Instructional Technology Specialist

There are many search engines geared toward children.  Here are a few of the better ones we have found.
http://www.kyvl.org/html/kids/f_portal.html
http://www.dibdabdoo.com/
http://cybersleuth-kids.com/
http://www.kidrex.org Great for primary
http://ithaki.net/kids/ Searches multiple kid-safe search engines in one click

Oh, what fun!  This application is so much fun!  You have to take a few minutes to check it out.

Educational uses:

masks/facial featuers for study of cultures
pictures of weather conditions
illustrate characters from history or in books

This is a fun and interactive website for kids to practice and learn sight words.  They have options on how they want to work on sight words which helps allow for differentiating instruction based on the levels of the kids in the class.

Image From: http://www.sightwordswithsamson.com/sw/sight_words.asp

Thanks to @ghartman for sharing Mrs. Pancake on twitter.

This is a wonderful resource, especially for lower elementary students.  It has tons of resources for the teacher as well as crafty ideas for kids.  They are updated often to stay with the current season.  Enjoy!

Image from: http://mrspancake.com/

With the purchase of smaller camcorders many schools are beginning to use video in the classroom on a more regular basis.  There are many ideas on how to use video in the classroom.  Here are some of the ideas I came up with and some I got from my PLN (on twitter)

character interview
commercials/persuasive
reader’s theater
science experiments and/or demonstrations
project based learning
documentaries
digital storytelling
teaching/instructions videos
student feedback for presentations
capture snippets of learning
biographies
career profiles
community history
geography/travel
Ideas from my PLN:

@isenbergs:
PSAs on environmental, health, or school issues
claymation
record mock interviews with historical folk
cooking shows
movie trailers for books

@amy_hess:
use to make sesame st. type videos
tell stories
safe science labs
storytelling
reflect learning of content
sharing information
assimilate ideas to a theme

And even more ideas:

Today’s Weather
This site shows the weather with no words. It has the temp. a picture of the conditions, and a picture of what kids should be wearing.
http://kidsweatherreport.com/

Children Learn What They Live
By Dorothy Law Nolte, Ph.D.
If children live with criticism, they learn to condemn.
If children live with hostility, they learn to fight.
If children live with fear, they learn to be apprehensive.
If children live with pity, they learn to feel sorry for themselves.
If children live with ridicule, they learn to feel shy.
If children live with jealousy, they learn to feel envy.
If children live with shame, they learn to feel guilty.
If children live with encouragement, they learn confidence.
If children live with tolerance, they learn patience.
If children live with praise, they learn appreciation.
If children live with acceptance, they learn to love.
If children live with approval, they learn to like themselves.
If children live with recognition, they learn it is good to have a goal.
If children live with sharing, they learn generosity.
If children live with honesty, they learn truthfulness.
If children live with fairness, they learn justice.
If children live with kindness and consideration, they learn respect.
If children live with security, they learn to have faith in themselves and in those about them.
If children live with friendliness, they learn the world is a nice place in which to live.

Well, I have been dragging my feet with blogging. I know I should be doing it, but I haven’t forced myself to find the time. Twitter is making me realize and re-realize the value in blogging. So, here we are. I’ll take any tips and help you might be able to give. Thanks for taking the time to read.