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Seussville

What it is: The last time I wrote about Seussville was in May 2007.  Recently I have written a few Dr. Seuss posts and my friend @crudbasher sent me a link to Seussville asking if I had seen it.  I had NO idea it had been so beautifully and creatively revamped!  The new Seussville truly feels like a site Dr. Seuss himself would have imagined.  It is simply a funtastical place!  On the site your students will find little snippets of Dr. Seuss books to read, video clips based on Dr. Seuss books that could act as book trailers, printable activities, online learning games, a place to meet the Dr. Seuss characters, a place to meet Dr. Seuss the author, and much more.  Seussville also has funtastic classroom resources for teachers including printables and activities, lesson plans, The Cat in the Hat’s Learning Library, an author study, a complete list of books, and information about programs like Read Across America and the Lorax Project.  This is such a fun, engaging site I could have explored it for hours! How to integrate Seussville into your curriculum: A Dr. Seuss author study is always fun! Seussville has all of the resources you need to let your students get up-close and personal with Dr. Seuss.   The learning games on Seussville make students think and play using trial and error and critical thinking(see the Green Eggs and Ham game for example).  This is a fun site to use year round with your students but would be particularly exciting around Dr. Seuss’ birthday.  Set up Seussville on your classroom computers during reading time and invite students to search for a Dr. Seuss book they might enjoy reading.  The mini descriptions and book trailer type video clips will have your students excited to read to find out what happens next. Tips: Sign up for Seussville newsletter to be delivered to your email box throughout the school year. Please leave a comment and share how you are using Seussville in your classroom!

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Squad: Collaborative Code Editor

Posted by admin | Posted in Apply, collaboration, Create, Middle/High School, Secondary Elementary, Technology, web tools, Web2.0, Websites | Posted on 05-12-2012

Tags: , , , , , , , ,

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What it is: We have some students at Anastasis Academy that are CODE crazy! They are really excited to learn how to code (we’ve used Codecademy) and practice with friends.  Squad is a free collaborative code editor.  With Squad, students can access the code they are writing anywhere there is an Internet connection. This means that students can chat and edit files together no matter where they are.  Squad constantly saves the workspace so that they are available even when multiple machines are logged in.  Students can see what teammates are working on, offer recommendations and even work simultaneously on a document.  Even better? If your students have a coding question (and you, like me, can’t answer) they can copy and paste the code in the workspace’s share URL and anyone with the URL can get in to help.  All of the files created on Squad belong to your students.  They can open (and save) local files, access a remote host via FTP/SFTP or grab a file from Dropbox.  The chat feature is searchable so that students can go back and learn from past mistakes or suggestions.

How to integrate Squad into the classroom: Do you have students who want to learn how to code?  What better way for them to learn and practice than together?!  At Anastasis, we have Crave classes.  These are classes that run once a week that students get to elect to take…something they “crave” learning.  One of our crave classes last year was learning to code.  I “taught” it.  No, I don’t really know how to code. We learned together!  You don’t have to be an expert to help your students explore their passions and interests.  We used Codecademy to learn together.  One of the limitations of Codecademy is that there is no where to just practice together after you have learned a skill.  Squad would be the perfect place for students to explore and practice together.

Older or more advanced students might want to create a club or work together to show what they know in another subject by putting their coding skills to use.

Tips: The free version of Squad limits students to 3 collaborators and 1 workspace, this should be plenty for your beginners!

Leave a comment and tell us how you are using  Squad in your classroom.

Comments (2)

Zach Galant said on 05-12-2012

If you’re looking for a great site to learn to code, you need to check out http://codehs.com

We’ve made it really fun and accessible to get started and keep students engaged by teaching them to make fun graphics and awesome games, all from scratch!

We have an awesome, in-browser editor that lets students explore and create.

Most importantly, we have live tutors that answer your questions and give you feedback on your code, so you really improve.
Emily said on 21-02-2013

Thank you for these resources! After I created my wedding website last year I became interested in coding, most specifically, learning more about using HTML and CSS to design blogs. Since then, I’ve been interested in teaching an elective for 8th graders. These resources and your experience make me even more confident that it’s something I’m willing to do! Thank you!!

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