Tips for Technology Integration
Making technology work for you and your students
November 2014
About this newsletter:
At our fingertips...
Technologies we have readily available at Hodges Elem/Gwd School of Inquiry:
iPads in the Classroom
Google Apps for Education
Web 2.0 Tools
Get Techie for Fun, Engaging Projects and Higher Level Learning
Three technologies to explore this month...
Chatterpix
This app is great for creating engaging projects that allow students at all ages to present information in a uniquely creative manner. They select or take a photo - be as creative as you like. Record their information - perhaps researched facts or short, student authored stories - using the app microphone. Draw a line on the photo for the mouth. Save and replay, watching the photo "talk" with the information your student recorded in their own voice!
Perfect for story creation projects, intro to research projects, or evidence based projects of any type where students can tell/report what they have learned. The possibilities are unlimited!
Find Chatterbox and/or Chatterpix Kids on every iPad cart!
Google Forms
Now that students have district gmail accounts, they can use Google Forms in the classroom to collaborate and create impressive surveys and questionnaires that will automatically compile information to be used for creating projects.
For teachers, Google Forms is an excellent tool for creating engaging pop quizzes as well as more intensive testing assessments. It's also perfect for all that beginning of the school year student data collection.
Instead of having tons of paper to keep up with, set up a few computer stations, laptops, or even iPads with a Google Form you've created to collect the information you need from parents. During your classroom orientation, ask parents to complete the online form and there you'll have all the information you need without all the paperwork!
You can also use it for self-assessments and routine parent and/or student surveys to gauge how successfully your teaching, communication, classroom climate, etc., is fairing with those you serve. Click here for an assessment of this newsletter created with Google Forms.
Google Forms is a wonderful information collection, polling, and survey tool that works as a base platform for more involved cross technology projects for both students and teachers. The sky is literally the limit! Give it a try and impress students with your tech abilities. They'll be engaged by the integration of technology and you'll be pleased with the ease of use and functionality this assessment/data collection tool offers.
NEWSELA
Newsela is a news platform designed to build student reading comprehension across Common Core Standards. It is a free Web 2.0 tool that encourages students grade 3 and up to explore the world of nonfiction with real world news from major publications. Teachers can quiz for comprehension and assess individual student performance by creating a free classroom which students join with a class-specific code. Newsela promotes conversation about current news topics while helping students become stronger readers.
Click here to give Newsela a try. Set up your free account, start your classroom, assign specific articles for students to read and then complete a short quiz, and follow their performance from your class binder.
Newsela is a great classroom tool because it:
* fosters nonfiction literacy
* is standards based and Common Core aligned
* increases global awareness
* provides new articles daily
* keeps students abreast of current events
* tests for reading comprehension
* is a free Web 2.0 tool
Next month...
Google Classroom!
Contact Ms. Bates
Also, please check out the work your School Technology Leaders and Coaches at GWD50 are doing by following our blog for tons of creative tips and tricks to use with your classrooms!
Email: batesa@gwd50.org
Website: http://kidblog.org/stls/
Location: 4717 Main Street, Hodges, SC 29653
Phone: (864) 374-5004