Category Archives: Resources

Helpful reviews, details of all things resourceful in Web2.0

Search Engines for Kids

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Over the past few days I’ve been working with Grade 4 students who are either creating Top Ten Lists (and requiring more research information to justify their top ten) or are researching topics for their Non-Fiction Feature Articles in Writers Workshop.  In order to find (and evaluate – that’s next week’s focus) information on the web, we looked a few different Search Engines for Kids.

Before we even got started with Search Engines, I needed to make sure that the students  understood a little more about how search engines work. We watched the video below from the very good Common Craft Plain English series on Web Search – Strategies in Plain English

Next, I introduced four different Search Engines especially designed for Kids.  Each one offers something different from the other, so we talked about how there is never a search engine that’s perfect for every search we will ever do in our learning!

Boolify
Librarians, teachers and parents have told us how hard it is for students to understand web searching. Boolify helps students bridge that gap by visualizing the process and letting students interact with the abstract concept behind the search process in a tangible and hands-on way.

SquirrelNet
SquirrelNet is a kids only search engine that has Google SafeSearch activated. From the homepage itself, you can also access the Google directory of websites relevant for children.

Dib Dab Doo & Dilly Too!
The search engine is again based on Google Custom Search and it tries to keep the content as children friendly as possible.

Kids Click!
A web search site designed for kids by librarians – with kid-friendly results!

For the classroom teacher, I left these resources also for them to introduce to their students over the next few days.

Search Engines for Kids
- and what they search -

No Search Engine is entirely 100% safe. Custom search helps to keep out a lot of unsavory links, but it is definitely not foolproof. Most of the search engines for kids also display ads with some undesirable ones sneaking in. Parental control software in combination with these search engines can help to keep children shielded from the bad side of the web. It is a tough battle but at least with these sites, parents and teachers can worry a little less.

As with any use of technology, our lesson included strategies for what to do when the “undesirables” sneak in.  Although I “modelled” good and bad examples of what to do when faced with something “icky” (for the sake of time as I only had a 45 minute slot) – if I was to do it differently – I’d have the students work in pairs and come up with little demos of what not to do (scream at the top of your lungs) and what to do (lower your lid and raise your hand).  Kids seem to love it when I model the “what-not-to-do” examples!

Information also adapted from: Make Use Of: 10 Search Engines for Kids with Safe Browsing

Pinterest

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I mentioned Pinterest in an earlier post in which I said it was really appealing to my creative/visual side.  Usually I’m busing reading my extensive Google Reader lists of “Must Reads”, “Might Reads”, “News”, “Photography”, etc etc, happily starring (really good for finding stuff you thought you read earlier!) or delicious bookmarking into stacks, the interesting articles, blog posts & sharing that I come across (gosh no wonder I have no time to write my own blog posts – hehehehe). Most of that “stuff” is writing (with a few visuals here and there) but the majority of it, is definitely for reading or in my case reading-later!

Enter Pinterest.  It’s a visual pinboard!  It lets you organize and share all the beautiful things you find on the web. People are using pinboards to plan their weddings, decorate their homes, and organize their favorite recipes! No words (unless you count the comment you can post with a pin) – all those ideas, things that make you go ahhhhh, oooooooh, you can now “pin” on a “board”.  You can follow other people’s boards and there are some pretty creative people out there!  What I love is that it’s so easy to follow people with similar interests/pursuits to you and it’s so easy to share.  Today (thanks Mel) I came across two images that explain aperture and Depth of Field SO clearly – and I would never have come across them without pinterest.  Now that’s cool!  And there’s a Pin It add-on for your browser!

Below are my “boards” so far ……… Photography (all things photography from camera equipment to techniques), Classroom (cool ideas for the classroom) Fitness (keeping healthy), Inspiration (quotes & sayings), Oh the Places We’ll Go (places I’d like to travel to), Just Gorgeous (what else can I say?), and Books worth Reading (self-explanatory).

Chrissy Hellyer (nzchrissy) on Pinterest

It’s a nice way to spend an hour or four on a Sunday – and it makes me feel inspired!  Are you pinning?

Chrome Extensions

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Each week on a Friday, I get to spend 30 minutes with an amazing young man – my ES Technician – Khun Tua.  Recently we’ve been sharing our knowledge and discoveries on the iPad and the Chrome Browser.

Here’s a few things we’ve been sharing:

Chrome Extensions:
Chrome has a vast variety of extensions to make your experience with the Chrome Browser slicker, quicker and easier.  Switching between Most Visited & Chrome Apps is as easy as a click at the bottom of the page.
Chrome ExtensionsThese are the extensions that I now have installed for quicker access to the things I use the most.  Very easy to install, very easy to access.  I’m especially enjoying the pinterest extension at the moment – it’s really appealing to my creative/visual side (more to come on that later!) 

Presentation Zen

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One of my most favourite professional development books is Presentation Zen by Garr Reynolds.  He has a Presentation Zen website with plenty of information and tips too if you can’t quite get your hands on the book – A 2nd Edition copy has just been released too – Voices that Matter.  I highly recommend that you do purchase your own copy of the book and I highly recommend that you give Presentation Zen a try in your classroom.

Currently I use Presentation Zen for PD sessions with faculty as much as I can, but when I was in the classroom I used Presentation Zen Keynotes for Readers and Writers Workshop.  The result in the classroom was (I think) better conversations, shorter mini-lessons and increased motivation and inspiration – especially for writing.

Recently at the JIS Technology Learning Institute, the Presentation Zen- Introduction session I ran, was very popular.  Below I’ve included the Keynote (uploaded to SlideShare) to introduce the basics of Presentation Zen.  After the basics, we looked at an actual Readers Workshop keynote that I’d used in the past, then I asked the session participants to begin work on their own Presentation Zen keynote.  It was a great way to not only introduce the basics of keynote, but encouraged a really good conversation about Creative Commons and copyright, which a lot of schools are struggling with.

 

PresentationZen Introduction

Readers Workshop Social issues 5

Do you use PresentationZen? What ways do you use it?

iPad Apps for the Classroom

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(cross-posted at Virtual Rm231)

It seems that this is a “hot topic” in a lot of schools as we head back to begin another school year.  JIS, was no exception.  We started off with a great conversation about ipads vs laptops vs netbooks – why would I want one of these in my class?  My personal opinion is, it’s another tool – use what you’ve got – experiment with what you’ve got – make what’s been made available to you work.  I’m also one of those people who’s prepared to purchase my own tool to experiment with to see if it works in the classroom for my students and/or myself before I ask admin to consider purchasing said-tools for the classroom. iPad2

A couple of days ago, I bought the iPad2.  (My son already has an iPad – it’s become his personal device – so I really don’t have the heart to permanently “borrow” his!  And that’s exactly what the iPad is supposed to be – a personal device.  But, we teachers like to take things that we only have one or two of, and make it work in the classroom environment with many more “bodies” that it was originally designed for!  (That’s why we’re such a creative and innovative bunch!).  So I believe you can make 6 iPads work in class of 20/22/32.  It will take organisation, it will need experimenting, and it will take some effort – but it can be done!

I’m glad we had an opportunity to talk about iPads in the classroom, I’m glad that teachers were able to voice their concerns, their excitement and their questions before we got down and dirty with some top apps for the classroom and ways to use them!  JIS has purchased 40 iPad2′s for their campuses.  I’m hoping that I’ll hear how it’s going and what teachers are doing with them in classroom over the coming year!

Now, here’s the part of the session that really started to buzz – the apps!  Oh the apps! There’s so many great apps out there! So, modeling one of the new online tools that I’d already exposed the teachers too, I used LiveBinders.com to create a resource called iPad Apps for the Classroom.  Click on the link or click on the image below to see this resource.

iPad Apps for the Classroom
Uploaded with Skitch!

 

Wonky Donkey Comes to Thailand

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Amazon.com: The Wonky Donkey (9780545261241): Craig Smith, Katz Cowley: Books

Best purchase after three glorious weeks back in my home country – this book (and it’s accompanying CD)!

If you loved Pete the Cat, then you will just love this gorgeous book by this clever New Zealand guy: Chris Smith!

You can listen to Craig sing his way through the story here:

I only bought one copy and I’m wishing I’d bought one more for my fabulous colleague, Miss Tara – our Learning Hub Librarian Extraordinaire! Thank goodness it’s available through Amazon!!

She’s just spend all morning reading it to the Kinders and Grade 1! It was great when I walked into the Hub later in the morning and two little Kinders rushed up and said that they LOVED the Wonky Donkey book I’d bought – especially the part where he farts!”  Made my day – hope the Wonky Donkey makes yours!

New Learning!

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Ever had those resource DVDs that you wish you didn’t have to locate, carry around with you and insert into your drive when you want to use the resources??  Or do you have to share a resource DVD with teachers/colleagues in your team or division?

Today I learnt, from my support staff in EdTech, how to copy a resource DVD so I no longer needed to have the actual disc with me!

Here’s how to do it in 3 easy steps: (Mac instructions – if you’re a PC user & know how to do this on a PC, please leave a comment!)

Step 1:
Fullscreen-12-1

Step 2:
Fullscreen-13

Step 3:
Fullscreen

Now you have a .dmg file on your computer that will “mount” just like an app when you click on it! Awesome ay!!

Another FlickrCC Search Tool

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The fabulous Mr U, (aka: Jeff Utecht) showed me this FlickrCC search tool after our meeting the other day.

Skitch

Click on the image you like the look of, and this screen appears next:

A flickr CC search toy

As a presenter, the stamp option is fabulous!! Check out what it does below!

stamp.php (500մ61)

I do wish this site did have a safe-search option ……… I’d love to introduce it to our students, but for now, I think we will stick with Compfight as it allows us to have a Safe-Search on, which makes it appropriate for use at school.

You can find out more about what we’ve been discussing with our students about Creative Commons & using Compfight over at our “model blog” for student blogging.

What conversations are you having at your school with students about the use of images in our work?

Innovation, Creativity, Active Participation & Collaboration

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Another great find from my TwitterTim.es feed today …….

the AASL Top 25 Best Websites for Teaching and Learning!

The “Top 25″ Websites foster the qualities of innovation, creativity, active participation, and collaboration. They are free, Web-based sites that are user friendly and encourage a community of learners to explore and discover.

ALA | Top 25 | Best Websites for Teaching and Learning
Categories include

The AASL (American Association of School Librians) has also linked each category to their standards for the 21st Century Learner.

I love that all the websites listed are FREE!


Multiple Intelligences & Web 2.0 tools

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I’ve long been a fan of Multiple Intelligences and of course am a complete geek when it comes to web 2.0 tools in the classroom!

As I prepare myself, both mentally & physically, to come out of the classroom in August to begin a new role at ISB – Technology and Learning Coach, I’ve been reading a lot of blogs and checking out a lot of tools (new and old). Part of my daily routine during the summer break has been to check out my TwitterTim.es feed. (Love this!!)

Today I came across this slideshare presentation by Jacqui Sharp (a fellow Kiwi I might add with a blog worth following) about Multiple Intelligences & Web 2.0 tools. What I love about this presentation is that Jacqui has simplified what each Intelligence means in terms of specific abilities and everyday use, and then she has added possible delivery methods with suggested Web2.0 tools to help you do that.  Awesome!

Multiple intelligences and Web2.0

View more presentations from Jacqui Sharp.