A colleague of mine just sent out a reminder to all staff about the Easiteach website (http://www.easiteach.com.au). Here you can find support for your board, and a lot of pre-made lessons. Unfortunately this list hasn’t been updated since December 2008. Even so, it’s well worth a look if you use Easiteach in the classroom. Thanks Nathan for the reminder!
Popularity: 14% [?]
A quick shout out to Adam Brice and his posterous site, ABCreative Teacher Resources. Adam has a great knack for collecting and sharing information – he’s one of the most generous educators I know. In the past he’s used Simply Box, his own blog site and now, new for 2010 ABCreativeresources hosted by Posterous. (See my post on this hosting application here). Browsing around his site I saw many great activities for primary aged students that you can use straight away with your Interactive Whiteboard. So far he has 67 tags, easily catergorising the search. His latest post is Maths Hangman, focussing on math vocab.
This is a great place for educators to come and quickly find some useful, practical and immediate resources for the daily classroom.Thanks Adam!
Popularity: 12% [?]
Application: Wallwisher
Wallwisher is an online application that is easy to use, setup and lends itself to some great applications in the classroom. It is essentially an online noticeboard, that uses the ‘sticky note’ format for messages. Easy to set up, there is no need to have an account; although signing up does give the user some advantages in managing multiple walls. To enable you to ‘dip’ your toes in, there is a demo wall, which you can write and play with the tools without any consequence. 
When writing on the wall, you are limited to 160 characters (nods to Twitter and SMS) but you can add images, video, music and links to web pages, so you can add a lot more content than just the usual text. And that’s what helps make it so practical for the classroom. I have been in touch with @missbrownsword in the UK via Twitter. She has used it for her Year 6 geography classes. Sarah tells me;
I’m using wallwisher with my year 6 geography classes (I have 2). Our topic is ‘How are you connected?’ and we’re looking at our connections to other countries. Last year I got them to list 5 countries they’re connected to, write them down and bring them in but this year I’ve asked them to post their lists to wallwisher. I’ve set up 2 so the classes have one each http://www.wallwisher.com/wall/6sgeog and http://www.wallwisher.com/wall/6ageog , feel free to have a look. The children were really excited today when I told them what they’d have to do and it’s definitely improved motivation, some of them have already done the homework! Also I think it will make it much easier for us to discuss and compare our connections to different countries in the next lesson as I can dispay the walls on my IWB. Next the children will be plotting the connections onto maps and after that choosing one country to do a presentation on, I’m planning on introducing some more new things for them during that part too.
Being the end of year here in Aus, I haven’t been able to use it for and extended curriculum, but I did use it to send messages to a student who had recently been in hospital. Some students made her a physical card, but I got all of my students to write to a message to her. I was able to edit and correct any errors, and students could upload pictures and link to movies. We then emailed her the link, and she was able to join in from home. I agree with Sarah, it certainly helped motivate students and provided a novel way of keeping in touch with my students.
With options to create your own URL link, 12 themes and controls over who can post and edit notes there’s some great potential for teachers in the classroom to use this tool. It’s not just for glorified sticky notes to yourself to pick up some milk – although that application can work too.
Being a firm believer in ‘learning by using’ I’d encourage you to have a look yourself (http://wallwisher.com) and contact Sarah @missbrownsword if you need some further ideas or help. I’m sure too, that if you are on Twitter and put out the call to your PLN for some advice or ideas they would help.
* I originally wrote this article in December last year, and looking through my drafts, realized I hadn’t published it.
Popularity: 29% [?]
Application: OneWord.com
Last Friday I utilised a website called OneWord as a writing prompt for my kids. The basic premise of the site is that a single word is given, and the students have 60 seconds to write something on that word.
Our word was ‘scissors’ and I got some good writing from them. We were only using it as a warm up activity but if needed, we could write some more and develop the ideas. I found it great way to get kids thinking about their introductions and setting up a really good start to a narrative.
I believe that the word changes each day, so it could be a very useful tool to help monitor kid’s writing habits. There is a timer on the site too which starts counting and sounds when the minute is up. You are able to read over archives, however please remember that this site is not monitored for classroom use, so some of the stories may not be appropriate for young grades.
I encourage anyone looking for a novel way to use their IWB for literacy to use this as a starting point and see how they could use it for the classes.
Popularity: 10% [?]
Application: Word Magnets
Triptico is a site working towards developing some quality and useable interactive tools for the classroom. One of the best that I’ve come across from them (and I am writing from a junior school perspective) is their Word Magnet tool.
This application takes the idea of those word magnets that are for refrigerators and makes them interactive in your classroom. When I showed this application to some colleagues they were excited about the potential it could provide for class learning and one on one lessons. I’ll continue this post as steps in using Word Magnets.
Step One – Loading
Opening the link you are shown a flash movie. On our school network this took some time to load and play on the desktops. Persevere with letting it load. When the movie stops playing (goes for about 5 seconds) you are presented with a ‘Next’ button in the bottom right hand corner. 
Step Two – Word Input
Clicking ‘next’ gives you a screen where you type in the text. You need to keep in mind your final result as you type. If you want multiple words on your magnet you will need to type ‘Word A’ and then hit enter on your keyboard for a new line before entering ‘Word B’. If you want single words on magnets, simply type your sentence. Please note that a ‘space’ allows for a new magnet. If you are wanting punctuation you will need to put a space between your last word and the full stop. See examples below.
Example for Multiple Words on Magnet
Example for Single Words on Magnets
Step Three – Backgrounds
The third step is to choose a background. This is slightly confusing when you first see it because the blue background of the site blends in so well with the blue background you will use. Using the arrows either side of the ‘Change’ button you can scroll through them. There are forty to choose from, including Venn diagrams, charts, steps, triangles, and other educational formats. When you have selected one to suit your needs click ‘Done’ to move on.
Step Four – The Interface
The interface is very self explanatory, and I think using it is the best way to learn it. You can change the colours and size of magnets, as well as add and remove magnets.
In The Classroom
As I wrote earlier, when I showed this to some colleagues they were excited thinking of the possibilities. Though it lends itself more freely to literacy, you could easily adapt number activities.
You could write an entire spelling list up there and order it any way you like. You could teach sentence structure and grammar. Using the add and remove tools there’s the possibility of a ‘find a better word for this sentence’ activity. This morning I had a literacy group trying to piece back a passage from a book they were reading. I used the Mastermind approach of colours. Red was correct word, wrong place, while yellow was correct word, correct place. They found it both fun and engaging and after half an hour they were still wanting to keep going.
I’d love to know of any that you’ve come up with.
Raw Link: http://www.triptico.co.uk/flashFiles/wordMagnets/WordMagnets.html
Popularity: 22% [?]
Application: Super Teacher Tools
Super Teacher Tools is a suite of flash based tools that are provided to help the classroom teacher complete a variety of tasks. There are 13 tools in all that are broken down into 4 different categories. As such it’s hard to review each tool individually, but I can give a brief overview of the categories.
1. Category One – Classroom Review Games
These games in category one are fantastic games for the interactive whiteboard. Apart from the ‘Board Game’ they all support offline viewing and interacting. Instructions are well set out, with examples and other people’s contributions. 
The advantage that these games have got is that a teacher can customise these for their own classes and units. Being able to save them is a great advantage for a unit or topic that may be repeated at a later date.
2. Category Two – Classroom Management Tools
The next category helps teachers with some classroom management tasks. Using the Class List Maker teachers create a class list of names. This can be locally saved and used when utilising the three tools in this category. I did have some difficulty in trying to print the interactive seating chart, due to it being a flash based tool. I like using these tools, especially the random name generator because it negates any perceived unfairness in group selection. These tools are certainly worth exploring further.
3. For Fun
This third category is simply to provide some fun for the classroom. The Global Headcount uses live data from the US Census Bureau to update a counter with the current population. Hangman is an interactive version of the old classic game. Though you can’t download it, you are able to make use of the game online. One improvement that could be suggested, is to perhaps make the game with full screen capabilities. Flash Lottery is a nice tool that can generate up to 6 random numbers, with a variable highest number capability. The Random Fact Desk generates just that, a random fact. This can be downloaded as a PC screensaver; who knows, your students may just remember that men get hiccups more often than women.
4. Webmaster Tools
These final two tools in this fourth category are good for Webmasters, or teachers who would like to take their presence on the web to another level. The Live Visitor Meter is a counter for existing websites, while the Classroom Update.com is a link to a portal that will allow teachers to communicate with students and parents. “If you are looking for a pain-free and quick method of posting information such as homework, news, and links for your classes, look no further. Through our sister site, Classroomupdate.com, we are offering free teacher websites to our users. You will be able to post homework for up to 12 classes. You can also post news, links, and custom html for items such as images, Twitter feeds, etc.” I will write about this tool in another post shortly.
Super Teacher Tools is a rich tapestry of applications that any teacher serious about integrating interactive activities into their classroom should look at.
Link: http://www.superteachertools.com
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/teachertools
Popularity: 14% [?]
Application: Earth Album
Came across this little gem of a site late last week. Earth Album is no fuss mashup site that is low on the pretty graphics (the header is a plain text image) but high on the content. And it works well too. Using Flickr, it’s a world map that integrates with the photos tagged in certain areas. A very good thing if you are teaching geography. There’s also a CoolIris plug-in for those who are using Firefox or Flock.
Earth album is a simpler, slicker Flickr mash-up that allows you to explore some of the most stunning photos in the world courtesy of Google maps and Flickr. To begin your journey, just click somewhere on the map, e.g. “India”. Note– since the top Flickr images are used, the images change every few weeks; bookmark this site and check back for a different experience in a month!
There are a few ways of navigation. You can click on any country or place around the world and 12 images will appear. Below is the screen that appeared when I clicked on Australia.
Clicking on any one of those images will then display a more detailed photo and information window as shown. Clicking on the hyperlink will take you to the image on Flickr
The other option of navigation appears in the top menu bar (shown below) labelled ‘Jump to’ of which the web author writes;
I placed the “Jump to place” bar in the upper right-hand corner of the page. You can type in pretty much any kind of address in the bar; it uses Google’s reverse-geolocation functionality to jump you to the right place in the world. For example, you can type anything from “Egypt” to “Hawaii” to “Sydney” to a particular address in the world. Based on what you type, it will try to guess whether what you typed is a country or a city and jump you to that place automatically.
I typed in my home town of Melbourne there and got this enhanced view of Victoria. As you can see there’s still some issues of relevancy (I’m not sure Melbourne = Cat), bit I do like that 9 of 10 it’s pretty close.
Classroom Use: Teachers of geography will see an immediate use for this in their lessons, particularly with an Interactive Whiteboard. Alternatively, any lesson on location or countries of the world will benefit from this site, as will students of all levels doing a project on a particular local. I’m impressed with the way the site narrows in on a location, very good for a student perspective of who they are in the world – especially with the more junior levels.
Popularity: 10% [?]
Application : Game Classroom
As more and more classrooms take on technology and install Interactive Whiteboards teachers are in further need of easily finding materials that are safe, relevant and educational. Game Classroom (from the makers of Kideos) meets all these requirements. Essentially it is a database of games and activities that can be used, either as an online activity for students working at individual computers or as a whole grade interactive whiteboard session.
Game classroom meet their aim well;
We’ve thoroughly searched the web for engaging and educational games for kids, and we’ve collaborated with top educators to ensure that all of our games are age-appropriate, relevant and compliant with academic standards.
Our team of educators has also created a vast library of “Homework Help” as an additional resource for students, teachers and parents.
The site is easy to navigate and comes with a banner menu consisting of a ‘search’ window and grade selection buttons.
Clicking on one of the grade level icons will present you with a choice of ‘Homework Help’ or ‘Games’. Either one of these will give the user the choice of ‘Maths’ or ‘Language Arts’, and then of these they will be divided into the subjects areas, eg, fractions and probability, number etc. The Homework Help feature (pictured is part of the HH for the Third Grade) is a wonderful tool to help teachers develop concepts further.
Classroom Use: The website is ultra friendly to navigate and the more you explore it the more you will find. If you are planning a maths or literacy lesson make Game Classroom one of your first stops. In terms of resources, ease of use, fun and educational value this has it in spades. You can use it as a whole grade focus, or you can allow students to further develop concepts and skills.
As a side note, most of the games are linked in from other sites and clicking on them will take you outside the Game Classroom site, and while they are safe, a bit of due diligence is required to make sure that they aren’t blocked by your network and they take you exactly where you want to go.
Additional:Game Classroom on Twitter – http://twitter.com/gameclassroom
My Review of Kideos – Videos for Kids.
Popularity: 21% [?]
What is it? Tessellation Creator for a Interactive Whiteboard
This is a simple, yet effective visual model for teaching tessellations. Aimed at primary or elementary school grades, it could be used to extend into early middle school grades as well. (Click on image for website.)
The interface is easy and intuitive, great for all levels. The shapes that can be chosen line up on the top. Clearly labelled, students can easily see how many sides are on each shape.
On the right hand side there are seven buttons that help navigate the creation of the tessellation. The eraser will erase an entire shape. The rotation tool is just that. You can rotate a shape. Alternatively you can place your mouse on the tip of a shape and rotate it that way. The magnifying glasses allow users to zoom in and out. Users can also use a button to repeat the same shape. Dragging a rectangle around shapes will ‘glue’ them together while the hammer button breaks the shapes apart. Colours can also be changed. There is also the all important start over button.
You can create regular tessellations using squares, hexagons and octagons, while semi-regular tessellations can be formed with the triangles and hexagons.
Pros:
Simple interface
Good for many year levels
Easy tools
Colourful
Can create both regular and irregular shapes
Cons:
Not full screen
Can’t save (but could be screen captured)
—————————–
Popularity: 23% [?]
I came across this site earlier this week and immediately sent the link home to my wife, who immediately got our three year old son on it, who immediately was impressed.
Kideos serves as a video tube site aimed at younger children.
We developed the idea for Kideos while we were looking for videos online with our daughter when she was hospitalized in November 2008. Elmo seemed to be the only thing that kept her entertained while she was hooked up to some monitors, but the problem was that every once in a while, we would click on a video that was highly inappropriate.
Over the next few months, we had a number of other hospital visits and doctor appointments and a lot more Elmo. During this time we decided that the easiest thing for us as parents was simply to create a website that we could let our daughter enjoy by herself, and Kideos was born.
Categorised into channels; Seasame Street, Wiggles, Disney, Muppets and Nursery Rhymes to name a few, it’s a well set out and obviously child friendly.
While this may not be for all classrooms it may serve some functionality for pre-school and younger classes. It may also be a good medium for a media studies class focussing on the elements of children’s TV.
Popularity: 12% [?]
