New address

Check out the new site with more focus on curriculum and instruction, the site just improved!
See you there!

Ain't Nobody Got Time for That!

​Sure we've got technology! Yes, technology does increase teacher and student productivity, when it's used...

It's hard to teach students all of the premium tech tools we offer them and prepare for quizzes, tests, COTS,

DOTS, parent conferences and input grades before our 20 minute lunch break while on a pep rally schedule. ​

I cannot give you the gift of time; but the least I can do is offer one place for you to send your students when they ask you about technology. So, when you ain't got time for that -please bookmark this site, post it in Canvas or make a QR code and refer your students to it when they ask about technology at home. 

​​​

Direct Link  - http://bit.ly/1S2gJ12​ 

Want to embed into your Canvas course? Copy this embed code and paste into the html editor in Canvas:

<iframe src="https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1Yub6n6RPTno5iqVrU9-3Rh_nT1PrPcEtVaCfNrH7cE0/embed?start=true&loop=true&delayms=3000" frameborder="0" width="960" height="749" allowfullscreen="true" mozallowfullscreen="true" webkitallowfullscreen="true"></iframe>​

Always here for you!~MariaClassroom Technology Designer

Early Release Goodies

For Katy ISD in Texas, our first early release day is just over a week away. In secondary schools, our class periods are shortened from about 50 minutes to 35 minutes. For me, it was always a struggle to get some teaching and learning crammed in that amount of time. So - if you want to do something other than vocab hangman or jepardy review, check out these sites for some early release day inspiration.

Science Teachers - ABCYA's Magic Pen seems elementary, but don't get fooled by the crayons and MIDI music…Brush up on your physics skills. My advice -  practice before rolling out to students, it's harder than it looks.

**What device can this be used on: COMPUTERS ONLY. Great for SMARTboard activities. This is a flash based website and will not work on Smartphones and tablets.

  

LOTE and Humanities courses   - Radiooooo.com Holy cow this is so cool. Do the Taxi ride, (always preview before rolling out to students) and you share your Taxi ride on Canvas! Check it out.

**What devices can this be used on: Any device with internet connection.

There is also an app available in the App Store

All courses - Lettersofnote.com is a database with images of real letters written by famous people around the world.

Check out Jim Henson's letter or even see how Stephen Hawking replied to a request from a magazine for the time travel formula. Are you participating in Banned Books Week or doing a censorship lesson? You must read this one!

What devices can this be used on: Any device with internet connection.

Admire the Nspire?

    From a slide rule to "There's an App for that!" Mathematicians have striven to make calculations less cumbersome since Pythagoras and his theorem. When Texas Instruments released the Nspire app , many mathletes (i.e. junior, high school and college students) rejoiced at the promise of a robust graphing calculator right on their own iPad.  So did TEA… when they announced that students taking the 8th Grade Math STAAR test in 2015, could use calculator apps on mobile devices.

So what does an instructional technology leading district like Katy ISD do? They pilot it.  

      One of our junior highs took the Math STAAR test using the Nspire App on the school's iPads. Earlier this year, I was privileged to observe the class using the app. The teacher introduced a new lesson with an interactive piece. Students were using the TI-Nspire app on classroom iPads exploring the concept. While participating in the activity, students were involved in whole class and small group discussions. Students then recorded their discoveries and findings on paper.

So what's the big deal and why write about it? Good question.

​​

1. The teacher thinks it's a good deal because it's an instant wireless transfer of Nspire Activities from the Npired website to all 30 iPads. Also, she can project the App on the SMARTboard via Apple TV.  While she is teaching, she doesn't have to stop to explain how to navigate through the calculator (more about that in #4). Also, if you were a math teacher using the handheld Nspires, remember when we had to update the operating system at the beginning of each school year? You know, that burdensome process of downloading the update, and doing a file transfer from one handheld to another… No need to update the software, the app can be configured to update automatically. She can also make sure her students are on the app using Casper Focus.
2. A parent would think it's a neat deal if they already have an iPad, the app is less than a quarter of the price of the handheld calculator. Also – parents do not have to worry about losing the calculator, it's loaded directly on the device. (Note - it's not available on the Google Play store yet, but who knows what the future can bring?)
3. I ( your friendly CTD) think it's an exciting deal because I remember the days of the TI-73s (and the TI 84s and the 89s. When the Nspires came out they were so advanced, they weren't even called calculators anymore! They were called - handhelds. I had to go to professional development to learn how to use it. With the Nspire App, no need to take a class. There's an interactive tutorial and plenty of videos on the internet out there. Another reason I like the Nspire app is that it integrates with Canvas. For example, Ms. Skinner's students can translate, rotate, and reflect an object on the calculator and send the work directly to Canvas for assignment submission. If you need more reasons on why I like the app, I have plenty, but it's not about me.
4. The big deal is what the students think. Students were highly engaged. When asked if they liked the app vs. the handheld calculator, all of the students agreed that the layout of the app is better. Although the Nspire handheld CX is color, the app is on a bigger screen with touch functionality. All students were engaged and working in their groups. They were participating with a hands on activity and they were able to effortlessly navigate through the app. Ms. Skinner didn't stop instruction once to teach a student how to proceed through the activity. The app is intuitive and students are able to do calculations and graphs with ease.

If the kids like it and they are learning, that's a really big deal. If you'd like to know more about the app, contact your friendly classroom technology designer.

If you've ever used a slide rule, then you have to appreciate modern technology, right? If you don't know what a slide rule is, Google it and thank your stars you never had to use one in College Calculus!

Why BYOD does more than transforms your classroom into a charging station and gives you a headache

BYOD BYOD BYOD it's been used so much lately it's tiresome. However, unlike trying to make "fetch" happen, students using phones in classrooms revolutionized education. If you haven't jumped on the bandwagon or if you know some teachers reluctant, here's some reasons why we should BYOD.

1. Globalization
Cloud based programs have spread from large corporations to indivial entrepenuars thjanks to services like Google Drive and Microsoft Office 365. Since we work in the cloud, should't our students be acclimated to this productivity tool also?
2. Information overload
Whether we want it or not, there is a new skill to teach: information literacy With the onset of the internet, information became accessible, abdundant and more oftent than not....skewed. For students to be successful problem solvers, we must model how to search for resources, cross reference and search for creditable information can be obtained.
3. They are on it, might as well put it to use. Do you remember T9 texting? I do. I also remember how popular hoodies where with junior high girls too. My students were so stealthy at texting in the early 2000s they made the hoodies a fashion statement! Instead of them concealing it, get those phones out on the desktop, where you can monitor what's being done on them.

10 Tips to make your classroom a BYOD environment

1.        21st century adolescents - many of them own and use these devices outside of school. They have them, we might as well use them.

2.        Tools for learning - making consistent efforts to label the phones as devices sends the message that it’s much more than a toy.

3.        Acceptable Use Policies, align yours with your district to ensure common signs, terminology and consistency will help ensure the policy.

4.        Specific learning outcome - ensure that there is a connected objective to the device. No technology for technology's sake.

5.        Equity – when using, teachers can pair students up, check out devices from library or use classroom iPads to bridge the digital divide.

6.        Increase access - No need to schedule a computer lab, check out equipment from the library or be concerned with having enough laptops in the cart.

7.        Learning during non-instructional time - once devices are incorporated in class, learning becomes anytime, anywhere, any device
8.         Unacceptable use is dealt with accordingly based teacher classroom procedure.

9.        Enhance the pedagogy – it should  boost engagement, exploration, explanation, elaboration or evaluation.

10.     Let it Go - student devices can be distracting and empowering at the same time. It might be organized chaos, but keeping them engaged is keeping them on task. Make the your lesson jam packed with activities. Students won't have time to play, surf, text, take selfies (unless it's for an assignment) when an assignment is slotted for just enough time to complete the objective.

10 Apps to check out for 2014-2015

 Are these apps on your radar? 

* Indicates platform agnostic

Lino is an inline stickies service that offeres stickies and canvases. you can post, sharea, see and peel off stickies on vaceasas freely. Stickies posted fron iPone/iPad App can be cacessed with PC browsers at any time.

How can it be used in education?

• Paperless assignment posting
• Group work ideas
• Comments on projects from students in class to other teachers to other schools!
• Graphic organizer
• Proofs to a geomerty problem
• Traits of a literary antagonist
• Defining events in the Industrial Age

Haiku Deck is a free app that allows users to make presentations with over 35 million images and 6 free themes

How can it be used in education?

• Digital portfolios
• Presentations
• Proposed solutions to authentic learning
• Persuasion Topics

If you are looking for a quick automated video editior, Magisto is the app of choice. This app allows users to input videos, photos and music. The user then chooses the style and Magisto works its magic..

How can it be used in education?

• Presentations
• Persuasive Commerical
• Chronicling Project Based Learning
• Archive of progress

Note: this is one of my favorite apps to use. Students can focus more on the content and not get bogged down with editing the film. Caveat: videos for the free version can be no longer than about 1.25 minutes and the music library should be previewed first. If students chose to use Magisto, I made a list of music they could choose from in the app library or allowed them to upload their own.

The Plus plan is $4.99 a month (this price is less than what I paid for my daughter's ELA binder) for some additional features. Should a student choose this option for a project, you can subscribe one month at a time.

Thinglink (iOS and Android) is a free and user friendly digital tool that provides users with the ability to turn any image into an interactive graphic. Create multiple “hot spots” on specific parts of an image and turn that image into a multimedia launcher. Include video, record audio or provide a link to any website with the click of a button. (gettingsmart.com)

How can it be used in education?

• Parts of a map
• Parts of a diagram
• Traits of a person in a book or time era
• An "All about Me" at the beginning of the school year 
• Parts of a cubic function

Google Drive is one safe place for all your stuff. Upload photos, videos, documents, and other files that are important to you, then access what you need wherever you go, on any device. Get going with up to 15GB of storage. Free.

How can it be used in education?

• Makes anything on a computer/tablet/phone paperless by uploading and generating a link
• Collaboration with group members 
• Collaboration with teacher
• Access to projects anytime, anywhere

Note: Google Apps for Education (GAFE) has revolutionized teaching. I continue to be amazed at how creative teachers are with this suite of programs. To top it off, it's offered to anyone for free! Students can keep their files once they graduate.

Create and share a quick animated video called a Gami. (Apple and Android friendly) Easy to use and a nice gateway for using technology in the classroom

How can this be used in education?

• Persuasive techniques
• Explaining how to solve systems of equations
• Student view of a concept
• Presenation of Learning

Note: This app is great if the Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) program is just beginning to roll out. There is not a login so students do not have to worry about rememering passwords, it's available  at Google Play and App Store so it's accessible to a variety of phones and tablets. 

Caveat: Time Length 30 seconds

Make anything talk -- pets, friends, doodles, with Chatterpix
Simply take any photo, draw a line to make a mouth, and record your voice. Then share your Pix with friends and family as silly greetings, playful messages, or creative cards.
Save to Camera roll by pressing


How can this be used in education?

• Point of View from person in history
• Explaining a concept
• Augmented Reality
• App Smashing

Comics Head Lite is an easy to use self publishing tool and can be used to create storyboards. If you have an idea you can instantly create visually interesting content on the go. Get started quickly by choosing from our many templates and inbuilt art assets. Go viral with your ideas by sharing on facebook and email.

How to use in education?

• Story boards
• Problem Solving
• Thought process
• Story Plots

Aurasma is an augmented reality app that’s one of the main apps used for augmented reality.
· Bring tagged images, objects and even physical locations to life with interactive digital content, such as video, animations and 3D scenes, we call Auras (description from iTunes)
If using with students, set a up a channel at https://studio.aurasma.com/login
Important terms:
Overlay - what will be seen when image is scanned
Trigger Image - scanned image to prompt video

How to use in education?

• homework help
• explanation of a events in a timeline
• explanation of cultures on a map
• solution to adding fractions

eduClipper is a free educational social platform for educators and students. We make it easy for educators and students to explore, share, and create awesome content!

Like Pinterest? Then check out EduClipper and clip away!