Twitter - not for twits!

This post is mainly for my colleagues at school who are not on Twitter.  This has already been posted on Twitter by @jillberry102 and I thought it was a brilliant way of outlining the merits of Twitter for teachers, or 'Tweachers', once converted!!!  For those of you thinking about soaring into the Twittersphere, stop thinking and just do it - and here are some of the reasons why: What Twitter offers teachers: The evidence

Thanks @jillberry102 for tweeting about this marvelous post!

(How many times can one person use the word 'Twitter' in one blog post?!)

Jigsaw heaven!

Thank you to @JaneJaneheg for this - Jigsaw Planet - http://www.jigsawplanet.com/.  You can make interactive jigsaws to put onto your website!  Direct response to my last post and a really nice alternative.  Tricky putting text on though.  Might have to save as a picture and then you can upload it.  Will have a go and report back!

Class Dojo v Classcharts

I have a Class Dojo account, which is brilliant for individual reward points etc.  You can communicate with parents about how well your pupils have done, you can use it as a register, you can use it on your tablets or PC and its a great motivator.   However, I have had some problems with Class Dojo with my tablet at school (Don't know if its me or Class Dojo. All works fine at home) so I thought I would give Classcharts a go and see which one I like best.  Classcharts is similar to Class Dojo, and you can also create seating plans.  Class Dojo has an app, which is great but Classcharts doesn't, so 1:0 to Class Dojo!!!

I'll keep you posted!

Avatars

Hello!
I was looking for a way to make my own Avatar for Twitter (I never like photos of myself and I'm rubbish at taking selfies!) and I found this site - for creating avatars really simply: http://make-avatar.com/.

Here's mine:

Not bad eh!

Compare with the real me!

In MFL, it can be used to describe hair and eyes etc.  In other subjects, useful when you need characters, maybe in a cartoon, or on a worksheet or presentation etc?  You create the avatar and email it to yourself. No sign-up required.

Powtoon - my creation!

So, after a little experimentation, here is my first Powtoon!  Just to intro myself and German to my new Year 7 class:




I like it!

Powtoon

Hello!
Here's yet another way to present stuff!  http://www.powtoon.com .  It's a fun way of presenting; as the name suggests it packs a punch!

Have a look below:

I'm currently using it to create an intro (about me) for my Year 7 French and German classes.  When I've done them I will upload them here.

Photohide

Just found this - Photohide!  Had a quick go and am really pleased with it so far!  It hides the faces of people in your photos like this:

Can you tell it's me?

It is more blurry with smaller faces.  Any pupils who don't want to or who are not permitted to appear on the internet can be hidden.  Will work well if they are part of a group as you hide single faces.  It's really simple and ... free!  Here is a short tutorial:

Have a go yourself, by clicking here

That's 'Emaze'ing!

Hello all!
I have already tweeted about this, but I am really chuffed to have found it so I think it deserves its own place on staffroom swop shop!  www.emaze.com is another way of presenting; different to PowerPoint and not quite so seasick inducing as Prezi (Which I also like!).  At the moment, my favourite template is the one where the hands come out of the screen (!).  It's a nice way of presenting every now and then, but I wouldn't use it all the time - it would lose its pazzazz (is that even a word?)

Blendspace (formerly Edcanvas)

This is a way of having all your resources for an entire lesson to hand!  Great for putting onto your website for pupils to go over again! Have a look at these examples (they are printscreens):

Interested?  Click here for the website. 

Padlet

This is nice if you want to do a quick ideas wall.  It's an online pinboard where you can 'pin' an idea or thought instantly.  Here's the link:  http://padlet.com/

You can have a go at pinning ideas onto the 'quick ideas' page on this blog.

Have fun!

CPD - using ICT to develop Independent Learning in the classroom

Here is a link to my Prezi presentation, in case you missed anything.
Here is a link to Weebly.
Here is a link to Weebly's help pages to get you started
Here is a link to Blogger.
Here is a link to Posthaven.

Tagxedo

I found this as a result of struggling with Wordle and Java!  This is a tool to create 'word clouds'.  There is a really useful slideshow linked here, to show you what can be done with it, or just go for it here.

Zondle

Thanks to Karen Green for passing this one on.  I got very excited with this, because this program allows you to make games by simply entering information (questions and answers etc).  You can also import information.  It is designed for individual pupil work (so great for independent learning) and also for whole class and team activities.  You can create competitions at the click of a mouse, you can set up a class and they can keep score and you can embed them into your blogs or websites.  There are also some really helpful video tutorials if you get stuck.  I've had a go and I LOVE IT!

Zondle

Animoto again!

I have been busy on Animoto and made several videos; all of which took about 5 mins each!  Here is one I used for my French classes to introduce the new question of 'Où habites-tu?'



Try our slideshow creator at Animoto.

It's great, because it's so short, but if you sign up as an educator, you can get a promo code which will allow you 6 months (or more I think) of pro Animoto, so you can make longer videoclips.  Try it out.

Sound Cloud

This is an online recording studio!  You can record audio here and store it online.  Good for presentations etc.  Sign up first, then to record something, click on upload, then follow the instructions.  Obviously, you will need a microphone!  There are also lots of pre-recorded snippets too, but I haven't fully investigated these.

Have fun!
www.soundcloud.com

Animoto!

Hello and welcome back!
Just found this resource to enable you to make a free 30 second video clip, using images and music (which you can upload, or use existing ones).  Thought I'd test it out first to see how easy it was, and I made this in about 2 minutes!  It's only a test - I'm not trying to be Steven Spielberg...

Have a go yourselves (you have to register, but that takes about 1 minute and it's free)- maybe our pupils could use it in lessons or as homework - good for independent work and a way to present their homework in a different way.

Animoto



Make your own photo slideshow at Animoto.