Welcome to Ms. Discepolo’s

Digital Toolbox!

Educational Technologies:

Storybird

EducreationsPlickers

Popplet Flashcard Machine

Objectives: Identify the benefits/uses of the technological

resources in the digital toolbox Gain a new perspective on ways to utilize these

educational apps and websites in your classroom Learn strategies that can help supplement your

teaching and the learning experiences of your students

Increase your confidence in implementing educational technology in your classroom!

Screencast OrganizationStart with a brief explanation of each

technology toolContinue with outlining the benefits for

students/teaching strategies*Learning Styles, Bloom’s Taxonomy

Finish with ways I would implement the apps/websites in the classroom

* Lesson examples

StoryBird Storybird.com

Students use pictures to inspire the plot, setting and characters for their stories

Simple and easy to navigate*Teachers given the option to create different classes to organize student work after creatingaccount

Protect students privacy Can be used on iPads, tablets and computers

“Artful Storytelling”

StoryBird in the Classroom StoryBird can be used to supplement any ELA, Science,

Social Studies, Phonics or Spelling lesson! The website can be utilized in various ways in the

classroom:

• Teacher creates• Shows to all on SmartBoardWhole Group

• Students work together• iPads, Centers, Computer LabSmall Group

• iPads, Centers, Computer LabPairs/Individual

StoryBird LessonNouns and Adjectives….Oh My!

I’ve created my own storybook to use with a 1st grade class

I imagine gathering the students in front of a Smart Board and having the students work in pairs to identify the nouns and adjectives on each page

*Extension: Students can create their own StoryBird storybooks together utilizing different parts of speech.

Let’s Take a look together!

Evaluation

Synthesis

AnalysisReview stories

ApplicationUsing adjectives and nouns in

their story

ComprehensionSummarize definitions of adjectives and

nouns

KnowledgeRecall adjectives and nouns

Designing their own stories

“Were the stories of my peers correct? Do I really understand the

difference?”

Bloom’s

Taxonomy

StoryBird Lesson

Edu-CreationsEducreations.com

A spin on the Interactive Whiteboard

Can be used on a computer, iPad or tablet Teachers can create an account for free Organization is simple

*The program allows you to create multiple “classes” to organize your whiteboard videos While using Edu-Creations, the user can record his/her

voice, insert pictures and write using a stylus/finger or computer mouse to supplement any lesson

Once complete, you can convert your lesson into a video with a link where you can send and save for future use!

Edu-Creations in the ClassroomThere are multiple ways that you can utilize Edu-creations

in the classroom:

Whole Group Lesson

Pairs/Small Groups

CentersFormative& Summative

Assessments

*Teacher can create an Edu-Creations video to show to the class as a whole group to supplement a lesson topic

*Students can work together to create their own Edu-Creations video to share with their teacher/classmates

* Students can work on creating an Edu-Creations video at any center while using an ipad or tablet!

*Can be used in the beginning, middle or end of a lesson to check for understanding. Students can also save their videos for easy access!

Edu-Creations Lesson

The Magic E Rule! I created an Edu-Creations video to supplement a first

grade phonics/ELA lesson The video serves as a review of the Magic E rule The teacher can show the video at the beginning,

middle or end of the ELA lesson to check for understanding

It is interactive, but leads to a good discussion or an activity of the teacher’s choice

*Teacher note: Stopping the video a few times to have students discuss their thinking with a partner or small groups helps the material to sink into their long term memory!

Let’s take a look together!

Evaluation

Synthesis

AnalysisIdentify the patterns

ApplicationCreating their Edu-Creations video

ComprehensionUnderstand the changes Magic e bring to a

word

KnowledgeRecall Magic E Rule

Listen to their pronunciation of words

and evaluate themselves

Bloom’s

Taxonomy

Edu-Creations Lesson

Plickerswww.plickers.com

QR Codes, Made Easy!

Quick and easy to make a free account on Plickers Only need one device to use Teachers can create multiple classes to organize their

students’ QR codes Each student is assigned a specific QR code number that is

uniquely theirs Simple set up

*Teacher note: Pre-planning is a must with Plickers! Important to print out the QR codes prior to using with students

*Plickers gives immediate feedback on student responses in a graph format!

Plickers in the ClassroomPlickers serves as a great formative

assessment tool: Beginning of the Lesson:

Use as a way to gage students’ prior knowledge before starting a new topic

Middle of the Lesson:

Check for understanding at multiple intervals throughout the lesson

End of the Lesson:

Use Plickers as an “Exit Ticket” to assess quality of student learning

!

You can use

the app for

surveys, too!

Using Plickers with Students

I created my own free account and created a demo class

Creating questions is simple, you get to pick the format of the question

*True/False or Multiple Choice Sample Question: Butterfly Life Cycle For younger students, you can utilize Plickers in the

traditional format – question & answer For older students, you can engage higher ordered

thinking by having them work together to come up with review questions for a given topic!

Butterfly Life Cycle Review

Let’s take a look together!

Evaluation

Synthesis

AnalysisIdentify the patterns

ApplicationIdentifying the correct answer and

QR code

ComprehensionUnderstand the specifics of topic- different

life cycle stages

KnowledgeRecall the skill being reviewed- butterfly life cycle

Review the graph of student responses.

How did the class do as a whole? Do we need to continue reviewing

based on data?

Bloom’s

Taxonomy

Plickers App

Predict the outcome of assessment. Review

options and determine if correct answer was

picked

Popplet

“An interesting way to organize your ideas”

Popplet is an app that can be downloaded from the iTunes store for the iPad and can be used on computers, too

There is a free version, called “Popplet Lite” For a small fee, you can have access to the Popplet app,

which allows you to store all your “Popplets” as PDFs in multiple folders

* There is a school discount should you want to explore creating accounts for each

of your students!

www.popplet.com

Popplet in the Classroom

Popplet is an exceptionally versatile app and can be used in multiple ways for various subjects:

Whole Group

• Teacher Created

• “Brain Storms”

Small Groups

• Students work together

• Discuss their thinking

Centers

• Based on the topics

• Differentiated based on the needs of the students in the groups

Popplet Lessons Popplet can be utilized to fit the needs of almost any

lesson and any subject! I created multiple Popplets on my account to help

prove the versatility of the app Some examples of the Popplets I was able to create

are:

Scientific

Method

Characteristics of a Fable Syllables

Number Bonds

Timelines

Let’s Take a Look Together!

Lesson Pedagogy Depending on how you incorporate the Popplet app in your

lessons/centers, you can have your students move through the stages of Bloom’s Taxonomy

Teachers can also address the different learning styles of their students:

Auditory

Visual

Kinesthetic

• Working with partners/Peers

• Discussion

• Organization of “Popplets”

• Placement of topics

• Using iPad/Computer

• Moving “Popplets”

Flashcard Machinewww.flashcardmachine.com

An innovative strategy to practice study skills!

Flashcard Machine is a free resource Can be used on any computer, iPad, tablet, iPhone

and Android device Allows the user to create flashcards using various

online assets that traditional flashcards lack*Pictures and Audio

Collaboration Easy organization * Built in study sessions, quizzes and

games built in for students!

Flashcard Machine in the ClassroomThere are many strategies that go beyond the traditional use of flashcards in the classroom…

Wh

ole

Gro

up

* Teacher

created*Show to the class at different intervals of a lesson*Work as a whole class to answer

Sm

all

Gro

up *

Teacher/Student created*Work together to identify the terms needed for a given topic/lesson

Cen

ters * Students can

use an iPad or tablet to practice facts*Create their own flashcards to use with the class

The website can also be used for different topics, too!

Spelling

PracticeClassroom

Rules

Brain

BreaksPronunciation

And many more…

Flashcard Machine Lesson I created a set of flashcards about maps/globes For the lesson, I imagine this set as a teacher

“exemplar” Students would be put in heterogeneous groups to

brainstorm vocabulary terms they think are most important to review before a test/quiz

*One group might focus on maps, others on globes, or map features, etc.

The groups would work together to create the flashcards to eventually share with the class

Important class discussion about the terms picked and the definitions

* “Do we agree on these terms? Is there one that’s missing?”

Evaluation

Synthesis

AnalysisAnalyze the terms picked

ApplicationIdentifying the correct answer and

terms needed

ComprehensionUnderstand the specifics of the vocabulary

terms

KnowledgeRecall the skills being addressed- Map Skills

Review the terms/definitions of

each group. Were there other terms that you think were missing or lacking? What would

you change?

Bloom’s

Taxonomy

Flashcard Machine Lesson

Determine patterns regarding the terms picked by groups

Final Note

I hope you found this video and the educational technology resources discussed helpful and

informative! Please feel free to check these resources out for yourself and try them in your own classrooms.

It might help not only inform your teaching, but change the learning experiences of your students, as

well!

Check out

happy4teaching

website for more

PPT templates!

Thanks for checking out my Digital Toolbox!