Slempie's+Pick+of+the+Week

May 16, 2011
Pick of the week is just that this week. This offer is apparently only for 10 days. Dan Meyer is known for creating video graphing stories for Junior and senior high students. For 10 days he is collecting your graphing stories. Have students create video graphing stories to be published on a well known math teacher’s site. I encourage you to check it out. [] Check out Dan Meyer’s website for ready made examples. []

May 9, 2011
Check out Connected Coaches to see some of the Galileo projects from Wild Rose teachers that have been uploaded. There should be more to come later this week. http://connectedcoaches.wikispaces.com/Galileo

[] [|Tiki-Toki]is a time line web site. It allows you to add pictures and journal like entries on a timeline. The finished product looks sharp. The website is easy to use and a great way to incorporate a sense of blogging in your class. If you are wanting to experiment with students writing on line. This is a quick way to capture what is happening in a students learning. Create an account and have students write a quick summary of what they learned today in a topic. At the end of the week you have documentation of the learning that occurred in your classroom. On a similar note you could record a few pictures of your classroom and add a descriptions of the learning that was happening. It would make for a great end of the week timeline to send home to parents or administration to share what you are learning in your classroom. A fun change from the traditional newsletter.

[] is a website that allows for a chat room to be opened for anywhere from two hours to one year.
 * April 26, 2011**
 * __ In the Classroom __** : Have students discussing a topic either with each other or with another class in the “chat room”. This would allow you to have a back channel during a class film where students are discussing the topic in the film while watching it. Four or five students could record notes using todays meet while other students are using different mediums. At the end of class all notes are consolidated into one “Master” copy of notes that is distributed to all students in the class.

Another great publication by Kelly Tenkely. If you are looking at using Twitter in your classroom read this. Great information about Twitter Rules and ideas for using it in your classroom. media type="custom" key="9006882" Something fun just for you! media type="custom" key="8973066" April 4, 2011 [|Canada Votes] Although this is not a web 2.0 tool this website has many resources for students and teachers about the Canadian Election. Students can play the election game or discover where they stand on political platforms. This is a great teacher resource site.

March 21, 2011
=Jing= = [] Jing is a free tool that allows you or your students to create screen casts. This is by far my new favorite tool. It has saved me alot of time and is fun to use. The program needs to be downloaded onto your computers. Because you can not do this for yourselves I have to guys (big shout out) download it onto all of your computers. You can access it by clicking on the start menu >all programs >techsmith > jing once you activate it the first time the jing bubble will be on your desk top for use at all times. Don't worry I have attached the link to the screen cast that walks you through those steps. This is a great way to make [|math train videos] with your students.=

March 14, 2011
[] We have been looking for a tool to create fake tweets for awhile now and last night Kelly Tenkely sent out this great site. Twister is a great way to bring history into the 21st century. Create historic Tweets using this easy to use form. The[| Twister] site only lets you create one status update at a time. This makes it really nice for memorializing famous or favourite quotes. These would be fun to print out and display on a bulletin board. It is such a fun tool. Check out some humorous historical tweets. []
 * Twister **

March 7, 2011
Photo Peach

[] Photopeach has been around for awhile now however it is still a useful tool. Photopeach allows you to upload your pictures, add music and text to them. You can also make your own video quiz which I think it pretty fun. Check out my webpage for an example.
 * In the Classroom:** Have students create a visual representation of a book, theme or topic to support their presentations and assignments. Also a great way to capture learning in your classroom. Take pictures of students while completing a task and compile them in photo peach to share with your students, parents, staff and community the learning in your class.

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February 21, 2011


[|http://www.periodicvideos.com/#] [] This week I have two picks for you. Here are 2 alternative ways to introduce the periodic table. Ways to differentiate for the different types of learners in your class. The first is [|Periodic Videos]. This site has a video for each of the elements on the table. The second site is [|Visual Elements]. This site depicts the elements on the periodic table in an image rather then just the symbol. It offers students further information about each of the elements when you click on the image

February 14, 2011

 * Snag Learning **


 * [|http://snaglearning.com] **

Snag Learning is a great resource for teachers who would like to use high quality documentaries in their classroom. Snag learning has discussions questions that go along with the films. Once again this is a video site. If the bandwidth is at it’s max check back again later.

February 7, 2011 [] Qwiki is a site that has video summaries of various topics. It is a great way to differentiate the learning of students. Students who have a difficult time reading research on the Internet may benefit from learning in a video format. It may also be a way to supplement your lessons.
 * How to Use it in your Classroom:** When looking to set up tools and resources for student research this is a great go to site that can will have good information for students and their projects.

January 30, 2011

[] Khan Academy has more than 1800 Math and Science videos. You can easily download any of the videos using keepvid.com. For directions on how to use keepvid click here media type="file" key="The Khan Academy [www.keepvid.com].flv" width="360" height="270"

January 24, 2011 [|http://weblist.me]
 * __Weblist__** allows you to create a list of URLs that are focused on a theme or topic in your class. It allows for easy navigation of the internet. It is especially great for younger students who will waste a lot of time searching the internet for resources. There are times we do not want our students simply Googling a topic as we know the information they may receive is not appropriate. The other great feature of this website is that it gives an image from the URL address to aid students who may not be able to read. It allows you as the teacher to title each address and write a brief summary. It does not require a sign in and is quick and easy to use.
 * __How to Use this in your classroom:__** You may want to use it as a way of sharing useful websites or as a way of providing safe training on how to complete research for a topic, using the internet.

January 17, 2011 media type="custom" key="8072726" [] This week's pick is for all you social teachers out there. I am giving this week's shout out to "[|The Week in Rap]". Perhaps I have watched a few too many of these this morning, however, it was worth it. This is a great video site where the news is done in a rap. I like that the lyrics are printed below the video. There is a bit of an American bent however they do a pretty good job of representing world news. This is a great way to add a new spin to current events. Give it a try in your class.

January 10, 2011 [|http://www.capzles.com] Capzles is a 2.0 tool that allows the user to add upload photos and write blog posts that can be put into a timeline. It is easy to upload the photos and to add a blog post. The time line can be shared by embedding or by e-mailing the link to others.
 * __ In the Classroom __** : This would be a great tool for social studies allowing students to depict an event in history. Reaching those higher end thinking skills is important. Having the ability to write blog posts within this program gives the teacher the freedom to have both image and writing within an assignment. It allows students to reflect on their learning.

__How to guide:__
[] media type="custom" key="8024640" January 2, 2011

[|Corkboard.me] is a great alternative to Wallwisher. If you are having trouble with wallwisher use this site as an alternative. It is a one step process and no set up. When you visit corkboard.me it will give you a unique URL. Simply copy that URL to visit the page again. To learn more check out the video here http://slempiethetechie.wikispaces.com/Slempie%27s+Pick+of+the+Week


 * In the Classroom:** [|Corkboard.me] is a great tool for brainstorming. Use it to generate questions about an image or a video clip. Show a short video clip and ask students to post one question they had about the clip. Sort and catagorize the questions. See if as a class you can answer the questions provided by classmates.

media type="custom" key="7959210" December 6, 2010 [] [|Storybird] is a collaborative story writing tool. It makes it easy for students to work together or on their own to create a story. Storybird provides illustrations by artists which make books have a professional look to them. When you are collaborating with someone it will automatically make you take turns in writing. Your finished story can be shared online or printed. You could also read them on the SMARTboard.
 * __ In the Classroom __** : Storybird will inspire creative stories from your students. The artwork will spark many ideas for writing and the collaboration in building a story will expand writing as well. The turn taking and creating as a team allows for students to be motivated by their classmates. Open up Storybird during your classroom reading time and read the stories created by members of the class. Take a tour to see how it works []

November 29, 2010 media type="file" key="Kid Blog [www.keepvid.com].flv" width="360" height="270" [|http://kidblog.org] These days it seems everyone is blogging. What is it and how do I get my students blogging? Well Kid Blogs is a great site that creates a private environment for blogging. Blogging is essentially a tool used to teach someone something you know. Students would blog to teach others about what they are learning.
 * __ In the Classroom __** Sign your class up for Kid Blogs and have students blogging about what they are learning in school. Students learn in commenting to give feedback and to ask critical thinking questions.

November 22, 2010 media type="file" key="Wallwisher [www.keepvid.com].flv" width="360" height="270" [] I was introduced to wallwisher last year while teaching. It is a great tool for communicating ideas. Essentially a user sets up a wall with a specific purpose or question. People can then go to view the wall (website) and leave sticky notes to answer the question asked. I used this website for many different activities in my classroom. It is easy to set up and use.
 * __ In the Classroom __** : I have used this in my classroom as an intro to a lesson. Having students tell me what they already know about a topic was great for accessing prior knowledge. I have also used it as a tool for formative assessment, having students give me feedback on the lesson just completed. One of the most fun uses for me was having parents wallwish a question for their child.

November 15, 2010 media type="file" key="Tag Galaxy - Flickr Photos of Beale Street in Memphis [www.keepvid.com].flv" width="360" height="270" Tag Galaxy [] is AMAZING!!! I love this tool. To use Tag Galaxy all the user needs to do is type in a tag such as “China”. The program then gives you other options that spring off of the first tag. You can get the program to go more and more specific. When you are happy with the tags you have selected you can view a globe of images that relate to your topic. The globe can be rotated in all directions and each picture can be viewed individually.
 * __How to Use this in the Classroom:__** As teachers we are aware of the power of an image. Different images resonate with us for different reasons. I might use this in a lesson as a formative assessment, having students choose an image that represent the topic of the lesson to them. Students would select an image and share with the class the reasons why it represents the topic.

November 8, 2010 [] I was directed to this site last year and fell in love with it immediately. Students are able to create a wild version of their selves. They enjoyed designing the perfect wild self.
 * __ In the Classroom __** : I had students email me their completed wild self and I then used my snapshot tool in SMARTnotebook to capture the images and used them as I built lessons through out the year. Students identified strongly with their wild self and were always happy when I chose theirs for a lesson.

November 1, 2010

[] How to use it in the classroom: This tool would be useful in every subject level. You could use it to enhance your vocabulary or knowledge of a topic. If there is no information on your topic the user is able to add information to the chart for other users. The user can also edit the information already stored on the topic. Check out the example of Plant Cell vs Animal Cell.
 * __[|Diffen]__** is a website that looks and works similar to google. The difference is that you can type in two topics and the tool will compare those topics in a chart form.



October 25, 2010



Tool: []

[|Spicynodes] is a great tool for mind mapping. The program is fairly easy to use. You can add as many nodes to your mind map as you would like. As you click a bubble, it opens up all the subnodes attached. A great tool to use as a teacher but also would be great to use with students. It is similar to inspiration software and easy to navigate. The nice thing about Spicynodes is that it can be embedded onto a wiki or blog. Check out some examples from our division coaches at http://connectedcoaches.wikispaces.com/Content+Planning

How to Use it in the classroom: I would use this as a mind map to chart out my unit plans for the Content Planning portion of The Big Four as discussed by Jim Knight. The mind map could be used with students to show them what we are learning and how it links to prior lessons and knowledge. Giving students a picture of what they know and where they are going.

October 19, 2010

Reminder: This past week I was once again reminded that students, like us, need time to “play” with a new tool. Remember to give them the time to “play” before you ask them to get to work on their assignment.

media type="file" key="Museum Box [www.keepvid.com].flv" width="360" height="270" [] []
 * [|Museum Box]** is a great tool that allows students and teachers to create a “box” based on a topic. The user can upload photos, add voice clips, add links to web pages, and add videos.
 * __How to use it in your classroom:__** This tool would be useful in a Language Arts class where students could upload their writing and add images and voice clips to support their writing. It could also be used in a Social Studies class as an interactive report. The example I attached was from an elementary class using it as a report on the country Brasil. Giving a very specific rubric and allowing the planning time prior to using the tool will help to get a product that you and your students can be proud of.

October 11, 2010

__**Tagxedo:**__ [] Tagxedo is a tool similar to Wordle. It allows the user to select or upload the shape they would like to use.

**__In the Classroom:__** Teachers or students can brainstorm words on a topic and create a tagxedo in the a shape that represents the topic. A powerful and engaging tool. Taxedo allows you to go back in and edit your list as you think of more words which allows for more flexibility or even the ability to tie in KWL by adding words at the beginning and at the end of a lesson.

October 4, 2010
 * __ Blabberize: [] __** This site was sent to me last year but I filed it away and forgot about it. I think it deserves to be brought into the light once again. Blabberize is a humorous site that allows you to animate a photo. It allows for the mouths on photos to move so you can add a voice.
 * __ In the Classroom __** : If you find it engaging and humorous so will your students. Grab their attention to pull them into a lesson. Consider giving them the reigns and allow them to build their own Blabberize. Giving voice to the Prime Minister, their pets, their teacher or themselves by planning a script and recording their voices.

September 27, 2010 [] [|Parody Motivator Generator] is a great tool for designing and making your own motivational posters. Choose your own picture and add your own words. Posters are easily saved onto your computer.
 * Integrating it into the classroom:** This tool is great for nearly any subject. I see it being used for enhancing your character goals with your students. It could also be used as a vocabulary lesson in language arts. Students could make posters of verbs, nouns, adjectives or adverbs that could be displayed in the classroom to aid in student writing.

September 20, 2010 [] [] Panoramas is a great website with many virtual panoramic tours. Some of the events even have sound. __**Integrating it into the classroom:**__ This tool is great for social studies. There are many events and locations listed. Taking your students on a virtual tour rather then simply talking about a location engages the learner. I could also see it being used in a language arts class using the Smart Learning coaching cards. Have students brainstorming the vocabulary words prior to writing about the picture or experience.

September 13, 2010

Save the words: [] Save the words is a great vocabulary building tool. __**Integrating it into the classroom**__: Save the words is visually engaging and makes me giggle a little bit when I hear the words shouting out for attention. I can honestly say that most of the words on the site are not in my vocabulary. It reminds me a bit of Reader’s Digest’s Word Power in that using context and what I already know about words can help me to make a guess as to what the word means. You could adopt a word of the day or week into your class. Students could keep a record of words adopted throughout the year. media type="custom" key="7186283"