Technology Tips and a New Freebie!

Hi Everyone,

Well, I've had a few days to rest since finishing up with my students on Friday, and I thought I might try giving my blog some much needed attention.

I am attending the ISTE 2012 conference this week, being held right here, in San Diego.  ISTE stands for the International Society for Technology in Education.  Now, hold on, don't run for the hills.  I am actually, what I consider, a very "average" person when it comes to technology.  Regardless of that, somehow, I am the lead tech teacher for my school site, and on my district's Technology Council. 

Despite being very average, I am very enthusiastic and eager to learn.  Yesterday, one of the presenters said, "Respect fear."  I understand that some of you might be apprehensive when it comes to technology.  But, summertime is the perfect time to explore and develop your technological skills, without the merciless gaze of your students burning a hole through the back of your head.

Anyway, I thought maybe I could share a few things that I learn each day at the conference.  What do you say?  Are you in?  Alright, here are a couple of my favorites from yesterday.

Google Art Project  Do you love to teach art using great artists as inspiration?  This site has wonderful images of famous art from all over the world.  You can actually see the detail, brush strokes, and layering of paint on the canvases.  It is amazing.  You must use Google Chrome (free download) as your browser to view this site.

Print Friendly  How many times have you found a webpage on a topic you were interested in, only to see that it had tons of images, or text, that you didn't want to print?  Type in the url of that page into the Print Friendly website.  Just click to easily remove any unwanted text and images.  You can even change the size of the font.  Then, you can print as a PDF!  Love it!  This would be great for creating cleaned-up handouts for research reports or study guides.

SimpleK12  If you want to learn more about integrating technology into your classroom from the comfort of your own home, then this site is for you.  You do need to create a basic account to use their resources, but it is free.  They have free ebooks (digital books) with lots of free technology tools that are available on the web.  They also have free webinars (instructional videos) that you can watch.  Give it a shot!  It looks fun!

Ok, that is enough for today.  Go play!

Looking for more technology ideas? Follow me on Pinterest!

Oh,  I almost forgot about my new freebie.  I am in the process of creating items for the next school year.  I have created these Differentiated Behavior Punch Cards to share with you.  Click on the image below to take you to my store where you can download these for free and read about how I use these to enhance my discipline plan.  Also, I have created Owl-themed cards (my class theme for next year) which you can also find in my store for purchase.

I hope everyone is enjoying their much deserved vacation.  I'm off to another day of learning!

Nicole