Looking for a visual and interactive way for students to display learning? Give SpiceyNodes a try. This free service lets the user create nodemaps (a.k.a. webs or concept maps) about a topic. What takes this tool beyond traditional webbing and graphic organizers of the past is the user’s ability to customize for an audience’s experience.  [...]

Do you find researching with elementary age students to be a real challenge? (If yes- keep reading! OK- and if you don’t have time to read, at least watch the demo video at the bottom of this post!) Just setting students loose on a search engine is not an option. Even though we have a [...]

This month, I was reminded about a terrific resource: Thinkfinity. (Thanks to my colleague, Andrea Gardner!) Essentially, Thinkfinity is an educational resource engine powered by the Verizon Foundation. Free lessons plans, ideas and interactives only are a search away. And it’s easy. Look at the screenshots below to see how you can tailor your search [...]

Last winter, I wrote about the excitement of mounted projectors in our school (Classrooms with a View). This month, more projectors were powered up and ready for business in classrooms. What follows is a little sample of how projectors are being used as well as how they could transform learning in the classroom. Get inspired. [...]

On Tuesday mornings, there have been a small group of girls in the hallway next to the computer lab. I haven’t been sure what they are doing, but they seem to be very engaged in their activity. One day on my way to a meeting, I decided to be nosey and ask them. They showed [...]

Over a week ago, I had the pleasure of being able to spend a day and half of professional development time with four other instructional technology specialists and a dozen teachers (grades K-5) exploring Glogster. This time gave way for much needed “play” and discussion about how to integrate this tool into the curriculum. By [...]