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.
