Tuesday, April 2, 2013

Edmodo - great way to communicate, grade, make quizzes, and much more

Fantastic tool for teachers.  Grades quizzes and tests for you, unlike Google forms where you have to take a few steps to grade things.  Easy for kids to recognize due to Facebook-type look.





Sunday, October 14, 2012

Getting projects turned in on time

Want something turned in three weeks from today? Tell them it is due in two weeks.  At the beginning of week two, tell them that you are willing to grant a one week extension for everyone, but they all have to be in at the end of week three.  You look like a hero, they feel like they have been given a gift, and many more come in on time than if you just asked for it in three weeks originally.

Friday, October 12, 2012

Instant feedback on presentations

Present something in a computer lab.  Have your audience ask questions or post comments as you go.  Remind them to keep it clean.





http://todaysmeet.com/

Friday, October 5, 2012

Online posters through Glogster

I have tried using Glogster a few times. It's a site that allows students to create blogs/webpages. It's really easy to use and has some fun details they can play with.
http://www.glogster.com/ 




submitted by Ms. B. Casey

Jeopardy game online

Cool site.  Make a Jeopardy game for your class.  You don't even need an account.

http://jeopardylabs.com/




Friday, September 28, 2012

Alternative to traditional assignment notebook


For the kids who have a tough time keeping up with their assignment notebook,
offer them an alternative.  Let them use their cell phone to take a picture of the homework assignment that's written on the board.  Whatever works, right?

submitted by Mr. Morgan

Thursday, September 27, 2012

Turn your words into animated movies


You type in what you want to say, then it has characters say what you want.  Sounds a bit odd, but it's amusing and interesting to the listener.


Simple voice recording - on the web

On this site, you can record your voice.  It saves it and you can email it to others.  Perhaps explaining to your students specifically want you want them to do on a project.

http://www.vocaroo.com


Free supplies - in dumpsters???

In an effort to go green, we started "dumpster diving" for supplies a few years back.  Now, with any disposable model intended to be used for instructional purposes (such as our first discussion about plot plans) we will use discarded cardboard to create elaborate terrains.  The resulting projects sometimes look better than their foam core counterparts and are free to build!

submitted by Mr. J. Berg

Using a student document as the answer key

When we do worksheets on the computer, I like to tell the students that we will use one of theirs as the answer key. They tend to really try to be that first person to get it done and all correct.   When all are done, we go over it as a class and project it on the screen.  If the "key" person makes a mistake, I fix it as a teacher and make it sound like it was no big deal to make that mistake.  Everyone else has to fix theirs as we go over it, but the key person does not have to, since I am doing it on the screen for them.  Works well in Accounting and other classes.

Friday, September 14, 2012

Exit slip on main points

We like to have our students complete a quick exit slip at the end of class to reinforce whatever main point we've made in class for the day.  However, we've been going through a lot of paper by doing this.  So we have started having the students write on a white board.  We have small white board paddles, but you can also make your own with a piece of white paper and a page protector.  Students must show us their answer before they can walk out the door! 

From Ms. Vaccarello and Ms. Umansky

Thursday, September 13, 2012

Google Calendar for journal prompts

I also created a Google Calendar to track all of my journal prompts for various classes. This way I could create and print a blank journal template for all classes and use my calendar to share the prompt. I always set my prompts for the entire semester so that I have quality prompts, versus 'on the fly' prompts. I can still edit, re-organize, or change prompts rather than having students scribbling out incorrect prompts in their journal. 

submitted by Mr. Wallace

Fact Swap for videos or worksheet alternative

I wanted to share my 'Fact Swap' worksheet that I love to use with videos for a quick and easy something to do instead of a set worksheet.  I pass this out (or have them recreate it on scratch paper) and they only fill in the top three while they are watching the video.  After it is over they walk around the room and fill in the other six boxes with facts that their classmates wrote down.  All nine must be different once they are done!  :)  Great way to turn three facts into nine!!!  

submitted by Mrs. S. Anderson

see http://www.rachel-lynette.com for more tips






Assignment organization in Google Calendar

Instead of using Moodle, I use Google Calendar to organize my assignments. I automatically shared the calendar with the school email of each student. I also had them come up and put in their personal email address. Easy access and no excuses when they miss a day! Making the switch to Google Calendar has been a GREAT change!

Submitted by Ms. Fluegge

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Tagxedo - a cool way to make a graphic image


Take your words and turn them into any shape you want.  Use in a document, print on a t-shirt, any many other uses.

Much better and more user friendly than Wordle.


http://www.tagxedo.com