Cool Text

Sometimes we learn about the latest and greatest just from listening to students.  The other day I was working with a group of students on a design project, and one of the students showed me Cool Text. This amazing graphics generator allows you to make custom logos or buttons for your website or projects.  You can enter in your own text, change the style, font and colour of the design, then it generates a downloadable image for you.  If I'd known about this a few weeks ago, our blog logo could have looked like this:

or this:

or this:

How much fun is that?  Do you know of any other graphic generators that would be worth checking out?

MindMapping

I was asked to offer a PD session next month on MindMapping software that students could use in their brainstorming process. My initial thought was to introduce the software that is available on our Board's image. Then it occurred to me, why not check out online alternatives? That way students could access the software from home and school.

One quick Google search later, I came across bubbl.us, a free online mindmapping website. If you sign up for a free account, you can store up to 3 mindmaps (you can create as many as you'd like, but only 3 can be saved online). Any mindmaps created can be savee as a .jpg or .png image for download.

Does anyone else have good Mindmapping software or websites that are worth a try?

What is this Google of which you speak?

We actually had a conversation like that the other day in the office!  We were talking about measuring the distance of our commutes, and I commented that I would clock it on the odometer on my way home - it took me a few seconds to shout out, "I could use Google!"

Sometimes we forget to use tools that have become second nature to us in our teaching - so how have you embraced Google?

One of my favourite teachable aspects of Google Maps is using Google Street View to do community walks or visit historical landmarks.

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How are you using Google in your classroom?

The Door That's Not Locked

 Many of us find ourselves looking for resources to try and understand the tools today's kids are using so that we can teach them safe and effective use of these tools.  A number of schools are starting to open the conversation with parents about their children's use of the internet and the impact that has on the school culture.

Wallwisher - A Virtual Bulletin Board for Your Classroom

Wallwisher is a free online application that allows you to instantly create an  online bulleting board.  You can share the customized URL you create with your students, who can then post text and links to images on the wall.  This is a great way to add instant online collaboration to your lessons.  Imagine your students responding on a class Wall to a read aloud, adding new vocabulary to a Wall as part of a literature circle, brainstorming as a pre-writing activity, and much more!  Add your own ideas for using Wallwisher to our 6 Easy Clicks Wall.

Interactive Lessons Using Technology

Over the past year, I’ve seen a multitude of creative solutions on how to get the one laptop and projector in the room involving students during a lesson. The old way of getting kids involved had them coming up to the blackboard or overhead to demonstrate a skill. With wireless technology as readily available as it is now, we’re able to accomplish the same task without the distractions of having students leave their desks (if that’s your preference).

The most prevalent and easy to use way to get the students interacting is to pass them a wireless keyboard and/or mouse (about $60 for the one that we suggest) and have them interact with the website, or program of your choice. Another option is to invest in a wireless tablet such as an eInstruction Mobi. Recently, I purchased an Ultra Mini Keyboard from eBay that I’m quite happy with.

Podcasting in Kindergarten!

I was recently at Waverly P.S. visiting a Kindergarten classroom and was amazed by the innovative and exciting ways that teacher Monica Cheung is using Audacity for podcasting with her kindergarten students.  Visit Miss Cheung and Mrs. Leslie's Super Awesome Kindergarten Page to listen to podcasts of the students describing their learning at classroom centres, reciting poems, responding to stories, and much more!  Imagine the powerful ways parents can be engaged in their children's learning by listening to these wonderful student podcasts.

Primary Story Writing With Storybird!

Storybird is another great online application that has a teacher dashboard that allows teachers to create a class and monitor student accounts in a similar way to BitStrips and KidBlog.

Storybird allows children to select from preset art libraries and write stories to to match the illustrations.  The finished "storybirds" are beautiful picture book versions of the students' original stories that can be read online in an engaging full screen book format.  Students can also invite classmates as collaborators on their stories, and read the published stories of their classmates.

Your primary students will love creating stories in this engaging online format.  Get started here by creating a teacher account and adding students.

Start Blogging As Early As Grade 1

In today's world, it can be argued that writing for an online audience is an entirely new form of writing that students need to be exposed to from an early age.

KidBlog is the perfect platform to introduce young primary and junior students to the concept of blogging. Teachers can quickly add students to a class, using an easy to use teacher dashboard that is very similar to Bit Strips. Within this dashboard, teachers can set access levels and turn comment moderation on or off. This allows the teacher to create a protected class blog that can only be viewed by students, with comments that are only visibile upon teacher approval.

Microblogging

Many of our kids are excited about using social media in their own lives.  Can we leverage the appeal of 140 character thoughts in our classroom?  You be the judge - Twiducate allows teachers to create a class of students and have the students communicate in a Twitter-type style.