Technology and Learning

One of the BEST things one can do as a teacher is continue his/her education.  Whether it's reading professional books, attending conferences, or conversing with others, learning should continue to take place.  I really feel that is teachers quit learning, what's in it for the students.  What better way to become BETTER than to keep learning TOGETHER!!!  TED Talks are SUPER amazing, and a great way to motivate, learn, and help instill a passion and love again that might be faded a bit:)!!  This site lists the 50 Most Inspiring TED Talks for Teachers , but here are some GREAT ones (some ONE that list) that I feel you may want to check out: TED Talks – Ideas Worth Spreading Education talks WORTH looking a   What I’ve Learned from My Autistic Brothers (5 minutes): https://www.ted.com/talks/faith_jegede_what_i_ve_learned_from_my_autistic_brothers The Beauty of Being a Misfit (13 minutes): https://www.ted.com/talks/lidia_yuknavitch_the...

One of my most FAVORITE things in the world to do is go to Barnes & Noble, buy a coffee, and browse books.  I ALWAYS leave there with books I DO NOT need, but I really DO need them.  Clearly an obsession, but one I just love and enjoy oh so much!  I was at B&N on Sunday and came across the book Tek: The Modern Day Cave Boy written by Patrick McDonnell!  SERIOUSLY GO BUY IT!  This book is about a little boy Tek that's so tuned into technology that he doesn't ever go and play with his friends, never gets outside, nothing!  His communication starts to slack, and he is alone all the time, until one day, something happens and he becomes "disconnected."  The BOOK IS THE SHAPE ON AN iPad - there's even a home button:)!!  As you continue reading on - the battery life starts to die and turn red on each page, the wifi connection starts to falter, it's just SO perfect for these 21st Century learners, HECK, for adults alike, it's a good reminder of t...

I can't claim to know MUCH about this program, but I CAN point you in the direction of someone who DOES!  One of our Kindergarten teachers, Mrs. Messer, showed me a website called ESGI (Educational Software for Guiding Instruction) , that she WON for a year at the National Kindergarten Convention this past summer.  This is a GAME CHANGER!!!  She is able to assess her kindergartners on her computer and IT IS FAST!  What she used to spend hour and hours doing she can now get done in easily half that time!  The other part that I LOVE is that it allows you to see various reports for your entire class for differentiating and grouping, reports for individuals to show what they are doing well and what they need work on, flashcards can be generated for practice of skills not yet mastered, and it also generates a parent report in detail showing how their child is doing.  Samples that I stole RIGHT off their website so you can see the assessment piece: Sampl...

I know VERY little about this site, but Mrs. Peterson, a math teacher here, says she uses it all the time; her students, too!  Might be a great one to check out for graphing and functions! Desmos is the name - graphing is the game:)!! Happy Friday all - enjoy this beautiful weather that will soon turn white;)  Mrs. I:)

Mrs. Tonsfeldt, a third grade teacher here, has started using a website called Quizzizz .  Let me tell you, it's a GREAT one to check out FOR SURE!! The idea behind it is like many others like Kahoot, Quia , Quizlet , etc... however, just in the little time that I was looking at at, it seems easier to work with, I like that it actually shows the words instead of Kahoot where it's shapes, and when you get an answer right or wrong a meme pops up - KILLS ME:)!!!  When the quiz is done, you also get a report showing which kids got which ones wrong, and the kids get to see which ones they get right and wrong also.  It seems like a SUPER quick and easy way for assessment of what they know and what they don't know.  Here's exactly what Mrs. Tonsfeldt says, "My students love it and I love that I can assign it for the weekend.  It could be an assignment, too, and I can grade it if I give them a password to use!" Here's a sample questions - simple layout, and e...

Hey THEY'RE DONE!!  I have FINALLY updated all app lists.  I listed our K-6 apps as entire lists, and you will be able to figure out which app is used for which content.  I listed the 7-12 apps as content apps.  When you click on the list, let's say English for example, behind each app listed it should specify what grade level that app is used for.  I have made the lists all downloadable, and accessible via the link, so hopefully all should be fine.  If you can NOT download or view them, please let me know.  I DID double check this on another computer to make sure they worked, and I found them to.  THANK YOU for your patience with this, and again I apologize for taking so long to update! Have a great day all, Mrs. I:)

Again - apologies for NOT keeping up to day - I FINALLY feel like I have a good grasp of things - and GOOD HEAVENS - it's October 11, so I SHOULD!!!  Here are the problems/issues/victories that I have encountered in the last couple of weeks:)!! 1. JSS is UP TO DATE!   We had to update our system because students were updating iPads and the older version didn't support iOS 10 - SO once we did that, students were no longer prompted to log into the app store and all is well now!  I am able to push to kiddos regardless of version and all works:)!!  Some of the problems that were happening were apps were almost in STUCK mode and not pushing out, apps weren't loading fulling, apps were blinking out, etc... by simply putting kiddos in exclusions, and then removing them from exclusions, a LOT of issues were fixed.  ALSO - didn't think to actually SHUT DOWN the iPads, and just restart them (not a hard reset), and that also was enough to get many of them rolling again -...