Haugen’s Tech Tips Blog

As I approach a new session of my after school publishing program, I decided to use a wiki to see if I could help make the process clearer to students and give them more opportunities to work independently. My Edison Student Publishers Wiki includes information about the program, and tips to help my 3rd-5th grade students:

• Choose a Project – news, reviews, interviews, puzzles, comics, jokes, etc.
• Find News or Information – web sites, people, papers, etc.
• Find Help with Writing – news, poetry, fiction, more
• Find or Make Images – photos, drawings, online tools, more
• Make a Puzzle – links to puzzlemaker, our puzzle starters and more
• Work on Layout – under construction

I’m excited about how this program is evolving and the wonderful, creative work kids can do. I’m new to wikis and I think this may be the first one I’ve done that approaches being useful! I’d love any feedback or suggestions on improving this kind of resource.

Paul Hamilton has amassed an amazing collection of Free Resources from the Net for (Special) Education that you won’t want to miss! Well organized and very comprehensive.  It’s also an inspiring design for a resource-sharing blog.

FossWeb offers three sites with interactive inquiry-based science activities.

• The K-2 site
• The 3-6 site
• The Middle School

Okay, so now I’m blending Google Doc’s new online presentation software with Plasq’s cool and easy screenshot/annotating/uploading tool called Skitch. I think this has potential. The image is everything, because you write your step-by-step instructions right on it. Both students and teachers could use Skitch to create, snap or import images, then write and draw on them to give instructions, create maps or diagrams, indicate key features of a photo or painting, and so much more… In Google Docs, you can import images (created in Skitch or elsewhere) into your presentation. Then, collaborate on your documents online with anyone you choose to invite.

You can also invite people or groups to view your presentation and comment in a chat area. This changes the game of providing online presentations. Very cool.

Just in from the MadATer…
Make your own comic at makebeliefcomix.com. What a great way for kids (or adults) to dip into creating comic strips – for fun, for social stories, and more. I especially like the tips that pop up on the bottom.