Presentations
Screencastify: Screencastify is a super simple screen recorder that will supercharge the way you communicate at work. Record, edit and share HD videos in seconds. Quick, easy, save, send to Google Classroom or upload to Youtube. All easy to do.
Prezi: Prezi is a presentation site where you can build amazing, engaging presentation. The presentations are housed on the cloud which means you can leave your flash drive at home, and access your presentation from any computer, anywhere. Use them for engaging lessons as it is easy to embed videos, documents, images and more. You create the "pathway" of the presentation meaning that you decide not only the order of the presentation, but also, you can ZOOM in on specific parts of your presentation, making sure your students stay focused. Teach students to use this, and have them create fun, exciting presentations to show what they know!
TweetDeck: If you are new to Twitter and wanting to enjoy Twitter Chats, Tweet Deck makes this experience easy and enjoyable. Tweet Deck organizes hashtags you are interested in following into columns. For example, when searching for #6thchat, Tweetdeck will organize all tweets with this hashtag into one column allowing you to see tweets quickly during a twitter chat, or any time! Monitor several hashtags at once. Now if there was something as simple to organize my desk, that would be something!
EarthCams: Just about every webcam in the world is here!! One place! Zoos! Cultural icons! Travel beyond your school walls and research here!
Vocaroo: Vocaroo is an easy (and I mean easy) to use site to have students (or you) easily record a message, read a story aloud for fluency practice, see if their story is ready to publish by reading it aloud first, explain their thinking, and the ideas are endless. Once recorded, students click the "save" and receive a link that they can then share on a document, a google form, Padlet, or any other creative way you would like to collect it. Share students reading their writing on your website, or on their own blogs. Try it!
Tips for Chromebook: Using Chromebooks in your classroom? I have found lots of helpful tips here.
Infotopia Infotopia is an academic search engine that accesses only websites and information that has been reviewed by educators and librarians. Easy to use!
Teach Digital Footprint: Use the following video to teach your students about the importance of their digital footprint.
Bubble Sheet Generator: Need a bubble sheet for an assessment or survey or exit slip? Easy to use, easy to print...use this website for all your assessment needs.
Creatubbles: A website devoted to helping people post their creativity~ Think of this as an online gallery! Now, a way to authentically connect student work with the outside world! Consider extending this to include using student art for writing prompts, too!
Google Cultural Institute: A terrific site where you can have students discover and interact with exhibits and collections from museums and archives worldwide. Students can get up close and personal to study the details of paintings, sculptures, and more. Use it for Social Studies, Art, Science, and Language Arts. Great opportunity to inspire writing, or to bring something that students read about to life.
Avatar Maker: Students can create their own avatar to use--can use to create writing characters, to create profile pictures, or whatever your creative spirit determines! Easy to use.
SweetSearch: Student friendly search site; easy to use. SweetSearch helps students find outstanding information, faster. It enables them to determine the most relevant results from a list of credible resources, and makes it much easier for them to find primary sources. The site excludes not only obvious spam sites, but also marginal sites that read well, but lack academic or journalistic rigor. As importantly, the very best Web sites that are often buried on other search engines appear on the first page of SweetSearch results.
Create a classroom tech team!
Wondering how students will engage with a new tech site? Concerned about the process of students finding, accessing, and using a new tech site? Worried that your entire lesson could be derailed if students struggle getting onto a site? Create a classroom tech team...and even better, implement it school-wide!
1. Identify students who are interested in technology, and seem to be able to not only understand it quickly but who are also eager to help other students learn.
2. Meet with these students at lunch or during a plan time or after school whenever you are preparing to use or launch a new website or technology application in your classroom. Have the students work through the website with you, logging in, and actually trying it out. They will quickly identify any problems and give you feedback immediately.
3. Then, when it is time to launch it in your classroom, you will have 3 to 5 extra hands around to guide students who may have issues using the website. Students helping students! Very empowering to them.
1. Identify students who are interested in technology, and seem to be able to not only understand it quickly but who are also eager to help other students learn.
2. Meet with these students at lunch or during a plan time or after school whenever you are preparing to use or launch a new website or technology application in your classroom. Have the students work through the website with you, logging in, and actually trying it out. They will quickly identify any problems and give you feedback immediately.
3. Then, when it is time to launch it in your classroom, you will have 3 to 5 extra hands around to guide students who may have issues using the website. Students helping students! Very empowering to them.