Technology Tools
Learning ManagementTeachersPayTeachers(TPT) is a management tool that has helped me in more than a few "crunch times". This website is a place where teachers from all over, make their lessons and all necessary papers to support it available for a minimal charge, and sometimes for free. You can search by grade level and subject which make it very user friendly. Some lesson charges could be seen as steep from a teachers salary perspective, which is one downfall of the website. I have used TPT for beginning of the year activities, a years worth of good CCSS math morning work, as well as projects for holidays.
Edmodo is going to be new to me this year. An old teaching partner of mine introduced me to it. Apparently, you can assign lessons to be turned in electronically as well as tests which you can attach standards to it, Emodo grades them and keep track of student progress. This is a free site and it seems to be very secure as kids need your teacher code to access it. The downside I see is that it could take a while to get things set up and entered. I will have to start experimenting with it this summer! Easy Grade Pro (EGP) is definitely a management tool I can't live without. This online grade book, which is free to download from the web, allows me to easily input grades, generate missing work reports (which I post twice a week), see graphs of progress and probably a lot of other tools I haven't discovered yet. The only downside I have discovered so far is that I can't print my grade book which is required by my principal at the end of each year. I can print individual pages but I haven't found a way to print the entire thing. This to me is a minimal downfall, compared to all of the information and ease of use it gives me every day! I use it for every assignment I give, and for every class. |
Communication ToolsePals is something I have just discovered. I just signed up for an account and am awaiting approval. This site is free and a way for students to connect with other students and/or teachers around the world. From what I have read, it is very safe and secure. I am able to see all activity, from students, and any emails that have questionable content are not allowed and the student and/or teacher are contacted about it. I am still stumbling my way through, so I don't have much more on this yet.
Educreations This is a tool I am considering using for my flipped classroom videos. This is a free site where I can create the direct instruction videos with drawings and voice for my students. I can share these videos through Edmodo as well (under learning management) I haven't yet created a video, so I don't see any downsides yet but will report back! Google Classroom Again, this is something I want to try this year as well (I may be taking on too much...) I have only used this once in a training last year, but my colleagues assure me that it is great once you start getting comfortable with it. Once I invite my class, I can assign assignments, see who has and hasn't completed them, communicate with students, and have class discussions. It sounds a lot like Edmodo, so I plan to compare the two. Again, it is free and all our students in the district have google accounts. Not having used it, I can't give any negatives yet. ClassChatter Explain Everything |
Multimedia Content CreationGoogle Slides is something that I had my class use for the first time this year. This is an easy tool to use to make slide shows. My class created a marine animal presentation for the class. All of my students with a wide range of levels were able to use GoogleSlides to successfully integrate typing with visual images. No one added audio to their presentations, but this wasn't required. I think that will be something I add in next year. There is also no risk of losing your work if your computer crashes as it autosaves your work. The only down side I see with GoogleSlides is that you must have an account which all students in my district do. But, it is free to get a google account and you must have internet as well. I will continue to use this in my classroom to create slideshows on various topics and work to expand the features available.
Garage Band I'm not sure this falls under multi-media, but I did integrate this into a lesson for 5th grade which I used to teach. This is also a free tool that comes on Apple products. Students can create a musical piece with instruments and even voice. You can plug in your own guitar as well if you have one to create. It has a complete sound library. One way I thought of extending learning was to have students create a piece of music that they felt depicted a certain event in social studies. For example, and event from a war, the end of slavery, or the women's rights movement. The only downside to this is that you have to have an apple product for access. Educreations See Communication Tools |
Content Specific Tools Social Media Services
MobyMax is a website that I pay from my teacher fund for every year. It costs $99, but I feel its worth it. It offers multiple subjects including math, writing, science and social studiesas well as test prep and fact fluency. I use it at the beginning of the year, as students will take a math pre-assessment to determine their level and any gaps. It then assigns lessons based on the results so it is tailored to each students ability. They can earn minimal game time and aren't allowed to move on until a certain level of mastery is obtained. IXL is something that my school pays for us to have. I like IXL because you can target certain standards. In the past I have used this for reinforcement of a concept if I had early finishers or a "buffer day" in the pacing guide for math. In the future, I think using this to practice concepts at home with my flipped classroom idea could work really well. First they could get the direct instruction video, and then practice on IXL with that particular concept. The downside is that you have to pay for it and I think its fairly pricey to get it for your classroom. But the fact that you can hit certain standards and concepts is great, and I have had my "high fliers" and struggling students go onto practice the concepts at both higher and lower grade levels. Kahn Acadamy is something I have shied away from because it seems like substitution on the SAMR model to me, but some of my students parents seem to really like it. This year I think I will possibly use it to help with my flipped classroom idea. From the exploring I have done so far, I can choose a direct instruction video on a concept and share it, so this could help me if I find good videos on a concept. This site is free which is a great benefit and you can search for pretty much anything in any subject. The downside is that I can see spending a lot of time watching the videos to make sure they are exactly what I am teaching and that they line up with all the concepts that students will have on their homework and tests. Noredink for grammar and writing. |
Skype I haven't used Skype much, but it is like FaceTime on an iPhone and can be done from a laptop computer or iPad. I think it would be fun for students to be able to meet students this way that they connected with through ePals(see communication tools). To put a face to the kids they communicate from around the world would be fun. Another idea I have would be to create Skype pen pals. I haven't heard of this but if I could find a teacher from another country willing to do this with me it would be a fun way to incorporate collaboration and even projects with their Skype pen pal. Skype is free, and the only downside I can determine at this point would be user error or taking a lot of time to get things set up.
YouTube I use YouTube occasionally to show things to students in my class. It is free and there is just about anything imaginable to see. I have used it to teach my students about the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, 3-D printing, and other subjects as well. Down sides are that you have to preview everything to make sure it is appropriate, and sometimes pop up ads or related videos that show up can be distracting or inappropriate. |