WebQuest

WebQuest is one of the funnest and most beneficial teaching tools I have come across in my career. Learning how to make an assignment and relate that criteria to Driver's Education was an amazing experience. The students enjoyed the experience and to my surprise I had a lot of fun navigating the lesson for the class. The presentations were very informative and persuasive. Seeing my students have fun in the classroom has really changed my outlook on teaching. It gives the students a break from all the pressures that come with testing in the classrooms.

Jing!!

 Jing is a program created to copy and record what the user of a computer is doing on the screen. I believe that this program could be very beneficial for educational programs. I am a driver's education teacher in Greeneville, TN and I feel that I could use this program to give virtual quizzes using Google Maps. I could do this by using Jing while showing random roads and use the microphone to ask the questions. Jing could also be very useful in student presentations. This program could be very beneficial in classrooms.

Remind.Com

Remind.Com is a web/Phone application that I have used since frequently over the course of this year. Remind is a messaging service that connects you and your students. All you do is make a free account at Remind.Com, Set up your different classes, and invite/have students/parents to join your class. Students and parents can sign-up via email, text, or through the phone App. When you log on you can send class wide messages out to specific classes. Throughout the year I have used remind to alert students and parents of homework, upcoming tests/projects, and of important events like open house. Everything sent and received through remind is logged and can reports can be accessed anytime, so you have peace of mind knowing someone can't make any false claims against you. Also in account settings you can turn off "messaging back" meaning you can only send out messages to classes as a whole and you can't message individuals and they cant message you.

TeacherPayTeacher.com

One online resource that I have used several times over the course of this year was TeacherPayTeacher.com. On this website you can find thousands of resources to download, all of which are searchable and broken down into categories. For example, I didn't like how my textbooks covered the civil war and didn't have time to create new sources myself. I found an entire two week unit, which was amazing by the way, for around ten dollars. Teacher pay Teacher is centered around purchasing resources, but it also includes lots of free resources as well. However, not everything on TeacherPayTeacher is right for you. Resources that work well for one teacher may be totally wrong for another. So it is important to request samples of work if you find yourself wanting to buy something but not sure if it would work.

Lexia Core 5

Lexia Core 5 is a school-wide reading resource. Each student in the school works at their own pace to complete the different levels. Students have a set amount of time that they are expected to complete each week. There are ample opportunities for students to complete their goal and it can also be accessed from home. Most students love to login to Lexia because it has a kid friendly interface that resembles a game. Teachers also like Lexia because it allows them to see areas that students could be struggling with in each level. Then, the teacher can use the provided resources to teach a mini-lesson to try and help the student to better understand the skill. I have seen a great amount of growth from students who use the program on a regular basis.

Class Dojo

One technological resource that I use in my first grade classroom is Class Dojo. It is a great way for parents to communicate with their students teacher about any and all questions that they may have. It is a behavior management site that allows the teacher to give positive points to reinforce anticipated behaviors and take points away for negative behaviors. I use it as a weekly reward system. Once you reach 10 points during the week you can get in the treat box. Students really enjoy customizing their monster and take pride in the amount of points that they receive each week.

Lexia

Lexia Core 5 is a reading resource that our school implements on a daily basis. This program allows students to take a diagnostic test to determine where they should begin their lessons. Once they have taken this test they cannot continue on to a lesson until the current lesson is completed. If the student seems to be having difficulty with a particular skill, it will teach them a mini-lesson over that skill. We use this program for our RTI students as well as all classroom students.