As the school year kicks off, teachers are finding new ways to motivate, energize, and empower students. At the same time, teachers are competing for the attention of our students with technology. The best thing we can do is find ways to use technology to our advantage - to help turn our students into engaged, responsible, problem-solvers. Easier said than done, right?
This morning, I found an article from Mind/Shift that talks about five critical skills to empower students in a digital age. Overall the article was really insightful, but one thing I found that was really doable was teaching students how to use Google correctly. Thankfully, one of the best resources for figuring out how to use Google correctly is, you guessed it, Google!
When I teach search skills to my students, the first thing I do is show them this video so they get a better idea of how search works.
In fact, this video is straight from the Google Search Education Lesson Plans. They have many different levels of difficulty broken down into modules. Each module has three levels that have a lesson and presentation. Feel free to check out the lesson plans and see if you can use them. I've used them and the students have seemed to enjoy the challenge. Speaking of challenges, there is a Google a Day activity where users are presented with a challenging question and tasked with using Googling skills to find the answer.
Some of my favorite Google tips and tricks focus on making my life a little bit easier (or more interesting)
Voice Search: My phone comes with the "Ok, Google" tool which allows me to voice command Google. I can search the Internet, compose text messages, set alarms, etc.
Weather: Key the word "weather" in conjunction with a city to get instant weather for that area - try it out with your city - for example, Kansas City Weather
Keep in mind you can also Google kansas city weather or weather kansas city and get the same results!
Definitions: Key the word "define" in front of a word you don't know to instantly find the definition.
Math: Type math problems, like 3*34982734, in the search bar for an instant answer.
There are many more options for Google users, including currency conversions, facts, translations, etc. In fact, a quick Google search will return a lot of 'cool' things Google can do.
Now, you may be asking yourself, "Self, why do I need to teach my students how to use Google? They've grown up around technology..." Here's the reason...teaching students a simple task, like learning how to complete a proper Google search, empowers them to take control of their learning. As teachers, it is our job to help students become the best learners possible. If a student knows how to find information, they are able to use the Internet to find answers to other problems and find information about their interests.
Pinterest is one of my favorite social media networks. I love it because it's visual and the user has the ability to create boards and pins based on their own needs. I love Pinterest so much, in fact, that I presented a session on how it could be used in the classroom at a state conference. If you're interested in the entire presentation, it's below - but don't worry, I'll hit the high points in this post!
Before we go any further, check out this video if you aren't familiar with Pinterest. It will make the rest of the post make more sense!
In my 'research,' I found that you can separate Pinterest into 4 main areas (educationally speaking, of course!) that include inspiration, unit and lesson planning, professional connections, and fun.
Pinterest can be used as inspiration for classroom decor, organization, and projects. One project that I'm going to use as a 'getting to know you' activity for my marketing students is the Food Truck Project that I found on Pinterest and adapted to my needs. Students will create a food truck, a menu, and an advertisement that represents either their summer or their personality. It will be a change of pace for students and a great way for them to start working on the first day. I would recommend creating boards for different things to keep it more organized. One thing I wish that Pinterest offered was sub-boards, but that's just the OCD in me! :)
The next use for Pinterest goes hand-in-hand with inspiration - unit and lesson planning. I have boards for each of the classes that I teach and I store activities, resources, printables, etc. on those boards. You could take it a step further and create boards for different units, too. I've also started to use Pinterest to gather ideas for DECA (the career and technical student organization I advise). You can create your own content (pins) which allows you to customize your boards even more. The only drawback is that some websites don't have enough images to create a pin.
Pinterest is also a good place to find professional connections. You can follow fellow educators, as well as popular websites. More businesses are starting to recognize the importance of Pinterest as a social media network and are creating profiles. Edutopia, one of my favorite blogs, has a Pinterest page with over 75 boards! Conversation can be limited on Pinterest but users can comment and send messages.
The last use for Pinterest is to use it for fun. It's important for everyone to take some personal time to relax and decompress after a long day. Pinterest allows you to explore your hobbies and find new ones!
If you administration allows you to use social media networks in your classroom, there are uses for Pinterest - especially in group projects! Check out the later slides in my Prezi to see how I would use it in the classroom.
Pinterest is very easy to learn, but there are some tips that I have for being a socially responsible pinner.
Be descriptive! Name and tag boards so your pins show up in searches conducted by other users. Also, make sure that the description on the pin is relevant to the pin or that you give more information.
Validity! Does the pin you want to share actually take the user to the right location? Nobody wants to be rickrolled.
Participate! Make sure if you find something that you think would be valuable that you create a pin. Pinterest has add-ons for browsers to include a Pin It Now button.
Hopefully you have the opportunity to explore how you can use Pinterest in your classroom! Below is the Prezi I referenced earlier if you would like more information.
It feels like I'm on a never-ending mission to figure out how to organize all 2,879 tabs in a way that makes sense to me and a way that would make sense to other people if they need to look at my notes.
Some people (read: most people) would say that I have a touch of OCD, so organization is one of my favorite things. This is the tool that I'm currently exploring for personal and
professional organization. So far, I've been pretty impressed with
Evernote. It has several features that are useful, including multiple platform syncing, folders/sub-folders, formatting, etc. All of these features add up to a very powerful organizational tool.
I'm a list-maker and I've made my lists on envelopes, Post-It notes, scrap sheets of paper...you name it, I've probably written on it and then lost it. Evernote has helped me keep better track of my lists and get more accomplished. I can create a note (or to-do list) on one device, like my laptop, and view
it on my Android cellphone or my iPad.
I can also have multiple notebooks with different notes inside of them -
this makes organizing school stuff and personal stuff easy. Some
additional features that I would like to explore are tags, note-sharing, and
reminders!
Here's a screenshot of some of the features in Evernote:
So far, Evernote is meeting all of the needs I have for organization - you
could say it's Evernote everlasting.
Going into our second year of 1:1 iPads, I thought it would be a good time to find ways to teach my students new technologies. Google Drive is a great way for teachers and students to collaborate and
integrate new technology into the teaching and learning process. What I like most about Google Drive is the ability for students to have free access to programs similar to Microsoft Office. In a low-income district, this is a great benefit.
In my attempts to teach students new technologies, I have decided to allow them to utilize Google Drive in some of their beginning of the year activities.
One of the most important parts of the new school year is getting to
know your students. Building a relationship with them is what makes
long days and weeks possible. One of the ways that I get to know my
students is through a quick survey at the beginning of the year. I give
students the survey on the first full day of school as a bellringer.
Not only does this allow me to greet the students at the door, but it
give me an opportunity to walk around the room and take attendance -
checking for pronunciation and nicknames. The survey has been put into Google Forms and is still a work in process, but here it is if you would like to check it out! In addition to the practical reasons I like the survey, it really does let me get to know some important personal information about my students. Getting them to open up helps segue into our first real assignment. I also take time to answer the questions my students want to ask me during the first few days of class.
Google Drive, specifically Google Slides, can be incorporated into their first real assignment - the About Me Presentation. This assignment gives students a long list of things to pick from that will give their classmates (and me!) more information about them. Allowing them to use Google Drive to complete the assignment can make the process of including photos from home in the presentation. I like this assignment because you get to see students working on something they are already experts on - themselves! I believe the students like it because I share an About Me Presentation with them about my life. They are always shocked when they find out I was born in Japan.
On a somewhat unrelated note, I stumbled upon an article that was refreshing. As a secondary teacher (especially business), I often feel underwhelmed when it comes to resources and articles. I'll admit that it could be my own fault, but it was nice to read an article from Love, Teach about secondary classroom management. She mentions several tips (5, to be exact) that I could see implementing in my classroom. Plus, she incorporates humor into her posts - I love humor! One of the tips I'm going to work very, very hard to implement is the one about using a quiet voice. I'm a naturally loud person - my husband swears I'm the loudest person he knows - so this is a challenge, but I really believe it could be effective.
Learning Management Systems (LMS) are becoming more popular in today's educational environment - I believe it's because of the increase in digital learning and technology initiatives. I've had experience with Moodle, Blackboard, and Canvas. This week, I looked into a new LMS called Schoology.
If you're not familiar with Schoology (or LMS in general) take two-minutes and watch this video:
Here are some features of Schoology that I found helpful!
It's FREE! Schoology has a free version that is full of features that make classroom implementation easy and worthwhile. There is a paid version, but I think free version does the trick. To see everything the free version has to offer, click here.
It looks like Facebook Students and teachers are pretty familiar with Facebook. Once materials and assignments are added, the feed resembles Facebook.. This isn't going to revolutionize the teaching and learning process, but students understand the flow - newer items are at the top and older items are near the bottom. The comment feature allows students the opportunity to ask questions directly, too.
Folders, On Folders, On Folders One struggle many teachers face is how to organize all of the 'stuff'' that comes will being a teacher. Probably my favorite feature of Schoology is the ability to organize the resources. I like the fact that I can store, in sequential order, files, links, assignments, quizzes, etc. for a unit. Here is a screenshot from my folders - I would do more organization, but this is just a start.
Media Album Like Facebook, Schoology allows users to create albums. This feature has potential because I could see creating pictures of slides and posting them in the album - questions could be posed on the pictures and students could answer them in the comments section.
There are many more reasons that educators should check out Schoology, these are just some that were important to me and my classroom. To see how Schoology can make a difference in your classroom, head over and sign up for an account today!
For those of you unaware of what a lurker is, a lurker is someone who views content on the internet (blogs, tweets, forums, etc.) but doesn't contribute.
I've been a lurker for some time because I didn't know how to interact with people who were sharing this information. This week, I was introduced to some tricks and tools to help me move from a lurker to a contributor.
The first tool is Diigo. Diigo is a social bookmarking website that allows users to collect, annotate, and access information on a variety of platforms including Apple and Android! Diigo has their own YouTube channel (DiigoBuzz) that has videos for users to learn more about using Diigo. Here is a video that provides a brief overview of some of my favorite features:
In the past, I've been using Pinterest to store articles that I've found to be worth sharing with my class or others, but Diigo's interactive features make it much more helpful. I love the highlight and sticky note features because it allows me to take the notes on the article and share them with peers.
Speaking of peers, the second 'tool' that I was reintroduced to was Twitter. I've been a Twitter user since March 2011, but I've never really contributed to it in a professional manner. I've been a lurker. I use the term reintroduced because I have started to take a more professionally active approach to Twitter. Two of the hashtags that I've decided to start following are #EdChat and #BusEdu. #EdChat seems to be a broad education category, there were posts about classroom management, technology, and common core. It was nice to see a wide variety of posts because it was refreshing to be able to go from one thing to the next. The second hashtag, #BusEdu, was more personalized to business education topics.
As a result of what I saw in the hashtags, I decided to stop lurking and start participating!
Now, it's okay to take baby steps - in fact, I encourage it. Find one or two (maybe three!) things you want to focus on and make it a habit. Once you have become comfortable with them, add new things! Last week, I learned about Feedly. This week, I'm using Feedly more consistently, taking those articles that resonant with me, adding them to my Diigo account, and tweeting them using #EdChat and #BusEdu.
Whatever you decide to do, I encourage you to move from lurking to participating. It really is a great way to learn more about being a better educator.
As a high school business education teacher, I have a love-hate relationship with education blogs. In the past, it seemed like the blogs were focused on elementary or core classes or the technologies weren’t feasible in my district. There were a few that I found that I enjoyed reading, but I would forget or get too busy to visit them for new content.
This is one of the tools that we learned about this week, and so far, I like it! It has a very simple user interface and connects with my Google account. Feedly became popular as a replacement for Google Reader, and today there are roughly 15 million users and 40 million sources. Set up is very easy, but if you’re looking for a short video, here is one for you!
Feedly also has a mobile app for Android, iOS, and Kindle. I’ve downloaded the app for my Android and it seems very smooth - they also have a widget for those who don’t like to open the app every time.
I’m looking forward to discovering (and actually reading) more education blogs and I think that Feedly will help this. One of the blogs that I found today, and look forward to reading, is Ideas and Thoughts. The writing style of the author, Dean Shareski, is very easy to read. Shareski focuses on using technology in the classroom, but I feel his approach is much more realistic than some other technology blogs on the Internet.
Speaking of technology, this week I was introduced to VideoNot.es today. I’ve taken several classes about technology and sat through numerous PD sessions, but this tool may be one of the coolest (and most useful) that I’ve seen so far. One of my biggest internal dilemmas as a teacher is the concept of guided notes. I have this monologue going on in my head that if I don’t give students guided notes they won’t take any, but students aren’t given guided notes in college. What intrigues me about VideoNot.es is that there is a video that is embedded on the left side of the screen and then there is a note taking space on the right side of the screen, but a timestamp is noted as users key their notes. The videos and notes are saved in a Google Drive folder and can be shared with other users. With the increased emphasis on flipped learning, this could be fantastic! I can also see students recording presentations or responses to assignments and then using the tool as a way to reflect on their own work or provide constructive criticism to classmates.
What are some of your favorite education blogs or technology tools?
