Small Blue Printer

This great free program is great for students in the area of measurement in mathematics. Students can design a floor plan of their classroom, home, etc and then wander through in 3D mode. There is also an option for a more detailed plan with plenty of options for them to choose from.

Pencil - Free Animation Software

Pencil is a free software tool for creating hand drawn animations. It is free and very easy to use. Visit their website for download and examples of its potential.

Fantastic sites for kids

I have been using the website, "Tutpup" with my kids and it has been an overwhelming success. They can practise their quick response to basic number concepts, times tables and spelling. The reason why it is so successful, is that the kids compete with other kids from all over the world or with someone on the computer next to them. Children can create their own account at home or, as I have done, a class account can be created and you can track their progress. If you are trying to find a fun way for kids to practise their maths skills, then I thoroughly recommend this website.

Note: It is still in beta (prototype) stage.

Another website worth visiting is Tikatok, a place where children can create and share online storybooks. One interesting feature is, for a fee, they will publish the student's book and send it professionaly bound.

Scratch Success

I introduced 'Scratch' today with my grade 3/4 students and decided the best way to begin was to let them explore the website and see what other children have created. They were to look at least five 'Scratch' creations and evaluate them:

What was it about?

What could you do with it?

What did you think of it?

Well, they were really into it and had a great time looking at the great range and variety of creations on the website. They are now all really keen to learn how to use the program.

There are some great resources and 'how to' videos in the support section of the website, but here is a great video to introduce programming with 'Scratch':

Scratch Update

In a previous post, I introduced the free programming language for students called "Scratch". This free download was created by Mitch Resnick, from the MIT Media Lab. As I am about to introduce this to my students, I have included this video about the program:




I will be posting about how my students go...stay tuned!

Web Browsers

I am trialling a new web browser, Opera, and am very impressed with it so far. I was using Mozilla Firefox, but for some strange reason it does not work with my Optus wireless modem on my laptop. Although I have no major problems with Internet Explorer, I have found that other browsers work better when creating blogs and viewing videos. So if you are using Opera or another web browser leave a comment on what you think.

Brainstorming Tool - bubbl.us

If you want free brainstorming or mindmapping tool then take a look at bubbl.us It is free to use and if you register you can upload share your maps. Here is just a brief example:

The Hat

As term two is about to begin (for Victorian teachers anyway) I have found this free download call The Hat. It is a fun way for selecting partners for activities or for choosing individual children for particular classroom roles. I might use it for randomly seating students at the beginning of the term.

Useful application - hott notes

Hott Notes is a great application for putting virtual sticky notes on your desktop. It is completely free and I use it a great deal - I do tend forget things!

Bamzooki

Have you used "Bamzooki" with your kids yet? This free downloadable program is produced by the BBC in the UK. Students can create online creatures that use a range of mathematical and problem solving techniques. Students can then test their creations in a range of activities. This program really promotes high-level thinking.

Animation Program

I really enjoying the creativity that ICT lends itself to, especially animation. Pivot is a program (free download) I have used for many years. It is still on of the best introductory programs that exposes kids to the elements of animation. However, I was interested in other ways to expose kids to animation techniques that were free. Of course you can do animation using PowerPoint, the animation function is quite a good way to teach children basic animation techniques. I still wanted to find something else. I found this the other day, FluxTime Studio, and am trialling it at the moment.