classroom – Page 6 – iLearn Technology

iKeep Safe

September 2, 2008Kelly Tenkely3 Comments7164 views

What it is: iKeep Safe is a website and program I have used every year since I started teaching technology. As I was writing up lesson plans for the upcoming week, I realized that I haven’t ever posted about this outstanding resource. iKeep Safe is a kid friendly Internet safety program. It features a cat named Faux Paw who has adventures on the Internet. There are videos, downloadable and printable books, and games for kids. All are centered on teaching kids to be safe online. There are free guided discussion sheets for you to go through with your students, quizzes, coloring pages, etc. This program is the perfect way to introduce Internet safety in your elementary classroom without worrying that the content is too mature for your audience. The online books and videos teach kids Internet safety basics, how to handle cyber bullying, balancing real life with screen time, and the risks and dangers of downloading. Students learn about these concepts with fun cartoon characters and engaging stories.

How to integrate iKeep Safe into the classroom: iKeep Safe is a great place to start Internet safety. I would recommend making Internet safety a top priority the first month of school before kids are online for class. In my classroom, students are introduced to Faux Paw at the beginning of the school year. We watch and discuss the Faux Paw cartoon, read and discuss the books, and finish by taking the free downloadable quiz. Students must pass this quiz with an eighty percent or better in order to get their “Internet Drivers Licenses”. I talk a lot about how using the Internet is a privilege, not a right. This is just like driving a car. So in order to be online for other subjects, students have to demonstrate that they know the rules of the Internet by passing the quiz. They can lose their Internet drivers licenses at any time by mis-using the Internet or not following the rules. I also have the kids create a rules poster for them to hang next to their home computers. Students also get an assignment to go home and tell their parents the Internet rules. This has to be signed off on in order to use the Internet. I find that we can do a pretty good job of keeping kids safe at school, but at home parents aren’t doing enough to make sure that their kids are safe. Whether or not you are the computer teacher, make sure that your kids know how to keep themselves safe online. Be an adult they trust who they can come to with any cyberbullying problems, if they see inappropriate content, or if someone is trying to contact them inappropriately.

Tips: Never been trained in Internet safety? Be sure to visit the educator page of iKeepSafe, the training materials are wonderful!

Please leave a comment and share how you are using iKeep Safe in your classroom.

EdWeb 2.0

August 22, 2008Kelly TenkelyLeave a Comment5309 views

What it is: EdWeb 2.0 is web hosting designed with teachers in mind. Teachers can create a free teacher website in an hour or less! With EdWeb 2.0 teachers can create a classroom site with multiple blogs, podcasts, quick polls, videos, files, forms, announcements, calendars, add photo albums, separate information by subject area, and so much more. The sites can be customized with your own theme, or choose from one of EdWeb’s ready made themes. A classroom website is a great place to communicate with families, give students a place to go when they have questions outside of your classroom, and keep yourself organized.

How to integrate EdWeb 2.0 into the classroom: Post all of your class announcements, important dates, homework assignments, links, podcasts, videos, copies of papers sent home, etc. on your class website for a convenient way to stay in contact with students and families. The site is simple to create and takes no time at all. This is a great hour long weekend project that you and your students will appreiciate all year long.

Tips: EdWeb 2.0 sets you up with a fully functional demo account first. This allows you to play around and see if you like EdWeb 2.0, if you decide you want to use the website for your classroom, you make the site live (this is free). This saves room on EdWeb’s servers for those who just want to take a look but don’t end up using EdWeb.

You will see an option for pricing on the EdWeb site, this is an upgraded account with some additional features.

Leave a comment and share how you are using EdWeb in your classroom.

Letter to the future president

August 5, 2008Kelly TenkelyLeave a Comment2763 views

I learned about this petition last night on Twitter. If you don’t follow me yet I am at http://twitter.com/ktenkely

The Ed Tech Action Network has created a petition to the future president regarding educational technology. Obviously, this one is near and dear to my heart as I think that in the 21st century, an education void of technology, can’t really be called an education. Take 2 minutes to read the letter to the candidates and sign the petition.

ipopetz.tv

July 17, 2008Kelly Tenkely1 Comment4604 views

What it is: ipopetz.tv is a fun web 2.0 site that your students will love to use. Students can create their own 3-D mini cartoon show by selecting a puppet, creating and recording their show (with their own voice) and then sharing their show. The puppets that students have to choose from are a lot of fun. The shows are easy to create, students make their 3-D puppet move by using their mouse and keyboard and record their voice using the microphone. The puppets lip sync to the words your students say!

How to integrate ipopetz.tv into the classroom: The ipopetz.tv puppets would be the perfect way for students to display knowledge. They can use their ipopetz character to give a book report. Instead of standing up in front of the class and reading off of their book report, students can “advertise” a book using an ipopetz puppet. Because they can record their own voice and manipulate their puppet, they display their knowledge in a new and fun way as well as become the directors for their own 3-D cartoon. So much fun! Have students create shows about any subject. For example, students could create a show about a current science topic. Instead of studying from a text book before a test, students can watch eachother’s informational cartoon shows. If your students are like mine, they can’t recall facts from a textbook at the drop of the hat but they can all quote Kung Foo Panda. Let them create and learn in a way that they love. I garuntee this will be a huge hit with your students! It is easy enough for as young as first grade but will hold the attention of students through middle school (maybe even through adults…I am throuroughly entertained!) Create your own cartoon to teach a subject for a change of pace, it will give you a break and the students will enjoy something new. You can create your show, save it, and use a projector to teach the whole class. If you are lucky enough to have a projector in your classroom you could even start out each day with a message or brain teaser for your students.

Tips: ipopetz.tv does require a download plugin for Quick Time. It is a quick and small download. Make sure to download the plugin for every computer that you will be using ipopetz.tv on. Also be aware that this site has advertisements, be sure to use this opportunity to teach your students about online ads and set up the rule that they not click on them before you start a project.

Leave a comment and share how you are using ipopetz.tv in your classroom.

Wix

July 9, 2008Kelly TenkelyLeave a Comment10342 views

What it is: Okay, if you have shied away from creating your own classroom website in the past, today is the day to take a deep breath and plunge in. Wix is the most amazing online website builder I have ever seen. Why is it so amazing? 1) It is simple to use and learn, you truly don’t have to know anything about website development. 2) It produces amazing results with a small amount of effort, I am really blown away by the possibilities here. 3) The sign up process is completely painless. 4) You have an unbelievable amount of control when you are feeling creative (still extremely easy!). 5) It is free, and what could be better than free for a teacher?! 6) It is web-based which means that you can update your website from anywhere. I could go on and on about Wix. I put it in my list of sites to visit this week when I ran across it and I am so glad I came back to it today while I was waiting for computers to clone…it made my day (maybe even my week!) 🙂

How to integrate Wix into the classroom: Well, if you haven’t already guessed by the description above, Wix is the perfect tool to use to create a classroom website for your students. Post classroom rules, homework assignments, links for your students, units you are working on, school information, parent newsletters, etc. Wix is also a great place for your students to create a website. They will go nuts with this (trust me!), Wix is one of those assignments they will continue to work on at home without being asked! Instead of having students display knowledge of a subject in traditional ways, invite them to create a website about it where they can be the classroom “expert” on the subject. Be sure to ask your students what non-school websites they are creating too (I know from experience they will take off with this!) you will get to know your students more personally by viewing websites that they create both in and out of class. You could also create Wix websites as a class if you have limited computer use. Have your students prepare a website to teach other classes about a subject that they have been studying.

Tips: I created a website using Wix today from sign up to publish it took me a total of 5 min. Seriously! I have never used this program before, that is how easy it is to use. Take a look at my site and see what you think: www.wix.com/ktenkely/ilearntechnology.

Leave a comment and share how amazed you are with Wix.

Buzz Lightyear in Orbit

June 17, 2008Kelly TenkelyLeave a Comment3749 views

What it is: Buzz Lightyear in Orbit is part of NASA’s website for kids. The site uses the popular Toy Story character, Buzz Lightyear, to teach kids about the next space mission with Atlantis. It also introduces kids to the Discovery team and the mission that has just been completed. Kids can go on 5 space “missions” of their own by playing some fun educational games on the site. Games are math and science based and separated into grade level. Grades k-2 can play games appropriate for that age group and grades 3-5 can play at a more difficult level.

How to integrate Buzz Lightyear in Orbit into the classroom:
Use Buzz Lightyear in Orbit as part of your space unit or even as a current events topic. Students can read and learn about the current space missions on the Buzz Lightyear home page. The games are great for reinforcing math and science skills that you are teaching in conjunction with or even separate from the space unit. Your students will love the fun look and feel of this site and especially the familiar Buzz Lightyear character.

Tips: At the bottom of the game screen, you can download worksheets that correspond perfectly with the games and information on the site!

Leave a comment and share how you are using Buzz Lightyear in Orbit in your classroom!

Phun

May 8, 2008Kelly TenkelyLeave a Comment2565 views

What it is: As promised today I am reviewing the Mac version of Crayon Physics…it isn’t exactly the same, but has very similar principles and applications. Phun is a ‘playground’ where students can be creative while learning about physics principles such as resistance, friction, energy, gravity, force, etc. Phun isn’t a game with a goal like Crayon Physics, instead it is an area where students can create their own shapes and rules and see how they interact when different principles such as gravity and force are applied. Phun is a free program and available for both Mac and PC.

How to integrate Phun into the classroom: Like Crayon Physics, students can use Phun to learn about principles of gravity, energy, force, velocity, etc. Students will enjoy having an environment to test out physics concepts and conceptualize experiments. Phun may have even more application for the physics classroom because it isn’t a puzzle to figure out, but a creative environment to explore and test.

Tips: Because Phun is a free download, students can use this software at school and at home. Cool!

Please leave a comment and share how you are using Phun in your classroom.

Crayon Physics

May 7, 2008Kelly TenkelyLeave a Comment3129 views

What it is: Crayon Physics is a freeware puzzle game. The object of the game is to guide a ball to a star. Students do not have direct control of the ball, but interact with it by drawing shapes with the mouse to get the ball to roll from one platform to another. Any object that students draw reacts as it would if it were subject to gravity. There are some great physics lessons to be taught with this game! Crayon Physics is a Windows only download right now…(I know, bummer for those of us who are Mac users! Not to worry, I have found a Mac version that I will be posting tomorrow.)

How to integrate Crayon Physics into the classroom: Allow students to interact with Crayon Physics to learn about principles of gravity, energy, force, velocity, etc. The game is very entertaining and even mildly addictive. Your students will love learning physics with Crayon Physics. It will bring your class and all those formulas to life for your students.

Tips: Take a look at the video above for a good look at Crayon Physics in action.

Please leave a comment and share how you are using Crayon Physics in your classroom.

Bloust

April 24, 2008April 24, 2008Kelly Tenkely1 Comment3501 views

What it is: Bloust is a free website builder for teachers. It is extremely simple to use and allows teachers to easily broadcast important class information, communicate and collaborate web 2.0 style with other teachers within the Bloust community, organize classroom documents, and much more! Bloust also offers a place for students to organize their school life, network with their school friends on Bloust’s private student community, and develop and join clubs.

How to integrate Bloust into the classroom: No matter what age level you teach, having a classroom website can greatly improve school to home communication and extend the student learning day. Bloust makes it very simple to create and maintain a website…truly! Even those who have never created a website before will be able to quickly create and update their site. Try it out, I think you will be impressed! When you have your website ready to go, think about adding content such as: the weekly spelling list, homework assignments, important upcoming dates, links to great sites that correlate with your curriculum, make the site dynamic, a place your students will want to come back to!

Tips: When signing up be sure to check your Spam email folder for the registration email.

Please leave a comment and share how you are using Bloust in your classroom.

Help a Hedgehog

April 22, 2008Kelly TenkelyLeave a Comment6113 views

What it is: Help a Hegehog is a phonics game where students read a set of words as fast as they can to beat a timer. The online game saves the last score so students can work to beat their score. You can choose from a set list of words, or enter your own words based on what your class is working on.

How to integrate Help a Hedgehog into the classroom: Help a Hedgehog can be used on your interactive whiteboard with the whole class, individually, or in a remedial reading classroom. If you play as a class, each day students can work to beat the previous days score. Individually and students can try to beat their own score. This is a great way to start phonics instruction each morning and as practice for new vocabulary. Enter your own vocabulary for students to practice spelling words, science or math vocabulary, etc. Extend the game by adding the rule that students have to define the vocabulary word before they can move onto the next word.

Tips: This site is intended for phonics instruction but would be appropriate for secondary elementary as well with the addition of your own vocabulary. You could even use this tool for math practice, type in problems instead of words and request that the students give the answer before moving onto the next problem. This would be a great way to start your math class with some mental math!

Please leave a comment and share how you are using Help a Hedgehog in your classroom.