The Newspaper Clipping Generator

I learned about this one from a retweet.

 “Jerry Blumengarten ‏@cybraryman1

RT @lisamonthie: I really like newspaper clipping generator…READ MORE

 

 

Symbaloo EDU

I always heard people talk about it, but never really bothered to check it out.
Our presenter, John Kuglin, introduced me to it this morning, and I LOVE it!
Here’s one I started. Still have a lot more sites to add to it! ...READ MORE

It’s a Bird, it’s a Plane, No It’s Cybraryman!

One thing I have learned to do is to lean on others, and not try to do everything myself.  I love technology, and I could sit, literally, for hours in front of my computer, looking for techy things to do with my class.  However,  having  a husband and a child who would like some of my time, it is not possible. (Well, at least not until I’m off the school year.)     

Anyway, I have fallen in love with Cybraryman, educationally in love, of course.   I find what he does  absolutely amazing!  I know people probably wonder where he finds the time to do what he does. Personally, I don’t care, as long as he keeps doing it. 🙂  He chooses a subject, most tech related, but not just limited to tech stuff.  He then proceeds to develop a list, a very long list, of links that correlate with that subject.  I mean, can you ask for anything more? It’s a one-stop shopping list!

I conducted a workshop on wonderful websites. Unfortunately,  because I teach 5th grade,  I didn’t have too many Primary education sites.  I made sure I included the Cybraryman Primary Education site  on the  Jog the Web I shared with the staff.  The K -2 teachers did not visit any of the other sites I had listed, they stayed on his site  during the entire workshop. He’s that good!

At this point, you might be thinking, did he pay her to say all these things? Nah! I follow him on Twitter, and every time he posts a link, I am on it ! ( http://twitter.com/#!/cybraryman1). He has so many sites, I decided to create a Cybraryman Livebinder of his sites. All Cybraryman, in one place. As he creates them, I will add them.  With all that we have to do, it’s wonderful to know there is someone out there willing to make our job easier.   Thanks Cybraryman!

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Technology Rules!

My class  got our laptops back today! Well, actually, they’re not our laptops, we have to share them with the school. I had to write an essay explaining why I wanted the laptop cart housed in my room, that wasn’t a problem. I feel like they’re mine because none of the other teachers really use it. The teacher across the hall was using it, until one of her students completely bent the plug  while bringing it back to my room. And yes, I was secretly happy for that little incident. But back to the topic at hand, I love technology,, more importantly, I love integrating technology into my lessons. It opens up a whole new world for my students, and myself.  I have taught the same Reading series for the last three years, I’ve always changed the way I’ve taught, but with the laptops, Wow! The laptops stay on my students’ desk from the time they enter in the morning, until the time they leave in the afternoon. Don’t get me wrong, they still do work the “old school” way with pencil and paper throughout the day,but  the available technology allows other options to engage them.  KidBlog,( their very own blog), Edmodo(FB for students), Twiducate(Twitter for students), Glogster, (virtual posters), Tweentribune,( online current events the kids read and comment on), the list is endless. I’d like to give a special shoutout to Richard Byrne, Free Technology for Teachers, if you use nothing else, use his site. He is an excellent resource for beginner and expert alike! I realize I am fortunate to have laptops, some desktops, and other resources some might not have. But even if you are a one computer classroom, there is still a way to integrate technology. And to the teachers who are fortunate enough to have these tools , and not use them, tsk, tsk! No excuses allowed, I have been teaching for over 26 years, so the old person excuse doesn’t work.:)Stick your finger in, the water is fine, and try just a little at a time, you’ll grow to love it as much as I do!