Diigo post (weekly)

• Match The Memory

  matching game free web 2.0 tools for students to use

  tags: online memory game education social technology

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

Diigo post (weekly)

• Overview | WeVideo

  tags: resources technology education video editing WeVideo tools

• Teach100 | Teach.com

  tags: education resources technology tools

• An Educators Guide To Twitter - LiveBinder

  tags: education resources technology

• Blogging About The Web 2.0 Connected Classroom: The Power Of The Lurker

  tags: education resources technology

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

Blog is moving

This blog is moving! Please update your reader and bookmarks to

https://sites.google.com/site/wednesdayswithsam/cool-tools-and-random-finds

I moved my most viewed posts to this site.

App review: Scrawlar

Hey everyone,

I wanted to share my thoughts on app I found out about via twitter. It is called Scrawlar. Scrawlar brings together a collaborative doc, drawing, and backchat into one easy to use app that you can use on your tablet, phone, or laptop.

What is Scrawler?

• Scrawlar is a web 2.0 tool that combines an interactive whiteboard, collaborative document, and chat feature into one user friendly classroom tool. 

How to set up Scrawlar:

• To create a Scrawlar account please go to http://www.scrawlar.com/signup.php
• Complete the requested information 
• Check the box to agree
• Click submit
• Once your account is set up login to the account by going to: http://www.scrawlar.com/login.php
• Select teacher
• Login to the account

Once you are logged in you will be directed to a work space where you can create a collaborative document, a sketch, and back chat (class feed). You can create new docs to share with students or check what has been shared with you.

Manage students in Scrawlar

• To create student accounts for your class select manage students
• Complete the information required for each student
• When an account is created a password will be identified for each student
• Students can login to Scrawler and find docs that have created and that have been shared with them

Sharing docs or sketches in Scrawlar

• Create a document you would like to share
• When document is complete click the share button (on your workspace, it is a green button on the right hand side)
• Select which users you would like to share your document with 
• Can select if the user can view or edit the doc
• Click update

Shared docs

• To view docs or sketches that have been shared with you select Shared with me
• You will find all docs or sketches shared with you here 
• You will also see the permissions a user has set for you (view, edit) 

Class feed

• The class feed feature is like a back chat
• Users can type whats on their mind here
• Responses will be displayed (most recent first)

How to use Scrawlar in your classroom:

• Collaboration between students
• Write and revise drafts of work 
• Group work 
• Use as alternative to Google docs
• Annotation on a drawing between several students  
• Back chat

Hop on down the bunny trail!

 Good morning everyone,

"Hippity hoppity Easter is on it's way!" Below are some interactive Easter activities for you to do in your classroom on a computer or interactive whiteboard. Some of my favorites include:

Easter Reading Activity Simple reading text and online quiz.  Online Easter Word Search Interactive Easter word search  Egg Catch Game: Catch the falling eggs with the basket. Easter Quiz - Have fun answering these Easter questions. Elementary grammar quizzes. Put the jumbled words in the correct order to make sentences. 9-Piece Tile Swap Puzzle: Swap the puzzle pieces to put the picture back together.  Decorate an Easter Egg : Pick a color for your egg, decorate, and print.  Egg Fun Decorate and print your own Easter Egg design with this bright and sunny activity! Easter Egg Dress Up Game - Dress up the egg for Easter.  MightyBook.com An Easter matching activity as well as an e-book. Found on Smartboard goodies blog But to find more Easter games for your little bunnies click here to be linked to my Wednesdays with Sam page!  Have a "hoppy" Easter!

April 2nd is Autism Awareness Day

Good morning,

Today is  world autism awareness day! Autism is a spectrum disorder that affects an individual's brain. It varies in severity depending upon the individual. This continuum includes disorders from ‘low functioning’ to ‘high functioning':  

• Autistic disorder
• Rett syndrome (more common in girls than boys)
• Childhood dis-integrative disorder
• Pervasive developmental disorder –not otherwise specified (pdd-nos)
• Asperger syndrome

According to the CDC autism affects 1 in 68 children, and is more prevalent in boys than girls.  In fact, according to the autism speaks website, autism affects more than two million individuals in the us alone.  To learn more about autism click here.  Some common behaviors of autism spectrum disorder include:  

• Difficulty with speech and communication skills
• Repetitive behaviors
• Intellectual disabilities
• Motor skill disorders
• Health issues (sleep and gastrointestinal)
• Attention disorders

Resources for students with Autism

• List of apps for Autism from Autism Speaks
• Toolkits from Autism Speaks
• Assistive Technology Resources 
• Apps for All - List of apps for many needs
• Free or Discounted Apps for Autism Awareness Day
• Zac Broswer - The first internet browser developed just for students with Autism! 

Cool Tool Review....Class Dojo

Good morning all,

I wanted to share a cool tool I found out about during #satchat this morning called class Dojo. Class Dojo is an interactive tool that you can use on your computer (or the app for ios and droid) to track student behaviors and attendance during class. It is a great classroom management tool.

Class Dojo Setup

• First thing is first create a free teacher account here: https://teach.classdojo.com/register
• Complete the required information 
• Register account

Class Dojo How-To

• Login to class dojo
• Create your class and give it a name
• Enter or copy from a list the names of your students 
• Once you add students to the account Class Dojo will provide you with a PDF that has a unique code for each student (and parent!)
• Students then sign on  and create an account with their individual code,  they can track how they are doing in class.
• Once inside class Dojo you can:
• Award students with positive behavior rewards
• Identify where students need to improve
• Take attendance
• Call on a random student
• Show a timer countdown or count-up
• You can even customize the behaviors (both positive and negative) that are present in your classroom.
• Track how many awards a student receives
• As students exhibit positive behaviors you can award them points and a green circle indicating the number of points they obtained in by their avatar and name.
• As students exhibit negative behaviors, the number of points decrease. 
• You can see the number of behaviors (positive or negative) as a combined or separate view. 
• When class is over  you can see the overall score of positive and negative behaviors exhibited during class. 
• Also view each student independently with the behaviors that occurred during class

 The video below shows a tutorial regarding how to create your Class Dojo step by step. 

Readers - how can you use Class Dojo with your students?