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Showing posts from September, 2017

Links and Loves

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How was your week? Mine was great!!  Here are some Links and Loves to support your classrooms. Classroom Screen looks like a useful tool for any classroom. Project various items on the screen for your class including a timer, a random name picker, stop light, text box, etc. No account needed and very easy to use. If you are looking for a timeline creation tool for your students, Time Graphics looks really REALLY good!  It’s free and these examples look impressive. Do you want to promote writing with students? Try this simple website.  Set a time and start writing. If the student stops writing for more than 5 seconds, the writing disappears!  When the time is up, the work is saved by date. Students can then download what they wrote or click on the saved file. A student felt this was important enough to share with me. So I must pass it onto you as well. It's the simple things that can bring me to smile. It's been an incredible we...

CommonLit is 100% Free and Similar to Newsela

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CommonLit.org - Guided Reading Activities From the moment I opened CommonLit.org I was impressed. CommonLit has free reading passages and progress tracking tools for grades 5th - 12th. I started by creating an account. CommonLit.org is 100% free. In the Library tab, I can filter my search by book, genre, grade level, literary device, text set or theme.   Once a reading passage is chosen, there are several choices. On the right there are guiding questions, assessment questions and discussion questions. There is also the ability to enlarge the font, highlight the text, translate words to other languages, look up words in a dictionary and listen to the text be read aloud at various speeds. Teachers can create a class (with the ability to import from Google Classroom or share a link or a code) and assign a reading passage to students.  If the teacher assigns guided reading to the passage, students are asked to answer multiple choice quest...

Word Clouds, Clickable Images, Icebreakers, OH MY!

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Poll Everywhere has so Many Different Options It's been a while since I've used Poll Everywhere . Recently a colleague of mine asked about using this wonderful site, and I was pleasantly surprised when I visited Poll Everywhere . There are many, many choices for polling students. And not every choice is necessarily a poll.  Some of the more unique options include Leaderboard, Self-Paced Quiz, News Ticker and Select on a Map.  What great options for collecting feedback, assessment, written response and opinions from staff and students. Another useful feature that I found was the ability to embed a Poll Everywhere into a Google Slide presentation. This is super easy to do with the Google Chrome Extension for Poll Everywhere.  Here is a quick video showing how this works: I love that teachers and students can easily add an interactive poll or activity directly into their Google Slide presentation during a lesson.  The Poll Everywhere...

Links and Loves

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Have you seen this video from Appleton East HS that went viral? Officer Jack Taschner is one class act resource officer. I love the positive energy and fun he brought to the student section. This week I listened to Chop Wood, Carry Water on Audible. (Thank you for the recommendation Jackie .) This book is read by the author, Joshua Medcalf, and is a story about living life and perseverance. I love that it helped me to reflect on my own life and experiences.   Click here for some of the inspirational quotes from the novel. Have you heard of the Google Teacher Tribe Podcast by Matt Miller and Kasey Bell?  I listened to a few episodes this week and they are fantastic for a Google Guru like myself. (Thank you Naomi Harm for the recommendation.) Check out the TI - Innovator Rover Programmable Rover !! This programmable robotic vehicle that drives conceptual curiosity in math, science and coding. (Thanks for sharing Rick.) Has anyone tried Smart...

Links and Loves

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Image Credit A video from social media - Such a strong message about shutting down the negative noise and focusing on the positive in your life. TeacherLed.com has a clock interactive that I wish I would have known about sooner.  Click on the three bars to change the settings. Click on the home button to access the other awesome interactives from TeacherLed.com Inklewriter looks like a great tool to use with students and writing. The stories are interactive and fictional. Click here to view an example. I was inspired the the Cool Cat Teachers Podcast (Vicki Davis) called “ How Teachers Can Find Time to Innovate ”  Basically the message is to Innovate Like a Turtle which I completely am trying to do these days with a full schedule and little free time. Happy Friday everyone. Make the best of time with family and friends this weekend. My oldest son turned 19 this week. Time flies way too quickly. Enjoy every moment.

Links and Loves

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Who will play #TeacherStats with me? Share your results by adding your downloaded image to this Padlet . Kahoot launches a new collection of math games . I hope that Kahoot doesn’t forget about the literacy, science, tech ed teachers and others out there. More Kahoot collections coming soon? How To Geek gives us a reminder of how to take screenshots on pretty much any device. I use screenshots all of the time as a technology integrator! Video: How Do Different Social Media Platforms Affect Your Mood ?  You may be surprised by what you hear.  Here are classroom support materials including a student handout. More from Above the Noise. What I’m listening to on Audible  - not my typical genre, but I'm definitely hooked. What I’m reading professionally  - I love the Maker Movement as I am a natural "Maker" myself. Check out the bookshelves I made this past weekend for our home office / spare room. Happy Friday...

NEW! Quizlet Diagrams

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Quizlet has a new feature! Quizlet now offers the ability to upload an image and add hot spots to create a Diagram.  Diagrams will be helpful for studying content such as charts, maps, images or models.  Simply go to Quizlet and log in. Then click on "Browse diagrams". Search diagrams that are available from other users to copy or click on "Create your own diagram" to start one from scratch. Here is a quick introductory video: Students can choose from three activities: learn the terms and definitions, practice writing the terms or match the terms and definitions.  Quizlet is free to use. There is an option to upgrade to a premium account to have access to additional features.  The free version of Quizlet Diagrams allows the teacher to add up to 8 hot spots on one diagram. Give the Quizlet Diagram matching activity I have embedded below a try.  What do you think about this new feature? How might you or your stude...

Links and Loves

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New Weekly Post I've been thinking about writing a weekly "Links and Loves" post for a while now. Throughout each week, I come across so many inspiring and useful snippets of information from the Internet and the Blogosphere.  I also curate ideas and interests that I'm exploring. These great finds are just too good not to share.  So, here begins the first of many "Links and Loves".  Hurricane Harvey's devastation from space - viewed through sliding interactive images . And incredible photos of Hurricane Harvey (that aren’t too graphic to share with your students). I’ve been listening to the podcast How I Built This with Guy Raz non-stop on my commute to work each day. How I Built This is a podcast about innovators, entrepreneurs, and idealists, and the stories behind the movements they built. This podcast is so motivating and intriguing!! Digital Bellringers - Make the most of the first few minutes of class when yo...