SMORE Awesomeness!

Just found an incredible new resource!  smore.com.  It is a site that allows you to quickly create a beautiful online flyer/announcement/ad/webpage.....It is incredible simple too.  When you finish, you can get the embed code or a link to your page.

I can imagine digital book reports, visual timelines, awesome parent announcements, teacher-created lessons, and tons more!

At the end of 8th grade before graduation every student in my district gives a short speech in front of their peers and families.  In the past, they have displayed a picture of the student on the screen behind them, but I think this would be better!  Each student could create a page unique to them (perhaps with a 6-word memoir) that would include their accomplishments, goals, memories, etc.

Here is an example of what I was thinking....

ThingLink

www.thinglink.com  - Touch and Discover
Probably the coolest tool I have found in a long time!  It allows you to add text, links, videos, sounds, etc to any picture.  Imagine creating an interactive image using a map, to tell a story, to engage your students, or just for fun!

This is a fantastic tool for both teachers and students.   Students can create a thinglink to show their understanding of content in a visual manner.

Here are a few links to other teacher-created resources:

• http://www.thinglink.com/education
• http://thinglinktoolkit.wikispaces.com/Starry+Night
• http://thinglinktoolkit.wikispaces.com/Social+Justice+-+Civil+Rights+Movement

Here is an example of a ThingLink about the Wright Brothers first flight.

Timelines

Just this week, three separate teachers contacted me or the iCoaches about a good timeline creation tool.  Here is the list we came up with for useful sites:

http://timeline-3d.en.softonic.com/mac

http://timeglider.com/

https://cacoo.com/

http://www.dipity.com/

We are looking into purchasing https://www.tomsnyder.com/timelinerxe/