Little Bird Tales is a nice site for younger students to create digital stories. Little Bird Tales walks users through each step of creating a multimedia story. 
Users can upload images, draw images, or record from their webcams. Stories can be written with text or narrated by students using microphones connected to their computers. Sample video
Very simple to use and create a story. Great literacy tool!
Animoto is another simple program online to create simple videos from pictures, sound, text, and existing video clips try Animoto. Animoto makes it possible to quickly create a video using still images, music, and text. In the last year Animoto has added the option to include video clips in your videos too. 
If you can make a slideshow presentation, you can make a video using Animoto.
Animoto’s free service limits you to 30 second videos. You can create longer videos if you apply for an education account. I like to use Animoto early in the school year to introduce my new students to some of the basic skills that will be carried across to more complex video creation later in the year.
I just discovered Awesome Screen Shot, which is a wonderful screen shot program. I am a huge fan of taking screen shots when demonstrating a particular lesson or difficult takl. This program allows anyone to take a photo of the desktop or internet and then annotate it. It’s easy to use and pretty simple with browser add on to make screen shots simple. Check it out today.
Some of the Features:
Today I was updating some of my lessons with new project ideas. I discovered a new program called WebDoc. It allows people to express themselves around particular topic with pictures, videos and music from all over the web, but also interactive applications like games, polls, slideshows or web services such as Google Maps and Twitter.
WebDoc reminds me of glogster but for an older crowd like middle school and high school. It seems simple to use and I can’t wait to try it next school year with my students.
For more information visit the What Every Social Media Marker Should Know about WebDoc, writtten by Neil Glassman:
Coolest feature
Drag-and-drop WYSIWYG interface for simple, intuitive and quick interactive postings.
Feature rundown
Mixed media — photos, videos, audio, etc. — can be used to attract and retain attention
CLOSURE – what the instructor does to facilitate wrap-up at the end of the lesson – it is a quick review, to remind students what it was that they have learned (or should have learned) and allows you to see where the students are to assist you in planning for the next lesson.
The intellectual work should be done by the students – not the instructor summarizing for the students and telling them what they learned. Closure allows students to summarize main ideas, evaluate class processes, answer questions posed at the beginning of the lesson, and link to both the past and the future.
Closure is an opportunity for formative assessment and helps the instructor decide:
1. if additional practice is needed
2. whether you need to re-teach
3. whether you can move on to the next part of the lesson
Closure comes in the form of information from students about what they learned during the class; for example, a restatement of the instructional purpose. This information then provides a knowledge of the results for the teacher, i.e., did you teach what you intended to teach and have the students learned what you intended to have them learn
Resources used
Assembled by Ann Sipe ∞ Grandview School District, Grandview WA
Kristine Lindeblad – Coach Extraordinaire
Terrific teachers at Grandview Middle and High Schools; Grandview, WA
OSPI Funded Math Coaches 2007-2009
About – Secondary Education Blog
www.eduref.org/Virtual/Lessons/Guide.shtml
Educators Reference Desk, How to write a lesson Plan
Winning Through Student Participation in Lesson Closure. Patricia Wolf and Viola Supon . EDRS (ERIC)
I am always looking for free and easy to use online converter programs to change the file formats of digital media. I have been using zamzar’s free account for a little over a year. Zamzar claims bring “order to your filesystem by offering you a one stop solution for all your file conversion needs. Like others we were fed up with having files in all sorts of formats, and no easy way of converting between them.” The paid subscription offers you many more features than the free version. I dislike the free version because you have to wait for the converted files to email and the files seem to take a long time to load.
online convert
I recently discovered another FREE online converter called Online Convert. The website claims, “This free online file converter lets you convert media easy and fast from one format to another. We support a lot of different source formats, just try. If you can’t find the conversion you need, please let us know and write us an e-mail. We probably can help you…”
This website is true to it’s claim. It’s very fast and simple to use. As compared to Zamzar, you no longer need to wait around your inbox for your converted files. They appear in your browser within a matter of seconds. It’s also easy to use with PDF converters, so you no longer need to wait an hour on a free website to convert a PDF to word.
Check it out today!
I have never been apart of a book club and when I saw a post written by Silvia Rosenthal Tolisano about a virtual book club on the Langwiches blog I bought the book and started reading it right away. I think most teachers want to bring their classrooms more to life and make learning engaging. I am excited to read this book and have a discussion about passion in the classroom.
According to the Langwiches blog, “Don’t miss out on a virtual summer book club discussing Angela Maier’s and Amy Sandvold’s book “The Passion-Driven Classroom”.
According to the Langwiches blog, “I already have one quote from the first few chapters that has give me plenty to think about as I reflect on this past school year and wonder what makes the difference between an educator who doesn’t wait to be taught, but instead is willing to learn…”
According to the Langwiches blog,” In order to participate actively in the discussion, you will need to become a member of the Curriculum 21 Ning. Since membership is moderated, please register with a your school’s email or other identifiable education account.”
We’ll be launching the book study on June 14th, with questions and discussions about how being passionate can have a significant and positive impact on professional practice. We’ll be posting discussion questions and interacting in our Ning environment!
If you don’t already have the book, you can purchase through Eye on Education’s website. Use the discount code PASSION21 for 10% off! The book is available in both print and electronic formats!
We hope that you’ll join us for a summer of e-learning about becoming passionate in your own practice!
I love finding articles entitled, 6 Top Smartphone Apps to Improve Teaching, Research, and Your Life written in the Chronicle of Higher Education. The article written by Jeffery R. Young discusses the ways smartphones have revolutionized the classroom, particularly in higher education. The article mentions some interesting ways smartphones have begun to change the college environment such as by taking attendance, collecting data, researching, taking notes, using textbook tools, and mind mapping to plan a lecture.
I just discovered Android Academics, which has 4 free apps that will make your life as a teacher easier: Grade-book, Attendance, Grade Rubric, and Grade Ticker.Android Apps for Academics has some pretty nice apps and features. The following information is directly from the Android Academics website. I have personally used the grade ticker and I can’t wait to try the following academic apps.
Edit your grade book directly from your phone!
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A simple and efficient way to take attendance with your Android device! All attendance results are saved to a Google Spreadsheet.
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Simple tool to help professors and teachers make grade tallying more efficient
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Simple tool grading tool for professors and teachers who use a grading rubric for assignments. Option to auto-generate an email with detailed grade report for student.
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Current Features
* supports 45 students/class, 8 periods/day
* supports 3 Marking Periods/semester and 2 semesters/year
* default values set to Present for fast attendance taking
* import student names via CSV file
* export data via CSV generated file and send via email
* 1-click text to students/parents for tardy/absent students
* 1-click Random student generator (no more Popsicle sticks)
Upcoming Features
* Simple Grading interface to allow recording of assignments turned in
* Texting and emailing feature to notify students/parents of missing work
*Additional Grading options – using points and categories
commented that they enjoyed taking their tests online, like typing their responses, and getting instant feedback on multiple choice, true false, and matching questions. Short answer and essay take a little longer to grade because I have to go in and grade each section like you would on a paper test.
From the E coli outbreak in Europe to the US presidential election 2012- Guardian News and Media takes the top current events from around the world and makes them into interactive colorful graphics complete with images, information, and links.
I particularly like the US Presidential Election, which comes with graphics and information on all the potential candidates.
The website says “No clear Republican challenger to Barack Obama has emerged for the presidential election on 6 November 2012. Click on the faces to see who is standing and who else may join the contest. Use the menu (top right) to see who is a serious contender, who has stood before and who has Tea Party links.”
I am organizing some of my AP government readings and uploading them to my website. Rather than uploading to word for my students to download, I am uploading them to an amazing program called FlipSnack. This program takes PDF files and makes them into easy to read and embeddable into any blog, wiki, or website.
According to the website, “FlipSnack is an online flipping book software that allows you to convert PDF documents into Flash page flip digital publications. It’s the ideal solution for those who wish to embed a book, magazine, catalog, newspaper, portfolio or any other kind of document into a website or blog. Once created, you can embed your flipping book collection, download them or share them on social networking websites such as Facebook.”
This weekend I started looking for ways to help my students on their final exams when I came across Quizlet. Quizlet is a wonderful resource to help students study and review vocabulary.
I found vocab words for every unit of US history and AP Government, already organized and created on Quizlet. Rather than recreating the wheel, I used flash cards already on the the site and modified them to fit my students needs.
Another wonderful feature is that the flash cards can be sent to students digital devices, vocabulary games played on the computer, and even quizzes can be adapted for teachers. The website has a new feature of adding images to the vocabulary cards to all types of learners. The flashcards can be embedded into a blog, website, or wiki. The best part is that it is FREE. 
According to Quizlet’s website, “Quizlet is a free flash cards and study games website. It was created by high school sophomore Andrew Sutherland in 2005 and now contains over 170 million flashcards. All of the material is user-generated.”
Make your own flashcards or search the millions already created. You can even share your flashcards with friends and classmates.
Next study your material study and track your progress.
Flashcard Mode—This mode is similar to traditional paper flash cards. Quickly review your material, make it full screen, shuffle/randomize, or listen with audio.
Learn Mode—A powerful study mode that tracks your correct/incorrect answers and retests you on what you’ve missed.
Test Mode—Generate a test based on your flashcards and pick the type of questions: write-in, multiple choice, matching, or true/false.
Have a little fun while you study and track your high scores.
Scatter—A matching game where you race against the clock. Your terms and definitions are randomly scattered on the page and you must drag and drop them.
Space Race—Terms scroll across the screen and you must enter in the correct definition before they reach the other side. The speed of the terms increases over time.
Quizlet’s advanced text-to-speech software lets you hear your flashcard content. We currently support English, Spanish, Chinese, Japanese, and Korean. More languages are coming soon.
Study your material anywhere. There are over 40 Quizlet-powered mobile apps available on iOS (iPhone, iPad), Android, Windows Phone, and HP webOS.
Make your classroom interactive! Create and share Quizlets with your students and host a group just for your class so students can study, share, and discuss their material.
I just discovered a great post from Larry Ferlazzo’s blog about the Denver Post’s AMAZING story on the Freedom Riders. The Post’s story entitled, 50th Anniversary of the Freedom Riders has stunning images and descriptions of the history event. The photos and words tell a story from 50 years ago celebrating the legacy of Civil Rights Activists.
The Freedom rides involved men and women who bravely rode buses deep into the heart of the South during the Civil Rights Movement of the 50’s and 60’s. These courageous individuals risked their lives to integrate the public buses and terminals to enforce laws against Jim Crow Segregation.
I took the images and words from the Denver Post and made a photopeach slideshow based on the legacy of the Freedom Riders. I put the slideshow together. The photos and powerful story is credited to the Denver Post.
50th Anniversary of the Freedom Riders on PhotoPeach
I am always looking for interesting ways to make digital storytelling simple and adaptable in my classroom. PhotoPeach is an interactive and easy to use website that allows users to tell a story using photos. Photopeach allows users to upload photos, background music, captions, and comments. It is such an easy way to make digital storytelling a reality in your classroom.
Here are the instructions directly from the PhotoPeach website:
First choose where to upload the pictures from: your web album of Picasa, Facebook, or your own computer.
If you choose to retrieve the picture from Picasa or Facebook, you will be forwarded to the login page for the respective service, where you must confirm that PhotoPeach can access your photos for this purpose.
Now, all the pictures are ready to be presented in the slideshow. You can change the order the photos should appear in by dragging and dropping, and when you are satisfied, click “Next”.
Now, enter the title of the slideshow and add music. PhotoPeach allows you to directly search for the desirable track on Youtube without leaving the site.
Click “Finish” and your slideshow is ready.
Now, add captions on the slideshow, and try embedding slideshow into your blog, facebook, myspace, or posting to twitter with the buttons below.
