August Squeeze! Socratve and LiveBinder

I did this! Not such a slacker, eh?

 I seriously though about this being the last day of August and if I wasn't going to be a total slacker I better get a post in. So pathetic!

But- I do have two good tools that if I did not mention before they certainly deserve a closer look. Let's start with Socrative. Awesome FREE Web 2.0 tool. Create a free account and your students are able to log in either through the web or the iPad app with no account necessary from them. Once there you can use Socrative for review questions, exit tickets, test, and more. Socrative is especially helpful for formative assessment because it makes the checking quick and easy. There are games to play with any of your tests or quizzes. My students loved the Space Race. If your students have access to computers or iPads on a regular basis you may find this a regular part of your lessons. 

The other web based tool that I finally used to create and share with people is LiveBinder. LiveBinder is exactly what it sounds like- a binder, with tabs and everything. What I used it for was a professional development session my principal requested I help him put together. He gave me two videos he wanted us to view and a series of questions to answer. The challenge was how could I put this all together online and keep it all in one place? LiveBinder to the rescue! 

What I discovered was that by using the tabs and inserting the different content choices I could put videos on a page and have sub tabs underneath each main tab containing a question to answer. I then inserted a Padlet (another great web tool) right on the page. All the teachers had to do was read, click, type and they were done. So simple! I also love the option to make the binder private and require a passcode to enter. This made our PD just for our school.

My principal was happy, I was thrilled and I think the teachers found it easy also.

I have been at workshops where a leader has used LiveBinders to organize the details of the workshop but I had never used it to create something for someone to actually use. So....Go check out LiveBinders. There are many great public binders that might be helpful for your own use. But do think about how you might be able to use this for your students.

End of the School Year musings and Social Bookmarking

So the end of this school year is fast approaching. I always feel like I have more to say than I have time to say it in. There have been some frustrating moments in the year but also many exciting happenings. I was evaluating how our technology has improved at my school. I recently sent a survey out to the teachers inquiring what form of technology did they integrate in their lessons. It was a commendable list of things ranging from Edmodo (a very popular choice) to presentation tools like Prezi and Glogster. This list was quite encouraging especially remembering how little teachers would use in the past. So this is a step in the right direction.

One of the questions I asked was what technology infused projects or assignments were given to students. Here is where we lack. Outside of Microsoft Word (which technically is using technology), the list was quite short. This area is where we need to focus in the year ahead. I love walking down our school halls and seeing all the wonderful posters, book reports and models but I often wonder how teachers can branch out and encourage their students to do the same assignments but in another way other than using a poster board. A challenge indeed.

Perhaps in getting teachers to use some simple tools, they can see how these tools can also help their students. One such tool would be to create and organize internet bookmarks. Very simple yet very productive. My personal favorite is Delicious. I would have to say that 99% of my bookmarks are here. I have begun using the stacks feature to create groupings of links. This has been especially helpful when teachers ask me to find links for their students. A science teacher at my school has asked me many times for links to topics that her students are studying. I find and create stacks, send her the link, which she shares with her students. I am told the students try to finish their work so they can go explore the links. Lifelong learners in the making. My stacks are not particularly large and sometimes it is tricky finding interactive features. Nonetheless, it adds to their learning experience. Here is a link to a stack I put together for her class when they were studying geology.

Some thoughts about Delicious that you should consider: First of all Delicious is a "social bookmarking site" and could likely be blocked at your school because of the "social" nature. In the site you are able to search the community's links so doing a search might turn up some links that you don't want your students to be exploring. Secondly, in the terms of use, Delicious does state that their site in not intended for those under the age of 13. If your student population is mostly under this age you might consider some alternative bookmarking sites.

This list contains some great for teachers and adults but some not so great for the under 13 crowd:
Live Binders- Terms of use state that you must be 13 to register for an account and there are public binders that are easily accessible. So- good for teachers- not so good for under 13
Diigo- now this is a social bookmarking site that initially I did not like. It just did not seem user friendly. Too many options? However, looking back at it I see they now offer an education account. So Diigo now looks very promising for classroom use. I'll have to play more with this education account and post about it later.