edmodo

Edmodo is a safe and easy social networking site for teachers, parents and students. Edmodo is designed very similarly to Facebook (I overheard an 8th grade conversation and the one kid said, "I feel like we are the cool kids using Facebook at school." The other kid said, "I feel like we should be getting in trouble for this" haha).  It looks the same as Facebook, has many of the same features and works almost identical to Facebook (Another 8th grader wanted to know if Facebook could sue edmodo. I told him I wasn't sure but maybe he could research it and get back to me). It is a secure place to make connections, collaborate and share content. Teachers can also post grades, assignments and quizzes. Teachers can also create polls and post topics for discussion among the students. There is an app store within edmodo that has lots of popular applications (some free others pretty pricey). By easily creating a edmodo group you are given an access code which allows edmodo users to join your group. The website is great and there is even an edmodo app for iPad that I really like.  

It is a great way to connect with other educators and education companies which seems to be the biggest benefit for me right now! I am "following" several communities and groups as part of my PLN. FETC, the conference I am presenting at in January has a several groups (FETC, FETC for presenters and each workshop and session will have a group). Each edmodo presenter page will have the resources used for their presentation, freebies, etc.! I am in the process of getting our group page ready for SCANAPALOOZA! 

Edmodo implementation with students has been disappointing for me since I do not have my own class that I see on a regular basis. It is really hard for me to hold kids accountable or create projects, etc.. When I started the epal project I created an edmodo group for all of the kids to join (3- 8th grade classes at our school as well as our epals in China, Ukraine, Polland, Spain and Germany). I had big ideas but the cooperating teacher isn't really following through so it has become more like Facebook and I am a little frustrated with how it has turned out. I think it has amazing potential but as a technology teacher there is only so much I can do with it. I know the 8th grade civics teacher is using it and it has increased engagement and discussion. Below you can see an example of a poll with discussion (obviously not many people logging in over winter break). 

I would love to hear how you are using edmodo and any ideas you have for implementing with students! Unfortunately since it is so secure it is harder to check out what others are doing!

5th Grade State Research

North American Geography is the 5th grade social studies curriculum in our county so they spend the entire year using maps and learning everything there is to know about the regions of the US including the states and capitals, historic events, landmarks, climate, geographic features, physical features, natural resources, etc.

In place of their grade level program they host a Wax Museum where each student does extensive research on a particular state. Then they develop a science board for their state, dress up like a famous figure of that state and write and memorize a speech. Last year they created podcasts (reading their speeches) and linked those to QR Codes. This year I hope to up the anit with the technology integration and have come up with a few ideas!

I just found Weebly and I love how user-friendly it is (I hope it isn't blocked at school)! I played around with a few other web design sites that were difficult to navigate and I got really frustrated so I knew they would be useless with students but Weebly is awesome! Check out the example site I created! If you are interested in a tutorial just let me know I would be happy to provide one in a future blog post!

VA State Example

If you haven't checked out Lino yet you can read my earlier post, it is a free Web 2.0 tool that is like a big pin board. You can post stickies, photos, links, documents and even videos. It is similar to Glogster but I find it much easier to use. I thought that it would be a different and more interactive way to show off the state!

Linoit Virginia Example

The last thing I want to do I saw an example of on SchoolTube but cannot seem to find it at the moment is have students create a commercial for their state using iMovie or maybe PhotoBooth! We will be getting 30 MacBook Airs in the next few weeks and I thought this would be a great intro project. Although I have a MacBook Air I need to learn more and what better way than to JUMP IN and get started on a project.

Bouncing Balls

I wanted to share another Web 2.0 classroom management tool called Bouncy Balls. The kids get so excited when the see the balls on my screen!

So basically after you enable the microphone (built in with a laptop or external with a desktop) it detects the noise level (closest to the microphone obviously) and the balls bounce! If students whisper/talk quietly the balls lie nicely at the bottom of the screen, when students talk at a normal level the balls bounce midway up the screen but when it begins getting too loud the balls bounce wildly on the screen (you can adjust the microphone sensitivity). The first thing you MUST do is let the kids do a mini scream or tap or stomp or loud laugh or whatever they want to do otherwise they will do these things randomly just to see the balls bounce. After they got their silliness out this little gem works like a charm! One class even made it into a competition, each time the balls go wild the teachers got a point and every time we checked the screen and the balls were calm the students got a point. 

The first graders all the way up through eighth graders love the bouncy balls! Have you used this tool before or something similar? Do you have a noise chart in your room?

Timers

Since we are getting ready to count down until the New Year I wanted to share one of my favorite quick and easy Web 2.0 classroom tools, Online-Stopwatch. At first glance the website seems cluttered and not very appealing but this is an awesome website with all different online countdown timers. It is FREE  and the kids get such a kick out of all of the different timers. It was really fun for me to see 7th, yes 7th graders excited over a timer! The bomb seems to be the most popular and I have found that when I first introduce it that it is best to set it for 1 minute so the kids can see the fuse shorten and bomb explode otherwise they spend time wondering about what is going to happen, how loud it will be, etc. which is humorous but not productive. 

I used to have a several small timers in my room (from the DRA/PALS kits) that I used for centers which I always lost misplaced. Then I upgraded to the SMART Notebook timers which are also fabulous but SMART 11 often takes FOREVER to load on my computer and this is so quick and easy and it has been very effective especially with our technology centers. I love that it provides the time as well as a visual because let's be honest when we tell kids they have 30 minutes to work especially our littlest friends they don't have a clue how long or short that time really is.

 The fuse gets closer to the bomb as time passes and then eventually it explodes!

The sand flows from the top to bottom in this good old fashioned hourglass timer.

The rocket is another popular timer choice! 

Kids are fascinated with things "blowing up" so as you would guess the dynamite is another favorite.

I just found the swimmers and runners today but I am sure the kids will enjoy these ones as well!

Linoit with QR Codes

I <3 sticky notes (real and digital)! I have all sizes, shapes and shades of pink in my desk drawer, ColorNotes on my Droid, Stickies on my MacBook and Lino It which I will be blogging about today! Linoit.com is free but you do have to create an account. There is also a Lino It app for iThings (pads/pods).

So basically Lino It is an online interactive corkboard. You can post sticky notes, pictures, videos, links, etc. and it is an awesome collaboration tool. You can play with the settings to create a private or public board depending on what you want. It is a great tool for brainstorming!

Since I just blogged about QR Codes and asked you to share how YOU can or do already use QR Codes I thought this was a perfect time to share Lino It.  Go ahead, get your sticky on and post on my QR Code board.

Second Grade Chatter just blogged about Lino It and had some great classroom ideas so check out her post over here.

I know I'm breaking the "blogging rules" by posting a second time in one day BUT doesn't it all even out if I didn't post yesterday? Last week was so hard to post being back to school and I have a feeling this week will be no different. There is no tired like teacher tired!

Linky Parties

 I <3 linky parties and I just found The Teaching Blog Addict's Ultimate Linky Party Post! Now I am overwhelmed with linky parties. I'm sure I've admitted this before but I Google everything (literally EVERYTHING) which is how I came across this awesome post! Since it is also nearly impossible for me to make decisions and I am a little OCD I will link up with 3 today (everything I can control doing in 3s, I do, don't ask).

The second linky party is "What's your teacher-ism?" with Luckeyfrog's Lillypad ! This actually makes me laugh out loud because I can always tell my teacher-isms by what I hear my students saying to one another! This also makes me laugh because during my first year of teaching a parent of a very shy little girl came in with a list of "teacher-isms" that her daughter imitated while playing school with her dolls, little sister and friends. Apparently she had ME down perfectly! So some my teacher-isms are any phrase with the word "friends" attached to it, "Get it together!", "Seriously?!" I am sure there are more but I haven't been with kids yet this year so these are what I can recall from last year!

The third linky party is a Technology Tool LinkUp with Literacy and Laughter! While at a training with Chris Toy in August he introduced the group to socrative which is an awesome Web 2.0 tool that can be used with laptops, iPods, iPads or smart phones! Check out their intro video. It is free but you do need to create an account! I have not created a quiz with it yet but I cannot wait to put it to use in the classroom! I know a few middle school teachers at my school have asked for training on it so I am going to explore it more and will be doing a video blog on it later!

Stop and Go

As I am adjusting to my new position I have found that I am being bombarded by people with questions and problems who are expecting an instant fix or answer. They don't realize I have a to-do list one mile long and that they are #583. This became particularly frustrating today as I was attempting to create a staff Google Doc for an activity tomorrow. Every time I sat down to work or began typing my phone would ring, someone would walk in or my email would ping. While I love being able to help it took me triple the time to do something because of the stop and go.

Tonight as I was reflecting on my day and how I would handle this in my classroom! I realized that I never set the expectation for how teachers are supposed to communicate issues with me and I have instantly dropped what I was doing and helped them immediately. THIS is not a reality when school starts and students are the priority SO tonight I came up with a few solutions that I am going to present tomorrow!

If you are not familiar with Google Docs/Drive, you need to check them out. I am going to dedicate a separate post or several posts to Google Docs/Drive. My solution was to create a Tech Help Hotline! I made a Google Form that teachers can access by scanning a QR Code or the link on our staff technology page. The Google Form is easy to fill out on a computer or on an iThing (pod or pad). Google Form then puts all of the information into a spreadsheet which I can check daily and touch base with anyone who had a question, problem or idea! To provide choice (just like I would do in my classroom) I did a second option using Speakpipe. Speakpipe is an online voicemail service where anyone can record a message which is then sent to your email. Brilliant? I think it is brilliant and I am super excited about this. I added a speakpipe here in case you want to leave me a voicemail! I would LOVE it! The only problem with speak pipe is that it does not work with the iPod/iPad because of the lack of Adobe Reader (BOOO!) so I provided the link on the poster as well as on the staff technology page. Of course option 3 is good old trusty email which is always safe!

Overload + Ms. Jones 100 Follower Giveaway

I spent the day at a technology professional development which was presented by three lovely ladies from ISTE. From start to finish they modeled a true digital classroom through the use of a wikispace, Google Docs, collaborative learning and interactive/engaging teaching! It was amazing to see how engaged tech leaders were in the day. My brain is going in a million different directions and I am having a hard time pinpointing one idea to talk about and there were so many things that resonated with me.

One of the things that stuck with me most is the idea of personal learning networks (plns) and seeking/creating our own professional development in the digital age.  My new buddy Alex, over at The School Potato encouraged me to start this blog and I initially did it for "fun"! When I first started to post, began stalking following several blogs, getting RSS Feed in Google Reader, "liking" Facebook pages, following pages on Pinterest, etc. my pln was growing and growing but I hadn't really thought of in that way! Today they helped me to construct that thinking! Here is the video that they shared with us.

I have so many more reflections and ah*has from the day but I won't bore you with all that! I promised an awesome Web 2.0 tool last night and I won't let you down! Signupgenius is an amazing little timesaver. Have you ever had parents sign up to donate something to the class or for a conference at the beginning of the year and then you have to send a reminder or they forget to come or you have to copy the schedule for everyone. What about snacks for a party? What about classroom volunteers? How about those that didn't sign up and you try to send options and end up with duplicates? What types of things do you have parents "sign-up" for? Our school has TONS of things so this little bugger is going to be great! Signupgenius is a FREE site but it does require you to sign up for an account. The website is very easy to navigate and offers a little tutorial on the side. It is a simple click through and my friend Alex at The School Potato has already set up her account and a sign up on her own after I merely mentioned the site. I created two sign ups and already have people signed up (it's that easy)!!! For mentor meetings we would like our "old" teachers to present something they feel that would be beneficial to new teachers or that they are experts at so I created a sign-up for that! We have monthly mentor meetings and food makes any meeting better so I created a sign up for everyone to chip in throughout the year by bringing a snack or drink! Here is a screen shot (I cut it off as not to share their last names)! The best part of signupgenius... it sends you an email when someone signs up AND sends them a reminder two days before the event! 

I know this post is getting LONG and I still have so much to say but I am going to wrap up with a 100 Follower Giveaway over at Ms. Jones Junction (maybe the name had something to do it haha)! She is new to blogging and has already reached OVER 100 followers...CONGRATS!!! She has TONS of awesome giveaways including your choice of a $25 Silhouette Cameo Gift Card, or a $25 Silhouette Cameo Download Store Card, or a $25 Teachers Notebook Gift Certificate or a $25 Teacher's Pay Teacher's Gift Certificate, or a Scotch Laminator! Just click her button below to check out her bloc and enter the giveaway!!!

Happy Sunday friends! I wanted to show you an awesome new animation site that I found called PowToon. I have never worked with animation before and I wasn't sure where to start butI knew I wanted to explore this FREE Web 2.0 tool so of course I hit up Google and Youtube! To be quite honest with you I consult Google and Youtube for JUST ABOUT EVERYTHING (no seriously)! I found this intro which helped me a lot! I created my first PowToon for our new teachers using one of the basic templates. I had so much fun and it was extremely easy to use after I figured out the buttons. There were lots of graphics (people, props, image holders and makers). Once I finished my movie I figured it would be hard to share or save the video clip but I was pleasantly surprise and it was as easy as a click of a button! You can upload to YouTube, share on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, blogger, by email or get the embed code!!!

I've already watched 3 other tutorials on YouTube to figure out what ELSE I can do! Now I am excited to add voice or music and see if I can make my people move or actually be animated (i.e. stand up from sitting down, walk, etc.)! I know my kids will figure out about one million ways to use this and will also become more proficient than me in .02 seconds!

Dropbox

I am was the teacher with 13 flash drives! I started with one but I quickly filled it and then the next and the next and the next! I even got fancy by organizing all of my documents then color coding and labeling them. I never thought about what would happen if I lost one. I am famous for putting something down and not always being able to locate it, especially keys, my work badge and flash drives. After some searching and a little panic I am usually able to put my fingers on whatever I am looking for but one crisp fall day I LOST three flash drives (social studies, science and math). Each flash drive had SMART Board lessons, PowerPoints, warm-up activities, centers, worksheets, etc. Most of the documents had been emailed to my teammates at one point or another or saved on my desktop or in a folder but locating them was NOT easy!

My AP recommended I look into Dropbox and it was the BEST idea to date! ALL of my files are saved in the "cloud" essentially and can be accessed from anywhere! Dropbox works on my hP laptop, my MacBook Air and my iPads!

You can download Dropbox for free and it works just like any other folder on your computer. It is e*a*s*y to use and a real life saver. Now all of my documents are safe if I should lose my flash drives. When I took the ITRT position my teammate was panicked because I had all of the first grade files! She is not tech-savvy but I assured her that Dropbox would be our solution! I am able to share all of my folders with her and she can sleep easy haha! She has installed it and started using it on her own! I gave her a quick tutorial the other day and she is up and running!

Certificate Street

We all know that students love getting certificates and I found an A-W-E-S-O-M-E site called Certificate Street. There are tons of templates not only for education but also sports, special occassions, business, relationships and even blank certificates for your own custimization. You can browse the categories or search for a specific award type (reading, math, attitude, etc.). When you find a template you like all you have to do is download the editable PDF and you are all set! Once it is downloaded you are able to type the students name, date and even your name (no more signing 26 certificates, what?!)! The graphics are cute and I know students will love receiving these. Your wallet will also appreciate this cost effective reward :)!

remind101 and TodaysMeet

Long gone are notes apparently, check out this awesome technology tool!!!

Since *most* if not all of my middle school students will have cell phones, smart phones I thought this would be a great way to keep them up to date in addition to our class site! You could definitely use this with parents too!

 

It's called remind101. It's totally free and easy to use. You can visit the website here or download the app here. All you have to do is provide an email address to sign up for an account. Then you can begin inviting students or parents to basically subscribe to get your texts and/or emails. Students/parents just send a message to a specific number with a message @something and tada they are subscribed to get your texts/emails. You type your message, press send and off your message goes to anyone who has subscribed. You can even delay when they message is sent. The app is just as awesome and as easy to use as the website. Download, sign in and send your messages. The site even provides PDF directions for you, how awesome is this?

Oh the best part, there isn't a reply and students/parents will NEVER actually have your cell phone number!

I set up my account and tested it with my phone! It works perfectly and I can't wait to start using it with my Geek Squad class! I am sure they will love it, how cool will it be for them to get texts from their teacher?

This is another "cool" website tool for use with older students. You can create a "chatroom" at Today's Meet. Just send students the tiny url and they can chat away in a safe environment where everything is monitored. One of the best things about it is that you don't need a username or a password to set up your rooms. Students just enter their first name to join and the chatting begins. Blogs are great but it's always good to switch things up a bit.

Class Dojo

While checking out some other technology blogs I found this awesome classroom management tool over at Technology in High Heels. The site is called Class Dojo. I think it would be an awesome tool for early elementary students although it says up to 8th grade I think. It is awesome behavior management, student motivation and a great way to save behavior data with just a simple click. The site is FREE and super easy to set up. I created a class of "teachers" just to see how it worked and I was really impressed. You can award students points for positive behaviors and subtract points for negative behaviors. There is a bank of common behaviors but you have the ability to change those or add more of your own. You can even print OR email "report cards" which would be a great thing to send home or to have handy at a conference. Let me know what you think? Is this something you could see yourself using in your classroom? What grade do you teach?