I got lost this morning on the internet. It was Google's fault. I was actually doing some research on iPad apps and projects for middle school when I wandered over to Common Sense Media and their suggested list for apps which got me to thinking about Windows apps since my students use Microsoft Surfaces and iPad apps don't really help us. And I thought to look around for apps that my students could use which made my train jump to another track but long (and I am rambling here) story short I have hit on the website Exploriments. Way cool!
I take this from their site: Exploriments are simulation-based interactive learning units for enhancing conceptual understanding in Science in an experiential manner.
Totally out of my mental world but there are virtual experiments and demonstrations that even I (a math phobic) enjoyed doing and my brain did not shut down as if often does when presented something involving an algebraic equation. I just completed a nice little activity on atomic weight. I especially like how the site will tell you what you got wrong and explain how you get the correct answer. Nice.
Exploriments has a collection of iPad apps that unfortunately are not free but are very inexpensive and probably would be worth the money for your students to benefit greatly.
The website, however, has more interactives that you can access for free. I did create a free teacher account (you will need an email address to register and students will need one also) but some of the Exploiments are locked. It asks me to register or login to access but no luck. I've sent a message to them so we shall see. However- the rest of the site is open and free to use. This site definitely deserves a look/see.
I teach music at my school so I am in the crazies of December with a Christmas program coming up. We were supposed to have it last Tuesday (Dec 10th) but with the icy weather we moved it to Monday (Dec 16th). So I have been trying to keep my sanity while doing the last bit of rehearsals, etc for the program. However, I do have classes that are not in the program so what to do with them? Well I had some of them bring their netbooks to class and I showed them my favorite Christmas fun things to do. Here is a short list of my favorites:
Make-a-Flake - definitely one of my favorites. Do you know how many kids do NOT know how to cut out a paper snowflake? It really is sad. This is a virtual one but you can save the image, send it, share it and you can probably create fancier snowflakes than you could in real life. Very fun to see what your "cuts" will create. (and not paper scraps on the floor!) This would be a fun activity to do with students and then make the actual paper ones. I actually like to do "snow" activities in January since there are plenty of Christmas things to do in December. And in Texas we tend to get our actual snow in January or February.
Virtual Cookies? Here are two sites. Old Fashioned Christmas from Theoworlds.com. I like the simplicity of this one. You can email it, get the link, get the code to embed but there is not an easy way to exit and go to the beginning other than to reload the page. Still fun.
From Sprint there is SprintSweets and the Gingerbread Man with Everything. Save it, share it, send it. Decorate with icing and candies. Easy to start over but you can't just undo a step. It is all the way back to the beginning if you mess up and want to fix it. I do like how he is on the little cookie sheet though! Cute!
Decorate a Christmas Tree Cute, simple drag and drop, can add snowfall. Save or print image. This does have ads though (boo!). The way this image comes out you could photo edit and add your own message on the right side of the tree.
Christmas Tree I like this one. No ads. Simple drag and drop. No save or share but you could snip it. Turn off the lights and the fireplace and tree glow. Nice for the Smart Board. Reload page to do again.
One hint to searching for fun to do on the Smart Board is to search with the word "interactive". You will find more that will work on your interactive whiteboard. There are lots of Smart Board lessons for Christmas fun also out there. You won't be at a loss for things to do during this last week before the Christmas break.
You know the saying about March coming in like a lamb and out like a lion or vice versa? Well how about March coming in like a whirlwind? That is how it has been since I returned from TCEA and TMEA. Quite a flurry of activity. I spent considerable amount of time when I came back preparing a video for our school's auction. Many, many hours were spent but it turned out great. Although, last minute, I get a phone call asking if I can change the size of the video because the projector resolution was not what I set the video up in. I knew that was going to happen! Should have done 2. Live and Learn.
Really cool site here for science teachers or anyone interested in tracking sharks. A fellow teacher shared this site and I spent far too much time looking at it. Ocean Tracks displays the tracks of selected marine animals tagged by CSIRO and their partners. Using interactive maps you are able to "follow" the path of one of many tagged animals. You can follow Tazzi the Tiger Shark or meet the scientists who are behind the tagging. I especially enjoyed the interactive "dive with this fish" that takes you into the water to "see" and follow it. Very cool! There are also postcards and tips for teachers to download and print for their classes. It is sites like this that make me wish I taught science.
