21st Century School Teacher

More ways to cheat?  Check out ChaCha!

II guess it's time to add Quick Shout to my blogroll.  I've visited quite a few times, and Nic Peachey always seems to have something interesting to look at...  I'm a fan. He looks primarily for ESL type applications, but many of the sites and tools he finds work for native speakers as well.  One of his latest finds is one I didn't want to pass on sharing:

I've just been playing around with a really nice site for kids. It's called Shidonni is a website targeted for kids--it is similar to a paint program and lets kids to draw animals. Once they've completed their illustration, they can bring them to life...

Kids can create an entire habitat for their animals--even visit other planets... You can watch a movie to see how it is done Fun with potential for younger kids...

It's time to say good-bye to the old stompin' grounds.  Tomorrow I'm headed back to the desert and my baby girl (and hubby, too--oopsie).  It has been good for the heart to be here, but going home to my own space will feel fine!  I've got a few more commitments before I leave, so I likely won't have much time for blogging till Tuesday...

Till then, here is an application that you can play around with...
Dipity is a really cool web 2.0 timeline application tool.  Dipity looks great and allows for embedding images, links, videos, commentary… Clutter to your heart’s desire!

There is also a flipbook feature that imitates Apple’s Coverflow. It’s worth spending some time here.  A must-see 21st century teacher tool!

It was finally back to school for me.  I returned to my what was my home-away-from home for almost the last decade...  The Grizzlies were excited to see me, and I was equally excited to hear about all their latest-greatest adventures.  As I mentioned before, my old classroom has been taken over by my best friend, Kyla.  So I was hangin' out with her, and at one point a former student of mine approached her desk where I was sitting.  I instantly went into teacher-mode.  It was like I'd never left--tear!  I miss teaching and the kids, but I miss my little angel even more.  Although the visit was good, I'm looking forward to going home.

It was same-old, same-old at my old school.  The teachers have way too much to do, and the gossip was already taking over the teacher lounge.  The biggest discussion was about academic freedom and what academic freedom means to middle school teachers.  Apparently, and I had not heard this, teachers in the the Bellevue district in Washington state went on strike--there was too much scripting taking place, and the teachers didn't feel they had their rights to academic freedom.  Now I haven't read any official articles on the happenings, but it sounds like the district caved...  The teachers are back to work without the rigid curriculum requirements.  Hmmm... makes you wonder who's next...

On a different note, have you checked out Edmodo ?

It’s another interesting web 2.0 application to add to your tool box, and one that you can use fairly easily with your students.  It is similar toTwitter, but Edmodo does much more.  Students and teachers create short messages--140 characters or less--and disseminate them.  The messages are sent to defined individuals or groups--not the whole world.   You have much more control over who views each message, instead of allowing public access for all. 

If students choose to respond to different posts, their replies are threaded with the original post, making it easy to follow a variety of conversations.  With Edmodo, you can attach files. You are able to attach files, embed links, assignments, etc.  

There are public pages available, with RSS feeds, so if you do have something that you want to share globally, it will support that, too. Students are able to save specific messages in their ‘locker’ to refer back to them at a later time.  Assignments appear conveniently in the sidebar as needed.

You might wan t to take a peak at Edmodo.  I can't say that I'm a great 'twitterer,' but I can see that there are some cool applications here! 

Like Wikipedia--but all about things living!  "The Encyclopedia of Life (EOL) is an ambitious project to organize and make available via the Internet virtually all information about life present on Earth." Biodiversity galore!

Another whiteboard application--set up nicely for collaboration...

"Scriblink is a free digital whiteboard that users can share online in real-time. Sorta like pen and paper, minus the dead trees, plastic, and the inconvenience of being at the same place at the same time. Scriblink is all about collaboration. Whether you're there for fun or more practical things like layout planning, concept diagramming, or tutoring a friend in math, Scriblink brings you the power of free hand expression with anyone, at anytime, anywhere in the world."

I like this one...

Like to talk?  Want to learn a new language?  Try Babbel where you can learn languages online.  If you teach a foreign language, this could be a great resource for you...

I happened upon a new application tonight--Tikatok. 

"Tikatok™ is where kids channel their imagination into stories – and publish those stories into books to share  with friends and family." 

This site provides a writer's workshop-like format so that kids can publish online...  I typically use Lulu.com  for publishing students' work, but this application guides younger students in writing and publishing their stories in a kid-like fashion.  I did not spend a significant amount of time on the site--but it looks as though probably K-4  would be the obvious audience.  If your students do not have access to a scanner, Tikatok advises you to send the pictures to them and they will do it for you...  Tikatok appears to have excellent customer service--so if you like a person on the other end helping you as you complete each project, give it a try...  The cost looks to be a bit more expensive than Lulu.com, but worth checking it out if you want a unique publishing experience for younger grades...

dabbleBoard--still in beta--is a really cool whiteboard program.  It's highly intuitive, easy to use, with some cool features! 

Want a fun and engaging way to run a group dialogue in your classroom?  Try Meebo... You can create a free chat room and embed it on your homepage or your blog... Students can access it and discuss away...