A Conversation with Sir Ken

SMS Generator from ClassTools!

Special thanks to Mrs. Hundley in the Edmodo Language Arts community for sharing this one!

It's a SMS generator. The students can use it to create "text" between characters, etc...

 I used characters from the Sneetches, but you can use it for whatever your heart desires.

You can save it, but make sure you remember your password.

You can click on  the choice of a unique URL address, embed (see below), link, or even a QR code. (see below).

The skies the limit on what you can do with this tool!

Padlet(Wallwisher) - Innovative Collaboration!

Created with Padlet

Happened to visit Padlet today, then saw it mentioned on the blog, Technology Tailgate. So, that was a sign to me that I should write a post about it. :)

At the end of the school year, my class and another 5th grade class we connected with via Twitter, shared our memories of 5th grade. (See above)  My class really enjoyed this! I have done created many more "walls" using Wallwisher, Padlet, have to get used to the new name.

• Open House - a place for parents to post any concerns or questions
• Questions about a story we read
• Reaching out to my PLN for ideas
• Collaborating with other teachers

I'm sure you could think of a thousand other ways you can use this resource! They have also had some very cool updates since the last time I was on. Sharing the wall is much more intense. Besides embedding, you can FB, Pin it, Tweet it, use Google +, whatever your heart desires.

Check it out!

Narrable: Bring Your Photos to Life!

Here's an example of a Narrable. Wow! I am loving this!

Heard about Narrable from Technology Tidbits:Thoughts of a Cyber Hero who got it from Free Technology for Teachers.  The point is, is that it is very cool! Their advertisements states, "Bring Your Photos to Life".  I was watching one of the Narrables, love that name, where they put together a collage of wedding photos. The bride, groom, mom, even the dog did a voice over to go along with the photos. I love the fact that you can embed them, share them on Facebook, or email them.

The opportunities in the classroom are endless!  I emailed the Support team and they are going to have a Google Hangout to discuss the possibilities in the classroom. Can't wait!

You get 5 free Narrables on the free plan. If you pay $5 a month, you have access to unlimited Narrables, view any public Narrables, and share Narrables with anyone.

Great resource!

A "How to" Twitter!

Source: Uploaded by user via Lisa on Pinterest

Clay Yourself! Claymation Made Easy!

Clay Yourself in the Classroom

I learned about this handy tool from a teacher in the Edmodo community. If you, or your students love creating avatars, they will enjoy this site! I posted his video above and it is as simple as it seems. The cool part is the interface with social media. You can download it, tweet it, or share it on Facebook.

How I Used It

After finishing Theme 2 of the Harcourt series, I had my students choose one of the characters. (I am also going to use this as a wrap up for the book they are reading as well.) They wrote "I Am" poems for the character they chose. Then they were allowed to create the character using Clay Yourself using the text and their imaginations.

My students downloaded their avatars and then inserted the image on their poem. They then published the "I Am" poem on Kidblog.

Drawback

When you download the image, the Hotel.com brand name shows. I opened my image in Microsoft Picture Manager and cropped it. If it doesn't bother you, than you won't have to take that extra step.

Great Resource
Creating the avatar helped bring their characters to life! Mt students really enjoyed this activity! Please let me know how you would use this in the classroom.

The Newspaper Clipping Generator

I learned about this one from a retweet.

 "Jerry Blumengarten ‏@cybraryman1

RT @lisamonthie: I really like newspaper clipping generatorhttp://www.fodey.com/generators/newspaper/snippet.asp … great for creative writing or summarizing#engsschat"

The snippet you see is something I made just to try it out. Very cool! :)

I can think of a  million creative writing activities I can do with this one!

There are ads on the page. Also, he kids have to be careful of how much they write because it won't all fit.

SymbalooEdu

I always heard people talk about it, but never really bothered to check it out.
Our presenter, John Kuglin, introduced me to it this morning, and I LOVE it!
Here's one I started. Still have a lot more sites to add to it!

12 Awesome Ed Tech Tools for 2012-2013!

12 Awesome EdTech Tools for 2012-2013 via FreeTech4Teachers!

Animate Your Math Problems! GoAnimate4Schools!

I wanted to share one of the math videos my students made at the end of the year. They wrote their own word problems and then animated them using GoAnimate. I intend to use it earlier in the year this time, we were kind of rushed at the end of the year.



GoAnimate4Schools.com: Hotdog Problem by Taviayn M

Like it? Create your own at GoAnimate4Schools. It's free and fun!