Teacher Trinkets

I would always find cool stuff on the internet, and instantly think of ways it could be used in the classroom. I decided to start sharing all that info! Here are tips and tricks, I hope you can find them useful too!

Tuesday, July 21, 2009

Fliggo For Better Video Posting


YouTube can be awesome, but first and foremost, it's usually blocked in any school district. Even if it's not, there is a lot of junk out there, and teachers just KNOW that some students will wander around looking at rap videos or exploding mentos videos.

Fliggo is a great alternative. You can still embed and upload videos, and you can even link to YouTube videos. The difference is that you can control the site and customize it to what you need. You can change the appearance of the site, control the privacy of it, and best of all it doesn't take a lot of technical know how. I wish I had known about this earlier - I could have posted all the science videos my students made, without worrying about random strangers looking at it. What a great tool, especially if you are worried about your student's privacy!

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Monday, July 6, 2009

SlideShare



This past year, I was faced with the challenge of teaching 4th and 5th graders how to use computers. A great majority of them had never really used one, and even the few who did were unfamiliar with the terms and use - we spent a long time talking about how to select choices with radio buttons, how to use the trackpad, and how to save files. But there were never complaints, and anytime I asked my kids to do any task that would have usually been met with groans, I told them we would do it on the computers and they did everything I asked so as to get on the laptops ASAP. They were so excited to use Power Point, and were really positive on their feedback of other student's presentations. They asked if I could share the presentations on my Science Class blog, but I soon tired of embedding.

SlideShare is a great alternative. You can create an account, add tags, and even mark if you don't want others to download the presentations. It works for documents as well, and you can search other people's documents to see if there is anything you need! I shared my jeopardy power points, so that I can just email other teachers a link and they can use it directly from the site, or download to their computer. Also, I feel like I always email attachments and then the next day improve the file somehow. This way, I can improve the file and the changes will keep updating the original file. Click the link above to see what I mean, and you can leave a link to your page in the comments as well!

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