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.

Dreambox

Our schools recently purchased Dreambox to use as a supplement in our classrooms.  It has been a valuable asset because provides students with material that is based on their current level of instruction. This allows for differentiation with minimal effort from the teacher.  I use it as tool for students who complete assignments early and for those that need more of a challenge than our current content.  Dreambox allows the teacher to print reports that show level, usage, and lessons completed. I use these reports to provide rewards and incentives to students who make Dreambox a weekly habit in their curriculum diet.

Teacher Tube

A resource that I like to use in my classroom is teacher tube. This is very similar to YouTube minus the ads that popup unexpectedly. I use these videos to sometimes introduce new topics or to review previously learned lessons. They are very kid friendly and my 3rd grade students really enjoy getting to see a visual of the concept that I am teaching. They also have some cute and catchy songs/videos that help students to better retain information. 

Study Jams

I like to use Study Jams from scholastic.com in my 3rd grade classroom. This website has many science and math videos over various topics. I hyperlink the videos and slideshows into my power points or just have them brought up on my computer. Each video contains a quiz that helps to assess student understanding and comprehension on the topic. They are a beneficial resource to use before a lesson and refer back to. My students enjoy them and they enhance student participation.

YouTube

I often show videos from YouTube to supplement learning in my history classes.  The students really enjoy the visual representations of what we are learning about.  I believe I'd like to have the students start posting videos too.  YouTube also has lessons other teachers and professors have posted from their classes.  I often reinforce my lessons with my students by having them view lessons similar to mine.  YouTube has tons of music posted.  I can let my students listen to music from other time periods in the USA or other music from around the world.

Edmodo

I really utilized Edmodo for the first time this year.  It is like Facebook for class.  I like it because we have a ton of snow days at our school (21 this year!) and I can post assignments to keep my students engaged.  It is also useful to ask questions on topics we are covering.  Edmodo also provides useful links for historical sites.  I will use this from now on.

Epic is an amazing online tool for both teachers and parents alike. It allows teachers to easily keep track of students reading interest, ability, as well as a place to log minutes spent reading. What I really love is that parents can download this app and have thousands of books at their fingertips while on the go for the kids to read. I know that for me time spent with my own children in the Drs office after school doesn't have to be wasted now. I am able to turn the iPad over to them and they select a book and read away.  I also like it's not something you have to be technologically "savvy" to use.

Google

Google has become a major player in the education business these days and a tool that I have fallen in love with. My start with Google began when a couple of my buddies had me create an account for google, in order to share a Google doc with me for a camping trip. From there the love affair began. I have fallen in love with the tools that google has at its disposal including a centralized place where I can access things like contacts, my calendar, documents, and even class assignments from virtually anywhere. Something that I just stumbled upon was Google Forms. This changed the way I gave all my assignments at the end of this school year. With forms I create an assignment or test and then pick from several options of how I want to send it to my students. It cuts down on paper for my school, and best of all no more lost assignments or "my dog at my homework" excuses. There is also a handy add called Flubaroo that will grade the assignment for you.

All the students will need is a Google account and some form of smartphone, tablet, or computer and they are set. For my classes I have each student in a classroom that I have created in my contacts and I send the assignment out one time to all of them. They then receive an email, complete the assignment, and with the push of a button it comes back to me. It will even create a Google Sheets Document to help me organize. Currently my school is considering going to Google Classrooms. I know very little about how that works but so far I have been very impressed with the technology through the Google platforms. I would recommend if any educator have access to use these types of programs to give it a shot. Everything runs out of drive and I just watched a couple of videos on Youtube to help me figure things out. Good luck!

Socrative

In my classroom one of the most useful technological tools is an app called Socrative. There are many different uses for Socrative but in my classroom I mainly use it for reviewing material and test taking. This app has really come a long way from when I started using it two years ago. The updates have vastly improved the user interface and fixed a lot of the bugs that at times made it unusable. Before one of my co-workers brought this app to my attention I was using whiteboards and dry erase markers for my students to answer questions. This was very inconvenient to say the least. I felt like we were spending more time looking for markers that worked than actually reviewing. With Socrative I can have my students work in pairs to answer multiple choice questions or short answer questions. It also worked very well to cut down on students cheating. No longer could you watch what someone wrote from across the room. 

To create a test or assignment there is an option to download an Excel file from the website that makes creating a test or worksheet a breeze. As students work you can see if they are getting questions right or wrong, how far they have progressed, and it also grades the assignment as you go. For me that last one is a huge plus. The best part is that Socrative is free. The one limitation that I have found with this app is that you cannot have multiple assignments going on at once. You must close out of the current assignment before opening a new one. The makers of Socrative have dealt with this though, sadly however it is not on the free version. This and many other features will be coming to a paid version very soon if it has not already.

There are many more things that Socrative does that I haven't explored yet but if you are looking for a fun easy app to help your students review or take tests, this could be the app for you!

Kahoot

Kahoot is a form of technology, I have used this in my classroom thanks to a few of the teachers in my school. I can make up my own questions and students can answer the questions on their phones. Then I can show students how many of them got each right or wrong. This is useful because it keeps students interested in class, and it gives students a sense of competition because you get more points if you answer the question faster than others.  It also gives immediate feedback for the classroom.

Youtube is a source of technology that is useful in the math classroom.  I can use different youtube videos to show students a lesson on how to perform a certain task. Sometimes this is helpful in case students don't understand what I am teaching. They are able to hear another a lesson containing the same task of the lesson I've had already taught and hopefully develop a better understanding.

QR Codes in Education

One of the latest technology crazes in Education is QR codes. One of the reasons that I love QR codes had to do with teaching Kindergarten students.  As I am sure you know, most often, my kindergartners do not come in reading and if they are it is usually in the very early stages.  QR codes essentially, do not require any reading! I can use many multiple free QR code generators on the web to create QR codes for my students.  It is very easy to teach the children to use the QR codes.  They simply need a qr reader on any tablet or device. There are also several different reasons why to use QR codes.  As you can imagine, it can be a nightmare to get 24 five year old students to type in a web address. Yikes! But they become quite efficient at opening the QR reader app and scanning a QR code.  I have used QR codes for many things like websites, links to podcasts, directions for a center or basically anything you can imagine or create!  I even use a QR code on the first day of school that allows parents to walk away from my classroom with all of my contact information that they will need for the year!  QR codes are an amazing tool no matter what grade you teach!

EPIC for Educators

One of the things that I have found for my classroom that I strongly recommend to educators and especially new teachers who may have a limited classroom library is Epic for Educators. This is an online classroom library with an app that provides digital reading logs that keep track of books and minutes read by each student. You can create 36 individualized profiles. You can also provide students with an option of adding audio narration with hundreds of read to me titles. There is a vast selection of nonfiction and fiction categories. EPIC for Educators is FREE! Educator accounts can be used on multiple computers, Chromebooks, iPads, or tablets. This is a fabulous way to foster a love for reading, even amoung previously reluctant readers.  Getepic.com

Interactive Unit Circle

https://www.mathsisfun.com/geometry/unit-circle.html

If you are a math teacher, you have to check out this website! This is a Interactive Unit Circle.  You move your cursor around the circle and it gives you the sin, cos, and tan values at each point. AMAZING!