#TCEA16 Favorite Finds

Guest Post by Rachel Cady, Walnut Grove Elementary School 2nd Grade Teacher

WOW!! TCEA is an amazing experience where a lot of information is given in a short amount of time. You walk away inspired and a little nervous, but truly excited about the possibilities of technology in the classroom.

Two of my favorite take-away ideas from TCEA were:

Quizizz

I have always been a fan of Kahoot, but what makes Quizizz appealing is that the questions appear on the student device rather than only on the main screen. This tool can be used as a formative assessment, whereas Kahoot lends itself to be more of a review tool.



Padlet

I had been previously introduced to Padlet before TCEA, but what got me thinking about this tool more is the possibilities it has to get more kids involved in the discussion. I love that every kid in the room can post an answer to a discussion question instead of just waiting for their neighbor to be the one to raise their hand. Another great feature is that this can be done anonymously or with the student's name attached.


After looking through my many pages of notes from TCEA, these are the two ideas that I keep coming back to and have already implemented in my classroom. Baby steps toward integration of technology is better than digging in your heels. :)

9 BOY Tips for Teachers Using QR Codes

QR codes are a quick way to distribute links and other information, which is perfect during the busy back-to-school season. (Need a refresher on what QR codes are and how they work? This article reviews the basics.) 

How to use QR codes to minimize stress at the beginning of the school year

1. Help parents or students quickly enroll in Remind. Link the phone number and enrollment code to a QR code. Participants only have to scan and send the text, and they'll automatically be connected to your Remind class. Learn more about connecting more than just a link to a QR code in this article. Read more about Remind's features by clicking here.
2. Link to a Google Form to collect information digitally. Create a Google Form that asks for contact information, allergies, tutoring times, or anything else you need at the beginning of school (more information on using Google forms can be found here), and link it to a QR code. (More suggestions for collecting parent information digitally are in this blog post.) 
3. Share contact information with parents. Connect a QR code to a mobile number or e-mail address so that parents can quickly contact you. 
4. Share back to school information with parents. Do you typically distribute a paper packet of information in August? Save a tree and impress your class by scanning the papers to PDFs, uploading them to a cloud service like Dropbox or Google Drive, and attaching the document link to a QR code. 
5. Lead your audience to a specific iOS or Android app. Need students to download very specific apps that they may have difficulty finding in the iTunes or Google Play store? Attach one app link per QR code, then collect the QR codes into a collage or photo slideshow so that your audience can quickly scan and download all the apps they need in one sitting. 
6. Create a welcome message. You can attach freely-formatted text or an audio recording to a QR code, so it's like a secret, "welcome back" message for students. Read more about freely-formatted text codes by clicking here. Create an audio QR code by using Vocaroo or Croak.it. 
7. Share your Twitter profile to make connections. You can connect to your overall profile, a specific tweet, or the last tweet from a user. Learn more in this blog post. 
8. Sign in for tutoring or club meetings. Create a Google form that just asks the student for their name. Link that form to a QR code. When students come to tutorial or club meetings, they can scan the code, type their name, and submit the Google form. This creates a time-stamped document so you can tell who attended and when they were there. 
9. Need students to visit a link quickly and can't use AirDrop? Turn the link into a QR code!

Ways to Share QR Codes

1. Display the code(s) on the Promethean board. (You may need to turn the classroom lights out for this to work.)
2. Print the code and post on a wall or on your door. 
3. Need to print but don't want to use a lot of paper? Insert one code into a photo collage or PowerPoint, print several small copies, and distribute the slips of paper in student backpacks.
4. Sharing several codes? Insert the photos of the QR codes into a photo slideshow (PhotoPeach and PhotoSnack are free options); the audience can scan as the photos rotate. (You can even include a caption on each photo so the audience can keep track of which codes they've seen and scanned.)
5. E-mail it. 
6. Working with newer iPads? AirDrop the QR code(s) into your class's camera roll. 

How to Make a QR Code

There are a ton of options, but here are some common web-based QR code generators:

• Kerem Erkan (my personal favorite because it allows you to attach so much to a code)
• QR Code Generator
• QR Stuff
• QR Maker
• GoQR.me

Favorite Finds from TCEA

Guest Post by Rachael Hulse, 3rd Grade Language Arts and Social Studies, CES

Hey Dragons! My name is Rachael Hulse and I am a 3rd grade Language Arts and Social Studies teacher at Carroll Elementary. I attended TCEA this year for the first time with our digital team.

Here are just a few of my Favorite Finds from #TCEA15:

Charades for Kids!
This is a really fun way to review any vocabulary words. All you have to do is put in the word list and then you are good to go! We used this for Wordly Wise and they LOVED it.

Plickers
Plickers lets you poll your class for free, without the need for student devices. They have a printed card that they hold up and rotate depending on their answer. The iPad will scan the cards and immediately give you results of what everyone answered. I have loved getting to use this with my students!

 Quizlet
This is a flashcards and study tool that will help students to review anywhere. Students can 1) study on the go, 2) play games to study, 3) create your own flashcards or 4) study with images and audio. A great tool for all learning styles.

Post-it Plus
Use the app to capture an image of the Post-it® Notes from your work session and manipulate them digitally. Capture up to 50 notes at a time and save as a board. You can combine boards. Export boards to PowerPoint, Excel or PDF file. This would be great to use during reading/writing workshop or for exit tickets.

All the apps are free and can be used on any iOS device. The apps can be used across curriculum and are a great way to engage your students. Be sure to give them a try. 

On top of all the great learning, a few of us enjoyed getting to see the Spazmatics perform at the conference. 

Left to Right: Jenny Bowen, me, Jessi Valles

How to Become a Connected Educator

It's the day before the start of Connected Educator Month (CEM) and more than 500 events and activities have been added to the calendar, with many more still on the way.

What is Connected Educator Month?

Connected Educator Month: All month, all free, all around the world – A celebration of community, with educators at all levels, from all disciplines, moving towards a fully connected and collaborative profession.

October is "Connected Educator Month" and the U.S. Department of Education encourages teachers to share ideas, resources and instruction about how to use technology.

Why should I connect?

Do you want to be more proficient with social media to improve your teaching practices? Would you like to connect and grow your personal learning network online and build stronger relationships with other professionals?

According to Sheryl Nussbaum-Beach and Lani Ritter Hall, authors of the Connected Learner  “Teachers must learn to model connectedness and enable students to develop personal learning networks, made up of people and resources from both their physical and virtual worlds---but first, teachers must become connected collaborators themselves.”

What are the traits of a connected educator?

• Connected educators are "do-it-yourself learners." They don't wait for someone to deliver professional development to them. They seek out professional development and learning that meets their individual needs.

• Connected educators have a "network of collective wisdom" to turn to when information and knowledge is needed. Educators who are connected have fostered and developed, over time, a network of other professionals to turn to for professional knowledge needs.

• Connected educators are "collaborative learners." They rely on others to help provide learning and they contribute to the learning of those in their personal learning network.

• Connected educators have moved away from the "paradigm of isolation and closed doors" to sharing a strong commitment with other educators to learn and understand more and more about teaching and learning. The educator who is connected no longer closes their classroom door and carries on teaching. They actively enlist the help of others and offer their help in return.

• Connected educators have leveraged online networks to solve their instructional problems through crowdsourcing and relying on the wisdom of the crowd for resources on teaching and learning. The educator who is connected does not hesitate to engage others in the face of the issues and problems of teaching. They use the crowd to learn more about the craft of teaching.

Here's the CEM signup link--http://bit.ly/cem_newsletter_signup

To follow connected educators via Twitter check out #CEM14.

View the following video to learn how to search and sign up for free professional development sessions sponsored by the U.S. Department of Education. 

Blendspace

Blendspace (formerly Edcanvas) is the perfect, free web tool for organizing and streamlining your media materials. In a matter of seconds, you can sign up for a free account and begin creating lessons using video, Google Docs, images, web links, and so much more. Have a PowerPoint that you've created? Pull that in to your lesson too! The possibilities are endless! 

Classroom Application
Differentiated Instruction
Flipped Classroom
Project-Based Learning
Student Projects (They can create their own “lessons”!)
Sharing materials with colleagues

Creating Lessons
While users have the option of creating classes, it's not a necessary step for lesson creation. After choosing, “New Lesson” users can select a layout and get right to adding content. Content can be pulled from a huge variety of sources and everything is searchable right through the Blendspace site. Once you've found what you need, drag and drop it to your lesson. You can also search the gallery for lessons/collections created by other users. Click here to view a sample lesson from the gallery.

Want to assess your students as they progress through the lesson? No problem! Users also have the option to add multiple choice assessments. Want more options? Create a quiz in Google Forms and add the form as a web link in your lesson!

Sharing and Collaborating
Lessons may be shared to classes that have been created or through a link. Users may also share or embed lessons on the web. Privacy settings can be tailored to fit your needs, and teachers have total control over who can view the lessons. Do you want your team members to be able to add content? Add them as collaborators in settings. No need to worry when sharing lessons with others because the site is web based and works with any device that has Internet.

Creating Classes
Per the Terms of Use, students under 13 may use the program with parental permission. Teachers can set up the accounts or have the students use join using a unique code. No email is required from students. One of the benefits of creating classes is the lesson tracking feature. Students can add comments to the lesson, and they can also check the "Can We Go Over This In Class?" box to notify the teacher that some material may need further discussion. Teachers can view the stats and see feedback from the students.

How do you see Blendspace being used in your classroom? Let us know in the comments below. Then create your free account and get started!

** Shout out to Candice Karas at Old Union Elementary School for sharing this awesome tool with me this summer!

Collaborate Using Padlet

Padlet (formerly Wallwisher) is a web based collaborative tool that can be used in any classroom from elementary to high school. Posts to this virtual bulletin board appear in real time, offering the opportunity for collaboration and discussion. Once you create a free account, you are ready to create your first wall.

How can Padlet be used in the classroom?

• Embed a picture or video and have students respond.
• Post to the wall for brainstorming or create a KWL chart.
• Group discussions or research, book talks, exit tickets
• Click here and here for more ideas and examples.

What you need to know to get started:

• Click the wheel to access settings for your board. You can add a title and description for your wall, and change the board's background. 
• Layouts: Streaming looks much like a Twitter feed with posts placed one below the other. Freeform allows posts to be placed and manipulated anywhere on the wall.
• Your wall is accessed through a unique URL. Students do not need an account to access or post.
• Privacy Options: Walls can be public or private and could require a password to access if you choose. You can also adjust the rights for users depending on your needs. Users can be set to read only or you can allow them to post to the wall. 
• Walls can be shared or saved in a variety of ways (social media, export as a PDF or image, embed in a blog or website).

What can be posted to the boards?

• Double clicking anywhere on the wall will create a post.
• You can type text, use a webcam to take a picture, insert web links, images, documents, or video. You can also drag and drop files to the wall. 
• Posts can be easily deleted by clicking the trash can.
• Moderation: If you choose to moderate posts you will need to approve each post before they can go live on the page. 

Are you a Google Chrome user? Get Padlet's Chrome App!

Kidblog

Kidblog is an easy to use, completely ad free blogging platform created specifically for K-12 teachers and students. Basic service is free, but you can upgrade at a monthly or yearly fee for more features. Research shows that blogging can help improve students’ critical thinking skills. In addition, blogging allows students the opportunity to interact in a digital community and practice good digital citizenship. So, where do you begin?

Getting Started
Simply click “Create a Class” from the Kidblog website to create a free account. Once you have an account, you can enter the Teacher Dashboard to add classes, students, etc. Students can be added individually or through bulk upload. They can also register themselves through the “secret code” attached to your account. No student e-mail is required.

Privacy
Blogs are set as private by default. Privacy settings can be adjusted by the teacher to make the blog viewable by all visitors or restricted to only users in the class. Parents can be set up as guests in order to view and comment on posts. Even though the site is moderated by the teacher, it's a good idea to talk with students about expectations for sharing and communicating online. Blogging can be a wonderful opportunity for lessons on digital citizenship and online safety.

Posting & Commenting
Both the teacher and students can post blog entries through the web or iPad app. Posts can also be customized by adding photos or anything with an embed code (Animoto, Vimeo, Voki, Glogster, etc.). Posts can appear on the blog immediately, or they can go to the “pending” approval area of the teacher dashboard. If the approval box is checked, the teacher will get an e-mail notification that posts are awaiting approval. Just like posting, blog comments can be sent for approval before becoming viewable. Commenting can be open to all site visitors, limited to class members only, visible only to the student who created the post, or disabled completely.

A Few Ideas for Use
- Student reader response journals
- Writing journals
- Student collaboration & projects
- Book reviews
- Discussions (any subject)
- Evaluate peer writings
- E-Portfolios

Blogging can be a great tool in any subject area for all levels of students. Click here for a great website with ideas for using Kidblog as an assessment device, tutorials for setup, and other resources.

Motivate with Mobile Learning

http://www.redkid.net/generator/billboard/

Just step out into the school hallway during a passing period and observe how many students saunter to their next class with ear buds dangling from their heads as they listen to their iPod. Watch the student who texts and walks absent-mindedly into another student doing the same thing. Notice the student who uses a flash card app  like StudyBlue to review vocabulary or who collaborates on his group project using GoogleDrive. Mobile devices (smart phones, tablets, media players, e-readers) are an integral part of students daily lives and can be a great tool to motivate, engage, and create excitement for student learning in and outside the classroom. Mobile learning doesn’t mean the students move from place to place. It’s actually the learning that goes wherever the student goes.

Creating a Mobile Lesson

Creating your first mobile lesson can be a bit intimidating. That is why planning is important. To begin the planning process, you need to start at the end of the lesson and work your way back to the beginning. Start by answering a few questions about your lesson.

1. What do I want the end result to be? 
2. Do I want students to show mastery of a concept? 
3. Do I want the students to publish a project or share results?
4.  Do I want students to collaborate with one another? 

Once you know the ending, it’s easy to find the best mobile lesson for the beginning. Check out this wiki which will help you find the right tool to use.  

Choosing the Best Device 

For the lesson to be successful, you have to know about your students and the devices they have.

1. Do most of them have smart phones? Tablets? 
2. What about the student who doesn’t have a phone? Do enough of your students have devices that would allow you to pair students who don’t have devices with those that do? 
3. Are the parents on board?

 Give the Students Lesson Ownership 

Allow the students to help you plan the lesson. Ask them about their favorite apps. Generate a discussion (even online!) about how they would like to see their devices used. Students will feel as if they have ownership in the lesson and will be excited to contribute. Plus you and your students might learn about something you didn't know about before.

Plan and Collaborate with Others

Don’t’ plan alone! Your instructional technology specialist can help you plan and offer a variety of resources for mobile integration. For more information, check out Mobile Devices for Learning Resource Guide  at  Eduptopia.org. This 10-page downloadable resource provides the tools to get you going mobile.

Website of the Week: Catch!

Catch is a fun site which allows the user to capture anything on a website: text, photos, audio and more. The information is easily shared with others. This is a great tool for use with mobile devices. 

Edmodo: An Interactive Classroom

Edmodo can turn your classroom into a fun, interactive, and engaged environment for students where learning is real and authentic. Watch students flourish in this social environment.

What is Edmodo? (via Thomas Scheeler...follow him on Twitter @tscheeler)

• Edmodo is a FREE, secure, social learning platform for teachers, students, parents, and schools.
• Edmodo provides teachers and students with a secure and easy way to post classroom materials, share links and videos, and access homework, grade and school notices.
• Teachers and students can store and share all forms of digital content - blogs, links, pictures, video, documents, presentations, and more.

What CISD teachers and students using Edmodo have to say:

• 6th grade DIS math teacher Chris Underwood says:
• "Edmodo has been an absolutely amazing extension to my classroom. It allows for additional collaboration between students as well as keeping me in touch with my students when we are not in the same classroom. I have been looking for a platform to extend the learning beyond the time I see my students everyday and Edmodo has been the answer to that dream. This was my first year implementing it and my students have fully embraced it. I look forward to continuing to use this medium to enhance the learning that takes place in my classroom."

• 6th grade math students of Mr. Underwood say:
• "I like Edmodo because I can always get an answer if I have a question and we can talk about things that are happening in our classroom. We can just talk and communicate to grow in our relationships with our classmates. Edmodo rocks!! ~Alyssa M.
• "It has definitely helped me because I can remember a lot of times when I didn't understand our homework and I used Edmodo to contact Mr. Underwood and ask questions. Edmodo really helps me. Hopefully, we'll have a website like this in 7th grade. ~ Trinity B.
• Everyone likes it; Doing your homework with ease; Making helpful comments: Our peers are very nice; Depositing info into reply boxes; Oh my gosh, it's an Acrostic poem. ~Harry P.

• 6th grade EIS math teacher Kim Anderson says:
• Edmodo is a fantastic tool to help students connect after the school day has ended. My students immediately saw the benefit of posting a homework question and then receiving help or helping another student. I would highly recommend Edmodo!"

• 6th grade math students from EIS say:
• "It is much easier to get help and hints, and it is also fun to use.  You don't have to go in early to get help, you can use Edmodo!"  ~Whitney C.
• "It's a great way to get help on homework.  You aren't getting help from a strangers, so you know it's safe." ~Ainsley P.
• "I like the idea that you can ask for help from a teacher or other students from home!" ~Chandler H.
• "I love Edmodo because it really helps me with homework and ever since I starting using it my homework grades have been phenomenal."  ~Annie M.
• "Really simple to use, and it has helped me a lot, just like a teacher being right by my side helping me." ~Gretchen C.

Tip of the Week:

Download the Edmodo App from iTunes or the Android store for FREE. Use your mobile device to send notes, submit assignments, post replies, and check messages while away from the classroom. Click here to download the iOS app.



Website of the week:
Be sure to check out the Edmodo website to sign up for a FREE teacher account. Watch this parent presentation video to learn more about the basics of Edmodo:

Edmodo Parent Presentation

View more PowerPoint from scholar

At Home during the Holidays

At home activity during the Holiday break...

Watch TED talk by Sir Ken Robinson 

TED talks website states that Sir Ken Robinson is a "creativity expert...that challenges the way we're educating our children. He champions a radical rethink of our school systems, to cultivate creativity and acknowledge multiple types of intelligence." His famous speech has been animated by RSA. You Tube notes that 6,240,593 people have viewed this version of his speech.

As you listen to this speech, think about how you learn new things best. 

                           

Website of the Week:

Conversations in the Cloud

Kids today prefer to learn online. VoiceThread allows for group conversations. These conversations are collected (in the "cloud," which means on the internet) and shared in one place from anywhere in the world. All with no software to install. "A VoiceThread is a collaborative, multimedia slide show that holds images, documents, and videos and allows people to navigate slides and leave comments in 5 ways - using voice (with a mic or telephone), text audio file, or video (via a webcam). Share a VoiceThread with friends, students, and colleagues for them to record comments too." Many teachers and students are using VoiceThread across the country. 

Create an account and click on MyVoice. Explore the site. Ask your campus instructional technology specialists for assistance! Here is a great wiki with VoiceThread resources: http://technologyintegrationshthornt.pbworks.com/w/page/20286944/Voice%20Thread

iPhone Tip of the Week: Double Tap Shift for Caps Lock

I have had an iPhone since 2008 and did not know this trick until I was perusing a blog. 

In order to have Caps Lock, all you have to do is double tap shift. However, you must enable it. Go to "Settings > General; Keyboard; Enable Caps Lock." Then, double-tap the shift key to type in capitals. 

If you would like more iPhone tips, see the following site: http://iphone.appstorm.net/how-to/30-super-secret-iphone-features-and-shortcuts/

Around the World...in One Class Period

What is a Virtual Field Trip?

Take your students to the TajMahal, the Smithsonian,the Tower of London, even Mars all in one class period! It's easy to create interactive web based experiences that spark student interest and motivate learning with virtual fieldtrips!
A virtual field trip is an interactive online adventure that guides students through an exploration of places, time, themes, and content. Virtual fieldtrips offer students a chance to go to places they would't be able to go to otherwise. You can be their guide or let the students guide themselves.



Advantages of Virtual Exploration

• Virtual field trips are the next best thing to being there and actually have some advantages over the traditional on site field trip.
• Virtual field trips are free and easy to plan. No permission slips. No transportation arrangements needed.
• Virtual field trips offer lots of opportunities to explore with the class using the intearactive white board or students can explore on their own at their own pace.
• The field trip never ends. Students can revisit as much as they want to review or simply explore some more.

Helpful Hints and Tips
Try one for yourself! Click here to take a panoramic interactive tour of the Smithsonian. Think you are ready to create your own? Here are some tips to help you get started.

1. Think first, then plan. What is the purpose of your trip and what do you want students to gain from it?
2. Setting up your first virtual field trip takes time, just like a traditional field trip would. So plan ahead. See your instructional technology specialist for assistance.
3. Search the internet for pre-made virtual field trips to get ideas. Maybe even use one you find. Here is a great site with premade virtual trips by topic that you can use tomorrow
4. Check those sites! Make sure you preview your field trip to ensure that the sites are appropriate for your students.
5. Take the trip yourself first to make sure all links and pages are working before you go.
6. Get the students involved! As an assignment, let groups of students create their own virtual field trips to share with the class. Save these trips so you can use them in the future. The students will love it.

Want to learn more? Then sign up now for Oh the Places You'll Go webinar, presented Wednesday, Nov. 9 beginning at 8:00 p.m. You'll learn how to create your own trip and will get tons of resources and 1.5 hours of staff development credit! Click here to register.

Website of the Week:Spicynodes

Spicynodes is a free website which allows you to create interactive mind maps as well as interactive journeys through the web. It's easy, fun, and visually appealing. It is interactive and makes a great alternative to lectures and notes. Students can click their way through the information you chose for them or they can create their own spicynodes to show what they have learned. (This would make a great start for a virtual field trip, too!)

Tip of the Week: Outlook Alerts-Be Careful!

If you are using your laptop (or your desktop) as your presentation station, remember to close Outlook before you start teaching. If you have desktop alerts turned on, then email notifications will appear on your board over your flipchart or presentation for all to see!  To keep this from happening, use your teacher workstation to check email. To turn on or off desktop alerts in Outlook, go to File, Options, MAIL, Message Arrival, then Desktop Alert Settings. Uncheck the box which says "Display Desktop Alert."

Google Forms - They can make your job easier.

Google Forms are a great way to instantly gather data from a variety of sources – parents, students and colleagues - with very little effort on your part and without requiring them to have a Google account of their own.  All they will need is the link to the live form that you create. Whether you have 20 students or 125, creating a spreadsheet from scratch and adding data yourself can be quite time-consuming.  A Google form will automatically create a spreadsheet  that is populated in real time with data that others enter into your online form.

Here’s more information on creating a Google form, sharing it with students or parents, and accessing the spreadsheet and  66 interesting ways to use Google forms in the classroom. This is a Google presentation created and shared by Tom Barrett from Nottingham, England. He has given everyone rights to add their own ideas to this presentation so more examples are sure to be included.

Just for fun - if you would like to try out a simple form, click here. You can see your response and others  in this spreadsheet.  Note: the share settings were changed so that anyone with the link can see the spreadsheet even without an account. 

Tip/s of the week:

#1 – In most browsers, you can right-click on a hyperlink to choose to open it in a new tab rather than a new window.  You can also hold down the Ctrl key while clicking a link to open it in a new tab.

#2 – If you accidentally close a tab in Internet Explorer or Firefox, you can reopen it by pressing Ctrl-Shift-T.

Web Resource – Thinkfinity is a great free source of lesson plans and educational resources for all grade levels and subject areas.

VoiceThread: The Perfect Online Class Collaboration Tool

Extend your classroom online!
Your students spend countless hours online surfing the internet, posting and following others on Twitter, or updating their Facebook statuses. Wouldn't it be nice to have those students spend some of that time on your class assignments? With VoiceThread, you can engage the "digital natives" in your classroom in an online, collaborative learning adventure. It's easy and FUN!

VoiceThread is an online interactive tool  that allows you and your students to collaborate and share information using images, documents, videos and more. Everyone can comment and collaborate with voice, text, audio and even video. You can post your VoiceThread on your website or save it to an MP3 or DVD or provide a direct link.  More about VoiceThread...

Don't worry! There are plenty of ideas and resources  to help you start using this tool.  As always, your Instructional Technology Specialist is there to help you too.

Convert Powerpoint To Images
Did you know that you can convert PowerPoint slides to images to use in other applications? It's easy to do. Just open your PowerPoint, select File, Save As and select the jpg option as your file type. All the slides you choose to convert become images to be used in other applications.

Fill in any PDF Form onYour Computer

FillAnyPDF.com is a website that allows you to upload any PDF form to make it interactive so you can fill in the blanks. No software is required and it's free. There is a paid version as well. If you must fill out a form, you will find that this site is a time-saving resource.