Sometimes You Want It Really Big!

Have you ever had an image or text that you wanted to "blow up" into poster size? Maybe you want to use it for a Bulletin Board, a Center Sign, or a visual teaching sign. I once had a way of making a poster using a Microsoft Excel, but this is way easier! It is called Block Poster and I found out about it while reading my daily dose of "wow" from the ILearn Technology blog. I am always amazed at how many useful websites I do not know about and they continue to make me wonder why any teacher would ever say they did not need technology???
Take a look at Block Poster. In three easy steps you can upload an image, decide how big you would want your poster and then click on the pdf that was made for you. It prints out on 81/2 x 11 inch paper or other sized paper that you specify. It can be printed in portrait or landscape.
It is just another useful tool for "Taming The Tedious Teacher Tasks".

Holiday Card Exchange Project To Begin - Registration Opens Friday!

Jen Wagner, in her never tiring efforts to bring excitement into real time/real life learning is once again hosting the Holiday Card Exchange Project Registration will open on Friday. I am aware that many people want to stay away from the religious significance of the holiday season so as not to exclude any religious groups. This project can be done with geography and world awareness in mind without making this a religious project.
After you register, you will be placed in a group with 24 other schools, hopefully from far and wide. You will be asked to make and send holiday cards to the 24 other schools in your group. The cards will include information about your school and your city. Links for ideas of making cards will be provided and of course using scanners and digital cameras to publish cards on your computers would also be an option. By December 7th., you will send your cards and start receiving ncards. The cards you receive will include information about the school and the city it is coming from. Using a map to identify where your cards come from will have students "talking geogrphy". For example, one child will see a card form Minnesota and exclaim, "That class is so close to Canada!" Of course, cities can be located on Google Earth or Google Maps simply with a zip code.
The cards form the basis for the project - but so much more learning about the world can come out of this project.
Again, Thank You Jen!

Handy Tool For Your Classroom - A Timer

I think this would be a very handy tool to have in the classroom - a Simple Timer . This timer can be used two ways. One, as a countdown timer for an activity that you want to keep to a certain period of time. Second, you could use this clock to time a certain event or activity. The Simple Timer can be projected onto a screen or onto an Interactive Whiteboard so that everyone knows how much time is left or how much time they are taking to perform a task.
I learned about the Simple Timer from one of my favorite blogs ILearn Technology.

Purpose Games - Drill and Practice With A Purpose!

I loved these games that I learned about this morning on Free Technology For Teachers. They are called Purpose Games and consist of games that teachers have created so that students can practice things like the states, the skeletal parts of the body, the thirteen colonies. Teachers can create their own game, based on the curriculum that is for their students, they can share games with others, or have their students create games as a review.
There are two types of games. One is a simple multiple choice and the other is more complex (easy to create) one like the map of the states.
This is a wonderful Teacher-Tool website for creating your own games or using games that others have created. I liked this alot! Purpose Games

Planning a Virtual Trip With The Kids?

This is a quick one today. If you are planning to "pretend" that the kids will be traveling to another place, here is a great website to make and be able to print out an actual airline ticket replica. One hint is to put the full name where it says Surname or only the last name will show. It is called Music Airport and it is just one of those sites you may want to bookmark for the future.

For Those That Teach About Angles -Geometry

This website, called Protractor, is specific to using a protractor for the study of angles within your geometry curriculum. It is simple enough and visually appropriate for even showing right angles to kindergartners or first-graders. It is so complete and is shown full screen without any distractions, that I was extremely impressed with it. This would be perfect to be shown on an Interactive White Board.
I found it on Teacher First, an excellent newsletter that is in my in-box every Sunday morning, just like the New York Times (but that arrives in my mailbox!) Sign up HERE to get Teachers First sent to you.

Time For The Pumpkin Seed Count Project - Yeah Jen Wagner!

We are so fortunate that Jen Wagner continues to provide teachers all over the world with opportunities for participating in an online project. They are timely, there is much to be learned by the students, and there is very little effort needed by the teacher. This project is only for the K-3rd. grade set, but I am sure 4th. and 5th. grade students may enjoy doing some of the activities on their own. This project also only goes from October 28th. to October 30th. The project website can be found HERE. This is a great place to introduce a spreadsheet when all of the results are in. You will also be able to make a simple graph/chart with the results. Once the graph/chart is made, students can answer questions like, "Where was the class from that had the most/least seeds in their pumpkin?" "Where is the class whose pumpkin had just about as many seeds as ours had?" Reading graphs like this makes this skill using real life-real time data easily developed even in young children.
Registration is now open for this great project. Much gratitude to Jen!