Web 2.0 For Everyone

Over the summer, I have trained teachers to use a variety of Web 2.0 tools in the classroom. I wanted to share some of my favorites. I have blogged about a lot of them, but you really should check out some of the sites to use in your classroom this year. Some of them will help you organize both your classroom and home life, while some of them are special sites for the kiddos to use. Over the course of this year, I will share how these can be used in the classroom in more depth, but I wanted to go ahead and share the list so you could do some exploring!

Organization Tools

• http://fav7.com (bookmark 7 websites for your students to use easily)
• www.symbaloo.com (organize your home page)
• http://classroombooksource.com (organize and track your classroom library)
• www.classdojo.com (manage classroom behavior digitally)

Bookmarking Tools

• www.livebinders.com (create online binders)
• www.delicious.com (bookmark favorite sites and access from anywhere)
• www.pinterest.com (need I say more?)

Creation Tools

• www.slideshare.com (create videos using digital photos)
• www.animoto.com (animate digital photos to create a movie with music)
• www.tagxedo.com (create word clouds)
• www.prezi.com (make presentations more engaging)
• www.blabberize.com (make pictures talk)
• www.comicmaster.org (create comic books)
• www.kerpoof.com (digital storytelling for elementary students)
• www.photopeach.com (create videos)
• www.stixy.com (post information to a virtual bulletin board)
• edu.glogster.com (create posters online)
• www.timeglider.com (interactive timelines)
• www.readwritethink.org (many lesson plans and interactive tools for students)

Planning Tools

• www.thinkfinity.org (lesson plans)
• www.neok12.com (find videos, lesson plans, interactive games, and more)
• www.khanacademy.org (videos to flip the classroom or tutor students)

Collaboration/Sharing Tools

• www.edmodo.com (Facebook for the classroom)
• www.voicethread.com (upload videos or pictures to share and receive comments)
• www.twitter.com (tweet classroom information)
• www.dropbox.com (share documents, pictures, videos, etc. with colleagues)
• www.wallwisher.com (create an online bulletin board for students to answer questions)
• docs.google.com (share everything)

All of these tools are awesome and FREE! Some of them you don't even have to create an account to use. This makes them simple to implement in the classroom. I hope you can find at least one to use this year! Make sure to check out www.neok12.com. This is definitely one of my favorites!

Let's Go On A Virtual Field Trip

OK...let me first say Thank You! Thank You! Thank You! I am overwhelmed at the blog traffic and number of followers this little ol' blog has accumulated this summer. I am so honored to have every single one of you reading my blog. I started this blog last summer as a way to share technology ideas and to remember them for myself. I love, love, love everything that has to do with integrating technology into the classroom, and I am so blessed to be able to share some of my ideas here. Again, thanks so much for your kind comments and emails. I am delighted to work with teachers all over the globe! Hopefully, this coming school year I will be posting a lot more often. Since I am transitioning into a new job, I plan to make Sunday my blogging day since it used to be my lesson plan getting ready day!

So without further ado...I thought I would share a little idea I had while creating a differentiated menu this summer (more on that to come).

How about if you are teaching your students about a specific region or place around the world? You can have them create virtual field trips for their classmates! Some of us take our students on virtual field trips using Google Earth or just the plain old Internet, but what if you had them create the field trip themselves. It could even be a virtual field trip from around the school building. All your students need to have is some pictures and a program such as Windows Live Movie Maker, Animoto, or Microsoft Photostory. All the students have to do is upload their pictures to one of the programs, annotate the pictures, and present.

Here is one I made as a sample to take a field trip to the Coastal Zone of South Carolina.

I think this would be great to assign as a group project and have students present the information. It could also be done as an individual project. Why not let this be the test/quiz on a region's landforms, tourist attractions, animals, government, etc.?