Embedded Files
Educational Tools
Educational Tools
Storybird - This app is actually more for K-9 than high school, but it looked so incredible that I had to post it. Storybird provides illustrations and templates for students to create their own picture books, longform chapter books, and poetry. They also store all of the stories written by others, so students can use the app to read other students' work in their own class or from other schools. You can even assign a storybird task and have them submit it within the app.
OpenEd.com - - This site allows teachers to assign students particular activities, lessons, articles, videos to watch as a homework assignment, additional activity, extra practice, or learning tool. Teachers can even search specific sources related to PARCC. Activities can be linked to and assigned through Google Classroom and even assigned to individual students.
Imagine Easy Scholar - This app focuses on research writing, helping students to plan, organize, and even conduct the research for research papers. Find and close-read sources, learn how to cite them, and even connect your work to Google Classroom.
Screencast-O-Matic
Screencast-O-Matic
This is a free screen recorder for instant screen capture and sharing. Use it right in your browser without an install. An upgrade to Pro account allows one to create longer videos and use editing tools. The upgrade costs $15/yr. The student could create screencasts on topics of the course or projects assigned. If flipping the classroom is being considered this is a good web tool to get started. Screencasts can be saved in a variety of formats and can be uploaded to a you tube account. I had students use to create learning videos in AP Calculus. I gave them a topic and told them to create a video that could be used to teach others the topic. After the students made a recording, I viewed it and made suggestions for a retake. It puts the student in the role of teacher and gives them an idea on how to create an effective video that others can learn from.
https://screencast-o-matic.com/home
Haiku Learning
Haiku Learning
Haiku Learning is a cloud-based web tool designed for digital learning. It offers K-12 features that include class roster creation, a gradebook, assessments, discussion, wikis, and content sharing. Videos can be embedded for student interaction. A teacher can set up all of their classes and organize assignments using a calendar or course listing. Your classroom Haiku can be connected to the school district set up. It can also work in coordination with Skyward for ease of importing students names into class rosters. Our school district currently uses this web tool for staff communication but I would like to use this as a base for my interactive learning site.
https://www.haikulearning.com/signup/
Wevideo is another great tool where students can create videos. The great feature of Wevideo is that students can work collaboratively on the videos. There is a free version of Wevideo, but you get more features with the paid version. However, look into your district to see if they are already paying for a subscription.
Coggle It is a very simple mind mapping tool that is useful for breaking down and sharing information in real time. I am a very visual learner, and I could use this app to "sketch out" the different steps a student and I need to follow for collecting and submitting all required paperwork for clinical placement. I work with over 200 different agencies and clinical sites, and requirements differ from site to site. When I write a procedure, I typically draw it out on paper first. Coggle It could replace my paper and pencil as I categorize what each agency needs in terms of health and safety requirements, computer access, required forms, links to agency requirements, and who is responsible for submitting the information -- student, instructor, or myself. The collaboration feature provides a great way to share the mapping with instructors who have been at the clinical sites and can share some insider information -- even when they're not physically on campus with me.
http://www.livebinders.com/welcome/home
Live Binders is an online binder app.. This could take storing, retrieving and sharing procedural information to the next level in my department. We do a number of special events in my area, and Live Binders would be a handy way to store the planning and to-do list for each event as well as contact lists, timelines,notes from the event debriefings and even pictures of the set up so we can refer back to what worked well and what we can do better next time. When it is time to begin the event, we simply "pull" the online binder and have everything at our fingertips -- no matter who is coordinating.
The Teaching Channel is a great resource for exploring best practices related to teaching and Common Core. I like the format of the site because searching for what you need is easy. If I decide to update or create a lesson, I always look there for video to get ideas. The videos are easy to understand and walk viewers through real lessons with students. It has been a valuable tool for me over the last two years.
Poll Everywhere is a great formative assessment tool for teachers. I began using Poll Everywhere about two years ago, and it is easy to create quick polls and collect important data to guide instruction and learning . Recently, Poll Everywhere also create an extension for Google Slides so teachers can present information and poll kids with ease.
https://quizlet.com Quizlet is a learning site where students can create their own flashcards or find search for sets on just about any topic. Once they master the flash cards, they can then create games and quizzes to test their knowledge on the topics. Teachers can add their own flashcard sets, share with other instructors. Instructors can purchase an upgrade for $25 and which will allow them to enhance the sets with graphics, and audio, lets the students view content without ads and allows instructors to monitor their student’s progress.
Twisted Wave is an excellent user friendly audio editor tool that can be used in the classroom when we need to capture a recording of a student speaking about a topic. For example, it can be used as an assessment piece of a classroom by giving the student a question at the end of a unit and have them speak and record their answer. It can be used to build literacy through speaking and can be added to a writing piece of an assessment. It is easy for the students to use Twisted Wave and then send their recording to their Google Drive. Once it is sent to their Google Drive, they can upload their recording into the assessment posting on their Google Classroom. The teacher can then listen to their recordings and give feedback. As a Special Educator, some of my students are able to speak better then they write, so if we can add in a speaking recording to assessments, we may be better able to get information out of our students.
Functionality: An audio editor tool without video. Can be used as an assessment tool.
Xtramath
https://xtramath.org/#/home/index
Free math fact site. This site allows for differentiation and shows progress. It is simple to use and did I mention FREE?
Read Works Digital
http://digital.readworks.org/student
I've used the original site for several years for my guided reading groups. Now they have gone digital and you can have them listen, read, and answer comp questions
ScreenCastify
https://www.screencastify.com/
Great app for Chrome that allows you to record what is on your screen as you are using it. It works well with students that need to explain things and are too nervous to do it in front of their peers.
Tagul-Word Clouds for all ages
Great site for students to create word clouds on any topic and add creativity to their final piece. They can join just by having a google account!
Remind
Great way to send quick messages to families by text or email. No numbers are shared and you can control if you want responses or just one way messages. It even allows you to schedule the time the messages are sent! FREE!!!!
Hapara
This is a tool that will allow you to control each student's computer, see what they are searching, and where they are in assignments.
Teacher Clip Art Free:
http://openclipart.org - much better when working on the ipad than classroomclipart.com
Use in classroom - great for vocabulary exercises; forcing students to place images with the concepts. We recently did a vocab single page story using openclipart and notability on the ipads. Students had to define the vocab, then search for an image that related to the definition, THEN create a single page "story" that included a set number of the vocabulary words. They used the note feature in notability to record the "story" of how that vocabulary tied into the big idea of the unit we are studying. They then shared that story with their peers, received rubric guided feedback from them, and made any changes they needed.
Technology in Classroom Matrix:
__http://fcit.usf.edu/matrix/matrix.php__
GIF Creator Online:
Photo Editor Online:
Interactive Videos:
Word Clouds for ipad use
Word Salad iTunes Download Link
Web 2.0 Tools to try
http://photopeach.com/ - a source to create interactive picture review.
Brief Review: photopeach is targeted at younger audiences than the 9th grade classroom I currently work with, however the uses seem very transferable thus far. The incorporation of "touch screen" capability when used on a pc attached to a smartboard makes it very attractive for our current school situation. WHile it cannot be used on pure iPads alone (it requires a beefed up browser called puffin) it would be a viable option for small and large group reviews.
Classroom uses: currently I see this tool as more of a review option. The blending of images to touchable text would make it really attractive for vocabulary uses - especially for those with ELL or ESL students. While I envision it more as a teacher made and led activity it would be really great to have students create the photopeach reviews for one another and give them a more active role in the creation side of the program vs. the consumption side. I will definitely be searching for an ipad equivalent for this tool however, being that our district is currently 1:1 with ipads.
http://edu.glogster.com/ - create interactive "posters" to share, review, or show off!
Brief Review: This product allows for exteremly simple creation of interactive poster like products. It allows the incorporation of photos (stored or taken by device) as well as videos (linked or uploaded). It also allows for both paid and free versions that teachers can use with students. The graphic Blog (thus glog) appeals to more students and can increase interest and participation in classroom projects.
Classroom uses: This will definitely be launched as an election project platform for students to research, create, and share support for Presidential as well as Congressional Candidates. The ability to incorporate video, images, and text into a graphically pleasing platform will make for a much needed upgrade to election projects of the past. With glogsters ability to have students interacting in a teacher monitored environment it provides a valuable tool for student learning, both about content and the tech skills needed to survive in a web 2.0 world.
Lynda.com is a repository of videos that we use to replace text books for our web design and development classes. The videos provide easy to follow tutorials that static text can't. The offer videos for a lot of different subjects, not just web design.
Wisc-Online is hosted at fox valley technical college, but all technical colleges in the state create learning objects for it. Many of them are simplistic flash games, but they are customizable to your curriculum. Look around the site and you might even find an object or two that I built.
I wanted to add this one as well. It is a website with interactive human models that one of our professors created. He uses it in his anatomy and physiology courses. I don't think the items are freely available to use, but knowing Dr. Forciea, he would gladly allow another educator to use them. Also it is a chance to showcase one of our more tech-savvy instructors at MPTC.
Remind This site allows you to send text messages to students reminding them about homework assignments and due dates. One of the major benefits of using this site is that it keeps all phone numbers hidden, so you don't need to worry about students having your number. It also has a Chrome app and a mobile app making it even more convenient to use. We have used this app for the club that I advise; however, I never thought to use it academically before. It could be really helpful on those days when I forget to remind students about an important assignment coming up.
EdPuzzle This is a great site to use in a flipped classroom. It allows you to search Youtube or other online videos, or upload your own, and assign them to students. The site allows you to crop, add voice over, and even add questions to the videos you choose. It also shows you which students have watched the video and how many times. In the past, I have tried to implement the flipped classroom, but found it was difficult to hold students accountable for the work, but this site takes the guesswork out of who has viewed the video and who has not. It is definitely something I will be using in the future.
Powtoon This is a site that I have used in the past, but I wanted to share it with others because I have found it to be extremely useful in a variety of ways. Powtoon is an online video creator, but instead of creating movie-like videos, you can create cartoons. It has a lot of fun features and is fairly user-friendly. I have personally use this site to create videos for my flipped classroom. I can put all of the information into a video format and upload it to Youtube. I also just finished using it with one of my classes to create a video of a myth that they wrote. I found the students to be very engaged while using this tool. They didn't even realize they were learning!
Web 2.0 Tools:
http://www.teachertube.com/videos?filter=all&subject=10&sort=recent: a site that has links for all types of videos for many general ed subjects, professional development, and ed tech. I liked the videos on MLA formatting and plagiarism for my classes.
http://www.projectgutenburg.org: this just has to be included for someone like myself who teaches writing and literature. It has over 53,000 books available – all for free! Many of these are in published anthologies, but using this source could save the students many, something they need.
http://www.paperrater.com/: this is a resource a student told me about this summer, and I now recommend it to students to use prior to submitting their work to me. Students upload their essays for feedback on grammar, content, and potential plagiarism issues. It’s a free service, but students can upgrade to a paid version.
https://www.sascurriculumpathways.com/portal/#info/135: I found this on the Chrome app webstore. It’s a free app that although is developed for K-12, it could be useful to first-year composition students or developmental writing students as both groups often have difficulty starting their essays, and this site takes the writer through the writing process. SAS. Curriculum Pathways also offers many other potentially helpful pages for other subjects, such as math and science, Spanish, and social science.
I found this in Chrome webstore; it’s a free app that turns your computer’s camera into a smart board through your app on your phone. I have not used it in the classroom yet but can definitely see how useful it will be in the classroom. Unfortunately, unlike many K-12 environments, the college where I teach does not have smartboards in the classrooms.
https://www.scrible.com/: Yet another app found from the Chrome webstore; this one organizes research, including cloud storage, sharing annotated articles, and building a research library. For teachers, it also allows us to create classes, track students’ research and writing, provide feedback, and archive classes once they are completed. I am excited to use this!
http://www.shakespeare-monologues.org/home : What’s an English instructor without a little Bard to add to the mix? This app, courtesy of the Chrome webstore (is there anywhere else to Go?!?!), offers different ways to search for Shakespeare quotations, according to play, character, or quotation.
1. Discovery Education
http://web2014.discoveryeducation.com
This site has videos to use in the classroom that can be full length or clips. You can search by grade and subject. There is also a quiz builder that allows you to create quizzes and sends you an email with the students’ results. They offer text, interactives and lesson plans. You can also search their database by standards such as Common Core or NGSS for materials to enhance or compliment your lesson.
2. Study Stack
__http://www.studystack.com/__
This site allows you to search for already created vocabulary reviews or you can create your own. The teacher can create an account and create a study stack for the students to use or the students can create their own account to make their own. You enter the term and definition then choose the way you want to review the terms. To review you can do the following: flashcards, hangman, matching, crossword puzzles, quiz, test, bug match game, hungry bug game, unscrabble and word chop.
3. Kahoot!
https://getkahoot.com/how-it-works
Free site that allows you to create fun, engaging formative or summative assessments for the classroom.
3. GoAnimate
Create animated videos. Use in the classroom as a different means of having a student show their understanding.
Google Sites
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