Sharing Tips and Tricks of Using Technology in the Classroom Part 2

[Carrie Albin]

In your courses you have been asked to share your tips and tricks of using technology in the classroom. 

[Denise M. Legghio]

Hello to the world of technology,

This will be one of many posts to this discussion, my last was several months ago.   I began reading and posting on this site as part of a class I was taking for my Master's. . . I, now, visit this site for all of the fantastic insights.  I am currently learning about the world of STAIR creations and making my own web page, quite a liberating feeling knowing that I am able to create such fantastic tools for my students to learn. 

With regard to Brian Walker's post about using a second screen; I must say that this is a great way to have efficiency of movement.  My husband and I began using a second screen at our secretarial desk in his law office, we find that our secretary is able to monitor all incoming emails from the courts while continuing to work on the document she is typing- truly wonderful.  I am in the process of putting up a second screen in our home office so that I may do the same (though I shall be monitoring while studying). :)

The world of technology has opened up for me so much since beginning my Master's program and I am enjoying sharing all of my new knowledge with my family and colleagues.

Happy Holidays everyone,

Denise :)

[Edwina Lawson]

This week in CEP 811 we have explored Web 2.0 tools.  Like most of the valuable resources and tools I have become acquainted with this semester, I wanted passed them along to former colleagues to utilize in their classrooms.  I needed a way to relay all the information in a way that is just a valuable as I am learning it.  I came across 23 Things Teacher Need to Know About Web 2.0.  This is a blog  managed by Wayne County Resa which is built using free resources and tips on web 2.0.   I am now able to provide one link to the information I am trying to explained without any confusion.

[Chuck Commeret]

Great find! I am definitely going to share this (and use it for myself).

[Kelly Mahoney]

I wanted to share an article I found that was very helpful to me. It is called, "3 for 3." I was introduced to it in my CEP 811 class as one of our readings. The article is excellent because it offers a variety of excellent tech tools for the classroom. Through the article, I learned about the resource SlideRocket. SlideRocket is a presentation tool that is amazing! It has so many functions and options. It turns the presentation into more of a movie than a slide show.The only downside is that the resource is not free.

 

[Chuck Commeret]

An online political campaign sounds like an awesome idea. As you have said, it promotes both collaboration and reflection on social media's impact on presidential campaigns.

[Terra Kirsch]

I recently used Voki with 3rd grade to help write narrative essays.  The students started in Word and wrote a short paragraph about a trip they took.  We edited the paragraphs and then turned to Voki where they created their avatar and summarized their paragraphs.  This was in a computer lab so I grabbed their computers to view each students Voki.  The students had a blast watching each other's stories read by their avatar!

[Emily Stone]

This sounds like a great use of Voki. Do you have to create an account -- did all the students have to create individual accounts?

[Steve Veldman]

One website that I have recently begun to use extensively with my class is edmoto.com.  My students love its quasi-facebook set-up, and that fact alone has greatly increased computer engagement.  Additionally, my school district seems to continually have issues with our servers, multiple times a year student work is lost or transferred to a file that we cannot locate.  Through edmoto's library feature, students are able to save their documents online, removing the barriers created by my school district's server issues.

Overall, I have been very impressed with the program as it has allowed for easier communication with my students and increased engagement.

[Chuck Commeret]

Steve,

I'd love to hear more about this program. I have not personally used it, but it appears to have a lot of potential (and it looks a lot like Facebook...as you said). 

Thanks for sharing. I look forward to learning more...

[Iman Zaatari]

Hi everyone,

In case anyone haven't heard of spelling city website, I would like to briefly share some of its features. Spellingcity.com is a very interesting website where students gets to practice their spelling. They can basically type them and then have different options that they get to choose from. These options include "Teach me, Spelling Test, Vocabulary Test, Flash cards, and play a game."

Under "Teach Me" students get to listen to the words, their meanings, and have these words in sentences. Under "Flashcards", they get to see and listen to the word on a card with its meaning, and its sentence. Students get also a chance to have the spelling test as well as the vocabulary test of these words. Under "Play a Game", students get to pick from the different games offered.These games emphasize on the vocabulary, writing and spelling skills. It includes matching, unscramble, word search, missing letter, hang mouse, alphabetize and handwriting.

All of these activities are for free. The section that has premium activities include vocabulary tests and different definition games. This is my first year in joining the premium activities and I found that it is really useful. It saves a lot of time when creating a new list in addition it has a lot of games. I just type the words and have all these different activity worksheets. I was about to forget to tell you that most of these activities could be printed as well. Even if you did not join, you could still benefit from the different activities. So kids can get the opportunity to play while learning at the same time. If you haven't seen it yet, take a look and see the difference it makes.     

Hope this helps,

Enjoy!

[Chuck Commeret]

Iman,

Looks like a great resource. 

Thanks for sharing!

[Lisa Napierala]

I had heard about spellingcity from a friend and my fifth graders absolutely love using it!  I can't believe how well this resource works.  All you do is type in a list of words and it creates numerous games and activities related to those words.  Great resources!