Monday, December 18, 2017

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"!

Sunday, December 10, 2017

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.








                                                                                                                               (Image Credit)

Sunday, December 3, 2017

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!