Deb Norton Tech

There is a wonderful new tool for drawing online called Drawz it.   (Drawz it is in beta, which means it is being tested for use.)   One of the best features of this tool is the sharing option to obtain an embed code for placing a drawing into a blog or wiki.  For example: Create your own drawings at http://www.drawzit.com ! AND Create your own drawings at http://www.drawzit.com ! To see all of the features of Drawz it and to find out more about sharing options, click here .  Tammy Worcester explains Drawz it in her Tech Tip of the Week. 

Here are two nice news sites for students to check out.  Both of these sites offer current events and are interactive including videos.  Both sites also have  the ability for student feedback and interaction with others from around the globe.   These would be great to view through your projector or on a netbook or iPad.  Enjoy! #1 DOGO News DOGOnews is an online newspaper and web guide for  children.   "DOGO" (not Do-Go), means young or small in Swahili. Our goal is to provide a fun, safe and interactive environment for children to read and learn about interesting current events. Our  news articles are short, simple and include photos/videos in order to keep children focused and interested. We also augment our content with an integrated dictionary for challenging words and maps for geographical context. #2 Youngzine Youngzine is a one-of-a-kind Web site where children can learn about current news and events shaping the...

This is a great video showing Hidden Keyboard Functions: Tips and Tricks for the iPad.  I learned a lot watching this video.  It is 4 minutes and 25 seconds long.

I'm always impressed with any online tool from Disney.  And Club Penguin's Motion Comic Creator does not disappoint. This comic creator is rich in images, drawing and tools.  It helps to have a Disney account for sharing and saving, but it is not necessary if you just want to create a comic.  Sharing options include printing out the comic or downloading it to your computer as an image.  I created the comic above in about 5 minutes.  What is neat is that students can play the comic and it looks like a little slideshow or movie.  Even young students can have fun with this comic creator. Thanks Disney!

It's that time of year!  Do you need some fun Christmas sites for your students that are still educational? Well here is one of the best collections I've found from the wonderful KB Konnected .  Karen Bolotin is the creator of this site made in Jog the Web.   I've written about Jog the Web in the past.  Click here to learn more about Jog the Web. Our students are enjoying exploring these sites.  Did I mention that there are currently 151 sites to visit?  (Now that's a collection!) One thing we taught our students is how to go from Jog the Web directly to the site being shown since it is often difficult to view the entire site on Jog the Web.  Here is a screen capture showing how to do this. Last week we used a site  on the Jog which allows you to create your own gingerbread cookie .  Students designed their cookie and then used the snipping tool ( read about the snipping tool here ) to take a screen capture....

So often I use my old blog posts to remember what I was doing a year ago.  It is really easy for me to forget about all of the great sites and resources that are out there, so looking through my old posts is a good reminder of what I can use with my students. I found several blog posts from last year that I am now using with my students this year.  So I thought I would share them with you. Click here for a great resource for sending ecards.   Click here to read about an easy way to record yourself.  (I'm going to use this this week for our Glogsters!)  Click here for a Livebinder of Christmas sites.  Also for an explanation of what a Livebinder is.   Click here for some online Advent Calendars.   Isn't it nice to recycle and use things over again?  I know I enjoyed it this week!