Learn Lead Grow

I ended last week with an article on YaKiT , a free mobile App to make your pictures talk. It inspired me to think about creating a brief series titled "Using the Last 5." In other words, how do we use the last 5 minutes of class more effectively? It is notoriously a time for discipline problems, packing up, and inefficiency.  Why Not Use Educreations?  If you are not familiar with Educreations, it is a free interactive whiteboard program to quickly record video lessons. Educators from all around the globe are using the Educreations website or iPad  App to create videos on grammar, math lessons, scientific concepts, etc.  If you want to see more, check out its vast library of videos.  How to Use it During the Last 5 Minutes of Class Let's say that you have just wrapped up today's lesson and you want to see what students have learned. What connections did they make? What did they take away? How is the concept piecing together in their minds?  Yo

You have 5 minutes left in class and you want your students to summarize what they have learned today. What do you do? You may want to turn to the YaKiT , which gives users the ability to easily create and share photos that talk in as little as a minute. In my previous post , I had mentioned some other alternatives.  How could you use it?  You are a history teacher and have just finished a lesson on the causes of the Civil War. Perhaps you have one half of the class use Abraham Lincoln's picture to summarize the Union Army perspective, while the other half uses Jefferson Dave to summarize the Confederate perspective.  You are a language arts teacher and have finished a lesson on poetry. Perhaps you have Edgar Allan Poe describe literary elements found in poetry.  You are a science teacher and have finished a lesson on radioactivity. Perhaps you have Marie Curie describe the important elements of today's lesson.  You are a mathematics teacher who has just wrapped u

My previous post focused on how you could use ChatterPix  to make your photos talk. After my post, I received so many great ideas and feedback that I wanted to share it with you. Here are some of your ideas: 1. Using ChatterPix in the Math Classroom Lee asked:  hmmmm, I wonder how I could use this in math? and we received an excellent reply from Heather:  Not sure what grade level you work with but here is an example (see below) of my second graders writing a math story problem and explaining it using Chatter pix. I loved this idea and how creative the kids were! I am a secondary teacher, so I often find myself thinking in a box. This was a very creative idea! 2. Tellagami Kaitlin said:   Love ChatterPix in the classroom! Tellagami is another great one (free app) to check out too :) I agree! I absolutely love Tellagami too! Imagine that there are five minutes to go in class and you want a quick way to measure what students have learned today. Why not turn

You've heard the expression, "pictures speak a thousand words." ChatterPix is a free iPad App to help make your pictures speak. Maybe not a thousand words, but at least 30 seconds worth. How does it work? Take a photo or upload any picture on your camera roll to the ChatterPix App.  Draw a line on the picture to make a mouth Record your voice Watch your picture "chatter!"  There are several ways to customize your photo through stickers, text, and frames. Not only is it easy to use, but it is easy to share. Your ChatterPix will save to your camera roll and can be easily shared.  Want to learn more? Check out this video:  Why should you use this?  This may not be a bad time of year to experiment with this App because students are always looking for new ways to show what they know.  It is engaging and motivating! Why? There is just something entertaining about pictures that talk! It is also the perfect tool for both visual and audito

Summer is often a time that educators use to recharge, brush up on their reading, and learn new technologies. As many of us prepare for summer break, you may want to consider using Draggo as a way to do all of these things. Draggo is a free social bookmarking site that is easy to set up and easy to save. Here are three ways you can use Draggo right now:  1. Create a summer reading list! Save links to your favorite books and articles on Amazon, Barnes and Nobel, and Edutopia. Instead of having to sign into each site and view your "wishlist," you can see them all in one location. You can even share with your colleagues and friends! 2. Want to explore new technologies over the summer? Draggo gives you an easy to save and use platform to store all of those sites you want to explore over the summer. The tab feature allows you to separate your personal and professional life. Save links for school in your own public professional tab, while personal information is in its own p

Lately I have been struggling for a way to organize my favorite websites and resources. I have tried Diigo, Symbaloo, and Delicious; however, I wanted to see if there is a new way of organizing my resources. My friend Kelly introduced me to a new site called Draggo , which literally lets you drag and drop the URL of your favorite websites and then go! How does it work?  You have to install the Draggo add on button to your favorite browser. This will allow you to bookmark your favorite website.   When you visit your favorite site, click on the Draggo button (on your browser), add some details about your website and save. This is where it is a little different than other social bookmarking sites. Your bookmarked site is sent to your Draggo account inbox.   You can drag and drop this site into pre-made or customized categories. You can even place categories on different pages called tabs! I literally just found out about this site today, so I'm still learning about t

A colleague of mine is a high school science teacher with the learning goal of teaching students how exponential growth works in biology. The majority of his students come from impoverished backgrounds and lack the fundamental understanding of how exponential growth works. Many of his students struggle with basic numerical concepts that most students developed in pre-school. It is a huge barrier that can prevent them from understanding concepts like Mitosis and Myosis. One of his biggest strengths is that he creates very effective visual representations of concepts; however, he is finding that he needs to use different strategies. Why? He is only addressing some and not all learner differences. Knowing the barriers his students face, allows him to develop a creative way to help his students understand the numerical patterns of exponential growth (2, 4, 8, 16, 32, etc.). Where did he turn? To the simple, but addicting game called 2048 . The game provides students with a hands-on u

Click here to listen I recently was featured on the JoyStick Learning Podcast to discuss the concept of Universal Design for Learning and its implications on students. Check it out!

With all of the pressure and time constraints that many of us face, it is difficult to constantly develop new methods, materials, and assessments to track student progress. Data...data...data! It's frustrating to keep track of it and make decisions based on it. SnapShot is a free assessment tool built into Edmodo to help you with this dauntless task. It helps you assess what students know and don't know through a library of questions (aligned to the common core) to choose from. It provides you an opportunity to pre-assess or give an exit ticket out the door. The best part is that you get real-time data that can help you make adjustments to instruction in no time! NOTE: This tool is still in its infancy stage, so it is limited on standards it addresses and the types of questions. How does it work? There is a how to video at the end of this post, but I do have step-by-step directions below: 1. When you are logged into Edmodo, choose the Snapshot icon and this will