Wonderful Weekend Websites 10-31-14

image source:http://idoredophotoshoot.blogspot.com/

Making that redo/retake policy actually work!

“The teacher who claims to be preparing students for the working world by disallowing all redos forgets that adult professionals actually flourish through redos, retakes, and doovers. Surgeons practice on cadavers before doing surgeries on live patients. Architects redesign building plans until they meet all the specifications listed. Pilots rehearse landings and take-offs hundreds of times in simulators and in solo flights before flying with real passengers. Lawyers practice debate and analysis of arguments before litigating real cases. Teachers become much more competent and effective by teaching the same content multiple times, reflecting on what worked and what didn't work each time.”  Rick Wormeli

image source:http://www.underconsideration.com/brandnew/archives/because_two_years_is_a_lifetim.php#.VFOf-fnF_To

Your Life On Earth - How the World Has Changed In Your Lifetime

Your Life On Earth shows you how the world has changed during your lifetime. Enter your birthdate and Your Life On Earth will show you things like how much the world's population has grown, how many new species have been discovered, and how many earthquakes and volcanic eruptions have occurred since you were born.

Tuesday Tech Tip 10/28/14

Google Scheduler

Use Google Forms (and the Choice Eliminator Add-on) to Schedule Appointments. Check it out!

Google Docs Templates for teachers

Google's template gallery makes it fast and easy to create all kinds of documents. Check out   gallery to find a multitude of templates available for text documents, spreadsheets, and presentations. All the templates are free and with one click you can download any one that  you want.   

Google Classroom

“What is nice about a digital environment is the ability to differentiate. Google Classroom allows you to build a set of resources for a single assignment. This makes it possible to offer students choices as to how they access the information or how the student would like to address the assignment.” Click here to find out how

Google Maps

Recent enhancement to the Google Maps gallery has made it easier to access Google Earth files. You don't have to have Google Earth installed in order to view the imagery published by the SETI Institute. You can view the SETI Institute's Google Earth imagery by selecting a file in the Google Maps gallery.

Google Search

Search engines are the backbone of everyday internet use, but are you aware of the hidden tips and tricks available to improve your search? Here are some pointers that'll save you Googling 'how to Goolge'.

Wonderful Weekend Websites 10-24-14

PhotoMath is an app that can help your parents with their students math work. It takes a picture of a math problem in a book (does not work with handwritten work) and the problem will be solved. The “steps” button will show the users the steps needed to successfully solve the math problem.

Knoema's World Data Atlas offers a huge collection of data sets, maps, and charts for almost every country in the world. There are dozens of data categories to pick from.

Bring your classroom management into the 21 century with the Random Name Generator Tool.

The Literary Revolver: An Interactive Structure from Studio 113 merges standards-based prompts, random selectivity, a back channel, improvisational acting, and overall creativity. Sounds Interesting!!!!

Tuesday Tech Tip 10-21-14

Ever want to try out blogging with your students, but you weren’t sure how? All teachers and students have a blogger account attached to their Google edu account, so try some of the suggestions for all ages and content areas.  

GoSoapBox allows you to create an event prior to your presentation or lesson. You can select all of the questions and question formats ahead of time. When your presentation or lesson starts, give your students the link to the event and they can access respond to the questions when you prompt them to respond. The Confusion Meter is the simplest tool in the GoSoapBox collection, but might be the most useful for some teachers

Check out the 30 Techniques to Quiet a Noisy Class, make sure you scroll to the bottom for some Implementation Suggestions.

Here are this editions recognition's: (Please let me know if I have missed anyone)
Eduwin:

FHS: Jennifer Brannon

Google Classroom:

NFHS: Mr. Bushdiecker

           Mr. Segovis

Brown: Coach Norris

             Coach Bolton

             Ms. Beam

             Ms. Dotson

FHS: Ms. Negrete

        Ms. Murphy

        Ms. Harlan

Warren: Ms. Watkins

               Coach Buerck

               Coach Wallace

               Coach Bateman

               Ms. Anglin

Blackburn: Ms. DoRemus

            

Tuesday Tech Tip 10-14-14

Google Classroom introduces some new improvements  based on feedback from students, teachers, and administrators from around the world. Click here to see the detailed changes.  Remember if you are using Google Classroom, please let me know, so we can recognize your efforts.

Check out the Online Music Alarm Clock Google App if you would like to use music for transitions in your classroom. Thanks Liz Larue for finding this app.

You can set your favorite music and video clips to play just when you want it. Set up as many alarms as you’d like, with each alarm set to a different YouTube clip. When the time comes, the YouTube video will be played automatically as your alarm. Some important things to consider:

1. There are ads that display on the App, some of which may not be appropriate so DON’T set up the alarms while it is displayed on the projector.
2. The tab has to be open for the alarms to play - but it SHOULD NOT be visible, it SHOULD be minimized.
3. It counts against your streaming time.

When to use:

http://www.scholastic.com/teachers/classroom_solutions/2011/01/music-to-manage-your-classroom

What to use:

http://www.scholastic.com/teachers/classroom_solutions/2011/01/mr-vasiceks-classroom-music-playlist

BYOD Toolbox for Learning

Wonderful Weekend Websites 10-3-14

The internet4classrooms website will allow you to drill down to an individual standard to find online activities mapped to that standard.  Click on Grade Level Help -  then select a grade level (K-8), from there you can choose from Resources, Skillbuilders, Standards, and even some Assessments.  The standards are Common Core, but I’m sure you can find correlation between them and the TEKS. You can even sign up for their monthly newsletter.

Here’s a great blog post dealing with students who are not doing their part in a group project. It outlines five simple ideas to try.

Check out the On-the-Spot Scaffolding for Students article from edutopia. These 3 strategies can help when you are

in the middle of a lesson and you get that distant stare.

PE teachers here’s one for you to check out --- Higher Order Thinking & Creativity in PE.