Thursday, 21 June 2012
Creating notes in Evernote
I had mentioned Evernote in a posting last month while discussing details from the SSAAM conference in Winnipeg. I had the opportunity to put it into full-fledged practice today. I attended a meeting with the Student Services Administrator for the Interlake School Division and the resource teacher who provided so much technological expertise and training to division employees and families this year. We went over some of the details of the TILT position and projected the first few months of work in the new school year. As the whirlwind of ideas came rushing at me, I literally splattered the page with information. Taking notes on an iPad or laptop would have been more effective and appropriate, but the iPad I'll be using next year hadn't officially been released to my eager hands. So, I jotted details down in a haphazard format and hoped for the best. When I got home for the night and had the iPad in hands, I opened up the Evernote website, logged into my account and began to create notebooks for all the schools we had discussed and the particular needs of the students in attendance. I refered to my scribbled page of notes and created a new note for each notebook. At the end of the half hour, I had twelve notebooks with details about the roles of key players at each school and tasks that needed to be completed over the summer and into the early fall. What I love about this app is that it is truly an organizational marvel. If I want to take photos of displays, I can snap a pic, store it in a notebook and Evernote can actually search for words within that display. It takes voice recordings, which may be a useful tool when I'm too rushed to take notes during a school day. Those recorded memos can be stored within a notebook as well. I just started using this application, but I see it as being a great electronic organizer and something that has a lot of potential in an educational setting as well.
Wednesday, 20 June 2012
Which app for what?
I know it has been a little while since my last post, but I thought I would pop on here quickly to make note of an interesting app site called www.appadvice.com. It takes all the lovely apps in the Apple store and sorts them into a visually appealing, user-friendly array based on categories. If you are an avid guitarist, there is a category for you to explore. Engaged to be married? There are a variety of apps sorted into a wedding planning category as well. Once you have chosen a category, click on a desired app and it redirects you to the Apple store for purchase. There are both free and paid apps displayed with a short description accompanying each app. Check out the apps for teachers category about halfway down the homepage!
Monday, 11 June 2012
Quizlet
In looking for a way to help students with reading and writing difficulties study terms for their Geography exam, I came across a useful website called quizlet.com. This site is great for two reasons. First, it allows teachers or students to plug in terms and definitions to study for onto flashcards, which will read the written text aloud to the student when the student presses the speaker icon. Second, it allows the student to play the 'scatter' game. Clicking on the term and moving it to the matching definition causes the information to magically disappear. There is even a timer at the top of the page which keeps track of how long the student takes to match up the definitions to the terms. Either of these applications are a great way to add variety to a student's exam preparation. I created an account easily and made sure that the sets of flashcards that I had created for each chapter were available for public viewing. Students don't need to create an account or have a password in hand to get access to this digital format.
Monday, 28 May 2012
For your Viewing Purposes
The internet can be overwhelming for teachers with the number of webpages to scour for appropriate, educational content that can be viewed and implemented in the classroom. Many teachers rely on YouTube as a source for video content that can be used in an educational setting, but there are plenty of other great websites to peruse to find the right video for instructional purposes. I've complied a brief list of a few video resources and have tried to cover a wide base of subject areas and applications. Please check these out for your upcoming lessons and offer the list to your students for their own use.
Vimeo is a great resource for both creating and viewing videos. The website has videos in a wide variety of categories and has an informative video tutorial for those interesting in improving their own video creating skills.
School tube is a great way to connect students who need to be away for extra-curricular activities or illness to what has been completed or discussed in class. This website allows you to sign up as an institution and essentially create your own channel, which you can use to 'broadcast' your lessons, class discussions, whatever you are doing on a particular day in the classroom, to students who are absent from class. All you need is a camera, the ability to upload video to the website, and voila! Your students can view what took place in class and get a similar experience with what you've presented live in class, in video format.
If you are looking for a way to present new concepts in class or having students complete a research project on science related content, Untamed Science would be worthwhile to check out. It has articles that students can read and related videos on topics such as cell biology, genetics, and world biomes.
WatchKnowLearn.org is a compilation of thousands of educational videos compiled from multiple sources. There is an app available for this site.
How Stuff Works will feed the curious mind. It shows behind the scences video, demonstrating the inner works of everyday activities and processes.
The last, (but not the least useful) website I'd like to mention is Math t.v. This website, created by Charles P. McKeague, a recognized college math professor and math textbook developer, offers tutorials on a variety of math concepts and there are often a choice of 'tutors' that offer their assistance with each topic. Basic math concepts such as expanded notation, word problems, and rounding numbers are explained as well as more sophisticated concepts related to calculus and trigonometry.
There are plenty of websites that I haven't explored here, but will definitely mention in posts to come!
Vimeo is a great resource for both creating and viewing videos. The website has videos in a wide variety of categories and has an informative video tutorial for those interesting in improving their own video creating skills.
School tube is a great way to connect students who need to be away for extra-curricular activities or illness to what has been completed or discussed in class. This website allows you to sign up as an institution and essentially create your own channel, which you can use to 'broadcast' your lessons, class discussions, whatever you are doing on a particular day in the classroom, to students who are absent from class. All you need is a camera, the ability to upload video to the website, and voila! Your students can view what took place in class and get a similar experience with what you've presented live in class, in video format.
If you are looking for a way to present new concepts in class or having students complete a research project on science related content, Untamed Science would be worthwhile to check out. It has articles that students can read and related videos on topics such as cell biology, genetics, and world biomes.
WatchKnowLearn.org is a compilation of thousands of educational videos compiled from multiple sources. There is an app available for this site.
How Stuff Works will feed the curious mind. It shows behind the scences video, demonstrating the inner works of everyday activities and processes.
The last, (but not the least useful) website I'd like to mention is Math t.v. This website, created by Charles P. McKeague, a recognized college math professor and math textbook developer, offers tutorials on a variety of math concepts and there are often a choice of 'tutors' that offer their assistance with each topic. Basic math concepts such as expanded notation, word problems, and rounding numbers are explained as well as more sophisticated concepts related to calculus and trigonometry.
There are plenty of websites that I haven't explored here, but will definitely mention in posts to come!
Monday, 7 May 2012
The Start of Something Good
This is the start of my blogging journey. I hope this blog will be a way for students, colleagues, parents, and the general public to get access to great information related to technology AND inclusion. My journey into assisting students and teachers with infusing technology in the classroom has begun and I am tingling with excitement~!
I attended the Student Services Administrators Association of Manitoba (SSAAM) conference on Friday, May 4, 2012. The keynote speakers in the morning brought forth some great insight into the movement towards inclusion within school divisions in Manitoba and Saskatchewan, but the afternoon sessions for which I registered were fabulous! I attended a presentation by a kindergarten/resource teacher/technology mentor who's infused technology into her classroom in so many ways it was a bit mind-boggling! Devon Caldwell, who works in Fort La Bosse School Division, presented some varied and fun ways to infuse software, social media, and communication via the computer in an educational setting. With a SMART board, lap top, and projector, she shared some great resources to use in the classroom to collaborate with colleagues, communicate with other communities and parents, and keep herself organized while meeting the needs of a busy group of students. This is a master teacher at work!
Here is a list, with a brief description of each, of some of the apps and online resources that Devon presented in an hour's time. All are free and available for download from the websites listed below:
www.starfall.com
I attended the Student Services Administrators Association of Manitoba (SSAAM) conference on Friday, May 4, 2012. The keynote speakers in the morning brought forth some great insight into the movement towards inclusion within school divisions in Manitoba and Saskatchewan, but the afternoon sessions for which I registered were fabulous! I attended a presentation by a kindergarten/resource teacher/technology mentor who's infused technology into her classroom in so many ways it was a bit mind-boggling! Devon Caldwell, who works in Fort La Bosse School Division, presented some varied and fun ways to infuse software, social media, and communication via the computer in an educational setting. With a SMART board, lap top, and projector, she shared some great resources to use in the classroom to collaborate with colleagues, communicate with other communities and parents, and keep herself organized while meeting the needs of a busy group of students. This is a master teacher at work!
Here is a list, with a brief description of each, of some of the apps and online resources that Devon presented in an hour's time. All are free and available for download from the websites listed below:
www.starfall.com
- A great resource for completing calendar activities
- A software app that can be downloaded to smartphones and computers. It helps keeps documents organized, allows you to take notes, create to-do lists, view PDFs, take photos of objects anywhere with text and then search for that handwritten or printed text within those saved images. Devon uses this app to collect, store, and organize assessment data for her students.
- This website allows you to set up an account in which you can input the phone numbers of your contacts, record a message that can be sent out to all your friends, colleagues, etc. Free and simple to use.
- A free downloadable software which takes your photos or photos you've comnpiled online and allows you to create a collage.
- An online resource that allows you to browse artwork and type up the story to match. You can choose an artist or a theme and allow your creativity to take you away!
- A great resource for pre-created SMART board activities related to math.
- A resource for creating original, animated video presentations using your own photos and selections from their online music library. Available for free download to your computer or mobile device.
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