Storybird

I made this short story on a very creative website called Storybird. I chose to write about a family of bunnies that find a tree that has sweet, fluffy leaves (marshmallows). There are a variety of themes, pictures, and characters you can choose from. You can even have in bound and mailed to you to keep forever! There are endless possibilities to the stories you can write. I would plan on having students use this tool for a creative writing project. This has been one of my favorite tools that we have used this year.

Fluffy Leaves on Storybird

iMovie

This video was made using iMovie. If you are not a Mac user, then you would have to use Windows Movie Maker. This video is a virtual field trip to the zoo, and provides facts about different animals that they would see while at a zoo. iMovie can be very beneficial in the classroom. It can be used to create reviews for chapters, student projects in any subject area, and so much more. It was very simple for me to use, but I have experience with Movie Maker. Apple has a great support page if you get stuck on something.

Animoto

Make your own slideshow at Animoto. 

This video slideshow was made using Animoto. I used pictures from when my best friend, grandparents, and I visited The Crescent Hotel. It was very easy to do. I liked how you can pick from a variety of themes that showed you a preview. Also, I really liked that you could put text into the slideshow. The best feature is that you can incorporate music into your video. You can even pick music from your own library. The downside is that the free version only allows you to make a 30 second video, and the song can take up the space of about 3 or 4 photos. 

Inspiration

  

Inspiration is a great way to make creative and interactive charts and diagrams. This diagram is about Tennessee Geography. It organizes the different landforms, climates, and resources in each section of Tennessee (West, Middle, and East). There is a huge variety of shapes and images that you can use, and you can even import your own images. You can also embed links into words in the diagram so that the students can learn more about the subject. I linked a video into the words "Tennessee Geography." You can also, type hidden notes into any aspect of the diagram you would like, and the students can access it when they want. For example, you can type a definition of a word. I really like this program and will definitely be using it in my future classroom. 

Timetoast

This timeline is of the holidays and the dates are specific to 2012. I like TimeToast because it is fast and easy, and you can link things to websites for more information. However, I like the old fashion, homemade poster timelines because you can be a lot more creative. There is a lot of art and craft supplies that you can use on your timeline if you make it yourself. Of course, publishing the timeline in this website can have its advantages. Any one, especially your students and their parents, can have access to it at any time they would like. it is also very easy to go in and change or add anything you would want to. Although, like I said before, I would still have my students make one the old fashion way. 

Google Forms

I think Google Forms is a great way to do quizzes without wasting paper. It was very simple for me to make. You can add as many questions as you'd like, and you can select from a variety of answering formats. Also, I like how it gives you a spreadsheets that keeps track of your students' answers. In my opinion, this is a great alternative to traditional quizzes.

Interactive White Board

I am absolutely amazed with ActivInspire, an interactive white board software. There are so many different ways to incorporate interactive aspects into your classroom. Worksheets and PowerPoints are boring and sometimes useless when you really want the information to stick with the students. This allows the students to come up to the board and answer questions by coloring, using a magic revealer, erasing, dragging answers, and much much more! I would try to incorporate this into every lesson that I possibly could. 

This picture is a screenshot from one of my slides from my Tennessee Geography flipchart. It was a little difficult at first, but the more you play around with it the easier it becomes. This slide involves the students answering the question and erasing over the shape to see if they were correct. You can also drag and drop tools for the students to use anywhere on the page. For example, I placed an eraser at the bottom corner of the page. This allows for easier access to the tool(s) they will need. The best part is that it is FREE! The downside is that you don't get full access to everything if you download the free personal software, but you can do a free 60 day trial of the professional version.