Weekly Web Tool: Pixlr

This week's highlight is about a great website for online photo editing, Phixr. I like this site and have used it in the past with a class. It's easy since it does not require registration or require you to go through a bunch of questions. You just go to the site and use it! This was great for my school since students weren't allowed to have any personal log ons to any site.

There are a lot of tools you can use to edit your photos and I found that it's also very easy even for students who don't have a lot of experience using the computer.

I used this site to edit photos we did for a cross curricular project involving writing and then creating an image that represented their words. Photos would also be great for documenting or recording history like historical buildings or even the history of the school's neighborhood. My students loved doing this project as well!

To take the photos I brought in my own simple digital camera and allowed students to take photos with it and then I uploaded all the photos to the server so they could pick their own to edit so I didn't need any fancy equipment. To make sure they took good care of my camera and it didn't get dropped I put some yarn on it and each student that used it hung it around their neck as a strap as a precaution in case it got dropped. I printed the photos at Walgreens for about 20 cents each.

It's definitely a project I plan to do again in the future!

Online Tool with Quick Brain Breaks

GoNoOdle is a must-check-out-because-your-students-will-love-it website.  It is ideal for the primary grades where students' stamina is limited to small burst of time.  You can create an account for free and then access any number of brain break videos/exercises.  Olympians will take your students through short training sessions before leading them in a virtual athletic competition.  It is a great way to give your students a short break to get out the wiggles in the classroom before transitioning into a lesson.

For other virtual tools, check out my pinterest board of "websites useful to teachers."

Fabulous Freebies: More Great Websites for Teachers to Bookmark

This week I thought I would share some fun and free websites that you can use in class. These are some that are perfect to bookmark or pin!


Wheel of Decide - This is a fun website that has a customizable wheel in which you enter in options and then it spins and randomly selects a choice. This could be a fun way to decide a reward or you could play a game with it and have a math operation for a question that students must use or vocab/spelling words.


Handwriting Worksheets - You can make and print your own handwriting practice sheets from this website which is great since you can customize them to your needs.


Fun Brain - Fun Brain is a fun website for students to use to play educational games. The focus is on math and reading games.


Certificates 4 Teachers - I have used these once in a while to recognize students for their achievements and it makes it easy without having to spend time making something yourself. Just type in the info and your certificate is set!


Artsonia - I have mentioned this website before but feel that it is worth another mention. It is an online gallery where you can post your students' artwork for free. Students' parents can sign up and comment on their child's artwork. Also, students can buy things with their artwork on it and your school will get 15% of the proceeds which is nice as well. I have enjoyed this website very much over the years!

Fabulous Freebies: Free App Fridays

This week I wanted to share a great website for those of you that use apps in your classroom. Each Friday educational apps are available for free through this site! It's a great way to stock up on free apps to use in your classroom at no cost.

Check out this page every Friday for more free apps to use! This past Friday there were more than ten available including Subtracting Sardines, Sight Words Coach, Farm Adventure for Kids, RT Math and more.

How do you use apps in your classroom? I have worked at some schools that have used them and some that have not so I'm curious how you use them in your classroom.

Fabulous Freebies: Free Online Art Museum

This week for our Fabulous Freebies I thought I would give a shout out to the website Artsonia. It is a website I have used at multiple schools that I have taught at to display student artwork and create sort of an online art museum for your school.

Students loved seeing their artwork online and that it could even be bought as a t-shirt or other item and parents enjoyed being able to comment on the artwork and get gifts for grandparents. I liked it because it was easy to use, made it easy to be private for students and earned money towards my budget when something was bought off the site.

Artsonia has everything you need to get started on the site like permission letters to send home for parents. Each student that signs up gets a user name that usually coincides with their first name like Jane1234. One school that I have worked at that was particularly private asked students to choose user names instead of first names so it was very anonymous like laserstar1. Then you simply upload digital images of artwork to the site.

You can make it as detailed as you want by either providing just the assignment name with all the photos of the artwork or give each work of art a title.

Parents can log in and register as a parent and write and okay comments for each work of art. This makes sure the artwork does not have any negative comments posted by it.

What the best part about it to me was getting 15% of the proceeds to help with my budget. I even had students come in a few times wearing t-shirts with their artwork so I know they loved it too.

I highly recommend this for displaying the artwork of your students!

Fabulous Freebies: Cool Web Tools

These are all websites I've enjoyed using with my students.  If the description sounds interesting, click on the image to be taken to the website and investigate more!

1) This is a website that generates bingo cards.  You can choose from their list of themed cards or use your own word lists to make your own printable cards.

2) Animoto is a website where you can create short digital movies.  Just upload pictures of your class and let them generate a mini movie of a trip you took, a special project, etc.  Then you can share it with your students and their families in school or via email.

3) Use the website ToonDoo to allow your students to create their own comic strips.  They can create one based on a story they read in class or make up their own.  They really enjoy working with this website.

4) This is the newest one to me.  It is a coloring page generator.  I recently used it to create a one-of-a-kind coloring book of memories.  Use it to make a momento from a fun class trip.

5) This is a site that I've used to have students create fun plot summaries of stories.  They can go online and create their own cartoons with captions, characters, settings, etc.

6) This one is a fabulous online archive of pictures from Life magazine.  This is a great way to introduce famous people and events from history.  Create a gallery walk that allows students to see and develop a context for the content before studying it.

7) The last one is another new discovery for me.  It is a list of really cool virtual tours.  I was able to show my students a spectacular 360 degree view of Machu Picchu.  I found a site with a live feed from a nature preserve in the Sahara.  This page is definitely worth checking out and using with your students.

To see a list of 30 other free online resources, check out my pinterest page of Websites Useful to Teachers.  

Fabulous Freebies: Freebies with a Facebook Theme!

This week I'm posting about some freebies that have a Facebook theme. I know my students love Facebook and so why not embrace it and add some Facebook elements into your own classroom?

I love these Facebook 'like' comment notes! They can really bring out the positive thinking in your students and help them notice the positive things others do in class. You could also have students 'like' the favorite things about the day's lesson.

This Facebook style getting to know you sheet is a great activity for the beginning of the school year. It has plenty of areas for students to customize their own page and looks very authentic to real Facebook pages!

These Classbook status printables are a fun way for students to update their status during class. You could also use these on a bulletin board for students to post about your class or lesson's status.

This Facebook bulletin board idea I saw is super cute and looked fairly easy to put together. The Facebook post it notes section is a great interactive idea.

This fun Facebook bulletin board theme is a great idea to make an educational bulletin board on a theme. This could be adapted to any subject area!

Fabulous Friday Freebies: Places to Find Free Resources

There are many places to find free teaching resources on the web. Here are some of my favorite places to find free teaching resources.

Pinterest is my number one resource to find free resources on the web. I love that you can see what you are getting with the image and it is easy to store and review things so they don't get lost or forgotten.

Although Teachers Pay Teachers has many items for sale, there are also thousands of free items since each seller must submit at least one free item. When you search you can limit your options so you only see the freebies. It is also FREE to sign up and start selling items here.

Money Saving Mom has a huge list each week free teaching resources compiled each week. Although it is listed for home schoolers, most of the resources can also be used by classroom teachers.

Teachers Notebook is similar to Teachers Pay Teachers in that although there are paid items, there are also many free items at your disposal. It's free to join and get the free items!


If you have a great free resource, please share it with us below.

Websites to Reference When Teaching English

I have a pinterest board dedicated to useful teaching websites.  Here is a list of my favorite ones to use with my English classes...

This blog was actually created for couples planning their wedding.  But, I pinned it because it has addresses of a bunch of well known people.  I thought it might be fun to reference and  use to write letters to famous people with your students.  The blog has addresses for the queen, JK Rowling and many more.

Poem Hunter will provide you with the poems from any number of poets.  I use it all the time.  Whenever I need to find a poem it is the first place I look.  I has short bios on a ton of well known poets along with online texts of their writings.  It is very handy.

Prezi.com is a website that allows students to make cooler versions of power points.  It takes them a class period or so to play around with it and figure out how to use all of the tools, but once they know how, they love it.  They can add videos, pictures, objects, colors, themes and pretty much everything else that they can do with powerpoint.  But, the visual effects are unique and fun to play around with.  They can save them online and share them with anyone who has an email address.  It is definitely worth checking out.

6 + 1 Writing Traits  is a well known writing teaching and assessment framework.  The title refers to the traits in writing that we want all of our students to develop over time.  The common language is useful in aligning teachers across contents and grade levels to provide united expectations of students.






Writing Fix and English Companion are websites that have a ton of resources for teaching writing and reading.  They include strategies, graphic organizers, etc.  They have a wealth of information and are worth perusing.

Finally, Grammar Bytes  has a wealth of grammar activities to help reinforce grammar rules with yours students.  The sentences are fun and contemporary.

Favorite Creative Based Websites for Teachers

I love using the internet to inspire creative ideas and find unique lesson plans and classroom ideas. Here are some of my favorite sites that inspire my creative and help me plan hands on, artistic lessons for my students.

Most of you have probably already discovered Pinterest but since it is one of my favorite sites for creative ideas, it is at the top of my list. Pinterest is a wonderful place to share creative ideas and find new ones. Following other teachers with similar classes helps me get great ideas and I have gotten many compliments on lessons that I have used that were inspired by Pinterest. If you haven't used Pinterest yet, I highly recommend you check it out!

I also love the art lessons available on Dick Blick's art website. Although the lessons are intended to advertise the products they sell, you can use what you have available to you in your classroom and substitute materials as needed for most projects. If you teach social studies and need a lesson to tie into a particular culture, there are wonderful resources for that on the site as well. I love that many of the art lessons also have video instructions that are very clear and make it easy to follow along.

Artsonia bills itself as the "world's largest kids' art museum" and that statement isn't too much of an exaggeration! On Artsonia you can post your students' artwork online for free. As you continue to add artwork to your site, students develop an online art portfolio. You can either use students' first names or have your students create user names for the site. Also, if parents or guardians love their child's artwork they may wish to purchase it on a t-shirt or some other item as well. If this happens, your school will get 15% of the proceeds! It is very easy to use and although it can be a little time consuming, it is very rewarding and I have gotten many compliments when using it. Students also love seeing how many people have viewed their artwork!

If you have not tried Discovery School's Puzzlemaker, that is an easy way to make learning fun in your classroom. They have many different puzzles you can customize and use in your classroom. I have used them many times and my students have enjoyed the results. The puzzles are great for reviewing vocabulary or for giving to fast finishing students as well.

I hope you enjoy some of the creative ideas that can be found in the websites above and hope you discover something new!

Fabulous Friday Freebies: Digital Resources

I am always searching the net for free resources and/or web 2.0 tools.  There are so many out there, but I decided today to share some of my favorite visual ones.

The first one is the newest one to me.  It is a coloring page generator.  I recently used it to create a one of a kind coloring book of memories.  Use it to make a fun yearbook for a class or momento from a fun class trip.

The second one is a site that I've used to have students create fun plot summaries of stories.  They can go online and create their own cartoons with captions, characters, settings, etc.

The third one is a fabulous online archive of pictures from Life magazine.  This is a great way to introduce famous people and events from history.  Create a gallery walk that allows students to see and develop a context for the content before studying it.

The last one is another new discovery for me.  It is a list of really cool virtual tours.  I was able to show my students a spectacular 360 degree view of Machu Picchu.  I found a site with a live feed from a nature preserve in the Sahara.  This page is definitely worth checking out and using with your students.




To see a list of 30 other free online resources, check out my pinterest page of Websites Useful to Teachers.  

Fabulous Freebies: Martin Luther King Jr. Resources

Martin Luther King Jr.'s birthday will be honored on January 21st this year. Here are some fabulous freebies to help your students learn more about Martin Luther King Jr. in your classroom.

This video is a short 3 minute clip that summarizes important points of Martin Luther King Jr.'s life and background. It is easy to watch and understand and would be a great introduction for students of many ages.

Check out Teaching Heart's Blog to get two activities to celebrate Martin Luther King Jr. Get a free fact and opinion sheet and mini book through this link. Both are nicely laid out and easy to print and use. Use this link to get even more freebies and teaching resources!

I also thought that this visual aid was a great way to make an important point about skin color in your classroom. See how it was used at the The First Grade Parade blog.

The Certification Map website also has a great list of lesson plans divided by grade level. All grades are included from middle school to high school!

Do you have a great free resource for learning about Martin Luther King Jr.? Share it with us in the comments below and I'll post about it this week.

Fabulous Friday Freebies

Happy 2013!  We hope that you are re-energized and ready to finish the year off strong.  To start the year off right and help you in your efforts, we're making our first post of the new year another edition of Fabulous Friday Freebies.  Here are some great ones that I found this week...

#1: Izzit is an online site that allows you to sign up for a free basic membership.  With that membership comes a  yearly free educational video.  All you have to do is write a review once you have shown it in your classroom.

#2: Everyone has heard of Netflix, I'm sure.  Don't forget, though, that they offer free one month trials.  Need to find an online documentary or something to keep the kids occupied during indoor recess on a blustery day?  Check it out.

#3: Teacher Lists is a website that offers freebies to teachers who post supply and/or wish lists.

#4: Go-to-freebie is a site that posts free office supplies.  Right now they are posting several free calendars.  

My Favorite Pinterest Finds!

Like many other teachers out there, Pinterest has been a new and fun way I have found many interesting lesson and teaching ideas on the internet. While I started using Pinterest for other reasons, lesson planning has become one of my primary focuses. Today I am sharing some of my favorite lessons and teaching ideas I have found on Pinterest. You can also check out more of my favorite ideas & lessons on my Pinterest page.

This collection of over 100 free graphic organizers is one of my favorite Pinterest finds. I love graphic organizers since they organize information easily for our students and they are a perfect visual aid. They also can easily be used in many different subject areas. This collection is free and can be used by just about any grade level.

I love using cross-curricular lessons in class and this list of 100 experiments has some great ideas on ways to let kids play and construct while learning engineering skills. I also think some of these ideas could be incorporated into a math or art lesson as well.

This Guess Who? game changing idea is a creative way to take an ordinary game and adapt it to your subject area. I like the idea of changing out the photos of the game to fit the subject you are studying. Instead of photos you could also use other types of images or vocabulary words as well. 

This conversation Jenga game is another great way of adapting an existing game into something more specific for your classroom. Write a question that students must answer every time they pull a piece. You could even have your students write their own questions as well.

This lesson using an orange is such an imaginative and creative lesson! It teaches students not only about the earth's shape but the peel can also flatten to show how regular maps are drawn.

Those are some of my favorite Pinterest finds! To see more things I have pinned on Pinterest, visit my Pinterest page. Please share your favorite Pinterest finds below.