Filling Your Digital Stocking

With the holidays almost here hopefully you are planning some "down time" to relax and rejuvenate. You may even have some time to check out some new tech tools to implement in the new year. Today's blog is all about filling your digital stocking with some delicious tech goodies worth exploring.

Storybird: Students use pictures to inspire story writing. Students click and drag art work onto a story board and write!

Wonderopolis: This site encourages students to...Wonder! Click on the "Wonder of the Day" to find a probing question accompanied by a short article of related background information.  This site is a great resource for launching writing or research projects.

Geo-Guessr: This site provides geography challenges in which students are virtually placed somewhere in the world through the use of Google Maps. Using clues from their surroundings, they must determine their location.

PBS Learning Media: Pour yourself a cup of hot chocolate as you dive into this site.
It has LOTS to offer.   PBS Learning Media offers thousands of classroom-ready digital resources. All resources are aligned to Common Core Standards and include video and audio resources, as well as interactive tools, documents, and lesson plans. You can explore by browsing by standards, grade level or subject area. Enjoy!

AutoDraw: This is a fun one! Students can be creative and don't need to worry about being digitally artistic. The site is able to guess what the student is drawing and perfects it for them! Pictures can be downloaded or shared with a link.

Canva: Want to create professional looking posters, flyers, or brochures? Canva is your tool. The site comes with many free, ready-to-use templates. It allows you you to upload your own images or choose from their selection.

ThingLink: This site allows you and/or your students to dissect an image by adding "pins" that provide additional information about that portion of the picture. This information could be in the form of text, audio, video,  web links, or polls.

Voki and Blabberize: These sites are oldies, but goodies. Both allow students to put a voice to an image (Blabberize) or an avatar (Voki). What a fun way for students to be able to "show what they know"!

The Podcast PD

I have recently begun listening to podcasts for more professional development purposes. They are usually the perfect length for my drive into work and I can start my day with an inspired thought or practical idea related to  tech integration. Podcasts can be downloaded to your mobile device or accessed via an Internet browser. For Apple users, Apple's podcast app is what I use. For Android users, some options include the BeyondPod app or Player FM.
There are so many great ed-tech podcasts to choose from that you may have a hard time determining where to begin. I tend to listen weekly to the Google Teacher Tribe to make sure I am "in the know" about all things Google, but have also enjoyed listening to Cult of Pedagogy and the House of EdTech.  Here are a few more options to consider.

• The EdTech Podcast
• The EdTech Take Out                                 
  
• 10 Minute Teacher
• Wired Educator
• TED Radio Hour  (This one is not necessarily ed-tech centered, but is very thought provoking)

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Image Masking in Google

Powerpoint has a feature that allows you to "fill" shapes with images. This feature works great to make collages or posters. I worked with a class a few years ago that made "All About Me" collages for the start of the year. Teachers were able to start the year by teaching a tech skill right off the bat along with a project that was the perfect Open House display. Collages could be created to represent a character from a book, a theme, or even a period in history. The ideas are endless and the process is EASY!
Introducing Image Masking...
You can now do the same thing in Google slides with a feature called "Image Masking" Check out this video titled, "How to Crop and Mask an Image in Google Slides" to learn how to apply this technique to create a cool and colorful collage....like the one below!

Choose Your Own Adventure

Choose Your Own Adventure!

I may be dating myself here, but growing up I loved the "Choose Your Own Adventure" stories. Is anyone with me on this?

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Using the feature in Google slides that allows you to link one slide to another will let you and/or your students create their own "Choose Your Own Adventure" stories. Check out this example (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site.done by a driver's ed. teacher.  What if your students created a "Choose Your Own Adventure" based on a novel being read or a historical period? They could create scenarios of what COULD have happened if other choices were made. If you are not sure how to link slides within a presentation, check out the video tutorial below. 

Linking within a Google Slides Presentation (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site.

Dynamic Learning

Check out all the ways technology can help your classroom be DYNAMIC!

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Catch the Flipgrid Fever!

I am "flipping out" over a tool called Flipgrid!  Flipgrid is a discussion platform that allows students to give video responses to questions posed. Utilize Flipgrid as a way to start a book chat, discuss a current project or unit, share a point of view on a current event, or as a means to practice summarizing skills. The free version of the tool gives students up to one minute and thirty seconds of recording time, so being precise with their response will be important. Flipgrid is very easy to use! Primary teachers are loving it as way for students to share their thoughts digitally as an alternative to a typed response. I encourage you to check it out. If you are interested in more ways to integrate Flipgrid click here!

Flipgrid.com

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Play it Safe!

We are wrapping up anti-bulllying month this week! We had quite a few classrooms participate in our Anti-Cyberbullying Tic-Tac-Toe challenge. Whether it is during the month of October or not, it is important to find time to talk to students about how to be a good online citizen and what to do when they encounter those who are not. Common Sense Media for Education provides a wealth of information and ready made lessons to address this topic and so much more.  To access these lessons and resources, you will need to create an account. After that, go to the Scope and Sequence section of the site (as illustrated below) to find ready made lessons mapped out for K-2, 3-5, and 6-8 on topics such as "Cyberbullying and Internet Drama", "Privacy and Security", "Internet Safety " and more. They even have a whole section of their curriculum dedicated to "Creative Credit and Copyright" ; another important conversation to have with students as they producing and sharing digitally.  As our students become more and more digital literate as "producers with" and "consumers of" technology, let's makes sure the are equipped with the knowledge they need to "play it safe".

Start Small

The amount of technology that is available to us as educators is AWESOME and also... overwhelming. The fact is there are many tools out there that do exactly the same thing. There is no need to be a master of all things tech. The trick is finding the tools that are right for you, your curricular goals, and your students.  As you move forward with integrating technology in your classroom and using our new District 86 Tech Toolbox, start small!  Choose a tool that you feel will help your students meet their curricular goals and start there. 

Introduce this tool to your students with low rigor content.  Have them use the tool with content they already know. Perhaps using the tool to share information from a previous unit as a way of review, maybe using content that they have already recorded with pencil and paper, or even just using content about themselves are all low rigor ways to introduce a new productivity tool! The point is, having students learn a new tool AND construct new information at the same time can be  a recipe for disaster. At the bare minimum, be sure to give students time to explore the tool before assigning a task to accomplish with it.  Providing a 15 minute "explore" time and then giving students time to share their "discoveries" with the class can be a very effective way for students to learn a tool. Once students are comfortable with the tool, you are ready go! They can officially add that tool to their toolbox when they know how and when to use it. Take advantage of the fact that they have mastered the tool and provide them with multiple opportunities to utilize their new tech skills. 

Are your Students asking the Questions?

Are your students asking the QUESTIONS?

Tools such as Padlet, Google Classroom, and Answer Garden are perfect platforms to record those burning questions!
Padlet can serve as a "parking lot" that students visit when they have a question related to a unit of study or perhaps just a random inspirational thought. The Padlet posts can be visited once a week to engage students in a class discussion or as quick writing prompts.
Google Classroom lends itself to digital conversations. Students can post questions in Google Classroom to solicit feedback from their peers.
Answer Garden  could be used in conjunction with your Padlet Parking lot or as a stand alone tool. Post a questions from the Padlet parking lot or ANY question  and see what kind of answers grow!