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20 uses for Wordle in the classroom or out of class. Useful for a variety of purposes and a variety of ages. Wordle also used in a study for analyzing student writing samples, to show overused words and suggest broadening vocabulary.

Cute and creative voice recording program available on iTunes or online. Allows you to edit the sound of a 30 second voice recording by raising pitch of the voice, lowering it, changing accents, etc. Embeddable in your website, creates a URL and can be emailed to teachers, tweet, and more. Fun! Could be used for any voice recording needs, oral assessments, etc. Any age group, any lesson topic.

HistoryPin is a free Web 2.0 tool that allows users to "pin" photos, audio, or video to a particular world map location, much like the Google Earth program. The main idea is that, with enough participation, users will be able to get a sense of the history a location - both the visual and narrative aspects of it - as photos or videos from various time periods are pinned to that location. I can envision my students using it in partnership with another class of L1 students to share the concept of how people and places can change. For instance, both groups might focus on how a major city in their own country has changed, in order to demonstrate that to the other class via HistoryPin. Students would collect and upload photos or videos that show how the respective cities grew, how building or even fashion styles changed. They would use the HistoryPin audio option to describe the changes, my L2 students in Spanish, the L1 students in English. Once the L2 learners had "pinned" their photos on the map, L1 students could review and e-mail corrections so that L2 students could return to HistoryPin and edit their contribution. My students would do the same in return in English for the L1 students (assuming they are learning English, possibly). In this way, through collaboration, all students can gain a new perspective on how people and places look and change in another culture, while honing "technical" language skills.

Padlet is tool for asynchronous (or synchronous) posting of comments and images on a wall by multiple users.  This tool is much like a discussion board, but it's a bit more visually stimulating and motivating for students, as they get to choose where on the wall they will leave their note (kind of like a sticky note on a bulletin board). This also works great for department-wide discussions. Users do not need a login to post.

This site is an excellent resource for lesson plans, PowerPoint presentations, class activities for communication in the target language. Teachers share several artifacts which can be used in the classroom to enhance student engagement both inside and outside the classroom. There is also a Forum where world language teachers blog about useful tips and issues in the world language classroom. Lots of current topics discussed such as using technology in the classroom.

Food Lunchbox Project is a collaborative page used by schools and teachers to exchange photos of and comments about typical school lunches. Useful for units on food, health, culture.

Speakers match

I am interested in using this in exchange with a Spanish-speaking country

Actively Learn allows you to assign reading assignments and place assessments in the assignment also.

The pros for including more visual texts and infographics in our teaching 

The fastest, easiest, and most fun way to learn Italian and Italian culture. Start speaking Italian in minutes with audio and video lessons, audio dictionary, and learning community!

This is a platform that will help students to make connections to native speakers around the world. It has a lot of resources for teachers as well. You are able to control who is in your class.

Organize talkgroups for your students on a voice-based message board. Students can practice oral skills in asynchronous communication. Conversations can be private.

Digital stories push students to become creators of content, rather than just consumers. Weaving together images, music, text, and voice, digital stories can be created in all content areas and at all grade levels while incorporating the 21st century skills of creating, communicating, and collaborating

Best online gradebooks to keep a record of students' progress and achievement.

Another gradebook you might be interested in is located at http://gradebookportal.com/ It is free and includes the following: --Free Online GradeBook for teachers to easily customize. Build customized weighted grading from anywhere at anytime 24/7. Grade anytime & anywhere with auto calculation term and final grades --Instant Progress Reports are intuitive and keep Students and Parents up to date --Track attendance and alert parents on absentees --Class Calendar keeps students, parents and teachers current on upcoming exams, meetings, events. Attach assignments, post homework and attach documents. --Build user logic to send email and text messages based on grades and attendance parameters --Communicate with all of your students and parents and build custom contact lists --100% secure and safe environment with several layers of encryption

What I like about it is the instant progress report! I use the gradebook of BlackBoard and I don't think that they have this feature.

The 2nd annual "Taste of France" in NYC just occurred at the end of September. It sounds like a fantastic "Communities" connection to keep on the radar for those people in the NYC area for next year.

A spreadsheet listing 1,195 (and growing!) songs in Spanish. Includes artist, title, grammar and vocabulary covered, culture, country of origin, and any other pertinent links to, for example, YouTube videos. Suggestions for songs not found here are welcome by site creator Sra. Birch.

I actually worked with this teacher during my interships in my undergraduate studies. She is very big into using music and videos in the classroom.

Nick, that is really cool! Yes, apparently she DOES get into teaching with music, with such a huge compilation of songs!

This website allows students to share projects and comment on others' projects.

VoiceThread allows you to upload different media to create a project and then share it with others. Those that you share it with can collaborate with you on it by communicating through a type of discussion board.

Transforming media into collaborative spaces with video, voice, and text commenting.