Quick Tech Tutorial - Pin It Button!

I'm back with another technology tutorial! Have you missed those? I know I have! This time, it's not a web 2.0 tool. It's all about our favorite site, Pinterest!

Have I piqued your interest? :)

I hope so!  Here's the video tutorial to make it super easy to understand.



Here's the link to the Google Chrome Pinterest app: http://tinyurl.com/kl2s9rl

What do you think? Easy enough, right? I hope this was something that you can use. If you would like for me to make a tutorial for a pin it app button for the Firefox browser, let me know! Thanks for watching. I'd love to know what you would like to see next. I'm thinking of remaking my Prezi and Beeclip tutorials, so be looking forward to that!

Bubbl.us and MindMeister Video Tutorial!

This post is going to be short and sweet!

Quick Sidenote: Things have been getting a little crazy in my life right now, and I hope that you can go through this wild time with me. I definitely need all the encouragement I can get right now! I'll be going to set up my classroom hardcore next week -- I got my keys!! Woo hoo! I'm official.

Okay, back to the cool tools!

Today's tutorial is on TWO different web tools. I know that you're going to love them. :) I did! Some of you may already know about them, but it could help you still. They are called Bubbl.us and MindMeister.

These tools are meant to allow you to get your thoughts down in a logical manner. This can be called "brainstorming," "concept mapping," or "mind mapping." It can be used in so many different ways, but the focus is to start with a concept and come up with tons of branches that come off that idea. (If you get my drift!)

How can they be integrated?

Here are some simple ways to use these tools:

• Create a whole class concept map when the season changes! (Start with "Summer" in the middle and branch off of that)
• Plan your letters that you send home to parents.
• Let the class plan stories (using main character, setting, etc)
• Allow students to use these tools as a way to accommodate them in essay writing. Some kids think better when they have a chance to brainstorm in a different way.

I hope that this tutorial helps you out! Here's the video!



Oh, and here's the quick survey. I'd love if you filled it out! I read all your entries and cherish each one. They brighten my day!

Which do you like better: MindMeister or Bubbl.us? Why?

Monday Made It! (and other news)

My wonderful followers, I did it! I Monday made it! 

I've never linked up to this fun party, but now I can actually show you something I made for my classroom. I'm going to go in and work some on my classroom this Wednesday, so I'll have at least one crafty thing to hang up in my room :)

I made these with my Silhouette Cameo! (My first ever project!!)
If you don't have a die-cutter, you need one. 

Like now.

I got the idea from Kim at For the Love of Kinder Garden.

She told me that one of the things she puts up every year is a collection of question words. I thought it was genius! SO, I created these. I will point at the words when I have the students ask questions. I want them to understand what the words LOOK like and not just how they sound.

Seeing the print is great for connecting the sounds to text. PHONICS! Labeling everything will help students grow their schema, so I figured that those words are super important to label. They use them on a day to day basis. (Especially "WHY??")

I also cut out these fantastic schedule cards from Barbie Roper's TPT page. They're too stinkin' precious! I think I love them!

I love the snack one! The kids are dressed as a Lettuce and Carrot! :)

I'm thinking about doing the Sterilite bins tutorial from Kinder-Craze. She's awesome, and totally inspires me. I got a 5-drawer bin last week at Walmart. I couldn't resist. It was calling to me. This last week I shopped till I dropped.

Here are some of the things I bought for my classroom!

Calendar kit with cute monkey number pieces from Lakeshore!
I RAIDED that store. Seriously.

Uppercase Letter magnets, a large stamp, color words
poster, and a Magna-Doodle!

A 6 foot tall palm tree for my wall. I may just end up
using the trunk!

2 sets of border and one PURPLE pointer! Oh my goodness!

I love shopping with gift cards!

In other bloggy news, I will be posting my technology tutorials on WEDNESDAYS from now on. I'm sorry I skipped last week. I had a lot going on, so please don't be too disappointed! I will post up this week's tutorial on Wednesday. You're going to LOVE it. You may already know the tool, but maybe it will help refresh your memory!

Name idea: Web Tools Wednesday?

Do you have a better name idea for my series of video tutorials on web 2.0 tools for teachers? Comment below! If you haven't seen one of the posts, you can find them here. I made a little handy link for you to click and take you to all of them! :) You can also look in the Tech Tutorials tabby page at the top of my blog.

Thanks for reading!

Make sure you click the follow button on the sidebar OR follow by Facebook! I'd love for you to stay a while and see what other goodness I have planned for this blog.

Thank you to 4th Grade Frolics for hosting this linky party. I love getting all those wonderful ideas for my classroom! It's such fun!

Oh, and please leave a comment! I love comments! It's similar to the feeling of opening Christmas gifts early. I will take the time to reply to each one of you, too! :)

WallWisher Tutorial for Teachers!

I'm back with a new VIDEO TUTORIAL! :)

Today's tool is super exciting.
I can definitely see myself using it.

So without further ado...

Let me teach you how to use...

WallWisher is the name. It's an online bulletin board, of sorts. You can add sticky notes to a "wall" you create and then share it with people so they can add on to it. It's very collaborative, interactive...and best of all...

It's VERY FREE!

Yes, a free tool. We love the word F-R-E-E, don't we?

How can it be used in a classroom?

 Here are some tips on ways to implement this amazingly free tool:

• Use it in centers! You can put a group of videos from YouTube on the "wall" for kids to watch and to give a response. It can also be a great way for you to teach a concept while they're at centers.
  
• Give the link to parents for planning parties, field trips, etc! This tool will allow parents to quickly respond and let you know what they plan on bringing to that Valentine's day party you're planning.
  
• Share with your colleagues! Make a wall where you can post encouraging messages to the people you work with. It may be a great bucket-filler activity for us teachers. Everyone loves a warm fuzzy!
  
• Keep some of your important information or to-do lists there! It can be set to only be viewed/edited by you, and it's pretty customizable. AND it's online. Who'da thought!

Watch the video!







Check out the wall where you can respond to my question!

Click here!

I'm also including a form below that allows you to respond to my video. I use the feedback to help me make my next tutorials, so I'd LOVE it if you took the three seconds to fill it out. Thank you so much!

I'm excited about the responses I've been getting to my video tutorials!
You make it all worth it.
I hope that I'm helping lots and lots of people learn about free tools to use in the classroom!

How could you use WallWisher?

Next Year's Plans

I hope that you are well! I'm excited that I'm writing this new blog post on the big blog hop day! Teaching Blog Addict is hosting some great linky parties, so I thought I'd contribute some of what I've been thinking.

Recently, there's been a ton of talk about Whole Brain Teaching. I think I'm going to try to implement a couple of those concepts! The main one that I want to implement is the WBT Rules.

Students tend to behave better when they have positive rules in the classroom. Some teachers like to make the rules WITH the students. I'm not sure if that's what I'll do my first year, but I do plan on discussing the importance of the rules that were selected. We need to be sure that we do not put "Do not" in front of each rule. As an adult, I know that I can't stand when someone tells me "Don't do this" or "Don't do that!" It's much better if someone asks for me to do something with a kind tone. Using the magic word helps too.

SO this year...I'm implementing WBT to manage behavior in a loving manner. I hope that someone who has done this before can give me some tips. Leave a note in the comments on how WBT has worked/not workd for you!

This rule is the one that really seems to be the kicker in my mind. The students need to learn how to choose to do the RIGHT thing! Guidance is definitely going to be necessary in the kindergarten year. Even in the students' senior year of high school! Positive reinforcement, kind words, and a compassionate heart are what will guide these kiddos to the right path in terms of behavior. Oh, and being firm. CONSISTENT! (Can you say, "buzzwords?")

So since this is a blog hop, I thought I'd give away my rules slideshow. I made it on Beeclip! If you want to learn how to make a cute slideshow like this, you can watch my first ever video tutorial on Beeclip. It's a video tutorial, so it should help you a lot.

Click the picture below to take you to the FREEBIE! Or click this link right here.

My video tutorial this week may not be up until Sunday! Please forgive me! I'm really busy for the next couple days, and not many people check here on Saturdays..

On what day do you want to see the video tutorial?

Mystery Blog Hop!

I'm excited to introduce you to this fantastic new linky party idea.

It's new. It's innovative! It's...TECHIE!

I couldn't resist.

When Ms. Fultz asked for people who wanted to participate, I jumped at the chance.

Here's the scoop:

This new linky party is a QR code blog hop! Can you believe it?

You can scan any of the codes in the linky with a QR reader and jump from one page to the next.

Cool, huh?
If you don't have a smart phone to use the QR code, you can just click the picture of the code.

I love it!

I hope that you try out a few and do what we all do best...

BLOG HOP! :)

By the way, if you haven't liked my Facebook page yet, you should!

I post there way more than on my blog.

Click my picture below if you'd like to go like my Facebook!

OKAY!

Get your hoppin' shoes on.

It's time to linky party!

Tweet

Web 2.0 Tutorials for Teachers #3!

It's Saturday! This is my third week of web 2.0 tutorial videos, and today is special because I'm featuring...

Wait for it...

Storybird!

I'm really excited about this one. I apologize for apologizing so much in the video. I was tired (it was 11pm when I recorded), and I kept losing track of my words. I hope that the video still helps you even though my brain felt a little out of sorts.

Storybird is a tool that can be used to create beautiful illustrated books without having to hire an illustrator! The artists that contribute have done an amazing job with their artwork so that we can write to our little hearts content! I think this would be such a fun way to have a shared writing lesson instead of just using a boring anchor chart. Below is the book that I created for you to look at. I tried to use all the different picture positions that Storybird offers so you can see all the ways you can do it.

The Monsters In My Closet! by sadams22 on Storybird  Okay well here you go! Below is the embed for the VIDEO TUTORIAL! I love making these and I hope that you enjoy watching them. Feel free to pin, share, comment, like, whatever you feel like doing! I'd love to help as many teachers as possible with these tutorials. I know that technology may seem like a scary monster to you at times, but just remember that the monster may turn out to be your friend like the ones in the book did. :)

If you would like to start your Storybird account and receive a FREE PDF download on sign-up, just put your email address in the form below. YOUR EMAIL IS NOT REQUIRED FOR THE FORM, but if you do include it, the PDF that would normally cost you $2 would be free instead, and I would receive one free PDF download as well! If that's not a win-win, I don't know what is! :)

UPDATE!

Here are the QR codes for the Mystery Blog Hop! Scan one of them to jump to a new page. Leave a comment first before you go! :)

Updates and Joy!

I know it's been a while since I've written a blog post. Here are my reasons!

1. I have a big post coming up soon! So my brain has been obsessing over that.

2. Today was Guided Reading and 6 Traits Writing training at my school. I can't wait to start those! I especially know that guided reading will be fun. I love small group work with kinders. They always have the funniest comments ever.

3. My new video tutorial will be up on Saturday morning, so get your vote in before 7pm on Friday so that you can have a say in which one I record on Friday evening.

4. Life has been normal (which means BUSY!)

I left off a fifth reason just to bother some of you more perfectionist blog followers. :) I hope you don't unfollow me for that! Honestly, I couldn't come up with a good fifth reason other than the fact that not much is new. It's summer time, so my teaching brain is just waiting for next year. I can't get into my classroom to decorate yet because the lady who taught in that classroom still hasn't moved out yet....and I'm SO ready to move in!

Here's the few updates I do have for you:

1. Joyful Update - My DIPLOMA came in the mail yesterday. I pranced around the house and couldn't put it down. It's amazing to me that I now have my Bachelor of Arts Magna cum Laude! :D

2. Vote! - My poll is up on my Facebook page and on the sidebar on the blog! Make sure you vote for either Storybird, Xtranormal, Glogster, or Erly. Also, comment below if you have a request for a technology tutorial of any kind! I'd love your feedback so I know your needs!

3. Go participate in my sweet friend Maria's giveaway and follow her page! She has such amazing ideas. If you like my blog, you'll love hers too! She reached 300 followers and is giving away a 25$ gift card to the best store on Earth....Target!

4. I was contacted by two people recently! One person was one of the FOUNDERS of BEECLIP! He messaged me on Google Plus and commented on my video tutorial saying that he enjoyed it! I was blown away by the fact that he watched it. The blogging world is too cool. Also, I was contacted by Technology Tailgate and asked to be a contributor to the new blog effort! It's going to be technology central for all blog posts relating to tech. I can't wait to be a part of it. Go check it out at:

  You all are amazing. I'm blown away daily by the fact that you all decided to follow my blog! You truly have blessed my life, and I hope that my posts can bless yours as well.  Leave a comment letting me know what you think about 6 Traits Writing and Guided Reading!