Not Another History Teacher
History and Technology: a Perfect Pair
Footnote- Find and Share Primary Documents
Aug 5th
Footnote helps you find and share historic documents. We are able to bring you many never-before-seen historic documents through our unique partnerships with The National Archives, the Library of Congress and other institutions.
Our patented digitization process is helping bring other collections to life on the web everyday. But Footnote is more than just a dusty, digital archive online. We provide you the tools to share your historical passions and connect with others.
Footnote is perfect for
- History Buffs
- Genealogists
- Researchers
- Family Historians
- Military Historians
- Teachers
- Institutions
Create a book with Tikatok
Aug 5th
Tikatok is an online platform where parents and their children can write, illustrate, and publish original stories into professional-quality hardcover and paperback books. Tikatok’s mission is to spark a child’s imagination and capture that in the form of a storybook for parents and children to cherish forever. Tikatok inspires creativity by providing tools that help you to:
- Kick-Start the Imagination — Explore a fun collection of interactive story templates called StorySparks™ Prompts.
- Create a StoryBook — Easily save your words and drawings with a book editor that opens right on our website. No extra software to download or install.
- Become a Published Author — Order any book as a real hardcover or paperback, even single copies!
In addition to offering unique self-publishing services to parents and children, Tikatok also offers a robust classroom program for teachers, librarians and other educators. Tikatok’s Classroom Program is a unique literacy program that gets students excited about reading and writing by allowing them to create and publish their own books.
Create Simple Videos from your Phone with Flixlab
Aug 5th
Flixlab can allow anyone to create easy and painless movies and then exchange video clips and pictures with friends right from their phones. The best part about Flixlab is that there is no new tools to learn, no hours to edit, and no experience required. Flixlab lets anyone create and share instant movies with a few clicks from their phones.
Share Notes Fast with Minutes-io
Aug 5th
Have you ever faced the situation of agreeing on decisions and task assignments in a meeting and it takes days before the minutes are written and sent to everyone—if they ever are? Ever got a quick customer call, whose outcome should be traced and shared?
Minutes.io just does that. In an elegant and simple manner. You can use it in your browser, but you don’t need to be connected to the Internet. You don’t need to sign up. And it’s free!
Thanks Matt Damon for Defending Teachers
Aug 3rd
This entire post is taken from Richard Bryne’s Free Technology 4 Teachers. I agree Thanks Matt!
“By now there is a good chance you’ve seen or read Matt Damon’s speech in defense of teachers. If you haven’t seen it or read it you can do so here.
Thanks to a handful of my colleagues in SAD 17 who posted it on their Facebook pages I learned about this follow-up interview with Matt Damon in which he defends teachers again. The video speaks for itself.”
Make Texting a Positive in School with Celly
Aug 2nd
I am a huge fan of using cell phones in the classroom as long as students use them properly and know their limitations. Over the last few years my favorite mass keyword texting app has shutdown (TXTblaster). As a result I have been looking for new FREE resources that would allow people to “opt in” and subscribe to my mass text alerts (without me having to type in everyone’s phone number). I have finally found one that I really LOVE called Celly.
What is Celly?
Celly creates mini social networks called cells that connect you with people and topics that matter most to you. A cell can contain anybody with a cellphone, people from your existing social networks, or any web feed. The mission of Celly is to build a socially responsible and sustainable technology venture that transforms education and community with technology. They hope to empower communities and schools. They are changing the face of education!
Application
I created a group for each of my two classes to serve as a reminder for assignments. I also created a cell group for my club. The security settings for the club is “open” so that any member in the club can text the club. My class is a “closed” cell, meaning that I am the only one who can text the entire class. My students can text me if they have a question. The best part is they do not have my real cell number and it is a controlled environment in that Celly keeps a record of every message placed. It is defiantly on my top ten list of FREE applications to try this school year.
Free Tools Challenge
Aug 2nd
My friend from upstate NY is possibly getting a 1:1 classroom with a smart-board. Before I start, let me say that I am JEALOUS. I wish I could have that kind of environment and flexibility. They called me for advice on what digital tools they should be using in their new state of the art classroom.
My Top 6 FREE and Easy to Implement Classroom Resources:
- Edmodo http://www.edmodo.com
- Google Docs http://www.google.com/
educators/p_docs.html - Glogster http://www.glogster.
com - Pollseverywhere http://www.
polleverywhere.com/ - Animoto http://animoto.com/
education - Cel.ly http://cel.ly/
I then shared resources from the Free Tools Challenge from EDU Blogs. Everyone loves free! Here’s a list of 26 different web tools that are great for students, educators, bloggers, and more. I am proud to say I have used most of them. These are some simple ways to incorporate 21st century learning into your classroom. Check them out today!
#1 – Wallwisher
#2 – Self-grading Quizzes
#3 – Bitstrips for Schools
#4 – Classtools.net
#5 – Edmodo
#6 – DoInk
#7 – Kerpoof
#8 – Glogster
#9 – ToonDoo
#10 – Wordle
#11 – Skype
#12 – Animoto
#13 – VoiceThreads
#14 – PhotoFiltre
#15 – Livebinders
#16 – WeeBehave
#17 – DropBox
#18 – Jing
#19 – Audacity
#20 – LearnBoost
#21 – Wetoku
#22 – Little Bird Tales
#23 – Wikispaces
#24 – Wiki’s Simple English
#25 – Jog the Web
#26 – paper.li
Five Things Students Want From their Education
Aug 1st
eSchool News recently asked readers: “What’s the one thing you hear most often from students about what they want in school?” in the article entitled Five Things Students Say They Want from Education. Though the responses were numerous, readers repeated these five things students want the most. Check out the article. It has some interesting points.
1. Real-World Application
2. Choice
3. Innovation
4. Teacher Mentors
5. Interactive Technology
WeeBehave
Jul 29th
Great post about WeBehave written by Tara Zeller on the Free Tools Challenge. According to Tara, “WeeBehave provides online chore and behavior charts to help teachers and parents track and record behavior patterns. The WeeBehave philosophy is that children can be better self-managed when using behavior and chore charts. Research shows that children will accomplish more if they can visibly see their results and participate in the goal setting process. This website helps accomplish that!”
Great Idea to monitor progress.
Make a Webquest Today!
Jul 29th
Webquest.org is the most complete and current source of information about the WebQuest Model. Whether you’re an education student new to the topic or an experienced teacher educator looking for materials, you’ll find something here to meet your needs.
Jeopardy Labs- Make Learning Fun!
Jul 29th
Jeopardylabs is a wonderful FREE website that allows you to create jeopardy games without the use of powerpoint. Jeopardylabs allows users to create a customized jeopardy template. The games you make can be played online from anywhere in the world. Building your own jeopardy template is a piece of cake. Just use our simple editor to get your game up and running.
Not interested in building your own jeopardy templates? Well that’s cool too. You can browse other jeopardy templates created by other people. It doesn’t get any better than this!
Graphic Organizer Website
Jul 29th
I just discovered this great resource for graphic organizers from the Vermilion Parish School District. This site has tons of different graphic organizers as well as links to helpful websites. Check it out today! 
Video Interview using Wetoku
Jul 29th
Wetoku is a web service that provides a simple platform for interviewing someone via the Internet. Collaborating globally is a must for our students and as result interviewing can be a challenge. Wetoku makes doing an interview as easy as filling out some basic information, creating an interview session and then sending the URL to the interviewee. You can embed the interview into your blog or website. You will need a web-cam for this tool. Great idea for bringing the world into your classroom. Give it a try today!
Here is a sample video:
Google in Education
Jul 28th
I learrned about all these Google ISTE11 resources from the Educational Technology Guy. I love using Google Apps and Google. I wish more teachers took advantage of these wonderful features and options such as iGoogle, Blogger, Google Sites, Google Docs, Calendar, Gmail, and much more as an educator and with my students.
The Ed. Tech Guy said, “google had a big presence at ISTE11 and there were some great presentations and resources on using Google Apps in Education. This site has a list of the presentations and links to the resources.” If you like using google you may learn a few new tricks from this site.
The Henry Ford has TONS of resources
Jul 19th
I am currently attending the National Endowment for the Humanities Workshop at The Henry Ford in Dearborn Michigan. I am learning from numerous history professors from around the country, touching historical artifacts, experiencing life in in early colonial America through the present, and learning about creative resources at The Henry Ford to teach my students.
I am learning about the numerous resources The Henry Ford provides teachers for FREE both onsite and online. Check out all the educators resources here
