Timely Tech
Tech tips, hints, features, & general goings on at CMS & MMS
Project Based Learning
Have you heard of Project-based learning? Well, the Maus 6th grade Science teachers have. Project-based learning is a dynamic approach to teaching in which students explore real-world problems and challenges. With this type of active and engaged learning, students are inspired to obtain a deeper knowledge of the subjects they're studying (Edutopia). Ms. Simpson and Mr. Sachs took this idea and ran with it. They used technology to enhance the project even further. Check out the pictures below from their classes and the link below that for a detailed video of their project.
Featured Teacher: Mrs. Patterson
Mrs. Patterson had her Texas History students in some serious stations mode recently. There were some stations with technology and some without. Each student was given a tic-tac-toe board with all of the stations. The students had an option of which stations they had to complete. Students didn't have time to mess around and were constantly engaged at a higher level. Some of the technology aspects of her lesson were Wordle, Thinglink (featured below), LucidChart, PDF-notes app, bighugelabs.com, and Educreations. Click here, here, and here for some examples of the students' work.
I had a blast helping Mrs. Patterson plan this out. Do you want to plan out something similar or maybe just take baby steps with technology? Please shoot me an email, and we can get started.
Featured Site: ThingLink
Do you have several visual learners in your class? If so, thinkglink may be the site for you. ThingLink helps you create and discover rich images. Be creative! Make your images come alive with music, video, text, images, shops and more! Every image contains a story and ThingLink helps you tell your stories. Your ThingLink interactive images form a channel that other users can follow. Check out the video below for a cool example.
ThingLink - Upload, Tag & Share
Tips and Hints:
Browser Specific Internet Shortcuts
- With all of the confusion on which sites work best in which browser, you might be interested in creating your own browser-specific Internet shortcuts for your desktop. If so, see this article for instructions: http://blog.scoopz.com/2008/02/25/create-shortcut-to-open-url-in-non-default-browser/
- IE: eSchool, Vodstock
- Chrome: Google, almost everything else
- Firefox: OnCourse
Need to Knows
- FISD Tech Facilitators have a pinterest page. It has so much great information. Here is the link so check it out! Tech Tators Pinterest Board
- 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.