Tech Tools! Postagram,TimeToast,Gooru, and Inklewriter!

• I was watching Good Morning America while running on the treadmill.  I caught site of this tool, and my mind immediately went into teacher mode. Postagram allows you to send real postcards from your Iphone or Android. How cool! Imagine taking a pic of your class and sending it to your pen pals. Please share any other ideas you come up with!

I fell behind in my Edsurge readings, but I caught up yesterday, and found some goodies;

• Timetoast - You can use Timetoast to create timelines and share them on the web. When I went to sign up I found out that I had signed up a while ago. So this is a rediscovered goodie that I will be using this year. Besides having students create their own timelines for various subjects, I could also create a virtual timeline to post on our blog throughout the school year.

• Gooru - a powerful search engine for learning!

Inklewriter (Beta) via FreeTech4teachers via Larry Ferlazzo - A tool for writing interactive stories. I played with it a little and it seems simple enough. But don't worry, they have a tutorial you can watch.

REMIND101! Parent/Student Communication Without Exchanging Phone Numbers!

Remind101 is the best! It's free! There's an app for it and the customer support is excellent!
What is Remind101? It's a safe way for teachers to text message students and parents without giving out your phone number or requiring theirs! And that is the beauty of Remind101!



 I began using Remind101 this year, and just like ClassDojo, I used it the entire school year.  I will use it again next year.  The process for setting it up is very simple, and sending out messages is a breeze.
I know teachers who have used it with their students, especially higher ed. I didn't, but since my school is incorporating BYOD, I will get parent permission to include my students.

Here's how it works. You set up a FREE account and name your class, or classes. Invite subscribers.You have the option of sending messages using email and text message, only email, or only text messages. Whomever you invite gets a phone number/ special code which will allow them to receive your messages.(See tutorial video above)

I sent messages to my parents about events, tests, and notices sent home.  We had an emergency closing and I was able to send messages to parents with one message.  A Twitter colleague used theirs to send out vocabulary lists every week. You can even schedule your messages to be sent out at a later time.

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No one has your phone number, and you do not have theirs! It is web based, as you can see in the picture above. 2011-2012, I had about 50% of my parents signed up. I plan to have parents take out their phones at Open House and subscribe this year.

This is something the entire school should take advantage of! Looking forward to next year with Remind101 and all the new things I find to do with it!
Update-July 19, 2013- Remind101 has updated their site and made it easier to create more than one class, invite students and parents, and there is a widget that you can embed on your sites or blogs!

WordItOut- WordCloud Creator

I know what you're thinking. I can do this with Wordle or Tagxedo.
But take a look at it, there are options available that you can't do with Wordle.
For example, embed it on your website or blog.
Just another option out there!
Word cloud made with WordItOut

"Techtastic" Resources!

If you are a Pinterest fan like I am, then you will love this site, Url2pin,it!  Have you ever tried to pin a site, and a message appears, "No images for this site"? And you get really frustrated because you really, really, wanted to Pin this site. Well, grumble no more! I have already pinned a number of sites to my Pinterest ! It does work! (via Larry Ferlazzo)








I also wanted to mention two sites that I have come to rely on heavily.
One is Dropbox, I don't know how I ever did without it. I don't even carry a flash drive anymore, thanks to Dropbox. It's just what it says, it's  a box you can drop your files in. The best part, you can pick them up from wherever you have Internet access. An educator's dream!!! Think about it, how many times have you created something at work, and wished you had bought it home? You can share files in your box with others by inviting them to your Dropbox. There is an app for this! Try it, you'll like it!

The other one is Evernote. LOVE it!  They say it the best. Remember Everything. Capture Anything. Access it Anywhere. Find things fast. So, you come across this website about Ipad Apps and you want to make sure you get a chance to read it, even though you won't be back on the computer for hours. You can clip the page or the URL and save it in your Evernote account.  Your account is web-based, so you can see your information anywhere you have Internet access.  PLN(Professional Learning Network) if you like.There is an app for this! Another tool I don't know how I did without!

Isn't technology amazing?!