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!