50 Ways to Anchor Technology in your Classroom Tomorrow – TCEA 2010

I had the pleasure of attending a great session at TCEA – 50 Ways to Anchor Technology in your Classroom Tomorrow. Sounds interesting, right? Well, it was! Jessica Branch & Angelyn Cheatham session was chalk-full of great resources and tips! 50 resources and tips in fact!

I’ve picked my favorite 10 to share with you today.

1. Jing - As Voicethread was the hit of FETC, Jing was most definitely the hit of TCEA! For those of you who don't know about Jing - it is an easy way to record video on onscreen action, or snap a picture of your screen. It's free, it's fun, and it's EASY. Get Jing here.
2. MakeWee - This resource allows your students (or you) to create your own mii avatar! So, what would you use a mii avator for in your class? Easy. Do you have any "all about me" assignments? How about goal setting or tracking on a board? Let your students create their own mii avatar! Here's mine:
   Tip: Use Jing's screen capture to save the mii images to your desktop/network folders
3. DoveWhisper - This resources is an "all-in-one" kind of resource. It serves as the "computer center" for your classroom. First starts out with "levels of integration" -- meaning 1st grade, 2nd grade, 3rd grade, etc... Then it breaks it down into subject area (Math, Language Arts, Social Studies, and Science). Each subject area has numerous activities for your students to dive into. Don't miss this one! Great tools with DoveWhisper.
4. FanFiction - This resource will allow your students to take movies and books beyond the imagination and predict/create sequels/prequels to them! How fun!
5. Make Belief Comix - I mentioned this site on my "How to Bling Your Blog - TCEA 2010" post earlier this week, but in case you missed it - Make Belief Comix is a great way to allow your students to get creative! They can use this tool to show a main idea, short story, or just something fun! The possibilities are endless!
6. Wordle - I think this one is a staple in most educators' worlds, but in case you haven't ventured to this cool tool, Wordle is a way to simply generate a "word cloud" from text that you provide. There are different layouts, fonts, and color schemes.
7. KerPoof - This is a great resource to allow your students to illustrate their writing, create a movie, make a picture, make a card, and lots more! Find KerPoof here.
8. ClassTools - Bookmark this one now. Seriously. This site is awesome! On this site, you will have easy access to flashcard generators, countdown timer, random name picker, diagrams, animated books, and SO much more. I have to admit, the site is a bit hard to navigate, but when you go there, scroll down a little and look on the right-hand side for their most popular templates.
9. Free Rice - This site is a great tool to show students that finish early on assignments or maybe just need a little extra help with vocabulary! Free Rice provides just that! Vocabulary words and you can even change the subjects!
10. Build Your Wild Self - I love this resource. Not only is it a lot of fun to create these, but they provide a TON of educational information. So, here's the deal - you basically build a wild you! Animal ears, legs, arms, wings, tales, etc... and then once you're done, the site gives you educational information about each piece! Check out mine:
    

To find all of Jessica and Angelyn's technology tools, visit their website at http://sites.google.com/site/anchortechnologytomorrow/home/50-ways-to-an...

Have you guys used any of these sites before? Share some ways you've incorporated these technologies or how you would incorporate these in your classroom!