AR Alphabet Flashcards

Younger students can practice the alphabet with flashcards that have 3D images pop out when they are scanned with the app from your Apple device;  this surprising Augmented Reality feature makes learning letter recognition fun!

Download the free app here:  AR Flashcards by Mitchlehan Media LLC, Flashcards that "Pop!"
H/T to Apple Distinguished Educator, Mrs. Pepe.

Great Classroom Games

Icebreakers, team-building class games

Cooperative group games that make learning together fun!

7 Habits of Highly Effective Teachers who use Technology

Created by Teach Thought.

Integrating Classroom Tech

Here's the good news.   To get started with classroom tech, don't spend hours creating fancy digital presentations.   Instead, learn how to use different apps and teach students how to use those tools when appropriate to support their learning.   Become a classroom tech ninja simply means understanding when to use what's in your tech toolbox, combined with clearly defined project goals and a tight timeline to keep students on track.   Learning by doing with the right tech in the hands of the students will transform your classroom!

 

Chart added by Jeff Dunn.   H/T to Rob Furman for posting this.

Online privacy

Restricting tracking of online behavior of children...  While regulations get tougher on targeting kids online, the best defense is still parental involvement and discussion about protecting and managing one's online identity.   Like it or not, kids are online younger than ever, so it is never too early to start  talking about what type of online behavior is in their best long-term interests, especially on social media sites.    

Trending - Online Videos

Online Videos by Kathy Cohen


This presentation was made using Wideo, a powerful online video creation tool.   Great tutorials show you how to use the elements provided - backgrounds, objects, characters, text, and combine them with animation effects, narration and music for a polished digital presentation.

Easy digital storytelling

Toontastic is a great app for younger students to explore digital storytelling.   With many cartoon characters and backgrounds to choose from, and the ability to draw their own, this app makes it easy for kids to create simple animated stories.  Students have fun while learning about basic parts of a story, and are able to record dialogue as they move characters around the screen.  Finally, background music can be added to match the tone of their stories.

This app also includes an easy option for sharing published work online, via Toontube.

Recommended for ages 5-10, but fun for all ages.  Intuitive and simple, and guaranteed fun, 

"Lights, camera, play!"

Global newspaper

Our Little Earth - Learn about current events with this ad free global newspaper for teachers and students.

Free, e-mailed every 2 weeks.  H/T to Mr. Underhill, 5th grade teacher in Korea, for this great resource.

Simple mind maps

Must have a G-mail account to sign up for this.   Easy mind-mapping with quick share options included, or download as a PDF or PNG.   Simple way to jot your notes down and share with others.  Get it here...

Screenhero - collaborative screensharing

Connect your two computers in the cloud - two mice, to work remotely together in real time!  Cool!
Free for Mac or Windows:   Download here

"Make the Difference - Talk Now"

 Europe's Anti Bullying Campaign  -  A partnership of private organizations in six countries:  Greece, Italy, Bulgaria, Latvia, Estonia and Lithuania present resources for dealing with bullying, in response to research collected from 16,227 students in secondary schools about bullying.

An interactive educational tool created by One Vibe Films with different scenarios and endings has been created to prompt student discussions.  More teacher resources available.   Very powerful - I recommend going through the material first before presenting it to students.

"To This Day"

Anti-Bullying message:  "To This Day" a spoken word poem by Shane Koyczan animated by many.  An amazing collaborative project -- powerful, beautiful and imaginative.
“Shane Koyczan is electrifying. It’s a rare poet who can make his audience laugh and cry; this is a writer who will break your heart then heal it.” – Val McDermid, author of The Grave Tattoo



Lyrics and audio here

Digital Literacy Roadmap

Anna Otto's poster is a great roadmap to show teachers, students and parents what 21st century learners need to know to meet the standards for digital literacy - the ISTE nets.    I believe it's important to show the positive potential of learning in the online arena, and let students experience this in frequent, simple bursts to broaden their online experiences from "social networking" to authentic "social learning."

Simplify the desktop for kids

Make your Mac desktop kid-friendly is an article by osX daily
with ideas to make it easy for early learners to access apps on
a Mac computer, giving the desktop a "tablet icon" feel.

I would like to add that these basic steps can be followed for Windows
7 users as well.  

Also, I recommend changing the desktop with the seasons, and creating
a custom screensaver with your school name to give your workstations
a professional look.


To teach simple navigation skills, consider having favorite websites bookmarked
so younger students can easily get them.


Finally, if you prefer a clean desktop like I do, try enlarging a few icons and pinning
them to the bottom taskbar, to give a PC running Windows 7 a "Mac" look.   It's
important to keep it simple -  the browser, OpenOffice and a typing program were the
only icons we started with in our bottom taskbar.

Having all the desktops simple and identical in appearance made it easier to maintain
the lab too.   If someone accidentally moved an icon or left work on their desktop unsaved, it
was easy to spot and remedy before the next class came in.

YouTube video editor

An easy, basic video editor for editing in the cloud.   But remind students to think before uploading your content to make sure your privacy is protected.

Google Search skills

Google Searches - Great exercises for Beginner, Intermediate and Advanced Searches

Lesson plans for:

• Picking the right search terms

• Understanding search results

• Narrowing a search to get the best results

• Searching for evidence for research tasks

• Evaluating credibility of sources
• 
  

Need search ideas?   Try "A Google a Day" questions shown in the video below:

Preschooler's learn about internet security

A free app by AVG Technologies, antivirus software maker for teaching internet safety to preschoolers.

Please share it with your child;  it will autoplay for non-readers.

Click to download pdf booklet here.

Please note:   Although I am partial to the name, I am not affiliated in any way with this app.  

It was created by AVG.

Green Screen in iMovie

by Cassandra Pereira

Zoomit

"Zoom-it  is a free service for viewing and sharing high-resolution imagery."  Enter the link to any image on the web, and they create a link with the capability to zoom in and move around the photo.   This is wonderful for exploring large infographics or minute details on images.    Zoom in on images, web files and pdfs.   You can also embed or link to a Zoom-it image to repost the movable image.

Gagne's Instructional Method

An infographic by Nicole Legault @ flirtingwelearning.  Elegant graphics and instructional design.

Texting - The Last Texting Documentary from AT & T

Please watch this video with young drivers. Warning: It is difficult to watch but the stories are heartfelt. Help our kids stay safe!

Cell phone use in classroom study

University of Haifa, Cell phone use 2012 study, 591 pupils 9-12, 144 teachers, 3 high schools

2012 Social Networking Infographic

Learn about data visualization tools.

Designed by Giovanna Bargh