Tech Tip Tuesday!

So far, I’ve survived two days of meetings and Meet the Teacher Night.   It’s nothing short of a miracle.  I am running on caffeine and sheer fanaticism.  I just want to be READY! Tomorrow is my first day with students, and to say that I am super excited would be a HUGE understatement!  I am so blessed to have a career that I am so passionate and enthusiastic about, and I just LOVE the little people who walk into my classroom and into my life year after year.  I just adore them.  🙂

Since I start my grad class tomorrow night… and since it’s about an hour and twenty minutes from my school… I have about a bazillion loose ends to tie up this evening.  My self-diagnosed OCD perfectionism is getting the best of me tonight.  🙂 So, in an effort to do it all, I’m going to share a few quick resources with you.  They are resources that I put together for grad school a few years ago, so there’s a small chance that one or two links may be out of commission!  I am sorry in advance!  If I had more hours in the day or didn’t require sleep… I promise I’d be pumping out an amazing technological post right now… but this is real life.  It just didn’t work out like that… so I hope you can find one or two new resources… or more if you’re lucky!!!

First of all, if you haven’t discovered Glogster yet, you need to check it out.  It is a fabulous tool… and it’s great for presentations, book reports, book talks, explorations, etc.  The sky is the limit!  You can manage a whole class to give your students their own accounts, so that’s a BIG PLUS too!  This is just a quick example I whipped up for a class when I was presenting about 21st century skills.  🙂  Consider this your PD for the day… HA!

 I also LOVE Prezi for fun, dynamic,  interactive/multimedia presentations!  You totally need to check it out! I promise, you won’t regret it!

Let’s see.  I also have a special place in my heart for Pandora.  I can’t stream it in my classroom, which is kind of a bummer, because I would LOVE to play some brain-friendly music without having to play a CD.  Maybe you can though!!!  🙂  In my world, Pandora makes lesson planning a lot less stressful.  I love a good jam!  Right now, I’m typing/planning away while listening to Coldplay.  I have a very eclectic taste in music… so Pandora helps me cope with cravings ranging from Jack Johnson… to The Eagles… to Lady Antebellum… Michael Buble… the Beatles… you name it!

If you’re looking for a simple way to get in touch with the humanitarian inside of you, I absolutely LOVE Free Rice.  When I taught math, I’d pull the website up on the SMARTboard to practice multiplication facts.  They donate 10 grains of rice for every correct answer.  Pretty neat-o!

This just in!  My bloggy pal, Mrs. Lindsay, just started a new techie teaching blog: Teacher Blogging Basics!  You’ll definitely want to check this one out!  I have a feeling I’ll be learning a TON from this site!  So excited!  I also LOVE Ladybug!  She has great tutorials on a pretty regular basis!

Oh, and I would be remiss if I didn’t make a quick note of my Flip video camera.  It has been a great classroom tool, and it’s so easy to upload video with the USB! 🙂  Love!   {I am just sooooo sorry to announce that they no longer make them.  Boo!  I didn’t know until just now!  Forgive me!}

I can’t leave out Donor’s Choose!  If you haven’t checked it out, you should immediately!  It’s a great way to write a grant and receive classroom resources!

Lastly, because I could write this post forever, and because can’t procrastinate all night or I’ll never get all of my little finishing touches ready for my new crop of kiddos, I’m going to leave you with a packet I put together to share at a grad class a few years ago.  I hope you can find a few new sites to surf! Just click the picture to download from Google Docs, or click HERE!  {The document has lots of live links to click through and peruse!  Have fun!}

Hi-Ho!  Hi-Ho! Time for this teacher to get back to work so that I can squeeze in some much-needed R&R before tomorrow!  Don’t forget to link up with my lovely & talented friends at Blog Hoppin’!