I have been providing some Tech PD this week to teachers in my district- Integrating Technology in the Classroom (including SMARTBoard Trainings) and I promised to post the comic one of the teacher’s created. So Rich ( AKA Mr. Grumpy!!)– this one is for you! Now you can tell your students you’ve had a comic published!!
Discovered another free avatar generator that is offered by AMC in honor of their show Mad Men called MadMenYourself! The process is fairly intuitive, you begin by selecting your body type – male (suit) or female (skirt) and then takes you on a journey to fine tune your character with specific body features, accessories, clothing, landscapes,etc. until you have the perfect you!! Once you are satisfied with your avatar you can save it by downloading it to your computer. This would be another great option for students to create an avatar for a class wiki or for you to use in Notebook lessons, etc. ENJOY!
I’m really liking this site that was shared on Twitter called Daily Mugshot so I wanted to share. Basically Daily Mugshots is a free service that allows you to chronicle your daily life using photos. Take a photo a day and it will turn them into an animated sequence. The site wil even email you a daily reminder to take your picture- it doesn’t get better than that! You can upload photos from a digital amera, webcam or cell phone. A new feature is the option to create a flip book with 64 of your photos– there is an $8.99 fee and when completed it will be mailed to you. My mind is whirling on how to incorporate this application in the classroom. ENJOY!
Update 8/8/09- Silvia Tolisano from the amazing Langwitches Blog wrote a wonderful post, “Digital Sotrytelling- What Will Your Great Grandchildren Know Abbout You” about her vision of using Daily Mugshots to chronicle your life. In Silvia’s words, “document the growth of your children or students, your own aging 
, a pregnancy, hairstyles, outfits, seasons, etc.”
Sharing something that made me smile- The Last Page of the Internet- ENJOY!
I was reminded this morning of an online alarm clock that I have used in the classroom to the delight of my students! It’s called KuKu Klok. You simply set the clock and pick the alarm sound you want– there are five fun, but somewhat annoying sounds. I would use the KuKu Klok on the SMART Board as a teacher friendly way to remind students when they were participating in an activity with a time limit. ENJOY!
I learned of this wonderful site from the BBC called One Minute Wonders that I wanted to share. This site offers 13 “shows” consisting of a series of five videos that are all under two minutes in duration. At the end of the show you are given the option of taking the quiz to review the information from the show. As an added bonus if you get all of the answers in the quiz correct you are given the opportunity to download a One Minute Wonder background image. You select the show you want to view by clicking on the arrows to designate specific show number and then you can select the video clicking on the video or you can pull the “slot machine” lever to pick a random video. These shows would be great to use as an end of the day activity or to jump start your day! So a big thank you to Joy over on Twitter for sharing this resource that presents so well on the SMART Board! ENJOY
I discovered a really cooooool site that allows you to create virtual sand art called Thisissand.com. I remember as a kid going to the beach with my family and one of the fun activities we did was going to a beach vendor to create sand art in a bottle– what fun memories!! Thisissand.com is just plain fun and here is a warning– it can be very addicting!! In addition it is very easy to use– just left click and you will begin to drop the virtual sand on the blank canvas. I should mention that you click on the gray box in the right hand corner of the screen for the directions. Press “C”to change the color of the sand , “E” to erase the drawing, “M” to mute the sound (yes it even sounds like sand falling!!). Screen shots will save your creation or you can opt to save your creation to the art gallery. The sand art below is an example from the art gallery. This could be a very fun, collaborative art activity using the SMARTBoard.ENJOY!
Kindersite is a great resource for educational games/activities for students ages 7-12 in the areas of Mathematics, Art and Music, Languages, Science, etc. ENJOY!
I have been collaborating with some SpEd teachers on strategies they could implement next year to motivate students to write descriptive essays. Enter virtual pets found at layoutcodez.net. Students will ”adopt” their virtual pet, post it on the class wiki and write a descriptive essay introducing their pet to their classmates- FUN! Creating a virtual pet is a very simple and quick and process (colors can even be customized). It took me a matter of minutes to “adopt” Larry my Lizard. The pets also comes complete with food and sound affects. The SMARTBoard will be used to present their work. We also discuss the possibility of having each student create their own Voki at the start of school as a way to introduce themselves on the class blog. ENJOY!
I am loving this new (well new to me!) free Avatar generator at BlessthisChick.com It is so much fun and very easy to create your very own “Chick” that can then be used in SMART Notebook lessons or uploaded onto you wiki/blog. You email the file to yourself (or a friend) as a JPEG or PING, save it and you’re ready to go! A French teacher had a creative idea for a lesson- she was going to have her students create a “Chick”, name her and then describe her, writing a short paragraph in French! OOO La, La what a great idea! ENJOY!
