I {HEART} My Techy Nerd Hubster

So MUCH printing to do so little ink. Or at least, that WAS my problem until my in-laws gave me their old printer. Seems they bought a new, wireless laser printer and have no need for this one:

It's full of both colour and black ink. Yay me. Or so I thought until I tried this baby out.
Seems that HP has installed little chips in their ink cartridges that tell the printer they are expired. Huh.
Enter Techy Nerd Hubster...a bing and a bang and some computer code I don't understand=no more probs. He reset the time on the printer itself (it has a memory) so that the printer doesn't know the cartridge has expired.

Fingers crossed it works.

He's watching football and hasn't actually tested it out as of yet...

In my enthusiasm, I ordered these from Ebay. At $15 for 15 colour/black cartridges, including shipping to Canada, I am ready to print my heart out! Which is a good thing, cuz I have lots and lots and lots of printing to do.

Question: What do YOU do when you have copious amounts of printing? I am curious, especially with all the generous/lovely freebies out there.
I also own a regular HP printer and buy ink cartridges online. We had a laser printer but found that it was too expensive to replace toner.
Does everyone else own a laser printer? Inkjet? Any secrets you want to share? So far, I have found EBay to be the most reasonable way to buy ink...

Don't forget to enter my giveaway...it ends soon! You could win these...

                                    

Giveaway Winners!!

I should have posted this yesterday, but I had to take my migraine medication when I got home from school. I fell asleep and didn't wake up until this morning! Migraines have plagued me since I a) turned 30 and b) had my third child. Sheesh!

First and foremost, thank you for entering my giveaway. I am tickled that so many people took the time to comment, blog and even TWEET about it. Wow! Virtual hugs all around.

Here are the two lucky bloggers that random.org chose:

Congrats! Thank you! Have a wonderful day!
Look for your tpt gift certificate in your email inbox, lovely ladies.

ps Does everyone know about the ctrl print screen function? My techy husband told me about it as I was struggling to take pictures of the screen on my laptop to show the comments and number generator. This function is so.much.easier.

C.R.A.Z.Y.

Yes, it's true. Sadly, my laptop has a nasty, yucky virus. I can't even turn it on. Luckily, my husband is uber techy and can (hopefully) fix it BUT it's going to take a while and I am rapidly slowly going c.r.a.z.y. Like rearranging my cupboards, closets and drawers c.r.a.z.y
Therefore, what an awesome surprise to receive the Liebster Award from Delena at Learn with Me in Grade Three. Thanks so much...honestly, it was a a wonderful surprise and helped to cheer up my glumness about my laptop.

I have nominated these blogs for the Liebster Award. The criteria is that they have less than 200 followers.

Capture.Each.Day

A photo journey of a mother, teacher and enthusiast.

The Honey Bunch

Loads of great ideas from a primary perspective.

Grade One Doodle Bugs

An up and coming blogster. Kim teaches grade one and has FANTASTIC ideas/resources.

The past week at school was insane busy. Four straight days of -45 Celsius (-49 Farenheit) meant indoor recesses and stir crazy kids/adults. Luckily, I have a SmartBoard in my classroom because it makes Daily Physical Activity simple, simple, simple. We purchased a kid friendly exercise DVD called "Smart Fitness Workout" and it is the bomb diggedy. Truly. The kids LOVE it. It was well worth the twenty dollars that it cost!

I just throw this onto the SmartBoard and away we go. The routines range from five to ten minutes long. Most are energy boosters and a couple are cool-down-yoga type routines.

Another recentish discovery is the "Chair Hip Hop" series from Learn 360. This is a 25 minute compilation of different hip hop moves that the kids can follow along and do from the comfort of their chairs. It is really neat to see twenty kids doing the "windmill" together. Love it. Learn 360 requires a subscription (I think) that our school board has bought and we can access. It includes thousands of videos that are directly related to our Ontario curriculum.

Welcome Back Prezi

Here is a short (but sweet) Prezi welcoming the kids back to school. It didn't take too long and Prezi has improved some of their features. For example, you can search for an image directly from the Prezi site instead of opening a new window and doing it through Google images.
I plan on showing this on my Smartboard and letting the kids ask questions as we go. Last year, I didn't teach them how to make a Prezi, but I may this year.

welcome grade 2/3 on Prezi

Spell with Flickr-FUN with Names

Spell with Flickr is an ultra cool site that Ms Jones from Hello Literacy (100% recommend checking it out) has bookmarked. What a fun idea! All you have to do is type in a word and the site "finds" the letters. The word can then either be saved as a jpg or the html code can be embedded into a blog, website etc.  So many creative possibilities for the classroom...try it out...
                 

           

My example was embedded into this post  : -)

New Look~Same Blog

As I was perusing blogland, I noticed that a member had the same blog as me. Whoops-she has been blogging longer so I changed mine up. This time, I mixed and matched so I hope I avoid this faux pas in the future. Also, wanted to say "Welcome" to my new followers. I have to admit, however, that Leea at Set this Circus Down made my week! She very kindly featured my blog and is encouraging others to check it out. Thank you x 1 000 000!!
I have two of my besties visiting this weekend so don't know how much blogging I'll get done BUT I'll be back on Monday...or sooner (probably sooner as I love blogging).  :)

Before I sign off and get cleaning (lol), I thought I'd show a website that my kidlettes LOVED. It is part of the New York Zoos website and is called "Build Your Wild Self." Kids have an opportunity to add different body parts to a person to make a new "animal"-self. What I especially loved about this site is the description the kids are given at the end. A short paragraph about each chosen animal part is included as well as a new, made-up animal name. The image can be printed or copied and saved. I haven't yet figured out how to save as a jpeg as the site saves in a different format. As soon as I figure it out I'll update. I used this as a centre activity the last week of school and had two kids on computers at a time (that's the number of computers I have in my room). Kids then printed them and included them in their year-end scrapbook. FUN!

Baringo Giraffe horns - The Baringo giraffe is one of the largest giraffes in the world. Sometimes the horns of a baby giraffe are flexible and can be bent. It can take months for the baby horns to straighten out.

Fossa Ears - Your fossa ears are a hunter's best friend. They can help you track down your favorite snack...lemurs.

Giant tree frog arms - Your sticky fingers are actually giant tree frog toe pads. They help you cling to trees and climb vertically anywhere you want.

Siberian tiger legs - You are a very hairy tiger. Siberian tigers have thicker and longer hair than most tigers because they live in Siberia, where average temperatures get as low as -5ºF. Good thing you have a warm coat.

Monarch butterfly wings - Your monarch butterfly wings can beat five times per second. Can you flap your arms five times in one second?
This would be a fun writing prompt or jumping off point as well. The website is FREE and user-friendly.

"The Amazing Web 2.0 Projects Book" FREEBIE

Here is a free ebook that I found (hee hee) while looking for techie ideas. It has lots of great ideas, some of which I incorporated in my classroom this spring. It is definitely worth a scan, if not a read. I only have two computers in my classroom but am fortunate to also have a Smartboard. I model websites on the Smartboard or use some of the computer ideas as a shared writing activity. We have a lab at our school that consists of 21 computers, so once the kids have tried out the activity, they can do so independently. For our ABCya/Smilebox slideshow, kids logged into one of our two classroom computers and completed the task one at at time. I made the slideshow after I uploaded the ABCya Jpegs.

ABC Book and a FANTASTIC website

Holy Shmoly...Bembo's Zoo is a beautiful website. Each letter of the alphabet turns into the animal that it represents. For example, the B in bison turns into a bison using the lines from the word...this would make a fun activity to do with the kids...they can each have a letter, think of a word, use the letters/lines from the word to make the animal or object...

Bembo's Zoo

SMORIES

This is a website that I "stumbled upon" (hee hee)...it would be a very cool resource to put on the Smartboard in September and let kids enjoy. It would also be a great project to do with the kids...
Smories

Monster Exchange

I signed up for the Monster Exchange today. It looks really cool and I think the kids will enjoy it lots. I am thinking it will be a great activity to do in October. This will also be a great addition to our memory books-my students monsters beside their partners monsters. Yay!

Storybird...LOVE LOVE LOVE

Tips for a wonderful grade 2/3 class of 2010-2011! on Storybird
Highly recommend this site. Simple, lovely and addicting.

Here is our Slideshow...Finally!

This free slideshow design customized with Smilebox

 The kids really loved this activity! They did everything but upload the Word Clouds into Smilebox. This was an interactive and different way to study grammar/parts of speech.

ABCya and Smilebox

Whew! Today the kids worked on a culminating activity for our PARTS OF SPEECH unit of study. This is what it entails:

• each student adds 10-15 words about one topic (eg nouns, adjectives, adverbs, verbs...)
• on their sheet, kids must have descriptive words and synonyms
• after double checking spelling and neatness, kids showed me their sheets
• if everything looks good, next step

Tomorrow, kids will type their list into ABCya's Word Cloud program (free and easy form of WORDLE). I will download their Word Clouds onto my flashdrive and make a PARTS OF SPEECH slideshow in Smilebox. 

I will post the slideshow when it is finished.

So, so, so, excited!!!

I borrowed this idea from "Techie Teacher"'s blog; what a wonderfully fun idea.

Bitstrips for Schools is an Amazing Resource

Bitstrips for Schools is a program that our school board purchased for use in both elementary and secondary schools. We have used it in our classroom for multiple tasks like; Emotional Literacy, fairy tales, and even math reflections.
Students love, love, love this program. There are many free cartoon-making websites and I encourage everyone to try one out...the kiddos will be glad you did.

VoiceThread for Learning Reflections

Cool site for reflecting on learning

Okay, so I have to admit that this one is very new to me. I created an account and am going to ask my kids to reflect on Bitstrips using VoiceThread. We will either use our avatars from Bitstrips or make new ones in KidPix. All that is required is a lot of patience (lol); especially this week as it is the end of the school year. 

In order to have a good idea how this works, I added a couple of "identities" and did the voices myself. It is actually very easy once you try it out and get the hang of it. I highly recommend, although the setup (which is the biggest part) takes a little while.

I will add each kid in my class as one of my "identities" and will then let them either type or record their feelings about Bitstrips...we'll see how it goes.

Click the link to see my project in action!

VoiceThread as Reflection Tool

PREZI & Learning Goals

The ZOOMING PRESENTATION program

In March, I made a Prezi to show my Pathway. It is a fairly easy "zooming presentation" program. I have shown kids from grades 5-9 how to use this resource, but have yet to show my kiddos in
grade 2/3. It is a fancy way to showcase a project, and kids pick it up really fast.
Like most of the technology I incorporate, it is a free program that offers basic features. In order to get the advanced options, a membership must be bought.
Click on the link below if you'd like to view my Prezi.

Learning Goals February-March by K Kelly

GLOGSTER

Glogster Learning Goals

My grade 2/3 class and I made a GLOGSTER to develop our latest pathway. Kids chose the graphics, font, colours, background and wording while I typed in the information. There are countless examples of what a teacher can do with this interactive, highly engaging program. It has been used by kids but also by teachers to grab the attention of students at the beginning of a unit of study. Seriously, this is a fabulous site.
I highly recommend GLOGSTER as a tool for grades 1-12...there is so much that you can do with this program. The basic package is free, however, if you want to upgrade there is a fee.
For a larger view, please click on the link below...

GLOGSTER April-May Learning Goals K Kelly