Helpful+website+tools

This page provides links to various websites that (I hope) will make the use of technology in the classroom easier!

**Visual/Drawing/Artistic tools**
TuxPaint, TuxMath, TuxTyping are all examples of programs that are fun to use and helpful within Elementary classrooms. These need to be downloaded, but they are all FREE resources.

Try using Alpoy within your classroom, have students create an Avatar that can be used as their digital identity for a blog.

Picassa is a great site to upload and organize photos with, it is also easy to share photos using Picassa. I use it at home, and there are many ways to use this tool within the classroom.

Visual Dictionary is a great tool to use for visual learners! There is also access to lesson plans and games that would be great to use also!

Chartle is a website that can be used to make interactive charts, may be helpful for math lessons!

Doink is an example of an artistic website that can be used to create flash pictures. These can be uploaded to sites including Facebook and YouTube.

Logo Ease is a site that can be incorporated into any subject. Your students can make their very own logo for free!

Shape Collage makes wonderful picture collages. What a unique way to complete an art project without using paper! Check out the Digital Images page for examples of copyright friendly places to get photographs!

Sumo Paint is a web based "paint" style program that is popular and can be used to paint!

Voice Draw is an interesting tool that can be used within the classroom. You need a microphone to use this program, but the program creates a drawing based on sound! Great for students with differing needs, and for reluctant artists!

BigHugeLabs offers a variety of tools from poster making to magazine covers, to slide shows. This is a great tool that can be used by the teacher or students.

Bubbl.us is a different way to integrate technology into brainstorming. There is a choice of colours and design that can help your visual learners to really absorb information. You can also save this and link it to a blog so students are able to refer back to it when needed!

the Awesome Highlighter is another example of a great tool for teachers, and possibly students. When you are gathering information that you would like to share in a lesson plan you can highlight the important parts directly on a website! This will certainly help the paperless classroom!

This website provides graphic organizers that are fun and easy to use

Here's a helpful Health resource for a kindergarten classroom!

**Auditory tools/Recording/Music making sites**
JamStudio is a great way to create your own music. Can be a great tool to add to movies!

Recordr is another great tool that can be used to make your own music and embed!

-Voki I have used this tool throughout my internship and I have used it to communicate with my students since I have left. There are so many options to create Avatars with this site, and there are various ways you can add a "voice" to your character. This one is a lot of fun for students (and teachers!)

-Voice Thread can be a great tool within the classroom, I like the possibilities with this site because if you want your students to participate but don't have media release, you can easily post a picture of whatever they are commenting on, but still use their voice!

Jamendo is a great site with free music available for download. Remember to give credit, but these artists upload their music for use! This can be used in podcasts and other areas, just be cautious as some times there are explicit lyrics within the songs.

**Presentation and Website tools**
Prezi is a new take on slide shows and presentations. It is a unique way to present! To learn more about the pros and cons of Prezi visit this blog.

Ning is a great example of a website that can be utilized within a classroom. Students can make their pages their own and there is the ability to create students blogs on this site also!

Weebly is a user friendly website creator for classroom use. You can use and create blogs for students on this site also! It's an all in one tool!

KompoZer is a great website that is FREE to use, EASY to use, and helps you to create a website without having to know coding!

**Resources and Resource makers (Interactive)**
Cool Tools for School is a great interactive website that has access to many wonderful types of technology. Fabulous resource, and a great way to help a teacher that is unsure of what technology can be used in the classroom!

ClassTools is a fantastic website that allows teachers to tailor make games and activities and diagrams that work FOR YOUR STUDENTS and FOR YOUR LESSON! Customizable technology is probably the BEST tool that an educator can have access to!

SparkleBox offers a variety of free resources for teachers! Many resources are printable and can easily be used in a K-5 setting!

YouTube can be a valuable teaching tool. Just make sure you view the videos before sharing them with your class.

TeacherTube is another valuable resource that has less questionable content.

UMapper is a cool site that teachers can use to create a geography game. GeoDart is an add on to UMapper, which is a game where students are to identify locations chosen by the teacher.

SKYPE is a great tool that can help you to bring experts from many fields into your classroom. This is a video conference tool, and virtually makes distance a non issue. You can bring classrooms from all over the world into yours by signing up for this service. Best of all, if the person you are connecting to has Skype also, your call is free!

Check out these three sites for resource makers, such as word searches, crossword creators and word game makers.

**Making teaching easier**
MooURL is a neat tool that shortens urls. I think this is very valuable when trying to get a room full of people on the same page quickly!

Drop io is a place that you can upload large files. This can be helpful because the files can be accessed from any computer when they are needed!

We Transfer is a similar tool to Dropio, but it gives you the opportunity to send large email files to another email recipient.

Dropbox is a great tool that helps making working at home easier for teachers! This can be a free account with a space limit.

Evernote is another great resource for teachers that allows you to make reminder notes on the go. There is even potential to have an audio note recorded from your phone!

Paperrater is a great tool to use to get a breakdown of the technical side of student papers.

This site offers advice and things to consider when integrating digital storytelling within the classroom. It also offers some great tips.