Google has many capabilities to help you find what you need faster. It goes far beyond just a simple search engine and it couldn't be any easier to use them.
If you are interested in creating a free Google account here is a link to follow.
Did you know Google can be used as a dictionary? All that needs to be done is type "define" put in a space and then type the word to be defined. I showed this to my fifth graders last year and they were amazed. Now when we are not sure of a word (even myself) I hear my students say, "Go to Google!" They are learning to use their resources to find information for themselves. Here is a screenshot of what a dictionary search would look like.
As you might notice you get a definition and links to other definitions. However if you add a : in between define and the word without spaces the results change a bit. Here is a screenshot of the difference.
You will notice that the definition stays the same, but the links change to other examples of the word. Give it a try!
Google is also a calculator! I have not shared this with my students because I do not want them using this for their math homework! This is a great feature and can even handle more difficult math. Here is a tutorial video to show how this feature works.
The Scientific Calculator
Google also helps convert between units of measure, world currency, and temperatures. This is a great feature for on the go conversions when traveling, while shopping, and so on. Here are some videos detailing this feature.
Units of Measurement
Currency Conversions
Convert Between Celsius and Fahrenheit
Google also allows searches to be conducted by reading level. This is great for teachers who have students with varying reading levels. When having students conduct research online students should be shown how to search according to their reading levels. This allows them to understand the information on the sites they are researching. Here is a tutorial video showing how to use this feature.
Another great feature of Google is to be able to search for material in the creative commons. Many students and teachers are guilty of copyright infringement at one time or another. This can be a significant problem that could lead to fines and imprisonment. Here are some videos that would be great to show to students and fellow teachers regarding creative commons and how to use Google to search for materials.
Creative Commons
Google Search for Materials
I hope I have introduced you to the power of Google! It is an amazing tool for the classroom and teaches our students skills that they can carry with them the rest of their lives.
Education is rapidly changing! Technology is ever present in our classrooms. This new technology has its pros and cons. The key is using the technology to increase student learning and must follow sound learning theory. Guidelines need to be established as to the appropriate use of this technology. If these few things are remembered technology can be a wonderful learning tool in the classroom.
I have talked about the use of various social media such as Twitter, Edmodo, and Schoology in previous blogs. These sites can help keep students and parents informed on what is going on in the classroom, and can allow students to get help on questions in a timely manner. However, they can also be problematic. Teachers need to remember that they are role models for their students and sometimes their parents. What is put out on these sites is pretty much public and remain there forever. Future employers can see this information and so can your students, their parents, and administrators. Here are some great tips for social media users.
One great social media site that is great for obtaining resources is Pinterest! This is a free site that allows you to search for resources, and images on the web and place them in easy to find categories or folders for easy access. I have many categories such as recipes that I have now started to organize into subcategories such as beef, desserts, and such. I also have many teaching resources. I have a file for each subject that I teach. I also have started developing folders that have topic specific resources in them such as the revolutionary war, Native Americans, and immigration. Here is a link to my personal page. Check it out and see just how many resources are out there that have been shared by other teachers.
Another great tool that I have discovered is Symbaloo. Symbaloo is a site that allows you to bring together all of your favorites sites into one easy to find spot or collections called web mixes. They also have a free education site. Here is the link to SymbalooEdu. This site allows teachers to create web mixes that can be used for personalized search engines. I could locate sites that would be suitable for my students research projects and add them to a web mix. I can then share the URL with my students (using a URL shortener) so they could access this tool easily. I have also created a web mix of frequently used websites for my student to have one click access all in one spot. I plan to place links to these on my class web page. I have my students use my web page to access many of these sites so that they know how to have access to them from home without having to remember web addresses.
Screenshot of my Web Mix
Tutorial Video for SymbalooEdu
I hope I have given some great ways to find resources, keep in touch with students and parents, and guidelines for safely using social media. Always remember social media can be your friend or it can be your biggest enemy. It is all in how you use it.
Saturday, August 8, 2015
There are a variety of great organizational and time saving tools on the Internet for teachers. I know that I obtain most of my resources from the Internet anymore. Gone are the days of using resources from a book. I know that I have searched online for classroom decorating ideas to go with our building theme, craft ideas, and lesson plans. Not only can I collect resources or ideas, but I can easily share them with other teachers throughout the world. Things sure are different than when my mother-in-law taught school. She is always amazed!
This week we were able to explore some amazing sites. Here is a run down of some of my favorites and ones I want to explore some more.
Share My Lesson:
This site is a collection of lesson plans shared by other teachers. Best of all it is a free resource! It provides lessons for all grades levels K-12 and special needs populations. They also cover all subject areas including Common Core lessons. This site also includes a blog that is great for professional development purposes.
Read Works:
This is another free site that offers great resources to reading teachers. The lessons found on this site strive to develop better reading skills in students. These lesson plans include novel studies on down to improving skills and comprehension. The novel studies include lesson that help students work on vital skills such as main idea and detail, and making generalizations. Common Core standards are also met through students interacting with text while reading the novels. Not all of the lessons are part of novel studies.
Teachers Pay Teachers:
I have used this site for many years and it is one of my favorites. It is not totally free, but there are some resources that are free. Many of the resources cost anywhere from a dollar to much more. Overall the cost is not overly expensive. Price is usually according to the size of the file or how many documents are involved. These valuable tools are teacher created by teachers who are familiar with the standards. Many are common core related. Sign up is free so it is well worth taking a look.
We also explored many useful organizational and time saving tools. Here are links and descriptions to some of the ones that I thought would be useful in my classroom.
Remind: Remind used to be known as Remind 101. It is a communication tool for teachers. It allows them to communicate with parents through a secure means. This means a teacher does not have to give out their personal phone numbers in order to be available to parents and students. I have used Remind in my classroom for the past two years. I explain what it is and send directions for how to sign up at Open House each year. However, not all of my parents attend Open House. I have only been able to get about three parents to sign up each year. I have also sent home the flyer with directions for parents. This did not help. This year Remind has added some new features such as "Chat" and the ability to attach files or documents to messages. Chat will give me the ability to message back and forth with parents or students to answer questions. I can now submit numbers that parents give at enrollment or email addresses and have a link sent to parents with directions on signing up for Remind. This will alleviate the parents never seeing the note about Remind! Apps are available for Android and IOS users. Here is a screenshot of a message that I sent out last year.
I also discovered some great classroom management tools.
Stopwatches are great visual tools for helping students know how much time they have left on an activity. They also help students that do not transition easily. Here are a few that are free!
Online Stopwatch: This timer gives many different options. My students like the bomb!
My students usually have a difficult time monitoring the noise level during group work. Two great sites that provide visual displays are Bouncy Balls and Traffic Light.
Traffic Light: This is exactly what it says. The traffic light has three colors and the teacher can click on the green, yellow, or red as needed. Green means that talking is okay, yellow means that quiet talking or whispering is necessary, and red means that everyone needs to be quiet.
Bouncy Balls: Is a site that is a fun visual for kids to learn to self-monitor their noise levels. Sound is monitored through your computer microphone. The noise level makes the plastic balls bounce with the noise. The media can be changed for example instead of plastic balls you might choose bubbles, emoji, or eyeballs (great for October). My only worry is that this may be distracting for certain students. I found myself trying hard to make the balls bounce. I could see my students trying the same thing!
Have you ever felt that you call on the same students all of the time or the same students always have their hands up? Sites like Class Dojo and Random Name/Word selector can help.
Class Dojo: Is a tool that has multiple functions. This tool can randomly select student names, and also keep track of points and behavior. Class Dojo works well with IOS devices (sorry not sure about Android). Parents can even see reports on their students behavior. Students like the little monster characters.
Random Name/Word Picker: I loved this tool! I can enter in a list of my students names or copy and paste them into the data entry box and then using either the typewriter or fruit machine mode randomly select students. This helps keep all students engaged in the lesson and on their toes.
Finally, we needed to create a flyer using Google Drawing to show other educators some useful tips. Google Drawing is a truly versatile tool. I will forever use this tool when creating flyers to send home. Here is a link to the flyer that I created and will share with my coworkers soon. Please take a look! I had used Google Drawing before, but did not realize everything that could be done with it. It is very easy to use and share with others. Here are two tutorial videos from YouTube.
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This was a busy week of exploring. I hope I have given you some great useful resources, and tools for your classroom!
Saturday, August 1, 2015
Google Drive is a suite of word processing and presentation tools that are absolutely amazing. They include Docs which is just like Microsoft Word, Sheets which is like Excel, Slides that is close to PowerPoint, Forms which helps make quizzes, and other online surveys, and Drawing. As a teacher I use all of these tools in my classroom. I have used the drawing feature to create Venn diagrams and flow charts. My students also like to complete online surveys that I have created using Forms. I plan to create self grading quizzes or assessments to monitor student progress this year. I will talk more about the self grading part later in this post.
Google Drive files can be shared with select people that you choose or can be made pubic in which anyone with the link can access the file. This is great for collaborative projects. My district used this feature with our Curriculum Team. We took a look at our curriculum and compared them to the standards to make sure we were meeting all of the standards. The document was create and each grade level teacher was allowed editing privileges to add additional resources that they used in their classroom to the document. This made the task so much easier because it is difficult to find a time when everyone is able to meet. This way they could work on the document when time allowed.
Here are a couple of great videos about Google Drive:
My most favorite tool is definitely Forms! I mentioned earlier that I have used it in my classroom and that my students loved it. While working on my masters in Curriculum and Instruction I have had to collect information from my students and parents. Google Forms made this quick and easy. Here is a video on this "Hidden Gem".
As you can see this tool can be very useful in the classroom. Recently I was introduced to an add-on feature (that is free) to create self-grading quizzes, worksheets, or assessment tools. Grading is a never ending chore for teachers so why not get rid of a few headaches! Flubaroo is a great tool for creating these self-grading masterpieces. It took a little trial and error to get the hang of using this tool, but was well worth it. Here is a link to the assessment that I created in Forms. Below is a screenshot of the graded results for the assessment.
Don't worry! These were my fake students that took this quiz since it is summer and I do not have any current students.
I am including some videos that explain Flubaroo and how to start creating self-grading quizzes.
Happy creating and less grading hassle!
Sunday, July 26, 2015
This week I am going to talk about learning management systems (LMS). An LMS is a software program that allows teachers to deliver electronic educational content trainings or programs. They allow a teacher to supply course content, facilitate discussions, track attendance, record grades, go paperless (with assignments and tests), and join learning communities. Edmodo and Schoology are two such LMS's. Click above on their names for links to these systems.
Both LMS are set-up similar to Facebook which makes its use a little easier for teachers, students, and parents. Yes! Even parents can sign-up for a log in to monitor their students progress. Edmodo and Schoology both have similar features such as parent log in, ability to post files or video resources, grade book, and include a calendar feature. Teachers can also create assignments, quizzes/tests, and polls.
Edmodo:
Overview of Edmodo
Here are some great features that Edmodo offers. They have a badge system that teachers can set up to award students when they have made progress or achieved a goal. This motivational tool will get students excited. The feature that I think is really cool is Snapshot! This new feature allows teachers to assess students progress towards grade level standards. The teacher can choose the subject and standards to be assessed. Edmodo has preloaded questions and gives a report of results on the student's performance on the standards being assessed. What teacher does not like data! Here is a video clip on this feature.
For more tutorial videos on the amazing features that Edmodo has to offer visit YouTube and search under "Edmodo tutorials for teachers."
Schoology:
Overview of Schoology
Schoology has many great features that make it a useful tool for the classroom. Videos and materials such as files from your computer can be directly added to your posts. It has a resource file that allows you to add media, but it also allows media to be added directly. Adding media was simple and easy to complete. The ease of use of this site is clear. Here are some great videos to help you in exploring the benefits of this LMS.
Using Schoology in the Classroom
Organizing Your Blended Course Using Schoology
More videos can be found on YouTube by searching "Schoology tutorials for teachers."
I encourage you to explore these two educational tools to see which works best for your setting.
This week we learned about many wonderful social networking sites and how they could be used in the classroom. Many of our students are fluent in the latest social networking technology. Could this same technology be used to reach the students? The answer is Yes! Twitter, and Diigo are being used by teachers to help students work collaboratively. These same sites are also being used by teachers to network by share ideas and resources. This leads to a great professional development opportunities.
Diigo is a social bookmarking site that allows the user to save material found on the internet in one place. The user can add tags that help organize the material that has been saved or bookmarked. However, that is not all that Diigo can do. It allows the user to highlight selected material online and save these annotations. Diigo also has a sticky note feature that allows the user to jot quick notes to accompany saved sources. This comes in handy for those of us who find great resources and then go back later and not remember what was so special about the information. Sounds a lot easier than hand written note cards! Here is a great Diigo Introduction video.
Introduction
The Basics of Diigo
The videos also mention that there is an educators account that is free and allows teachers to create groups by adding their students. Diigo is a great collaborative tool. Interested in getting started with Diigo?
Another networking site that is beneficial to teachers is Twitter. Many teachers are now utilizing Twitter for professional development. Twitter is a fantastic way to keep up-to-date on the latest trends in education. The exchange of ideas and resources benefits any who choose to mine its treasures. Teachers can find educational chats and join them live. Twitter is another way to keep students and parents informed about school. They can easily be alerted through Twitter of new class blog postings. Most students are familiar with the use of social networking and this provides a great way to reach students in an engaging way.
It is easy and free to join Twitter and start tweeting just click here!
Here is a great tutorial video on using Twitter.
How can educators use Twitter? Watch this!
Here are some more great links to additional resources for making the most of Twitter.
This week I began taking another technology course towards my master's degree. I love learning new ways to make my life easier and more efficient. After all, that is the goal of new technologies! This week we are exploring blogs and creating one to reflect on our new found skills. As an educator I follow many wonderful educational blogs. They provide many new ideas, resources and keep me up-to-date with changes in the world of education.
Blogs and many other sites such as news-related sites deliver their information via a RSS feed. Why? The information that is provided is regularly updated or changing and this provides a way to quickly deliver this information. How do you know if the site is an RSS feed? Just look for the following symbol.
Even though monitoring many blogs is a great way to learn new ideas and information. It can be time consuming to enter in each URL to see what has been newly added. That is were an feed reader can come in handy. One great feed reader is Feedly. It allows you to add all your blogs and search for new ones and displays them all on the same page. New posts or feeds are added to the page. This eliminates the need to bring each one up individually. All of your feeds can be found in one place!
Feedly is free and if you already have a google account it is easy to start using Feedly. Here is the link to Feedly.
This tutorial video will help introduce you to this time saving tool.
It really is easy to stay up on the latest news for anything in which you are interested.
