Emaze....Another Interesting "Powerpoint" Online tool

  If you have students looking to do a presentation and want to do something a little more lively than powerpoint, you might want to try Emaze or have the students try it. It looks pretty simple to use and it does make nice presentations. The few that I viewed took awhile to load, so I am not sure if that is typical or was just slow internet on my end. Either way, it looks promising. Give it a try!

Emaze click here!

Google Drive/Docs Can Have Voice Comments Now

Just a quick update for those who use Google Drive and have students who use Google Docs for assignments, especially their papers and essays. You can now leave voice comments. I am not sure this is always the best way to leave comments as leaving written comments in the line can be more direct with students, but leaving them some verbal/voice feedback can also personalize the experience more. You might even assign them the task of leaving verbal comments back. Either way, kind of a neat feature to play around with. It does take some set up, so here is a blog post by Richard Byrne of Free Technology for Teachers to with a video that explains how to do this process.

Richard Byrne's blog post on Google Drive/Docs voice comments click here!

EduClipper....the Pinterest for Educators and Students

Educlipper is something I plan to sign up for this summer and start using. It has some similarity to Pinterest, but is likely able to be accessed in most schools unlike Pinterest. I like some of the options you could do such as making a clipboard of links and information for students and then sharing it with them. Or making clipboards of lessons and information and sharing it with your team or your content team. Or maybe you simply use it to keep track of your own units and concepts. Any way you use it, it could be pretty valuable. Good luck!

Educlipper website click here!

Good video about how Educlipper works via Ed Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day blog click here!

Make Your Own Motivational Posters!

Automotivator has to be one of the coolest little tools/sites I have come across in awhile. I have to admit, I love motivational posters (and the demotivational ones too!). And now I have a site where I can quickly make and share my own. I could even print them. Or if I made a really nice, school-specific poster, I could get it printed on a large poster format. I might try some of those this summer as well. In the meantime, I quickly made some fun ones and some serious ones for my counseling office while I tested out the site today. I also have some ideas of quick posters I could make and email to students as ways to energize them or simply remind them about assignments that are due. Either way, the website is very easy to use to design your own poster. Have some fun!

Automotivator website 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

BrainyBox: Cube Review, Presentation, Whatever you Want it to Be!

  I used a site like BrainyBox a few years back and students loved it. But it didn't always work very well. I am hoping technology has improved and this site works much better. I made a basic cube and am going to attempt to embed it below and link to it, so you can see what you think. I did not try to add any images or video, but if it supports that pretty well, the possibilities of this site are endless. It is in Beta testing, so I can't guarantee the stableness of the site, but for now, it was pretty cool to use and could be used for review, new knowledge, note-taking, or just for students to show their true learning on a topic or book. Give it a try...I created the one you see below in 4 minutes!

BrainyBox homepage click here!

My BrainyBox attempt click here!

And I embedded it below and it looks pretty cool!

Awesome Conversion Site for Documents!

Wow. I just tried CometDocs and it was soooooo easy and so quick! I love it! If you want to convert a PDF file into a Word document for students or just for yourself, this is the site to use. You can do several other types of conversions as well. Easy to use and so fast. Give it a try!

CometDocs click here!

Google Chrome Extensions

   Many staff members at our middle school loved the Google Chrome Extensions that were presented in one of our professional development workshops, so I thought this resource from Richard Byrne of Free Technology for Teachers might be a good one. He has a list of his top 10 Google Chrome Extensions. Again, my favorites are the Speak It (text to speech extension), Save to Google Drive, Send this link with Gmail, and View Page in Clearly. The Speak It extension works with Google Drive documents, so students could have their papers read back to them if they wanted to use that as a way to proofread and hear their writing and how it sounds. Not sure how it could be on all the lab computers or laptops, but I am sure it could be. I have several of the extensions in his list, so you might consider giving them a try. They really are very helpful!

Top Google Chrome Extensions click here!

Gooru: Good for Math, Science, Etc. Practice and Learning

Thanks to Richard Byrne and his blog post about Gooru on his blogsite called Free Technology for Teachers, I have learned about Gooru, a pretty neat site for students and teachers, especially if they are interested in math and science. It appears there are other subject areas on this site now. I tested out some of the math stuff, including a quiz. Pretty detailed and good practice. Also, if you get it wrong, it has a brief explanation why your answer is not right and why the correct answer is. Students and parents may find that especially helpful. This is a great site for parents and students to add to their math/science help/study sites for weekends, extended breaks, and nights before a big test or quiz. If you have a moment, try it out and see if it could help you!

Gooru Learning click here!

How to Print Infographics and Posters

  Just a quick blog post to alert others and me about a site that could help you print those cool infographics that you may find on the web. I have a ton that I would like to print but can never figure out how to print them. Plus, without color printing, I sometimes don't even try. But regardless of the color printing, I am going to try using this tool/site to print some and see what they look like. I will hopefully comment later today or this week as to how well it worked. If you try it before me, please let me know what you think!

Block posters click here (good for printing infographics too I believe!)

And here is a list of the "Best Infographics of the Year" that I plan to search and try to print from. Thanks Larry Ferlazzo and his Websites of the Day!

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!

Google Maps for Educators: A Resource

One last resource tonight from Richard Byrne and his great blog Free Technology for Teachers. Please visit his blog or at least bookmark it as he blogs daily and always has some great resources. This time, he has a powerpoint explaining how you could use Google Maps in your class and how the students can use it as well. If you have students do anything with maps, this is a must-see resource. Give it a look and see how you can start using it in your class this year.

Richard Byrne Google Maps for Educators click here!

Speech to Text Tools

 I have used the Google Chrome speech to text tool before and it was pretty handy. Might be nice for some of our students who struggle with typing skills. And as the technology gets better, these tools will only improve making them even more useful. Another possible use is for students who are working on their speech. By talking and having it converted to text, they might be able to better see the parts where their speech is good and clear and the parts where it is not so clear. Check out this post by blogger Richard Byrne of Free Technology for Teachers to read more about these speech to text tools

Click here to read more!

Using Google Chrome This Year? Add some Cool Extensions!

 If you are using Google Chrome as your web browser for the first time this year or using it again this year but haven't heard of adding Chrome Extensions to your web browser, you should try some that I listed below. I never had used an Extension/App before last year and now I love them. I didn't even get time to list the highlighter extension, the text to voice extension, or the dictionary extensions...all great extensions as well. But I did place the ones I currently put on my Chrome web browser for this year. I hope you can find some of them useful. (All are free by the way)

   First of all, here is the link to the Google Chrome Webstore where you can download games (Angry Birds is on here for free, so you can play it straight from your computer!), apps, and extensions: Google Chrome Webstore click here!
 
     Awesome Screenshot Capture and Annotate Extension. Great screenshot app, but I think I may have found an even better one.

     Explain and Send Screenshots. I haven't tried this one yet, but I added it to my web browser. Sounds easier to use and easier to send or post to FB/Twitter with this extension. If it works great, I may drop the Awesome Screenshot extension.

    To Do List Extension. Best part about this extension is that it is already in your web browser, so you don't have to downsize anything or open up a new window. If you are online or on  your email, it is there with one click.

    Clearly by Evernote. This takes away all the "clutter" that is on a webpage. The ads, the sidebars, the extra graphics. I have started using this to read things easier or if I want to print something without the clutter.  I also use it if I want to show something to the whole class, but don't want the junk with it.

   Evernote Clipper. Speaking of Evernote, I have this extension to clip any article or anything online and save it automatically to my Evernote file. If you don't know what Evernote is, I am still learning and I am in my 2nd year of using it, but I do love it and am getting better at it. Routinely one of the most talked about apps/programs among professionals.
 
    Chrome Remote Desktop BETA. Haven't tried this yet, but this could be great for us technology coaches as this allows you to show your what your desktop looks like to someone else in our district without having to be there. Plus, the tech. coaches could do the same and let you see what we are doing. I think it would also help people troubleshoot problems as well. As I play around with this, I will see if this might be useful for us.

Some Neat "Make Your Own News" Sites to Try

 One of these sites I just heard about and haven't tried yet, but it sounds really easy and something that kids could really learn from. The other is one I heard about in the Spring, tried it, and loved it. Both could be very good tools to use in school, especially in social studies or science where you might be studying a topic in the news. Here are the sites:

Link TV: Know the News: This site has an interesting idea for students to try. Students can find a topic currently in the news and search for clips of it at various news services and see how similar or different the reports are. They can take each clip and cut/paste them back to back to play a string of news stories about the same idea. Or students can simply make their own newscast by cutting and pasting stories from all over the world by different news media. Either way, students will be working with the news and seeing how it gets reported. Might be a good way to talk about bias, sources, and the power of media in general.

Jack the News is a very cool and fun site. I have to admit that I have played around with it several times, one time even recreating the Des Moines Register online news to show only my family's latest news. I even added my family's picture to the front page picture! But, you can use it for education too by having students re-make a website about a topic, the current news, or their book they are reading. The possibilities are endless. And it is fairly easy to use as well. Give it a try!

To-Do List As Extension to Chrome Browser

  For our many staff who are now using Google Chrome as their web browser instead of Internet Explorer, the next step is to start adding Chrome Extensions like Screenshot apps, dictionary apps, and note-taking apps. But another great one is this "To-Do" app/extension. You don't need a separate window as your To-Do list is always ready and visible through your web browsing tool bar area. Go to the link below (the Chrome web store) and download it today!

https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/bhieleigbmmonbckblbeodlmlihacjco

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!

Symbaloo Now Working on Mobile Devices, Including IPad and IPhone!

I know some of our teachers started using Symbaloo recently and used it in the computer lab with students. Just wanted to let you all know that Symbaloo can now be used on mobile devices, including IPhone and IPad. I have not used it much, but did add it to my IPad and plan on using it some. I think our teachers liked using Symbaloo in order to set up their own group of websites that they wanted the students to use. No telling students website after website to go to, just get them to the symbaloo and all the sites could be ready. For personal use, symbaloo could be a simple directory of your favorite websites. That is what I am currently using it for on my IPad. I will let you know what I think of it after I have messed around with it for awhile. Below is a video of Symbaloo for the IPhone. Enjoy!

Sticky Notes for Google Chrome

  In my never-ending quest for a task-manager that is easy to use, easy to see, and always visible or in a place where I can remember, I am now going to give Google Chome Sticky Notes a try. Thanks to Richard Byrne and his Free Technology for Teachers blogsite, I learned about this new sticky note app/extension to add to my own Google Chrome browser (did you know Google Chrome recently passed Internet Explorer as the most used web browser?? There is a reason for this...try Google Chrome and you won't turn back!). I just downloaded it and tested it out and really liked it. I like that when I open it, it becomes its own web tab so it is always just a click away. When I used the sticky notes that show on my computer, my students would sometimes see it on my screen when I closed out a video or a presentation during class. With the sticky note as  a tab, the chances they will see my sticky note is much less and with my role as a counselor, this is important. So...I am going to continue to use this sticky note app this summer and see if I can get used to it enough and like it enough to use it during the school year. If you use Google Chrome, you might consider trying this too!

You can add Google Chrome Sticky Notes App from the Google Chrome Store for free by clicking here!

More Things You Can Do With Evernote

  I am still an Evernote "newbie", but I hope to keep learning and using it more and more. I use it to keep track of my many counseling sessions, but any teacher or educator could use Evernote for a variety of reasons. Instead of me explaining the many ways, especially since I am still a novice at using Evernote, I think this blogpost by Rich Lambert would be much more helpful. Tons of great ideas in here!

Click here to read Rich Lambert's Evernote post (notice that he has a hyperlink to read even more of his blogposts about Evernote)

Evernote website click here