So much of my traffic on this website comes from people who have shared my work with their readers and I am so grateful for that. First, I want to say a public thank you to some of my biggest sources of traffic over the last 9 months or so. Below are five great sites worth checking out.
Ready Teacher
Ready Teacher has a very popular website that shares free teaching resources, and Ready Teacher runs great Pinterest boards too.
Childhood 101
The women here have put together a incredibly useful parenting website with resources on just about every aspect of parenting you could imagine: teaching, feeding, playing, and more! It’s really worth checking out
Cool Cat Teacher
When Vicki Davis shared my Audio QR Code post, she put me on the blogging map, and I will be forever grateful. I’ve since started following her blog and have to come love the encouraging and inspiring things she shares about teaching, as well as the practical stuff too.
Flapjack Educational Resources
Tabitha Carro runs this website that is chock full of teaching resources. She’s got Freebies galore and also sells her resources on Teachers Pay Teachers. She’s got a whole page on her site devoted to QR codes, which is of course, how I connected with her.
Heidi Songs
I discovered all of Heidi’s musical resources just before I started this website. I wrote about her teen number songs here. Her music is perfect for kids who learn through music and movement. I’m amazed at all of the songs she’s created. She also writes about her teaching on her blog.
Do check out these websites. All of them create really great content and are a tremendous resource for teachers and parents. I want to say thank you too, to the hundreds of you who have shared my work on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and other social media. I wish I could track each of you down to issue a personal thank you to you as well. As a writer, it is so gratifying to know that people are actually reading and sharing your work.
I also wanted to return the favor and share some thought provoking articles I’ve discovered as I’ve waded through my very, very full Educational Technology Category on my RSS Feed Reader. (I mostly use Feedly, but still visit Bloglovin’ periodically too.) There are so many people sharing so many excellent ideas, that I’m always a month or so behind. Still, the articles below grabbed my attention, and I thought others might appreciate their insights as well.
8 Frequent Mistakes Made with iPads in Schools
I thought this article made some interesting points. I especially agreed with point number three. I think so often we forget that a fancy technology device doesn’t automatically catipult kids into the critical thinking zone. It also reminded me of a few areas where we could do better with the iPads we’re using in our classroom.
Eight Questions I Ask Before an App Can Stay on Student iPads
Mrs. Lirenman, of Learning and Sharing with Mrs. Lirenman suggests some important questions to ask when looking at apps. Many of the questions are the same ones that I have been asking, and many are questions that I should start asking.
Creating Digital Portfolios with Showbie
I’m really excited about this. (I get excited almost every time I read something on iteachwithipads!) Finding a way to use our iPads to create a portfolio of learning has been on my “to do” list for awhile. Right now, we’ve got students creating fabulous digital work, but no way to really save it in a fashion that is at all organized. Showbie might be the answer to how we can digitally curate student work. She added a second post about Showbie here.
Are You a Free App Addict?
This is a relevant article from Mrs. Wideen’s Blog about how easy it is to over populate an iPad with apps, and how we should be leaning towards content creation apps rather than drill and practice apps.
An iPad is a Magazine That Does Not Work
Wow! What a statement on how digital devices are changing the way we view our world. This one minute video about a toddler, her magazine and her iPad is worth a watch.
I hope you enjoyed the resources I shared today. Do you have a favorite resource that you turn to for ideas in teaching technology to young children? My RSS reader may be full, but that’s only because I can’t seem to stop adding fabulous websites about teaching with technology to my list. Share your favorite resource in the comments. I’d love to check it out.
Karen, I so appreciate you including me in your list. It is fascinating how so many of us have different stories but most people who blog have a story of someone who “found me.” For me, it was Stephen Downes and David Warlick – they both linked to me and shared my work and I’m forever grateful. I’m so glad to help people find you – you’re a great one to follow and you’re still going strong. Thank you for being a great part of my PLN!
So glad you stopped by Vicki! Stephen Downes and David Warlick are two more people I’ll have to look into. I know there are still so many people out there in the Ed tech world that I haven’t discovered yet.