HONDA SSS

QR Codes

2012-01-11T07:43:00.000-08:00

Oh Dear....where has the time gone? I can't believe that it has been a couple of months since I posted a new tip or trick for you.Yes, I will do better in the future. I hope that you are all having a wonderful semester! This year will be over before we can blink. I want to make you aware of QR Codes. I know that they have been around for many, many years, but now we are seeing them EVERYWHERE...even in education. FYI:A QR code (abbreviated from Quick Response code) is a type of matrix barcode (or two-dimensional code) first designed for the automotive industry.

They are really nothing more than BARCODES that can contain a HUGE amount of data (huge compared to the 16 characters stored in those old striped barcodes). Not only can they store text, but they can also direct a mobile app to go to a specific site, add a contact, create a text message, go to a Google Maps location, and even more...ANN...they are very easy to create. Just select the data type, enter the information and the website builds your QR code before your eyes. You can then copy or save the image to use wherever you want! Yes, even on T-shirts! Pretty Crazy!

If you are interested in using this in your classroom then here are a few ideas:Scavenger Hunt Test Review- at each stop, there are questions to answer on an answer sheet, the QR tag is then scanned to find the location of the next set of problems.Sentence ScrambleEach QR code is one word, students form groups and unscramble the words to form a sentence.
SummariesStudents write short, 2-3 sentence summaries of reading passages, create a QR code then post or share.
Book RecommendationsStudents write short, 2-3 sentence book recommendations then create a QR code to post alongside the book, on a recommendation wall, etc.
Who am I?Like the old forehead matching game, partners find each other, then trade with another person. Class of 26 = 13 terms and definitions. Can create tags on stickers and put on student backs.Talk about motivating your students!
Check out the website to help you get started.QR CODES Generator Most of this info came from JIM-DG..Thank you!

Interactive Whiteboard Resources

2011-10-26T07:57:00.000-07:00

I pasted a link below for some interactive whiteboard resources that can be used with your MIMIO's in your classroom. There are some wonderful virtual sites as well. Enjoy!Interactive Whiteboard Resources a few more...Math Interactives Earth

Teaching Channel

2011-10-19T07:20:00.000-07:00

Teachers,Sometimes it is extremely inspiring to watch other teachers in action. This website is called the teaching channel and it has short little videos from 1 to 15 minutes with searchable content. You can search by grade and/or subject for professional development or just for quick ideas to get you going. Please check it out. Teaching Channel

Qwiki

2011-09-19T13:55:00.000-07:00

Teachers,I know that there are so many search engines and browsers out in cyber space and it is extremely overwhelming to choose which one best fits your needs! However, I really want to suggest one that I think has great potential. The name of this site is Qwiki. The reason that I like this site is because it does all of the work for you. All that you have to do is type in the topic and it pulls from a variety of places, genres, videos, news, etc. to give you the most current and up to date information about your topic. AND...it reads it to you! How great is that?Try it out and let me know what you think! Qwiki

Wonderopolis

2011-09-12T13:00:00.000-07:00

Okay teachers, this site is called Wonderopolis and it has some Wonderful ideas on it daily.Create. Laugh. Imagine. Explore. Learn. Smile. Grow.Visit Wonderopolis®- It’s a place where wonder and learning are nurtured through the power of discovery, creativity and imagination. Wonderopolis is brought to life by the National Center for Family Literacy.Wonderopolis

BOOLIFY

2011-08-26T08:22:00.000-07:00

This is a great site to help students and adults to be more efficient when it comes to using the Internet for searching topics. Boolean logic consists of three logical operators: Or, And, and NOT. This site is extremely powerful because you can use these operators to narrow down your searches and to become a master at searching. I love this site!
Watch the numbers get smaller and smaller for "search results" as you continue to add the operators. Enjoy!

Boolify

Inclusion

2011-08-18T08:57:00.000-07:00

Inclusion -
This is a wonderful YouTube video! It's actually a trailer of a longer documentary called, "Including Samuel."
I got this from Chappel Hill Snippets and I love it when she says, " Plus, the value of having a special kid as a friend is invaluable to any regular education child!"
Check out the following video about Samuel...

Free Online Children Stories

2011-08-15T12:28:00.000-07:00

This site is for educators that teach preschool, early childhood or Academic Life Skills. There are a handful of stories that read aloud and are also animated to a degree. They would be great for fluency, comprehension and should encourage dialogue from the various plots. When you go into each series, don't forget to click on the arrow buttons on the bottom of the page, because there are several pages of stories for each series that are free.

Children's Stories

Save the Words

2011-06-29T15:57:00.000-07:00

Save the Words
This site is great to learn new vocabulary. I personally love learning new words and if you are the same way then this is the site for you. It's simple....easy and just fun.

Enoy!

4 Free Photos

2011-06-03T10:00:00.000-07:00

4 free photos
A group of photographers got together and decided to share their photos for personal and commercial use. Free Photos is a nice collection of images that can be used under Creative Commons licensing. You can search out what you are looking for and then add them to the lightbox. Lightbox is a wonderful feature that allows you to save your images but continue to search out new images and then download them when you are through. You can also register at the site for free and store your lightbox for long-term storage so that you can view them later or even share the images with others. Enjoy!

Random Fact Desk

2011-05-06T08:54:00.000-07:00

This is a wonderful site that can be downloaded as a screen saver or you can load and view it directly from the website. It displays facts every 10 seconds that are very intriguing and interesting. This will definitely keep your students' attention! Check it out!
Random Fact Desk

Fake Facebook Historical Figure

2011-04-25T08:58:00.000-07:00

Build a fake Facebook wall for a famous historical figure. History teachers love this site, but it can be used for any subject including; literature, reading, math, science, social studies, etc. This site is in the beta stages, but has extreme potential.

This site allows students to build what looks like an authentic Facebook wall for the person of their own choosing. They can upload images of the selected person as well as their fake FB friends (colleagues of the character). Students then make fake FB posts by the character, complete with “likes” and comments from other characters. A couple of things....Other users cannot post comments on the created fake walls of others and there are ads on this site, which is how they make their money. But...overall it seems to be a good site.

Check it out...
http://www.myfakewall.com

Engage Students

2011-04-08T12:00:00.000-07:00

Free Earth Videos
This site is amazing and can be used to coincide or compliment your lessons or for those "filler" moments. The site is composed of incredible videos of animals to places. The videos are very captivating and are very high interest. And...they are free.
You can download them if you have streaming problems or you can watch them directly from the site.

If you use your whiteboard then you can manipulate them for the entire class to see at once.

Enjoy!

Twurdy

2011-04-08T09:52:00.000-07:00

This site is a search engine, but what makes it so unique is that it provides reading levels for each topic that you search.

The name "Twurdy" comes from a play on words with the question "Too Wordy?".

The philosophy

Everyone has different reading abilities. Some people searching the web are university professors and others are 5 year old children. Twurdy has been created to provide people with access to search results that suit their own readability level.

What does it do?

Twurdy uses text analysis software to "read" each page before it is displayed in the results. Then Twurdy gives each page a readability level. Twurdy then shows the readability level of the page along with a color coded system to help users determine how easy the page will be to understand.

The Goal

Twurdy's goal is to provide web searchers with information that is most appropriate for them. This will mean that 10 year olds doing school assignments don't have to click through difficult material to find something they can use. It will also mean that phd students do not have to click through websites designed for kids in order to find what they are looking for.
Check it out...
Twurdy

Qwiki

2011-03-23T13:38:00.000-07:00

Qwiki knows millions of things or at least that is it's motto! This is a site that you can enter a topic, such as; your hometown, favorite actor, places around the world, etc. and a slide show will automatically be created for you. However, one of the coolest things about this website is that it READS it to you. Also... If you already have a favorite URL or video about your topic than you can tweak it a bit and modify what Qwiki creates for you. It has three tabs at the top...the first tab is your topic..the second tab are the contents (which means that the information about your topic is presented in a different format and not read to you)...the third tab is "improve this wiki" which is where you can modify, and add to your topic. Check this site out...you and your students will love it.

Khan Academy

2011-03-02T10:05:00.000-08:00

Teachers,
This is one of my all time favorite Virtual Schools and it is called Kahn Academy. You will be blown away from this site. Please take time to watch the video, "What is the Kahn Academy?" It is extremely comprehensive and you can teach any lesson for math, science, banking, finance, history, etc.
It truly is incredible!!! You may want to even watch a few for yourself. It's so wild what is out there on the Internet that we don't even know about. Please check this site out! Khan Academy.

WebQuests

2011-03-02T09:41:00.000-08:00

I know that most of you don't have time to create WebQuests, but you really don't have to do that anymore. Webquests are excellent for collaboration, motivation, and their uniqueness.
Check out this site and view some of the WebQuests that have been created already. There are tons!! You can search for your specific topic by going to the left side under WebQuest Menu and then at the bottom of this list it says WebQuest Search. The site is called Zunal and it is free!!!
Enjoy!

Guess the Wordle

2011-03-01T08:52:00.000-08:00

I know that I have shared WORDLE with you before, but this site by Jennifer is pretty cool! Especially if you need something on your Whiteboard or Mimio, etc. as students come into your class everyday. Jennifer (the author of this website) creates a GUESS the Wordle everyday and some of them are really good and will stump your students.
It's a great way to start any class including all subjects. You could also create your own WORDLE to start your lesson. This would be a wonderful way for your students to infer what your lesson is going to be about. Great introduction and way to "set the stage" everyday. Enjoy and let me know what you think!!!

MessageHop

2011-01-20T10:39:00.000-08:00

Message Hop
This website is in the beta stages (new) but it has great potential. Please check it out. It would be great for students to get into groups and then create a linear presentation using pics and text to capture a lesson that was previously taught. This site makes a slide show in a linear (top to bottom) fashion with quirky text that can be manipulated. Then the URL can be shared for future use or for presentation purposes. The coolest thing is that it does not require a student log in. The following is a link with an example of this website:
Example-click here

Enjoy!!!!
Tammy

2011-01-04T11:02:00.000-08:00

Welcome back for the second semester! I hope that you all had a wonderful break and an enjoyable time with family and friends. I plan on doing several Kurzweil training sessions this semester, so watch for these. Also, if there are other programs that you would like for me to conduct training sessions on, then please let me know.
I will add a few new websites very soon. Have a great week!

Search Engines for your students

2010-11-30T13:56:00.000-08:00

I hope that you all enjoyed your Thanksgiving holiday. It's amazing how fast this year is flying by again!!! There are several well known search engines on the web for your students, but I have listed a few below that seem extremely user friendly. These search engines help students by showing them how each change to their search will instantly change their results which consequently makes it...easier and saves precious time for your students. These search engine websites help students learn how to narrow the fields and are very easy to use. Enjoy!
Boolify
Sortfix

google squared

Yippy

Computational Knowledge Search Engine

2010-11-17T08:28:00.000-08:00

Hey friends,
I personally love GOOGLE. I seem to find myself searching everything from questions, problems, directions, etc... through this search engine. However....if you need computations, facts, and answers about ANYTHING...then try this out and save it as a bookmark. It is amazing!!! If you want to know the day that you were born, a mathematical formula...whatever? Just ask away.
http://www.wolframalpha.com/

Image Searching made EASY!

2010-11-02T07:07:00.000-07:00

It is so frustrating to search for images and to find just that PERFECT image for a lesson or example, but then only to be disappointed because it has copyright restrictions. And...then you start all over again searching for just that "flawless" image that you can download without copyright issues! So...here is a cool solution to this problem.
I personally love FLICKR, because of the number of images that it contains. If you are not familiar with CREATIVE COMMONS, this feature allows you to search for images that are free of copyright issues or just have a few restrictions.
The name of the website is called compfight, which is a wild name, but I think that it is supposed to have something to do with the word "comps" or comparable images. Anyway, just enter a search term and select whether or not you want to look only in the Creative Commons of Flickr and whether or not you want the safe search turned on. It is a wonderful way to find images that can be downloaded without copyright issues and it is relatively fast! Enjoy!

Visual Dictionary

2010-10-11T14:08:00.000-07:00

This simple but useful website allows a user to enter a word then defines that word using lexical content from Wiktionary. No big deal, right? The best part is that it simultaneously pulls up images from Flickr, Google Images, or Yahoo. This way, students can instantly visualize what is being defined. However...teachers must make sure that they check the words out in advance, in case some of the pictures are not appropriate. Remember, the pics come from Flickr, Google and Yahoo...so they are not monitored.
(taken from digital goonies)
http://blachan.com/shahi/

Loonapix

2010-10-05T08:12:00.000-07:00

The following site manipulates or changes images and is also known as an image generator. The website is: http://www.loonapix.com/
Your students can take an image which could be one of their own or an image that pertains to a lesson (biography, concept, etc.) and they can do a million things with it to change it up as you can see below. Very cool site and very easy to manipulate. Enjoy!

Virtual Piano

2010-10-04T12:45:00.000-07:00

I found the coolest site that I want to share with you. I know that when I used to teach there were many times that I would have loved to have had the Jeopardy Jingle for certain lessons, moments, etc. I just always hummed the tune, but you don't have to do that anymore and you can get your students involved. These free sites have a virtual piano and will let you create ANY tune that you want to play for your lessons. Go to these sites and play around to see how neat they are. The possibilities are endless! Your students can even create their own tune to compliment their presentation.

http://piano.congland.com/
http://www.kisstunes.com/m3/kiss3.aspx
My favorite is the first site...but they are both good. I will also be glad to send you a print out of the Jeopardy Jingle or the Happy Birthday Jingle. Let me know what you think? Also, you might want to sign up to follow this blog for ideas and inspiration.

Okay..sorry that it has been so long!

2010-09-23T09:31:00.000-07:00

Hey teachers,
I did not plan for so much time to lapse since my last blog post, but it did! Sorry about that. I hope that you are all off to a new start with school! I have been working like crazy for the past several weeks on the TAKS-M Accommodations Workshop. We have created some new and very useful forms and we have some good info to share with you all. I wanted to share the neatest site with you though. I know that many of you love WORDLE (http://www.wordle.net/), so if you let your students type concepts and or created wordles that describe themselves...you will love this new site. I like this site, because it takes it to the next level with shapes. Check it out and you will see what I mean! Way cool!! It's called Tagxedo ( http://www.tagxedo.com/)
Holler if you have any questions. Enjoy!
Tammy

ABCya

2010-05-10T12:53:00.000-07:00

ABCya! is the leader in free educational kids computer games and activities for elementary students to learn on the web. All children's educational computer games and activities were created or approved by certified teachers. ABCya! educational games are free and are modeled from primary grade lessons and enhanced to provide an interactive way for children to learn. ABCya! games and activities incorporate content areas such as math and reading while introducing basic computer skills. Many of the kindergarten and first grade games are equipped with sound to enhance understanding. There are some wonderful educational games on this site...enjoy.

Pioneer Woman

2010-04-19T07:54:00.000-07:00

Pioneer Woman
I thought that I would share a site with you that was a little different than before. If you have not ever seen this website before...it is definitely worth your time to browse around and check it out. The recipes are fabulous and the stories are extremely interesting and entertaining. It is also amazing how popular this website has become. Enjoy!

Create your Own Dice

2010-04-08T07:54:00.000-07:00

Virtual Dice
You are going to love this site! You can create your own dice by adding numbers, concepts, vocabulary, etc. whatever you want! Put it up on your MIMIO or a projector and only your creativity is the limit. Try it...very cool site! T

Sherlock Center

2010-04-07T10:35:00.000-07:00

Sherlock Center
This site is wonderful for Life Skill's or Academic Learning Students. It is a list of Adapted Literature available through the Sherlock Center Resource Library. These resources are provided for teachers to help students with severe disabilities participate in the general curriculum.You can download the books as PDF's and or Power Point if they are available in that format. They have great pictures as well as icons on the bottom of each page that are similar to Board Maker. They can be reproduced and then put in a binder for your students.
Let me know what you think!

Scribble Maps

2010-03-30T12:32:00.000-07:00

Scribbe Maps
I love this site! Scribble Maps are a quick and easy way to rapidly make and share maps!

With Scribble Maps you can: draw shapes and scribble, place markers and text, create and sends maps to freinds, etc. Students can learn to explore maps and learn about navigation through the use of this program.
Try it!

Welcome Back...

2010-03-22T08:25:00.000-07:00

Diigo
I hope that you all had a wonderful Spring Break and got an opportunity to just kick back and chill with your family. We made a road trip to Alabama and New Orleans to check on my family. It was nice to get a way for the week and visit. Okay... when you have a chance and I know that is very tough with your schedules, check out DIIGO. This is a social networking site that allows you to research, share and then collaborate your work. What is so unique about this site is that Diigo allows you to highlight text and attach sticky notes to specific parts of web pages. Diigo highlights and sticky notes are persistent in the sense that whenever you return to the original web page, you will see your highlights and sticky notes superimposed on the original page, just what you would expect if you highlighted or wrote on a book! It's amazing! Take the tour and enjoy!

Wall Wisher

2010-03-08T08:05:00.000-08:00

Wall Wisher
This site is pretty cool. I strongly suggest that you play around on it first.
It is an Internet application that allows teachers, students, or anyone else to express their thoughts on a common topic easily. The wall is basically a 'web page' where people can acutally post a message, response or comment. If you have a family member that is about to have a birthday or anniversary, then start a wall to try it out. It is very simple to do...just follow the directions. Think of all of the ways that you could use this in a classroom setting.
You can use Wall Wisher for a ton of things such as:
■Personal note taking

■To-do lists

■Party Invitations

■Feedback Collection

■Wishing people on occasions, like birthdays, anniversaries

■Anything that might need input from a lot of people, eg. a Mac Vs PC wall (that'll be a war, not a wall actually).

Todays Meet

2010-03-04T08:04:00.000-08:00

Todays Meet

This site is really cool and ideal for back channel discussions. This site will allow you to connect with your students in "REAL TIME."
If they have access to computers, then while you are presenting the information, they can "meet" via this website and ask questions, or comment about what is being taught. It really allows for students that would normally not comment or ask a question to open up and be an integral part of the class. You could also use it for brainstorming, and just a good ole' conversation to change things up a bit...so check it out. You can print the disccussion or thread so that you can sharpen your teaching points for the next go round. It is very USER friendly...so experiment with this site and let me know what you think. If you need any help, just holler at me.

Jam Studio

2010-03-03T11:15:00.000-08:00

Jam Studio
This site is wonderful to add music to raps, poems, lessons, etc. Take the tour and play around with this site.
One neat thing about this website is that you can sign up for a free education grant which is evidently awarded by just signing up for it. This is free for this school year only and it is for educators.
Now...let me explain a few things: You can use this site and create songs, melodies, raps, etc...all day long, but you can not save them or download them without a paid log in account. That is where the education grant comes in handy. You complete the infomation (which is very simple to do) and then you can have access for your students. Watch the video on the left hand side of the website (you have to scroll down a bit) by clicking on In the Classroom. Enjoy! Let me know what you think.

Fur.ly

2010-03-01T09:07:00.000-08:00

Fur.ly
This is one of my all-time favorites and I know that I have shown this site to many of you before. However, I also realize that there are so many things out there and that you can't remember everything...so it is definitely worth showing again.
This site is extremely beneficial if you have a projector and you have several sites that you are using to teach. You can add as many sites as you want and what it does it takes these multiple URL'S and creates one URL. So at the top of the page it might say, one of seven... The reason that this would be advantageous is because it keeps you organized and you don't waste time looking for a website or waiting for the website to load. Try it!

Fable Vision Posters

2010-02-26T11:26:00.000-08:00

Fable Vision Learning
I hope that you are all doing great... Here is a great site! I love this site because normally your classrooms around this time need a little pick-me-up. So why not get a little inspiration...free!

Peter H. Reynolds created inspirational posters for students and teachers that are free to download and print. These posters are formatted for 8 1/2 by 11 paper, but in the near future they will be formatted for larger paper so that they truly resemble the large posters. If you use the shiny paper that is typically used for pictures, they really do look like posters. Enjoy!

Thinkfinity

2010-02-25T18:41:00.000-08:00

Thinkfinity
Okay...a few years ago we had a mini-tech conference at Region 17 and had Marco Polo consultants come in and train all of our TARGET Grant teachers on their website...does this ring any bells?
Well, they have totally changed their site and enhanced it and now it is called Thinkfinity. They have really improved and intensified their site which is cross curricular and has thousands of lessons. Check it out when you have a chance.

Imagination Cubed

2010-02-24T07:17:00.000-08:00

Imagination Cubed
I hope that you are all doing great today! This site is good but it has its limits. Basically what is cool about this site is that you draw or write something and then you can replay it over and over for review purposes.
For example,for an ELA class, you could draw a stick figure and then label the five parts of a friendly letter, (heading, greeting, body, closing signature) and then replay it over and over to get the parts in your mind. This is a good site for reinforcement or repetition. This can be used for all classes and would benefit students that need tactile, visual, and hands-on learning styles. You can even send the link to a friend and they can draw and replay the objects at the same time. If you use the pen as the drawing tool and choose the broader/fatter line...then it is much easier to manipulate. The downside to this site is that the ink in the drawing pen is limited, so you can not draw anything very elaborate. Enjoy!

Voz Me...

2010-02-23T06:48:00.000-08:00

Voz Me
Some of you may have seen this site before, but again it is a great site that does more than meets the eye. You can type directly into the box, or copy and paste anything from a word document to something from the Internet.
It is great for low or struggling readers and can also be used for speech or ESL students. If you teach ELA or language it would be a wonderful proof reading tool. Kids can listen to their mistakes that they would normally miss when they proof or check their papers. I bet there are a lot more uses for this site. Let me know what you think.

Storybird

2010-02-19T08:15:00.000-08:00

Storybird
Storybird is a BETA or new site that is in the developmental stage and is free. It is a site where students can drag images onto a page to help their creative juices flow and create/write stories. Someone starts a Storybird by writing a few words or grabbing a few images.
Then the other person takes a turn, adding more words and pictures. In as little as one or two turns they can finish and share a Storybird. It’s that easy. And they can do it sitting side-by-side or across the country from each other. Storybird promotes imagination, literacy, and self-confidence. Kids who play with words and pictures early in life tend to score higher in cognitive and aptitude tests later on. They read and draw more, and are better able to understand concepts and ideas. Plus, they become comfortable with the act of creation: turning nothing into something. In an idea-based society, that’s a key advantage. Since this site is a BETA site, you are not able to print, but you can save, share and publish their work. It's really a wonderful site that I highly recommend. It is recommended for students from 3-13 years of age, but you could also take it up a notch and take a theme possibly from Science or Social Studies and pull images or concepts to explain Photosynthesis or the Civil War. You are only limited by your imagination! Check out the FAQ'S at the bottom of the site for additional information.

Random Name Picker

2010-02-18T10:40:00.000-08:00

Random Name Picker
I have shown you this website before, but please just don't use this site for names, because the possibilities are endless. For example, vocabulary words and/or definitions, place students in cooperative groups..first four names that come up at random are the first group, fifty states and/or capitals..have them give one or the other, twenty questions-student turns their back to the screen and the vocabulary word that comes up...the other students must give the student clues to what it is.
These are just a few of many. One more thing...you can save your list of names, vocabulary, etc. to your desktop and that way you don't have to re-enter everything. The save button is at the bottom on the right hand side.

HONDA has started blogging...

2010-02-16T12:27:00.000-08:00

Teachers, there are so many websites and teaching gadgets that I would like to share with you; however, because of everyone's busy schedules... I have been in a quandary on how to do this. I have decided to start a blog and share these ideas with you and then you can comment if you like/dislike or share how you are able to incorporate these ideas into your teaching.
Unfortunately, we don’t have the time to collaborate and share ideas with each other often enough. I think this will be extremely beneficial for HONDA and all of our teachers. I will try and post something every few days. You may have seen some of the websites that I am going to share with you, but I think it will be worthwhile to see them again. My hope for this blog is for you to get comfortable so that you can create your own blogs and post questions for your students to comment on and think about. Please let me know as time goes by...if you are interested in doing this. I would love to show you how you can create a blog safely in an educational environment. Until next time...