No comment on the fact that I have not posted for two years. (Seriously, what can I say? I was busy? I had nothing to say? I kept forgetting? Nothing sounds too good, so let's let it go and move on!)
I like to begin each school year by writing goals for myself. Some goals I meet and others I don't. (Sounds just like New Year's goals, right?)
Well one of my goals is always to try something new. Not the something new that is a new district requirement. (Actually, there seem to be more and more of those, right?) No, this something new is something that I pick out myself. Something that makes me curious and excited.
For this year, my something new is Seesaw. No, not the Scholastic Book order form. (That was very confusing for me at first, too.) Nope, this Seesaw is a "Student-Driven Digital Portfolio". It is a website and an app. But what does it do? OMG! It allows students to create online portfolios. For FREE!!! Students can easily add to their portfolios and parents are given a notification for each addition. Of course, all of the additions must be teacher approved (which seems easy to do). But there's more! Students can add comments to each item either in written form or (BE STILL MY HEART!) via a recording. That's right folks .. my kindergarteners will be able to add items to their portfolios and then record their voices talking about the item. OMG! So, so, so excited! I have been watching videos on the Seesaw site and got so excited that I couldn't wait to try it out. So I created a fake class with fake students who completed fake assignments that fake parents looked at. So far, so good! But I, of course, have to hold judgement until I have real students completing real assignments that their real parents look at. Once that happens, I will let you know how it goes.
In the meantime, if you want to learn more about Seesaw, here is a video to watch.
Seesaw: The Learning Journal
So what new things are you trying this year?
Love to all,
Camille
Showing posts with label technology. Show all posts
Showing posts with label technology. Show all posts
Tuesday, July 28, 2015
Saturday, June 16, 2012
iTalk iPads Organization
This is the continuing saga of my joyful journey into 1:1 iPad land with my kinder/first grade class.
So now I had 25 iPads for my 25 students and a charging/syncing cart to keep them in. BUT there needed to be a bit of organizing to make this all work.
Here are some of the organizing ideas I used:
1) Number Everything! (Children, iPads, slots)
The children in my class all have a special number. (I have the amazing Rick Morris to thank for sharing this great idea!) So it made sense to number the iPads with my student's numbers. This was done with a silver marker on the apple on back of the iPad. (Since the apple is an advertising symbol it shows through the cover. Works for me!) The cart arrived with each slot for an iPad already numbered. So student #1 used iPad #1 which was placed in slot #1 at the end of each day. I do love having things organized! (But read idea #4 as to how I further organized the cart.)
2) iPad Test and iPad License
Since you can't drive without a license, it seemed to me that students shouldn't be able to use an iPad without a license. And nobody gets a license without taking a test, right? So I created an iPad license that could only be earned by passing the iPad test. Luckily for me, my students totally bought into it! To pass the iPad test they had to demonstrate a variety of skills such as turning their iPad on and off, getting it out of the cart and putting it back it, AND they had to explain WHY we were using iPads in our classroom. (A little brainwashing occurred here ... if they used the word "play" they automatically failed the test. If they used the word "learn", they passed that question. In fact, if a student later asked me, "May I play on my iPad?" I always said NO! If they used the word learn, that was a different matter! :) When each child passed the test, they were given a very special iPad license that could be revoked at any time. (Sadly, a few were revoked from time to time.)
3) Daytime Home
I had to decide where my students would keep their iPads during the day. Hmmm ... but first I needed to consider how I wanted the iPads used. Just like everything in teaching, first you have to clarify what your philosophy is and then you do your planning. I decided I wanted the iPads to be another tool in our classroom. I also decided that like pencils and paper and other tools, I wanted my students to have easy access to the iPads. So I purchased a dishtub from Target for each team. (Cost: under $2 each. But for that price, my only color choice was white.) Each team received a tub to permanently place on their desks. When we weren't using the iPads, the children placed them in their team's tubs. This meant that if a child finished an assignment early, they could pull out their iPad. It also meant that when my entire class was reading individually, some students chose to read on their iPads. (Some children continued to choose traditional books, but the option was always there to do either.)
4) Nighttime home
The charging/syncing cart is the nighttime home. Each iPad has a numbered slot that it "lives" in at night. BUT it was super hard for my kiddos to find the correct slot. I decided it was time for ... COLOR CODING! So I bought four rolls of colored tape (blue, red, green, and orange). I put a strip of tape on the front of each iPad and a small square of the same color next to the correct slot in the cart. (Of course, I created an ABCD pattern: blue, red, green, orange, etc.) Volia! My students were easily able to find their iPads at the beginning of the day and then at the end of the day, find their iPad's correct slot. Hurrah! (The tape won't last forever on the iPads, but long enough for students to know which color slot to look for.)
Whew! I love things to be organized!! In fact, I just read a hilarious note on Facebook. Here goes: I am CDO. CDO is like OCD, but the letters are in order, like they should be. Oh yeah, that is so me! A place for everything and everything in its place! Love it! But if you could see my classroom right now - I am moving classrooms and it isn't pretty right now OR if you could see my living room - I am moving classrooms so decided to bring a few (cough, cough) boxes of things home to organize ... then you would revoke my CDO license. So, it is off to organizing that I must go!
Love to all,
Camille
So now I had 25 iPads for my 25 students and a charging/syncing cart to keep them in. BUT there needed to be a bit of organizing to make this all work.
Here are some of the organizing ideas I used:
1) Number Everything! (Children, iPads, slots)
The children in my class all have a special number. (I have the amazing Rick Morris to thank for sharing this great idea!) So it made sense to number the iPads with my student's numbers. This was done with a silver marker on the apple on back of the iPad. (Since the apple is an advertising symbol it shows through the cover. Works for me!) The cart arrived with each slot for an iPad already numbered. So student #1 used iPad #1 which was placed in slot #1 at the end of each day. I do love having things organized! (But read idea #4 as to how I further organized the cart.)
2) iPad Test and iPad License
Since you can't drive without a license, it seemed to me that students shouldn't be able to use an iPad without a license. And nobody gets a license without taking a test, right? So I created an iPad license that could only be earned by passing the iPad test. Luckily for me, my students totally bought into it! To pass the iPad test they had to demonstrate a variety of skills such as turning their iPad on and off, getting it out of the cart and putting it back it, AND they had to explain WHY we were using iPads in our classroom. (A little brainwashing occurred here ... if they used the word "play" they automatically failed the test. If they used the word "learn", they passed that question. In fact, if a student later asked me, "May I play on my iPad?" I always said NO! If they used the word learn, that was a different matter! :) When each child passed the test, they were given a very special iPad license that could be revoked at any time. (Sadly, a few were revoked from time to time.)
3) Daytime Home
I had to decide where my students would keep their iPads during the day. Hmmm ... but first I needed to consider how I wanted the iPads used. Just like everything in teaching, first you have to clarify what your philosophy is and then you do your planning. I decided I wanted the iPads to be another tool in our classroom. I also decided that like pencils and paper and other tools, I wanted my students to have easy access to the iPads. So I purchased a dishtub from Target for each team. (Cost: under $2 each. But for that price, my only color choice was white.) Each team received a tub to permanently place on their desks. When we weren't using the iPads, the children placed them in their team's tubs. This meant that if a child finished an assignment early, they could pull out their iPad. It also meant that when my entire class was reading individually, some students chose to read on their iPads. (Some children continued to choose traditional books, but the option was always there to do either.)
4) Nighttime home
The charging/syncing cart is the nighttime home. Each iPad has a numbered slot that it "lives" in at night. BUT it was super hard for my kiddos to find the correct slot. I decided it was time for ... COLOR CODING! So I bought four rolls of colored tape (blue, red, green, and orange). I put a strip of tape on the front of each iPad and a small square of the same color next to the correct slot in the cart. (Of course, I created an ABCD pattern: blue, red, green, orange, etc.) Volia! My students were easily able to find their iPads at the beginning of the day and then at the end of the day, find their iPad's correct slot. Hurrah! (The tape won't last forever on the iPads, but long enough for students to know which color slot to look for.)
Whew! I love things to be organized!! In fact, I just read a hilarious note on Facebook. Here goes: I am CDO. CDO is like OCD, but the letters are in order, like they should be. Oh yeah, that is so me! A place for everything and everything in its place! Love it! But if you could see my classroom right now - I am moving classrooms and it isn't pretty right now OR if you could see my living room - I am moving classrooms so decided to bring a few (cough, cough) boxes of things home to organize ... then you would revoke my CDO license. So, it is off to organizing that I must go!
Love to all,
Camille
Thursday, June 14, 2012
iTalk iPads
On April 16, 2012 twentyfive iPads arrived in my classroom and my teaching life changed completely. Prior to that date I thought iPads might be helpful in education. Now I KNOW they are. I am stunned by what the term "digital native" really means. My students have not only surpassed me in their understanding of iPads, they are also fearless in learning more. There is no hope, not even itty bitty, that I can ever again be "the sage on the stage" when the iPads are being used. For years I have expoused on wanting to be the "guide on the side, not the sage on the stage", but now I am living it. (... and there are moments that I really would like to be the sage - just sayin'.)
I was challenged by my district to use free apps as much as possible. (Just think about the math: each app you buy you have to buy for 25 iPads, even with the 50% educational discount, this begins to add up). Well, I am pleased to say that there are many, many, many WONDERFUL free apps out there.
Here are four favorites:
Sushi Monster - This is one crazy app and my students loved using it! In this app students are challenged to add and multiply to feed the Sushi monster. I love it because the children are given the sum and must find the two numbers to add together to get that sum. Students may select their level and may also select multiplication (which was a wonderful challenge for my firsties who were ready for multiplication). This app was a little too hard for my kinders, but perfect for my firsties.
Sushi Monster
Sock Puppets - I discovered this app the last week of school, quickly introduced it and suddenly my students were making plays on their iPads. My kiddos LOVED it! I also loved it because it reinforced the ideas of character and setting. First, students choose their characters (all sock puppets, of course). Then they choose a setting. They can also add details to the setting (microphones anyone?). Finally, they get to record. The mouth of each sock puppet moves as the children speak. (Lip-syncing with sock puppets!!) Even better, there is a way to change your voice by making it higher or lower. I created a sock puppet play to introduce this app and my students had no idea that I had recorded my own voice. Too funny! The plays have to be one minute or less, but that worked for us. (You can buy a VIP Content Pass to add more options, but I plan to stick to the free version.)
Sock Puppets
Monkey Drum - When we voted for our favorite app, Monkey Drum won by a landslide. Why? I am not sure. This app is all about a monkey who plays a drum. The children can mimic the sounds the monkey makes or create their own tunes. The children loved to create songs and then have me listen. This app was reserved for Free Choice Time in my class and it was selected during that time by most students. During Free Choice Time, I let them unplug their headphones and the noise was (almost) deafening. But they loved it.
Monkey Drum
Rover - If I got to vote for App of the Year, this app would get my vote. It is a utility app that allows an iPad to use Flash content. You see Apple (the maker of iPads) and Adobe (the maker of Flash) don't get along so anything with Flash content does not work on iPads. This meant that my students couldn't use Raz-Kids or anything else with Flash. Boo! Hiss! Enter Rover, my hero! Rover allows items with Flash to be streamed onto your iPad (think about how NetFlix streams movies). Amazing! All year when my students finished work, I let them read. Once Rover entered our lives, they could pull out their iPads and read books from Raz-Kids. (Note: Raz-Kids is NOT free. I pay about $80 a year for a class subscription to it.)
Rover
Well, that's all for now.
Love to all,
Camille
I was challenged by my district to use free apps as much as possible. (Just think about the math: each app you buy you have to buy for 25 iPads, even with the 50% educational discount, this begins to add up). Well, I am pleased to say that there are many, many, many WONDERFUL free apps out there.
Here are four favorites:
Sushi Monster - This is one crazy app and my students loved using it! In this app students are challenged to add and multiply to feed the Sushi monster. I love it because the children are given the sum and must find the two numbers to add together to get that sum. Students may select their level and may also select multiplication (which was a wonderful challenge for my firsties who were ready for multiplication). This app was a little too hard for my kinders, but perfect for my firsties.
Sushi Monster
Sock Puppets - I discovered this app the last week of school, quickly introduced it and suddenly my students were making plays on their iPads. My kiddos LOVED it! I also loved it because it reinforced the ideas of character and setting. First, students choose their characters (all sock puppets, of course). Then they choose a setting. They can also add details to the setting (microphones anyone?). Finally, they get to record. The mouth of each sock puppet moves as the children speak. (Lip-syncing with sock puppets!!) Even better, there is a way to change your voice by making it higher or lower. I created a sock puppet play to introduce this app and my students had no idea that I had recorded my own voice. Too funny! The plays have to be one minute or less, but that worked for us. (You can buy a VIP Content Pass to add more options, but I plan to stick to the free version.)
Sock Puppets
Monkey Drum - When we voted for our favorite app, Monkey Drum won by a landslide. Why? I am not sure. This app is all about a monkey who plays a drum. The children can mimic the sounds the monkey makes or create their own tunes. The children loved to create songs and then have me listen. This app was reserved for Free Choice Time in my class and it was selected during that time by most students. During Free Choice Time, I let them unplug their headphones and the noise was (almost) deafening. But they loved it.
Monkey Drum
Rover - If I got to vote for App of the Year, this app would get my vote. It is a utility app that allows an iPad to use Flash content. You see Apple (the maker of iPads) and Adobe (the maker of Flash) don't get along so anything with Flash content does not work on iPads. This meant that my students couldn't use Raz-Kids or anything else with Flash. Boo! Hiss! Enter Rover, my hero! Rover allows items with Flash to be streamed onto your iPad (think about how NetFlix streams movies). Amazing! All year when my students finished work, I let them read. Once Rover entered our lives, they could pull out their iPads and read books from Raz-Kids. (Note: Raz-Kids is NOT free. I pay about $80 a year for a class subscription to it.)
Rover
Well, that's all for now.
Love to all,
Camille
Wednesday, March 28, 2012
iTalk iPads
Thank you to all who suggested iPad apps. I am busy researching them all!!!!
So here we go ... Camille's adventures with iPads .... Part One
Preparation
After school on Monday I attended a four hour training on using iPads in the classroom. I will be receiving 26 iPads to use with my class thanks to a district grant so this training was to get me going. Since I had never, ever used an iPad I tried to soak up as much as I could at the training.
Day One: Tuesday
I took the one iPad I received at the training into class. (The other 25 iPads are being prepped.) During stations my students took turns using the one iPad. I quickly discovered that even those students who had never used an iPad before, quickly left me in the dust. I just had them use Doodle Buddy (a free drawing app) to introduce them to a touchscreen.
Day Two: Wednesday
I introduced my students to a new app by placing my iPad on the document camera. Students were easily able to see it and thought it was super cool to see the iPad so very, very big! The app we used today was ShowMe. It turns the iPad into a whiteboard that records what you write AND what you say. I am in love with this app and plan to use it all the time. (... and can you believe it is free????) I made a few recording myself and showed one to the class. They were hooked! I asked for three volunteers to come in at lunch and try out the app. (That way my maiden voyage with my class and this app could be done without a huge audience.) The videos turned out great! They actually made me cry. I admit to being a sap, but really, hearing my firsties voices explaining how to solve a math problem is so endearing. Here is one example. If you could see the huge smile on this little girl's face when we played back her recording, you would cry too!!! Just so precious!!!
In addition to math, ShowMe could be used to record student writing (as long as it is only a sentence or two because that is all that will fit on the screen). Or to give directions or teach a lesson to the class.
Although I am excited about getting an iPad for every student, it is nice to have just one to start with. This way I can ease into this new learning situation. It is exciting, but also scary. I am so glad that I have my bloggy friends to hold my hand in my new adventure!
Lots and lots of love to all,
Camille
Sunday, March 25, 2012
iTalk iPads
Have you ever received some news that is so wonderful and amazing and incredible that you go into stun mode? You know, that mode where you just can't believe it so you don't think about it too much because if you do, you might find out it's not true. Deep sigh. Well, I am definitely in stun mode!
Here is my wonderful, amazing, incredible and actually quite a bit scary news:
I was chosen as a pilot teacher for iPads. Can you hear me screaming? But wait, it gets better ... the pilot program is for a 1:1 iPads. (More screaming!) That means 1 iPad for each child. (Hopefully you are covering your ears!!!) That means 25 iPads for my class. (I know, it is so amazing that I may never stop screaming and may never come out of stun mode!) That means .... I don't know what all it means. This is such new territory. I am fairly techy, but I have never used an iPad (though I have always coveted one). I wrote up a super long application with lots of ideas for apps and projects, but now I am quaking in my boots (and this California girl knows all about quaking!!!). I keep telling myself to breath.
So (deep breath) ... I thought I could devote my blog once a week to talking about lessons I have learned about using iPads in my classroom. Although I hope recording my journey will help others, I will definitely derive the most benefit.
Monday I go for the preliminary training. It is for four hours after school. I will be joined by four other teachers. One I know and she is marvelous. I just hope the others are nice since we are going to be breaking new ground together. (How pathetic do I sound? Somewhat like the little girl going away to camp with a group of strangers? "I hope they are nice!"Been there, done that!!)
If you are using iPads in your classroom, whether it's one iPad or more, please let me know. I have found lots of resources, but you are the folks in the trenches and you are the ones I trust the most.
In case you are wondering, my grant is from my district. Here is a link for my iPad grant application. The formatting may be crazy because I simply cut and pasted it from Word into Google Docs. If this can help anyone, great!
Love to all,
Camille
Here is my wonderful, amazing, incredible and actually quite a bit scary news:
I was chosen as a pilot teacher for iPads. Can you hear me screaming? But wait, it gets better ... the pilot program is for a 1:1 iPads. (More screaming!) That means 1 iPad for each child. (Hopefully you are covering your ears!!!) That means 25 iPads for my class. (I know, it is so amazing that I may never stop screaming and may never come out of stun mode!) That means .... I don't know what all it means. This is such new territory. I am fairly techy, but I have never used an iPad (though I have always coveted one). I wrote up a super long application with lots of ideas for apps and projects, but now I am quaking in my boots (and this California girl knows all about quaking!!!). I keep telling myself to breath.
So (deep breath) ... I thought I could devote my blog once a week to talking about lessons I have learned about using iPads in my classroom. Although I hope recording my journey will help others, I will definitely derive the most benefit.
Monday I go for the preliminary training. It is for four hours after school. I will be joined by four other teachers. One I know and she is marvelous. I just hope the others are nice since we are going to be breaking new ground together. (How pathetic do I sound? Somewhat like the little girl going away to camp with a group of strangers? "I hope they are nice!"Been there, done that!!)
If you are using iPads in your classroom, whether it's one iPad or more, please let me know. I have found lots of resources, but you are the folks in the trenches and you are the ones I trust the most.
In case you are wondering, my grant is from my district. Here is a link for my iPad grant application. The formatting may be crazy because I simply cut and pasted it from Word into Google Docs. If this can help anyone, great!
Love to all,
Camille
Sunday, July 24, 2011
What Do I Sqworl Away?
Question from a follower (Gosh, "a follower", that is pretty humbling to me!!!):
Camille, what websites do you put on Sqworl for your kindergartners?
Answer:
Well, last year was my first year to teach kindergarten and I had a K/1 combination so I am NOT an expert on the best websites out there for kindergartners. I know some of you have better ideas, which I hope you will share via a comment. But, here are the online sites I used:
1) Starfall - free and fun -
My students loved this website. My one concern is that a few of the games were not very academically oriented and those were the ones that my students were most attracted to. Since this was my first year with Starfall (and kindergartners), I learned as I went.
2) RAZ - Kids $80 /year per class (If ten classes sign up together, it's $60 /year per class.)
I love this site because it is so easy for the children (and the teacher) to use. I can choose the level of books for each child to read online or I can open up the entire library to them.
3) Sylva Dell Books - Free
This company will give schools free access to their online books if you apply. These books are much, much harder, but I liked giving my students another option for reading online (... and remember I also had first graders in my class and some of them needed a challenge.)
4) Oxford Owl - Free
I just recently discovered this site and have not used it with a class yet. Students choose books to listen to online. This site is based in England so the narrators have an English accent.
5) IXL - $199/ year per class
I was very frustrated last year in my quest to find a math program for my students to use online. In the Spring I found IXL, and although it was pricey, it somewhat fit my needs. I only used it for about 2 months with my class, so the jury is still out. However, my students seemed to really enjoy it. A plus is that all the standards are covered. A minus is that it is mostly drill and practice; however, if you miss a problem you can ask to see an explanation and the explanations are good (completely visual, no voice). But how many kinders would ask for an explanation? I think zero. Another minus for me, is that I couldn't figure out a way to control which standards my students were working on. The entire year's worth of standards is given as a choice (actually all standards from K-6 are given as a choice). Whew! That's a lot of choices! So I am not 100% sold and am continuing to look.
I also used these two math programs and cannot recommend them for kindergarten, but they might be your cup of tea. Here's the scoop:
1) XtraMath - Free
This a great drill program for mastering the basic math facts. I can't recommend it for kinder because I don't believe kindergartners should be spending their time memorizing math facts. (My two cents.)
2) Study Island - Math - $121/ year per class (It's another $121 for language arts for K or 1st.)
The upper grade teachers RAVED about this program, so I gave it a try. For kinder and first grade, Study Island uses the same standards nationwide, but it was a close enough match for me. The first year I used it, I taught first grade and it went over well with my students. I like being able to stipulate which concepts students worked on. But things changed in the Fall, when my district created usernames and passwords for Study Island that were impossible to remember and impossible for some of my students to type in (periods, random numbers and random letters). I think this was a district thing, not a Study Island issue; but for whatever reason, I can't use a program that my students cannot access. (Luckily my subscription ran out right when this happened so I didn't have to pay for a program I wasn't using.)
Whew, that was a long post!! If anyone is still reading and has ideas for great websites for kinders and firsties, PLEASE let us know in a comment. Thanks!
Camille
Camille, what websites do you put on Sqworl for your kindergartners?
Answer:
Well, last year was my first year to teach kindergarten and I had a K/1 combination so I am NOT an expert on the best websites out there for kindergartners. I know some of you have better ideas, which I hope you will share via a comment. But, here are the online sites I used:
1) Starfall - free and fun -
My students loved this website. My one concern is that a few of the games were not very academically oriented and those were the ones that my students were most attracted to. Since this was my first year with Starfall (and kindergartners), I learned as I went.
2) RAZ - Kids $80 /year per class (If ten classes sign up together, it's $60 /year per class.)
I love this site because it is so easy for the children (and the teacher) to use. I can choose the level of books for each child to read online or I can open up the entire library to them.
3) Sylva Dell Books - Free
This company will give schools free access to their online books if you apply. These books are much, much harder, but I liked giving my students another option for reading online (... and remember I also had first graders in my class and some of them needed a challenge.)
4) Oxford Owl - Free
I just recently discovered this site and have not used it with a class yet. Students choose books to listen to online. This site is based in England so the narrators have an English accent.
5) IXL - $199/ year per class
I was very frustrated last year in my quest to find a math program for my students to use online. In the Spring I found IXL, and although it was pricey, it somewhat fit my needs. I only used it for about 2 months with my class, so the jury is still out. However, my students seemed to really enjoy it. A plus is that all the standards are covered. A minus is that it is mostly drill and practice; however, if you miss a problem you can ask to see an explanation and the explanations are good (completely visual, no voice). But how many kinders would ask for an explanation? I think zero. Another minus for me, is that I couldn't figure out a way to control which standards my students were working on. The entire year's worth of standards is given as a choice (actually all standards from K-6 are given as a choice). Whew! That's a lot of choices! So I am not 100% sold and am continuing to look.
I also used these two math programs and cannot recommend them for kindergarten, but they might be your cup of tea. Here's the scoop:
1) XtraMath - Free
This a great drill program for mastering the basic math facts. I can't recommend it for kinder because I don't believe kindergartners should be spending their time memorizing math facts. (My two cents.)
2) Study Island - Math - $121/ year per class (It's another $121 for language arts for K or 1st.)
The upper grade teachers RAVED about this program, so I gave it a try. For kinder and first grade, Study Island uses the same standards nationwide, but it was a close enough match for me. The first year I used it, I taught first grade and it went over well with my students. I like being able to stipulate which concepts students worked on. But things changed in the Fall, when my district created usernames and passwords for Study Island that were impossible to remember and impossible for some of my students to type in (periods, random numbers and random letters). I think this was a district thing, not a Study Island issue; but for whatever reason, I can't use a program that my students cannot access. (Luckily my subscription ran out right when this happened so I didn't have to pay for a program I wasn't using.)
Whew, that was a long post!! If anyone is still reading and has ideas for great websites for kinders and firsties, PLEASE let us know in a comment. Thanks!
Camille
Saturday, July 23, 2011
Sqworl It Away!
Yep. Today you are going to learn how to "Sqworl It Away". (It's time for a tech tip from a tech loving teacher.)
Sqworl is one of my very favorite web tools for my classroom. It's easy, it's useful and I just love the weird name!
Sqworl is like a mini-webpage that displays all of your links along with a picture of the opening screen for each link.
So, here is how it works: My students click on an acorn icon on the desktop. (Get it? Sqworl = acorn. But this is only on a pc. You Mac users will get a regular Mac icon.) Once they click on the acorn in my class, the screen shown in the photo below opens up. ALL my student links are listed there. Yep, ALL. (If you look closely, you can see RAZ Kids, Star and a few math websites.) Students then choose the link they want, click on the picture and that site opens up. No more hunting around the desktop for each link! No more missing links! No more non-readers struggling to find the correct link. These all have pictures!! Oh, I heart Sqworl! Oh, I forgot to tell you that it is free. Yep, F.R.E.E., FREE! Oh, and I am not even to the best part yet. Keep reading ....
Sqworl is one of my very favorite web tools for my classroom. It's easy, it's useful and I just love the weird name!
Sqworl is like a mini-webpage that displays all of your links along with a picture of the opening screen for each link.
So, here is how it works: My students click on an acorn icon on the desktop. (Get it? Sqworl = acorn. But this is only on a pc. You Mac users will get a regular Mac icon.) Once they click on the acorn in my class, the screen shown in the photo below opens up. ALL my student links are listed there. Yep, ALL. (If you look closely, you can see RAZ Kids, Star and a few math websites.) Students then choose the link they want, click on the picture and that site opens up. No more hunting around the desktop for each link! No more missing links! No more non-readers struggling to find the correct link. These all have pictures!! Oh, I heart Sqworl! Oh, I forgot to tell you that it is free. Yep, F.R.E.E., FREE! Oh, and I am not even to the best part yet. Keep reading ....
I just hate finding new websites for my kiddos and then running around the room to each computer to create a link on the desktop. Well, I never, ever have to do that again!!!! (Unless I get a new computer or switch rooms.) Now whenever I want to add a new website that I want my students to use, I just sit calmly at my own computer and go into the edit mode of my Sqworl and add that link. Then like magic, the new link appears whenever the acorn is pressed. No more running around the room adding icons to the desktop. Oh, I soooo heart Sqworl. Oh, and there is more. In the past, whenever I taught the children how to use a new website, I would send home the url to parents. No more! Instead, I just send home the Sqworl url at the beginning of the year and students automatically have access at home to any links I add to my Sqworl. Plus, you can have more than one Sqworl page. I am thinking of creating a Sqworl page for science next year. Your Sqworl pages are all linked so again, just one url is needed to have access to ALL of your student links.
Okay, there need to be some issues, right? Well, there are. Sqworl just recently starting putting one advertisement on each page. But the ads are all educational type things so that is fine with me. (That is why Sqworl is free so I can accept that.) Another thing to be aware of, is that the Sqworls are public. This is not the place to add a link to photos of your students or anything else you want kept very private. (When I say "public", I mean it is just like anything else on the web that is not behind a "wall".)
Now, I strongly encourage you to check out Sqworl!!!!! It is really easy to use, but email me if you need any help. There are even short videos Sqworl to help you get started. http://sqworl.com/
Love to all of my followers,
Camille
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