Does your child know that what they post on social media can have an effect on their college application? Most Universities check applicants social media accounts, and what they find influences their admissions decision. Talk with your child about thinking twice before they post. Could the content possibly haunt them later on, or will it help them stand out and shine amongst their peers? Learn more about how social media influences admissions decisions in this CBS News article. With Spring approaching standardized testing looms on the horizon. How do you prep your students for the test? Do you make reviewing the content you've worked on all year fun? Evernote Peek is a great app that turns reviewing into a fun activity! Evernote Peek is a fun tool that takes your notes and turns them into flashcards...but not just any flashcards. This app uses your iPad's Smart cover (if you have one) or an on screen version (if you don't have one) to display the content in sort of a game style format. It's very cool! It's really easy to set up*. 1. Take notes in Evernote (on your computer, iPad, or phone) 2. Open Evernote Peek and sign into your Evernote account 3. Select the notes you wish to turn in to flashcards and it does it for you. Here are some tips on how to set up your notes. One of the really cool things about this app is that it has the capability to add voice notes! You'll see a great example in the video below. There are also a bank of notes already created for you to draw from (like the periodic table, world capitals, etc.), or you can create your own. This app would be a great way to review as a whole class, or for independent practice. If you were going to use this in an Elementary classroom for independent study you could set it up this way:
In a secondary classroom for independent study you could use Peek like this:
*Click here for more detailed instructions on how to set up Evernote Peek. "I can't log in." "The screen froze." "My Apple TV keeps dropping." "It didn't save and I lost my work." These are all frustrating things we deal with as we strive to integrate technology in the classroom. I like to call them "technology tanks". Technology tanks are inevitable and can spell disaster for your lesson and discourage many teachers from wanting to use technology. However, these disasters can be averted, even when the technology tanks strike, if you have procedures set up in your classroom to help things run smoothly while you deal with an issue when it arrises. Just like any lesson has the potential to go differently than you planned, so can your technology components. The trick is knowing how to deal with it in a way where you classroom can continue on beyond the speed bump. We can use these technology tanks as a learning experience so we know how to deal with the problem if it occurs again. The key is not to panic and transition to a back up plan. Here are a few helpful tips that may help ease anxiety about trying something new and dealing with technology tanks.
I also found this article about the pros and cons of teaching with technology from Edudemic interesting. Do you really know who your children are chatting with? It's easy to lie about who you are online. Talk to you children about keeping themselves safe by keeping personal information private. Here are some important points to discuss with your children:
Today I worked with Mrs. Wiggins 5th grade class at Altara ES. Using the Chromebooks we made Haiku Deck presentations about the Great Northwestern Tree Octopus. You can find more information about this endangered species here http://zapatopi.net/treeoctopus/. Haiku Deck is a simple presentation tool, similar to Powerpoint, that can be accessed from nearly any device as it is web based and also has an iOS app. The students loved this activity and have a fun April Fools presentation they can share with their families when they go home! Created with Haiku Deck, the free presentation app Stick Around is a fabulous new app by the creators of Explain Everything. This app allows you to play, design and share customized puzzles. The app comes with several preprogramed puzzles and lots of templates to help you start creating your own puzzles. This app can be used for any subject matter. Your puzzles will be as creative as you make them! Students love this app and the self checking feature. Share the puzzles you create with students via QR code, Google Drive, Dropbox...and many other ways! Check out the video below for an idea of what Stick Around can do for you! I used Stick Around with a 4th grade class at Altara Elementary this week. I linked the puzzles I made in Stick Around to QR codes and placed those QR codes around the classroom. The students used iPad minis to scan the QR code and open the puzzles. After solving one puzzle they would find the next QR code, scan it, and solve the next puzzle. This activity was self guided and self paced. The students loved it! It was a great way to review concepts they learned throughout the year and ask questions when they needed help. You can scan the QR codes below for a sample of the puzzles I created. The 6th graders at Butler Middle School are using CSDdocs to work collaboratively on ancient civilization projects in Social Studies. Students were assigned a group and a group leader is designated. Students work with their peers through Google Docs to create Documents and Presentations on their topic. Students are assigned a specific portion of the research and project to complete. They work on their portion of the project in Google Docs. When they are ready for peer feedback they share the document with the other students in their group using their CSDdocs accounts. Students review each others work and give constructive feedback. The group leader is then responsible for taking all portions of the project and putting it together in one document. Students present their project to the class and then submit their final project via Canvas. Mrs. Clyde is also using the ePortfolio feature in Canvas to have her students save some of their best work for showcase during the upcoming parent/teacher conferences. What a great way to use CSDdocs and Canvas!
Have you ever wondered what in the world your kids are using Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and other social media applications for? There are so many social media applications out there that it can be hard to keep them all straight! This graphic is a quick way to help you understand what each tool is used for. Remember...it's important to know what your children are posting and viewing on social media! |
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