TEACHnology Today
Technology Integration Newsletter-February 25, 2015
Shmoop
Shmoop offers learning guides for core content subject areas as well as several additional elective areas. The authors on this site do a great job of breaking things down into smaller, more easily understandable segments. For example, literature guides contain character descriptions and quotes. In addition, teachers who may be able to spend money for a subscription can access teacher guides and standardized test prep guides. You definitely don't need to pay to access the information in the free areas of the site, and I hope you find it to be both comprehensive and useful. High-schoolers who need a little extra help with their studies could benefit from the site as well.
You Can Help End World Hunger!
8 Formative Assessment Tools
Today’s Meet
This is an excellent tool to use with students to gather instant feedback on their learning or poll them on matters related to what you teach them. Today’s Meet allows you to create rooms and invite students to join them with no sign up. It is also a very good backchannel platform where students can engage in fruitful discussions and conversations. I have used this with each of my classes in grades 6-12 and they are very engaged when using it.
Socrative
Socrative has long been considered a favorite tool for getting feedback from students. Teachers can use the different question types provided by Socrative to poll their students and garner their feedback in a variety of formats using both smartphones, tablets or computers. Mr. McNulty and Mr. Schmidt have modeled the use of this tool in meetings over the past few months.
Infuse Learning
Infuse Learning provides a platform where teachers can engage every student on any device, making it an ideal choice for our school as we continue to encourage BYOD. This allows students to provide real-time feedback and teachers can adjust instruction accordingly.
iClicker
iClicker is a powerful formative assessment tool that allows teachers to ask questions through any presentation application; students answer questions with a remote or smart device. Teachers can then display results in real-time if desired.
Poll Everywhere
Poll Everywhere is another powerful web tool to collect feedback from your students. It provides you with a variety of templates and feedback forms to choose from. Students answer in real time using mobile phones, Twitter, or web browsers. It also lets you see your responses live on the web or in a PowerPoint or Keynote presentation.
Geddit is another interesting tool that you can use in class to gather instant feedback about your students learning in real-time. You can use both multiple choice or short answer responses to check for evidence of understanding.
Mentimeter allows you to use mobile phones or tablets to vote on any question you specify. To use it, simply create a question, let your students vote using a mobile phone or tablet and show the result to your audience in real-time.
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Past Editions of TEACHnology Today
September 11, 2014: Important Links, Technology Goals, Google Calendar and Chromebook Checkout, the 1-iPad Classroom and Reflector App
September 18, 2014: Important Links, Kahoot.it Tutorial, iPad App: Rhyme to Read
September 25, 2014: Digital Citizenship Image, Chromebook Checkout Refresher, iPad App: Noise Down, Bookmarking Sites: Tizmos and SymbalooEDU (with examples/resources by subject area and grade level)
October 2, 2014: Technology Goal Submission, Tutorial: Remind, Technology Workshop Opportunities, Chromebook Use Update
October 14, 2014: Technology Goal Update, iPad Spectrum, Apps for Every Classroom, Cool Tool: Planboard with Examples
October 23, 2014: Teaching Digital Citizenship and Internet Safety, iPad Reference Card (Printable), Cool Tool: Chatterpix App, Google Classroom, Apps for English and History, Sight Words on iPad, Youtube Channels for Educators
November 10, 2014: Tech Integration Request Form, Reflector and Splashtop (installation and use with your iPad and school computers), Google Calendar Refresher and links to LP School Calendars
November 18, 2014: Technology Mini-Session Poll, iPad App Suggestions with ThingLink, Thankful Turkeys with imagechef.com, Past Editions and Tech Integration Request Form
November 25, 2014: Technology Mini Session 1 Information, Planboard: Unit Planner How-To Guide, Formative Assessment with Socrative
December 4, 2014: Using Apps to Level your Classroom Library, Leveler Websites and Databases, 15 Virtual Field Trip Apps, and a Neat End of Year Activity
December 17, 2014: Survey Tools, Socrative, 30 Best Apps of 2014, WebTools with No Registration Required, Fun Classroom Timers
January 8, 2015: Technology Goal Update, iPad Student Objectives with Apps, iPad App of the Week: Phoster, A Comprehensive Guide to Classroom Blogging
January 30, 2015: Technology Half Day Ideas, Technology Half Day Form and Procedure, TED Ed Writer's Workshop Videos, iPad Volume Apps that LP has available for student or staff iPads
February 3, 2015: iPad App Request Forms, 12 Elementary Apps that Should Be on Every iPad, Learning Objective Maker, Saving Attachments to Google Drive
February 19, 2015: Websites to Teach Keyboarding Skills to Elementary Students, Elementary Math Videos by Level, 40 Reflection Questions, "Did I Plagiarize" Infographic
February 26, 2015: Preparing Students for Online Testing, Website: Shmoop, A Game Website to Help End World Hunger, 8 Formative Assessment Tools, DK in the Classroom Resources, and a List of the Best Music Education Resources