Slide Speech

Monday, August 27, 2012 No comments

Free Resources from Creative Teaching Press

I have a love for all things Creative Teaching Press as I think they make some wonderful resources that teachers can use. They are also so gracious to provide a freebie page for Educators. Try some of these freebies out and let me know what you think.



Giveaway!

Sunday, August 26, 2012 No comments
Check out this wonderful blog and Giveaway. When she hits 500 followers, she will be doing a really cool giveaway.

http://tonyastreatsforteachers.blogspot.com/search?q=500


Justand

Thursday, August 23, 2012 No comments
This is what I want next. I am just dying to try it out!! I am going to try to work my magic and let you know if I get the chance to play with one.

Everyone check this out as it is really inexpensive and super cool!
http://www.ipaddocumentcamera.com/


If you have one of these, I would love you tell me what you think about it.

Kelly Bell Designs Giveaway Winner!

Tuesday, August 21, 2012 No comments



Congratulations on winning the Kelly Belle Design Giveaway! http://kellybelldesigns.com


Thank You,
Kristen Hernandez

Flash Browsers for iPad, iPhone, and iTouch


From Shana Ellason at Enchanted Technology!


Shana here from Enchanted with Technology!
Enchanted with Technology
There are some really great interactive websites out there that would be great for students to use on the iPad. However, it’s disappointing when they are flash-based sites and they are not compatible with the iOS platform. Rover is the perfect solution. It can be downloaded free from the app store and supports flash websites. So now you can use all your favorite sites right on your iPad!

There are a lot of other flash browser apps that can be downloaded from the app store for a relatively low price. Rover is currently only for the iPad, so it is worth checking out some of the other apps.

Splashtop remote browser is one of my favorites. It allows you to control your computer directly from your device; you are actually using your own computer's browser. This gives you the freedom to access all of your files and software programs directly from your computer. One reason why I love it is because it works awesome with the interactive whiteboard. Instead of having a slate to control the board, students can launch the Splashtop app and interact from anywhere in the room! If you get a chance, definitely check it out. Just click on the icons to find out more.
   

Current Giveaways

Friday, August 17, 2012 No comments

Check out these great GIVEAWAYS!!


AMAZING giveaway! Lots of prizes - Creative Teaching Press, Starbucks, TPT gift card, CAFE stuff - go!

There are so many to mention! Awesome stuff!

Great giveaway full of stuff @ Teaching Fabulous Firsties!

Laminator & paper cutter giveaway @ Crayons & Curls - perfect for us teachers! :)

300 Follower Giveaway for $25.00 TPT gift certificate @ Ms. Alley's 2nd Grade Class!

100 Follower Giveaway @ Cindy's blog, All Things Teachery! Super great giveaway!

Shanna is throwing a giveaway for the facelift of her blog! This blog isn't teaching related, but there are some fantastic prizes being given AND there are 6 different winners!

Two AMAZING giveaways by Dani @ Patterson's Porch - you HAVE to enter!

Kristen @ Teacher Playground is holding a giveaway for a Digital Scrapbook kit! You get to choose ANY one, too!

Triptico...Awesome Technology Resource

Thursday, August 16, 2012 No comments

Have you heard of Triptico? I love using this program with students and teachers. It has been very successful and to mention it is FREE, yes I said FREE!! You do have to download it, but it is well worth it.

Here is description of Triptico:
Triptico's desktop app contains over twenty interactive, fully-customisable resources for you to use in your classroom... and it's completely free!



I  would say it is one of the Best Web 2.0 resources out there. It has a sleak and sophisticated look. When you see it, you won't even believe that this is FREE. I had spent so much time looking for free interactive activities to use to meet the needs of my students and teachers, with little luck. When I found Triptico, I was so excited and I had to show the class I was teaching at the time and they were so pumped. I had some teachers yelling out with excitement!!

I hope you enjoy it!
Triptico


Enter to Win!

Hi everyone! I am doing a GIVEAWAY! I am very excited about this.

Sign up to win a Digital Scrapbook Kit of your choice from Kelly Belle Designs at http://kellybelldesigns.com/store. A value of $5.50! 

Digital Scrapbook kits are great for flipcharts, printables, and just about anything you want.  Good Luck!

To Sign up click here--> http://bit.ly/P0Ma95
You have until Sunday (8/19/12) at noon to sign up!

I am always doing giveaways on my Facebook page, so make sure to Like the Teacher Playground page.

All Star Resorts

Blog Award


This morning I found out that I have been given the "One Lovely Blog" Award. I am so excited about this!
I was nominated by iintegratetechnology for this wonderful award. Thank you so much!
I see you are a tech lover too! Stop by my blog- I nominated you for some awards!

For this award, here are the rules:  
1. Become a "Follower" to the person who gave you the award. 

2. Link back to the person that gave you the award.


3. Pass to 15 new bloggers and then let them know they have received the award. 

Here are some of the the awesome blogs I'm passing this award on to. I will keep updating until I get to 15:


iintegratetechnology

Apps for the One-iPad Classroom

Wednesday, August 15, 2012 2 comments

from Tech Notes (TCEA)

If you only have one iPad, what are the best apps to put on it for student use? The apps below come highly recommended from TCEA, and they're all FREE!

BrainPOP Featured MovieBrainPOP Jr. Movie of the Week, or BrainPOP: Pelicula del Dia are great for centers. Develop a set of standard questions for students to answer about the movie each day. The questions can focus on whatever comprehension or writing skill you are practicing at the time, such as main idea or vocabulary.

SpellingCity is a tremendous way for students to practice spelling words, and it works for grades K-12. Students can access lists created by others to study through one of the seven included games. Vocabulary practice, including for the SAT, is also included. 

Have students in grades 2 through 12 create a fast puppet show about something they are currently studying using the appPuppet Pals HD. One free theme set is included; others may be purchased. If you want more sets, look at buying the Director's Pass, which includes all current and future content for $2.99.

Students can access Flash-based web games and practice many different skills by using Rover - The Browser for Educationinstead of Safari. From Discovery Education, Rover streams filtered educational Flash content to the iPad. 

Create a fast book with more than 50 story starters usingScribble Press. Scribble Press for iPad is a book creation platform that allows kids to imagine, create, and share their own stories with great drawing and writing tools. Students can use their own photos, the included sticker album, or the 500 drawing tools in the app to illustrate their stories.

Students of any age can practice their vocabulary words or math facts together using the app StoryLines for Schools. One student selects a vocabulary word from several included lists or types in a word and definition of his own. The next student must illustrate the word The final student gives the drawing a title. The storyline then is played back for all to see.

Have a "Scribe of the Day" whose responsibility it is to take notes of what the class does that particular day using QuickVoice Recorder. This one-touch app is simple enough for even a first grade student to use. When the recording is done, it can be emailed to the teacher to post on a class website or blog.

Practice knowledge of important dates in U. S. history by playing others on the History Line app. A series of historical events are presented on the screen; students place the events onto a timeline at the bottom of the screen in the correct sequence. When the event placed on the line is correct, the date appears.


Free Apps Today




The following educational iOS apps are free. Download the apps as soon as possible as they can go to paid status at any time.


These apps are really good and you know as teachers it seems like nothing is free and everything teacher wise is expensive. When I saw this list, I jumped on the chance. I hope you do too! 
ABC Champ (spelling game; normally $1.99)
ACT (math lessons; normally $9.99)
Algebra Card Clutter (fast math game)
Ben & Bob Chipmunks (interactive book)
Bodie, California (Museum Planet presents a narrated, digital photo tour of the historic ghost mining town Bodie, California; normally $2.99)
Buzzle (normally $1.99)
Cars in Sandbox: Space Rover (normally $8.99; introduce young children to the Mars Rover and the Moon Rover)
Cyberchase: Ruckus Reader (interactive book; one free story included free; others available for in-app purchase)
Different Book (opposites)
Hide Run Growl (interactive book; normally $1.99)
Hookitty-Tookitty-Tah (interactive book; normally $2.99)
Hurricane by American Red Cross (great for tracking hurricanes, emergency preparedness, and more)
IBM Think (a wonderful app about how progress is made)
iReading HD - Sleeping Beauty (interactive book)
iStory Bally, the Balloon Dog (interactive book; normally $2.99)
iStory to the Rescue (interactive book; normally $2.99)
Jeff the Mis-Fish (interactive book)
JM Abel with No Navel (interactive book)
JM The Naughty Eagle Chicks (interactive book)
JM Untying the Knot (interactive book)
Kids iHelp - Analogy 1.0 (free set with more available through in-app purchase; excellent for practicing logical thinking skills)
Kids iHelp - Analogy 2.0 (free set with more available through in-app purchase; excellent for practicing logical thinking skills)
Luna Red (very cute interactive book about Red Riding Hood; normally $2.99)
Magic Clothes RD (interactive book)
Meet Heckerty (interactive book)
Mink (interactive phonics book)
MuseumApp (create your own museum exhibits; free registration required; normally $5.99)
North Wind (interactive book)
Open Wide Snap (interactive book; normally $1.99)
PeterPan(Unabridged) (audio book; normally $16.99)
Princesses Learn German (interactive book)
Puss in Boots (interactive book; free the whole month of August)
The Race by Lily (interactive book by a little girl)
Slice Wood (puzzle game)
The Tale of Tortoise Buffett and Trader Hare (interactive book about finance for children; normally $1.99)
Tickle Stomp! An Educational Story (interactive book for preschoolers)
Vermeer (art works; normally $1.99)
World Explorer (normally $2.99)

Linky Party...Who Should I Follow?

Tuesday, August 14, 2012 1 comment


Are you new to blogging and don't know who to follow or how to find people? Below you will a wonderful list of fellow bloggers. Enjoy!

Here is a little information about me:
1.  I am currently in Texas, but I am originally from Louisiana and I miss it like crazy.
2.  I am an Educational Technology Specialist, in which I work with teachers and students with technology integration in grades Pre K-5th. I have been doing this for 4 years now.
3.  I have taught 5th and 6th grade. I was in the classroom for 5 1/2 years until I got this job. I now do two things I love...work with students and teachers.
4.  I just started blogging in July. I used to do blogging with my students in the classroom, but now I have my own blog.
5.  Blogging is a lot of fun and a great way to get out your ideas and share resources with others.

Fuel the Brain...Interactive Games and More

Monday, August 13, 2012 No comments

Hi everyone, it's Kristen Hernandez from the Teacher Playground. I wanted to share with you one of my favorite educational game sites. I really love www.fuelthebrain.com. Fuel the Brain has numerous games, interactive activities, as well as printables to help enhance and practice key skills in the Math, Science, and Language Arts classroom. This site is mainly for elementary, but middle school level students could benefit from the review. The printables are great and you can easily make them into interactive flipcharts. 


Also if you like to embed flash into flipcharts, Fuel the Brain games embed very nicely.

Have fun with it!

Spelling City App

Spelling City allows kids to play six different word games using 10 different word lists from colors (K-1) to SAT Words (grades 10-12). The games include a really cool hangman-like game which, instead of a man being hung, involves a mouse stealing cheese from a plate right next to a sleeping cat. Get too many letters wrong and the cat wakes up!
The word lists also include one called "Hunger Games" and parents may also add their kids' own vocabulary/spelling lists (to use in the games) by signing up for a free account at www.vocabularyspellingcity.com.

Screen Shot 2012-08-04 at 11.33.16 AM

Good Free Language Lab App: Core Words

Sunday, August 12, 2012 1 comment
Good Free App of the Day - Language Lab: Core Words

PrcPRC Core Words helps special needs individuals build their expressive vocabulary to direct activities, make requests, and reject and label common objects. It introduces 13 common words
(more, eat, drink, sleep, don't, play, make, work, read, stop, go, no, help) through a series of cute animations and offers the ability to customize by adding your own categories and photos.

Super Teacher Tools

As an educator it can be hard to find free technology resources to use in the classroom, so when I stumbled upon Super Teacher Tools a year ago, I quickly bookmarked it and I have been hooked ever since. It is definitely a keeper! I love everything about it especially the Random Facts Desk screen saver. You should check it out if you haven't.

SuperTeacherTools.us is dedicated to providing technology tools for teaching that are quick and easy to download, learn, and start using in your classroom.

In the site, you will find a variety of review games, classroom management software, and other miscellaneous tools for educators.




Back 2 School Cyber Search Giveaway

Saturday, August 11, 2012 No comments
Back 2 School Cyber Search Giveaway

Everyone wins over $45 in free gifts from 12 bloggers!

How would you like to download 12 teaching products worth over $45 dollars, absolutely free? If you head over to the Back to School Cyber Search, you can do just that! Twelve of your favorite grade 3 - 6 bloggers have teamed up and donated a total of one dozen great back to school products for everyone who participates.

My Histro

Thursday, August 9, 2012 No comments
Hey everyone! I wanted to tell you about My Histro (interactive timeline) as this was brought to my attention from a poster. I thought I would check it out and I am very impressed. I think it would be great to use with your students, so they can have an up close and personal connection with history which includes the use of technology and media. I also love the collaboration aspect of this tool. My Histro also has an App you can download.





From: http://www.myhistro.com/blog/interactive-timelines-for-teachers-and-students
In today's Web 2.0 world, user generated content and collaboration are what drives knowledge and knowledge sharing. The time of passivity and being subjected to what the web has to offer is long gone. Even "interactive" has been replaced by "social". -Enter myHistro- MyHistro focuses on content creation rather than content consumption. Teachers and the students alike can create free interactive timelines in a few easy steps. 

"Studying a timeline" vs "Creating a timeline"

Now teachers have two great ways of using our timelines to engage their students:
  1. Teachers can create specific timelines, present them in the class using a projector like they would do with a slide deck or let the students navigate the timeline freely on their own in the computer room. Students will be able to find those same timelines later at home and use them as studying material.
  2. Teachers can ask their students to create timelines on a particular subjects as homework. Timelines can also be created with the collaboration of other students. They are a great way of consolidating what has been learned in the class and with them teachers can evaluate the research and writing skills of the student. See this example of timeline created by a student:


eLections...Great Interactive Experience

Tuesday, August 7, 2012 No comments
I have been using eLECTIONS for many years now with students. The kids love it and the educational experience is great. With the elections coming up I thought this would be a wonderful site to blog about.
The grade levels are listed below, but don't be afraid to try it with your kids as I used this with 4th and 5th graders as well.


Cable in the Classroom

eLECTIONS: Your Adventure in Politics


Subjects: Civics, Social Studies, Technology
Grade Levels:
6-8, 9-12
Source:
Cable in the Classroom
Inspired by the classic board game "The Game of Life," players will role-play their own virtual candidates running for President. The one or two-player game is both genuinely entertaining and genuinely educational - with emphasis on delivering a fun learning experience. Kids can play with parents, students with teachers, users of all ages with a friend, classmate, or with a computer-generated opponent. The latest edition of eLECTIONS also offers a computer-generated Third Party candidate.
eLECTIONS is:
  • Accessible: Available for free to anyone with a high-speed internet connection.
  • Multi-sensory: Players see, read, hear and interact with multimedia content from CNN Student News, C-SPAN and History™.
  • Content Rich: Players explore independently how a presidential campaign works - through a fun and interactive experience.
  • Self-directed: Players make the choices that influence the outcome of the game. They continue to learn and explore fundamental election concepts with the "LEARN MORE" content - all at their own pace.



Back to School Giveaway

Saturday, August 4, 2012 No comments

Do you want to win a very cool Back to School resource pack? If so, you have your chance. Sign up to WIN! There will be multiple winners = )

Deadline August 10th.





Free Technology Class: Teaching with Technology

Thursday, August 2, 2012 1 comment
Are you looking to spice up your classroom with some cool technology? Do you want to get more tech savvy? Check out this FREE online class.


Teaching with Technology

This class is for teachers who wish to improve their technology pedagogy.