Safe Share

Do you know about Safeshare.tv?

It’s an awesome tool to use.  You can find any YouTube video, cut the address from the address bar and paste it into the SafeShare site: www.safeshare.tv  It will show your video without ads or that annoying sidebar.

I try to find a good “technology” video to show in my classes at least once a quarter.  The SafeShare site makes it so I don’t worry what sort of videos they suggest for me!

I most recently showed a video about Derby the Dog.  He has prostheses made on a 3D printer.  It’s an awesome, feel good video.  

Here’s the YouTube link:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uRmoowIN8aY

Don’t forget to paste it into the SafeShare site if you are going to show it!

Big Board in the Hall

I forgot to share my big board in the hall!  This one is right outside my room. . .

I channeled Dr. Seuss for this one. 

 Made with tissue paper. 

 Half of a dollar store coconut bra.

 Bendy straws for the signs.

 Paper and markers. . .

Shapes on Word for the sign.  Loads of fun!

Welcome Back! Bulletin Board Share

I have reused some bulletin boards, but I have a few new ones to share.  Give me a few days to get the free links up. . . I'm crazy busy.

Diacritical marks. . . very important when we do our Spanish brochures! 

 

Doing a little something on plagiarism and citing your sources. . . super easy with Word or with easybib.com.

Rules. . . . 

.
 . . . and manners.

Did my tree again and put where things are in Microsoft Word.  For example, Clip Art is in the Insert Tab, Illustrations Group.

Good luck to everyone starting out the new year!  It's gonna be great!

Getting Your Letters On Straight

School starts in FIVE DAYS!!!  I'm a little crazy right now. . .

I've got the bulletin boards up.  One of the things I have the hardest time with is getting my bulletin board letters straight.  I will eyeball them and they'll go up, or they'll go down, or they'll be wavy. . . but they're never straight across.  Never.

I finally figured it out.

Tape.  Tape is my friend.

It's kind of hard to see on my photo, but that's masking tape right across the front of the letters.

Let me first say that you can only do this on blank walls or FABRIC backed bulletin boards.  I use fabric because it's fun, reusable and doesn't fade.

If you use paper backed bulletin boards, this will rip your paper.

First, line up the letters on something straight.  I use the edge of my desk.

Rip off a piece of masking tape to cover all your letters and lay it over the top.

You can now pick up the entire word and transfer it to your bulletin board.

Adjust.  Adjust again.  Adjust again.  And, if you're me, adjust one more time.

Staple one staple above, and one below the tape line.  Pull off the tape.

Done!  Straight letters!

Please Sharpen

Just a quick posting today!  I stole this idea from another teacher in the building. . .

The picture is very bad!  I need to take a look at the camera!

The idea behind this is that the pencils are returned to the Sharp Pencil bucket, unless they need to be sharpened.  Then they go in the Please Sharpen bucket and I will do it when I get time. 

The buckets are a dollar from the Dollar Store and I made the labels on Word. 

We're starting up in ten days!  I will post bulletin boards soon!

My Favorite Online Field Trips

I briefly touched on online field trips in the last post I did but, in rereading it, I decided I didn't do it justice.  It's one of my favorite things to do with my students at the end of the year.

Online field trips are a great way to explore and learn, all without leaving your seat!  When I do my lesson on online field trips, I show the kids my Tizmos site with all the links.  (Online Field Trips)  I give them a brief synopsis of all the online field trips that I have on the site and then I spend fifteen minutes showcasing two sites.  After that, I let the kids go for it and explore!

1.  San Diego Zoo.  This is my all time favorite field trip.  They have live animal cams in some of the animal habitats, informative and fun videos highlighting different animals, information on different zoo jobs, activities and games.  The kids would spend WEEKS on this site if I let them!  It's well done, easy to navigate and incredibly interactive.

2.  Smithsonian.  This site is a virtual tour of the Smithsonian's Natural History Museum.  I show the kids how to move the camera, go from room to room and how to use the map.  As a class, we visit the Hope Diamond and look at the dinosaurs.  The students go from there.

3.  The U.S. Mint.  This isn't as interactive or as fun as the zoo, but it still has some great information and some good games that are educational.  The students really love making their own coins or looking back at the evolution of our money.

4.  The American Museum of Natural History - Ology.  This site has a great "ology" section where students can explore different areas of science.  The students can click on an area of study on the left of the screen.  It will take them to a new page with lots of activities, games and quirky information. 

5.  University of Colorado Science Experiments.  This site has TONS of science experiments and simulations for students to explore.  It's a fun, interactive site.

I have a lot more sites on my Tizmos site and you are welcome to use those links in your classroom.  These are my top five favorites. I always do the online field trips as the second to last class of the year.  By this time, students are ready for a break and this is a fun way to give them this break but to keep them learning. 

Enjoy!

Online Field Trips Bulletin Board

Each year I spend a week with the students taking online field trips.

There are some really great sites out there that are perfect for online field trips.  The sites are interactive and interesting and the students have fun exploring them.  My all time favorites are the San Diego Zoo and the virtual tour at the Smithsonian.

You can find all the sites I like to use HERE.

This site is a Tizmos site.  It's like an online library where I dump websites.  I put the link to my Tizmos site on to the students desk top at the beginning of the year.  I use this almost daily.

During free time, they can go to their grade level tab and play those games.  If they need to play a typing game, they click on that tab.  There is an online field trip tab and the home tab is where I put sites that I am using for just a week or two.

The site is easy to maintain.  I put in the link for the site I want to show on my tizmos page and it's available to the kids.  The kids don't even have to log in to use my site.

The way I have it set up, it costs $3 a month (I think. . . )  You can have a free tizmos site with no tabs and twenty links if you are interested in trying it out.

Here is the bulletin board I put up.  I will have a tutorial on how to make the flowers on my other site, www.creativethriftiness.com, within a week.  You can find that site by clicking the tab at the top of this page.

You can find a copy of the handout I put in the pocket here:  ONLINE FIELD TRIPS

It also has a copy of my tizmos page address.  You are welcome to use it!

Happy Summer!!!