The last five minutes of class can often a difficult time
period to plan for because students often use this time to complete homework,
pack up materials and socialize.
One teacher has artfully combined exit tickets with Tellegami
to use this time more effectively. Students use this free App to record a 30
second Gami of the top three things they learned from class that day. Their Gami,
a combination of a cartoon and voice recording, can be shared via email, social
media, or embedding into a website.
Students email this Gami to their teacher as a way to check
for understanding; however, the best part is that the “best” Gami is reused.
This teacher embeds it on their website and shares with students who might have
been absent, didn’t understand the topic, or just needed a brief reminder.
Posts for the month of November are dedicated to a little boy named Ayden Murray from Wrightsville, PA.. He was diagnosed with Stage 4 neuroblastoma and is at Hershey Medical Center receiving treatment. For every time someone visits my blog during the month of November,myself and several donors will donate a penny to his medical fund "Prayers 4 Ayden."
How can you get involved?
Click on this page!
Email me to become a Change Partner to donate a penny per click
It's always fun going back to your old stomping grounds. Tonight was especially fun because I got to meet a group of future teachers at my Alma Mater, Delaware Valley College in Doylestown, PA. I wasn't sure what to expect, but I quickly grew attached to this group of college juniors and seniors.
It was refreshing to see such a young group of adults, so passionate and willing to invest their own time to attend a free workshop designed to help all students learn. I applaud their efforts to impact their future students. So what did we do?
We played "chef" and cooked up some recipes on how to use LiveBinders to help all students learn. From reading assignments to providing supports, we looked at ways to eliminate barriers and provide students with access to learning. If you would like to see some of the recipes we "cooked" up, check out my website.
Do you have more ideas on how to use LiveBinders? Email me some of your ideas!
Posts for the month of November are dedicated to a little boy named Ayden Murray from Wrightsville, PA.. He was diagnosed with Stage 4 neuroblastoma and is at Hershey Medical Center receiving treatment. For every time someone visits my blog during the month of November,myself and several donors will donate a penny to his medical fund "Prayers 4 Ayden."
How can you get involved?
Click on this page!
Email me to become a Change Partner to donate a penny per click
I love getting ideas with other like-minded educators, who are passionate about UDL and technology. Earlier today I was emailed by Scott, a principal from Minnesota, who told me about an App called Tellegami. Over the next few posts, I will share with you some ideas on how you can incorporate this cool App into your classroom. In 140 words or less, of course!
What is it?
Tellegami is a way to share animated messages (called Gamis) through your Smart device through Facebook, Twitter, Email, or texting. You can customize your character, change their mood, customize the background, type a message, and record up to 30 seconds of your voice with just a few swipes.
Hmm…
To show you how easy this is to use, I created my own Gami (below)! Check out my future posts! Thanks Scott!
NOVEMBER IS CLICK FOR A CAUSE MONTH!
Posts for the month of November are dedicated to a little boy named Ayden. He was diagnosed with a rare form of cancer and is at Hershey Medical Center receiving treatment. For every time someone visits my blog during the month of November, I am going to donate a penny to his medical fund.
Collaboration is a buzzword in education and with good
reason. It helps our students prepare for tomorrow! In the past, I have created
collaborative note taking experiences through Google Presentations. I assigned
each group a slide containing a particular set of questions and they were supposed
to add to the slide.
Due to permission difficulties within my school, this experience
is no longer a possible. With this same idea in mind, I creatively substitute PowToon as a way for my students to collaborate.
I broke students into groups and assigned
each trio the task of creating a brief presentation on a section of our outline. They shared their link on Edmodo and presented their material to the class. Their classmates filled out their note
outlines and I acted as a facilitator, asking questions, and highlighting major topics.
If you ever watched Fox Sports 1, you may notice that they
have a news feed that is titled “3 Things You Should Know,” which communicates a
brief summary of the 3 most important sports happenings of the day.
It made me think some ways to use PowToon and the “3 Things
You Should Know” idea in my class:
Create a PowToon about 3 current events currently happening in your subject area. Play it at the beginning of class as students begin taking their seats. You will be amazed by the engagement!
From getting a pencil out to handing in homework, communicate beginning of class instructions through PowToon!
Have your students create their own “3 Things You Should Know” about the topic covered in class that day. It is a great way to gauge understanding!
NOVEMBER IS CLICK FOR A CAUSE MONTH!
Posts for the month of November are dedicated to a little boy named Ayden. He was diagnosed with a rare form of cancer and is at Hershey Medical Center receiving treatment. For every time someone visits my blog during the month of November, I am going to donate a penny to his medical fund.
For my next couple of series,
I plan on inspiring you to use new technologies in 140 words or less, because I want to
challenge myself to say more with less. Start counting now!
A few weeks ago, I had discussed putting together a toolbox of UDL friendly tools for students to use. Powtoon is a new presentation tool I plan on adding to my toolbox.
What Is It?
Think of Powtoon as a completely online cross between
PowerPoint and Movie Maker, where you can add many of the same presentation
elements (text, pictures, animations, sounds, etc.) into your presentation.
A New Way of
Engagement
Several weeks ago, I had given my students and assignment.
Create a presentation using any medium of your choice. One of my students
created a knock out presentation using this free program. Not only is it easy
to use, but it engages students in a new way. Now everyone wants to try it!
How can you use it? Stay tuned!
NOVEMBER IS CLICK FOR A CAUSE MONTH!
Posts for the month of November are dedicated to a little boy named Ayden. He was diagnosed with a rare form of cancer and is at Hershey Medical Center receiving treatment. For every time someone visits my blog during the month of November, I am going to donate a penny to his medical fund.
In this series, I would like to continue sharing some more simple ideas to bring experts into your room without much time or effort.
Skype OR FaceTime
Engaging our students differently requires looking at different pathways to gauge their interests. For example, you could read about a particular topic or you could find someone to serve as a guest teacher through Skype. Which method will engage the most students?
My students and I are discussing the importance of how entrepreneurs capitalize on simple ideas. Instead of reading about it, I chose to take a different approach. I reached out to 1800 GOT JUNK CEO Brian Scudamore and asked for his help. I wanted him to share his story of how he started all three of his companies. Not only did he tell his story, but he also took Q & A from my kids.
It is amazing how using Skype or FaceTime is much more appealing to experts in the field. It is easier for them to take 30 minutes out of their schedule to talk versus three hours to travel, go through school security, talk, and then travel home.
Conclusion:
I applaud Brian for his willingness to share his experiences from Vancouver, Canada; however, you have experts in your own community who are more than willing to share their experienceq with you. If you are talking about Chinese culture, why not ask the parent who is traveling to China? If you are discussing English literature, why not ask the college professor down the road? Technology has made it much more effective and efficient to share through media like Skype or FaceTime.
NOVEMBER IS CLICK FOR A CAUSE MONTH!
Join me for Click for a Cause. The nephew of one of my students was diagnosed with a rare form of cancer and is at Hershey Medical Center receiving treatment. I was so touched by his story that I wanted to do something. For every time someone visits my blog during the month of November, I am going to donate a penny to his medical fund.
In the 21st century, it is difficult to be an absolute expert on every single topic in your curriculum. Especially with all of the information that is available at our fingertips. If we are honest with ourselves, we will admit that we may not be an expert of everything. Instead we may be the "jack of all trades, but master of none." There is nothing wrong with this.
As we grow in our teaching career, we start to get more comfortable with our curriculum, but as we know in education, what we teach and how we do it often changes. In this series, I would like to share some simple ideas to bring experts into your room without much time or effort.
Several months ago, I was teaching a rather difficult unit to my Honors Business Management students. Since I am not a CEO of a Fortune 500 Company or a management guru, I decided to turn my attention to iTunes U. If you are not familiar with this section of iTunes, it is an unbelievable resource of lectures and materials from colleges and universities around the globe. I found a lecture by a college professor from Arizona State University, who taught an unbelievable lesson.
I used this as a teaching resource to help students learn a particular topic. It wasn't a substitute for my instruction, but it was a great way to enhance the topic, where I was weak.
Around the same time that I discovered a use for iTunes U, I was getting ready to take my GRE test (again!). It had been almost ten years since I originally took the test and I needed a refresher on basic algebra, geometry, and trigonometry. I turned to the ever-famous Khan Academy and was blown away by the number of free videos available on various Math, Science, and even Personal Finance topics!
This is a great supplemental resource that you could use for your students. Many of our students could benefit from hearing a topic discussed in another way. It could also help students need help on their homework, but don't have anyone able to help them. This is a great resource that many schools are already using! Some teachers are requiring their students to download the App onto their Smart Device. I love it!
Conclusion:
In the 21st century, you don't have to be an expert. Instead, you just need to know where to look. What other video resources do you use? I would love to hear about them! Send me an email telling me about some of you favorites! Join me next time for another addition to the series "You Don't Have to Be an Expert, But Know Where to Look."
NOVEMBER IS CLICK FOR A CAUSE MONTH!
Join me for Click for a Cause. The nephew of one of my students was diagnosed with a rare form of cancer and is at Hershey Medical Center receiving treatment. I was so touched by his story that I wanted to do something. For every time someone visits my blog during the month of November, I am going to donate a penny to his medical fund. Although it is not much, several other people have agreed to match this amount. Please help by just visiting my blog or learning more about how you can help. Although it is a little, every click means a lot.
As we continue our series on "Don't Be a One and Done," I wanted to share with you a creative idea I learned about several months ago. It takes a different angle to iPad use and involves Books, AudioBoo, and QR Codes.
Getting kids to read is a difficult task in its own sense; however, a librarian wanted to motivate her students to read in an engaging and high-tech way. When students read a book, they were given the chance to create a book review using AudioBoo and QR Codes. Step 1: Create Your Review Using AudioBoo
After students were finished reading their book, they were asked to create a script for a book review. When they were finished with the script, they were asked to read the script and record it using the free AudioBoo App. Not familiar with this App? It is a free podcasting application available on the iTunes store. Record your own audio or listen to thousands of recordings from users worldwide! Students generated 3 minute trailers, summarizing the book and providing a brief review of their opinions.
Step 2: Generate a QR Code
After students were finished with their recording, they took the URL to the recording and generated a QR code. This QR Code was printed out and placed on a poster in the library. Some were placed on the actual book itself. It was a great way of advertising and promoting reading throughout the library and school.
Step 3: Use QR Reader to Hear Reviews
As students looked for new books to read, they would use a QR Reader to listen to the book reviews recorded by their classmates. This quick and high-tech way of combining audio and QR codes was a simple way of motivating students. It changed the culture of the school and created a new excitement towards reading. How would you use QR Codes and AudioBoo?
NOVEMBER IS CLICK FOR A CAUSE MONTH!
Join me for Click for a Cause. The nephew of one of my students was diagnosed with a rare form of cancer and is at Hershey Medical Center receiving treatment. I was so touched by his story that I wanted to do something. For every time someone visits my blog during the month of November, I am going to donate a penny to his medical fund. Although it is not much, several other people have agreed to match this amount. Please help by just visiting my blog or learning more about how you can help. Although it is a little, every click means a lot.
