Timely Tech
Tech tips, hints, features, & general goings on at CMS & MMS
The Dog Days of Education
This always seems like the time of year where motivation begins to wane from the start of the year excitement. It has been forever since Labor Day and the Thanksgiving countdown has begun. While that may be true, we can't let down. If you feel like your creative juices aren't flowing right now, why not use some technology and library resources to further engage your students. The librarians (Ms. Fair and Ms. Taber) and I would love to sit down and plan with you. We are already in the process of planning out a really cool week long Shakespeare Unit for a theatre class. Try us out, hopefully we can help you get through the Dog Days.
Featured Teachers: Maus 7th Grade ILA & Powtoon
The Maus 7th Grade ILA Team (Connor, Davis, DeArman, and Evans) and I sat down and planned out an illustrated myth unit. The goal is for the students to use digital storytelling with their myths. The site we felt that worked best is called Powtoon. Students can be really creative with great animations, digital props, and cartoon style videos that will be shared directly with the teacher. The students are currently in the middle of the project, and I can't wait to see the results. A big thanks to the ILA team for letting an old history teacher help plan out a unit. Check out the video below for more information on Powtoon.
How to create animated presentations. PowToon - The PowerPoint Alternative
Featured Site: ClassBadges
ClassBadges is a free online tool where teachers can award badges to students for accomplishments or academic mastery. Through your teacher account, you can award badges customized for your classroom or school. Badges can easily be aligned to academic goals or associated with existing school awards. Check out the video below to see "5 Ways to Use ClassBadges in the Classroom"
5 ways to use ClassBadges
Tips and Hints: Zombify & Eduphoria Reservations
- Do you want to Zombify yourself. Check out this website to change your appearance. That would be zombie Andy to your right.
- If you would like to reserve the same item (lab, equipment, room) for the same time on multiple dates, use the Multiple Dates feature when selecting days. This only works if the same item is available during the time you selected on all of the dates selected.
Need to Knows
- SlideRocket will be no more as of December 31. Any presentations that are stored on their site will be lost. If you would like to download your presentations before they are gone, follow the instructions on this site.
- There are still a few options for online learning this semester. Check out these online classes: 1) Discover Discovery Education 2) Technology Bingo 3) Moodle Learning Hub 3.0
- Let's work together to plan something engaging and interactive for your students. Just shoot me an email and we can set up a time to meet. Several teachers and planning groups are already doing this. Keep an eye out for some really cool projects and activities.