Category Archives: Uncategorized

I don’t think I’ve ever been so behind on Tech Talk posts! So sorry! Here are the topics we’ve covered in the last several weeks! Many of these topics will also be featured sessions at the Summer Instructional Technology Academy (SITA), so I listed the session time. If you are consortium member of EWITC, you can attend for FREE! Non-consortium members can attend for $25/session. It is filling up fast!

Google Maps – (SITA Session on 8/1 at 9:00am)
Google Maps is becoming more and more robust every day! Many of the features are becoming comparable to Google Earth. One activity that you can do is map a character from a book. In this example, 4th graders used Google Maps to mark the places that the characters visited in the book. The capability to add pictures, links and videos is also available! Students can actually go on this “trip” and go into street view to see what the characters saw in the book!

Quizlet -
Quizlet is an AMAZING flashcard study tool! Check out this demo video! Before you spend lots of time creating the flashcards, search for similar ones on the site…there may be some that have already been created! Be sure to download the app too!

PowToon -
Are you looking to add another Web 2.0 presentation option for your students? If so , PowToon is a great option! Check out these examples of educational PowToons to see the potential! (They have just added pricing options for educators, but there is a 30 day free trial! Their FREE PLAN is restricted to 45 second presentations, but might work for you.)

Doctopus/Goobric – (SITA Session on 7/29 @ 12:00pm)
Managing student files in Google Drive can be a nightmare! Doctopus to the rescue! Check out the video walkthroughs for Doctopus and Goobric, and call me if you would like to try to set this up for your students! It is sure to make grading more efficient, and file management much more tolerable!

Chrome Apps & Extensions – (SITA Session on 7/30 @ 12:00pm)
Once you log into the Chrome browser, you have the option to add apps and extensions to enhance your experience on the web. Confused? Check out this presentation to learn more about Chrome. Check out this presentation for more app/extension recommendations. Here are some of my favorites:

• Announcify – You must try this! Great for kids that have a tough time focusing in busy websites. It reads the site to you and blurs out the junk!
• YoWindowWeather — great for teaching weather to primary students, allows them to see through a “window” to the outdoors!
• ScreenCapture by Google or Awesome Screenshot – annotate screenshots in a jiffy!
• TabCloud – have a million tabs open? Use TabCloud to save your tabs and open them all back up when you need them again.
• Readability or Clearly – cut the junk off of those busy websites to make the page easier for kids to read.
• Ginger Spellchecker – Who doesn’t love a good grammar/spell check while on the web?
• Goo.gl Shortener – shorten those loooonnnnng web addresses in one click!
• Sharaholic for Pinterest – pin to your boards in one click!

iThings -
Here are some apps that you may want to check out -

• Haiku Deck - a SUPER AWESOME presentation app
• Google Drive – upload videos right to your Google Drive from the app, great for sharing videos with a restricted number of people
• FaceTalkHD (.99) – create a talking avatar, similar to Blabberize

edcamp Milwaukee was last weekend! Check out the great list of sessions and notes that the participants came up with! Remember to mark your calendars for edcamp Green Bay on October 19, 2013.

Phew! I think that’s it for now! If you have any questions or need help with any of these things, please let me know!

This week’s Tech Talk was: iThings

This week, we met together to discuss apps and "apptivities!" Here are some of the fun things that were mentioned -

• I have been looking for apps that are similar to Blabberize and Voki for a long time, and I feel like these are a great alternative for the iDevices. In addition, they will have you laughing for hours! I could see them being a great addition to a Daily 5 Read to Self center…as long as the kids don’t get too carried away! The first one is Mad Lips Free – Add lips to a character and narrate. It reminds me of those eTrade commercials! And the 2nd is Morfo – Use your face (or someone else’s) and watch how animated it becomes when you add voice! So much fun!!!
• Magisto – This app reminds me a bit of Animoto. Easy video editing! I don’t think it’ll be free for long so get it while it lasts!
• Dr. Seuss Cat Cam – I really wish I would’ve discovered this app a week ago, but better late than never, right! Happy Birthday, Dr. Seuss!
• Electric Company Party Game – a multi-player game that incorporate 1st and 2nd grade math and literacy curricula
• Electric Company – Feel Electric! – This would be a great app to help students understand feelings. It allows children to identify how they feel each day.
• Toca Boca Apps – lots of apps for creative play!
• Pic Stitch – An option if you have a need for photo collages.
• Pic Collage – An option if you have a need for photo collages.
• iMotion HD – a great option for students that want to create stop animation movies.

Moshi Retro Handset – A great low cost addition to any Daily 5 center! Use the retro handset to record and listen to audio. The kids will LOVE it!

Have a great weekend!

Supper & Strategies –
Last week, I was honored to present at one of our Supper & Strategies events in our district. Our curriculum director is hosting these once a month. Teachers are welcome to come and learn about an assigned topic, and she feeds everyone as a bonus! We all know how much teachers love food so it’s been a hit! February’s topic focused on Web 2.0. The website that I shared with teachers has a ton of Web 2.0 resources listed and the LiveBinder presentation focuses on the specific 30 sites that I shared with the group. I hope you find it helpful!

Northeastern Wisconsin Teachers — Mark Your Calendars!
The annual Summer Instructional Technology Academy (SITA) will be held from July 29th – August 1st at West De Pere High School. Bayport usually hosts this conference, but it will be in West De Pere this year! You can always find the latest news about SITA on the EWITC website or the EWITC Facebook Page. Sign up for email updates so the information gets sent right to your inbox! This professional development opportunity is FREE to all members of the consortium! I am so excited for another awesome week of learning!

Wisconsin edCamps News!

• The 2nd Annual edCamp Green Bay will be held on October 19th at Denmark High School. If you aren’t sure what an edCamp is, watch this video to find out more information.
• edCamp Milwaukee will be held on Saturday, May 11th. The registration is open, and I won’t be surprised if it closes very quickly! edCamps are always FREE and a ton of fun!

If you have any questions about any of these professional development opportunities, please let me know.

The February Tech Talks revolved around using Google Sites as a host for your teacher website.

Here are the some video tutorials of the things we covered this month…

Getting Started: (Basic, Quick Demo) or (More in depth demo)

You will love the way that Google Sites integrates with everything else we are doing!

Have a great week!

So…I had to share.

A few weeks ago, I posted about a great site called Thinglink, and presented the site to teachers during our weekly Tech Talk. One of our 1st grade teachers was inspired and decided to use Thinklink for her weekly Journey’s Focus Wall. In my opinion, this is pure GENIUS!

Check it out – http://www.mrslambrechtsclass.blogspot.com/2013/01/this-weeks-stories-and-games.html

It’s little things like this that help remind me why I LOVE my job so much! Way to go, Mrs. Lambrecht!

Last week’s Tech Talk was: Photo Editing Fun

Photo editing is becoming all the rage! Between smartphones, iPods, iPads, etc., everyone seems to be carrying a camera in their pocket these days! Although there are MANY websites and apps to use to edit photos, here are some of my favorites -

Picasa/Picasa Web – I won’t sugar coat it…I simply love Picasa! There are two options with Picasa. You can use Picasa Web, which is a place to host your pictures and do minor edits to your photos. If you want to take your editing and organization to the next level, you should also consider downloading Picasa software. I love Picasa Web because as a Google Apps for Education district, it is very easy to integrate the albums and slideshows into other Google Apps like Sites. I also love that you can set up a unique email address for an album which you allows you to email your photos to update your slideshows, etc. automatically.

PicMonkey - PicMonkey is a great option if you want to create collages or go more in depth with editing. The one drawback is that you cannot save images and work on them later, so they need to be completed in one sitting. There is a paid membership if you want to access the elite features.

Phonto App – I love the Phonto app for labeling photos. I choose this app out of many when I worked with a 2nd grade classroom. I like it because it is very easy to use…and it’s FREE! For this example, students drew a picture of a butterfly, took a picture of it with the iPad, and then added the labels with the app -

This week’s Tech Talk is: Educreations, ShowMe, etc.

Some of the hottest apps right now are ones that allow teachers and students to create tutorials or demonstrations. Educreations (free), ShowMe (free), Doodlecast Pro ($2.99), and Explain Everything ($2.99) are some of the most popular options. Although they are similar apps, all of them have different features.

Check out this website to see examples, tutorials and comparisons of each app.

Have a great weekend!

This week’s Tech Talk was: iThings

Some apps/activities that were mentioned were:

• Scootpad (There is also a website for this) – Several teachers are using this during differentiation time
• EduCreations (Similar apps like ShowMe, DoodleCast Pro, Explain Everything) – Several teachers are using these types of apps to allow their students to create tutorials or show evidence of work. The possibilities are endless!
• Umi Numbers – a numbers app for younger kiddos
• Partial Products – Check out the other math apps by Esa Helttula too!
• Audioboo (iPhone App) – a very easy and quick way to podcast

Non-school related

• Festival Foods
• SnipSnap - for coupon nuts!

Other news

If you are interested in doing a poetry contest with your students, check out www.youngpoets.org. (The focus this year is haiku.)

Last week’s Tech Talk was: Thinglink

ThingLink helps you create and discover rich images. Be creative! Make your images come alive with music, video, text, images, and more! Every image contains a story and ThingLink helps you tell your stories.

Uploading images to your account is easy. Upload them straight from your hard drive or import from the web, Flickr or Facebook. Get the Thinglink Chrome browser plugin and tag any image online!

Here are some examples of how Thinglink can be used in education!

Famous People -
Mother Theresa – http://www.thinglink.com/scene/301439993002328065buttonSource=searchPage

Einstein – http://www.thinglink.com/scene/314323188056064001#tlsite

Mapping (Thailand) – http://www.thinglink.com/scene/333634317534101507?buttonSource=searchPage

Valley Forge – http://www.thinglink.com/scene/308320520053456896?buttonSource=searchPage

For fun – Advent Calendar (or any countdown) – http://www.thinglink.com/scene/331080311309860864?buttonSource=frontpagePage

Bonus Link: Check out this great fitness link – http://www.adventuretofitness.com/teachers

Once upon a time, I did a Tech Talk on YouTube. (Can you tell I’m a little behind?)

I’ve had the pleasure of learning many awesome things from YouTube gurus in the past few months. Their presentations are available here -

• TIES – YouTube in the Classroom by Molly Schroeder
• Midwest Google Summit – YouTube in the Classroom by Mark Garrison
• Midwest Google Summit – Images before Words by Ben Friesen

Here are some of the best things I’ve taken away from their presentations -

• YouTube EDU – This part of YouTube is now OPEN for students!
• YouTube Teachers – over 700,000 high quality educational videos from over 800 channels.
• Insert “wait time” into your videos – https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=fnPkd9y04_Y#!
• Creating a playlist of videos in YouTube –
• Edit your videos in Youtube! http://www.youtube.com/watch?annotation_id=annotation_87488&feature=iv&src_vid=gDd0fI3f5TE&v=KxzRSiVcV7s
• Ed Ted – the best Ted Talks turned into videos with some flipped education built right in.
• 10 Ways for Teachers to Use YouTube
• Even MORE YouTube video editors!

Everyone in WDP automatically has a YouTube account through Google Apps for Ed, but you may need to set up your channel. (Keep in mind, you cannot change your name after it is set.) I am more than willing to help you set this up if you need any assistance.