Hey, tech gurus! It’s "Tech It Up Tuesday", so hopefully you’re ready to learn about another resource that can be utilized in your classroom. This week’s feature, Resize Your Image, is not a new web app, but it’s definitely a very simple yet useful one that should be added to your tech toolbox. Whenever you need a quick and easy way to resize an image without having to use a full-size image editing tool like Gimp or Photoshop, then be sure to check out Resize Your Image. This utility allows users to upload an image, specify the desired dimensions and then download the resized image. Resize Your Image also provides users with rotation and zooming tools as well as the option to save in one of three file formats: jpg, png and gif. Not only does Resize Your Image allow users to modify the size of an image (in pixels), the tool also reduces the size of the actual file itself. Classroom Connection: Use Resize Your Image when you (or your students) want to reduce the pixels and/or overall size of an image for print, email and/or use in web sites, wikis and blogs. My Multimedia Journalism students and I love, love this tool! We utilize it frequently when preparing pictures for upload on our online school newspaper site. Be sure to check out The B-A BluePrint sometime!

What’s new this week in my Diigo bookmarks? Check out the links shown below for some of the latest and greatest "Cool Tools" and/or web resources that can be integrated into your classroom! » Flipgrid A web tool and iOs and Android app that allows teachers to create grids of short discussion-style questions that students respond to through recorded videos. A fun and engaging way to foster student creativity! Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links can be found here.

Halloween and a full moon occurring during the same week—seriously? Is someone really messin’ with teachers this year or what! Well, this "perfect storm" is upon us so how about trying to preserve what might be left of your sanity by checking out some really spook-tacular collections of Halloween-themed resources that are sure to creep out all of those ghosts and goblins that live in your classrooms—in a good way, of course! Whether it’s writing prompts, science experiments, Halloween candy math, Edgar Allan Poe videos or haunted vocabulary, there’s something wicked cool awaiting you below on my recently updated Trick or Tweet greatest hits list: » The History Channel: The History of Halloween Bet you didn’t know Halloween is one of America’s favorite holidays, but what’s the real story behind the tricks and treats of Halloween? Find out by exploring this site filled with cool facts, figures, videos and interactives. » Scholastic: Halloween Trick or Treat for Facts and Fun Get your classroom in the Halloween spirit with these math and science activities, writing ideas, and crafts. Plus, use the Halloween-themed book lists to find a perfect read-aloud title or scary stories to share with your students for independent reading. » 7 Halloween Themed Educational Activities A collection of Halloween-themed games and activities curated by Richard Byrne, author of Free Technology for Teachers—apps, math adventures, safety games, typing activities, a web hunt and more! » It’s Halloween! A Pinterest board containing 90+ Halloween sites to celebrate Halloween by Edutopia. » The Best Sites for Learning About Halloween An assortment of all things Halloween by Larry Ferlazzo—A visual history, slideshows, vocabulary and spelling games, close activities, Halloween Around the World and Mia Cadaver’s Tombstone Timeout, one of the most favorite games found on the BBC site and more! » Halloween Activities A variety of educational sites for Halloween by 19 Pencils. » Fractus Learning 6 Spooky EdTech Tools for Halloween. » The JCISD EdTech Team A compilation of fun Halloween and fall web links and iOS apps for educators and students curated by a group of edtech-ers from the Jackson County Intermediate School District.  » Harry Kindergarten Music Check out my colleagues’s YouTube Channel for all sorts of original cool music videos for the elementary classroom, including the one shown below about October holidays. Classroom Connection: Use these resources to teach and learn about the Halloween holiday.

Time for the next tech-isode in my "Tech It Up Tuesday" series in which I will share an edtech tool, app, site or other resource that can be utilized in the educational setting. And here it is… Looking for a way to watch YouTube videos with your students minus the distracting and sometimes inappropriate advertisements, comments, and other extraneous information that is included on the page? If so, ViewPure is the perfect tool for you! ViewPure allows users to copy the URL of a video into the "purifier". Once this link is inserted, the "Purify" button can be selected and bang! Your video is displayed on a clutter-free background. Videos can also be "purified" through the use of the ViewPure bookmarklet. Simply install the applet to your favorites toolbar, then click the "purify" button while on the YouTube page of the video you wish to filter and voila! Check out the example below showing how ViewPure works: » An Ancient Egyptian video from YouTube before using ViewPure: FYI: The actual URL for this video lives here. » The same Ancient Egyptian video from YouTube after using ViewPure: Click here to view the unique URL ViewPure generates for each video that is "purified". Classroom Connection: Use ViewPure to eliminate unnecessary distractions from YouTube videos so students can better focus on the content at hand.

If you’re ready to combine a little bit of holiday fun with Google Drawings, then Shake Up Learning has created and shared a really cool must-try activity for you and your class: A Halloween-themed magnetic poetry template containing nearly 100 words. The students start out with a creepy palette that looks something like this: And end up transforming it into something spook-tacular like this: Just as an FYI: I encouraged my students to use as many nouns and adjectives as possible in a creative way. I actually incorporated this activity into my fifth grade Computers class. Besides allowing them to have some Halloween fun with related words and images, it was a great opportunity for them to become more familiar with copying a template into their Google Drive account and utilizing Google Drawing. Here they are getting all creepy with it! Classroom Connection: The Halloween Magnetic Poetry template can be used in a variety of ways as either an independent or collaborative writing activity. Utilize the "magnets" included and/or add your own text boxes to extend the activity. Click here to make your very own copy of the template. A huge shout out to edtech guru Kasey Bell for sharing this super cool resource!

As Quincy Jones once remarked, "I’ve always thought that a big laugh is a really loud noise from the soul saying, "Ain’t that the truth." That said, Edu-fun Friday is a series devoted to adding some humor to the lives of teachers who visit this blog. After all, there’s nothing better than ending the week on a positive note! Plus, do we have the best topics to provide us with some comic relief or what? Standardized testing… Yep, it’s really that scary!

What’s new this week in my Diigo bookmarks? Check out the links shown below for some of the latest and greatest "Cool Tools" and/or web resources that can be integrated into your classroom! » Made with Code A site from Google with resources, projects and inspirational videos to encourage students to code. Projects include programming an LED dress, a kaleidoscope, a soundtrack and a 2D character with a 3D personality. » PicResize Resize, shrink, and crop pictures online for free before posting them to a blog, web page or social media site. Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links can be found here.

So, you want to increase motivation for reading and writing, improve confidence levels and/or encourage ICT literacy? Well, regardless of the rationale, blogging is a very powerful learning tool that can assist teachers with these goals. Still not convinced that blogging is a meaningful activity? Then check out the nifty sketch note shown below, one that illustrates ten additional reasons you should get your blog on with your students. A high five to Sylvia Duckworth for creating and sharing this very useful infographic. Click here to view a full screen version of this sketch note. Classroom Connection: Not that you asked for it, but here’s my personal opinion regarding the value of blogging in the classroom… The educational benefits associated with providing students with the opportunity to blog are countless. This activity is an innovative way for students to express themselves with an authentic audience. From brainstorming to organizing to writing, revising, and peer review, blogs are natural tools that lend themselves to the writing process in any content area. Because blogs can have viewers in addition to the teacher, students are engaged in sharing, communicating and exchanging ideas on a larger scale and see a permanency to their words that an essay or research paper can never equal. Blogging in education provides a communication space that teachers and students can utilize to develop a concept, share ideas and/or reflect on current and past assignments. Not only do these networks promote reading, writing, and critical thinking, blogs create a viable classroom outside of the traditional learning environment, giving the students and the teacher more flexibility in the learning process. Blogging is incredibly easy to do. It takes very little time, it’s free, and it’s a great way to open your classroom to a world of ideas! That said, if you haven’t experimented with integrating one of the many blogging tools—like Edublogs—into your lessons, you should really give the idea some serious consideration. Not feeling that adventurous? Then start small with a few students that live in your classroom. Trust me—it’s a win-win situation for both the student(s) and teacher! Check out my most favorite student blog written by one of those kids that reinforces why you chose this profession—Simply Aubree. Her space was voted the Best Student Blog of 2014!

Veterans Day is an official United States holiday honoring the men and women who have served in our military forces. Whether you choose to focus on this event for one class period, or maybe you’re planning to incorporate a special project in honor of our American heroes—either way, utilize the resources located within the recently updated interactive image shown below to connect classroom curriculum to the day set aside to honor those who have sacrificed so much for our freedom. Be sure to hover over the image to reveal a variety of "hotspots" containing Veterans Day lesson plans and activities. Click here to access a full-screen version of this image. Classroom Connection: Use the resources and materials listed above to teach students about the importance of honoring the men and women who have served and/or continue to serve in our nation’s armed forces.

What’s new this week in my Diigo bookmarks? Check out the links shown below for some of the latest and greatest "Cool Tools" and/or web resources that can be integrated into your classroom! » National Museum of Flight: 360 Cockpit Views Ever dreamed of piloting a fighter bomber? Getting behind the controls of a Comet? Or chilling out on board Concorde? Now you can step into the cockpits and cabins of our famous planes and view them in stunning 360° panoramas via this interactive site hosted by the National Museum of Flight! » Cookie A web site containing fun and educational games and activities that build skills in math, language, social studies, science and much more! Best suited for Pre-K to Grade 2 learners. Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links can be found here.