Tag: lists

The temperatures are freezing on the East Coast, but Spring is right around the corner and we as teachers must get ready for it. What better way than with Spring Websites. Here are some of my favorites:

1. Life Cycle I
2. Life Cycle II
3. Spring Games
4. Spring Games II
5. Spring Garden–click to find flowers
6. Spring Word Search
7. Spring Word Scramble

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It’s time for Spring Cleaning. Of your computer.

If you followed my suggestion over New Year’s, this will go faster than you expect, but still, plan to set aside a couple of hours. Grab a coffee or tea, get a comfortable chair. Put on your problem-solving hat, and get started:

1. Make sure your firewall is working. Windows comes with a built-in one. Maybe Mac does too. Leave it active. It’s under Control Panel-Administrative Tools. Sometimes, they turn off by themselves (I have no idea why). Check it to be sure it remains active.
2. Run Spybot or a similar antispyware program. Spybot is free, which is why I like it. I’ve had good luck with it. Download.com says this about Spybot: The program checks your system against a comprehensive database of adware and other system invaders. The Immunize feature blocks a plethora of uninvited Web-borne flotsam before it reaches your computer.
3. Keep your antivirus software active. If you’re paranoid like me, run an antivirus scan weekly to be sure nothing is missed.
4. Run Ad-aware once a week to keep malware and spyware off your computer. It has a stellar reputation and is still free to all (although there’s an upgrade you can pay for).
5. Sort through your My Documents files and get rid of those you don’t need anymore. That includes pictures, videos, faxes, all that stuff. It’s intimidating, like a file cabinet that hasn’t been opened in months–or years. Do it, though. You may not need the hard drive space, but you don’t need the computer fingering through unnecessary files every time it searches.
6. Back up all of your files to an external drive or cloud storage. If you have an automated system like Carbonite (see my sidebar for a link), skip this. If you don’t have one, consider getting one. They not only automatically back up your work, but they make it accessible from wherever you are–home, work, your accountants, the soccer field. If you use Windows, try their ‘backup’ program. It’s easy to find: Click the Start Button and search ‘backup’.
7. Empty the trash folder. Don’t even look in it. If you haven’t missed a file by now, it won’t be in there.
8. Learn to use that program you’ve been promising you would. Evernote is a great example. Use it (and you won’t be sorry) or delete the email from your best friend exhorting you to. Move on.
9. Go through your programs and delete the ones you no longer use. Here’s what you do:
   • go to Control Panel>Programs and Feature
   • Peruse the list and pick the programs you downloaded by mistake, meaning to use, or used to use and no longer do
   • uninstall
   • don’t look back
10. Update any software that needs it. I don’t mean BUY a newer version. I mean click the free update that’s been nagging at you (Adobe Reader and Windows, for example)
11. Clean the junk off of your desktop. Put it in folders or create a folder for ‘Working on’ or ‘Desktop Stuff’. Don’t know how to create a desktop folder? Here’s what you do:
    • Right click on the desktop and select ‘New>folder’
12. Clean up your Start Button. Remove shortkeys you no longer use (with a right click>delete). Add those that are now your daily go-to sites. How? Right-click>add to Start Menu.

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Getting ready for St. Patrick’s Day? Try these fun websites:

1. Color the shamrock
2. Color the Pot-o-gold
3. Color the leprechaun
4. Puzzle–St. Pat’s Puzzle
5. Puzzle–St. Pat’s puzzle II
6. Puzzle–St. Pat’s drag-and-drop puzzle
7. Puzzle–St. Pat’s slide puzzle
8. Puzzle–St. Pat’s slide puzzle II
9. Puzzle–Leprechaun jigsaw puzzle
10. St. Pat’s math
11. St. Patrick’s Day history–video
12. St. Pat’s Day songs–video
13. Tic tac toe
14. Webquest for St. Patrick’s Day I
15. Webquest II
16. Wordsearch

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Apps are out of control. When you think you have just the right one for your classroom, a better/faster/snazzier version pops up. Often for free. It’s not like a decade ago when every teachers’ favorite tech tools were MS Office, KidPix, Reader Rabbit, and the internet.  Apps changed all that. Suddenly, the list exploded to include names like Voki, Tellagami, Wordle, ScreenChomp, Evernote and scores more that are weekly pushed aside by a new generation.

So before I unfold my favorites, here are guidelines to what I expected, culled from top education sites like Edutopia, Google Education, Educational Technology, and EdWeek:

• free or small fee
• support the ‘4 C’s’–creativity, critical thinking, communication, collaboration
• offer compelling content (although this is subjective; ‘compelling’ varies teacher-to-teacher and student-to-student)
• are not distracting or overwhelming in colors, music, or activity
• offer levels that become increasingly more difficult, providing differentiation for student needs
• stand the test of time
• positive parent reports
• few ads–and those that are there do not take up a significant portion of the screen
• intuitive to use with a short learning curve, encourage independence
• easily applied to a variety of educational environments
• doesn’t collect personal information other than user credentials or data required to operate the app
• rated ‘for everyone’ or ‘low maturity’
• no in-app purchases or billing

Based on these criteria, here are my top five:

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These are clever approaches to keeping order among avid learners:

1. Bouncy Balls–balls bounce based on level of noise in the classroom
   
2. Calmness Counter–how noisy is your classroom? Let students see.
3. Class Dojo—class behavior mgmt
4. Class Badges
5. Doodle—schedule meetings, polls
6. Forms—Adobe interactive pdf, collect results
7. Google Safe Search Preferences
8. If This Then That—manage social networks
9. Open Badges
10. Password creator
11. Plagiarism Tracker
12. Random Team Generator
13. Sign-up Genius–organize volunteers, presentations, lists of all sorts
14. Tagible–organize videos from YT, Vimeo, more
15. Teach with IPads
16. Too Noisy--another app to show noise level in classroom (app)
17. Volunteer Spot–organize with free online sign-up sheets

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Here are some great math apps for iPads and smartphones that add rigor and automaticity to your classroom:

1. AIRR Math–student centered math activities in AIRR Math promote a strong, solid foundation for students’ success throughout their educational experiences.
2. Babakus–combines an abacus and calculator to provide math-challenged students with an excellent option for learning math
3. CalcMadeEasy–Free–One of the Best Calculators for iOS devices. CalcMadeEasy FREE version comes with fully functional Scientific Calculator and Notepad with automatic note taking capability.
4. Elevated Math–Elevated Math provides initial instruction or intervention on math topics that cover place value, estimation, large digit addition all the way through Algebra I (two years of math instruction!)
5. Egberta’s Equations–Egberta the macaw has a nest full of tasty eggs that Cliff the climber wants to eat. Unfortunately, the eggs are on top of a tall cliff. Help Cliff reach the top and get the eggs by completing equations.
6. Flash to Pass–easy-to-use, elegant program designed to facilitate mastering the basic math facts learned in Elementary School.
7. Fraction Basic–free video app provides a quick and simple way for you to learn and understand the basics behind fractions.
8. Free GraCalc–A powerful, flexible graphing calculator . . . and it’s free!
9. Grade 1 Math–Simple and easy to use math drill app for your 1st grader!
10. Grade 2 Math–Simple and easy to use math drill app for your 2nd grader!
11. Grade 3 Math–Simple and easy to use math drill app for your 3rd grader!
12. Hungry Fish–Practice mental addition and subtraction with Motion Math
13. iFormulae–simple library consisting of various formulae, equations with their example.
14. Math Bingo– If you need a way to break the tedium of repetitious math fact practice, get your students and iPad and let them have at Math Bingo
15. Math Board Addition–good basic addition practice
16. Math Drills Lite–Graphically rich and fun environment allows a single student to learn basic math skills in addition, subtraction, multiplication and division.
17. Math Game–sharpen math skills
18. Math Puppy–Bingo Challenge Educational Game
19. Math Ref – Free
20. Math Zoom–An animal adventure through the world of numbers!
21. Mental Math–Amaze and delight others as you multiply, divide, and square at lightning fast speed.
22. Motion Math–practice real-life scenarios using math
23. Murky Math–Grade 1—focused on basic Math skills for Grade 1. Content is aligned with Common Core Standards
24. Murky Math–Grade 2–focused on “applied Math & Logic” skills for children in 2nd Grade or advanced learners in 1st Grade
25. My Math Flashcards App–My Math Flash Card App is for mastering basic elementary math facts. Its an easy to use and customizable application to enable focused learning.
26. Percentage Off–Easy to use and accurate
27. Quick Graph–a powerful, high quality, graphic calculator that takes full advantage of the multitouch display and the powerful graphic capabilities of the iPad and iPhone, both in 2D and 3D.
28. Rocket Math–use rockets to learn math
29. Slice It–slide objects into pieces
30. Splash Math 5 worksheets–5th grade–a fun and innovative way to practice math. 9 chapters covering an endless supply of problems.
31. Timed Test Arcade–Timed Test is a full-featured addition math facts timed test simulator. Create completely customizable timed tests.
32. Undersea Math–Learn Addition Visually – Solve all levels on the treasure map to find the treasure chest.

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Here’s a list of great 4th grade websites on Culture:

1. Classrooms around the world
2. Clothes around the world
3. Eat—food around the world
4. First Thanksgiving
5. Google World of Wonders
6. One day around the world–video
7. 360 Panorama of the world
8. Language Mapper—around the globe
9. Life in a Day—video (long)
10. School lunches around the world
11. Sleep—where children sleep around the world
12. US Languages
13. What we own—around the world
14. World National Anthem

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Presidents’ Day is an American holiday celebrated on the third Monday in February. Originally established in 1885 in recognition of President George Washington, it is still officially called “Washington’s Birthday” by the federal government. Traditionally celebrated on February 22—Washington’s actual day of birth—the holiday became popularly known as Presidents’ Day after it was moved as part of 1971’s Uniform Monday Holiday Act, an attempt to create more three-day weekends for the nation’s workers. While several states still have individual holidays honoring the birthdays of Washington, Abraham Lincoln and other figures, Presidents’ Day is now popularly viewed as a day to celebrate all U.S. presidents past and present.

Here are ten websites with games, activities, songs, webquests and more:

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Here’re a wide variety of writing tools for students. Some practice good habits, others offer options for writing requirements. See what works for you (check here for updated links):

1. Character Trading Cards
2. Context Clues Millionaire
3. Friendly Letter Maker
4. Garfield teaches Writing Skills
5. Identify the Main Idea
6. Letter Generator
7. Main Idea Battleship
8. Make another story
9. Monster Project
10. Newspapers, posters, comics—learn to create
11. Using a table of contents
12. Videos—using Sock Puppets (iPads)
13. Writing games

Blogs

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Here are ideas of apps and websites that teachers in my PLN used successfully in the past during Hour of Code:

Kindergarten

Start kindergartners with problem solving. If they love Legos, they’ll love coding

1. BotLogic–great for Kindergarten and youngers
2. Code–learn to code, for students
3. Daisy the Dinosaur—intro to programming via iPad
4. How to train your robot–a lesson plan from Dr. Techniko
5. Kodable--great for youngers–learn to code before you can read
6. Move the Turtle–programming via iPad for middle school
7. Primo–a wooden game, for ages 4-7
8. Program a human robot (unplugged)
9. Scratch Jr.

1st Grade

1. Code–learn to code, for students
2. Hopscotch–programming on the iPad
3. Primo–a wooden game, for ages 4-7
4. Scratch Jr.
5. Tynker

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