Helpful Hints on Hump Day

Guess what day it is?  It's HUMP day!  I am also excited to launch my new weekly link up "Helpful Hints on Hump Day!"

Link up an join in the fun! Share a helpful hint that has worked for you and let others learn from your success!  Here are the rules so please play along the right way:

1.  Each Wednesday I will have a post with a linky at the bottom for you to link your helpful hint for all the world to see!  It will be open for 1 day only each week.
2.  Please include the "Helpful Hints on Hump Day" graphic in your post and link back to this post.
3.  Your link must be to a blog post. NO STORE LINKS PLEASE!
4.  If you don't have a blog but would like to share a helpful hint, please do so in the comments!
5.  Please visit at least 2 blogs If you find it helpful, please be sure to let them know!  Leave a comment or follow them!  We will share the love, meet some new friends in the process, and learn something new!  Happy Hump Day!

Now for my helpful hint...

Do you Symbaloo?  I do and LOVE it!

Half the battle of using technology with primary students is getting them to the correct place.  There are so many great and free resources out there for kiddos to lean and practice skills, but we don't want them spending all of their time entering web addresses.  

www.symbaloo.com is a bookmarking site where you can create your own webmixes.  Then you can set the webmix as your homepage for quick and easy access to all of your favorite sites in one place.  You cna also share your webmix with others.  I share my class webmix with all 10 of our first grade teachers. Even better, the site is FREE! 

Once you sign up making your mix is super easy!  You can search for your fav sites and many of them already have buttons ready to go.  There is also a little button you can add to your browser toolbar for a quick "add to Symbaloo" option.  Once you add your buttons you can customize your display as well by adding custom clipart images for non-readers to find the sites they are looking for.

My mix has links to our textbooks and school specific links in the lower left corner.  Then I have a sites for science, math, listening to reading and language arts practice.  In the middle bottom I have several safe sites for searching and finding clipart. 

My students really maximize their computer time with Symbaloo.  It is great for them to use at home too!  I hope you have found this hint helpful!  Be sure to share your Helpful Hint on Hump Day!