The PLEF Post
November/December 2014
Some Important Information
- Please have students complete the tablet help desk ticket. It is important that we have accurate records of any tablet issues we are experiencing.
- Tuesday is Erin Schillie's last day with us. Please stop in the media center to wish her well.
- Erin's absence will also mean a change in the way we do things. If you send a student to the media center Ms. McConoughey may be teaching a class and cannot stop to handle tablet issues. I may be at my other school or in a classroom, and Mr. Whitfield could be occupied. Therefore, please let us come to you. It may take longer this way, but we ask for your patience. Try pairing students together, providing paper copies or an alternative assignment if a student's tablet is waiting to be fixed. If class ends and no one has come to retrieve the tablet yet, please keep it in your classroom, as you will be the teacher of record in the tablet help desk ticket. We will not know the student's next class.
- I am now back on a regular schedule and will be at Northern every Tuesday and Thursday, and the second Friday of the month. Please invite me to plan with you, teach with you, or even model lessons for you. My job is instructional and I am here to support you however I can. If you just want me to come view your lesson, I would love to do that, as well.
App of the Month: Trading Cards
Turn learning into the latest trend. Students can create a trading card for an event, person, literary character, an object, a place, etc. Student can design their cards and then trade them with other students in the class, turning each card into a study tool. This app is available for teacher and student download in the Amplify Market.
Trading Card Choices
Select a person, place, event, etc.
Trading Card (Front View)
Students can insert a picture to enhance the look of their card. For this example card on Spain, students must identify the location, appearance, time period, and significance of their place.
Trading Card (Back View)
The back of the card requires students to additional information such as events, effects, activities, interesting facts, and connecting the place to their own lives.
Rewordify is a free website that allows you to copy and paste the contents of a document, website, news story, literary work, etc. and adjust the difficulty of the reading level, making the text easier to understand. Students can view the original text next to the modified version, so that they can see how the text has changed. Teachers can choose to have cloze passages, word banks, or quizzes generated, based on the vocabulary in the text. Teachers can also view the statistics of that passage (word count, sentence length, amount of sentences). Shakespeare becomes ShakesCLEAR with Rewordify. Click on the title above to go directly to this website.
Paste Text
Paste text into the yellow Rewordify box.
Text Options
Select your options for viewing the texts and adjust the difficulty of the reading level to make it easier or more difficult.
Statistics
View the reading level, word count, average sentence length, sentence amount, etc.
Printing Activities
Generate or print vocabulary activities, include cloze passages, vocab lists, quizzes, etc. Use these to enhance vocabulary instruction in your class.
Side-by-side Columns
The two-column format is just one of the viewing options, but it is the one I like the most. Students can see the original text and the modified text in close proximity.
This Month's Cheat Sheet
If you desire more App options, the PLEFs are making an App Cheat Sheet each month that will highlight options that may enhance instruction in your content area. Double-click on the picture to view it in a larger format.
Keep Your Apps Updated
It is important to make sure that your teacher tablet and your students' tablets have the latest version of each App. How do you know when an App has an update? Check the Amplify Market (App circled in picture) to see which Apps can be updated. Follow the instructions below...
Amplify Icon
Click on the person icon in the upper right corner.
Update All
Select the "Update All" tab, highlighted in orange.
Good Things Come to Those Who Wait
You will begin to see your App update and can watch it progress.
Contact Me
Amy Morris
Personalized Learning Environment Facilitator (PLEF)
I am at Northern Middle School every Tuesday and Thursday and the second Friday of every month.Email: morrisa@gcsnc.com
Location: 515 Simpson-Calhoun Road, Greensboro, NC, United States
Phone: 336-605-3342
Twitter: @dressyPLEF