Bringing Them Along

Part of my job is to review websites and web applications for their potential use in the classroom. Historically, I have done this and then shared relevant content with my teachers via an email link with some explanatory notes. Often, I don't have a clue as to whether the teachers use the sites I send them, don't use them for whatever reason, or have a filter set up in Outlook to automatically delete any and all emails that come from me.

This year, I decided to promote the use of Web 2.0 tools by delivering resources through this blog. Now, the funny thing is, I notified the teachers of the existence of this blog by emailing them. However, I still have the same problem...not knowing if anyone is really reading it, or at least looking at the resources I blog about. I added a stat counter and a cluster map, but both of those record every visit that I make to the blog as well. Which means that if you look at my stat counter, divide that number in half and then again by 7, that is probably the actual number of visits by other people besides myself!

I decided to try a new tack. Recently, when I blog about a resource, I send the blog link to the teachers I think might be interested in the resource. Yes, I know I am being redundant, but sometimes you have to to bring people along. The payoff is wonderful when you have someone stop you in the hall and tell you they tried out the site with their students or when you receive emails like this:

Did this yesterday with the kids after we did Typing Pals for a
bit....THEY LOVED IT!! Some were more interested in the chatting, but at
least they were typing!

That from Lindsey, a 6th grade teacher, whom I had sent the blog post What You End Up With to through email. She was referring to TypeRacer, a keyboarding game that allows for private competition through the generation of a unique url. Thanks to Lindsey, I will continue to blog about websites and resources and hopefully next time I will hear back from at least two teachers!

All My Faves
This cool site is touted as a "top sites" search engine and is arranged in categories by icon. Ideal for visual people who remember a logo but maybe not a site name. You can sort alphabetically or by most popular. There is a tab for Weekly Faves to stay on top of what is "in" at the moment!

What You End Up With

I ran across a cool keyboarding game the other day while was searching the Internet. The game is a multiplayer game in which you can invite your friends by creating a unique url and compete against them in a private setting. I liked the privacy of it, so I began my quest to find other multiplayer games that were educational in nature, yet had a closed-environment. I came across one such other site that had math games. Both are highlighted below. I was disappointed that I could find no other sites that allow students to play without registering or to play against classmates in a closed-environment.
What I did find was a cool site that provides customizable flash templates for teachers and students that can be embedded into wikis, blogs, class websites, etc. Funny what you end up with when embarking on a web search!
If anyone knows of any educational games like those mentioned above, please send them my way and I will share them on this blog.

Arcademic Skill Builders
Arcademic Skill Builders is an educational game site that has a variety of math and language arts skills games (as well as one game on state capitals) in a flash format. Four math games are multiplayer games in which students can invite select individuals by providing them with a unique url. The games seem appropriate for students in grades 3-5, but older kids might have fun with them as well.http://www.arcademicskillbuilders.com/

Type Racer
This keyboarding game is in beta, but seems to run very smooth. You can register or play as a guest and invite friends by providing them with a code or a private url. The text comes from books or movies. I played my daughter yesterday and we had to type text from the movie Juno. She beat me every time! Players can chat with one another while playing, but most will be concentrating on typing to beat their opponents!

Classtools
Classtools.net is an awesome site that allows you to create FREE interactive Flash diagrams for learning and revising material. Templates are easy to customize and include Venn, fishbone, and jigsaw diagrams, post-its, lights out, a count-down timer, and more. The templates can be embedded into wikis, blogs, and websites for easy access by teachers and students.

Click here for full screen version

image used in this tool originated from http://www.indiana.edu/~oso/animations/An12.html