Hi Web Master Friends. Thanks for getting those parent portal links up so quickly. I'm sharing FETC Resources from Faith's document and Brenda's document below. I apologize for the delay. I enjoyed our meeting last week. Tiffany has a google form up already. Has anyone else tried it. We decided that in iWeb it's easier just to link to the form's url rather than use the html snippet widget. It didn't play very well with the code.
In our meeting we discussed using an ipad for instructional interventions and completing an action research project to document the effectiveness of the strategies employed. I still have several for check out if you are interested in conducting an action research project. Here's the form that you need to fill out and get back to me. http://pd.putnamschools.org/PDFforms/Individual_Action.pdf
Church's Thirty Tidbits from FETC 2011
1.Poll Everywhere (http://www.polleverywhere.com/sms-classroom-response-system) I'm still trying to convince people to use this, especially high school and possibly middle teachers. It's a great class response tool. It's free for 30 responders per poll. You sign up, then create a poll question, and students answer the question by texting it to a specific number. Their responses are then displayed right there on the website, which the teacher can project to a screen.
2.Edmodo (http://www.edmodo.com/) This is a social network site specifically for teachers and students. It's free, and it's easy to use. I haven't had time to play with it, but we used it at the conference to "talk" to the presenters while the session was going on in real time. Very cool. It has MANY uses...but it takes time to explore once you set up your FREE account.
3.Vimeo (http://vimeo.com/) This is a video sharing site that is not blocked by Websense. I personally prefer SchoolTube, which is all-educational student/teacher produced video content (http://www.schooltube.com/)
4.Voice Thread (http://voicethread.com/about/features/) is a site where you can post a collaborative, multimedia slide show that holds images, documents, and videos and allows people to navigate slides and leave comments in 5 ways - using voice (with a mic or telephone), text, audio file, or video (via a webcam). You can Share a VoiceThread with friends, students, and colleagues for them to record comments too. It's like PhotoStory on steroids. Unfortunately, it is not free...the cost is $60 per year for educators.
5.Wordle (http://www.wordle.net/) is a site that allows you to enter words and create a cool looking shape ("word cloud") graphic with the words. Great for vocabulary words! It'd be fun for kids to use for vocab as well. Wordles look very artsy when finished.
6.Diigo (http://www.diigo.com/) is a social bookmarking site, sort of like Delicious, which I think is no more. It's a good way to organize your bookmarks. They have highlighting and sticky note tools. You can sign up for a free account.
7.New York Public Library digital image gallery (http://digitalgallery.nypl.org/nypldigital/index.cfm) Lots of great royalty free images.
8.Pixton (http://www.pixton.com) This one is blocked by Websense, but I've put in a request to get it unblocked. It's a cartoon making site for students. (Click on "Pixton for schools.)
9.Glogster (http://www.glogster.com) Also blocked, also sent a request for unblocking. This site allows you to make huge posters from uploaded images. Think how great this would be for social studies teachers for wall maps, or science teachers for planets, or animal images. Very cool.
10. EventBrite (http://www.eventbrite.com/) Create an event, invite people, and print tickets.
11. Google Voice (http://www.google.com/googlevoice/about.html) This is VERY cool! Assigns you a phone number. When the number gets a call, it sends a message to your gmail inbox. Great to possibly give this number to parents so you don't have to put your personal phone number out there.
12. Tripit (http://www.tripit.com/) Creates a complete travel itinerary for your trip. You can actually have your flight information sent to your tripit account and it will suggest nearby hotels, map your route from the airport to the hotel, etc.
13. Yelp (www.yelp.com/) This site will locate restaurants near you when you are craving a certain type of food. You can also post and/or read reviews of area restaurants. This is blocked by Websense, but it's really more for personal use anyway. :)
14. Jott (http://www.jott.com) This is a site that can take messages! You can send them by voice or text by dialing a toll free number. Great for reminders or to-do lists, and since it's web-based, you can access your lists/memos anywhere. Also blocked by Websense, but a great tool for busy educators!
15. Remember the Milk (http://www.rememberthemilk.com/) is a site for lists and organization. It's a task manager that works with google calendars/igoogle. This one is free and it's NOT blocked by Websense!
16. Evernote (http://www.evernote.com/) This site is free and not blocked. You can grab web pages, pictures, save notes. It also has an iPhone app.
17. Dropbox (https://www.dropbox.com/) gives you 2gb of free secure online storage for pictures, files, etc. If you want to go beyond 2gb, it's $99 per year for 50 gb. Good way to make sure you never lose those precious pics of family and important events.
18. Weebly (http://www.weebly.com/) allows you to create websites and it's free for up to 2 sites. Beyond that, it's $5 per month for unlimited uploads. Great for student-created sites.
19. Fotobabble (http://www.fotobabble.com/) VERY cool. Five stars cool. You can narrate a photo with a special personal message. Great way to send a greeting, or to let your students record their thoughts about a picture. Check it out...but be warned....it's addicting. NOT blocked at school.
20. Audacity (http://audacity.sourceforge.net/) is a free sound recording/editing software you can download (PC only). Great for podcasts, or for recording kids' singing or speaking.
21. Class Tools (http://classtools.net/) is a site that has tools to use to make educational games, quizzes and diagrams. They have tutorials to help. Not blocked by Websense.
22. Flisti (http://flisti.com/) can be used to create polls. It's free and not blocked.
23. Zoho Creator (http://www.zoho.com/creator/) has a free online database creator. Great for organizing. It is not blocked.
24. Jaycut (http://jaycut.com/) free online video editor. Not blocked.
25. Thinking Hats (http://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newTED_07.htm) and (http://themes.pppst.com/6hats.html) These sites are from deBono's Six Thinking Hats method of making decisions. Really engages kids in higher level thinking because they have to look at a problem from six different perspectives. The second link has powerpoints and templates you can use.
26. Did you know that there was a "Bloom's Digital Taxonomy?" It's made to incorporate technology into our higher level thinking skills. (see image below) If you want to know more, google Andrew Churches.
27. Printliminator (http://css-tricks.com/examples/ThePrintliminator/) is a tool you can use to select specific text on a website and get rid of all other extraneous stuff. Not blocked.
28. Microsoft Learning Essentials (http://www.microsoft.com/learningessentials/ProductDetails.aspx?pid=001&active_tab=Teachers) has free tools for teachers and students to download and use with Microsoft Word/Office. There are test creators, grading rubrics, bibliography tools, presentation and worksheet templates...and that's only a small sample.
29. School Town (http://schooltown.net/) There is so much here I don't have enough space or time to tell you all about it. This is a online learning environment website you and your students can use in so many ways. You can set up a free account, and it's not blocked. This is the type of thing you have to play with at home to get to know the in's and out's of it. I was most impressed!
30. The Rasterbator (http://homokaasu.org/rasterbator/). Okay, if you can get past the name and stop giggling, this is another site that will enlarge an image to just about any size you need. It prints out pages and you put them all together like a giant puzzle. It's free, not blocked, and pretty cool...so find an image and start "rasterbating!"
