IF you tweet or share a to a lot of apps, this app, Drafts will connect to just about anything. Type it, then decide where to send it, or you can save your most inspirational items to tweet, Facebook, or wherever later. It links with evernote, twitter, facebook, app.net, email, messages, calendars, dropbox, evernote, bufferapp, toodledoo and more (as well as ifttt.com integration.) I'm still learning about all the ways to use this handy tool. The only thing I wish it did is that I could add to it from the web and then see it on my ipad.
Socrative has even more cool features. Richard Byrne gives an overview on on of my favorite blogs, Free Tech for Teachers.
"Socrative's new image option could be great for asking mathematics questions that are diagram based. The image option could also be great for world languages teachers to post a picture of an object that students have to identify in the language that they're learning. And the new automatic grading option could save you a ton of time that you can then invest in something else. "
Drafts is a handy app for those who who use a variety of tools like Evernote and dropbox. For example, you can jot a note and click a button to send it to Twitter, Dropbox, Evernote and more -- (like if you want to save copies of certain tweets, etc. since it is so hard to get things out of Twitter.) I'm not entirely clear on the workflow automation piece of Drafts after watching this video on lifehacker but am going to learn more about this handy app.
BlogBooker is a free site that turns your blog into a PDF book from all the blog's entries and comments. It works with WordPress, LiveJournal and Blogger blogs.
It is very simple. You export your blog (slightly different process for each blog service - BlogBooker has instructions for you) and then upload it to BlogBooker. It then assembles everything into a high-quality PDF file. This can take a few minutes or longer depending on the size of your blog.
This is a great way to print your BlogBook or make an archive/backup of the blog. It could also be useful for students and educators as a way to save a blog as a portfolio item.
This post has some excellent tutorials on advanced features in evernote. I use saved searches all of the time in evernote. Some great tips here if you use evernote.
A new website that many are discussing. I love using BAckchannels in my classroom and thus far have used Chatzy and Ning chat, however, this website is designed for real time chat for classrooms. You can mute and remove comments, it has a profanity filter and also a full transcript so you can go back and assess participation and weaknesses. You can set the chat to discontinue when you leave.
When I review for tests, I always like to use a backchannel because I can ask questions and we can document answers and the students can save as notes. This is a great tool. I'll be testing the free chat room this week. I've heard from some of our Flat Classroom(r) certified teachers that this is a create tool.
There continues to be a problem that not all books in the Amazon kindle store have real page numbers. If students are expected to cite sources and not allowed to use location numbers, then Amazon can expect the pushback seen on this forum post. Meanwhile, a helpful person on the forum has noted how you can know what to read on the Kindle if your professor or teacher says "read page 80-92" - you can dive into the table of contents on the website and save a copy. This is the only solution. It is time for Amazon to get their act together and have all Kindle ebooks display page numbers if there is a printed copy of the book. If there is not a printed copy of the book, there needs to be a consistent reference point or "page" that all can use for sourcing and citing content.
"1. Look up the book in the in the Amazon Kindle store (where you purchased it).
2. Click on the book where it says "Look Inside." You want to look at the table of contents, which will have the pages numbers for each chapter.
3. It defaults to the "kindle edition," which does not have the page numbers in the table of contents. However, there is a tab above that says "Print Book." Click on that.
4. Once you're on the "Print Book" display, it shows the page numbers in the TOC.
By doing the above, I was able to determine that "the first 26 pages" = Chapters 1 & 2. I used Evernote to take a screen capture of the entire TOC, which I'll refer back to."
"Jaz Ampaw-Farr shares her amazing, inspirational story from the TEDxNorwich stage of her journey through education, both as a pupil and as an educator and how hero teachers saved her life."
Another piece from connextions - a website and shared question bank that includes all questions that are open licensed and let you mix and remix around your topic. This is all for creating assessment tools that you can use to make tests, homework, or embed in your online learning. Another great place to share with your teachers (and save money.)
This is a fabulous, fun typing game where users must pop bubbles by typing the letters. Steady typing scores more points and earn power-ups for typing well. You can make a free account to save your progress or just play.
http://ictmagic.wikispaces.com/ICT+%26+Web+Tools
A superb e-safety resource with separate sections for primary and secondary students to work through. Choose to sign in to save progress or use without signing in.
http://ictmagic.wikispaces.com/ICT+%26+Web+Tools
Review and consider your classroom rules. My best advice is to keep them simple and few and if you want to go into detail, let the students collaboratively write out the details in a google doc or using post it notes as you talk about what kids should and shouldn't do in the classroom. It is great to talk about these things up front because you will understand the "pet peeves" that drive kids crazy about each other (saving yourself time.) I find that spelling out my bare minimum and involving kids in the detaiils gives them ownership.
Santa has eaten a few mince pies too many and needs to lose some weight to fit down the chimneys of the world. Take Santa for a run to save Christmas, avoiding the food by jumping, rolling and diving out of the way.
http://ictmagic.wikispaces.com/Winter+%26+Christmas