Twitter Tuesday - October 4th

A few tweets that caught my eye this past week:

Voicethread in ELA Classrooms

• RT @Write_To_Learn: See how you can incorporate VoiceThread into reading and writing exercises in your classroom. http://t.co/Z9Z8TTsM #edtech #edchat
  http://write-to-learn.tumblr.com/

Collaboration Tools:

Twitter:

Educational Hashtags to know about in Twitter:

• @JeffreyGoetz: RT @web20classroom: RT @tomwhitby: The A-Z Dictionary of Educational Twitter Hashtags #Edchat
  http://edudemic.com/2011/10/twitter-hashtag-dictionary/

 Professional Development through Twitter: Edchat

• CT_EventsCT_Events: RT @dmp_gctc: Teachers Teaching Teachers, on Twitter: Q&A on Edchats via @KSchulten #edchat #education #edtech
  http://learning.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/09/30/teachers-teaching-teachers-on-twitter-q-and-a-on-edchats/

Information for Teachers getting started on Twitter 

• billselakbillselak: RT @Michelle_Horst: Great resources for new teachers to Twitter...how to start your PLN - via @adaptivelearnin #ntchat #elemchat #edchat
  http://adaptivelearnin.wordpress.com/2011/09/30/why-teachers-should-join-twitter-what-i-have-learned-as-a-twitter-newbie/

Blogs in the Classroom:

An Example of how to get kids writing for real-world audiences

• analuisalozano: RT @gret: Please leave my 5th graders some comments on their blogs! #edchat #comments4kids #eltchat #edtech #elemchat
  http://kidblog.org/ourbloggingadventure/

 




 

Twitter Tuesdays - September 27th

Video Resources:

YouTube Channel for Teachers:

@pseudotechgeek: RT @mheducation: YouTube goes live with new channel for #teachers: ~by @tinabarseghian #edtech  http://www.youtube.com/teachers

Another Good Professional Development Website is Teaching Channel:http://www.teachingchannel.org - a web site dediecated to bringing you good teaching videos to help you grow professionally

 Khan Academy - instructional videos in math, science and the humanities.   Excellent videos to post on your website for reteaching opportunities or to shos in class so kids can hear and see it a different way.

@educationweek: Blog: Learning Math the Khan Academy Way #edtech
http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/DigitalEducation/2011/09/elearning_update_learning_the.html
http://www.khanacademy.org/

Good Technology Modeling for Students:

Ideas on Way to be a good Technology Role Model

RT @pschoolsystems: 20 Everyday Ways to Model Technology Use for Students http://bit.ly/n6BmKv #edchat #edtech
http://www.edutopia.org/blog/20-ways-model-technology-students-heather-wolpert-gawron

 Digital Storytelling:

 28 Digital Storytelling Tools for Educators

 RT @missnoor28: Digital #Storytelling Tools for Educators | @scoopit http://j.mp/pAUCVQ #edtech #edchat
http://www.scoop.it/t/the-best-of-storytelling/p/388615148/digital-storytelling-tools-for-educators

 

 

Twitter Tuesday - September 20th

Bloom's Taxonomy

Webtool divided out by Bloom's taxonomy - great resource to find new tools

@shannonmmiller and @mrplough07-Tools for Teaching Students at the Top of Bloom's Taxonomy: https://docs.google.com/present/view?id=dhsgv8zv_4143np48dg

Digital Storytelling Tools

@cossie29: Updated- Digital Storytelling Tools on @scoopit So many fantastic tools out there to encourage a passion for writing!  http://www.scoop.it/t/digital-storytelling-tools

QR Codes in the Classroom

@SadlierSchool: Using QR Codes in the Classroom via @edutopia http://t.co/qFeULjNj #edchat #edtech @dgrice @rjacklin @dawblack :)
http://www.edutopia.org/blog/qr-codes-education-mary-beth-hertz?utm_source=housead&utm_medium=post&utm_content=blog&utm_campaign=qrcodesinclassroom

Flipped Classroom -

Firsthand accounts of teaching in a flipped classrom.

@haikulearning: 7 Stories from Educators About Teaching in the Flipped Classroom (via Emerging Ed Tech) http://t.co/9xO5dXlT #edtech  http://www.emergingedtech.com/2011/09/7-stories-from-educators-about-teaching-in-the-flipped-classroom/

A great infographic explaining what a flipped classroom is and how it developed.

subatomicdoc: The Flipped Classroom [Infographic] via @Knewton #meded #edtech  http://www.knewton.com/flipped-classroom/

Twitter Tuesdays - September 13th

Resources and Ideas:  Contains many useful websites and tips for educators using technology.  Recent posts include google docs tips, September 11^th resources, and 3-D tours of the solar system. http://www.freetech4teachers.com/

@IanBurley31  - Wow, what a great tech resource, of tech resources!! http://www.freetech4teachers.com/ #edtech #educhat #soudhs

Library of Congress –This is a list of 10 fun things you can do at their website including virtual tours, trivia games, podcasts, webcasts, photos , science mysteries,  and catch online e3xhibits.  http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/10-fun-learning-library-congress-online/

@sheconsulting  10 Things U Can Do 4 Fun & Learning On The Library Of Congress Online http://zite.to/p1pPnM via @Zite RT @nmhs_principal #edu #edtech

StudyJams – these contain Math and Science concepts that students can explore with video, explanation slides and check for understanding opportunities.  These are from scholastic and are well done!   Some may be too basic, but many are appropriate for middle school.  http://studyjams.scholastic.com

@MsThomas79 Fractions: Here is the video from Scholastic’s Study Jams we viewed in class today and some inte... http://bit.ly/orieuN #edchat #edtech

Storybird – students can publish their writings or create books to explain a concept with Storybird.  This blog post explores ways two teachers have incorporated this tools into their teaching.  http://teachingwithsoul.wordpress.com/2011/09/09/new-teacher-boot-camp-fall-re-bootweek-3-using-storybird-ntchat/

@gret New Teacher Boot Camp Fall Re-Boot:Week 3 Using Storybird #ntchat by @teachingwthsoul http://j.mp/o9phbS #edchat

YouTube – “Last month, 16 teachers from across the country got together at Google’s Seattle office for the YouTube Teachers Studio — a sort of bootcamp to learn how to best use YouTube in the classroom.”  Contains 5 great videos that show what YouTube has to offer and why these types of videos are worth using.  http://mindshift.kqed.org/2011/09/five-reasons-why-youtube-rocks-the-classroom/

@stem_high  5 reasons to use YouTube in the classroom 5 reasons to use YouTube in the classroom - http://sbne.ws/r/8Usy #edtech #edchat

Wikispaces – New tool – set up projects in your wiki – worth taking a second look at wikispaces for use with students!  http://blog.wikispaces.com/2011/08/projects-a-better-way-to-work-in-classroom-groups.html

@geraldaungst I discovered Projects in my wiki today and am psyched! http://bit.ly/pvvm01 Brilliant! Thank you @wikispaces!

Twitter Tuesday - Sept. 6th

Hashtags make twitter searchable.  They begin with the pound sign and are followed by text – ex. #tgif.   Anyone can create and add a hashtags to their tweet.  Conferences will designate a hashtag for their attendees to use so others attending the conference can keep up with the back channel conversations on twitter.    You don’t have to be a part of twitter to search for hashtags – just go to twitter.com and enter in the hashtag to search for any posts that contain that tag.  Some of my favorite hashtags to search for educational resources are #edchat and #edtech.

Here are a few articles that caught my attention on twitter this week.

 

Cell Phones –Texting Help

Remind 101:  A texting Service for Teachers

@laurieyingling: Remind101 - safely text message students and stay in touch with parents #edtech via @remind101
http://remind101.com/
Students and parents can sign up to receive text messages from the teacher.  Teachers never see the kids’ numbers and the kids never see the teacher’s numbers.  Think of this as another way to do a newsflash, especially fi you don’t use teacherweb.   And it is free!

 

Technology Websites:

VoiceThread
@mr_avery: The unveiling of my brand new blog, Tech Tutorials and the first post about how to use VoiceThread! #edchat #6thchat
http://techtutorials.edublogs.org/2011/08/31/voicethread/
This blog explains Voicethread, gives video tutorials as well as examples and ideas for classroom integration.

Educational Articles

 

Scienctific America Podcast:  Drawing Helps Students Learn

@sciam Doodles And Drawings Help Cement Concepts #EdChat #SciChat
http://www.scientificamerican.com/podcast/episode.cfm?id=doodles-and-drawings-help-cement-co-11-08-29
60 Second podcast linking drawing to better comprehension in students

Several Ways To Help Students Become Better Listeners – an article by Larry Ferlazzo.
@tcbird1: Response: Several Ways To Help Students Become Better Listeners #edchat #elemchat http://blogs.edweek.org/teachers/classroom_qa_with_larry_ferlazzo/2011/08/response_several_ways_to_help_students_become_better_listeners.html?cmp=ENL-TU-NEWS1

45 Ideas for Class Blog Posts
@web20classroom: Over 45 Ideas For Class Blog Posts: #edtech
http://edte.ch/blog/2010/09/25/10-ideas-for-class-blog-posts/
a good list of ways to put more life into your class blog and/or website.

Facebook and Summarization

The difference between using twitter and facebook is that Facebook statuses can be longer than 140 characters.  But keep in mind that facebook statuses should not be paragraphs of information.    Facebook posts are written to express your thoughts or opinions to you friends so a post should not read as if it is a report written for your teacher.  Most students have a facebook account or have at least seen or heard of facebook.  While using facebook is not advisable, you can take advantage of it's draw to motivate students in your classroom.  This can be done with one computer and a projector or with multiple computers.

 Here are some ideas to have students summarize with using facebook in mind:

• Write a status update from a historical perspective or from the perspective or a character in the novel or an element in science


• What would Columbus have posted after landing in the New World?


• What would Robert E Lee’s posts been during the Civil War?


• What would Peeta have posted after the first day in the Hunger Games?

 Other ideas using facebook:

• Respond to a status update – Show a sample status update on the board and have the students respond to it from different points of view:
  
  
  
  • Read King George’s status update after the Boston Tea Party – how would Samuel Adams have responded?
  
  
  
  


• RolePlay - have students/classes assume different characters and interact with each other in a facebook like environment such as edmodo - or in a forum within moodle.

Ways to play this out in the classroom:

•  
  
  
  
  • Roles assigned to each class period - As a class look at the postings on the screen and decide the best response
  
  
  • Roles assigned to different teachers  - Interact with different classrooms as a class - partner with teacher who teaches your same grade level/subject in the building or find classes outside of the building who will assume a character adn interact with your classes
  
  
  • break the class into groups and have the groups assume a character and decide together how to interact
  
  
  • Roles assigned to different students
  
  
  
  

 

Resources to make this happen:

• Create a non-interactive fake facebook wall for a character http://myfakewall.com/


•  Secure Social Networking Site for schools - http://www.edmodo.com/ - Create your own facebook like environment and have kids use the characters name as theirs to make posts.

Twitter and Summary - Part 2

So yesterday I shared the idea of using 140 characters or less to summarize on paper.   If you would like to continue this thought using technology here are a few ideas:

• If you want to create the look of a actual tweet check out:  http://www.classtools.net/twister/ - enter in the given info and it creates apage that looks similiar to an actual twitter page.  This could also be a great writing prompt.  have the Tweet posted on the screen and have students respond to the tweet. 


• If you have access to computers check out TodaysMeet:  http://www.todaysmeet.com/ - you can create a temporary chat room and have the students go to the url and enter their summary in the chatroom.  each response is limited to 140 characters.   This way students can see each other's messages.   You can decide if you want the chat room to last a few hours, a few days, a week all the way to a year.   No email address is required.  Chat rooms can be saved in transcript form to have a record of who said what.

Web Wandering Wednesday - Jan 5

This week's web Wandering Wednesday is focusing in on a few maps that track diseases:

Google Flu Trends:  Google tracks who is searching for information about the flu and then maps that information to estimate where the flu is hitting around the world.   Click on the United States and you can see more information about each state.

Health Map - health map brings together information from various resources to try to pinpoint outbreaks of infectious diseases around the world.  You can hover your mouse over a pin on the map and see what disease is currently affecting the area and any relevant information on it including links to the sources of the information.

Web Wandering Wednesday - Apps

WolframAlpha - http://www.wolframalpha.com/ -  describes itslef as " the world's first and only computational knowledge engine."  Enter in a location and learn the population, elevation, unemployment rate, etc for the area.   Enter in a math problem and see the solutions appear.  The help page give examples of searches to try.  This is also available as an ap for iPhones and Androids, so download the ap on the school iPod Touch for a good resource for students.

While we are on the subject of  apps...

Top 50 Free Education Apps:  http://www.appstoreapps.com/top-50-free-education-apps/ - pulled from iTunes - this site lists the best/most popular free apps for education.   Some seem a little more gamey than educational, but the list is worth a look.

Droid does Education - http://www.iste.org/connect/iste-connects/blog-detail/10-03-24/Droid_Does_Education_Android_Applications_for_Teachers_and_Learners.aspx - ISTE compiled a list of the best android apps for education.

Free Education Apps for Android OS - http://www.mguhlin.org/2010/07/free-education-apps-for-android-os.html - this list is broken into grade levels.

What are you favorite sites and apps?

Wallwisher in the Classroom

I started to title this blog post - A New Way to Brainstorm - but then I realized that Wall Wisher offers so much more than that.

Wallwisher is a free internet application that allows you to build a wall that then you or you and others can post notes on.   To build a wall you will need to log in with an email account but an email account is not needed to post notes on that wall.  Good news for those of us working with students under the age of 14.    Privacy levels can be set for each wall and posts can be moderated.

Once a wall is built there are a number of ways to distribute or share your wall.  Walls can be embedded into a webpage, blog or wiki.  You can link directly to the wall for users to go straight there.  It also provides an RSS feed so walls can be monitored through your RSS readers, such as iGoogle.

As I started looking for how others were using this tool I found the ideas fit into a few categories.  (This was easy to do as I took the ideas that were posted on the wall and started moving them around to create the groups!)

• Brainstorming/ Idea Gathering


• Homepages - a place to gather resources, post announcements, leave messages, provide homework help, etc.


• Skill building - note-taking, vocabulary, sorting and summarization work wonderfully on this.


• Portfolios of Student Work - either as a class or an individual.

I created a wall with all the ideas of classroom use I have found by searching the web and have embedded the wall below.  Please feel free to add to it!

Get Started:

The best way to learn to use this tool is to jump in and get started!

Go to my wallwisher sandbox and make your first post: http://www.wallwisher.com/wall/RobinySandbox

Or go to: http://www.wallwisher.com - log in and build your first wall.

Please share your ideas for wallwisher or the walls you build!

Glogster - Create an Interactive Poster

Making a poster, creating a model, or drawing a picture all help increase activity in the brain by having students take information in one form and transform it into another. Classroom Instruction that Works indicates that using nonlinguistic representations achieved a 27 percentile gain  As a history teacher I also found those assignments more enjoyable to grade than essays where they students copied information from books and online resources without ever thinking about what they were writing.

So how to make use of this technique using technology?  One way is Glogster.

What is Glogster EDU?

Glogster EDU is the educational version of the Glogster site.  Teachers and students can design interactive posters that incorporate artwork, videos, music, links to other websites, wordles, etc.

Sample Math Glog:

Teachers are given 100 free student accounts to allow students to create their own glogs under the teacher's account.  User names and passwords are automatically generated and sent to the teacher's account.

Finished products can be embedded into wikis, webpages, or teacherweb sites using the provided html embed code.  You can also link to the glog itself.

The site provides background templates and frames to get you started in all sorts of themes.

See this glog on Glogster EDU for more info: http://thilby.edu.glogster.com/glogsteredu/

(Warning - make sure you are using the EDU version for your students.  Glogs found on the original site may not be suitable for all audiences.)

Getting Started:

If you are ready to try this resource out, go to http://edu.glogster.com/register/ and register for an account.

For a step by step tutorial check out - Glogster Tutorial Page - by Traci Blazosky

Uses in the Classroom:

• Create a glog as the homepage for a class project with all the info.


• Using a projector use the glog as a the home base for your lesson or discussion in class.


• replace traditional poster board projects with a glog


• group images together to set the tone for a historical unit or a novel's setting


• gather all the notes together for a math concept so the formulas and examples are all in one place.


• Create a glog to replace a research paper. (If they are copying all the info from online anyway - why not show them how to link to those sources and write a summary that introduces the link?)

Sample Glog for To Kill a Mockingbird:

Resources:

• Hooked on Glogster by Brenda Dyck

Collaboration Beyond the School Walls

I was reading a friend's blog recently, explaining how to make good use of your summer.  One of the ideas was to explore projects with other schools in other areas.  That started me thinking - telecollaboration has been around for a while, but not until recently has it been made so easy.  Connecting with other schools is easy with the aide of wikis, blogs, email, skype, etc.  Our students are already linking with all sorts of people around the globe through facebook, myspace, gaming sites, etc.  Some of this is good and some not so good.  But the idea of linking and working with other groups is an irristeable hook  for our already connected students.

So how do you do it and where do you begin?  Start with asking yourself a few questions:

• What do you hope to gain through the project? 


• What learning is going to take place? 


• Is approaching the subject matter this way going to add to what students need to learn or just distract from it?


• Do you have the time, support, and equipment needed to make it happen?

Here are a few good links to get you started. 

• About Telecollaborative Projects -  a basic overview of telecollaboration


• Telecollaborate! -step by step details on how to plan, create and implement a project


• Links to Current Projects - lists various running projects.  Some are closed for the year, but a good place when looking for ideas.


• 2Learn - Requires a registration to gain access to project resources and tools.


• ePals- Emailing another classroom through epals is a good starting point

Do you have any ideas?  Anything holding you back?

Web Wandering Wednesdays - May 7 -Math

Math Web Sites:

Math Tips - They have taken the most missed TAKS questions from last year's 8th grade test and created teaching videos to show how to work those type of problems.

Decatur Intermediate Math Videos - Decatur teachers took the 5th and 6th grade released math TAKS and posted short videos on how to complete each problem.  These videos are available for anyone to use free of charge.

 Math Solutions - This web site contains math lessons broken into grade areas.  Each lesson contains step by step directions and student samples.  Good ideas when looking for a different way to teach.  Not all lessons are for all grade levels so be sure to verify this info.

Tulyn - Math Video Help - you have to create a free account to see the videos uninterrupted, but the site does contain short video clips on all sorts of math problems at all levels.  Might be a great resource for kids working at home to include a link to a similar problem.

 Math Interactives - lessons for 6-12 grade

Just for Fun:  Don't you wish all students took math this seriously:

 

Web Wandering Wednesdays - April 30

Inspiration is a wonderful tool to have students map out ideas, stories, events, etc.  The downside is that Inspiration software is tied to a computer that it is loaded on and students cannot continue their work at home, and it is nearly impossible to work on it as a team.  This week's WWW are online mapping sites that are free and easy to use:

Bubbl.us - http://bubbl.us/edit.php - online webbing tool - Create an account and the program will save your webs and allow you to go between your saved files.  You can also share out your online webs so other can just view them, or so everyone has a right to edit them.  Can you see the possibilities of a class web on something that students could add to or learn from at any time and anywhere?

MindMeister - http://www.mindmeister.com/ - another online mapping tool - From their web site: "Users can create, manage and share mind maps online and access them anytime, from anywhere. In brainstorming mode, fellow MindMeisters from around the world (or just in different rooms) can simultaneously work on the same mind map - and see each other's changes as they happen."

Web Wandering Wednesdays - April 23

It is that time of the year, when we all need to take a mental break from time to time. Here are a list of sites that can help take your mind off of the testing season and onto something completely different.

Digg.com
http://digg.com/ - Digg.com is a collection of web sites/stories/postings that other people have found interesting.  if you like something you can "digg" it and the more votes or diggs something gets the higher on the list it becomes.  Search by category or by most recent "dugg stories."  Very interesting stuff can be
found here.

Stumble Upon
http://www.stumbleupon.com/ - "StumbleUpon discovers web sites based on your interests, learns what you like and brings you more. Discover your web with StumbleUpon."  Organized more visually than Digg, but also has categories to break down what type of information you want.

LinkedIn
http://www.linkedin.com/ - Connect with people from your past.  The object of the game is to make as many connections as possible.  Actually the point of this website is to help you network with those you went to high school or  college with or worked with in the past.   I actually found my old college roommate here and found out what she is up to now.

Symmetry Lab
http://symmetrylab.com/machine/ - build machines and change what they do by adjusting friction, gravity, etc.  Okay - so maybe this is a little educational, but it is kinda fun as well.

Bonus:
Ellen and the Hula Chair - Need a laugh?  Watch and enjoy!

 

Del.icio.us - Social Bookmarking

or - How to Meet Friends and Influence People

With summer fast approaching (although not approaching soon enough) plans are already being made as to what people want to learn over the summer.  Most people have their favorite internet sites bookmarked on a computer and the question is how to access those sites from other computers to avoid having to find your resources again.

One solution is http://del.icio.us- It is a social bookmarking site where you can bookmark your favorite places and then have access to all of your links online by logging into your account from any internet connected computer. 

Web sites can be recalled by how you label or "tag" them.  Tags are key words that describe the site so later if you want to organize all your links to see what you tagged as "chemistry" you look on the right hand side column for your list of tags and click on chemistry.  Only those sites that you used that word for will appear.  The difference between that and using folders in Internet Explorer is that the sites can be filed under multiple "tags" and can be reorganized at any point by clicking on another tag.  Very flexible!




That is the basic function, but how can you make friends in delicious?   Delicious can also link you to people who are interested in the same things you are.  Once you bookmark a site, you can then see who else has bookmarked that site, and what else they have bookmarked.  If they have common interests you can add them to your network list and share internet sites you find with them and vice versa.   Once you have a friends list going, you can send them links that you think they might be interested in as well.

 

Getting Started:  Here are a few links to help you set up your account and to use Delicious to it's full extent.

• Step by Step Directions for Setting Up and Using Delicious


• 10 Ways to use Del.icio.us

Google Search Tricks

Google is a powerful search engine and can do so much more than just return websites that have the info you are looking for.  I thought I would find a few of those tricks and pass them along.

 8 Google Search Tricks:

1. Specialized Information Searches:

• Definitions: You can get a word defined in by using "define:warriors"


• Want to find food in a hurry?  Type in the type of food and the zip code or city and the closest business are returned in the results.  ex.  pizza 78664


• Weather:  find local weather by typing in weather and the city or zip code.

2. Restrict Information:

• Search Within a WebSite: If you put a word/term and then "site:" and then the domain name  you can conduct a search within that web site.  For example if you put "podcast site:robinstechtips.com"  you would be searching for podcasts within this website only.


• Search within a range of numbers.  Ex  BIll Cosby parenting 2007 2008  will return anything posted from Bill Cosby on parenting between 2007 and 2008

3. Calculator - Basic Math Operations: Type in a equation and google will do the math for you  ex. 12 + 34 - 56 * 7 / 8. 

• Functions include: + – * /


• Percentages  - % of


• Raise to the power of ^ or **  ex. 2^5 or 2**5


• Convert currency:  Enter the conversion you want Google to preform:  ex: currency of Mexico in USD or 40 USD in Euros

4. Filetype - Want to find pdf files, or just have powerpoints returned?  type in the search terms and add "filetype:ppt"

5. What Time is it?  Find out the time anywhere by asking "what time is it in Zimbobwe"

6. Track Flight Status:  No need to go to the airlines page - just type in the airline + Flight + flight number.  ex. Southwest Flight 805

7. Search for Related Terms - adding a ~ will opens results to terms that are related to the search word. ~education returns results with schools, universites, teachers, etc.

8. Phone Book - type in the name and city, state to return phone numbers

Not a Search Trick  - But did you know:  Google Maps now contains 360° views at the street level - Type in your address and look around your street. 

Do you have any favorite tricks in Google to share?

Resources used to prepare this list:

• http://www.googleguide.com/advanced_operators_reference.html


• http://lifehacker.com/339474/top-10-obscure-google-search-tricks


• http://www.google.com/help/features.html#calculator

Web Wandering Wednesdays - April 16

Need Pictures:

Comp Flight - http://compfight.com/

• What is it?  Searches Flickr for photos for the term you give it.  The results are returned on one page in thumbnail form instead of a list of images that you have to page through in Flickr.  Hold your mouse over an image and you can see the image resolution information. 


• What are applications for it in the classroom? -  Great if you need pictures for a presentation, but don't want to spend forever looking. 


• Tips:  Don't save from the results page -those images are thumbnails only and the resolution is VERY low.  Not kid friendly on the searches so be careful about terms and who is searching.

NARA on Google: http://video.google.com/nara.html

• What is It? - The National Archives has teamed up with Google Video to digitize it's file collection.  Includes footage from NASA, United Newsreels and Department of the Interior.


• What are the applications for the classroom?  Videos can be added to any presentation or be used in a teaching just as you would United Streaming.  Example: You can stream or dowload video from the past to show students what was happening when the novel you are reading was set.

Library of Congress Pictures on Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/library_of_congress/

• What is It?- The Library of Congress teamed up with Flickr earlier this year to make it's collection of photographs available.  You can search within this collection to find historical photos on sports, lifestyle or political events.


• What are the applications for the classroom?-  Anywhere you need pictures to illustrate a point being taught.  Great for Powerpoints, PhotoStory presentations, etc.

Timeline Software:

Mnemograph - http://mnemograph.com/ - Instructions: http://mnemograph.com/instructions/

• What is it?- Creates online timelines that are interactive.  Photos and text can be imported in.


• What are applications for it in the classroom? - 
  
  
  
  • Create a class timeline about
    
    
    
    • the novel being read
    
    
    • scientific discoveries
    
    
    • events in history.  - Example - American Civil War: http://mnemograph.com/app/viewer.php?uid=line_eacbe63816351cfcbe61f5bdb8fd8cb9
    
    
    
    
  
  
  • Add to it as you learn more.  
  
  
  • Compare two timelines together to see how events overlapped and may have influenced each other.
  
  
  
  

 XTimeline - http://www.xtimeline.com/

What is it?- Create your own online timelines or view those that have been created.

What are applications for it in the classroom? - 

Has pre-made timelines for viewing

Editors can be added to the timeline

Create a class time lines (see above)

Thanks to http://techchicktips.net/ and http://www.techedknow.com/ for sharing these resources!

Attention Ridgeview Middle School Subscrbers:  If you let me know you read this before I send it out to the campus, there are prizes for having subscribed!   Leave a comment about one of the resources, or send me an email to claim it.  Thanks!

Web Wandering Wednesdays - April 9th

This is the first installment in what I hope to be a weekly series of cool websites to check out.  I stumbled across this link today and I am totally hooked as to what it could do for teachers!

http://drop.io - Want a way for students to turn in files to you online?  Maybe a place where they can load their files and then access them later?  Drop.io is a free website that allows you to store up to 100MB of files online.  You can download all the files from the website as a zip file, or set the files to be deleted after a set period of time of non-use.  The program also has the ability to be added to a blog as a widget.  I have added it to the side bar of this blog, so check it out! 

One word of caution:  Students can see each other's work and can download each other's files for their own use.  That has good and bad features to it.  If you didn't want students to see what others have posted, consider hosting it through a blog and naming your box something out of the ordinary so students don't know where to go look.  (Ex.  Naming it MrsYoung or Young would be way too obvious!)   You also want to make sure that you are following AUP policies at all times!  So be careful of students names written as file names and on the documents themselves and don't make this a requirement.  I would be happy to talk this out and help set it up for anyone who would like to know more.

So what do you think?  Would you use it?  What would the downfalls be?  What are the advantages?