Tech Tools & Tips for Teachers

Twurdy!!!! Is it too Wordy?

2011-11-18T15:26:00.001-05:00

Twurdy is a search engine with students in mind. With Twurdy, teachers and students can perform a search just like they do in Google and get results sorted by readability. How many times have your students searched for a topic to find something that is too difficult to read? With Twurdy, they will have a better chance to find a resource that they can actually put to use. Talk about built in differentiation!

There are 3 different types of search in Twurdy: Just Twurday- their basic search; Simple Twurdy - quicker results, but not as accurate; and finally Twurdy with Pop - more advanced search.

www.twurdy.com

Helping ADHD Students Get Organized for School

2011-09-23T21:20:00.000-04:00

We take for granted organization strategies that many students exhibit. However, most of our students need our help learning these skills. There are some of these students that need these skills taught and retaught on a regular basis. We cannot assume that they were taught how to keep things organized "last year" or in elementary school. It is our responsibility to teach our students each year our classroom routines and how we organize things.

Looking for ways to assist my students I ran across a comment at http://soarstudyskills.com that was very eye-opening to the struggles our "unorganized" students have: When we ask our students to keep a binder for each of their 6 to 8 classes, this is like us trying to keep up with 6 to 8 different email addresses. Now, I am pretty tech savvy, but I have enough problems with keeping up with the 2 email addresses I have. We can simplify this by asking them to keep one binder with different tabs or folders inside. Why ask our students to spend time at their lockers in the 1 minute they have between classes to go through each binder to select the correct one, when they can more simply grab one binder and be set for each class?

This is only one tip. You can visit this link and find so many others to help us help our students: Helping ADHD Students Get Organized for School

Starting the Year on a Positive Note | Edutopia

2011-08-21T17:49:00.000-04:00

This school year will bring about many new changes. I have recently read an article called "Starting the Year on a Positive Note". The author offers some great advice. The first piece of advice I will take from the author is to think positively. We can get so overwhelmed with all the new ideas we have, new schedules, new programs, and everything else thrown at us, that we get down on ourselves and the situation. I am keeping a positive attitude, and will do the best I can in all situations. Not trying to take on too much at once, is another great thought to follow. There are way too many great ideas out there that I know I want to experiment with. Reigning myself in will be my most difficult task. I have to set a goal, do what I am required to do first, and then build from there. I need to use those new ideas and tools that will make my work and that of my students work more efficiently. Bells and whistles are nice, and there is a time and place for them, but it is my job to figure out just when that is.

Cite This: Two Free Tools that Make Citing Sources Easy!

2011-07-28T13:30:00.005-04:00

What a superb webinar I attended today- hosted by SimpleK12. If you have not checked out there site, you really need to. The webinar today was called: Cite This: Two Free Tools that Make Citing Sources Easy! The webinar presenter was Kim Munoz from http://techmunoz.edublogs.org .

What great resources to have for the classroom. These two citation websites make citing information a breeze, and you know it will be correct!

Citation Machine was the first tool presented. It had multiple formats for citing information, as well as multiple types of sources to be sited. Options for sources included blogs, podcasts, web images, magazines, TV, newspaper, and much more. You did not have to have to register for this site, however, there were running ads on the page. This might be something you want to check out prior to using with students - depends on the grade level. To use the tool, you simply provided the information requested and hit a button. It provides you with the correctly cited source - then you could easily copy / paste into your bibliography.

Bibme is the other tool covered in the webinar. This website had a login option. If you are just using it quickly, and do not want anything saved, you do not have to register. However, if you wish to have the ability to save your resources, you need to create an account. In order to have an account the user must be 13 years old or older. This site has many of the same options as the previous one, and is just as simple to use. There were no running ads on this site, which makes it more student friendly. In addition to being able to save your bibliography sources on this site, you have the ability to download your bibliography to use in your project. Very simple task to perform.

Both citation tools are very beneficial and perform similar tasks. I really think it depends on personal preference for the site, and what you are really looking for.

SimpleK12 never lets a person down. I have always been more than satisfied with the resources they share, and am a subscriber to their website. If you have not yet subscribed, please attend their free webinars. You will be very happy, and might even subscribe yourself.

For a list of upcoming webinars, check out this site:

http://blog.simplek12.com/education/webinars-classroom-management-web-tools-and-much-more/?utm_source=feedblitz&utm_medium=FeedBlitzEmail&utm_content=648760&utm_campaign=0

Paper.li

2010-09-07T22:25:00.006-04:00

A new fun way to read Twitter posts - create a Twitter newspaper! My Paper.li is on the right.

You can create a newspaper of .....

......a Twitter user & those being followed by that user,
......of a Twitter #Tag,

......of a Twitter @List.

You can stay up-to-date on everything posted by those you follow even if you are not connected. YouTube videos shared are posted. Items are even categorized. What a great alternative to scrolling through a whole day's list of postings - especially if you are following a large number of people.

You've just got to give Paper.li a try.

A Must Read For All Teachers

2010-08-28T21:46:00.002-04:00

Here's a blog post that everyone should read - especially those trying to implement more technology into their classrooms & homework:

"Seven Technology Alternatives to Standard Homework Assignments"

This post provides examples of standard assignments along with the alternative technology assignments that could replace them. Very interesting!!!!!!!

WallWisher

2010-08-27T14:42:00.006-04:00

A tool with many uses!!!!!!!!

Wallwisher is an online-interactive message board. To compare it to something non-tech, it is basically a bulletin board that you post notices to provide information or to get responses from others - remember all of those bulletin boards in the college buildings covered with paper notices? So why am I mentioning a simple bulletin board look-alike here? It makes for a great collaborative tool.

What are some possible uses? Wallwisher provides a means for teachers to post a question or topic and allows students to respond on a virtual post-it note. Students are limited to about 150 or so characters, so an unintimidating summarizing practice would be great on Wallwisher . Wallwisher can also be used as a notice board to provide parents and/or students with important information or upcoming events. Students can use Wallwisher for projects when working with others. They can post questions or set it up as a response board for collaborative peers.

What an excellent way to present new vocabulary. Post the vocabulary word & let others post what comes to mind. They can post the definition, a sentence, or any connotation that comes to mind. Someone might even post an image or video they find. The ability to add a video is just one way that makes Wallwisher so much better than a traditional board.

My favorite use for Wallwisher is as a brainstorming tool. Use it with your whiteboards with a whole class and do a basic brainstorming activity - jotting down ideas. Or students working on their own computers can create their own brainstorming board before writing.

Collect information from various sources for various reasons. Wallwisher is just an altogether great place to collaborate.

Go check out Wallwisher.

TinEye

2010-08-26T11:41:00.005-04:00

We've all had those students who included images in projects without referencing them. Then, they have to go back and find them or replace that image with another. Such a time waster!!!!

TinEye is a reverse image search engine. I know - what does that mean? Well, basically, you provide TinEye with an image either by uploading it or providing them with a link to an image, and then they search the internet for all images that are the same. How neat is that? It even finds images that were cropped or edited in some ways. I guess that cuts down on copyright issues!!!

What I have learned is that each image that has been digitized has its own digital "fingerprint". They look at the pixels and other features of the picture - each one being different. I will tell you, this makes me think first when using an image from the web. I will be more diligent at giving the website I pull images from credit in all I do.

Go check it out: http://www.tineye.com/

Print What You Like

2010-08-15T14:43:00.003-04:00

No more wasted paper!!! All of us have had the experience of finding a website we need information from - printing it - then having tons of wasted paper because of all the ads or extra information. How about all the paper piled up beside the printer from when our students printed research information that ended up being 20+ pages, and they only needed what was on one or two of those pages!!

Now there is www.printwhatyoulike.com. You can go in, enter the URL for the page you are needing to print, edit out what you don't want - then print. It is just that easy. You can also add information from more than one website onto one printed page!!!

Where was this site when I needed it in grad school!!!

Go check it out now....... www.printwhatyoulike.com

Ustream.tv & podcasting

2010-08-04T21:48:00.002-04:00

Anyone who is going to try podcasting needs to use ustream.tv. It is the easiest livestream - video sharing tool available. It can be as simple as having a webcam and mic - clicking a few buttons, and you have it. This is definitely a tool that we will be using and sharing at Tucker County's Tech Camp ths year. Kim and I are planning to broadcast and create videos to so that we can use tech camp sessions beyond next week. If you are coming to camp and want to get started, simply go to http://www.ustream.tv.

This is also a tool I plan to use personally with my family. With my son being in Iraq, this will be a great way to share holidays and other events with him, and easy enough that he can also do similar.

Be sure to check out Ustream.

An abundance of Resources

2010-07-29T13:23:00.000-04:00

Everyone needs to check out this link: http://slides.diigo.com/list/diannekrause/electronic-portfolio-resources

There are 200+ resources to explore. I am sure that everyone will find something to use. Enjoy!

Book Seer

2010-07-22T13:22:00.000-04:00

If you haven't used Book Seer, you need to when you are trying to select your next book. If you have just read a book that you really like, and you are trying to find one similar, Book Seer might give you a few recommendations. I can see so much potential with students. I've had many students come up and ask if I know of a good book like the one they just finished. I'm sure you have too. Now, just steer them to Book Seer (in addition to your recommendations, of course).

EyePlorer

2010-07-20T19:20:00.002-04:00

I spent a lot of time today reading blogs through my Google Reader to find resources for tech camp. I have found so much information, and I still have only scratched the surface. I did find one website that really impressed me: http://www.eyeplorer.com - EyePlorer is a state of the art search engine. It is set up in a round "target-like" chart. You type or drag a topic to the center, and it builds the target around it with many "eye-spots" that represent concepts that are related to your center topic. There are small "eye-spots" that have a little connection to your topic, and then larger "eye-spots" that have a bigger relationship. If you want to see how the "eye-spots" are related, you click on them, they show you a link. If you want to know how they are further related, you click "more", and other links appear. Then finally, if you want to remember what you have found, you can drag what you want onto a notepad. If you want to save your search, you can register for the site - free membership. Go check it out. This sure beats the typical search engine!!!

Be sure to give Eyeplorer a look.

Give it a try!!!!!!

2010-07-16T16:26:00.000-04:00

I'm gonna try to start blogging about tools and other ideas I find useful for teachers to put to use & experiment with in the classroom or for their own use. My hopes for this blog is that you will comment and also share ideas with me that you have found that are just as good or better than what I post. I'm gonna at least give it a try!!!!!