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What it is: What makes technology SO great is the way that it can make life (and teaching) more productive and fun. Over the years, I have found so many ways that technology can make reading more rewarding for both kids who love to read, and kids who dread reading. Today, I created an "Extreme Speed Booking" website for @michellek107′s class at Anastasis. I created the site quickly using Weebly, an awesome WYSIWYG (what you see is what you get) website editor. Drag and drop website building is where it is at! The idea behind the site is to introduce students to a variety of books and form classroom book groups. How does Extreme Speed Booking work? A whole lot like speed dating. :) Students spend a little time with each book and then rate them accordingly with "I want to read more", "Interesting", "Not for me", or "I've already read". Students can also make a note of how interested they are in reading the book (maybe a 1-10 scale)? This process introduces students to a variety of books, genres and authors. Students may come across titles and authors they wouldn't otherwise find. It also helps teachers form classroom book groups that are of high-interest and investment to students because they had input.

Technology has been with us since I've been a teacher. I started my career succumbing to the alluring aroma of the Gestetner (Ditto/Banda/spirit duplicator) machine and its purple stained sheet. Then the photocopier arrived and we didn't think it could get any better than making copies of a page for every child. The reality is that many teachers still rely heavily on the immediacy and simplicity of the photocopied black line master provided by someone else. It is far less confusing that all that technical mum jumbo introduced with the computer in the 90s.

"This week's pick is Travelocity for iPad - the iPad version of the travel bookings and deals service, complete with the little roaming gnome fella. Here are some of its key features: · The Travelocity iPad app is the only iPad app you can search and book round-trip and one-way flights, hotels, and car rentals · Access your Travelocity account to automatically complete your information during checkout · Search hotels and airports nearby · Sort and filter search results Take advantage of mobile-exclusive deals. · Travelocity iPad app users get exclusive access to hotel deals you can't find anywhere else · App-exclusive deals change everyday, so take advantage before they disappear"

A Ning to help you get the most out of storybird. The Storybird Ning is a place for teachers to get together and share ideas and information on using Storybird.com effectively in the class.

"Get Adobe Flash player "

Animal website with avatar and games etc

"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."

nice idea

"Following on from my post the other day about StoryLine Online I thought I would compile a list of places where you can get audio for kids. All of the sites listed below give their materials for free."

Great for the home/class

Get a map for your weebly! Yes there are many but these are ok.