Symbaloo as iGoogle Replacement

As many of you probably know, Google will soon be getting rid of iGoogle.  This announcement leaves those who use and love having an iGoogle Home Page wondering what will come along that will take its place. On the blog Free Technology for Teachers, I found a post about using Symbaloo as that replacement. I created a free account for myself and started developing (what Symbaloo calls) a Webmix, which essentially is a collection of tiles that act as links to sites.  Not only was there a huge collection of these ready-made tiles, but you could also create your own tiles. You could even upload your own images to have as a visual reminder about what that site is or is used for.  Users can create webmixes for each subject they teach or for any subject they wished.  I would recommend that you go to symbaloo and create your own account.  Next, come back to this page on my site and click the View on Symbaloo:LRMS Teacher Webmix button located on the image below.  Then click the orange Add This Webmix button on the new window. This will allow you to use this ready-made webmix that includes some of the links you might use frequently.  You can then edit it to suit your own needs by adding and removing tiles. 

Socrative

Effective teachers develop and utilize online formative and summative assessments to check for understanding inside and outside of the classroom. Socrative is a smart, engaging, and FREE online student response system.  What makes Socrative different from other polling sites is its ability to be utilized on any device with an internet connection.  That means students can access it on laptops, tablets, or smart phones.  Teachers can ask oral questions and students reply using their devices.  Teachers can create online quizzes or tests, and when students complete them, graded results can be downloaded and viewed on a spreadsheet.  See how Socrative can help you get immediate feedback about what your students know and understand which will help you know where to go next with your instruction.

Tagxedo: Customized Word Clouds

You have probably seen examples of word clouds created in Wordle where a piece of text is entered and then a word cloud is created where word size is proportional to its frequency in the text.  Tagxedo has a similar function but provides more customization.  For example, one could choose from several different built-in shapes or even upload their own image to have there word cloud in that shape.  Look below and see my first try at Tagxedo where I used an image of myself (although one would never know it was me.)  You can also customized the color scheme and simply use text from a website by entering the url of the page, or one could even type directly in a text box and the word cloud would be created using that text.  A possible use of Tagxedo at the beginning of the year would be to have students take a picture of their profile and then either write paragraphs about themselves or enter words that describe them and the things that they like and the word clouds could be in the shape of their profile, printed, and hung in the hall or on a bulletin board as a "getting to know you" artifact.

WeGiveBooks.org

So as I was diligently working, searching for resources to put on a Moodle course on Ancient Egypt via Nettrekker, I came across a site that had a great book (History Dudes: Ancient Egyptians) that could be read online. WeGiveBooks.org provides access to children's books that can be accessed and read online for free. There is also the hope on their part that you will make a donation, or get involved with an organization that supports the spread of literacy. Here is a description from their site: We Give Books is a new digital initiative that enables anyone with access to the Internet to put books in the hands of children who don't have them, simply by reading online.  We Give Books combines the joy of reading with the power of helping others, providing a platform for caregivers and educators to inspire children to become lifelong readers and lifelong givers.  We Give Books also helps some of the world's best, most inspiring, literacy organizations by spreading the word about their great work and by providing books to the young people these organizations support.

BitStrips

The Spanish teacher at my school asked me to look into BitStrips as a possible tool for students to use while she taught the vocabulary for parts of the body and articles of clothing to her students.  I did a little exploring and was really impressed.    Once users create a free account for themselves they can start right away creating comic strips using and avatar and or characters they create themselves, or utilizing the many characters, settings, and objects available at the BitStrips site.  Of course, users can add dialogue bubbles, but they can also add text boxes, whispering and shouting bubbles. What sets this online comic creating tool apart from others is that users can not only create their own characters, but they can also change their positions. Notice in the sample to the left that I created, that my avatar is pointing to the board.  I think one of the downfalls of ComicLife is that it only utilizes the pictures one has taken or downloaded and does not have tools for creating characters or scenes. I would recommend that students add the images or scenes you create on BitStrips to their iPhoto library and put them into a Comic Life strip.  Below is a strip set I created to show how BitStrips could be used for showing examples of figurative language.

Web2.0 Advent Calendar

A few weeks ago I was skimming through my Google Reader app and stumbled upon a Web 2.0 Advent Calendar created by iLearn Technology.   Advent calendars are a fun way to reveal information and “surprises” that users can look forward to each day in December leading up to Christmas. I decided to create my own using the same web site creation tool that iLearn Technology used, wix.com.  So feel free to view and bookmark whatever you find valuable.  Happy Holidays!

Quizbreak

QuizBreak is one of the many apps that can be found and used on the Rich Internet Applications for Language Learning site.  QuizBreak allows you to create an online Jeopardy-style game that can be used to  review material prior to an assessment. Not only can you put in your own questions and answers, but you can also add audio and images to your questions/answers. Once you set up an account and verify it through an email link, you can start to create your own QuizBreak games. Although intended for language learning, one could use this tool to review material for just about any subject. My only criticism of this site is that it would be nice if this site would allow you to search for games already created by others, like Quizlet lets you do.  The link below will take you to a game I created for basic Spanish.
http://clear.msu.edu/quizbreak/play.php?board=45145-1322492788

Word Dynamo

Created by the good people at Dictionary.com, Word Dynamo is a great site for expanding one's vocabulary.  Users can answer ten questions and Word Dynamo will estimate the number of words they know. This customizes the level at which the user starts a 20-level vocabulary learning game.  Users can also search through Word Dynamo for specific types of words they need to learn or for a grade span level of words.  Students can also create their own sets of words and definitions.  There are also a variety of ways to learn these vocabulary words ranging from matching to crossword puzzles.  This would be a great site for students to go to when they are finished with their work early.   http://dynamo.dictionary.com/

Making Online Assessments Using Google Forms

I have a training this week for teachers at Lake Region Middle School on how to create Online Assessments.  Thought I would try my hand at embedding a Google Presentation into my blog so that teachers can refer back to this should they forget how to do it.

Writing Prompts Blog

Someone has created a wonderful Tumblr blog that provides users with excellent writing prompts.  The prompts (currently there are about 250 of them) each include an image and some text.  These prompts are a great way to get the creative juices flowing for your middle schoolers.  These prompts can be displayed on a projector or pasted on to a Google Doc for students to work with.

Thinking Blocks

Thinking Blocks is a great site for Elementary and Middle School Math students that provides interactive templates in which learners use brightly colored blocks to model and solve problems. As students work through the problems they are provided with feedback as to whether or not they are using the correct sequence to solve each problem.Thinking Blocks is a suite of learning tools designed to help students solve math word problems accurately and efficiently. Using brightly colored blocks, students model mathematical relationships and identify known and unknown quantities. The model provides students with a powerful image that organizes information and simplifies the problem solving process. By modeling increasingly complex word problems, students develop strong reasoning skills which will facilitate the transition from arithmetic to algebra.(from the Thinking Blocks site)

Constitution Day Activities

Constitution Week is soon upon us.  With that in mind, you may wish to check out the Constitution Day activities that Weekly Reader has made available.  The Law of the Land provides learners with activities about the Constitution, Bill of Rights, Framers, a time line, a Game and other resources.  No sign up or membership required.

StudyJams

So, it's mid August and I have resigned myself to the fact that my summer is nearly over.  As it has every August for the last 20 years (yes, I said 20) my mind starts to think about the upcoming school year and I start to get back into gear.  After a few minutes of going through the hundreds of articles I've ignored in my Google Reader account, an came across StudyJams.   This site created by Scholastic provides students with videos and songs that help them learn various topics in science and math.  The videos provide review at the end and, in some cases, the opportunity to practice the skill (in the case of math.) The videos are high quality and memorable.  They are also FREE!!! There is no login. No need to sign up.  I would say that this site would be appropriate for 3rd to 7th grade students. Not to be a "the glass is half full" type, but I do wish that scholastic provided an embed code for their StudyJams so that teachers could embed the videos directly on to their web sites, blogs, wikis, or Moodle courses. 

Go Animate

I just learned about "Go Animate" while at our annual Summer Technology Institute.  Go Animate is a wonderful Web 2.0 tool that allows users to create animated videos using various pre-made elements or their own.  This could be a great way for teachers to introduce a new topic or material or for students to show what they know about a topic.  This would be an excellent tool for students to use for book reports or presentations.

Below is my first attempt.

GoAnimate.com: The First Day by ryan.palmer

Like it? Create your own at GoAnimate.com. It's free and fun!

Teacher Zone Math Video Tutorials

Teacher Zone is a collection of more than 1,000 math video tutorials created by Ten Marks. Teacher Zone covers a wide range of math skills from third grade to high school, including Algebra and Geometry. All of the videos are hosted on YouTube, but by registering with Teacher Zone, you have access to all of the videos by category and/or grade level. Like YouTube, you can copy the embed code to place on your website, online course, blog, or wiki. You also have some good choices when it comes to bookmarking the videos as well. If your school blocks YouTube videos, Teacher Zone provides access to these tutorials in a secondary format that is not as likely to be blocked by your school filter.