RedKid

I love using this website to make sign generators and glitter text. It's really all about the simple things. I just like to add them to my flipcharts and presentations to give it a more visual appeal. There are lots of sites out there to create glitter text but this is one of the fastest and easiest that I have found. If you are just wanting to add that little something extra to jazz up your lessons, definitely check this out!

http://www.redkid.net/

Sheppard Software

I think out of all my bookmarked websites this is my favorite go-to for interactive activities. You can find something for all contents and the kids absolutely love it! We have Promethean boards in our district so I put it in dual-user mode and two students are able to come up and interact at the same time. If you teach math, I definitely recommend checking out Fruit Shoot under Math Games. You can choose to review addition, subtraction, multiplication, or division. I have never seen students so eager to learn their facts; a favorite for sure! It would be a good resource to recommend for students to play at home or during center times.

http://www.sheppardsoftware.com/

Scholastic Story Starters

How many times have you heard one of your students say, “I don’t know what to write about” when it comes to a writing assignment? I used to hear it all the time; even though, we had ideas posted around the room or written down on small pieces of paper for the students to pull from the container. That’s why I really wish I had known about Scholastic's Story Starters a long time ago. It is a fun way for creative writing that students will love!

http://teacher.scholastic.com/activities/storystarters/storystarter1.htm

They can spin the wheel all at once or separately for each part of the writing prompt. Bring it up on your interactive whiteboard and I am sure your students will be eager to have their turn.

ClassDojo

ClassDojo (http://classdojo.com/) is a behavior management website that rewards positive behavior as it happens. Most importantly, it is free and simple to use! It works best if you bring up the webpage and display it on your interactive whiteboard or projector and allow the students to view it. You can award or deduct points for behavior and your students will see the results in real time. I also liked the fact that it allowed me to define my own positive and negative behaviors so it tailors to my classroom management. What’s the point if you cannot keep a record of it from day to day, right? Well the good news is ClassDojo has a report card feature that lets you email or print the behavior reports in PDF format. So, you can email parents the report with the breakdown of each behavior and add comments.

Do you use a smartphone, tablet, or handheld device? Then you can use it as a remote control to award points from anywhere in the room. Just go to http://mobile.classdojo.com/ to get started! (It seriously only took me a few minutes.)

It is a great way to create a positive learning environment so I just wanted to share. I only wish I could have used this a few years ago! Hopefully, this will work wonderfully for your class.

Flash Browsers for iPad, iPhone, and iTouch

There are some really great interactive websites out there that would be great for students to use on the iPad. However, it’s disappointing when they are flash-based sites and they are not compatible with the iOS platform. Rover is the perfect solution. It can be downloaded free from the app store and supports flash websites. So now you can use all your favorite sites right on your iPad!

There are a lot of other flash browser apps that can be downloaded from the app store for a relatively low price. Rover is currently only for the iPad, so it is worth checking out some of the other apps.

Splashtop remote browser is one of my favorites. It allows you to control your computer directly from your device; you are actually using your own computer's browser. This gives you the freedom to access all of your files and software programs directly from your computer. One reason why I love it is because it works awesome with the interactive whiteboard. Instead of having a slate to control the board, students can launch the Splashtop app and interact from anywhere in the room! If you get a chance, definitely check it out. Just click on the icons to find out more.