Tech Tools for Administrators
All of these tools work on any device & sync together.
Feedly
Pocket is where I can read those articles when I’m in the office, at soccer practice, anywhere. Here’s the kicker: if I want to keep it to read again, or need to access it for sharing later, or just want to add it to my collection of information, I go to the third step in my curation process: Evernote.http://getpocket.com/
Evernote
This is the be all, end all, for me. You can add articles, PDFs, emails, take photos, add audio recordings, video links—and sort them all into notebooks you create. I can’t tell you how much I love Evernote. (PS—class on this is being offered in our tech institute—I can send the date/time if you want to come! J) http://evernote.com/
Now, this process seems pretty intensive, but honestly—it takes me about 10 minutes a day to curate it the way I want. They all communicate with each other, so sharing it is a click. Now, reading the articles, finding the blogs, and editing things in my notebooks take the most time, but it’s there if I need it—easily accessed anywhere.
Smore
Shocking, but yes—Pinterest is HUGE for educators. Here’s a link to my board with just “tech” stuff. (Bob—don’t make fun of my screen name) http://pinterest.com/mackncheese/tech/
Everything there is open for teachers who follow me to peruse, use, and post to their own boards. These end up being curated as well, and added to my Evernote folders. https://pinterest.com/
Twitter gets a bad rap, and I was one of those people for quite some time. I didn’t get it. It is the hardest thing to keep up with, but I’m learning. Big things to note: don’t leave yourself as an egg—use a photo. Put pertinent info in your bio so people know who you are and what you do. I’m @EdTechMack if you want to follow me to just “lurk” at first. Some good hashtags to check: #edchat, #moedchat (specific to Missouri)
My big goal here is to make an appointment to be present on Twitter during scheduled “chats.” Moderators are all over the world and you just follow a specific hashtag to read questions, answer questions—it’s pretty amazing. For example, there is a chat tonight from 7-8 with the hashtag #tevalchat, which stands for Teacher Evaluations & Modern Mandates Chat. Again, I’m doing a session on PLNs (Professional Learning Network) during the institute.
Contact Me
Email: mmcconnell@bsd124.org
Website: bsdtech.weebly.com
Location: 314 South Cleveland Avenue, Belton, MO
Phone: 9135261458
Twitter: @EdTechMack