Tech Tips
February 2016: Volume 3- Number 22
"A good teacher can inspire hope, ignite the imagination, and instill a love of learning." Brad Henry
You'll find a wide variety of apps, articles, and websites in this issue.
Periscope
"Periscope lets you broadcast live video to the world. Going live will instantly notify your followers, who can join, comment and send you hearts in real time. The more hearts you get, the higher they flutter on the screen."
Noisli
White noise app! Improve focus and boost your productivity. Mix different sounds and create your perfect environment.
Formative
Free for teachers and students!
Formative runs on any internet connected device and is optimized for any 1:1, BYOD, flipped or blended classroom.
Let Students Figure it Out
"When we know how to do something, we can feel that we should show this to students. This has the potential of limiting student ideas and creativity as they think that is the way to do it. There could be other ways. We tend to want to put constraints, provide a rubric, give directions… these limits can sometimes curtail student creativity.
If you do not know how to do it, the students have to work with each other, look it up, and figure it out. Isn’t this often what you have to do in your everyday life? We likely were not given enough PD on different programs or tools and no matter what we have to figure out how to use it. Being able to push buttons, see how things work, experiment, fail, try again, look things up, seek out suggestions from others, receive feedback from peers are important life skills.
The person doing the work, is the person doing the learning.
If we want students to be critical thinkers that means we have to stop thinking for the students. Providing step by step directions robs students of the opportunity for discovery. I’ve spent many hours preparing tutorials for students and other times I’ve simply told them to check something out. Why am I spending hours on tutorials when I can instead spend time giving students high-quality feedback that improves their learning. Let students try a ThingLink, do not look it up. When they turn it in, have their peers provide feedback for suggestions on how to improve it. Include your own suggestions for ways the student can improve on “clearly communicating their ideas.” Not grading 30 of the same thing is a beautiful thing."
Speech to Text in a Google Doc
Seeing Tech in the Classroom
Jam-packed curriculum. State assessments and required lessons. Field trips and school assemblies.
Our lesson plan books are already packed to the gills.
Class time is so precious. With all the interruptions and impositions on it, we feel like we have to make the most of every minute, especially when lots of goals and benchmarks ride on student performance.
Adding something else to that already full plate can feel back-breaking and impossible.
When teachers talk to me about using technology in the classroom, they’ll sometimes say, “I don’t have time in class to add technology. We already have this and this and this to accomplish.”
They see technology as “just another thing” that they have to squeeze into their already overloaded schedule.
I can sympathize with that, but I also know there’s a whole different perspective to it.
Don’t see technology as “just another thing.” See it as your secret sauce. Your secret weapon to doing more and doing it better than ever.
Using technology in the classroom isn’t the silver bullet to cure all education ills. But it can be the key that opens up:
- More engagement with students
- More efficiency in classroom activities
- Extra access to information and resources
- New experiences students couldn’t get otherwise
SCS Instructional Technology Information
Contact me if you have any questions or would like help using these tools.
Email: vturner@scsmustangs.org
Website: http://www.strongnet.org/InstructionalTechnology
Phone: 440-572-7067
Twitter: @vturner8