Teaching with Technology

Using educational technology to enhance the learning environment and increase student engagement!

Nearpod + Google Earth = AWESOME!

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When I present at conferences or schools around the state/region, I take my daughters and my Momma with me for a mini vacation! The girls hang out with Grandma in and around the hotel while Mommy gets excited about educational technology! (We leave Daddy and Papa at home to work!) Last week, I shared the awesomeness of Nearpod with a fantastic group of teachers at Pembroke Hill in Kansas City, Missouri. I LOVED their enthusiasm for teaching and their excitement for using Nearpod in the classroom!

I absolutely LOVE so many features of Nearpod, but my favorite engagement tool is the virtual field trip. I LOVE being able to take my students to places around the world-I think it makes the content come to life in a way that can’t really happen with a video or primary source! As I was sharing this fabulous feature with the great teachers at Pembroke, a teacher asked if the virtual field trip feature was like Google Earth. I said that this was similar to a Google Earth activity, except that the virtual field trip was actually part of the presentation instead of linking to another site.

Then, I mentioned the new updates to Google Earth … have you seen them? Google Earth now works on a Chrome browser! No more downloading clunky software that, let’s be honest, was NOT user-friendly and rarely worked – at least for me. Now, students can access Google Earth and all of its awesomeness on their Chromebooks! Woohoo! Google Earth also unveiled “Voyages” which are great collections of resources and tours for a variety of topics that can be wonderful for use in the classroom.

The new version of Google Earth allows teachers to easily share locations with their students via link. Here’s where Nearpod comes in!

As I was sharing the new updates to Google Earth, I had an ah-ha moment … I was talking about sharing links to locations with Google Earth, and about how Nearpod allows teachers to include websites in their presentations. THE LIGHTBULB CAME ON!

Nearpod (Gold Account and above) allows teachers to include websites in their Nearpod lessons. Nearpod also offers fantastic virtual reality options, but what if you can’t quite find what you’re looking for? Go to the new Google Earth, search for a location (or use Voyages for super awesomeness!), copy and paste the link to your selection in your Nearpod lesson, and voila! Your students are transported around the world without leaving your classroom!

Nearpod + Google Earth = awesome!

Thanks for reading 🙂

Stages of Writing an EdTech Book

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Well, friends – I hope you’re enjoying your “teacher’s summer!” We all know the truth behind the myth of teachers having “summers off” … good one, right?! That’s not to say we don’t unwind a bit over the summer – and this is a well-deserved relaxation! My family and I had a wonderful vacation on the beach in South Carolina, and I thoroughly enjoyed drinking my Starbucks on the beach 🙂 This summer, I’m also having a blast teaching an online Technology for Teachers course and WRITING A BOOK! I am SO EXCITED to be writing an EdTech book that will be published by EdTechTeam! Can you sense my excitement? 🙂

I thought it would be fun to share my stages of writing an EdTech book and ask a favor of you, as well!

Stage 1: I think I want to write a book
I’ve been blogging about educational technology for a little more than three years now and will be starting my 10th year in the classroom in August. I feel like I have some great ideas and valuable experience that I can share with teachers who are in all stages of EdTech-dom. I want to share a simple, but an important message with teachers around the world who are in the trenches with me during this awesome time in education – there are many FANTASTIC EdTech tools available (which can be slightly overwhelming!), but it’s NOT about the technology you have, it’s about how you use it to enhance the learning environment for your students. There is no magic tool that will in and of itself transform your classroom into an amazing learning space. You are the teacher and technology will never replace amazing teachers. Technology can enhance and elevate your classroom!

Stage 2: My book is going to be PUBLISHED!
When I read the email from EdTechTeam that they were interested in publishing my book … I SQUEALED. Out loud. In my classroom. Fortunately, this was during my planning period, so no one was around to see me jumping up and down and prancing around my room chanting, “EdTechTeam is going to publish my book!” I am SO EXCITED that this amazing group is going to help me share my message with teachers all over the world!!

Stage 3: Wait, I still need to write the book … 
I LOVE writing, especially about how I use EdTech in my classroom. However, writing a book is a tad different than writing 600 words on my blog. I can honestly say though that I am having a BLAST writing this book! You can expect it to read like a narrative – like my blog – and have practical examples of how you can use fabulous EdTech tools to engage your students in exploring, creating, collaborating, communicating, reflecting, and thinking critically, as well as how you as the teacher can design lessons, assess, and motivate your students with technology! As you can see, I have SO MUCH to share with you!

Stage 4: What the heck do I title this thing?
Here’s where I need your help, friends. What do I title this book? I’m torn between two titles, and I need your feedback! Do you like … “It’s NOT About the Tech! It’s How You USE It! Tips and Strategies to ENHANCE your Classroom with EdTech Tools” OR … “Make Your Classroom AWESOME! Tips and Strategies to ENHANCE your Classroom with EdTech Tools”  I can’t wait to hear what you have to say! Please click here to cast your vote! I’ll be sure to update you on the results on Twitter and Facebook!

Be sure to join this mailing list for information and updates about my new book … whatever the title may be!

As always, thanks for reading 🙂

Blogging Book Reviews for Kids

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My oldest daughter, Hanna, will be in first grade this fall, and she’s a REALLY good reader! However, like most parents, I want to encourage her to keep reading and keep getting better! Lately, she’s been complaining that reading “takes too long” or she just doesn’t want to read. This makes my book-loving heart hurt! While we were eating lunch today, Hanna was talking about how much she loves watching tutorials and toy unboxing videos on YouTube (seriously, have you ever watched these things?!) and I had an idea … she could create book review videos! Her own vlog about books that she reads! I introduced this topic to her, and she was immediately excited to get started! Then, she panicked a bit because she was afraid to be in front of the camera … I told her she could create a book blog and share her thoughts about the books she reads with anyone. The response? Hanna’s beautiful blue eyes lit up and she squealed, “I can blog like you, Mommy?!” Absolutely! My daughter will be blogging about the books she reads and is EXCITED ABOUT READING!

 

We came up with this idea at about 1:30 this afternoon, and by 3:00 she has already created her blog (using Google Sites), typed an “About Hanna” section, and chose a picture for Mommy to upload to her site. She’s already figuring out how she wants to set up her blog – she wants to have specific pages for book series (like Amelia Bedelia, Fancy Nancy, etc) and wants to limit each page to 3 or 4 books so “the pages don’t get really long and people don’t see them!” She’s excited to have many different pages, as well. For example, Amelia Bedelia part one, Amelia Bedelia part two, etc.

Hanna is EXTREMELY EXCITED to “read lots of books on this blog.”

I’ll be sure to update you as her blog continues!

Thanks for reading 🙂

Zip Quiz Trivia Game from Quizizz

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Quizizz is one of my go-to review activities in my classroom – it’s just so fun and easy to create! My students love that they can play the game on their individual devices, see the class leaderboard, and view fantastic MEMES after they answer each question! The memes, friends. Oh, the memes!!

Quizizz has recently unveiled a great app that students can use to prevent summer “brain-drain” by reviewing age appropriate trivia-like content. The best part? IT’S FUN!

Zip Quiz is similar to Trivia Crack with a few exceptions …

–> Players can choose to “spin the wheel” for a category OR can select a category of their choice
–> Players can choose the level of the questions they receive
–> True to Quizizz form … the MEMES are great!
–> Players can also choose an avatar

Zip Quiz is available as an iOS app.

Here’s how to get started:

On this screen, select “Get Started” – but, I’m sure you figured that out 🙂 Next, you’ll choose an avatar … the focal point of many popular memes.

On the next screen, you’ll enter your username and select your grade level. It’s been a few years since I was in 12th grade, of course!

When you see this screen, you’re ready to play!

Next, you’ll get to select “individual or versus” based on whether you want to play a game individually or against an opponent.

If you choose “play versus,” Zip Quiz will find a random opponent for you to challenge. After you’ve finished the game, you can challenge your friends through text, email, or social media to beat your score!

Next, you’ll be able to either spin the wheel or choose your quiz subject!

You have 60 seconds to answer as many questions correctly as you can! True to Quizizz form, the winner gets a crown and the loser gets a rain cloud! Zip Quiz will show your accuracy percentage, the number of questions you missed, and the number of questions you answered in 60 seconds.

This game is FUN and a great way for kids to continue learning, or at least review over the summer break!

Give it a whirl!!

Thanks for reading 🙂

Create a Class Blog with Google Classroom!

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I LOVE blogging! I love love LOVE it! You have no doubt picked up on this fact if you’ve been reading my blog (thank you!). My blog gives me a way to express myself to an authentic audience, reflect upon my teaching experiences, share my triumphs and struggles from my classroom, connect with and learn from other educators around the world, and provide resources and strategies for other teachers. I LOVE it. I want to be able to offer my students the opportunity to contribute to a class blog because I see so many benefits of students blogging! If I were using the “old” version of Google Sites, creating a class blog through the announcements template would be a breeze. However, even though the new version of Sites is stunning, I’m missing the announcements option! Enter Google Classroom!

Google Classroom has become an essential feature of my classroom. Classroom serves as our landing page and houses Docs, Slides, Forms, important websites, announcements and other resources that my students need. I create a Google Classroom section for each class period and archive those sections at the end of each year. There are MANY ways to utilize Google Classroom sections – some may create a section every quarter, some for every unit, and some may use the same section year after year. That’s part of the beauty of Google Classroom! Teachers can use this fabulous tool however they feel it will best benefit their students!

Now … to the class blog project!

My American Government classes have a gamified component – a huge motivator for some of my students is the chance to earn Bonus XP. I plan to create a section in Google Classroom titled “Bonus Blog” (or something else that’s more clever!) and will have all of my students join that section. Throughout the year, I’ll use the question feature of Classroom to create a variety of blog topics and will encourage all of my students to participate in our Class Blog. How will I choose topics to include on our Class Blog? By surveying my students, of course! I’ll create a Google Form to solicit responses and view the data on a Google Spreadsheet. Forms and Spreadsheets make my Google-heart happy! I also plan to create free-choice questions on the Classroom section to encourage students to authentically reflect upon whatever they want to share!

I tried the concept of a blog using Google Classroom with my online Tech for Teachers course this summer, and IT WAS AWESOME! I loved how easy it was to view and respond to student blogs, and I am so excited to use this activity with my students this fall!

Thanks for reading 🙂

Fabulous Updates to Google Forms

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Google has unveiled yet ANOTHER fantastic addition to the already wonderful Google Forms. Now, with the flip of a (digital) switch, teachers can view data by individual student or question, provide students with feedback on each question, grade subjective questions, AND award partial points per question! Woohoo!

To get started, create a Google Form and turn on the “quiz” feature through settings. Here are the options I chose for my quiz settings in Google Forms… notice that I uncheck the correct answers option and select the “release after review” option.

While in settings, be sure to choose “collect email address” in your options. This will allow your students to view their score and your individual comments on their responses.

To view the data from your quiz, select “responses,” where you will see a more useful selection of data-viewing options! You can choose to view the summary of the data, which provides a bar graph with question responses – this is not a new feature – or, you can view data by individual student or question. If you choose to view data by individual student, you will be able to provide specific feedback on each question and can share this information with your kiddos via email. If you choose to view information by question, you will be able to see how your students have performed on each question – this is PERFECT for formative (and summative) assessments!

By choosing to view data by question teachers can also award partial points for responses! I can’t tell you how many times teachers have asked me how to award partial points … Google came through!

This update for Google Forms is FABULOUS! I can’t wait to see what comes next!

Thanks for reading 🙂

 

Revolutionizing Teaching: Takeaways from CORE Academy at SEMO

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Friends, I attended an AMAZING conference this week at Southeast Missouri State University. CORE Academy gave teachers the opportunity to hear Ron Clark and George Couros deliver powerful keynotes … that’s right, I said RON CLARK AND GEORGE COUROS. I found myself laughing and tweeting and reflecting like a madwoman throughout their presentations, and left the conference feeling inspired, encouraged, and validated in my teaching practices. I’m still processing the fabulous information, but here are some of my big takeaways from this fabulous conference:

Social Media = New Literacy
This is most definitely true! At the start of his keynote, George Couros shared a hashtag and his Twitter handle and encouraged all of us to tweet thoughts throughout his presentation. He then said that if people in the audience were totally unfamiliar with what he was saying, then they are becoming illiterate. SO MUCH TRUTH! Social media is EVERYWHERE and, like technology, it is not going away. An example from a student was extremely powerful, “social media is like water. You can either teach us to swim or let us drown.” Holy moly. This is so accurate and the fact that this idea came from a student makes it all the more important. Our students are growing up in a world connected by social media. They look to us as their teachers to guide them through the sometimes murky, sometimes pristine waters of social media. If we pretend that social media doesn’t exist or is worst thing to hit humanity since the Black Death, we are not only doing ourselves a huge disservice as educators (you can learn so much from social media!), but we’re also failing our students. My daughters, who are 6 and 4, will never not know a time where they can take a funny picture and Mommy can send it to Grandma and Papa or post in on Facebook so all of our family and friends can see it. Our students are growing up in this same climate. We can either ignore the truth of this new environment or we can help them learn to navigate social media and use it for GOOD, not for evil!

Relationships are KEY
In addition to George Couros and Ron Clark, I also attended a breakout session by Josh Stumpenhorst – I’m telling you, this conference was AMAZING! One huge emphasis in this presentation was the importance of relationship building with our students. Classroom management problems most likely come from one of two sources: lack of engagement in your lesson and/or less than great relationships with our students. I was reminded of the importance of relationships again during the #DitchBook Twitter chat last night – see, Twitter is AWESOME! In his book, Ditch That Textbook, Matt Miller describes how he rejects the “be your students’ friend” warning … showing students that you care about them as a person and are rooting for them to be successful is a powerful thing! I genuinely hope that my students see that I care about their success, not just in my classroom, but in their lives, as well.

I’m still reeling from the sheer awesomeness of this conference, and will definitely report back soon! What conferences have you attended so far this summer? Be sure to share your reflections! Share on Twitter! Tag me so I can learn from you!

Thanks for reading 🙂

Using Flipgrid in the Classroom: I’ve Caught #FlipgridFever!

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I’m sure you’ve heard of the new tool that’s taking the world of educational technology by storm: Flipgrid! If you haven’t, holy awesomeness, prepare yourself now.

 

I first learned about Flipgrid earlier this year when they were announced as EdTechDigest’s 2017 Winner in the product or service category. (By the way, I was included as a finalist in the School Leader category! Whaat?!) I immediately put Flipgrid on my list of things to try with my summer school dual credit classes. My summer school classes often become my trial classes for new tools I stumble upon!

Today, we were FINALLY able to use this amazing tool. If you’ve never used this fabulous tool before, check out this quick guide to getting started:

  1. Access Flipgrid and create an account
  2. Select “+New Grid” (If you’re using the free version of Flipgrid, you’ll be limited to 1 grid. However, if you update to the classroom version of Flipgrid, you’ll be able to create tons of grids!)
  3. Name your grid and fill out the other information … you can customize the last section of the URL to fit the needs of your grid!
  4. Click “create grid”
  5. Teachers can share grids with students via URL, by embedding it in a website, by creating a QR Code, sharing through Facebook or Twitter, and even adding to Google Classroom!!
  6. Next, you’ll create a new topic, add a question, set a maximum video time, and can set other parameters for your assignment. Teachers can also upload a video with instructions for their students! Like with the grid itself, teachers can share specific topics with students via Classroom – you can create an assignment by sharing the grid! Woohoo!!



When students are ready to create their video, they simply access the link shared by the teacher, and click the record button! Next, your students will be asked to review their video, snap a picture for the grid, and enter their name (and email if you require it) to be visible on the grid. Teachers can provide students with feedback through Flipgrid and can send comments via email!

The possibilities are seemingly endless when it comes to using Flipgrid in the classroom! Teachers can use Flipgrid as …

  • formative assessment –> Use Flipgrid as an exit/entrance ticket!
  • pre-assessment –> Assess prior knowledge!
  • student introductions –> For class AND for global collaborations projects!
  • passion project proposals –> I’m SO doing this next year!
  • book/chapter reviews and discussions –> My students read Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, Thirteen Days, Lord of the Flies, and Animal Farm throughout the year (in different classes!) … I plan to use Flipgrid to supplement discussion boards and other activities we complete throughout these books!
  • HyperDoc reflections –> This will be an AWESOME addition to my growing collection of HyperDocs!
  • Digital BreakoutEDU –> Flipgrid videos can be used in breakouts!
  • Student review –> Students can create a list of topics they feel they need to review for a test and can then create recordings that describe a particular concept or topic!
  • Bonus missions! –> Teachers can encourage students to create raps, songs, poems, etc., that relate to a course concept!

…and so much more! Flipgrid is one of those tools that I’ll add to my favorite edtech tools list!

Teachers can also create global collaboration projects with Flipgrid by selecting “connections,” choosing a grid to share, and then adding a specific goal for the project. Teachers can choose to remove connections at any time … just think of the possibilities!

By the way, have you joined my global collaboration database?!

I’m so excited to explore and use Flipgrid more in my classes! How do you use this fantastic tool in your classroom?

Thanks for reading 🙂

 

Hacking Educational Technology: Tools and Strategies to Engage Students in Learning

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Hello, friends! I’m coming to you during my last full week of teaching face-to-face summer classes, and the beach is calling my name! I’m coming for you, Gulf of Mexico! It’s time to officially share some super exciting news with you – I’m writing a book!! My new book will be published by EdTechTeam in 2018 and will focus on how teachers can use educational technology tools to enhance and transform the learning environment to engage students! I am incredibly excited to get started and am asking for your help!

Before I dive into writing my book, I wanted to check with you about some of the content and direction for my book. Basically, what do you want to learn?

The results of this survey have been so fantastic (if you haven’t completed it, please take a second and do so!) and have really helped me shape the basis for my book.

In addition to tools and strategies concerning QR Codes, Augmented Reality, and Game-Based Learning (plus much more!), I’ll also be including specifics on using GSuite for Education. Since Google has basically taken over the field of technology in education, I would be remiss if I excluded these great tools! I’d really love your input on the direction I take my section on Google tools. I don’t plan to focus on specific tutorials of how to use Google Docs, Drive, etc., because that information is already “out there.” I’ll be diving deeper into how these tools can be used in various transformative ways in the classroom! Tell me what you think by completing this quick survey!

I am PUMPED to share more information with you about transforming your classroom using educational technology tools, and I would love any feedback you can provide! My goal is to write this book as a “go-to” handbook for teachers that provides great tools, useful and practical implementation ideas, as well as additional digital resources to help you continue to learn more about creating an awesome learning environment for your students!

Be sure to join this mailing list to be among the first to receive updates, sneak peeks, and freebies from my new book!

As always, thanks for reading 🙂

 

Sutori + Nearpod = Awesome!

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One of the many great things about teaching dual credit classes during summer school is that all of my students are extremely excited to learn! Classroom management is a breeze with these classes … we’re talking 100% engagement all the time (unless we get off track – which we sometimes do) One of the not-so-awesome parts about teaching summer school is dealing with the roof maintenance … directly over my classroom … during the entire day. Yes, I know. I’m complaining a bit, but it’s difficult to lecture when loud thuds and banging noises are coming from my ceiling and causing my projector to shake. Thank goodness for Nearpod and Sutori!

One of the MANY perks of Nearpod is that it helps me be more mobile in the classroom during lectures and other activities. I can use my phone or iPad to advance the presentation and insert formative assessment questions during the lecture. It’s fabulous! Check out a few more of my favorite Nearpod features here.

Sutori (formerly HSTRY) is a great tool students can use to create interactive timelines. These timelines can include images, videos, text, quizzes, and other great features which can transform a dull presentation into fabulous displays. Teachers can also create groups with Sutori and invite students to these groups with a code. When students have joined the group, teachers can view their project progress.

Neat, right?!

So, how does Nearpod work with Sutori to ease the burden of roof maintenance, you ask?

My students recently completed a Roman Emperor timeline project using Sutori and were about to present their timelines to the class. We realized quickly that day, that we were just not going to be able to hold class in my classroom. How, would we present?

I created a new Nearpod lesson and, since all of my students were in a group on Sutori, I quickly copied and pasted the link to their timeline into my Nearpod lesson. WHAAT?! All of my students were able to view their classmates’ timelines on their computer! No whiteboard needed!

Now, since I added the presentations as websites in my Nearpod lesson, I had my students copy and paste the link from the presentation popup into a new tab (this was not totally necessary, but prevents the issue of losing the page if the tab closes).

Could I have used Google Classroom to share the timelines? Sure. Could I have used Google Docs to accomplish this task? You bet.

However, Nearpod and Sutori worked perfectly together!

I’ve had my students use Nearpod previously to present Google Presentations … and it was fabulous! They loved being able to add interactive elements to their presentations and control what their classmates saw on their screens. However, having students create teacher accounts – especially free accounts that limited their access to features – required them to jump through hurdles, like including a description of their presentation and the appropriate grade levels for their work, was not ideal. I hope Nearpod creates a student account option in the future – how awesome would that be?!

How do you use Sutori?

Thanks for reading 🙂