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Anne Fry

The Magic Automatic Lesson Planner with Google Forms. Take the hassle out of lesson planning.

The Magic Automatic Lesson Planner with Google Forms

Go digital. Make your plans searchable and shareable. Use Google Forms! Traditional lesson plan books have their limitations. Oh, The Things You Can Do with GoAnimate!Cult of Pedagogy. A good video is like a shot of B-12 to any message you’re trying to get out there.

Oh, The Things You Can Do with GoAnimate!Cult of Pedagogy

Whether you’re teaching, training, advertising, or expressing yourself as an artist, a well-made video can accomplish so much in so little time. Until recently, the tools to create professional-looking videos were out of the hands of most regular folks. But those days are over. YouTube and movie-editing software have now made it possible for us to take what’s in our video cameras, edit them with beautiful production values, and share them with the world. And now the same is coming true with animation. 12 Awesome Edtech Apps. Build an edtech teaching toolkit that works for you with reliable tools that suit your needs and circumstances.

12 Awesome Edtech Apps

Learning should focus on content, not on figuring out how a tool works. While I'll probably use 100 tools during any school year, I have 12 in my trusted toolkit, listed here in no particular order. I've also asked teachers on Twitter about their favorites, which I've shared at the bottom of the post. Teacher Recommended: 50 Favorite Classroom Apps. Educators and students are quickly becoming more comfortable with classroom technology, allowing them to shift from thinking about the technical side of integrating a new tool to focusing on how it improves learning.

While the sheer number of education apps is still overwhelming, increasingly teachers have found what works for them and are sticking to them. “The conversations I had were radically different than they were a year ago,” said Michelle Luhtala, the librarian for New Canaan High School and host of an Emerging Tech webinar on edWeb. She tapped her professional learning network of educators, teaching all grades and located all over the country, to share their favorite tech tools. Vicki Davis (@coolcatteacher) 100+ Great Google Classroom Resources for Educators. Google Classroom allows teachers to easily manage student work and teaching with Google Docs, Google Forms, Google Spreadsheets and anything Google.

100+ Great Google Classroom Resources for Educators

This handy tool has opened up the doors of blended learning and collaborative classrooms like never before. Teachers wanting to implement Google Classroom can use these resources to get started, level up their learning, or become a pro at all things Google. 10 Cool Ways Teachers Use Social Media to Enhance Learning. Doing work that matters.

10 Cool Ways Teachers Use Social Media to Enhance Learning

All students should be able to be part of that. No longer working for the teacher’s wastebasket, students across the world are connecting and sharing like never before. They are led by teachers unafraid of the world but who escort their kids out to meet the future. While a recent poll showed 9 out of 10 teachers do not use social media in the classroom, there are teachers who are. Social doesn’t have to be a distraction and kids can be safe. This question is part of CM Rubin World’s question of the month, “What are the best examples you have seen of teachers using social media to enhance learning?” 1. Aussie teacher Jacques du Toit has his students create Twitter accounts as many of the well known Aztecs. 2. Using a Twitter account, @MrsLsClass, Karen Lirenman and her class share their work with the world. 3. Teach your students the right way to Google. Kelly Maher November 24th, 2014 In the age of the split-second Google search, it’s more critical than ever to train students to distinguish between primary and secondary sources As in decades past, proper research methods are an essential skill for today’s students.

Teach your students the right way to Google

At a time when most students (and adults, for that matter) are accustomed to heading straight to Google to answer all of their questions, being able to sagely sift through the good, the bad, and the ugly of search results is key to creating independent 21st century thinkers. However, even when used properly, Google is not always the right resource. On its website, the Kentucky Virtual Library provides a detailed, student-friendly interactive map of the research process, called “How To Do Research,” which spells out the steps for making the most of the research process, from planning to searching to taking notes and ultimately using gathered information effectively. Learn how to search. App Evaluation Rubric. App Evaluation Rubric for Students. Ways to Evaluate Educational Apps.

I am conducting a series of workshops in Florida and was asked to share a rubric to help teachers evaluate educational apps as part of the workshop.

Ways to Evaluate Educational Apps

In 2010 Harry Walker developed a rubric, and I used his rubric (with some modifications by Kathy Schrock) as the basis for mine. (Read Harry Walker's paper Evaluating the Effectiveness of Apps for Mobile Devices.) I kept in mind that some apps are used to practice a discrete skill or present information just one time. Others are creative apps that a learner may use again and again, so it's a challenge to craft a rubric that can be used for a wide span of purposes.

I tried to make my rubric work for the broadest range of apps, from drill and practice to creative endeavors, while stressing the purpose for using the app. My rubric also emphasizes the ability to customize content or settings and how the app encourages the use of higher order thinking skills.