10 Digital Tools for Teaching You Can Learn This Summer
You’ve reached the time of year that EVERY teacher dreams of from the first day of school: summer break. Now, as you pack your bags and head for that beach vacation and some quality “you” time… Don’t forget that another school year is quickly approaching. Yes, you should take some time off, but you should also prepare for the new year by learning some new tools. Trust me, you’ll have plenty of time to finish that pina colada in your hand… Each of these tools can help you in some way in the classroom, whether it’s just getting organized or making assessments easier and data more relevant. Digital Tools for Teaching – Tool #1 – Google Drive I know, I know. Spend some time this summer getting to know Google Drive and I promise your teaching life will get just a little bit easier. Digital Tools for Teaching – Tool #2 – Evernote As much as I love Google Drive for document creation, I love Evernote as the keeper of all things and my digital brain. Digital Tools for Teaching – Tool #3 – Kahoot!
A Short Guide to Taking Screenshots on Your Laptop and Tablet
Visual aids can be very helpful when you're introducing a new website, app, or software to students or colleagues. Being able to take and send a screenshot is also helpful when you're trying to explain a problem to your tech support person. Here's a short guide to taking screenshots on your iPad, Android tablet, Windows computer, Mac, or Chromebook. Chromebook: A quick search in the Chrome store will return a bunch of options for taking screenshots on a Chromebook. Macbook and Windows laptops: On a Mac you can use the keyboard combination of "Command+shift+4" to take a screenshot of a portion of your screen. On a Windows computer you can use the Snipping tool to capture all or part of your screen. For years I have used Jing to take screenshots on my Mac and on my Windows laptop. Skitch is another screenshot tool that I have used over the years.
untitled
untitled
iPads and IEPs
(image from The time for reviewing IEP targets is rolling around for me and so I got to thinking about the apps that I use for my students who have additional support needs. Goals of an IEP include can reading, numeracy, writing, higher order thinking skills, digital tech and social skills. When choosing the an app consider the following: The specific needs of the student as identified in their own IEP – not all apps are suitable for all studentWhat the app is for – is it essential? Just as IEPs are individual, so too will be the apps that suit the goals of each child. Remember that many apps have a Lite or free version that you can trial before committing to the cost of the full app (and it is easy to upgrade too) This is just a few apps that I use with students who have very specific reading and mathematics support needs. I also use IEP PAL and My IEP apps for admin and evidence collection.
Top 25 Tech Tools for Teachers for 2015 | edutechchick
Technology Evolves Quickly! When I started teaching in 2004, I used any/all available technology. I had an overhead projector and a CD player. Then I scored an InFocus machine and a laptop because no one else in the social studies department had use for it. Teachers have wonderful tech tools to choose from these days. All of the tech tools featured in this post are free, user friendly, and (likely) will be available on your school’s network. So, here are my top 25 picks for digital tools for 2015! Want an updated list for 2016? For creating lessons to digitally share with students: 1. 2. 3. Instant polling: perfect for quickly checking for student understanding, collecting quick data, and engaging students. 4. 5. 6. Current Events: why not promote reading and a global perspective in any class you teach? 7. 8. Connecting Home and School 9. 10. Videos and Resources for Video Watching: 11. 12, 13. 14. 15. 16-20 Core APPS: 21-23 Productivity tools: 24. 25. Like this: Like Loading...
Taking Classroom Tech Use to the Next Level: Specific Traits to Look For
“They don’t live in Saskatoon!” a seventh-grade girl says vehemently. She’s working with her class to figure out where another mystery class is located somewhere else in the world. The two classes are competing to figure out the other’s location first. It looks like fun and students are certainly engaged in the project. “They were practicing important skills, asking questions, problem-solving,” said one teacher. These are typical reactions to activities that use technology in the classroom, but they aren’t sufficient for Julie Graber, an instructional technology consultant for Prairie Lakes Educational Agency in Iowa. “What we’re finding is that there’s really nothing that’s helpful for moving a system in terms of knowing where am I at and where am I trying to go,” Graber said during the ISTE session. Many schools are using the SAMR (substitution, augmentation, modification, redefinition) framework to help guide technology integration. “What did they just learn?”
Hour of Code
Your browser is not supported. Please upgrade your browser to one of our supported browsers. You can try viewing the page, but expect functionality to be broken. App Lab works best on a desktop or laptop computer with a mouse and keyboard. You may experience issues using this tool on your current device. Game Lab works best on a desktop or laptop computer with a mouse and keyboard. You may experience issues using Web Lab in Private Browsing mode. CS in Algebra curriculum and content is being deprecated.
