After exploring the recommended sites on Thing #16, and not really finding anything that really made me want to continue learning more, I decided to Google "2.0 Tools for Grade 1". I checked out a few of the sites and found Top Ten for Young Learners. TopTen for Young Learners - All the Best! There were several 2.0 tools that interested me on this site as well as an amazing blog by a first grade teacher. (Her blog has inspired me to explore and experiment with using some of the 2.0 things that I didn't think were possible with 5 and 6 year old children.) One of the tools that I found and explored was SimplyBox. http://simplybox.com
SimplyBox is a bookmarking tool which can be used to make a picture of the website. It makes finding links quick and easy. The picture allows non-readers to access the site with the click of the mouse. Sites can easily be shared and organized. I love the visual aspect of this tool. I may switch from Delicious to SimplyBox for storing my favorites for both personal and school use. I am going to add more links to this tool over the next few days. I'll experiment with both bookmarking sites, but I think Simplybox is going to be my go to site.
In the past, when I took my class to the computer lab to practice math and language skills using sites on the web, the students needed to find a folder with my name, and then click on the word document for a list of links. This was not easy for most students in the beginning of the year and was very time consuming. Most students are non-readers at the beginning of the year so a lot of time was spend just getting to the website. With SimplyBox a lot of those steps will be eliminated and students will be able to spend more time working on skills. I am anxious to use this bookmarking site with my students in the fall in both the classroom and in the lab.
GREAT find! I hadn't heard about that one before - may be one well worth sharing with your colleagues as well as with your computer ed teacher and your library media specialist.
ReplyDeleteJoan