Nothing Fancy Here

Chances are, if you come to my house for dinner, you will eat off paper plates. Nothing fancy here. If you had walked into my classroom when I taught 5th grade, you would have been able to concentrate on your reading because there wasn't much to look at on my walls. Nothing fancy there either. I don't like to focus on appearances, I want to focus on what matters. If it is dinner, I want the food to be delicious and satisfying; if it is my classroom, I want the environment to lend itself to learning.

Today, we seem to have to "fancy everything up" so much. What happened to the birthday parties of our youth where you would eat cake and ice cream and then spend a couple hours in the back yard playing Freeze Tag? A friend of mine told me that recently, his four year-old daughter went to a party at a Spa. The little "glamour girls" got the whole beauty treatment, complete with cucumber slices to relax their eyes! I wonder if the girls really appreciated the day, or if they would have had just as much fun playing dress up or with dolls.

The baby and toddler toys of today all produce electronic sounds. What happened to the good ol' Fisher Price wind up television that I had when I was little? Now a days, everything has a computer chip in it.

Technology has come a long way. Thank goodness we aren't trying to create Wordle clouds using a DOS prompt. Our students can create "All About Me" posters complete with audio, video, and hyperlinks to sites that give a glimpse into their personalities.

All this is very cool, but luckily, some very un-fancy things still can still be useful, if not fun.

J.ot Down

J.ot Down is a simple Internet-based notepad. You very simply begin typing, and anytime you pause, it will save your work with a unique url. You can keep this url private, or share with the world. This could be a very useful students who are brainstorming ideas, partners collaborating on a project, or an entire class adding to a list of items learned about a topic or subject. The environment is nothing fancy, but the idea is brilliant! (Thanks to @SkipZ for sharing this resource)

Sporcle

The creators of Sporcle claim that the site is full of mentally stimulating diversions. The games here are created simply, no fancy flash videos or Internet stickies. Quick trivia games on topics from a wide range of categories from History to Television. Choose a game, click Start, and begin answering. It reminds me of the "red light challenge" on the TV show Cash Cab. You don't have to answer in order, just get all the answers. Sporcle could be used for review, or for a quick time filler in the classroom. (Thanks to @cscribner for sharing this resource)

Next Stop: Scripps

I was in a classroom spelling bee in second grade. I was one of the final two. We had to spell several words because we both kept spelling the words correctly. Finally, I got the word that means "purposeful forward movement by moving arms and legs in a body of water". And I spelled, "S-W-I-M-I-N-G". OK, the double consonant got me. Maybe I should have asked for the teacher to use the word in a sentence; or perhaps, the origin of the word. Still, not bad for an 8 year old.




Interactive Spelling Bee

Spelling Bee, from Anneberg Media's Learner.org, helps students practice their spelling, just like an old fashioned spelling bee. Students choose their grade level and listen to the short passage. The passage is like a cloze passage, with words missing. Students click in a blank to hear the word repeated, then type correct spelling of the word in the blank. Once all the blanks are filled, the student checks their answers, then has the option of reviewing the words or moving on to the next level. Tips and suggestions for becoming a "Top Notch Speller" are also included.