“Mrs. ______, I Can’t Find the Website!”

How many times have you given your students a URL to type in and they just can’t seem to get to the website you intended? As an elementary school teacher, I have encountered this problem many times. Even though my students are more tech savvy than I was at their age, they sometimes struggle with typing in a URL correctly. I have found even writing it down for them and having them copy it directly into the address bar is challenging for some. It also takes a while for an untrained keyboarder to type a long URL quickly as well.

I am here to tell you that there is a wonderful website that will completely eradicate this problem. In my current grad class, I am learning about all kinds of Web 2.0 tools that can be easily used to help our little ones along.

So, without further ado… I introduce to you Fav7! By visiting this website, you can create a page of up to 7 websites that you would like your kiddos to have easy access to. All they have to type in is www.fav7.com and a code that is given when you set up a site. This is absolutely free, and you can create as many as you like.

Here is an example of what one would look like:

 

You simply type in or copy/paste the websites into Fav7 and voila! You have a nice page made for you just like this that the kids can visit and click on each site.

Symbaloo…Who?

If you haven’t heard of Symbaloo, I am here to tell you that you MUST check it out. I have fallen in love with this site after learning about it from my professor, this semester of grad school. Symbaloo is a site that let’s you create Webmixes for your home screen. If you are an organization freak like me, you will LOVE it. It works a lot like iGoogle, but with a nicer format that allows you to arrange websites you visit often into a tiled screen. You can create as many different Webmixes as you choose. You can even create mixes of RSS feeds so you can just click on one screen and keep up with your favorite blogs or other sites with a feed.

Here is a quick peek into my Symbaloo home screen!

I have arranged it so that I have school sites on top, personal on bottom, Web2.0 tools on the left, and social sites on the right. There is a little shopping down there at the bottom too!

The large tile in the middle can serve as a Google search, but it will also show Facebook and Twitter feeds when widgets are used.

You can also do this:

That my friends is RSS feeds from some of my favorite technology blogs. I don’t have to visit Google Reader to see them anymore!

Did I mention that you can share Webmixes also? Yes, that is right. You could create one to share with fellow teachers. I plan on creating some for units of study to share with my grade level team. You could even share them with your students. A login is not required for others to use the mix you create if you share it. You can share it via email, Facebook, Twitter, or even embed it into your class website. My gears are spinning right now! I think I am off to create a mix for my students to use for our upcoming unit on the Civil War. I will make sure to share it with all you wonderful blog friends when I am finished.

Where Have I Been?

I have unfortunately neglected two of my favorite things, my blog and my bloggy friends.  I apologize. Holy moly, life is chaotic. On top of all the teacher responsibilities, I have been training fellow teachers on Promethean ActivInspire across my district, and grad school has reared its ugly head. I really love to blog and share things with all of my wonderful teacher blog friends, but I haven’t been able to find the time to sit down and share over the past couple of months. I have been too busy reading about educational philosophies, which might I add, is NOT one of my favorite things to do. However, I have reflected on my teaching tremendously and I do believe I am ready to conquer the educational world. We shall see…
Next up in the grad school hiatus is a technology class. YIPEEE!!! I am stoked. I can’t wait to get started, and I just know I am going to learn a lot of new things that I can share with Blogland. Stay tuned for updates on this little adventure that starts this coming Thursday.
While away, I received the Liebster award from two awesome blog friends, Brittany over at A Day In First Grade and a new up and coming blog, Think Share Teach. Head on over and check both of them out, you won’t be disappointed!

This award is given to spotlight up-and-coming blogs with less than 200 followers. The rules are:
1. Copy and paste the award on your blog.
2. Thank the giver and link back to them.
3. Reveal your top 5 picks and let them know by leaving a comment on their blog.
4. Hope that your followers will spread the love to other bloggers!!
Here are the five blogs I chose for the Liebster Blog Award:
        


Crayons, Calendars, and Caffeine

Make Up Work Made Interactive

Hello friends! I am so thrilled to have found a moment to blog. Life is chaotic, geez!!!

I wanted to share a little ActivInspire tip for all you Promethean users/lovers out there. Do you know about the video tool? This tool can be used to conveniently record lessons while you teach. It will record your voice and everything you are writing/manipulating on the board as you teach. Basically, it is a screen recorder built right into the ActivInspire software.

Have you ever had a student absent? Ummmm….Yeah! How fun is it to catch students up when you have twenty plus other ones needing your attention. You taught a very important math lesson on the day Johnny was absent and he really needs to see it in action. Fret no more my friends! Record your teaching using the ActivInspire video recorder, and little Johnny can watch and hear the whole lesson when he comes back to school. 

I have used this tool a lot in my classroom, and it really helps my students who have been absent. You can even send the videos via email if you have a child who is absent for a long period of time. Did I mention that I love it? I love it!!!

So here is how it works:

1. Open ActivInspire

2. Go to Tools---More Tools---Screen Recorder----Fullscreen Recorder

3. Click the read button to start recording. Name your video what you want to save it as.

4. Click the stop button to stop recording!

5. Open your video by going to where you saved it and VOILA!!!!

Here is a sample one I made for some ActivInspire training I am doing in my district.

Maybe this little tool will come in handy for some of you out there. I hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving and enjoy the break!!!

I Heart Blogs!

I would like to give a huge thank you to Mrs. Zrihen over at A Teacher’s Treasure for bestowing the “I Heart Your Blog Award” upon my blog. I am so thankful for her kind words about my blog.

There are many blogs that I heart! Here are ten that you should really check out:

 

  

 

 

        

 

Rules:

1. Give the "I Heart Your Blog "Award to your favrite Top 10 Blogs that have touched your heart and inspired your teaching by listing them on your blog.
2. Contact that person and let them know of their heartfelt award.
3. When you receive the award,
copy and paste the graphic onto your
blog and give a shout out to the person who nominated you.
4. Spread the LOVE by passing the "Heart Your Blog" Award on your Top 10.

Snip It!!

If you are using Windows 7, I hope you have discovered the Snipping Tool. I really have no idea how I ever lived without it. This tool allows you to easily take a snapshot of anything that is on your computer screen. You can save the snip as a picture to your computer or copy it to your clipboard. You can even add annotations to your snip. Check out how to use it it here on the Windows site.

How do I use it in the classroom?

1. Screen captures to use in interactive flipcharts. I just snip, copy, and paste right into my flipcharts.

2. Snip parts of websites I want to share with my students and save as a picture.

3. Piece tests together on one page using snips of questions.

4. Create screen shot tutorials for my class or staff at my school.

5. Create picture collages for writing activities.

The possibilities are endless with this little tool!

My First Award!!!

A huge thank you to Brittany over at A Day In First Grade for giving me a Versatile Blogger Award! You should definitely check out her cute blog. I am so honored to have been recognized in this bloggy-blog-world by such an awesome teacher. I have really enjoyed sharing ideas and reading all the wonderful blogs out there since I started this little ol’ blog this summer.

Along with accepting this award, there are a few rules to follow. Yay! I love me some rules. Here they are:

*Thank the person who gave you the award and link back to them in your post.
Thank you tons Brittany!

*Share 7 things about yourself.

1. I am starting graduate school in two weeks, and I am quite nervous and excited at the same time. I will be getting a Masters of Education in Classroom Leadership. It sounds so fancy!

2. I love to decorate! Spray paint is my absolute bestie.

3. I am addicted to Tervis Tumblers. I think my husband might intervene soon.

4. I absolutely love teaching the history of the great state of South Carolina, and I love seeing my students enjoying learning about our state.

5. Football season is my favorite time of the year. Although my husband and I pull for rival teams, we still make it work. “We interrupt this marriage to bring you football season!”

6. Dinner conversation at my house usually consists of talk about some sort of technology gadget. I am blessed to have a husband who shares my love for technology. We have decided that instead of stick figures on the back of our car windows, we should put two iPads (mom and dad) and two iPod touch (2 boys) look-alike stickers to represent our family. We are pretty geeky around here!!!

7. Zebra print is my favorite pattern. It just keeps creeping into my house. I have been on the lookout for a zebra print chair to go in my living room since last Christmas when I saw one at Ross and didn’t buy it. Ugh…

*Pass this award along to 15 recently discovered blogs.

Jack of All Trades

3rd Grade’s A Hoot

Fourth Grade Frolics

Michelle’s Math In The Middle

Lesson Plan S.O.S.

Third Grade Rock Star

It’s Not All Flowers and Sausages

Technology Rocks, Seriously

Shepherd’s Shining Stars

Yearn To Learn

I Heart Teaching Elementary

The Teaching Thief

Create Teach Share

Cardigans and Curriculum

Dots N Spots

Check these blogs out. I promise you won’t be let down!