Deb Norton Tech

Here are the sites our students have used or will be using this month in our classroom.  We are using technology to promote authentic learning and problem solving.  As always, the technology is being integrated into learning.  Educanon is very quickly becoming one of my favorite tools for assessing student understanding while viewing a YouTube video.  This is an amazing site! Here is my latest creation for Black History Month.  I love that I can assign this to my students and then watch as they answer the questions.  The students love the instant feedback.   Our students created book reviews on a Google Document.  We then created QR codes linked to their book reviews and displayed them on a bulletin board. This is the easiest word cloud maker around.  Our students used this site with their spelling words.  They rolled a dice and then typed the word the number of times on the dice.  They then c...

We would love this classroom. My co-teacher and I have started a classroom redesign project. Our goal is to transform our classroom into an environment that promotes 21st century learning and mobile technologies.  But also to create an environment that is comfortable.  Our focus has been the students, their voices, their ideas and their needs.  Here are the steps of our redesign: Step 1-   I have been inspired by many different blogs and resources to help us acquire ideas of how to go about redesigning our classroom.  The biggest inspiration came from my good friend, Naomi Harm , who is spreading the word to school districts about classroom design through her company, Innovative Educator Consulting.   Here is a list of some of the resources that have been useful: The Digital Buzz Radio Show Redesign Your Classroom by Naomi Harm Classroom Design with Erin Klein Collaborative Learning Spaces - I LOVE this site!  So many great ideas and ch...

Wednesday, February 5th Welcome to a new episode of Chat with Deb: Here are some great sites to use with your students on DLD.  Most of them do not require a log in, so you and your students can be ready to go.   Big Huge Labs   edit photos and share    Jigsaw Planet create and share a puzzle.     QR St uff create colorful qr codes.     QR Island    read a qr code with your PC webcam  ABCya's Go Animate   create an animation and save it to your computer. Tackk  create a webpage with images, text, video, audio, hyperlinks, maps and more.  Easily share with others. Scribble Maps  use drawing tools to draw on top of a map.  Easily download and share your map with others. Magnoto  create an online poster similar to a Glogster.  You do need an account. Padlet  online sticky notes with capabi...

This Chat with Deb is on the topic of student blogging. ` Here are the resources shared in this episode: Thinglink Doppelme Kidblog Tumblr Blogger Google Sites Our students' Kidblogs Here are some additional resources: A nice chart comparing many different blogging sites. Use the hashtag #comments4kids on Twitter to help promote student blogs and get comments. Edublogs - this is a wonderful guide on how to use Edublogs for student blogging.  A YouTube video on how to use Kidblog  Would you like to contact me?  Here is my email: nortond@ripon.k12.wi.us Click here  for all episodes of Chat with Deb

There's a new tool in town and it is called eduCanon .   eduCanon is used to build interactive video lessons.  It looks like an awesome tool for the flipped classroom or for adding questions to a video.  eduCanon is similar to Teachem . Here are some of the features: 1.   Choose a video from YouTube , Vimeo or Teacher Tube . 2.  Add multiple choice questions during the video and then choose which answer is correct. 3.  Get accounts for your students .  (eduCanon can help set up accounts if you don't want to have to do it or have students to it) 4.   Assign the video to your classes. 5.  Students get instant feedback when they answer a question. 6.  eduCanon won't let students fast forward during a video to ensure that they watch the whole thing. 7.  Teachers can see student performance. Here is a short introductory video: And here is a video I made questions for using eduCanon about Martin Luther King Jr. ...

This blog post is about a blog-style chain letter.  Usually if I get a chain letter, I wouldn't bother replying.  But this is a BLOG-STYLE chain letter.  That makes it totally up my alley! I received the chain letter from my friend Judy Artz whom I know through Twitter and because, in the past, she and her students have helped post on our students' Kidblogs .  Judy was kind enough to choose me as well as 21 other bloggers to honor with this "Spreading the Sunshine" Award.   Click here to see Judy's Spreading the Sunshine blogpost. So to continue with the blog-style chain letter I must share with you 11 random facts and then answer 11 questions from Judy.  I will also need to choose the next 11 bloggers to continue the letter and write questions for them to answer. So without further adieu, here are 11 random ( and surprising ) facts about me: 1.  My parents both worked at the elementary school that I attended when I was young.  M...