Get out of the

teaching rut

Steve Young @atemyshorts

blog: http://ctotechnotes.blogspot.com/

Too often class only looks like this

https://www.flickr.com/photos/x1brett/8677700404/

And results in this…

You know what a good

classroom looks like

(and what it doesn’t)

www.crazylearner.org

But school gets more

interesting when tech is a

embedded in the learning

If your school, and your school day, is not

about students collaborating, connecting, and

building knowledge and understanding

together, why would anyone come?

-- Scott McLeod

Tech&Learning, March 2014

The true value of

technology lies not in

learning to use the

technology, but in using

the technology to learn.

http://multiplepathways.wordpress.com/2013/12/02/2-

the-real-power-of-technology-in-schools/

A few practical tools and

sites to help jump start a

classroom

Schoology

• www.schoology.com

• Simple, free, and easy to use, yet powerful Learning

Management System

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uqc1xE2H9Wg

Animoto • www.animoto.com

• Simple and powerful presentation video creator – free for

staff and students

• Great ideas:

http://animoto.com/blog/education/education-videos/

• Create your first video:

http://animoto.com/blog/news/creating-your-first-animoto-

video/

Content Curation & Lesson Creation

• Blendspace

– Super free tool to aggregate content and build lessons.

– https://www.blendspace.com/

– Some examples:

• https://www.blendspace.com/gallery

• Lesson Paths

– A free, great way to bring together disparate web content for

learning or for flipping.

– http://www.lessonpaths.com/

– Some examples:

• http://www.lessonpaths.com/categories/browsePlaylists/acade

mic

Google Apps

• http://www.google.com/enterprise/apps/education/

• Never ending uses

– 32 Ways to Use Google Apps in Schools and Classrooms:

• https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1_6fh7wXkugHQbbA2IL

rjsFqysvclJCbul2I3Oc912D8/present?authkey=COej0pME#slide

=id.i0

Socrative

www.socrative.com

Socrative is great for discussions,

brainstorming, assessment, etc. Similar

to Poll Everywhere, GoSoapBox, etc.

ExitTicket • www.exitticket.org

• Deep student response and intervention system

– Warning: Add-ons cost $$

• Would be especially useful in a 1 to 1 environment

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cUt2mHEiVn8

Class Dojo

• www.classdojo.com

• Great, free classroom behavior management system

– Can help engage students and parents

• Probably best suited for middle and elementary school

• Teacher explains her use:

http://thepinspiredteacher.blogspot.com/2013/03/techspir

ed-tuesday-using-class-dojo-for.html

Communicate

• Class Messenger

– Free teacher, parent, & student messaging

service (phone #’s kept private)

– Two way communication

– http://www.scholastic.com/classmessenger/ • https://my.classmessenger.com/

• Remind

– Safe, easy, and free way to send info to

student and parents

• Keeps numbers private

• Only one way communication

– https://www.remind.com/

Other Great Resources

• Blooms Taxonomy Apps – The mother of all tool kits for

teaching

– https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0Ar0FfDINz1

W_dGdwRTFUQlJYbGE0VWNXSUZCMWRjaVE&usp=sharing

#gid=0

• 21st Century Teaching Resources – Incredibly deep list of

resources, by category

– http://www.educatorstechnology.com/p/blog-page_7.html

• 45 Tools in 45 Minutes

– https://sites.google.com/a/esc6.net/45-tools-in-45-minutes/