Ten Reflective Questions to Ask at the End of Class
Provides
some basic observations about reflection along with 10 reflective
prompt questions you can use with your students or for yourself. Great
questions for wrapping up the day, a project or a lesson.
5 Free Tools for Creating Whiteboard Videos
These
whiteboard video creation tools are great for those exploring or
working with the Flipped Classroom. They are also a great way to create
concept videos to share with parents and students as homework helpers.
Tool recommendations from FreeTech4Teachers.
Google Tools for Science & Math
Includes Chrome Extensions, Google Doc Add-ons, Graphing & Calculators, and Google Drive Apps connected to Science and Math
Last summer, I came upon a new tool called Google Keep. I liked it better than stickies because I could access them on any computer, but the features were limited and I couldn't access them on my Apple devices. Just this week I discovered that Google Keep has an Apple app and I've been taking a fresh look at this tool. Here's what I like about this tool:
1. It's free! Who doesn't love free resources?
2. It's tied to your Google account. You know what that means? No additional username and password to remember! Because we are a GAFE district, students can also use this tool for reminders, notes and checklists. This becomes the perfect digital agenda for students.
3. Color!!!! I'm all for using a variety of color! Google Keep allows you to change the color of your notes. I like to use this as a means of organizing my notes. For example, red notes relate to my website, green ones are informational reminders, and teal notes relate to the Intel Courses. Students could use different colors for different classes to help them stay organized.
4. You can change notes from a regular note to a checklist with one click. This is great for projects or daily to-dos, especially for those of us who like to see what we've accomplished and what is left to complete.
5. You can add reminders on your notes by clicking the reminder icon (finger with a string tied on it). Customize your desired date and time on your reminder and you are all set to receive notification reminders. No more missed deadlines!
6. With a simple drag & drop action, you can rearrange your notes and put them in any order that works for you.
7. You can search and filter your notes by words, color, sharing, lists, images, and more.
8. You can add images and websites to your notes. This would be great for collecting images and websites for a specific lesson, unit or project. You could also take a photo at a workshop of a key slide or information being presented and add it to a note. Students could take a photo of the work for the week if their teacher posts it in the classroom. This feature would also help students keep track of online photo locations for images they use on a class project.
9. You can share notes with other people by clicking on the share icon. They will receive an email message with a link to the note. This would be great for sharing project responsibilities or sending out assignments to students.
10. There is an app! Android users have always had a Google Keep app option for their devices, but until recently Apple users had to just use the Chrome web browser on their devices. Now you can see you notes and receive notifications on the go by installing GoKeep. App Drawbacks - too many ads and no search or filter option! Hopefully that will be an upcoming update. There is an alternative app option called TurboNote for Google Keep. You still have ads at the bottom of the screen, but they are not popping up over the top of your notes.
Some additional tidbits:
You can download the Google Keep app onto your computer from the Chrome Web Store.
There is a Google Keep extension - Category Tabs for Google Keep - that allows you to assign specific categories to your note colors. However, there are some glitches with filtering the colors.
This app runs offline!
Check out this video for a quick visual tour of this tool!
10 edu-books to inspire and stimulate
Looking for a book to help you go to the next level as an educator? Matt Miller, author of Ditch the Textbook, offers his top ten list.
75 Practical Ed Tech Tips Videos
Educational
'how-to' videos created by Richard Byrne, FreeTech4Teachers, covering a
variety of topics such as storyboarding, blogging tools and tips, audio
recording tools and more. (See playlist below)
Digital Learning Day and Pi Day are fast approaching, but maybe you've never heard about these two days before.
Digital Learning Day was started to showcase how technology can improve student outcomes and
support teachers. Many online education programs provide special activities for Digital Learning Day that emphasis the use of collaboration, sharing of best technology practices and boost technology learning for teachers and students.
Here are some resources that will assist teachers and students as they explore Digital Learning Day:
Digital Learning Day: Resource Roundup - includes a video introduction to technology integration, online learning and blended classroom resources, digital games in the classroom and more.
Place Value lessons and games by
Sheppard Software. Students will identify the digits, compare numbers,
learn different ways of showing a number, and more. Geared toward
elementary students.
tags:
place valuemathmathgames
"...the following series of
fill-in-the-blank prompts can be used by teachers to create lessons,
students to create projects–or teachers to collaborate with students to
create lessons–or projects.
Or, well, you get the idea. I use these sorts of stems to create
“learning blends” for students–either with them, or for them. I couple
these prompts with other components–technology like apps or social media
channels, texts from literary classics to postmodern non-fiction,
creativity, or even local matters of citizenship." -from Terry Heick,
author of this resource
tags:
promptsprojectsPBLquestionscollaborationresources
Kid-friendly songs teaching students
about similes & metaphors, prepositions, prefix or suffix,
perimeter, triangles, and more. Most seem appropriate for upper
elementary and middle school students, but the high school students
might enjoy similes & metaphors.
tags:
videosgrammarmathresources
Mango Languages - This tool, available for FREE thanks to our Kansas State Library, will help you learn over 60 languages. You will walk through practical language lessons that provide pronunciation practice, grammar lessons, cultural information, and more. Did I mention there are English courses for non-English speakers?! Take a tour with the video below.
There is also an app for Mango Languages (available for Apple and Android devices). Once you create your account using the online website on the KS State Library page, you can log into the Mango Languages app and continue working on your lessons.
Buncee - A digital canvas where you can add content that can then be shared through email or social media. Students and teachers can use this tool to create more engaging and interactive presentations and lessons.
eMaze - This HTML5 presentation maker allows teachers and students to create slideshows, video presentations, infographics and 3D presentations. Need a quick tutorial? Check this one out from eMaze - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I-9nHq9ld6Q.
Visme - This another tool for creating presentations, infographics and banners. Your final products can be published via social media, on a website or downloaded.
Canva - This easy to use graphic design program will allow you and your students to create awesome graphics to share via social media, your website and blog or by downloading & printing. Get tips and ideas via the Canva Design School or create using the Canva iPad App.
Tapp Roulette - This is a "random picking" app. Need to decide who goes first in the game or who
Tapp Roulette
gets to return the computer cart? Use Tapp Roullette. Each students puts their finger on the screen and then you click 'Pick a Finger.' Tapp Roullette randomly chooses one of the fingers. You can have up to 11 fingers on an iPad and 5 fingers on the iPhone/iPod. Common Sense Media - This resource provides ratings and reviews on apps, games, books, websites and more geared toward children ages 2-17. They also provide media and technology resources for educators, including a whole curriculum for digital literacy and citizenship.
All the resources on this site are FREE!
New People to Follow
Needing to build up your PLN? Check out some of these great educators and educational supporters!
TechChef4U - This is the twitter handle used by Lisa Johnson, an educator and tech integration guru. She has done extensive work on iPads and apps in the classroom, including the publication of the TechChef4U app and the Hot Apps 4 HOTS iBook.
@259tech - This is the Wichita Public Schools Instructional Technology Twitter handle. They have resources, tools, and ideas from the classroom.
@TED-Ed - Provider links to their short, captivating educational videos and other educational resources.
@TeachingLC - The Twitter handle for Teaching with the Library of Congress. Their tweets contain primary sources, inspiration, ideas and opportunities for teachers from the world's greatest library.
@TodaysDocument - Tweets from Today in History & Daily Historical Documents from the US National Archive include loads of primary source photos that will enliven and engage your social studies classroom.
Tweets from PSNTPS
@DocsTeach - Follow the online tool for teaching with documents from the @USNATArchives. Use resources shared in their tweets to create interactive lessons with primary sources to foster historical thinking.
@coolcatteacher - This is the brand name used by Vicki David, a full time teacher and IT director in Georgia. She shares thoughts and tips on using new technology in teaching.
@justintarte - This is the twitter handle for Justin Tarte, an administrator with a passion for learning
and technology. He shares thought provoking articles and photos via his Twitter account.
@PSNTPS - This twitter handle belongs to the TPS-Barat Primary Source Nexus, an online community support resource for the TPS-Barat Library of Congress Teaching with Primary Resources Program. These send out interesting tweets ideas for combining primary resources and technology to create engaging learning for your students.
@PenguinClass - This handle for the School and Library Marketing department of Penguin Young Readers provides tweets to author interviews, book & poetry lesson ideas, book trailers and more. They will also do Skype author visits with your classroom for free. Email them at penguinauthorvisits@gmail.com and tell them what you want. For example, you want to Skype with a poet or an author who writes nonfiction, preferably about bugs.
Travis True (on Google+) - Travis is an educator in the Topeka Public Schools. He shares a lot on Chromebooks, Chrome extensions, and all things Google.
Ten Reflective Questions to Ask at the End of Class
