Deb Norton Tech

Even though this is an educational technology blog, I've decided to take a different approach with this post and share a personal use of technology.  At the beginning of the new year, 2015, I made a life change. I decided to start eating better and making my health a priority. My motivation came from losing a close family member to alcohol and overeating. At that time, I realized that I wanted to get back in control and try to change my habits. Here is a picture of me in December of 2014: And here is a picture of me today, December 2015: Technology helped me to take on the health challenge in several ways and if sharing some of these sites and tools helps others, I'll feel so happy. 90 Day Low Carb Challenge - Closed Facebook Group I joined an online community of other people who encouraged and motivated me to eat well. I do not promote a certain kind of diet or eating. This is just what worked for me. Diabetes runs in my family, and I knew that cuttin...

Take some time to have some holiday fun with these sites. Holiday cards, snow line and decorating cookies are on the agenda. Watch this Chat with Deb to see some great sites to share with your students for a little holiday fun. Sites shared in this video: Free printable cards Snowline Cookie Decorating Build a Snowman Another Build a Snowman Thank you to Intel's Teachers Engage for sponsoring this Chat with Deb post. 

 Explained in Just 10 Minutes  This week we celebrate Computer Science Education Week and along with that Hour of Code. For many educators, committing to doing an hour of code with our students can take us a bit out of our comfort zone because we haven't experienced coding before. Well, fear not, this Chat with Deb video will take you through an hour of code activity and help you to feel knowledgeable about what to expect. And it will only take about 10 minutes of your time. Here is the URL to the website with all of the Hour of Code activities - www.nortonaasd.weebly.com For more information on Hour of Code check out - www.code.org Let me know if this video was helpful and if you decide to support the Hour of Code with your students. Thanks for watching and for all you do in the classroom. Deb

Notetaking Tool from Readwritethink.org Integrated with Google Classroom Video Series - #7 Google Classroom Tech Integration This video demonstrates how to use Google Classroom to assign note-taking using a student interactive from readwritethink.org.   Students can add big ideas, sub-topics and more .  The student interactive can be found at Readwritethink.org  Note Taker I hope you found this video helpful for technology integration in your classroom. Let me know if you decide to give Notetaker a try. Click here  if you would like to be  awesome  and  discover  more  tools to integrate with Google Classroom.

DocentEDU - Add Meaning and Purpose to any Website  Insert a Quiz question, YouTube Video, Discussion Question etc. DocentEDU is a marvelous tool for enhancing any website to become more interactive and meaningful.  Teachers can gather important assessment data when the students view  DocentEDU  content on a website. Watch this Chat with Deb and view DocentEDU in action. If you decide to use DocentEDU , let me know how it goes. I look forward to hearing from you. Thank you to Intel Engage for sponsoring this Chat with Deb.

Formative is one of my favorite tools I've ever shared for assessing students. The feature that makes Formative stand above others is the ability to award points and give feedback in real time. There is also the ability to view students while they are being assessed. Another amazing feature is the ability to add questions and content onto any file such as a word file, pdf, or image. This is a game changer!  Watch this Chat with Deb video and see all the of features of Formative . If you decide to use Formative, let me know how it goes. I look forward to hearing from you. Thank you to Intel Engage for sponsoring this Chat with Deb.

Cram is a Flashcard Creation Site with Some Terrific Features! Do your students a favor and introduce them to this site. Students appreciate using applications that help them study for tests, quizzes and to help them memorize.  And they are especially interested when the application includes a gaming feature !! Cram is a site that was shared with me by one of my colleagues (Thank you Catherine Wood!) who has been using Cram in her Spanish classes. Cram is appealing, simple and can be used on a browser or as an app. Here are some great features: Browse Cram for premade and ready to use flashcard sets.   It is obvious that Cram is quite popular and well used! Create a flashcard set from scratch or import a set from a file or from Google Docs Use shortcuts to practice the flashcards, with the ability for hints and text to speech. Use the Memorize tab to keep track of your progress. Keep practicing the facts you need to...

Student Created Podcasts Using Twisted Wave Integrated with Google Classroom Video Series - #6 Google Classroom Tech Integration This video demonstrates how to use Google Classroom to assign and grade a podcast (or audio recording) using Twisted Wave .   Students can add copyright free music and their own audio. Students can also edit the recording and add effects to the audio. Twisted Wave can be found at Twistedwave.com Click here  for the YouTube Creator Click here for Sounzabound I hope you found this video helpful for technology integration in your classroom. Let me know if you decide to give Classtools a try. Click here  if you would like to be  awesome  and  discover  more  tools to integrate with Google Classroom.

Challenge Students with a Connect Fours Quiz Integrated with Google Classroom Video Series - #5 Google Classroom Tech Integration This video demonstrates how to use Google Classroom to assign and grade a unique quiz using  Classtools.net  Teachers can create a Connect Fours Quiz and ask students to take a screen capture of their results. Students can also use the Connect Fours Activity to demonstrate their own learning in a more critical way. Classtools can be found at  Classtools.net Click here  for the unique Connect Fours Quiz Maker I hope you found this video helpful for technology integration in your classroom. Let me know if you decide to give Classtools a try. Click here  if you would like to be  awesome  and  discover  more  tools to integrate with Google Classroom.

Scrolling Movie Text Star Wars Style Video Series - #4 Google Classroom Tech Integration This video demonstrates how to use Google Classroom to assign and grade a student interactive at Classtools.net  for creating a Star Wars themed scrolling text. There are options to add text, images, hyperlinks and of course, the Star Wars theme music will play while your text is scrolling. Classtools can be found at Classtools.net Click here  for the scrolling movie text student interactive I hope you found this video helpful for technology integration in your classroom. Let me know if you decide to give Classtools a try. Click here  if you would like to be  awesome  and  discover  more  tools to integrate with Google Classroom. .

Video Series - #3 Google Classroom Tech Integration This video demonstrates how to use Google Classroom to assign and grade a student interactive in Read Write Think  for creating a venn diagram.  There are options to add labels, resize the circles, add terms, add descriptions, save as a draft and save as a PDF for turning in the assignment. Read Write Think can be found at readwritethink.org Click here for the venn diagram student interactive I hope you found this video helpful for technology integration in your classroom. Let me know if you decide to give Read Write Think a try. Click here  if you would like to be  awesome  and  discover  more  tools to integrate with Google Classroom.

Video Series - #2 Google Classroom Tech Integration This video demonstrates how to use Google Classroom to assign and grade Coggle for creating concept maps. Coggle allows for collaboration with others. There are options to include images and hyperlinks. Coggle can be found at coggle.it I hope you found this video helpful for technology integration in your classroom. Let me know if you decide to give Coggle a try. Click here  if you would like to be  awesome  and  discover  more  tools to integrate with Google Classroom.

Video Series - #1 Google Classroom Tech Integration This video demonstrates how to use Google Classroom to assign and grade a 3D Virtual Museum Exhibit.  The 3D Gallery can include images and videos as well as titles and descriptions with hyperlink capabilities.  Students can share their 3D Galleries with a link.  3D Gallery can be found at the site Classtools.net by Russel Tarr I hope you found this video helpful for technology integration in your classroom. Let me know if you decide to give the 3D Gallery tool a try. Click here if you would like to be awesome and discover more  tools to integrate with Google Classroom.

What is Twine? Perhaps you have had fun playing with "choose your own adventure" type stories, games or surveys. Social media has been buzzing with such surveys like this one: Which Disney Character Would Play You In The Movie of Your Life? Recently I came across Twine ( twinery.org )  for creating your own interactive stories, surveys or games. Creating a story is a simple as generating a flow chart such as this one: What makes Twine so great is that you only need to type text into a box and then put brackets around the word or words that you wish to have the next part of your story linked to.  Any words in brackets will automatically generate a new box on the flowchart. Watch this short video demo to see how a Twine is created: Click here to experience the Twine I created called, "What Kind of Teacher are You?"  I took the information to create my Twine from this site.  FYI, I'm not responsible for the type of teacher my Twin...

Presentations help to tell a story or give information There are many choices for making presentations, but one of my favorites is Adobe Slate.  There is an iPad app as well as a web version.  Here are some of the features that make Adobe Slate a favorite of mine: Scroll through the presentation and check out the awesome effects and features. Easily add text, window images, captions, links, picture galleries and a cover photo. Edit or add more content as you go. Easily move any content around to readjust. Publish and share your presentation with a link or embed code. Click the image below to view my Adobe Slate presentation.

October is Connected Educator Month. How do you stay connected with others in the education world? Skype, Twitter, Facebook or Google Hangouts? There are multiple ways to connect with others and learn from one another. Watch this Chat with Deb and see a few other possibilities that might be new to you: Resources shared in this video: Periscope Bloglovin Connectededucators.org How do you stay connected with educators from around the globe. Please share. I'd love to hear about it.   Thank you to Intel's Teachers Engage for sponsoring this Chat with Deb.

Makerspaces and Career and Technical Education (CTE) What are Makerspaces and how do they help with CTE ? Think back to when you were younger and enjoyed a hobby or interest. Perhaps you enjoyed building or a craft. Maybe it was music or art? Or, if you were like me, perhaps you enjoyed electronic devices and games.  These are all examples of the Makermovement or Makerspaces.  Career and Technical Education (CTE) prepares our youth for a wide range of high-skill, high-demand careers with cutting-edge, rigorous, and relevant educational experiences. When Makerspaces- hands-on areas of creation and discovery in the learning environment, combines with CTE, great things can happen.  Think of this as technology blended with hands-on, skill-based learning environments.  There is a big movement in education today to bring more creation and hands-on time to students; to give students time to explore and learn from their personal interests (20% time or Gen...

October is Digital Citizenship Month As a technology integration specialist, I am often asked to find resources for classroom teachers on Digital Citizenship. Below is a collection of videos that specifically cover Digital Citizenship and Social Media.   Talking to students about their behavior online is very important to me. I know first hand with my own two sons, ages 15 and 17, that kids need direction and reminders of how they behave, not only online but in any social situation, including the classroom, in public and online. Here are four excellent resources for the classroom and for parents to help talk to students about Digital Citizenship and Social Media. Hashtag, You're It  shows the consequences of giving away your location and personal information using hashtags in social media. It's amazing that the people in the video are shocked by how much the host of the video knows about them when he approaches them. Kindness and thoughtfulness...

October is a time to focus on Digital Citizenship and Cyber Safety. In this Chat with Deb, you will learn how to use a video / animation site called Powtoon with your students for the purpose of creating a video about Cyber Safety. Here is the published Powtoon video : Here are some sites with resources on Cyber Safety: Netsmartz.org National Childrens Advocacy Center National Cyber Security Awareness Month Cyber Safety Checklist Internet Safety Checklist for students and parents How do you bring awareness to Cyber Safety with your students? Please share if you have a good resource or activity. Thank you to Intel's Teachers Engage for sponsoring this video.

Today I'm sharing some tools for making avatars and emojis. Today it is all about fun, engagement and using tech to make us feel good and connect with others.  Stadium Takeover - This site is sponsored by nflrush.com and allows you to create an avatar based on your favorite NFL team. Another fun part of this site is watching which team is winning the Stadium Challenge: Regardless of which team you root for, this avatar maker will put a smile on any football fan. Get Peanutized  - is another avatar maker that lets you create yourself as a Peanuts character. You can share your avatar as a wallpaper or as a profile picture. Bitmoji is an emoji app that will allow you to create an avatar and then use that avatar to insert emojis into Google Docs, blogposts or most writing platforms on the Internet. Even this blog post: There is also a Bitmoji extension that will make it easy to add an emoji at any time. It even works in Gmail! To...

Today's  post is about updates, tools or sites that I found interesting as I was searching the web.  Perhaps you will find something of interest to you or your students.  Check these out. #1 Google Forms is getting an update and it looks pretty sweet! The new icon is purple . Read all about it here . #2 Salaries in Real Time How many hours do you need to work in order to buy a burger? Check out this interesting site : 11 minutes and 5 seconds until my next burger. :) #3 Biteable - a simple video animation maker This looks like a very useful tool for creating a tutorial or a visually animated infographic.  #4 2048 Game -  I often spend time in study hall or in the lunch room to see what students are choosing to do on their Chromebooks during their free time.  This tile  game has become quite popular among our high school students. The game is simple, move like numbers together to add the tiles up from 2 - 4 - 8 -16 -32...