Category: For Teachers

Soshiku

Kelly TenkelyLeave a Comment on Soshiku17352 views

In an effort to clear out some bookmarks (I am up to about 890) I am going to do a marathon of posts today.  I don’t usually like to load you up with too many in one day because I know how busy you teachers are, and I want you to have time to really look at the cool tool I have found.  My hope is that with the 3 day weekend you will get a chance to shuffle through these!

 

What it is: Soshiku is a web tool for students that helps them manage their assignments.  Soshiku keeps track of when assignments are due and can notify them by email or SMS.  With each assignment students can save notes, manage tasks, attach files, and share messages with assignment partners.  Soshiku is perfect for partnered assignments because it gives students a place to share files, chat, and more.  

 

How to integrate Soshiku into the classroom:  I think that organization is one of those important life skills that we don’t teach enough of in schools.  Introduce your students to Soshiku as a method of school orginization.  The email and text messaging features to notify them when assignments are due will appeal to your students.  If you have younger students, secondary elementary or middle school, encourage parents to be there Soshiku partner to help them keep track of assignments.  

 

Tips: Use a day in the computer lab to sign students up for Soshiku and teach them how to enter assignments, add notes, attach files, and share messages with a partner.  Your students are on their way to a more organized school life!

 

Leave a comment and tell us how you are using Soshiku in your classroom.

Pic Lits

Kelly Tenkely6 Comments on Pic Lits8020 views

 

What it is:   Pic Lits is a really neat creative writing site that provides pictures and a word bank for students to create a enriched sentence or sentences about the picture.   “The object is to put the right words in the right place and the right order to capture the essence, story, and meaning of the picture.”  Students can choose to only drag words from the word bank to create their sentence or compose a sentence freestyle. 

 

How to integrate Pic Lits into the classroom:   Pic Lits is a great way to get students to think creatively and critically about writing.  Students can choose any picture and then use the word list to create a sentence.  Pic Lits is complete with punctuation and any word can be capatalized.  Students can use Pic Lits individually on computers, as a whole class with a projector, or as a creative writing center in the one or two computer classroom.  When using Pic Lits as a class, choose a picture for the day and have students write their sentences on paper using words from the word bank.  Take turns sharing to hear the combination of words and the different meanings that students gathered from the picture.  This is a great writing exercise to use  in your classroom every day!  Here in Colorado, we often have indoor recesses for bad weather.  Use Pic Lits with an interactive whiteboard and invite your cooped up students to choose pictures and create sentences.  

 

Tips: Students can sign up for a free account and save each Pic Lit they create.  At the end of the year, each student can create a book of their Pic Lits to take home for creative inspiration. 

 

Leave a comment and tell us how you are using Pic Lits in your classroom.

Readicide

Kelly Tenkely2 Comments on Readicide3746 views

What it is:  Readicide is a new ebook from Kelly Gallagher about how schools are killing the love of reading.  It is being made available here Jan. 13 and 14 as a free download.  I downloaded Readicide earlier today and am loving it.  The ebook reminds me of what made me love reading, the times when I hated reading, and how my students feel about reading.  It is inspiring and may just give you the jolt you need to shake up your reading program and make your classroom the place where students fall in love with reading again (or the very first time).

 

How to integrate Readicide into the classroom:   Download Readicide ASAP!   Then send to your administration and fellow teaching staff to read.  Open up communication about your reading program at the next staff meeting, be critical.  Lets start a reading revolution!!

 

Tips: Download today while the ebook is free 🙂  I vote “readicide” to be considered as a new word for Webster to add to the dictionary.

 

Leave a comment and tell us what you think of Readicide and your ideas for bring a love of reading into your classroom.

FETC Virtual Conference ’09

Kelly Tenkely4 Comments on FETC Virtual Conference ’098207 views

 

What it is:  Save the date!  FETC is having a free virtual conference on April 23, 2009.  The virtual conference is ideal for k-12 educators and technology staff exploring the most important issues related to 21st century skills.  Topics will include career and technical education, the Obama administration’s global workforce development agenda, and digital teaching methods and tools.  You will learn about the latest in 21st century skills from engaging speakers.  FETC Virtual Conference is offering a virtual networking lounge to expand your network of k-12 educators and technology experts, access to other participants through instant messaging, and free content downloads and presentation to go.    You will also be able to virtually attend technology product and service demonstrations and Q&A sessions with technology experts!  This is a completely FREE event, you can go as a staff!

 

How to integrate FETC Virtual Conference ’09 into the classroom:   FETC is one of the leading technology conferences in the country.  With budget cuts this year, you may not have the option to attend the full FETC conference.  This free virtual conference is an outstanding opportunity, be sure to take advantage of it!  You will learn from some of the best educators and are sure to get practical technology integration tips, tools, and ideas.  See you there!

 

Tips: Register today at http://virtual.fetc.org.  

 

Leave a comment and tell us if you will be attending FETC Virtual Conference.

Prezi

Kelly Tenkely1 Comment on Prezi3907 views

 

What it is:  Prezi is a unique online presentation builder that seems to be popping up a lot lately all over the web.  It is getting so much attention because of its new approach to online slide shows.  Prezi has some unique features like zooming presentations that grab and hold viewers attention.  Prezi lets you create a sort of walking path through your presentation.  The finished product is engaging and impressive looking.  The tools in Prezi are different from other online presentation builders but are easy to use and figure out.  The tutorial will have you and your students creating in minutes.  

 

How to integrate Prezi into the classroom:   Because of Prezi’s unique zooming feature, it would be a good tool for students to use for vocabulary.  Students can type in the word to be defined and then zoom in on the definition.  Building vocabulary presentations would be good for review and study.  Prezi would also be a neat way to explore and display information from history (display a date, place, or person in history and then zoom into facts and details that are related), timeline information (create paths from different dates in Prezi), literature (create a sort of interactive character map of any literary character), science projects (use Prezi’s path to lead through the scientific method), foreign language (type a word in another language and zoom to translate), geography (zoom into details around a map), math, and much more. 

 

Tips: Be sure to check out the tutorial on Prezi, it will have you up and creating in no time!  Check out the inspiration to see the amazing things that others have used Prezi to create.

 

Leave a comment and tell us how you are using Prezi in your classroom.

Custom Guide

Kelly Tenkely2 Comments on Custom Guide5227 views

 

What it is:  Custom Guide is a website that offers free quick reference cheat sheets for using technology (operating systems and applications).  The guides are two sided and remind me of Cliff Notes.  Custom Guide allows you unlimited distribution rights and they make great support handouts. References include: Microsoft Access, Excel, FrontPage, Internet Explorer, InfoPath, Office, OneNote, Outlook, PowerPoint, Project, Publisher, SharePoint, Visio, Windows, Appleworks, Mac OS, Entourage, Acrobat, Dreamweaver, Fireworks, Flash, Photoshop, Elements, and Firefox.   My one problem with Custom Guide is that it is REALLY outdated for Mac guides.  I suppose that for some schools this would be okay since it can take a while to adopt newer technology and some of us are working with dinosaur computers and software, but for me it is no good.  Custom Guide also offers free online learning with interactive tutorials and you can even create your own custom courses.

 

How to integrate Custom Guide into the classroom:  Custom Guide would be very useful for the computer lab setting.  Print out and laminate the most used applications and operating system sheets.  Bind with a single ring and keep next to each computer.  As students have questions or issues, they can consult their cheat sheets for the answers first.  This is also nice for non-computer teachers who are using the computer labs or classroom computers with students.  The cheat sheets give them an added level knowledge quickly and easily.  If you are a computer teacher or a teacher who is known for using technology in your classroom, you undoubtedly get frequent questions about how to use applications from your colleagues.  I don’t always have time to sit down and give mini lessons, having these cheat sheets on hand could be a big help for those times.  

 

Tips: Even though the Mac Custom Guides are a bit outdated, the guides they do have are very handy.  When you sign up for a free account, you can ask for updates to be sent to you when they add a new guide.  In the mean time, Apple has some great support guides for their products.

 

Leave a comment and tell us how you are using Custom Guide in your classroom.

Picasa

Kelly Tenkely6 Comments on Picasa3040 views

 

 

What it is:  Picasa is a free download from Google that helps you organize, edit, share, and create using photos.  The edit feature allows you to fix red-eye, crop, and fix any blemishes or scratches.  Picasa lets students create turning photos into movies, collages, and slideshows.  Picasa also makes it easy to upload albums to the web to share.  Picasa has been around for a while as a Google tool but the big news this week is the release of the beta version of Picasa for Macs.  The neat thing about the Mac Picasa release is its integration with iPhoto.  The features are pretty neat and definitely worth a look for either platform but with the announcement of iPhoto ’09 yesterday, they aren’t as impressive.  HOWEVER, Picasa is completely free while iPhoto ’09 is not.

 

How to integrate Picasa into the classroom:  Picasa  is a great way to organize photos you are taking of your classroom in action.  Create a web album, parents always like to see the great things their kids are learning.  Students can use Picasa to organize images they find online or pictures they take on a field trip.  These pictures can then be used to create a movie, collage, or slideshow directly in the Picasa software.  Students could create a class story in pictures, create a movie out of it and share it with other grades.  Students can also collect historical images, scientific images, etc and easily create a movie or slideshow displaying their knowledge.  

 

Tips:  Picasa is available for Macs in beta version and Windows and Linux based in alpha.  

 

Leave a comment and tell us how you are using Picasa in your classroom.

Museum Box

Kelly Tenkely1 Comment on Museum Box4944 views

What it is:    Museum Box is a website that I heard about through a tweet on Twitter a few weeks ago that is really impressing me today (that is saying a lot since today is MacWorld and they are announcing big things!).  Museum Box is based on the work of Thomas Clarkson who collected items in a box to help him in his argument for the abolition of slavery.  He collected items in a box to demonstrate to others the fine craftsmanship and abilities of the African culture.  He used his box as a sort of travelling museum to aid him in his debate.  The Museum Box website provides a place for students to collect information and arguments in a virtual museum box of their own.  They can collect items to provide a description or add to an argument of a historical event, place, or time period.  Students can add images, text, sounds, video, external links, etc. to each compartment of the box helping them form their own virtual museum.  The Museum Box can be shared as a presentation, saved, or printed.  After a box has been created, students can view one anothers boxes and leave comments about the box.  You really have to check this one out!  So neat for history and literature classes!

 

How to integrate Museum Box into the classroom:  Use Museum Box as a medium for students to learn about and collect information about a historical event, person, or time period.  Because students can upload their own content to Museum Box, you might also have them create a box all about them.  This would be a great way for students to get to know each other at the beginning of the year.  Museum box is a neat way to share information about geography, students can make a box all about a place including items in their box that are unique to that place.  The ability to incorporate text, sounds, images, video, and uploaded items makes Museum Box especially impressive!  After students have created boxes, spend time viewing other’s boxes and leaving comments about the box.  This is kind of like a science fair atmosphere for history, geography, and literature.   Yet another tool I wish I had in school!

 

Tips:  Introduce Museum Box to your students by learning about Thomas Clarkson, he is a very interesting historical figure that I had never heard of!

 

Leave a comment and tell us how you are using Museum Box in your classroom.

Share Tabs

Kelly TenkelyLeave a Comment on Share Tabs3185 views

What it is:   Share Tabs is a simple, but very neat, website that allows you to share several links with one web address.  Teachers can enter a list of websites they want students to visit into Share Tabs.   After entering the links, you create one Share Tabs URL that will open all of the links as separate tabs in a web browser.   So cool!

 

How to integrate Share Tabs into the classroom:  Share Tabs is an awesome way to save time in the classroom when using multiple websites.  Instead of waiting for kids to type in several URL’s to get to the days activities, they type in one URL and share tabs does all the work.  I know in my classroom, I don’t want to spend 15 min typing in web addresses.  I would rather that students have that time to spend on the web activities.  Share Tabs is perfect in the computer lab setting or any time that you want students to visit multiple websites for a lesson.  Use Share Tabs for virtual field trips through cyber space without spending time creating a webquest.  Share Tabs also makes sharing sites with colleauges a snap.  As you are finding resources for a lesson, put them into Share Tabs and send one link.  Your colleagues will thank you!

 

Tips:  Use Share Tabs on Twitter instead of updating 5 times with each separate URL you are exploring, update once with a Share Tabs link!

 

Leave a comment and tell us how you are using Share Tabs in your classroom.

Happy New Year!

Kelly Tenkely1 Comment on Happy New Year!1887 views

Happy 2009!   Just wanted to jot a quick note to you my readers.  Thank you for your continued support and encouraging words, they truly keep me going!  When I started teaching technology, I had a hard time finding a comprehensive website for free technology resources in the classroom.  I knew there were great free resources  out there because I stumbled upon them all the time.  What I really hoped for was a place that didn’t just give me a list of links to great websites for the classroom, but a place that gave me a snapshot of the site, and some useful tips for using that site with students.   I started collecting all of the sites that I was finding in my Google notebook.  One day my husband suggested that I start a blog so that other teachers could have access to the sites I was finding and notes I was taking on them.  That was the beginning of iLearn Technology.  Now, two years later, I have readers on almost every continent and I hear encouraging stories from you about how you integrate technology into your classrooms.  You are an inspiration to me, I hope that iLearn Technology continues to be a valuable resource for you!  Keep sharing your success stories and ideas, I love to hear them! 

This year I have a few new resources in the works.  I am currently developing curriculum, specifically for Mac schools (woot!) but it could be adapted for any computer classroom.  I will be selling the curriculum bundled or as individual lessons.  Even if you aren’t a computer teacher, some of the lessons will be perfect for technology integration in the classroom.  I also hope to come out with my second issue of the iLearn ezine focused on Macs in education sometime in January.  In this issue I focus on using iPods in education and project based learning.  As always I will be posting new ideas for free technology integration daily right here. 🙂 

I wish you all a blessed New Year!