1 LoxiaStudio: A FREE Flash Photo Slideshow Maker

LoxiaStudio.What a cool way to create and publish FREE FLASH photo slideshow animations.  According to the site:

• LoxiaStudio specializes in the creation of creative content development tools.
• There aim is to provide everyone with an easy and quick way of making high-quality animations, without the need for the technical know-how typically associated with this sort of task.
• Manual editing of XML files isn’t required, nor is a working knowledge of Flash or Photoshop (or, for that matter Actionscript, Javascript or HTML).

it is VERY user friendly. You can:

• Crop and resize your pictures, add titles ,descriptions and links, customize size, layout and color, all of this is done online and in less than 1 minute.

They offer 52 (as of Sept 2012) different components (styles) ranging from a 3D rotating cube gallery to a sliding panels CSS3 animation.Below are some of them in action!






Click here to view the other styles! 

What a neat way to showcase your students work! Check it out!

1 Insects: A Collaboration Between Technology and Library

Working collaboratively with my librarian, 5 stations (for Kindergarten) were created around an Insect theme. The educational goal was for the students to discover various facts about insects.

• Parts of an Insect
• Why they are important
• Difference between an insect and not an insect
  

Numerous devices were utilized (i.e. iPads, Macbooks, PhotoBooth) as well as online resources.

 Both students and teachers seem to enjoy the joint efforts of this collaborative project. Please view the below Animoto of the results:

0 Teachers Pay Teachers....What a Phenominal Site!

I came across this site a while ago but like so many sites, I made a quick lap and moved on. This time, I took the time to check it out! So what is this site all about?

TeachersPayTeachers® is the world's first open marketplace where teachers buy and sell original teaching materials. It was founded in 2006 by Paul Edelman, a former NYC public school teacher. Its mission is to make teachers lives easier by bringing together those who create curricula with those who are seeking fresh new approaches in the classroom.

This site offers FREE or very low cost original teaching resources. It has over 26,000 FREE items categories by subject, type (Lesson Plans, Activities, Worksheets, PowerPoint, etc), grade level and price. I inserted a search for QR Codes and found a bunch of free and low cost teaching ideas! Here are some of the products found:

• QR Code Math Problem Fun - FREE- Have some fun, technology-based learning with this QR code activity. Students write their own math story problem in a mini book and create a QR code for the answer. Then, they can solve each other's problems and scan the QR codes to check their answers.
  
• Two-Digit Addition QR Code Fun (With and Without Regrouping)- $2.00 - QR codes are all the rage, and they will have your students wanting to do addition problems! This title contains 12 self-checking center/task QR code cards, one recording sheet, and one 10-problem worksheet. Problems are with and without regrouping. One of my teachers purchased this and it is worth the money!
  
• Money QR Code Fun - $2.00 - QR codes are all the rage, and they will have your students excited about counting coins and solving money word problems! Based on the 2nd grade CCSS 2.MD.8, this title contains 12 self-checking center/task QR code cards, one recording sheet, and one 10-problem worksheet.
  

I also saw some ideas for Animoto, Blabberize, Wordle, Glogster, Wallwisher, Voki and a bunch more. (Please know, I did not purchase any of these products so I am not sure of the quality of them. However, the previews look very interesting!) So, if you get a chance check out Teachers Pay Teachers!