Tag: Websites

A few of my favorite things…

Kelly TenkelyLeave a Comment on A few of my favorite things…1702 views

No, I haven’t disappeared off the face of the earth!  I have been getting ready for a conference I am speaking at and it has consumed all of my blogging time this week.  I thought I would share with you what I have been working ont.  It is a collection of my favorite sites (by no means comprehensive…I had to narrow down from 5 pages of sites that I love to what I can fit into an hour of speaking).  I created a site using www.wix.com to share these sites broken down by school level.  Enjoy!  A few of my favorite things…

Flowgram

Kelly Tenkely1 Comment on Flowgram3403 views

 

What it is: Flowgram is a website that makes it easier to teach your students online.  Flowgram has a simple platform that makes is easy for anyone to package and share anything on the web.  Flowgram can combine slideshows, documents, pictures, screencasts, websites, audio, video etc. with your voice narration.  This makes it simple to teach any concept using the web.  Flowgram requires no download, it runs directly from your Internet browser.  Recipients of the Flowgram can fully interact with anything that is on the Flowgram (webpage links, video, etc.).  Flowgrams can be sent via email, linked to, or embedded in a blog or website for viewing.   

 

How to integrate Flowgram into the classroom:  Flowgram is a wonderful way to create interactive tutorials for students learning any technology concept.  Beyond that, Flowgram makes it easy for you to take your students on virtual field trips on any subject.  What I love about Flowgram, is that it meets individual student needs.  Students can work at their own pace and interact with any part of the Flowgram as many times as they need.  It would also be a great place to create reviews for tests, and perfect for students who have missed school.  Teach your students to make Flowgrams and start your own library of student created tutorials on any subject.  Students teaching students is powerful!  Because you can narrate Flowgrams, they are wonderful to use with students who struggle with reading and navigating the Internet on their own…it is like having you sit right next to them, leading with your undivided attention.  

 

Tips:  I have started creating a weekly Flowgram for teachers at my school called Tenkely’s Tips.  I will be creating a new page with a collection of the weekly Flowgrams.  Feel free to check them out! :)

 

Leave a comment and share how you are using Flowgram in your classroom.

 

 

iKeep Safe

Kelly Tenkely3 Comments on iKeep Safe6091 views

What it is:   iKeep Safe is a website and program I have used every year since I started teaching technology.  As I was writing up lesson plans for the upcoming week, I realized that I haven’t ever posted about this outstanding resource.  iKeep Safe is a kid friendly Internet safety program.  It features a cat named Faux Paw who has adventures on the Internet.  There are videos, downloadable and printable books, and games for kids.  All are centered on teaching kids to be safe online.  There are free guided discussion sheets for you to go through with your students, quizzes, coloring pages, etc.  This program is the perfect way to introduce Internet safety in your elementary classroom without worrying that the content is too mature for your audience.  The online books and videos teach kids Internet safety basics, how to handle cyber bullying, balancing real life with screen time, and the risks and dangers of downloading.   Students learn about these concepts with fun cartoon characters and engaging stories.

How to integrate iKeep Safe into the classroom:  iKeep Safe is a great place to start Internet safety.  I would recommend making Internet safety a top priority the first month of school before kids are online for class.  In my classroom, students are introduced to Faux Paw at the beginning of the school year.  We watch and discuss the Faux Paw cartoon, read and discuss the books, and finish by taking the free downloadable quiz.  Students must pass this quiz with an eighty percent or better in order to get their “Internet Drivers Licenses”.  I talk a lot about how using the Internet is a privilege, not a right.  This is just like driving a car.  So in order to be online for other subjects, students have to demonstrate that they know the rules of the Internet by passing the quiz.  They can lose their Internet drivers licenses at any time by mis-using the Internet or not following the rules.  I also have the kids create a rules poster for them to hang next to their home computers.  Students also get an assignment to go home and tell their parents the Internet rules.  This has to be signed off on in order to use the Internet.  I find that we can do a pretty good job of keeping kids safe at school, but at home parents aren’t doing enough to make sure that their kids are safe.  Whether or not you are the computer teacher, make sure that your kids know how to keep themselves safe online.  Be an adult they trust who they can come to with any cyberbullying problems, if they see inappropriate content, or if someone is trying to contact them inappropriately.  

Tips:  Never been trained in Internet safety?  Be sure to visit the educator page of iKeepSafe, the training materials are wonderful!

 

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

EdWeb 2.0

Kelly TenkelyLeave a Comment on EdWeb 2.04459 views

 

 

What it is: EdWeb 2.0 is web hosting designed with teachers in mind.  Teachers can create a free teacher website in an hour or less!  With EdWeb 2.0 teachers can create a classroom site with multiple blogs, podcasts, quick polls, videos, files, forms, announcements, calendars, add photo albums, separate information by subject area, and so much more.  The sites can be customized with your own theme, or choose from one of EdWeb’s ready made themes.  A classroom website is a great place to communicate with families, give students a place to go when they have questions outside of your classroom, and keep yourself organized.

 

How to integrate EdWeb 2.0 into the classroom: Post all of your class announcements, important dates, homework assignments, links, podcasts, videos, copies of papers sent home, etc. on your class website for a convenient way to stay in contact with students and families.  The site is simple to create and takes no time at all.  This is a great hour long weekend project that you and your students will appreiciate all year long.  

 

Tips: EdWeb 2.0 sets you up with a fully functional demo account first.  This allows you to play around and see if you like EdWeb 2.0, if you decide you want to use the website for your classroom, you make the site live (this is free).  This saves room on EdWeb’s servers for those who just want to take a look but don’t end up using EdWeb.  

You will see an option for pricing on the EdWeb site, this is an upgraded account with some additional features.

 

Leave a comment and share how you are using EdWeb in your classroom.

Wix

Kelly TenkelyLeave a Comment on Wix9562 views

What it is: Okay, if you have shied away from creating your own classroom website in the past, today is the day to take a deep breath and plunge in.  Wix is the most amazing online website builder I have ever seen.  Why is it so amazing?  1)  It is simple to use and learn, you truly don’t have to know anything about website development. 2) It produces amazing results with a small amount of effort, I am really blown away by the possibilities here. 3) The sign up process is completely painless.  4) You have an unbelievable amount of control when you are feeling creative (still extremely easy!). 5) It is free, and what could be better than free for a teacher?! 6) It is web-based which means that you can update your website from anywhere.   I could go on and on about Wix.  I put it in my list of sites to visit this week when I ran across it and I am so glad I came back to it today while I was waiting for computers to clone…it made my day (maybe even my week!) 🙂

How to integrate Wix into the classroom: Well, if you haven’t already guessed by the description above, Wix is the perfect tool to use to create a classroom website for your students.  Post classroom rules, homework assignments, links for your students, units you are working on, school information, parent newsletters, etc.  Wix is also a great place for your students to create a website.  They will go nuts with this (trust me!), Wix is one of those assignments they will continue to work on at home without being asked!  Instead of having students display knowledge of a subject in traditional ways, invite them to create a website about it where they can be the classroom “expert” on the subject.  Be sure to ask your students what non-school websites they are creating too (I know from experience they will take off with this!) you will get to know your students more personally by viewing websites that they create both in and out of class.  You could also create Wix websites as a class if you have limited computer use.  Have your students prepare a website to teach other classes about a subject that they have been studying.

Tips: I created a website using Wix today from sign up to publish it took me a total of 5 min.  Seriously!  I have never used this program before, that is how easy it is to use.  Take a look at my site and see what you think: www.wix.com/ktenkely/ilearntechnology.

Leave a comment and share how amazed you are with Wix.

Novel Games-Flash

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What it is: Novel Games provides free Flash games that can be embedded on any website. There is a long list of games that you can embed from World capitals game, typing games, to Sudoku and other great math games. Search the list of games, you are sure to find many that fit your needs. Because you can embed the games on your website, students can easily access the games from school and home.

How to integrate Novel Games into your curriculum: There is such a variety of high quality, FUN, educational games that integrating them into your curriculum will be varied as well. An example of how I am using the Novel Games in my classroom can be found at www.typing.weebly.com. My students are learning how to keyboard. Because I don’t want to spend my year teaching only keyboarding I offered my students a challenge. Practice typing at home and come participate in a Typing Olympics (where only touch typing is allowed) and you won’t have to spend your computer time learning to touch type. I am at a private school so the best prize that can be offered is a break dress code day. The fastest touch typer’s in each class will get to break dress code on a day when no one else does. Students can practice typing using these practice games I have provided. The games are perfect as part of the Typing Olympics because they give a final score…easy to tell who the winners are! Most of the games are perfect for practicing a skill and will inevitability get kids doing homework voluntarily because they are so much fun to play.

Tips: Don’t have your own website to embed the flash games? Create a free one today using a site like www.weebly.com. To embed a player simply highlight and copy the code from Novel games and paste in an HTML editor in a site like Weebly. Make sure that your students have the latest Flash player installed or the games won’t work properly.

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

Cyber Smart

Kelly TenkelyLeave a Comment on Cyber Smart2068 views

What it is: Cyber Smart is free technology curriculum for use in a technology classroom or as part of the regular classroom curriculum. The SMART in Cyber Smart stands for Safety and security, Manners bullying and ethics, Advertising and policy, Research and information fluency, and Technology. The curriculum is very complete and easy to follow. Best of all it is completely FREE! In addition to the comprehensive curriculum, Cyber Smart also offers a free tool bar (seriously handy) as well as professional development.

How to integrate Cyber Smart into your curriculum: The Cyber Smart curriculum is perfect for the technology classroom, media center, and even your regular classroom as part of other subjects such as character education or when teaching research.

Tips: Make sure the sites recommended by the Cyber Smart curriculum work in your classroom before working it into your day…some of the sites get blocked by filters.

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

Adrian Bruce

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What it is: Adrian Bruce is an educator in Australia who has provided educators around the world with absolutely amazing FREE resources. I am floored that Adrian offers these downloads for free, they are truly incredible! On Adrian’s website you can find reading and phonics games to print and play, math games to print and play, printable puzzles to play, posters, art, science, readers theater scripts, writing ideas, and so much more. You will happily spend hours exploring this site. Put your checkbook away and get your printer fired up and ready for a workout!

How to integrate Adrian Bruce into your curriculum: Use Adrian Bruce games every day to make learning fun! Use these print out games as a center activity, as an activity that can be done when students finish work early, and for learning extensions or practice every day. Choose a game day where students can play games that reinforce skills learned throughout the week. I cannot sing the praises of this site enough! All games come complete with instructions and can be printed out from Word or Adobe Acrobat.

Tips: Send Adrian a big THANK YOU for this resource. Feel free to show Adrian your appreciation by buying him a beer 🙂 or donate a book through Amazon. 

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


ChitChat Educational Network

Kelly Tenkely2 Comments on ChitChat Educational Network2063 views

ChitChat Educational Network seems to have been shut down.  If anyone is aware of what happened to them or where they moved to, please leave a comment.  What a bummer!

What it is: ChitChat Educational Network is knocking my socks off right now! I cannot believe that such a comprehensive COOL site is completely free! This one is definitely a must see! ChitChat is “an educational network where teachers can share real course content, make free class pages, and develop interactive online assignments.” But thats not all…ChitChat also provides teachers and students with tools such as flash cards. Teachers can create flash cards for students to study with and automatically receive data on each student in the class. ChitChat also offers a place for students to submit assignments online. This is classroom 2.0 on steroids! After students have submitted an assignment, teachers can provide feedback right in the assignment along with the grade. ChitChat provides a secure “drop box” for teachers to collect electronic documents. Only the teacher and student who submitted the assignment have access to it.

How to integrate ChitChat into the classroom: ChitChat makes it easy to connect with your students and continue learning outside of your classroom. Students can learn, submit assignments, collaborate, and see scores online. ChitChat will also be well used as a place to share content with colleagues. Use as a professional development community within your school or to share lessons with teammates.

Tips: Blended Learning is a new buzzword you should know. A Blended Learning Environment mixes traditional classroom instruction with online coursework. ChitChat is the perfect tool to use for Blended Learning.

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

Safe Surfing with Dongle

Kelly TenkelyLeave a Comment on Safe Surfing with Dongle6261 views

What it is: There is no such thing as too much emphasis on Internet safety. Safe Surfing with Dongle is another game to help kids learn the rules of Internet safety. This fun site teaches kids Internet safety through an interactive movie/game. Students learn safety tips on emails, chatting, playing games, and having fun online.

How to integrate Safe Surfing with Dongle into the classroom: Safe Surfing with Dongle can be played individually in a computer lab setting, in partners in the one or two computer classroom, or as a whole class using a projector. If you are playing as a class you might split the class into teams and alternate which team gets to answer each question. This game would be great to use at the beginning of the year as an introduction to Internet safety and throughout the year for review of online safety rules.

Tips: Create a bookmark to this site for quick easy access.

Please leave a comment and share how you are using Safe Surfing with Dongle in your classroom.