Update 2015 |
I will not be updating this page until further notice. Instead, check out my Reflections Blog for reviews of technology I use. Thank you.
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HElpful Links
Here is a list of items I want to explore or reviews of items I've already been exploring. Feel free to use the "Contact" page to let me know if you have other suggestions.
Sites I would like to TrySites I've heard about, but not played with
Blabberize -- upload a picture, record a sound, and this website will make it talk! My Fake Wall -- to make Facebook Profiles for literary characters Tagul -- make tagged word clouds. Looks great but I haven't had time to play with it yet. Might be neat for review activities? Wondersay -- it's like a PowerPoint hopped up on Mt. Dew and Pixie Sticks. Neat for introductory material or review material! Voki -- Talking Avatars? Sounds interesting. Maybe for a review game or a lesson on characterization. Copyright/Creative Commons License -- good resource to read before I dive too deeply into this website project One True Media -- Mix Videos and Photos to tell a story. Could be useful for the upcoming Macbeth Unit! Little Birdie Tales -- Somewhat juvenile, but easy to use for a review timeline, like for Beowulf or Frankenstein. Funny Times -- Cartoon creator that would be excellent for the "Modest Proposal" and political satire unit! Podbean -- Podcasting tool. Could use for review or instructional podcasts. Quizlet -- For studying vocabulary/vocabulary quizzes Quizstar -- a Quiz site that allows imbeded links or videos -- use for a response to a youtube video assignment? Sketchcast -- create a screen cast to use as a tutorial MovieMaker -- good selection of characters to use in videos. Text to speech editing. Creza -- lots of options for creating presentations EduCreations -- allows educators to make short instructional videos to share. Also has lots of videos already created for educators to use. EduShelf -- A directory of digital tools available for educators to use. Looks very promising! |
Sites I use and loveWeebly -- I love this classroom site platform! It's so easy to use and I have far more options than I do in GoogleSites. It looks and feels more professional, too (in my opinion at least.)
Google Classroom -- Love love love where it is headed. Since it is still in beta(ish) mode, I'm hoping they make some of the improvements I've suggested. Either way, though, so far it has been great to use with my students since we were a Google school to begin with. Twitter: I have 3 twitter handles: 1 for personal social networking, 1 for professional social networking (@MsGossling) and 1 for classroom items (@GosslingGHS). On my Samsung S4 and iPad mini I can seamlessly switch between accounts in the app. The set up is a bit more clunky using the website, but I still enjoy using all of them. I find that I tweet very different things, so the 3 accounts work very nicely. Kelly Gallagher's Article of the Week -- Great for nonfiction resources on a wide variety of topics. Jim Burke -- The English Teacher's Companion -- Lots of fabulous resources for teaching. Shakespeare Pro iPad App -- All of the plays in one shiny app. Easily searchable, and the students like the text features. Great for reading aloud because the other "junk" does not distract students. Folger Shakespeare Library -- FANTASTIC teaching resources. I own all of the books. All of texts are also digitally archived and fully searchable. Quizlet -- Great review tool. Teacher can create and share flashcards, the website creates games to study. Edmodo -- allows the teacher to create & control an online networking tool for students/classes to use. I like the "alert" feature, which most of my students have sent to their cell phones. It also includes a great calendar feature (a few bugs on timestamps, but overall really useful); a quiz/test feature (it grades the multiple choice for you! you still have to read the essays, though); and allows the students to email you when needed. The badges can also provide great classroom management/PBIS support and it allows you to connect with "groups" and colleagues around the world. I mostly use it to post assignments (easy-to-use turn in features!) and to allow student work groups to communicate with each other outside of class. It allows access for parents, but since I typically work with juniors and seniors I don't encourage the use of that feature (they need to grow up someday is my rationale). Edmodo is also evolving, making great changes to it's operating system without overhauling and re-creating the website. The Apps for education are pricey and still evolving, but it looks like it could be promising in the future. I plan to spend my summer exploring the Common Core Application and hope to use it with my classes in the fall. Best of all? It's free -- and students can create one log-in to manage ALL of their classes in the same school if you convince others to jump on board with you. UPDATE: Edmodo has changed some of it's settings--disappointingly. It no longer truly fits my needs as a teacher. I still recommend it, however, I have replaced it with Google classroom as we are a GAFE school. Primo PDF -- before Google Docs (and if your school still relies on Internet Explorer) this tool allowed me to turn virtually anything that could be printed into a pdf to share with my students. Since Office is an expensive program, many students do not have it at home. Adobe PDF reader, however, is free, so my students can download that and open my assignments as PDFs. It was a very helpful tool when I was first creating a website. |
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