Category: Middle/High School

Flowlight

Kelly Tenkely1 Comment on Flowlight2113 views

Well, it is taking me longer than expected to blog my recent vacation to California where I visited Apple, Google, Exploratorium, The Tech Museum, and Napa. Sorting through 800+ photos and embedding them in a virtual tour is taking FOREVER! So, in the meantime I thought I would give you a glimpse into the future. Meet the Flowlight, essentially a blackboard with lasers. I read about this concept on Gizmodo last week and I have to say, I think this ‘blackboard’ could hold students attention. Basically, “a base station would focus a laser beam 100 times a second into a point in space, creating small plasma points that glow in mid air. Users could then use the pen to draw and write, making doodles look like some sort of fantastic light show.” While I don’t think this will be in your classrooms in the forseeable future, it may be a glimpse into classrooms to come.

Capzles

Kelly Tenkely2 Comments on Capzles2707 views


What it is: Capzles is another interactive timeline maker. I really love all the little extras that Capzles has! With Capzles teachers and students can add photos, videos, audio, and text to their timeline. Themes, colors, backgrounds, and background music can be added to the timeline making it unique and personalized. Capzles also provides options when sharing your Capzle, it can be private with a specific list of who can view the Capzle or made public for the world to see.

How to integrate Capzles into the classroom: Obviously Capzles is a great way for students to create timelines about any subject. The web 2.0 collaborative aspect of Capzles makes it very appealing to students. I think Capzles could also be very valuable in the primary classroom. Students probably won’t be creating their own timelines in Capzles at this age, parent helpers paired with students to create simple timelines would be appropriate. Becasue Capzles has the capability of adding audio, photos, and text, it would be the perfect place to record students reading throughout the year. As you assess student reading through reading records, record the students using a program such as Gabcast, Gcast, Audacity, or Garageband. Take a digital picture of the student reading. Througout the year, you can make a Capzle for each student. This is an excellent motivator for students, especially your struggling readers. Students can see their growth throughout the year in pictures, and hear their reading progress made throughout the year. You can share the Capzle with parents (they will go crazy for this keepsake!) and with the students future teacher. How much would you love getting a timeline of your students from the previous year? You would have a jump start on their struggles and strengths in reading as you quickly flip through their timelines. Cool huh?!

Tips: When assigning students to create a timeline, direct them to concentrate on the “meat” of the timeline first. Then they can go back and design their timeline with themes, colors, and backgrounds. If you don’t specify they will spend all of their time tweaking the look and run out of time to add the content.

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

Websites with a Cause

Kelly Tenkely1 Comment on Websites with a Cause3158 views


What it is: I have posted before about a website called Free Rice.  This vocabulary game has the added benefit of donating rice to help end world hunger.  For each correct answer, Free Rice donates 20 grains of rice on your behalf.  This isn’t the only website with a cause.  Aid to Children is a vocabulary game like Free Rice, for every correct answer $.25 are donated to children in need through World Vision.  Free Poverty is a world geography game.  See how many cups of water you can donate by testing your knowledge about the world.  Each correct answer means that 10 cups of clean water have been donated on your behalf.  Free Corn is another vocabulary game like Free Rice, for every 25 visits to the website, 1 kernel of corn is donated.  Free Kibble is a trivia game.  Every day your students play Bow Wow Trivia 20 pieces of kibble are donated to Animal shelters to help feed their hungry dogs.  Free Kibble Kat also donates 20 pieces of kibble per player each day…this time students are raising kibble for cats.  

How to integrate Websites with a cause into the classroom: Each of the above websites offers a wonderful opportunity to teach students to look outside their own needs to the needs of others.  Use these websites to teach your students compassion, about other cultures, and about helping those less fortunate.  The websites will also be a great way for your students to practice vocabulary or geography.  Encourage your students to play these games from home when they are “bored” or just for fun.  See how much rice, money, corn, water, or kibble you can raise as a class.  Use these figures to teach graphing and charting.  You can also use the sites to teach persuasive writing.  Students can create a “commercial” for the site, a poster advertising the site, etc.  (I found a commercial that I made as an example for my students on Free Corn…small world!)  Using these websites with my class taught me just how compassionate and concerned my students are.  It was wonderful to see my students come together around a common goal. Using these websites with a cause in your classroom is a real life character education lesson!

Tips: Bookmark these sites on classroom computers, kids who finish their work early can sit and play one of the games while they wait for the next activity.

Leave a comment and share how you are using Websites with a cause in your classroom.

ipopetz.tv

Kelly Tenkely1 Comment on ipopetz.tv3813 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.

Library of Congress on Flickr

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What it is: The Library of Congress has a photostream on Flickr. If you aren’t familiar with Flickr, it is an online storage/community for photos. Anyone can obtain a Flickr account and now it appears that The Library of Congress has joined the Flickr community and will be sharing some of their most popular images.

How to integrate the Library of Congress on Flickr into the classroom: You can’t get more convient that Flickr for images, and now that the Library of Congress has a photostream, you can get quality historical images to share with your class. These are really incredible photographs that will bring history to life for your students. They say that a picture is worth a thousand words and after seeing this photostream, I believe it! As an added bonus, many of the photographs have no copyright restrictions which means that it is a great place for your students to find images for projects that they are working on. The uncopyrighted photos are also wonderful for you to use in your classrooms in presentations, and as printouts for bulletin boards.

Tips: Here are some fun facts about the Library of Congress: They serve as the national library for the United States, they are based in Washington DC, they have more than 134 million items preserved on 530 miles of bookshelves, they are the world’s largest library, they hold books, photos, maps, databases, movies, sound recordings, sheet music, manuscripts, etc., they have been collecting photos since the mid 1800’s.

Leave a comment and share how you are using the Library of Congress photostream on Flickr in your classroom.

Generation Cures

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What it is: Fable Vision launched a new website today called Generation Cures.  It is directed toward 8-12 year olds and their parents.  The website helps teach kids about compassion and giving through engaging online games, animated webisodes, and kid directed videos.  The site is completely free to use.  The goal of Generation Cures webisodes and games are to get kids to look outside their own lives and understand that they can make a difference in the lives of others.  They also learn a lot about science and medical research while building critical thinking, logic, reason, and creativity skills.  Because this site is partnered with the Children’t Hospital in Boston, there are places for families to come together and donate for a common cause.  Kids helping kids- it is a very neat idea and I hope that it catches on quickly!

How to integrate Generation Cures into the classroom: In a society where everyone is so self-involved, it is great to see a site like Generation Cures that helps students think about others.  The site requires that students sign up with permission from their parents.  This would be a great class-wide (including families) project for the school year.  During science and computer time throughout the year, students can play the Generation Cures games and watch the webisodes.  Parents can get onto the Generation Cures website to learn more about it and decide if they want to get involved as a family.  Don’t have the time or energy to put toward Generation Cures?  Why not just watch the webisodes as a class and let kids know about the game they can play online at home.  Challenge them to try to be the first one to finish the puzzle/logic game, Caduceus.  Even if you can’t devote the time to it in the classroom, this is a very worthwhile site for students to spend time on.  The stories and games are very engaging…they had me hooked!

Tips: Check out Generation Cures for yourself.  The first 50 sign ups win a Generation Cures pack 🙂

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

Google Sky

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What it is: Google comes out with some really incredible tools and Google Sky is definitely one of them. Think Google Earth for the Sky and you will get a pretty accurate picture of what Google Sky entails. Students can get up close and personal with the Solar System, Constellations, the Hubble Telescope Showcase, Backyard Astronomy, Chandra X-Ray Showcase, GALEX Ultraviolet Showcase, and the Spitzer Infared Showcase. Google Sky also provides students with podcasts about the Earth and Sky. How cool is that? Like Google Earth, students can “zoom in” to a location and pan around. They can also view the sky in different views which include infared, microwave, and historical. Unlike Google Earth, Google Sky can be viewed right from your web browser without a download which makes it very handy for the classroom.

How to integrate Google Sky into the classroom: I think you would be hard pressed to find a school who didn’t have space units woven through curriculum at nearly every grade level. Google Sky is the perfect way to bring that curriculum to life for your students. You can take a virtual field trip to space right from your web browser! The different views and options in Google Sky make it appropriate for kindergarten through college age groups. Your students will enjoy exploring the solar system and learning about galixies with this up close and personal look. This site is perfect for use with an interactive whiteboard or projector for whole class instruction, but would be equally enjoyable on individual student computers where they can explore the universe at their own pace. When students zoom in on an object, they can “hover” over the object with their mouse for some stats. So neat!

Tips: As a side note this would be a great site to couple with the Discovery Series “When We Left Earth.” If you haven’t had a chance to catch the series, they are wonderful!

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

Wix

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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.

Knowtes

Kelly Tenkely2 Comments on Knowtes4966 views


What it is: Knowtes is a flashcard based learning community (still in beta) that allows kids to build flashcard decks and study online. When students add a card to a Knowtes deck, it becomes due at optimized interval. The Knowtes Adaptive Learning Engine adjusts how frequently cards should be studied based on how well students know them. They can even watch their cards move from short to long term memory as they study. Knowtes decks can be shared between teachers, students, etc. Each student gets their own study room where they can organize their decks and study their cards. The study rooms have great tips on studying and tutorials on using Knowtes. Cards can be made plain, rich, or with images right now but will have audio and video capabilities coming. This is such a cool idea! Studying has never been this much fun 🙂

How to integrate Knowtes into the classroom: Knowtes is a great tool to introduce your students to. Even if you don’t have time to use it on a regular basis in the classroom, spending some time teaching your students to use the program would be worth while. Students can create Knowtes flashcards to study any subject. For younger students, you can create decks for your students to study from. Students can also create decks to share with you or other classmates. If you have an interactive whiteboard (or even just a projector) students can study cards as a whole class. You could easily use Knowtes for a whole class study session/game. Be sure to let parents know about Knowtes too, many times studying is a struggle for families and this can make life easier for everyone.

Tips: Since Knowtes is still in its beta version, click on the signup button and send a request to be a beta tester. The Knowtes team is willing to take suggestions on improving Knowtes so you should send a suggestion for any feature you would like to see available. Happy studying!

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