After starting into this a bit, I realized the name didn’t really fit what I wanted to do. So, I am stepping to the side and starting a new blog. I’m leaving ThriftyTechTeacher to my husband, a secondary business and technology teacher. It may take him a bit to get going on it. You can follow me now at this new blog at DillyDabbles.blogspot.com, which more accurately reflects me. I hope you’ll head down this new path with me.
Here’s another source of online stories. Barnes and Noble adds a new story each month. The stories are generally read by the authors. You can access all of the previous stories as well.
I previously blogged about a site called We Give Books that has hundreds of books in an online format for easy projection. Here’s another site Storyline Online. This site has several books in a movie like format with actors narrating the stories. Beware, don’t share the tooth fairy story with your class!
My original blog is located at http://www.thriftytechteacher.com. It’s currently on a wordpress account, and I have found that more options that I want are easily available on blogger, so I’m giving this a try. For now, my posts will be duplicated on both sites. My blogger site can be found at http://www.thriftytechteacher.blogspot.com.
Now until October 21, get 6 free items from Vistaprint. Choose 1 or all of them. Combine them to reduce shipping costs, shipping below is based on shipping the one item listed. Shipping will be reduced if you order several items together. I use the free tote bags for my literacy themed tote bags.
For only $15, you can get a $50 credit for Mixbook photo products through Groupon. This is for TODAY ONLY. Great for holiday cards or for classroom projects or gifts to parents from students. http://www.dpbolvw.net/click-5400789-10769815
If you like music or know someone who is (think Christmas), you will want to check out this Groupon deal going right now: http://www.dpbolvw.net/click-5400789-10769815
This avatar creator allows you to upload your own pictures. You manipulate the mouth and record the voice. I uploaded the picture I use to indicate the Read To Self choice during guided reading jobs and recorded the expectations of that choice. View it here. If your website or blog allows embedding, you can embed your finished product or link to it.
This site has some more options to it. www.xtranormal.com allows more than 1 character and you can have your characters do actions. It’s a little more involved as there are more options. It looks like they’re starting up an educational subscription part of the site. Teachers sign up for $10 and then add students for $0.50 each. You can sign up on their site to be notified when this option becomes live. Their regular site uses a point system. You can earn or buy points to allow you to create and publish movies.
Over the next few days, I will post several sites on which you can type or record a message or story and have a character say your text or recording. This first one is voki located at www.voki.com. At this site, customize a single avatar and type or record the text you’d like him/her to say. Here’s one I made for Halloween.
