Resource type – Page 51 – iLearn Technology

Edistorm

May 18, 2010May 18, 2010Kelly Tenkely5 Comments4827 views

What it is: The name Edistorm is a mash-up of the name Thomas Edison and brainstorm, it is inspired by Edison’s idea factories. Edistorm is an incredible brainstorming and collaboration tool that, on the surface, reminds me of Wallwisher. Edistorm has some additional features and abilities that make it very useful in the classroom. Just like Wallwisher, you brainstorm and collaborate using virtual sticky notes. Edistorm gives you a place to organize ideas in a real-time interactive wall. Virtual sticky notes can teach have their own color and can be organized in vertical or horizontal groupings. Edistorms can be created independently or with others in a collaborative effort. Edistorm features an idea bot that works at the bottom of the screen offering suggested ideas based on what students add to the sticky notes in the work space. There are a variety of bots including a rhyming bot, thesaurus, and related words. Public and solo Edistorms are free to create, premium accounts are available for private Edistorms.

How to integrate Edistorm into the classroom: Edistorm offers an exceptional opportunity for students to brainstorm, collaborate, and group ideas. Students can use Edistorm to brainstorm ideas for writing, research, for grouping ideas, and collaborating on group projects. Create an Edistorm for your students and ask them to group like ideas, sort, and expand on thoughts. This could be done for any historical event, literature, science concept, and even phonics. Students could practice spelling by typing out their spelling words along with a sentence or synonyms on sticky notes. Then, they can group words by spelling pattern or common phoneme blends. Create an Edistorm of sticky notes with English words and sticky notes with a foreign language word on them. Students can work together to group words with their meanings. In math, create Edistorms with word problems on one color of sticky note and answers on another set of sticky notes. Students can work to create groups of problems and their solutions. Edistorm can be used for whole class activities using an interactive whiteboard, the class can brainstorm together and collect ideas or use the grouping feature in an activity created by the teacher or students.

Tips: Edistorm requires an email address for sign up. If you teach younger students, you may want to create classroom Edistorm sessions that you have control over.

Please leave a comment and share how you are using Edistorm in your classroom.

Chess Kid

May 17, 2010May 17, 2010Kelly Tenkely4 Comments3292 views

What it is: Chess Kid is a fantastic way for kids to learn to play the game of chess and then practice their game against kids from around the world. The Chess Kid environment is safe and secure for kids, students have no contact with strangers. A parent or a teacher manages all access and friendships online and can easily monitor all activity. On Chess Kid students learn the rules and strategies of chess and work to improve their game, memorization skills, patience, and sportsmanship. Students can train with tactic puzzles and exercises, view video lessons, practice tactic against the computer, or read chess articles. Chess games can be played online against other kids from around the world, in online tournaments, blitz chess, or against the computer.

How to integrate Chess Kid into the classroom: Chess is a great game that is packed full of skills that help students in other disciplines such as math. Students must use problem solving, decision making, critical thinking, deductive and inductive reasoning, and the ability to make accurate judgments and estimates as they play. Chess makes for a great mental workout and develops skills necessary for solving other problems. Chess Kid is a place where students can learn how to play the game of chess, and then practice through play with kids from around the world or the computer. Chess Kid can be used with the whole class for lessons and learning the how-to aspect of chess on a projector or interactive whiteboard. Students can then play on classroom computers, as a math center, or individually in a computer lab setting.

Tips: The American Chess Foundation published that chess can improve a child’s visual memory, attention span, spatial reasoning skills, capacity to predict and anticipate consequences, and the ability to use criteria to drive decision making and evaluate alternatives.

Please leave a comment and share how you are using Chess Kid in your classroom.

Goldburger To Go: Rube Goldberg Machines

May 14, 2010May 14, 2010Kelly Tenkely7 Comments8996 views

What it is: I am always finding fun activities on PBS kids site, today I ran across Goldburger to Go! Rube Goldberg designed machines that made simple, every day, tasks into complicated activities with the help of his contraptions (think Wallace and Gromit). The students task is to design a machine that will help serve lunch. The machine isn’t working properly and students must discover which pieces of the machine need a little tweaking. As students complete the machine, they can test it out and get hints and clues about could be keeping the machine from working.

How to integrate Goldberger To Go: Rube Goldberg Machines into the classroom: Students are fascinated with machines that work together to perform tasks. Goldburger to Go is a fun way to challenge your students to think about cause and effect and to consider how all the working parts operate together. The puzzle game is a good way to get your students thinking about and discussing different types of energy. Use this website with the whole class using an interactive whiteboard and discuss the types of energy as they occur. Walk your students through the scientific process as they hypothesize what is going to happen and experiment with adjusting the machine accordingly. The website also lends itself nicely to studying different kinds of simple machines. The built in hints help guide stumped students in their thinking. Goldburger to Go would make a fun center activity or even to play individually in a computer lab setting. This is one of those thinking games that my students could spend hours playing.

Tips: Students can create and build their own real-life Goldberg machines with fun activities and suggestions found here.

Please leave a comment and share how you are using Goldburger to Go: Rube Goldberg Machines in your classroom.

Samarost

May 14, 2010Kelly Tenkely12 Comments1602 views

What it is: Samarost is an intriguing flash website where students are dropped in the middle of a strange new universe where they must solve a variety of challenging puzzles. Students play a character that they must help save from an asteroid collision. There are no instructions on how to play the game, students simply use their best reasoning and deduction to solve the puzzles. With multiple levels, students can put those observational and reasoning skills to good use. I like that there are no instructions or hints about how to play the game, students learn how to play as they interact with the site.

How to integrate Samarost into the classroom: Samarost is an excellent challenge puzzle that will make students think in new ways and work to solve a problem. I like the idea of solving the problems as a class using an interactive whiteboard or projector connected computer. Students can offer each other suggestions and tips about why a course of action might help solve the puzzle. There are enough levels to solve for each student to get a turn at the board. Samarost could also be played on individual computers in a lab setting or on classroom computers as an on-going center activity. If this is a center activity that many students will visit and work on together, you can have each student keep observational notes of what they have done and what they have tried to help the next student who visits the center. Since there are no rules or back story to this site, it would be fun to incorporate it into a creative writing project. Students could create a back story and explanation of what is happening to the character in Samarost.

Tips: This game is best for students who are 9 or older.

Please leave a comment and share how you are using Samarost in your classroom.

Moppet Games

May 11, 2010Kelly Tenkely6 Comments2992 views

What it is: Moppet Games is a website for 3-8 year old kids. There are only a few games on the site right now but they are fun, quick games that students will enjoy. Students can play photo hunt where they discover differences between two sets of pictures (like the picture hunts in Highlights magazine), memory with shapes, hangman, word search, or math worm. The math worm game is one that students will enjoy for practicing their math facts. In the game, students play a worm who must keep from getting eaten by a bird. To move the worm, students must quickly answer simple addition and subtraction problems. As they are working, the bird gets ominously closer, they have to be quick with that fact recall! There are two game levels for math worm: easy and hard. The easy version quizzes on facts less than 10 and the bird moves slowly. In the hard version, the facts are a little more challenging and the bird moves much more quickly toward the worm.

How to integrate Moppet Games into the classroom: I like using these short, flash games for those extra minutes that students have in the classroom. Maybe they finished a project early, are waiting for their turn at a center, or have a few minutes before it is time to pack up for the day and go home… in these instances it is nice to have a game that is fun, keeps students thinking, and is quick to complete. My favorite of the games is the math worm game, it is a fun way to practice simple addition and subtraction without the flashcards. If you have access to an interactive whiteboard, make the math worm game into a whole class relay. Line up students at the board, each student completes a problem and then passes the pen to the next student in line. See if your class can outsmart that hungry bird! Use the other games as a fun incentive to line up quietly. Put one of the activities up on the interactive whiteboard and call students who are quiet and ready to line up to come up and solve part of the puzzle. By the time the puzzle has been completed the class will be lined up and ready to go. The students who miss out on helping to solve the puzzle are those who weren’t following directions or chatting when they shouldn’t be. This has been a great classroom management incentive in my classroom, all of the students want to be involved in the game.

Tips: Moppet Games is advertising free, you have to appreciate that!

Please leave a comment and share how you are using Moppet Games in your classroom.

Pass it On…

May 10, 2010Kelly Tenkely5 Comments16057 views

Last week I was presented with a blog award from Emily Starr who writes the Interactive Content Corner blog. The award is meant to honor blogs that we personally hold in high regard by spreading the word about them and sharing them with others. I didn’t act fast enough in passing my award on and got awarded again by Maggie Hos-McGrane who writes Tech Transformation, Michael Zimmer who writes The Pursuit of Technology Integration Happiness Nicholas Provenzano who Writes The Nerdy Teacher and Vanessa Cassie who writes Sharp. Thank you all, I am humbled to be included in your lists. Now I am faced with a problem, in my procrastination you all have nominated some of my very favorite blogs and I must work on passing on to someone who hasn’t already been nominated!

I relish the idea of paying it forward and spreading the word about excellent education blogs. There are so many talented and brilliant educators who have joined the blogosphere and added their voices to help shine a light on education, it is time that they got recognized for what they do and encouraged to keep doing it!

The rules of the award are as follows:

1- Copy and display the picture of the award given to you;

2- Link back to the blog that nominated you;

3- Nominate 10 different blogs yourself;

4- Inform the people you nominated, so they can in turn, continue the chain and spread the word about other great blogs out there.

So, without further ado, here are my nominations- in no particular order (and yes, I did dress up for this occasion) 🙂

1. Suzanne’s Blog– Suzanne Whitlow writes an excellent blog for her teaching staff at Shady Grove, Twin Hickory, Ridge, and Ratcliffe….little does she know how much what she writes ends up in classrooms around the world! Suzanne shares lessons, templates, and reflections on education. All of the ideas she shares are innovative and special.

2. The Learning Blog– Todd Wandio shares his often humorous take on learning, literacy, and the classroom of the 21st century as he wades through a sea of middle school students. His posts are always insightful and thought provoking.

3. Teacher Toys– John Fladd is the teacher I wish I had in school. The original goal of the blog was to share classroom technology finds but the blog has become so much more. John shares his wealth of knowledge on every subject and gives us glimpses of his classroom through lessons that he teaches, and learning interactions with students. Any teacher who has a project titled “Destiny & Diarrhea” and uses the old Sears Catalog to teach students is aces in my book.

4. Bright Ideas Blog– Judith Way writes a blog by the School Library Association of Victoria. She writes extensively about Web 2.0 tools in the library and offers inspiration for any librarian or classroom teacher. I have learned so much from Judith, she shares a wealth of knowledge and resources.

5. It’s Elementary– Tamra Lanning is a teacher who obviously loves what she does. She shares ideas for using technology successfully in the elementary classroom. I learn a little bit of everything from Tamra but especially appreciate her posts about what is happening with technology in her school…they do such neat projects!

6. Son of a Teacher Man– Geoff writes about his journey into education, he gives an honest look at education through the eyes of a first year teacher. I appreciate his vulnerability and willing to tell it like it is.

7. TechnoTIC– Raul writes from Spain where he shares about everything technology. I appreciate his unique perspective and his always helpful tips about “presentation zen.” The showcase of tools Raul offers for secondary classrooms is impressive.

8. Thinking Outside the Box– Sarah Major creates solutions for learning. I am truly amazed at her ability to understand children and the learning process. She offers daily inspiration and solutions for students who learn differently (don’t all children learn differently?). I especially appreciate the visual aids that Sarah shares that help students understand difficult concepts.

9. This Week in Ed Tech- Buzz Garwood has a great tag line “On the Paper-Cutting Edge of Educational Technology”. Buzz shares technology integration stories and resources, they are usually resources and ideas I haven’t seen elsewhere. Each post is well thought out and through, he does all the heavy lifting for you!

10. John Spencer writes three blogs that I can’t get enough of. All are excellent and thought provoking:

Adventures in Pencil Integration– This is a fictional blog that takes place in the 19th century. The blog posts may be fictional but the content couldn’t ring more true. The premise of the blog is a 19th century teacher who is leading an initiative for one pencil per child. The blog makes me think and rethink my stance on technology integration, makes me laugh out loud, and entertains me.

Musings From a Not-So-Master Teacher– This is the blog where John takes us on a journey of authentic learning and thinking. He readily admits that he doesn’t have all the answers, but I enjoy journeying with him as he explores education, teaching, and learning. John also has a collection of visual musings (cartoons and sketches) that are a must see.

Ditch That Word– John doesn’t offer a vocabulary boosting word-a-day, instead he aims at helping us ditch the words that have watered down our language and twisted it into something unrecognizable or cliche. Ditch that word makes me laugh out loud and groan in realization of how often I use those words in my own daily language. John is usually right on about words to ditch. Now I must figure out how to weed them out of my vocabulary 🙂

Only naming 10 is an exercise in restraint for me. I read so many incredible blogs every day, I am surrounded by greatness! If you are interested in jumping into blogging or encouraging other educational bloggers, consider joining the edublogger alliance.

Map a List

May 6, 2010May 6, 2010Kelly Tenkely9 Comments1883 views

What it is: Map A List is a neat tool that combines the power of Google Spreadsheets and Google Maps or Google Earth. Using Map A List, students can create and customize Google Maps of addresses or locations. In a few easy steps, students can visualize geographic data on a Google Map or in Google Earth. First, students enter a list of addresses or places in a Google Spreadsheet, as addresses are updated or modified in the list, the map is automatically updated. Maps can be saved to be private or public. The maps can be exported as KLM files for viewing in Google Earth.

How to integrate Map a List into the classroom: Map a List would be a great tool for keeping track and mapping a Flat Stanley project. As Flat Stanley visits locations, students can keep track in a Google Spreadsheet and view the results on the map. Map a List would be useful for tracking locations as student read any literature. Track history events and battles using Map a List, helping your students to visualize the learning. Have students note their ancestry in a Google Spreadsheet and turn it into a map. It is so easy to update the spreadsheet and see the results immediately on the map.

Tips: Thanks to @dgrice who noted a drawback to Map a List, even if you have multiple spreadsheet entries for the same location, only one representation will show up on the map.

Please leave a comment and share how you are using Map a List in your classroom.

Stage’d

May 4, 2010May 4, 2010Kelly Tenkely10 Comments4855 views

What it is: I am constantly learning about cool new website tools for the classroom from my PLN (Personal Learning Network), today I learned about an animated comic creator called Stage’d from fellow Blogging Alliance member @MrR0gers. Stage’d is a tool that helps students to tell digital stories in a new 3-d way. Students can create a stage full of characters and dialogue as if they are directing their own digital play. They can choose characters, costumes, animations, set design and provide characters with dialog. When the 3-d comic has been saved, it can be emailed or linked to with a unique url. Stage’d is perfect for use in any classroom, to save a comic requires no personal identifying information or even an email address. All students have to do is type in the name of the director (first name only or a pseudonym).

How to integrate Stage’d into the classroom: Stage’d is a seriously fun creation tool, students are going to love directing their own 3-d comic plays. Stage’d makes a great digital story telling tool.

Students can:

Publish their own fiction (or non-fiction) writing pieces as a 3-d play
Re-tell a story to demonstrate comprehension
Illustrate vocabulary words
Illustrate historical events
Create mock public service announcements
Create mocumentaries
“Interview” an important person of interest
Create short persuasive video commercials
Illustrate story problems in math
Practice a foreign language dialogue and vocabulary

Stage’d is very easy to use and the results are absolutely fantastic. Create your own Stage’d creations to introduce a new topic or concept to your students. This is a fun introduction that will grab their attention in a hurry.

Tips: The creators of Stage’d are constantly adding new features and options so check back often.

Please leave a comment and share how you are using Stage’d in your classroom.

Do You Want to Form an Alliance With Me? (Take 2)

May 3, 2010May 3, 2010Kelly Tenkely21 Comments4548 views

In March, I posed the following question: Do You Want to Form an Alliance With Me? I asked educators around the world to join me in an exercise of blogging, commenting, and encouraging other blogging educators. The response was amazing. 74 educators signed up to be a part of the alliance. We committed to commenting on each other’s posts, following each other on Twitter, and encouraging one another in teaching and learning. In the past two months I have grown immeasurably as a result of the alliance. I have been introduced to exceptional resources, forward thinking teachers, new friendships, an incredible support system, and had the opportunity to peek inside of classrooms around the world. I believe that those involved in the alliance have been equally inspired. I asked the members of the current alliance to weigh in with their impressions of the alliance. We compiled the answers on the following Wallwisher (click to enlarge).

I have had many requests for an expansion of the Educator Blogging Alliance, today I am opening the alliance to other interested educators. Before you fill out the form to join, I would ask that you read my original post about the alliance here.

Here is a snip from the original post:

“The Alliance…

After reading the alliance article an idea began to take shape. What if we, educational bloggers, were to form an alliance. No need for the secrecy. This alliance would be a group of educational bloggers who are committed to working together for the mutual benefit of all the members in the alliance. We all have something valuable to add to the conversation of education and learning. Each of us has a unique voice, outlook, approach, skills, strengths, and focuses.

The goal of the alliance is two fold:

1. To encourage educators in their blogging endeavors whether they be new, established, or otherwise. There are so many valuable additions to the conversation that are being overlooked.

2. To create a united network of educators working toward the larger goal of being heard by those not in education. It is time for the general public to see us for the highly qualified professionals that we are.

How the Alliance could work…

1. Commenting on each others blogs– in the Problogger article, those in the alliance committed to commenting on each others blogs at least once every week day. The comments should stimulate interesting discussions, and encourage those involved that someone, is indeed, reading their blog.

2. Linking to One Another- This could be linking to related posts on another educational bloggers website, adding them to your blog roll, or naturally as a result of subscribing to one another’s blogs.

3. Social Bookmarking and Tweeting- This is my personal favorite suggestion, Twitter has done wonders for iLearn Technology as my PLN passes on my posts to others. Promoting posts on Twitter, Digg, Delicious, and StumbleUpon increases awareness of what educators around the world are doing that works. It also connects those new to educational blogging.

4. Guest Posts- Guest posting could be an opt-in option for the alliance. I know that it isn’t always possible to find time to write a blog post for your blog, let alone polish it enough for someone else’s blog.

5. Thank You Page Promotions- When someone signs up to receive your RSS feed, they are generally taken to a page thanking them for subscribing. This Thank You Page could also be used to promote other education blogs. For example: “If you like iLearn Technology, you should also be sure to check out blog A, B, C, and D.”

I hope you will join us in this undertaking, I believe that when educators work together, we become an unstoppable force for change. I am putting a time limit on the enrollment so that we can get a good group together that is committed to supporting and encouraging one another. If you would like to join us, please do so before May 21, 2010. I will organize the group and have us up and running by May 28, 2010. So, do you want to form an alliance with me? If you are in, please fill out the following form (inactive after May 21st).

Web 2.0 & Connectivist Learning Open Course

April 29, 2010Kelly Tenkely1 Comment2968 views

One of my edublogger alliance friends, Carl Anderson, is starting a new venture that we can all benefit from, an open course through Hamline University that is set to begin May 28th title, Web 2.0 & Connectivist Learning. The idea behind the open course is to take all the great learning that happens online through personal learning networks (informally) and fitting them into the framework of schools, college and universities? This open course is the answer.

Last fall, Carl wrote a post that posed the following question:

“So, at the very least, here is the rub: Why is it that I can get 1 continuing ed credit for sitting in an hour-long presentation by an obviously biased corporately-employed presenter and not engage myself meaningfully in the topic at hand but for an hour of reading and meaningful career related reflection in my PLN I get nothing institutionally recognized?”

If you are interested in this amazing offer, please fill out this form so that Carl can estimate how many online seats are needed.