Desktop Organization

Brilliant, I tell you! Brilliant!
I have to be honest, I stumbled upon the Science Teaching Junkie's blog. Must have been one of those rabbit holes!

Nevertheless, I am thankful that I did. It was exactly the push I needed to organize my desktop. You see, my desktop was (notice the word was) a hot mess! Folder within folder within folder of files and images. There were times throughout the school year when I had to present to teachers so I would create a file labeled "Stuff" and drag and drop everything on my desktop into it! (Can't be embarrassed by all the stuff on my desktop!) I think I had Stuff 1, Stuff 2, Stuff 3 . . . maybe a few more . . . at least that's all I'm admitting to at this point.

So, when I came across the Science Teaching Junkie's  post about Organize Your Desktop, I froze!
Super cute! Chevron! Adorable frames! Say-what?!!!

The clouds parted . . . the angels began to sing . . . the post was speaking to me!
Ok, maybe that's a tad bit dramatic . . .

Today, I worked for hours purging and organizing.

The final product!

I had to play with the sizing to fit my screen. Shayna does a great job of explaining how to create the background for your desktop. Head over to her blog to check it out! Plus, read about her other great teaching ideas.

(The new and improved and organized ITS!)

Connect and Collaborate - Save the Dates!

As you begin to plan for the school year, there are several collaborative projects for 2014. These projects are engaging, authentic and a great way to take your class beyond the 4 walls.

This is by no means an extensive list, but it's several of my favorites. If you know of others or have a collaborative project you would like to share, please add it to the comments! I'll add it to the Google Doc - see below.

Join 1 or join all!

September
International Dot Day - 

September 15th

A global celebration of creativity, courage and collaboration
Click {here} to see my blog post from last year. We combined it with some Augmented Reality - ColAR mix!

O.R.E.O 2014  - September 15 - October 17th (registration now open)

Projects by Jen is hosting an Oreo Challenge

Jen has numerous ways to integrate all subjects. My favorite - MYSTERY SKYPE

Connect (via our participant listing) with another classroom and try to guess locations -- or better yet.....share your stacking moments, have a friendly stacking competition, etc.

October
Global Read Aloud - October 6th (registration open)
Connecting students through books!

November
Adventure 14 (registration opens in September)
Adventure '14 aims to bring thousands of learners from across the world closer together, to get to know and understand each other, to break down barriers, and to help prepare them for the evolution of the global neighbo(u)rhood.

December
Hour of Code  - December 8-14th

An opportunity for every student to try computer science for one hour.
Click {here} for a blog post from last year. Coding with Kinders!

I created a Google doc with the information about these projects. Feel free to grab it!  I'll be adding new projects as I find or hear about them.

Happy collaborating and connecting globally!

From Lake to Beach...days of fun!

Every summer, my niece stays with us for a week and vice versa.  My daughter and niece are the best of friends! The week started off with meeting my sister-in-law, brother-in-law, nephew and niece at the lake.

Brought the puppies ~ Cliff jumping ~ Haywire flying ~ Just chill'n

My new favorite . . . grilled bacon wrapped cabbage! My sister-in-law shared the recipe! 

Seriously, fantastic! 

Frozen tortilla throwing! Who knew deer loved frozen tortillas?!

From lake to beach! 

Cousin besties on the beach!

Waves crashing, seagulls soaring, and a whole lot of nothing! Wednesday, I sat the entire day and did nothing - when I say nothing, I mean no checking social media or thinking about school!

I was introduced to the "Circle of Death!" 

Crab hunting at night! Flashlights in tow, we were off to the beach after dark. Shine the flashlights in the sand and find the crawling night life! My niece was the expert at scooping up the crabs. What is the "Circle of Death?" 

Once, you have enough crabs (deemed by the group) everyone stands in a tight circle. Then, the crabs are released in the center! I'm no fool! I wanted nothing to do with this, so the crabs were actually released in a deep hole the girls found.  It's hard to see and most dug down in the sand, but we had about 25 crabs!

(Disclaimer: at no time were any of the crabs harmed!)

There is nothing better than creating lasting memories!

My favorite month...August and a Currently!

Favorite, because it's my birthday month and it's the start of a new school year. Yes, sad to see summer go, but it's the thought of new beginnings. I've had the summer to reflect on last year and now it's time for fresh ideas, new adventures and "out of the box" thinking!

And . . . it's time for a new installment of Currently with Farley!

Listening - Love Castle!

Thinking - My very dear friend was just named our assistant principal. She is a quiet private person, but will move mountains for what is best for students. I'm excited to work with her in a different capacity!

Loving - the week of memories we just created. 9 more days of summer for me.  Check back tomorrow for some fun pictures of our week.

Wanting - It has been so much fun having my daughter at my school for the last 5 years . . . now, she's off to the Jr. School. Insert tear . . . She is ready! She has the locker chandelier, mirror, pen pouch, and locker wallpaper!

Needing - My husband left for Colorado . . . I couldn't find my charger . . . he returned. Forgot to charge it . . .  off the grid! Oh, I could go on with the excuses, but no more!!! I'm going to go find it right now! (It really is motivating when you compete with friends.)

1st Day: As an ITS, I have 5 additional days. 3 at the beginning of the year and 2 at the end of the year.
Teachers are back on my birthday! Our district keeps sending out these little snippets of the big production they are putting together for the 1st day back for Convocation!

P.S. When I was in the classroom, I used Farley's Currently for the Classroom. My students loved them!

Have a fantastic Friday!

YAKiT Kids - My new favorite app!

I am having so much fun with this free app, YAKiT!

Just me . . .  having fun!

What makes an 11 year old roll her eyes and glare at her mother? Take her picture and add it to YAKiT! My daughter and her BFF made some fabulous watermelon shaped cookies (as seen on Pinterest), so I snapped a few photos and threw them into YAKiT . . . then, added a high pitched voice (too funny), added animated confetti and last but not least, added some talking bacon! (Would doesn't love talking bacon?!!!)

It was very quick and easy.
The first step is to take a picture. You can pick a photo from the photo album or select a web photo. There is an interesting feature that states students can use advanced filtering to remove adult content, but does not hand-select each image. Worked pretty well.

Step 2: Add a mouth and other fun features.

Step 3: Record the voice over. You can make the voice high, normal or really low!

The recording is only 15 seconds, so students need to be well prepared and have a script ready. (See below for some YAKiT script sheets.)

 If you make a mistake, just re-record or even edit the scene. To add a new scene, just click on the Add Scene button.

The More button allows you to send videos using email, Dropbox, Evernote or various apps you might have on the device.

This is such an engaging app. It is open ended which I love!

A few ways to use YAKiT . . .

• Take a picture of a science or math tool and have students explain how it is used
• Book characters telling their story
• Talking scientist and historian telling their contribution to the world
• Sequencing events
• Cause and effect scenarios

Scripting is important before starting an app like this. Remember, students only have 15 seconds of recording. Adding scenes allows you to tell a story. This is a great way to practice fluency. 

Here are a few scripting sheets. Click [here] to download the scripting sheets.

I know the wheels are moving! What ideas do you have for using this app?
Happy creating!

P.S. here are the watermelon cookies my daughter and her BFF made!

New Blog Name

I finally did it!  Changed my blog name! When I started thinking about blogging, I was excited to get a name, a cute blog design and start blogging.

In my zest, I didn't think long term when selecting my blog name. Soooo, when I changed positions last year from a 5th grade teacher to Instructional Technology Specialist . . . the name just didn't fit.

It took me a about a year of tossing names around. Finally, I came up with The Techie Playground!
Honey Bunch Blog Designs had created my original blog design, so I contacted Erika to see if they would help with the name change. Ever so helpful and patient, Erika redesigned the name, my signature and button!

The url will stay the same, but got myself a cool new name!

6 Words and App Smashing

It's time for a bit of app smashing and a linky with iTeach 1:1!

In app smashing, the key is to make sure to use apps that allow you to save to the camera roll. Saving to the camera roll allows you to post it, send it or share it!

A 6 Word Memoir is one of my favorite writing activities to do at the beginning of the school year. It's a great way to get to know your students.  

I love using task card. They allow students to be more independent when creating their product. 

This task card is for younger students. 

Click on the task cards above to download a copy.

Let's start smashing!
Dragon Dictation is great for your hesitant writers or students that have a hard time typing. Using Dragon allows thoughts to flow without getting bogged down in the typing and spelling.

There are several paint types of apps, but my new favorite is Zoodle Pad!
Use it to paint, draw, or just doodle crazy designs! The very cool part is that you can play it back as a movie.

Some features  . . .

ChatterPix Kids time!
Take the saved graphic and open it into ChatterPix so you can add voice!

Happy app smashing!
Happy Tuesday!