Deb Norton Tech

Here are some sites I'm going to share with my students this week: #1 I've been exploring a new site called Weather Channel Kids .   This site if full of fun facts, videos and information about weather.  There are lesson plans for teachers, a parent section and interactive activities for students.   Weather Channel for Kids is sponsored by The Weather Channel and it looks like a great site to share with your class. #2 Brain Pop has a new section called Brain Pop Games.  Students can play games in science, social studies, math and health that are linked to Common Core and State Standards. #3   Comic Builder Lego City looks like a great site to demonstrate some creativity. Students can create their own comic and add their own dialogue.   #4 National Geographic for Kids    This site is so full of interesting, educational pieces of information.  My own son at home spends a lot of time on thi...

Lately I have come across some gargantuan sized lists of web 2.0 tools.  These lists seem to take me in and I get lost for hours in their black hole, only to come back hours later with my mind filled up with ideas to integrate these tools into our curriculum and lessons.   Reminding myself that the curriculum and students lead my instruction, not the technology, is what keeps me focused.   My goal each week is to use at least one tool with my students that develops their 21 Century Skills and enhances their learning. Today I share with you a mighty collection of these web 2.0 lists.  Be careful not to get lost in the black hole and stay focused on your objectives for your lessons.  Try one new tool for the week and may you succeed in integrating technology effectively.   Create your own Playlist on MentorMob! (Notice I'm using a new tool to present my list to you from MentorMob.  I'm considering using this for my Flipped Classroom L...

A while back I saw a post on another blog that revealed some informational facts about the blog, so I thought it might be interesting (and therapeutic) to write a similar post. How did this blog get started?  This blog started because of my master's thesis.  I wanted to find out if using a blog to share technology with other teachers would be effective.  Turns out it is. A lot of people ask me when I find the time to blog.  I write most of my posts on Saturday and Sunday mornings between 5am and 8am.  I am a terrible sleeper and will often go onto my computer during the night, so it is not unheard of for me to write a post at 2:30 am! How long does it take?  It takes between 2 and 3 hours to write my posts for the week.  Part of this is finding sites to share. Where do I find the things I share?  I currently follow 164 blogs through my Google Reader, which equals over 1000 blog posts per week.  I check my...

I just spent about an hour cleaning up my Google Docs.  Check it out! Before: After: No, I did not delete everything.  I just put everything into folders, or what Google Docs calls collections. How did I do it?  I came across this post on KB Konnected's great blog about Organizing Google Docs. I took a few minutes to watch the video: And then I got busy. I knew about creating collections in Google Docs, but I didn't know about the secret button to "Not Show in Home".  It took me a while, but I now have all of my Google Docs organized in collections and my home page is empty.   I love cleaning.  How about you?

This past week my reading group read a fictional story about some students taking a field trip to Niagara Falls.  On Friday we had finished the story and had a little extra time, so here is what we did.  I think you'll find this really cool. We decided to go on a Virtual Field Trip which would be planned by our reading group.  Each student searched the Internet for a place to take us on our Virtual Field trip.  They read a little about their special place and then found an image to send to me via a Google Form.   Once I received their URL in the Google Form Spreadsheet, I copied and pasted the URL address into a Web 2.0 tool called Voicethread.  The students then went to Voicethread to record some information about their special place.  They could record with their webcam, with an audio recording or with text.  It is quite interesting to find that my students do not like to record themselves using their webcams.  They much prefe...

Yesterday we used a Scholastic Site to practice our spelling words.  Students just need to type in ten of their words and then they can choose which type of puzzle they want to make.  After the puzzle is created students can solve the puzzle, Spelling Scramble or Word Search, right on their computer.  The other option is to print off the puzzle and solve it with paper and pencil . My students enjoyed creating and solving their puzzles.  This site could also be used to practice vocabulary words. Enjoy!

  Have you ever heard of Evernote ?  I've been using this app for a while now and I think it's time I share it with all of you.   See the Elephant?  This is Evernote's icon and it has to do with that saying about "an elephant never forgets".   This is how I would describe Evernote :  an app that lets you take notes in various formats including text, photos, audio or links, and then syncs those notes to any device that you have the Evernote app installed on; including a smart phone, iPad, iPod, eReader, laptop, or desktop.   Let me tell you how I have been using Evernote .   First, here is a screen shot of my current notes: As you can see, I have a note that is a URL of a site that I wanted to remember.  I took this note by clicking the Evernote add-on in my web browser on my laptop.   I also have a note with a picture of some chap stick.  I took this note one morning w...