Power of Pinterest

Many of you have heard of Pinterest and have probably already been using it for your own personal likes and interests. However, there are also several uses for the classroom as well!

For those of you new to Pinterest, it's basically an online "bulletin board." It is a place to organize information that you want to access again in the future. For instance, on my personal account I keep a board for recipes, DIY projects, and outfits I wish I had in my closet! I also have boards for math lesson plans and writing ideas. The great thing is that you can share it with your followers and vice versa. I love that it allows me to organize, share, and save in one location.

I have been using Pinterest for a couple of years now and have found numerous lesson plans and activities. There are so many collections that are already ready to go right at your fingertips. You can simply type in the subject you are working on and the search will give lots of options that you can pin to your board. I have recently started pinning in class with some of the students and they LOVE it! (I set up a different account separate from my original personal account.) The first board that we created together was a "College Bound" board to get them familiar with using the program. I see them pinning potential colleges along with the admission requirements quite a bit on their own time.

Some have also used them to collect research for different projects. It allows them to organize the information and then share it with their group members. They can even set up a board that they all pin to.

I keep a board of approved websites that they can use when they are finished with work.

A few other ideas:
1. Let students use as a virtual field trip.
2. Use as a photo journal.
3. Create a board of quotes as inspiration and use for a writing project.
4. Create a reading list.
5. Use for a historical figures presentation.
6. Create an online bibliography.

Feel free to follow me on my school Pinterest account!

http://pinterest.com/missaturner/

DropBox

I wanted to share something with you we have known about for a while, and I think we may have shared it last year.  I was reminded of it yet again at a session this year at TCEA.  

How many times have you worked on a project for work  (lesson plans, a presentation, etc…) at home only to get to work and realize you FORGOT your USB that you saved it on?  This can be SOOO frustrating!  This is why you should use  DropBox!  DropBox is a FREE (up to 2 GB) file hosting program that you can download on multiple computers, access online, and access by smart phone.   I can work on something at home, save it to my DropBox account, and access it from ANYWHERE I have internet access.  I can share folders with friends or co-workers so that we can work together on projects.  Amanda and I used it as we started to work on our TCEA presentation.  She created a folder in her DropBox titled TCEA 2013.  If she was at home and came up with a great idea she would go to DropBox, type up or create her idea, and save it.  It automatically went into a folder that I could access anytime I logged into Drop Box. I could see what she added and add to it if I wanted to.  This is a great way to collaborate with other teachers.  It would also be great for students to work on group projects together.  If your computer crashes—NO PROBLEM!  All of your files are saved on DropBox!  

At the conference they showed examples of collaboration between students working on projects, teachers working on lesson plans, classes working together on projects, and ongoing individual student projects that the students added to throughout the year. 

Future Me

Futureme.org is a website where students can go to send themselves an email in the future.  IN THE FUTURE?  Yes, that’s right!  I think this would be great for helping students to set goals and then monitor themselves along the way to make sure they are staying on track with their goals.  I can see a teacher having them do this at the beginning of the school year.  Have each student set a few goals and then on the last day of school go back and check to see how they did on those goals.  The teacher won’t have to remember to do this because futureme.org will automatically send the email to the student on the date that was designated in the original email (this could be at the end of the semester, a year, two years, etc…).  If they aren’t on track, this may just give them the “wake up call”  they need to get headed back in the right direction.  It can also be used from year to year by the students as they move on.  On a personal note I think it’s neat that I can email myself something that I won’t receive for a couple of years, and I can look back and see where I was and how far I have come.

Mentimeter

Those of you who use Poll Everywhere know that it is a great way to get feedback from your students.  They can text in an answer to a question or answer by way of the computer.  You get instant feedback that  you can display for the class. This is helpful when you have a student who is reluctant to speak up, when you want to check for understanding, or when you just want to make sure that everyone is paying attention.   Mentimeter is very similar to Poll Everywhere.  It is just another great FREE tool to help keep students actively engaged in your lessons. 

Croak It!

Those of you who use online voice recorders like Vocaroo or Soundcloud  know that these web apps have many uses. Students can use these for things like storytelling, summarizing, explaining concepts, etc.  One thing that can be a pain though is that most of these voice recorders use Flash . Flash is not a bad thing by any means, but it seems to be on it's way out and it is not supported on iOS devices.  Since we are using the iPod Touch and iPad more and more in our classrooms we need something to replace these Flash-based recorders.

I learned about Croak It!  at TCEA this week.  It  is a great  replacement that will work with all iOS devices.  Some of the reasons Croak It! is so great is:

• No registration required (this is critical for student use)!
• Free ...YES FREE!!!!  All teachers LOVE free stuff!!!
• Has both Android and iOS apps
• Can also be used online with a computer as a Flash-based web app
• Creates a unique URL for each recording
• Can add a CroakIt! button to your own website!
• The recording is private only to you (or whoever has the URL to your recording)
• Can post to Twitter or Facebook
• The frog logo is super cute!

So whether students use the computer,an iPad or an iPod Touch they can record their feedback or explanations regarding specific topics. Then they can share the generated URL however they want (Edmodo, Kidblog, etc.). 

 Check it out:  http://croak.it/

iPad Users

This tip is for those of you that are using your iPads to teach. If you're like me, you're constantly unplugging and plugging in the projector from laptop to iPad and back and forth! It becomes a real pain! But this year we came across some really cool programs while at TCEA that will eliminate ALL of that plugging and unplugging!

There are now a couple of apps that can be downloaded on your computer or some on your iPad that allow the two devices to act as a mirror, which means there is no need to even plug the iPad in! The one most people at TCEA were using this week was Reflector. Tammy Worcester (a technology integration guru!) also notes Air Server as a great program to use.

While we are on the subject, you should also subscribe to Tammy Worcester on her website. Her website is FULL of ideas, tips, and tricks! Don't try to read it all at once or you will be on overload!

TCEA 2013

Each year that Crystal and I attend the annual technology conference, we create a website to share the things that we are learning. However, we have found that these websites tend to be overwhelming b/c we are taking in so much information and it is hard for all of you to read and click through all of that information. This year we have decided to create this blog to share little tidbits of information that you will be able to take and use in your classroom.

This week will share a few of the ones we are most excited about and then we will share a couple each week or so throughout the rest of the year that we feel will be helpful for you in your classrooms. We would love it if you subscribe to our blog that way you will be notified anytime that we do add another tip. I promise that we will only choose things that won't be difficult for you to learn and implement! As a classroom teacher I know how important that is!

If you have something specific you are looking for or if you have questions, always feel free to ask! If I can't figure it out, I probably know someone that can. :)

Happy reading!