Deb Norton Tech

A little over a week ago, I received a Sphero in the mail from my good friend, Naomi , who received several Spheros to try out from the folks at Orbotix.  My 13 year old son, Robert, has not stopped exploring Sphero since it arrived.  He is obsessed!  Our students think Sphero is amazing and mysterious.  I can't wait to incorporate Sphero into our lessons and make the most of this programmable, robotic ball. Here is an introductory video: Sphero is controlled via bluetooth from a smart phone or iPad. There are numerous free apps that take Sphero to another level.  Here are a few of them: Sphero Drive  - to navigate the ball Sphero Tag  - gaming Orb Basic  -programming and coding Sphero MacroLab  - programming The makers of Sphero created Sphero Education and the SPKR ( Schools / Parents / Robots / Kids  )  program to bring this wonderful technology into the classroom. This si...

Recently I was training some awesome teachers, and one of the biggest requests was for tools similar to Google Drawings.  So, here are some tools for students to create posters, flyers, and visuals: #1 - Canva - free publish as an image or PDF share the link simple drag and drop #2 - Buncee - free Buncee edu for teachers Click and select Print Share on social media #3 - Smore - free (can upgrade) add the elements you like embed share via email or link So there you have it; three great tools similar to Google Drawing.  Today's students are creators of content and these three tools can provide a place for students to show their critical thinking, creativity and knowledge.

Brain Breaks help students to focus and get ready for learning in the classroom.   Go Noodle is a fabulous site filled with Brain Breaks for your students.   Go Noodle builds in a gaming feature of earning points to help your class mascot grow.  This site is amazing! Watch this introductory video: The Brain Breaks are divided into categories that fit the needs of the students. Air Time works on breathing and calming before a test or big event.  Run With Us helps students to get some energy out by running in place.  And so on. I highly recommend checking out Go Noodle for giving your students Brain Breaks throughout the day.  By the way, it is free!

1990 It's a well know fact that I have been teaching for 20+ years and I always tell people that one of the best parts of my job is that I rarely teach the same way twice and that the pedagogy and teaching styles are constantly changing.  (And thankfully the fashion has changed as well!) Students have also changed quite a bit from when I first started teaching in 1990!  Today's students have more of a voice in the classroom, they are digital natives and they are greater producers of content than students from the past. There are many things that we can do to better meet the needs of this new generation of learners.   Here is a list of some of them: #1 Objectives Everyday we post the objectives for our lessons.  We make sure to incorporate the objective naturally into our lesson and help students to understand the purpose for their learning.  Here is the ultimate way to post objectives in the classroom.  I need to do this! #2 - GAFE - ...

Today I share three great apps for creating an eBook or eStory.     ScreenChomp  Free Write About This  $3.99 (I'm using the Lite free version ) Book Creator  $4.99 Here are some ideas for creating eBooks or eStories: retell a story create a book on a researched topic make a Mother's Day or Father's Day book All About Me book a book about your city, state, country or world personal narrative, persuasive or argumentative, opinion etc. a book report  poetry about a famous person or someone you admire a how to book a cookbook Issuu is a great place to host your ebooks. Thank you to Intel and Teachers Engage for hosting this episode of Chat with Deb.

Learning Menus are something I keep hearing about on Twitter and in the blogosphere.  In the most recent episode of the Digital Buzz Radio Show , Naomi Harm shares the basics of Learning Menus as one way to personalize learning for every student. Let's take a look: Learning menus are a way to give students choice and differentiate the activities for students. Learning menus have 3 parts: the main course , the side dish and the dessert. In a learning menu, all of the activities in the main dish are required and cover the content.  The side dishes are choices and allow for differentiation.  The the desserts are extensions of the content. Here is an example: Watch this video to learn more about learning menus: Here is another example of a learning menu: I decided to give learning menus a try for myself.  So here is Norton's Learning Menu for a Novel we are Reading called Jimmy Spoon. Chapter 22 Learning Menu My student...

National Library Week is April 13 - 19.  How about having your students create: Watch this episode of Chat with Deb to see how to help your students to prepare a storyboard and create a book trailer using iMovie. Movie iMovie Sample from Deb Norton on Vimeo . Trailer (Theme Bollywood) Alexia - Dork DIaries from Deb Norton on Vimeo . Resources: Planning sheet iMovie Drawing Pad Trailer Planning sheets (these are awesome!) Alternatives sites for creating Book Trailers: YouTube Editor Photo Story 3 (comes with Windows) Thank you to Intel and Teachers Engage for sponsoring this episode of Chat with Deb.

A few months ago, our school set of iPads were finally allowed to be taken out of the Media Center.  Prior to this, the iPads had to be used while in the Media Center.  Throughout the past few months, it had become the routine that I go down and pick up the iPads in the morning and without even planning to, they end up in our classroom most of the day.   What is so incredible is that my students, on their own, pick up the iPads and use them as naturally as they would use a notebook from their desks. I'm finding that I incorporate the iPads without even planning to. It is just natural, convenient, and simple. Here are some of the ways we have been using the iPads, naturally: We used the app Explain Everything to create videos about what we had read and researched during our literacy time. Deanna's video from Deb Norton on Vimeo . We used Kahoot to write and review a chapter from a novel we are reading. We used Infuse Learning to wr...