Shortening URL's

Social Media and Shortening URL's

First, Over the past couple of days, social media has been flooded with prayer requests for Connor and then support for each other. A simple search of #prayforconnor or #teamconnor on Twitter resulted in many wise words from around the Metro area. Below are just a couple examples of where social media was for GOOD and for LOVE! Just one example of technology being able to BUILD COMMUNITY no matter where you are and what time it is.

Second, congrats to Jackie and Emily who earned a Jean's Day pass for using Symbaloo to share links with their students. Look for them in your mailbox!

Third, this week's Tech Tip is for shortening URL's. Think back to a lesson where you directed students to a certain URL? Did it take 5 minutes because of how difficult it was to type correctly? Well if you want a way to shorten the URL to something simple and easy to students type,  here are a couple site that you can use. All you do, it take the long direct link that you have and enter it into one of these sites and it will spit out a short easy nice link. You don't need to sign in or register at all!

1. Google : http://goo.gl/

2. Tiny URL : http://tinyurl.com/

3. Bitly : http://bitly.com/

No challenge this week- we've got enough on our plate! Stay sane, stay loved. :)

Symbaloo

First, congratulations to Stacy Chik for earning a morning beverage! :) Stacy used Pinterest to find quotes and images to make a reflection guide on the Eucharist that students took to the chapel during adoration. Thanks for trying Pinterest Stacy!

Second, our tech tip for this Tuesday is one that I have been using for a couple of weeks now and I am truly enjoying. The great part of being able to help with technology AND teach is that I get to try things out with my own classes as a trial one. 

This weeks tip is called Symbaloo. http://www.symbaloo.com/ It is an online bookmarking site. You can create different mixes to house different information. Once you have created a mix, you can either keep it private, only you can see it and use it OR you can share the webmix and Symbaloo will give you a link that you can post and then anyone can access the mix that you have created. Below are a couple of pictures of various mixes that I have created and shared.

This is a webmix of all of the Tech Tips that I have featured this year. You can find this link posted on the left side of this blog! http://www.symbaloo.com/mix/tuesdaytechtips

This is a webmix that I created for Creative Commons image and music searches for CC  http://www.symbaloo.com/mix/creativecommons1

This is an EASY way to organize a large amount of material or links in one place. You can create a mix for each book you read through the semester, or various images on a topic (just so you don't have to have 17 million tabs open during a lesson), or various tutorial videos posted for students to watch if they need extra help on a certain concept.

THIS WEEKS CHALLENGE --> Use Symbaloo to create either a personal webmix or a webmix that you create to share with your students. Post the link in the comments section or send an email with the link! See below for the reward...no limit on this week's reward! Looking forward to seeing all of the mixes!

Pinterest...for classroom use!

First, a big thanks to those who submitted a new piece of technology that they used last week in honor of Digital Learning Day. Here are two of the entries from last week.

One teacher is going to use https://cat36.learningstation.com/portal/index/login/ 

"

• It's a great tool for research assignments because it gives wonderful, credible print sources."  ~Katlin Slowik

• You can send them here to know that they are looking at CREDIBLE and RELIABLE resources. Look at the bottom right side for those types of resources. 

• Teachers login information is firstinitiallastname (beginning of email address) and then password thunder. You will be prompted to change password after you log in. 

• Students login information is their Powerschool username and password.

Another teacher is using http://www.hippocampus.org/ 

• "I use this site in my American Government classes. They are assigned 2 - 3 videos a day, that pertain to a topic we are studying, they can watch the video, read the text of the video and download the notes as well. The videos also have graphics or extra study skills applications that helps to understand the material. I use this like a "flipped video" concept." ~Angela Charlton

• This website has NUMEROUS subjects and content videos that students can watch. This site could be used to supplement a topic or could be used to flip a certain lesson.

• Subjects Included are
• Arithmetic
• Algebra & Geometry
• Calculus & Advanced Math
• Statistics & Probability
• Natural Science
• Biology
• Chemistry
• Physics
• Earth Science
• Social Science
• Economics
• History & Government
• Psychology
• Humanities
• Religion

Now on to this weeks TECH TIP!

This week's Tech Tip is Pinterest. If you are like me, you may have spent countless hours searching inspirational quotes, recipes, or potential home decorating ideas. But did you know that you can use Pinterest to find activities that you can use in your classroom?

• First, Pinterest is a type of social bookmarking. http://pinterest.com/

• It allows you to have different boards and you can pin (or bookmark) directly to a board. This is easier then cramming your Internet browser with a bunch of different bookmarks that are hard to access. It looks like this: 

• To get started, go to http://pinterest.com/ and reuest an invite (or just email me and I'll send you an invite since I already have boards started). This request process usually only takes an hour or two at the most. Once sent a link, get started by searching various topics using the search menu at the top of the page. 

• If you need additional ideas on how to use Pinterest for educational purposes, check out the following blog entry which has 36 different ways to use Pinterest for educational purposes.  http://www.bestcollegesonline.com/blog/2012/02/05/37-ways-teachers-should-use-pinterest/ 

This weeks challenge is to use Pinterest to find a link or board on Pinterest that corresponds or enhances a classroom lesson (s) this week or next. (Simply put, find a new idea to teach or enhance using Pinterest). Once you have found an idea, email me the link that you are using to me and include a couple of sentences on how you will be using it in your classroom. This weeks reward...your favorite morning beverage brought to you one day next week! :) 

NOW GO GET STARTED!! :)