#iCONNECT Tech Tips
August 29, 2014 #EHSRedDevils
Harnessing the Power of BYOD
One quick and easy way to use the devices students bring to school is as clicker/response systems. By using teachers are able to gather information quickly to drive instruction in real time, provide ongoing feedback and help students identify their own strengths and weaknesses. Basically, BYOD is a great formative assessment tool.
Socrative is a system that uses cell phones and or laptops (user's choice) for gathering feedback from students. You can post as many questions as you like in a variety of formats. One of the more "fun" question formats is the "race" format in which students can work individually or in teams to answer questions as quickly as possible.
Kahoot! allows learners to both respond AND create with any device that has a web browser and works over wifi or 3G/4G, creating a variety of trusted learning spaces.
Poll Everywhere is a service that allows you to collect responses from an audience via text messaging. The free plan for K-12 educators provides selection of features and quantity of responses that is adequate for almost any classroom. One of the neat ways to display feedback gathered through Poll Everywhere is in word clouds. The word cloud feature integrates with Wordle, Tagxedo, and Tagul.
For more BYOD ideas follow my BYOD Pinterest Board here: http://www.pinterest.com/LibraryByNikki/byod/
6 Things We Need To Stop Saying in Education by Justin Tarte
Instead of saying 'teaching,' let's start saying 'learning.'
Let's stop saying we are trying to increase 'rigor,' and let's start saying that we are trying to create an environment that 'appropriately challenges' our students.
Instead of saying 'professional development,' let's start saying 'self-directed growth'
Instead of differentiated instruction start saying 'personalized or customized learning.
Let's stop saying 'assessment' and let's start saying 'input and feedback tool.'
I challenge you to replace the word 'meeting' with the word 'gathering.'
To read more about the 6 Words We Need To Stop Saying in Education click here: http://www.justintarte.com/2014/08/6-things-we-need-to-stop-saying-in.html
Celebrating Our Achievements!
Congratulations to Ms. Candi Holt! Her Dive Into Technology Donors Choose project was successfully funded!
Congratulations to Ms. Tessa Hardiman! Her Research Tool Requested: iPad Needed
Donors Choose project was successfully funded!
PLC Leaders used a Google Document to schedule a date and time for our first PLC Meetings in September. We will build our professional learning goals within our PLC to compliment growth goals set in our Educate Alabama PLPs.
Kenny Jordan learned about Weebly to create a website for parents of children with disabilities. He will use this site to create a place for other parents to learn about, celebrate, get advise and support each other. I am looking forward to seeing the final website Mr. Jordan puts together using Weebly.
Ms. Pat Gartman has set up a Google Calendar for teachers and is ready to start using it. next step is to train teachers just how easy it is to plan on a shared Google calendar!
Katherine Pankey uses Remind messages with links to video tutorials to help students to review what was covered in class. This is very helpful for students who were absent! Ms. Pankey also sends attachments via Remind so that parents can see what will be on this week's test!
Linda Smith and Beth Bates are embracing the wonders of Kahoot! Here is a quote from Beth, "You may have already heard of this, but if you haven't, PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE, take a minute to check it out. It's awesome and it's FREE! And it's great for BYOD!"
CONTEST!
Must include your name and HOW you are using technology in your classroom to alter learning for students.
Adding pictures and links will get you a special BONUS PRIZE!