TED Education Video Site

 As many of you know, I LOVE TED.com videos. Now, TED has and educational video site where teachers can share their lessons and get them animated. The site is still fairly new and is still growing, but there are now enough videos on the site to really keep you busy this summer. You might find some good videos for your own class. And as always, the videos are short enough to use in class and keep your students interested. Start searching them today!

TED-Ed Lessons click here!

Wallwisher is Now Padlet and It Is Still Great!

First of all, Wallwisher has just recently been named Padlet. If you try going to Wallwisher via wallwisher.com, however, you will still get there for now. I used Wallwisher for 2 or 3 years with an 8th grade project, but it had some bugs to it and wasn't always perfect. Apparently this was the case for many. But over the last year, they have made several upgrades and now the site is being highly recommended again. I love the site for a way for students to post questions or comments. I also love it for students to make their own 'wall of learning' about a topic or subject. They can add videos, pictures, comments, etc. about their learning. They can then share their wall with a family member, a teacher, or other students. They can even comment on other students' walls. This could end up being a form of social learning. Lots of options. If you need help trying to use it in your class, let me know. I was once a "pro" at Wallwisher and could probably give you some tips. Have fun!

Wallwisher or Padlet, click here!


I took 3 minutes and made a quick sample wall about Bullying. Notice that I was able to add videos, upload a powerpoint that I had made previously, or simply comment. I could then share this wall with other students and parents and they could post their thoughts and questions to my wall and we could interact.

Created with Wallwisher

Just a Reminder....Duolingo Continues to Improve!

Duolingo just added Italian to its list of languages it is helping people learn. I have had a couple of students interested in learning Italian, so this is great! It is a pretty fascinating site because you aren't just learning a new language, you are also helping in translating the web into other languages with the help of thousands or millions of other people around the world. While it is not a great stand alone site if you are trying to learn a language, it is a good supplement to a foreign language course you are taking or if you are currently doing Rosetta Stone. And it is FREE!!! That may be the best part. One of the things I noticed that might be good for students is how they can start making connections with certain words and groups of words because they sound alike. This could build on information they received in class or help them learn the future class information even faster. While it only has about 6 or 7 languages right now, it does have some of the main ones students may be learning in our American schools. It even has English which could be good for our English Language Learners as well. Give it a try to see if it is something you could use in 2013!

Duolingo click here!


   I just tested it out and it is pretty fun and educational. You can also compete against Facebook friends. So maybe you and a Facebook friend each want to learn a language in 2013, this could be your method!

Living Wage Calculator

  This may be mostly for me, but I really liked how simple this website was and the basic information it gave. It will be useful in Life Skills when we talk about salary and how much you need to survive. It shows you county by county how much minimum wage is, how much the poverty wages are, and how much the average careers in that area make. Then it goes on to show how much you need each month to pay the different category of bills (rent, childcare, food, etc.) depending on how many kids you have or need to support. Very good website, definitely one I will use in my class.

Living Wage Calculator click here!

100 Best Apps and 60 Best Websites and Apps

Two big resources in one! I have posted links for 2 great resources below. One is listed as a source for the 100 best free apps for kids. Who doesn't love Free?? I have tried some of the apps they note and they have been very good for my kids. My guess is most of these will be for kids younger than middle school, but some of them are likely middle school appropriate and some may be for our struggling learners as well.

  Secondly, Richard Byrne has his 60 Best Apps and Websites for Educators. A lot of really good stuff in here too. Thanks Richard and thanks for your blog Free Technology for Teachers!

Enjoy!

Another Way to Search for Apps for Kids: An App!

  There are some websites out there that help categorize great apps for kids, especially educational apps. But  then you have to get your IPad, IPod, or other device to look up the app. With this new tool, your search and categorizing tool is an App itself, so you will already be using your device and can easily find and download the app you just searched for. WeWantApps helps you search by age group and category and one of those categories is "education". Might be good for your own kids or for any classroom or group of kids that have IPads or other app-supported devices. It is getting some good early reviews as well. I plan on adding it to my IPad today and giving it a try.


WeWantApps click here to learn more!

StudyBlue: Award-Winning Flashcard and Study Site

  Just a quick update for some or maybe new for some, but StudyBlue continues to improve and is making several "Best" website lists for education and learning. I know we had some staff use this site last year and even did a workshop for other staff and that got more people using it. As we start the school year, feel free to play around with this site and see how it might help your students both in the class and while they are away from school. Good luck!

StudyBlue study/flashcard website click here!

Time's Top IPad Apps of 2012

2012 has really just begun, but Time already has its 2012 Top 30 Apps for the IPad. The best part? Over half of them are FREE! I am posting this a little selfishly as I want to be able to refer back to this post when I get my IPad 2 this spring/summer. But for any teachers or administrators out there who have an IPad, there are some great apps in here that you could use educationally and share with students educationally. Take a look when you have a moment, some are really neat!

Top 30 Apps for the IPad 2012

Google+ is Now Open to All Teens as Well

  As mentioned in a previous post, I have a Google+ account but do not use it. Google+ is a cleaner form of Facebook, free of the many games and apps that clutter Facebook. It used to also be free of teenagers pretty much. But now Google+ is opened up for anyone 13 and older, so our students could sign up for their own account too. Google+ is still dominated by the professional and adult world and teens are not flocking to the site right now, but if they do, Google+ does have several safety features built in for security. And they also have features teens may like (Google Hangouts and Video chats). Click on this blogpost from Educational Technology Guy to learn more.

Educational Technology Guy's post about Google+ Change to Allow all Teens to be Members

More Skype in the Classroom "How to"

If you are considering trying some Skype in your Classroom, there are classrooms all around the country and world waiting to talk and collaborate on projects with you. But how do you even start? This is a quick post that may help give you some ideas and even a little step by step guide on how to get everything going. I really believe the next revolution in education is taking education of our students and moving it out to the community, around our country, and across the world. Their are experiences all over the place outside our school that Skype can reach. Would be neat to start reaching these.

Skype in the Classroom

SmarTots: Education App Reviews for Kids

Just a quick post for any preschool and lower elementary teachers who read this blog and may use IPods or IPads in their Centers or teaching. This site has teachers who submit reviews on educational apps for tablet and IPod devices. Might be something you check out before you invest in any educational apps for these devices that you might use in class.

SmarTots click here!

Youtube for Educators Now Live!

Just a quick update to let you know that Youtube has created a special website for educators and this website hosts thousands of videos safe for schools and accessible to all computers as the web address is not a ".com" but a ".edu", so it won't be blocked on any computers, even student computers. So if you have a video you normally show through Youtube, you might want to visit the Educator's Youtube first to see if it is there so students can access it and you know the video and information surrounding the video is safe and appropriate. Enjoy!

Of note, you may have to use your google account to get to this site and use this site, so I am not sure how easy it will be for all students to access it. In our district, since Youtube is note blocked, students could likely still get to a video through Youtube, but if you are showing a video in class or searching for a good video, you might want to use the Youtube for Educators site. Here is a link to a blogpost explaning all of this...click here!

What is Your Web Browser?

And what web browser extensions are you using? I'm not here to convert you to Firefox or Chrome (I use Chrome only and love it. I hope to never use Explorer again!!), but instead point you to an Edublog post that gives you great stats about web browser usage and most importantly shows you what are the best and most commonly used web extensions. If you are wondering what a web extension is, well, I would say it is a tool or gadget that opens right along with your web browser when you click on it and you can use it while surfing the web. I use the dictionary application, the text to voice application, the screenshot application, and a few others. Many people don't use these because they don't know about them. Hopefully, by clicking on this blog post that I have linked below, more people can learn about these applications and use them more often. And maybe people can experiment with different web browsers and decide which one is best for you. Good luck and have fun!

Web Browser stats and extensions click here!

Want to Learn More About Google Tools? Here is a Training Site

If you are wanting to learn more about how to use the main parts of google's tools and educational tools, here is a training site for you. Google Apps for Education Training Center has information and videos about how to use apps like Gmail, Google docs, Google Calendars, etc. better and how to use them for education. The training is pretty extensive and some sessions are pretty long, but the nice thing is that you can stop and start and pick the pieces you need most. I love my gmail and am getting better at Google Docs. I really want to learn more about Google calendar and how to share my calendar with staff and students. So....I need to use some of these training sessions too!

Try Google Apps for Education Training Center here!

Personal Learning Networks...Through Twitter and Other Sources!

Thank you to Richard Byrne of Free Technology for Teachers, he has a great brief blog about how to use Twitter to become your Personal Learning Network or Community. The excuse I hear from educators all the time is "not enough time" and "I can't find time to meet with other educators because they have different schedules". Sometimes, we just have to realize that technology has fixed this issue for us. Our Personal Learning Networks (PLCs) can now occur 24/7 whether we are there each day, each moment or not. Once you set up your network by following the people who have the ideas and topics that you are interested in, you just check in and contribute where you can. So simple! And if that is not simple enough, Richard Byrne has a powerpoint embedded into his blog post so you can see his thoughts on this idea and even a step by step instructions on how to get your PLN set up on Twitter. So start this today and make a goal to learn something new each week, each month, etc!

Personal Learning Networks through Google+ and Twitter

Lots of Skype in the Classroom Possibilities

Skype in the Classroom is growing by leaps and bounds. Here is a link with some new information. But I also like the links within the article where you can get more information. If you haven't heard of Skype in the Classroom, you need to research it and you will see why educators are so excited about the possibilities. Imagine being able to get into any classroom in the world with just your computer. Your students can talk to other students, read to other students, learn from other students...and teachers. The possibilities truly are amazing! Read more and then start thinking about how we could do some of these things....

Skype in the Classroom

Twiigs.com: A Simple Poll-making Site

Just had to post real quickly about Twiigs.com as I just used it and found it so simple. In less than a minute I was registered for the site. Within another minute, I had made my poll for my edublogs student blogging site. And after a little research, I had my poll published to my blog. Really cool. Now, let's see if I can do it again, by putting a poll into this blog. Here you go...

poll by twiigs.com

Why Should Educators at Least Try Web 2.0? Here You Go....

Pretty short and simple powerpoint presentation from Sacha Chua made 2 years ago, but very good and powerful. Makes a great point towards the end and seems to be geared for the educators who just aren't sure if they should try Web 2.0 tools like Twitter, Facebook, Google+, Learning Communities, Skype, email, chat, etc. Or maybe they are not sure if these things are just fads or would even help. I think taking a minute or two to view these slides that I have embedded below might make us all rethink our stance on Web 2.0 and see some value in it. Thanks to Sacha Chua for the presentation!

link for presentation click here!

A Teacher's Guide To Web 2.0 at School

View more presentations from Sacha Chua

More on Online Educational Games

Thanks to Larry Ferlazzo and his Websites of the Day blog, he has helped me find the best of the best online when it comes to educational games. This blog post might be more for me than anyone as I will soon have my 6th graders test some of these games out and give me a review. I find it very important to have students use technology and be online, but I also feel it is important for their online time to be mainly educational and productive, even if it is when they are playing games. There is a lot of "junk" on the web, so if they are going to be on there, I want them to be on sites that might increase their thinking ability and improve their basic skills. For anyone who wants to know what these game sites are, please click the link to Larry's blog below. Have fun!

Larry Ferlazzo's best online educational games list

New TED Talks about Autism and Other Mental Disorders

As always, I love TED talk videos! I came across a "playlist" of videos with 4 videos that all talk about people with a mental disability that they are able to talk about, teach about, and turn into a strength. The longest one and the best one is the first one by Temple Grandin. She really opened me eyes to what autism is like and what teachers can do. I watched the next two and they were good, just not as good as Temple's talk. With the amount of students that come through our doors with either a diagnosed Autism or Asperger's disorder or the idea that they might fall on the autism spectrum, we can learn a lot from Temple Grandin and what she has to say. Give it a look!

Temple Grandin and other TED talks click here!