Kahn!

Kahn Academy is a web site that started out with math tutorial videos. Now it also has self-paced exercises where students can navigate a "knowledge map" and earn points and badges. Parents and teachers can even sign up and be a coach. It would a great enrichment tool for fourth grade students and up.

Tons of Tools

Many of the productivity tools I have talked about here can be found at Kevin Honeycutt's Learning Tools webpage, along with hundreds more. Categories include Create Books, Collaborative Spaces, Creativity, Cite Your Sources, Ignite Writing, and Interactive Whiteboard Resources. Once the end of year craziness is done, this will be a great webpage to browse through!

Image Swirl

Google Image Swirl is a new way to search for images and view the results. Click on an image you like, and it will show you similar matches so you can find the best one. It is still in the experimental stage, so you can't find everything on it, but it is fun to use!

http://goo.gl/

Do you have a long web address you are planning to put onto paper? There are many shorteners out there to make it easier for you and whoever you are sending the link to. One of those options is the Google URL Shortener. Copy and paste a long address into the box and Google will give a short address that points to the same spot. Besides making it easier for people to get to the web page, it also keeps track of how many times people use the shortened address. I recommend only using it if you are distributing the address on paper. If you are emailing, keep the address long so people can see where they are going.

It's a Lulu!

Lulu is a great site where you can create and order books and other things. Want to make some extra money for your classroom? Create a class book, let parents know about it, and watch the money role in. You can create books with recipes, stories, pictures, poems, etc. They even let you create calendars.

Google Shared Spaces

In an earlier post I showed how you can set up a document where students can add and edit text together from different computers using Etherpad. What if you want them to do something more than text? Then Google Shared Spaces is your site! You can create a drawing pad, Sudoku game, diagram editor, and many other things. Here is a computer class version of Magnetic Poetry that I made. Once a shared space is created, you can create a link to it on your webpage or in the student shared folder.

BrainPop Pops Your Brain

BrainPop and BrainPop Jr. (for K-3) are great resources. They have movies about many different subjects, and quizzes and resources to go with each one. Although you have to pay for many of the movies, they do have some free ones. The quizzes are great to use with a SMARTboard. I have embedded their Featured Movie at the bottom of this blog. I believe it changes daily and is free!

EtherPad: Working Together

EtherPad is an amazing web site! You create a "pad" and put a link to it in the student shared space. Your students can then access it and work on it together. All of them can edit, add, and delete text, and it keeps track of who does what. Students can even use the chat portion to discuss what they are doing. The final document can be copied or exported to other file types.

Patterns and Symmetry

This week third grade students experimented with patterns using the web pages SnowFlaker and KaleidoDraw. They made patterns using LinoTiler and Tessalate! Teachers, all four sites are lots of fun to use on a SMARTboard.

Google Custom Search

Last week I was lucky to go to the MACUL (Michigan Association for Computer Users in Learning) conference in Detroit. I learned many great things, but the one I end up using the most may be Google Custom Search. For class projects, I have always been nervous about doing an all out Google search. Instead I would put a list of links on a page or have a series of shortcuts for the students to follow. With Google Custom Search I won't have to do that. I can set up a search that will just look through the web sites I specify. Here is one I did for future 50 States projects. Students will still get practice searching, but the resources will be ones I pick.

Easy CD's

Our teacher laptops have a shortcut on the desktop for the program Roxio Creator. This program can create and copy CD's with pictures, documents, or music. Just please don't violate any copyright laws!

Sharing Shortcuts

The easiest way to have your students access a web site is a shortcut in the Shared folder. This video shows how to create and rename a shortcut.

SMART Notebook Express

SMART Notebook Express is an online tool for viewing SMART Notebook files. It is a great way for students to use Notebook on our new mini-laptops. Below are directions for opening files from the Student Shared folder.

Professional Development: Reveals and Laptops

It has been a busy time for teacher learning here at Charlevoix Elementary School. Not only did teachers have to listen to me talk about SMART Notebook last Wednesday, They had to listen again today about laptops. Here is a video reviewing Wednesday's professional development: reveals. Teachers can find copies of the Notebook files from both days in the SMART folder in the staff shared space.

Enchanted Learning

Enchanted Learning is a great web site. It has grade level information and pictures for kids and activities and resources for teachers. When printing, please print in black and white as much as possible, and please only print one copy and make the others on a copier. Most of the resources are free. Charlevoix Elementary School has a member subscription for its staff. I sent the information out earlier this year, but drop me an email if you need it again.

Make Your Own Posters

Last month on her blog, Mrs. Culver talked about a web site for making posters: Block Posters. I needed to update some posters in my room and used Block Posters to create the ones in the picture. As you can see, it worked great! Below are directions for making your own posters. All I ask is that you try to not make them too color intensive.

SMART Interactive Pull Tabs

At the SMART training last month I learned about the SMART Recorder. It records what happens on the screen along with your voice through the computer's microphone. I thought I would test it out with a video reviewing what Mrs. Keegan showed the teachers at the last staff meeting: Interactive Pull Tabs.

Student Laptops are Getting Closer!

All of the carts are now here for the laptops. Each classroom is getting a cart with four wireless mini-laptops. I will soon assemble the carts and then help Mr. Mays get the laptops ready!

Getting SMARTer!

Today was day three of SMARTboard certification training. It was great and I cannot wait to pass on what I learned (and what I already knew but forgot) to the staff, not to mention use it all in my classroom. Right now I am trying to absorb it all and organize my thoughts. In the meantime, here is a great resource I found out about: Teachers Love SMART Boards! Be sure to check out the categories in the left hand column.

Teachers and Facebook

Facebook is an excellent tool for communicating with parents. Its biggest advantage is that the majority of parents already use it and check it daily. Another advantage is it has built in security and control.

Click here to see a slide show of ways an actual first grade classroom uses Facebook. That teacher signed up for an account. When you create an account it gives you more control over security and privacy through the setting. Also, you control who sees the information by deciding who can be a "Friend" of the account. The other option is to create a page. A page is easier for people to join and you can access it from your personal account. Just try to avoid using last names of students if you do a page and don't use any names with pictures. The red arrows on this picture show you where to click if you want to sign up for an account or create a page.