Ten Ways to Get Smart With SMARTboard, Amber Price via kwout

"I decided to present a workshop on the SMARTboard at our district level Professional Development Academies and found that most of the teachers, being new to the SMARTboard, were not even sure how to use an interactive whiteboard instructionally with their students. The teachers were not as interested in learning the SMART Notebook software as they were with using the SMARTboard for integrated, interactive lessons. It is my job, as the Instructional Technology Resource Teacher, or ITRT, to go into the classrooms and model lessons, constantly providing templates, samples, and resources to my teachers. The idea is that they can learn the software as they become more aware of what they can do with the SMARTboard with their students. My ultimate goal as an ITRT is to help guide them towards more independent use of technology."

Symbaloo | Access your bookmarks anywhere via kwout

Cloud Computing for the Classroom and Symbaloo
What us Symbaloo? Symbaloo allows you to organize and share the best of the web with your students and colleagues. You can organize your teach-ing resources all in one place
Richard Grignon, ICT Consultant, B< In last week‘s edition, symbalooedu.com was showcased as an excellent tool for teachers to organize their web re-sources. This week‘s column will delve deeper into the symbaloo realm to paint a clearer picture as to its benefits. From the symbaloo home page, select the Start Now button ..
then select the edu teachers tab at the top left of the page to view the webmix

A webmix is a series of links to websites or widgets(online gadgets) presented in a very intuitive graphical form. This EDU teachers webmix highlights a series of other webmixes linked to various curriculum areas. For example, clicking on the European His-tory icon will link to another webmix related to European history.
The European History webmix is rich with web resource links to enhance research for students or curriculum delivery.
Symbaloo offers an extensive, content rich, research base for most curriculum areas without having to create an account. However, by creating an account, teachers are able to customize their own webmixes tailored their class needs. They can also partake in symbaloo‘s professional learning community of teachers to share and learn more about symbaloo‘s functionalities.

Character Education at Home via kwout

ARKive - discover the world's most endangered species via kwout

The ARKive is just one of many valuable and fascinating websites that have multiple uses in the classroom. ARKive is so much more than just a collection of images, it has thousands of videos, images and facts about the world’s species. ARKive has an education section of the site that is a free multi-media educational resources complete with downloadable, ready to use audio/visual modules on a wide range of science, geography, citizenship, and environmental based topics. ARKive’s ready made educational resources make it simple to integrate into your science, geography, or general classes.

Unique images of a young kinkajou
Check out the malayan bat

The ARKive is very teacher-friendly as well as pupil-friendly and has a few science lesson plans ready made on the site - well worth checking out! But don't forget to use this valuable and fascinating site even if you aren't a science teacher and science lesson plans aren't really useful for you.

English: Some of the endangered animals have really quirky names? How about showing your class some footage of the animal without showing the name of the animal and then getting your students to create a name for it?

Math: The ARKive has some startling facts and figures related to extinction that can be used in a maths class. For example, if one species becomes extinct every twenty minutes, how many species is that per day? Per week? This will be a very sobering lesson...

Free Technology for Teachers via kwout

This blog provides great tips on tech resources for teachers. Programs, sites, user notes.

Other web site..ings
symbaloo
Symbaloo allows you to organize and share the best of the web with your students and colleagues. You can organize your teach-ing resources all in one place. Symbaloo resides somewhere between a professional learning site and classroom application. Teachers can create a webmix for students, directing them to specific web search engines, websites or other applications and widgets. The tour gives an excellent example created by a chemistry teacher. Teachers can also personalize their own webmix to collaborate with other teachers as well as having their favourite sites and widgets at their fingertips.
rafi.ki
Rafi.ki is a secure online learning community that lets your stu-dents talk to schools all over the world. It also has a sister site, Kidogo, for students ages 4 to 11. As a teacher you have a named facilitator to help your international linking. Recognising that every school is different a Rafi.ki facilitator will be able to link you to the right partner for your school. Teachers may also partake in existing educational projects which are linked to various curriculum areas. Rafiki also offers audio and video con-ferencing, chat forums, collaborative document editing and email capabilities. Rafi.ki is a website dedicated to teachers wanting to explore different technology applications for the classroom. Thank you to Chris Hale for suggesting this great site.

These apps are geared to serve teachers in various ways, either in the classroom or as a personalized professional learning community.

Dictionaries & Thesaursi: The visual kind, very cool! via kwout

For the visual learner find the one that's right for you!

Let's Book It with Tech'Knowledge'y - Making Books - Vicki Blackwell's Internet Guide for Educators via kwout

All the templates below are PowerPoint templates ready for the students to begin writing. You must first save the file to your computer.

Other related or similar sites to make booklets with your students ion curriculum related topics:~
Ideas from Scholastic

Teach Science and Math via kwout

David Wetzel has provided us with some 20 Google Doc Templates for use in Science and Math Classrooms. Considering the versatility of Google Docs, there are many ingenious ways teachers use this free online program with students. David Wetzel considersjust a few! ~

How to Get a Classroom of Kids Blogging in Under 5 Minutes! via kwout

New Web Site Helps Teachers Use Digital Technology More Effectively — College of Education via kwout

"As part of the Exemplary Digital Teaching Archive Project (EDTAP), lead investigator Gail Boldt and her colleagues have published a series of video learning materials that feature kindergarten through eighth grade teachers and their students engaged in innovative, project-based teaching and learning facilitated by digital technology."

Thanks for the tweet, BJB!

Cybraryman Internet Catalogue via kwout

LiveBinders is “your 3-ring binder for the Web.” And it's free. So here is everthing you wanted to know about LiveBinders but were afraid to ask. Now you can search for education resources by grade level or topic. To do this access the “Featured LiveBinders” tab and look under “LiveBinders Categories”. Then select “More Education”. There are many more updates enhancements to this wonderful app.

See "Enhancing LiveBinders

Math Goodies via kwout

Unit on Probability

By popular demand, Math Goodies has published their entire Unit on Probability. The interactive spinners and die rolls are truly random. This unit includes lessons on the following topics:

Introduction to Probability covers experiments, outcomes, events and probabilities.
Certain and Impossible Events presents examples and probabilities for each type of event.
Sample Spaces covers all possible outcomes for experiments with marbles, playing cards and more.
Complement of an Event computes the probability that an event will not occur.
Mutually Exclusive Events examines experiments to determine if they have any outcomes in common.
Addition Rules are used to compute the probabilities of events that are, and are not, mutually exclusive.
Independent Events computes the probability of independent events that occur in sequence.
Dependent Events computes the probability of dependent events, accounting for outcomes common to both.
Conditional Probability provides step-by step examples for computing conditional probabilities.
Practice Exercises are 10 additional problems for assessment of skills and knowledge.
Challenge Exercises are 10 additional real-world problems to challenge students.
What happens when you choose a marble? roll a pair of dice? pick a card?

FINAL Top 100 Tools for Learning 2010 via kwout

A nice way to look at tools that are important to the educational community. I use Twitter and Delicious on a regular basis. These tools are not specifically geared for education.

Every day Jane Hart features an item of interest. for learning and/or working. Jane Hart is a Social Business Consultant, and founder of the Centre for Learning & Performance Technologies.

Other sites of interest~
Keyboarding practice sites>>>
Keyboarding
10 Fast Fingers

Share Your Wordle Ideas by JenW via kwout

Share your classroom ideas on using Wordle with Jen Wagner.

Google Image Swirl via kwout

Google Image Swirl organizes image searches into categories based on content. Google Image Swirl returns a results of a search (e.g. Fruit) showing you the images grouped by similarity. You then click on an image you think is similar to what you’re after and Google then shows you more images of a similar nature. You can repeat the process as often as it allows you to which is dependant on how many images it finds. Now, don't get too excited, because you can't just play around with any old term - but there are about 200,000 terms that you can use. Try entering 'Hubble Telescope' search, and see what you are presented with.

PicLits.com - Create a PicLit via kwout

PicLits is a Web 2.0 creative writing tool that pairs beautiful pictures with word banks to encourage self-expression and creativity. This is just one of many ways to support and integrate writing in the classroom.
Related sites~
PicLit Examples and Classroom Integration Ideas
A web2.0 Tool to stimulate Writing
Robin's Technology Tips for PicLit Integration

This is just one of many ways to support writing in the classroom. Piclit helps students think creatively and critically about their writing.

At times PicLits occasionally allows advertising on their home page to include images that are not classroom-friendly

IXL Math via kwout

I stumbled upon a fabulous website for math. It is standards based! IXL is compatible with all electronic whiteboards, so project the site onto your classroom e-board and involve the entire class! There is an option for membership! This site makes a practical home/school connection!

Favorite Book Costumes for Kids Halloween via kwout

Why not have a favorite book costume party for Hallowe'en. Dress up as your favorite book character. Max from Where the Wild Things Are, Madeline, Coraline, Little Red Riding Hood and more! Dress up as your favorite book character. Max from Where the Wild Things Are, Madeline, Coraline, Little Red Riding Hood and more!

Google Squared via kwout

Google Squared is a search tool that helps you quickly build a collection of facts from Web, for any topic you specify. Facts about your topic are organized into a table of and attributes. Customize these Squares to see just the items and attributes you're ested in. See the websites that served as sources for the information in your Square. and share Squares with others. It can be used to quickly aggregate information for dents to evaluate. Students can do research and evaluate the information pulled into spreadsheet. This allows students a way to develop information fluency.

Spelling & Vocabulary Website: SpellingCity via kwout

This is an excellent website for students who need to practice weekly spelling lists or for word study programs.

You type in the list words and the website creates online games and interactive activities with the words as a focus. Students can also do their spelling test on line. They click on a button and it reads the word to them. They can click on another button and it reads a sentence with the word in it.
This could be used as a centre for word study while the teacher is busy doing guided reading. Students can do it at home to study for their test.

Thanks to Sandy Owens, Assistive Technology Consultant, OCDSB

Pumpkin Seed 2010 Welcome via kwout

Jen's successful project is in its 5th year. Use a pumpkin and the seeds with math and science -- estimation, tallying, counting,

Alternatives to Traditional Book Reports - Richard Byrne via kwout

Some GREAT resources to revitalize your lesson planning and give it a 20th C feel.

» Teacher Tools that Integrate Technology: Wikis » Exemplary Resources for Middle School Math and Science via kwout

The value of using wikis in the K to 2 classroom is well laid out here.

Related articles:
Wiki in a K-12 classroom

Free Technology for Teachers: Six Visual Dictionaries and Thesauri via kwout

Other notable web site..ings
Homepage of Early Childhood and Delepment

Education resources for school communities, specifically Victorian - general access available to all - login access for Vict govt teachers to construct mashup lessons. Teacher Home Page - FUSE - Department of Education and Early Childhood Development

Cool Math Sites via kwout

tons of organized links to math support sites for all levels!

Writing Fun by Jenny Eather - helping kids write using text organizers. via kwout

Pete MacKay to theteacherlist
show details 9:11 AM (1 hour ago)
One of my favourite Math sites is Jenny Eather's Maths Dictionary but I see that she's back with a language site now. Jenny offers here a series of text organizers to assist students with the writing process. Basically, a student (or you) choose a text type/purpose and the organizer loads. Students fill in the blank organizer or view other examples provided online. There is also a button to turn on the outline of the organizer or to turn it off. When complete, hit the print button. The students can have some creative writing fun and you can use the assignments to diagnose writing strengths and weaknesses.

The URL: http://www.writingfun.com/writingfun2010.html

Web 2.0 Tools for Kids via kwout

Web 2.0 for kids

vozMe - From text to speech via kwout

VozMe is a pretty neat 'web 2.0' tool that allows the user to cut and paste text into the box and the program creates an audio mp3 of the text you selected. You can choose a male or female voice as well as different languages (but, sadly, not French...yet...) I think that an online text-to-speech software program would be beneficial in most elementary classrooms. Teachers can create mp3s of books, poems, articles, etc and save them...perhaps create a computer-based reading/listening centre...excellent for podcasting as well! It would also be useful for readers who need extra support. For you blogger-types, you can copy the code into your blog and create a 'widget' so that visitors to your class blog (like parents) can try this at home. It can also be added to your web browser. Having this program on our class blog would make it very easy for my Grade 1's to find and use.

vozMe

Thanks to ~
Brad Hunter
Grade 1 Teacher/Computer Contact
Richmond Public School
http://primarywriters.edublogs.org/

Thoughts and reflections~
2 Ways to Use vozMe
Literacy and vozMe
MyWeb4Ed Blog