Here comes the BOOM!

Slideboom that is!  Presented with the challenge of having a Power Point presentation I wanted to make easily accessible on my web page and in a Moodle, I was faced with the issue of converting my Power Point presentation into a Flash presentation.  Being a Mac user (and having NO regrets there), I began searching the web for a means to do so, but was worried my options would be limited.

Looking over multiple links, I found several companies (whom I won't support by providing their link), who wanted to charge me for this ability.  In comes Slideboom to the rescue!  Within minutes, I had uploaded my presentation, converted it to flash, and had an embed code ready for my website and my Moodle!

Though there is an option for a paid account, the free account provides you with plenty of opportunity to increase the accessibility of your presentation and share it with others, if you like.  Additionally, Slideboom gives you access to the presentations of others and allows you to tag, rank, and comment on presentations.  As an educator I found this to be a powerful option for those times when I'm not trying to reinvent the wheel, but want to find something that will grab student attention.  Being able to search presentations by popularity could expedite this process.  If presentations are your thing and you want to move them beyond your desktop, I think Slideboom is the way to go!

Yodi, Yodi, Yodio!

In preparing sites for students and trying to make them more accessible, adding audio to either compliment or repeat text can be very powerful.  This is the case especially for students who have difficulty with reading or when trying to simplify vocabulary that may be included on the site the students is being directed to.  Additionally, having an audio stream or a podcast for your audience can be more engaging and, in the case where you update regularly, draw them back for more.

The problem with the podcast, is that many people are intimidated by technology.  Though some may get as far as utilizing a drag and drop website service, such as Weebly, adding something such as a podcast may prove to be too daunting.  Recording, editing, then embedding, can be a bit of a challenge with some programs and presents differently with different operating systems. 

In steps Yodio!  A free, create via phone, podcasting service, which allows you to create a podcast from your phone, add a picture from your computer, then put them together as an audio file that can compliment, supplement, or replace the content you're wanting to share.  You can share the file on your web page, social network, or even email it to share it more privately.  Yodio does offer more features for those who want to get more commercial use out of it, but as far as educational use goes, the free membership is great!  Check it out!

Read, Write & Think!

Looking for engaging ways to introduce your students to reading more or to encourage them to write outside of the classroom? Here is your answer—all of the materials at this site are created by experts to be fun, educational, and easy to use outside of school. readwritethink is an online literacy learning center. Its mission is to provide educators and parents with access to the best quality practices in reading and language arts instruction by offering the very best in free materials. Every lesson plan on readwritethink has been aligned not only to the IRA / NCTE Standards for the English Language Arts but to individual state standards as well.

You will be able to engage your students in online literacy learning with these interactive tools that help them accomplish a variety of goals. It helps students from organizing their thoughts to learning about language, all while having fun!

Furthermore, it has a complete section devoted to parents and afterschool professionals so learning can continue outside of the classroom.

"What if...? and What should we do?"- Resource for Parents

As a teacher you learn quickly that most parents are wanting to or trying to do what is best for their child. There are an endless number of questions, "What if...? and What should we do?" that they ask of you. Now you have a great resource not only for parents but you as well. Education.com provides parents of school-aged children with free access to information and resources to give them the answers they need from school issues to home issues such as bullying and learning difficulties to child health and divorce.

The site has been developed by experts to bring the best information to parents located in one spot. Here is what it says it offers to parents;

In using Education.com, parents:

• Have free access to thousands of articles. We’ve teamed up with the world’s leading teachers, psychologists, universities, non-profits, and research organizations to offer highly credible parenting, developmental, and educational information that is current, well organized, and easy to understand.
• Can print hundreds of activities — sorted by grade level and topic — to help make learning at home more fun.
• Have the ability to get support from and share advice with Education.com’s community of thousands of parents and experts.
• Can use our SchoolFinder tool to learn more about their current schools or research new ones.
• Have access to “best of breed” academic services including online tutoring services, math programs, educational games, and online early reading programs.

For teachers if offers lesson ideas as well as information.

Parent Teacher Association - Every Child, One Voice

The National Parent Teacher Association is a great way to continue learning how to integrate parents into their child's education. As they state on their website, "Academic achievement has always been paramount. But, in today’s changing economy the need for advanced skills and technical knowledge is growing. Showing our children that we value learning and education is important and will pay off in the long run as they mature. When parents are involved in their children's educations, student achievement improves. 


Student academic achievement starts with you helping your child succeed by providing a home that encourages learning and supports your child’s physical, mental, and emotional development. Use these parent resources to help your child achieve success in school."


This is a great organization to join to learn how parents are feeling, how to communicate more effectively with parents, and how to get parents involved in their child's education. I encourage you to continue to try to develop meaningful parent communication and involvement inside and out of the classroom. 


On a side note, the PTA website gives you a lot of different fundraising ideas, ideas for giving thanks to others teachers (you could also use these ideas for thanking your parent volunteers) and websites and ideas for lessons and uses at home. 

Facebook & MySpace - Wait, What?!

Teachers, do you use Facebook and/or MySpace on a weekly basis? Like many teachers, I'm sure your profile is set to private (kudos to you if you aren't; you're braver than me!) But, unlike many teachers, I'm sure you may know how important social networking is in your life now, and probably will play a key role in the future, as well.  Keeping this in mind, have you ever thought about setting up a professional Facebook or MySpace page? Kids would LOVE to be "friends" with you on Facebook. I'm sure you'd have a huge following! BONUS: After a couple of years you might have more than 1,000 friends! (How many people can boast that?)


But, on a more important note, Facebook and MySpace are becoming prominent means of communication in your students parents' lives, as well. I witnessed just last week a post by a parent who wrote on the wall of her child's 3rd grade teacher, "If possible could you let Meghan sit closer to the front. She says she is have trouble seeing things far away. We are going to make her an appointment with the eye doctor. Please feel free to contact me for any reason. Thanks." You might be thinking, wow, couldn't she have sent that on email? Yes, probably, but she felt comfortable letting her know on Facebook, so now Meghan sits closer to the front because of one simple communication. 


Facebook and MySpace can be used for a variety of different objectives. For example, on Facebook you can create a Mrs. Jones Parent Group, where your child's parents sign up and you can message out to them about special things going on in class, field trips they can volunteer for, and other miscellaneous things such as when supplies are getting low. You can also create a Fan Page for your class, as well. You can post student work on both Facebook and MySpace, and you can "tag" the parents in the work so that they can brag to their friends. I'd bet you'd have a lot more parent involvement! 

Summer math help without the cost?

For the most part, yes!  Though the first two sites posted on the list I'm about to provide a link to are paid sites, the rest provide at least SOME free material that could be useful to you as a parent or to the classroom teacher in looking for ways to supplement what's been taught or to assist in keeping skills fresh over the course of the summer. 

I'm sure most have heard of the Sylvan learning Center or  Sylvan Learning, headquartered in Baltimore, Maryland.  Sylvan is a franchised tutoring company, which offers tutoring services to students aged 4 1/2 through high school, with "personalized learning programs."  Well Sylvan was kind enough to compile a list of what it considers to be the "Top 10 Math Websites" out there! 

Though I don't wish to blow the lot of my math resource websites on one post, I was somewhat surprised that Sylvan was willing to provide these links for free,  which made me think (pleasantly) that they're not just out there to make extra money.  Where I may be giving a lot of resources in this one posting, and limiting my ability for future math specific website postings, I'll gladly have resources to other links covering other academic supports in the near future. 

Anyway, going back to the top ten links...the first two links are pay/subscription links, so they may not be of interest to everyone.  The number 3 link Coolmath is one I'd blogged about previously and it has no subscription/fee requirements and my students find it to be quite fun!

Moving down the list, there are some other sites, with the option to purchase materials, while at the same time providing some free resources.  Sites range in creation from being produced by a South African community (though it looks very US), to one created by the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics, to another by the BBC!  The initial BBC link is broken, though if you click on it, there are five links below it, which are functional. 

Though all sites are math based, they all bring something different to the table and will definitely keep your child/student practicing his/her skills.  Obviously it can't be expected that the kids will just voluntarily go to math sites without some nudging, however a smooth introduction to the site, along with some guided demonstration may go a long way in developing an interest in math, that doesn't seem too much like doing work over the summer!