I love posters, share with Skype…

We have a new full color printer in REMC that makes fantastic posters!  Want one? Email a PDF file you want created into a poster and we’ll print, laminate it and send it back to you via the REMC van. Price: $10 for 18.5″ x 24″, $15 for 24″ x 32″
I’ve had several teachers tell me great things about my Storymaker.  Use it to create an online story book.

Make your photos into all types of projects with BigHugeLabs…magazine covers, posters, mosaics, puzzles, and more.

Many of you probably know about Skype, an application that lets you “call” other Skype users via the internet.  What you may not know is that the newest version of Skype lets you share your screen with the person you’re calling.  A great way to make a presentation or demonstrate a tool.

This is a very cool site for young readers. Word Magnets lets them mix up words into any number of combinations.

Halloween, OCR, Prezi…

Whether or not you have an interactive whiteboard, this SMARTBoards and Halloween Resources page has a ton of fun sites and activities.

WatchKnow is both a resource for users and also a non-profit, online community that encourages everyone to collect, create, and share free, innovative, educational videos.

This is a cool idea…use Online OCR to convert PDF documents, and images into Word files. OCR stands for Optical Character Recognition.

The University of Colorado at Boulder provides many Interactive Simulations for physics, chemistry, biology, and math.

Prezi is a new type of presentation option.  It’s another way for kids to show what they know using this web-based tool.

Inking, Writing, Plotting…

Happy Columbus Day!

You have already your students writing, so why not get them published? Teen Ink is a great site for all types of writing: poetry, fiction, reviews, nonfiction, and more.

I know you use Google, so check out 11 Great Hidden Things Google Can Do That You Should Know.

Discovery Education has put together this little page to help explain and showcase some of the best web tools out there.  Watch the fun videos at Web 2.0: Conquering Technophobia to see six ways to incorporate the web into your classroom.

Take your students to the Professor Garfield site…who knew Garfield had come so far? Lots of reading activities, word challenges, create a comic strip, art and drawing!

StatPlot allows you to create all types of charts and graphs from sports statistics. A great way to learn how to visualize and interpret data.

Student Tech Showcase and more…

If you’re proud of what your students have accomplished with technology, consider bringing them to the 9th Annual Michigan Student Technology Showcase at the Capital Building in Lansing on October 28. Your students can meet and have conversations with the state legislators.  A great way to learn!  Follow the link for more information and to sign up your class.  I’ve also attached a flyer.

Congress for Kids is a great site to visit to help students understand our federal government.

I love online diagramming tools…you don’t need extra software, just click and drag and create.  Lovely Charts is a new option worth checking out.

The US Geological Survey keeps a close eye on current volcano activity as well as provides links to web cams, live activity status, monitoring data, and more.

Your students can create animated storyboards at GoAnimate to explain concepts, re-create history, write stories, or create their own comic strip.

Myna Birds, KBears, and SMART Boards…

This site was just released last week, it’s awesome.  Myna is an online application where you can record and mix audio tracks…then save and share them.  Your students don’t need any extra software to create podcasts, mix up some background music, record vocabulary, whatever.  The cool thing is that kids can work on their projects at home and at school and can share their creations instantly via the web.

I know YouTube is blocked, but here’s a list of the 100 Best YouTube Videos for Teachers.  They’ve been broken down into several categories for you.  If you need help figuring out how to show these videos to your students, attend the 2Week Tech webinar entitled “Use YouTube.” It’s running tomorrow from 3:45 – 4:15 and it’s free!  Click the link for more info.

KBears is a fun, interactive site for elementary students with all types of info.  They also have a site for parents and teachers that has various types of learning activities.

If you have an interactive whiteboard then you simply must check the Teachers Love SMART Boards blog everyday.  The author post several resources per week.  They’re not specific to SMART boards, either…it doesn’t matter what type of board you have the sites will still work.  In fact, you don’t need a board at all to take advantage of the great stuff that’s here.

Providing a wealth of resources for K-12 science educators, Science NetLinks is your guide to meaningful standards-based Internet experiences for students.

Upcoming Workshops: Our workshop flyer will be out this week…keep your eyes open!  You can also search Berrien RESA’s Professional Development schedule. Here are a couple coming up quickly.

• Monster Match Videoconference Training: Writing, Math & Art
  In Monster Match, PreK-8 students design a monster and send the description to their partner class. Both classes then make each other’s monsters, carefully following directions.
  Date: September 23, 2009
  Time: 4:00-5:30 pm
  Cost: FREE
• 2Week Tech: Use YouTube
  YouTube is blocked, but you can still find ways to get to the good stuff.
  Introducing 2Week Tech: short, interactive web conferences designed to introduce technology tools and strategies.  Join in 2Week Tech sessions from the comfort of your own computer.  For more information visit http://2weektech.pbworks.com/.
  Date: September 22, 2009
  Time: 3:45-4:15 pm
  Cost: FREE

Getting a file in the right format for your computer can be quite a trick.  Use Format Factory to convert image and media files so that they’ll work where you need them to.

Search internet resources by Subject or Content Expectations using MORE, Michigan Online Resources for Educators.  Included are standards-based, grade-specific, K-12 lesson plans, student interactive tools and reference materials.

ARKive Education is a free-to-use, multi-media resource bank that provides downloadable, ready to use modules on a wide range of curriculum topics such as geography and environmental education.

Add the World Digital Library to your list of primary resources links.

Web Wonders is Back!

Ahhh…another school year begins and so to the Weekly Web Wonders.  Welcome back to all of you, many of whom are new to the list.

Weekly Web Wonders is a regular (weekly) email sent by Kevin Clark from the Berrien RESA.  It contains 4-5 internet resources (web) that I feel would be good additions to your teaching toolbox (wonders).

There are a lot of interactive whiteboards out there, so check out PBS Interactive Whiteboard Games.  These activities were created to take advantage of the capabilities of interactive boards, but could be used by anyone.

I suspect that you’ll be sending lots of information home this week.  Why not personalize your documents using your own handwriting.  FontCapture creates a font from your handwriting for free.  Then, select all your text and change the font to…yours!

EduTube is a new portal for education videos.  Videos are organized by subject and grade level.

Starting the year with flashy science demonstration is a great way to get your students excited about being back in school.  Check out Science is Fun the Lab of Shakhashiri…very awesome!

Keep your eyes open for this semester’s technology workshops…coming soon!

Rhymes, Scribbles, and Glogster…

If you’re writing some poetry, Write rhymes is a site worth checking out.  Type your prose, then click on any word to find others that rhyme.  Very fun.

There’s still plenty of time for students in grades 5-8 to enter the Young Scientist Challenge.  May 20 is the deadline.

Let’s say you use maps…Scribble Maps is an awesome tool that lets you draw, place markers, label, and otherwise mark up an online map.  Then you can save, print, or share them with others.

Glogster is a fun tool that teachers and students are enjoying.  What does it do?  You can create interactive posters using text, images, video, etc.  It’s another way for students to show what they know.

NationStates is a free nation simulation game. “Build a nation and run it according to your own warped political ideals.”  Sounds just right for your students.

Time, Space, After People…

This blog post, 18 cool sites and apps that teach you about space, gives you exactly what is claims.  Use these resources to help liven up lessons about objects billions and billions of miles away from your classroom.

Combine History and Science with the Science and Technology of World War II, a great site from The National WWII Museum.  Includes activities, resources, and lessons.  In addition, you can order a free poster…and who doesn’t like free?

Have you ever watched Time Warp on the Discovery Channel?  Using high-speed photography, the hosts slow down events that normally occur in the blink of an eye…like the vibrations of a cymbal or a cat licking up milk.  Now you can watch tons of their videos online.  They’re very cool.

The swine flu isn’t going to do it, but check out The History Channel’s Life After People site.

Elements, Wonders, Swine Flu

Watch the BBC’s One Minute Wonders…quick bits of science and nature goodness.

I love The Periodic Table of Videos.  The University of Nottingham (that’s Robin Hood territory) has put together a short video for every element.  Some are fun, some are odd, but all have great information.

Show your students the power of information tied to location.  Check out the Swine Flu on Google Maps.

With WildEarth.tv, you can watch live broadcasts of explorations through a wildlife preserve in Africa.  Each live broadcast is archived for later viewing.