Disposing of Electronics

Emerging EdTech had an interest post about how to dispose of all the old electronic devices in our lives.  It's extremely important for students to know how to properly recycle/dispose of these devices, so the videos and activities are geared towards middle grade students.  Although, it's beneficial for anyone.

Online Resources

I've always been a huge fan of Kathy Schrock. She really does have some of the best resources available for teachers. Emerging EdTech gives her the credit she deserves in the article titled, "Education Technology Though Leader Interview-Kathy Schrock."

Online Safety

Edudemic provided a list of ways to keep yourself safe online.  It's a great reminder for anyone but especially students learning to use the internet.  They also provide a link to Google's Chart for online safety.  This would be a great poster in any classroom.

Google Drive in the Classroom

TeachTought released a video on their blog titled, A Tutorial for Google Drive in the Classroom.  It shows some of the ways Google Apps can be used in the classroom for collaboration, teacher-student feedback, and parent communication.  As a district, Denver Public Schools are pushing the use of Google Apps, and this tutorial informs teachers on how can be used effectively.

Free iPad Apps

Who doesn't love free stuff?  Educational Technology and Mobile Learning announced the release of 5 Free Educational Apps you would typically have to pay for.  The catch is it's only for today so act quickly!

Best Ways to Use Tech

Emerging EdTech released their list of the best ways to engage students using educational technology.  In the article, "10 of the Most Engaging Uses of Instructional Technology," their list and explanations include:
1) Interactive Collaboration
2) Gathering Feedback from Students
3) Embedding Questions in Video
4) Active Learning -- where students are learning by working through a problem/project
5) Social Learning --  students learning form one another
6) Using Tech to Help to Ensure Engagement with Digital Content -- discussion forums
7) Student Created Presentations
8) Project Based Learning
9) Digital Makerspaces
10) Flipping your Classroom

Interactive White Boards

We have Promethean Boards in every other classroom at our school, so I thought the post from Emerging EdTech would benefit many of our teachers.  It's titled, "10 Creative Ways to Use Interactive White Boards in the Classroom," and lists many different ways to use your board including:
-Google Earth
-Team Competitions
-Teach students basic sound, image, and video editing
-Spelling Competitions
-Take a Virtual Tour
-Record Students
-Collaborate
-Download Flash Videos and Applications
-Recap of a Field Trip
-Interactives

Teacher Professional Development

TeachThought recently posted an article about teacher professional development.  It's titled:

Teacher University: Free Online Education for Fall 2014

It's truly a great avenue for teachers to find ways to perfect their practice on their time.

Build Websites with Weebly

Many of our teachers build free websites using Weebly.  It's a user-friendly way to share information on the web.  Free Technology for Teachers posted an article with a video showing beginners how to use Weebly effectively.  It's a great tool for easy website creation!

Character Education

Edutopia posted an article about teaching students how to become innovators.  As a child, I often didn't push myself because of my fear of mistakes.  It's an issue we need to keep in mind as educators and parents.  How do we create a culture where our students feel comfortable enough to be creative and innovative.  Edutopia's article, "Nurturing the Innovator's Mindset in the Classroom,"lists and explains 5 attributes required for innovation.  They call them the Galileo's Innovator's Mindset:

Visionary

Courageous

Collaborative

Determined

Reflective

Read more from Edutopia's article to find strategies for teaching innovation.

PBS Learning

PBS Learning is a fantastic website for students and teachers.  You can search for activities, videos, lessons, and games that are standards based in multiple content areas.  It's very easy to find lessons according to grade level and content area as well.

Grit

One of our goal's this year is to teach our students about perseverance (or Grit, as our district is calling it).  Edudemic posted:

8 Uplifting Quotes for Discouraged Students

9/11 Lessons

Today is an extremely difficult and tragic day in American history.  It's hard to believe many of our students weren't even alive on this day 13 years ago, and I'm willing to bet almost all of them have little memory of the event.  Edudemic posted lesson plans and resources to teach students about September 11.

Free Google Webinars (10/7)

Through Richard Byrnes's site, Free Technology for Teachers, I found out about free Google webinars provided by Simple K12.  On the Simple K12, they explain, you learn..

"• amazing Google Search strategies you didn't know exist."

"• how to support online collaboration with Google Hangouts."

"• time-saving tips to make daily tasks (like grading) more efficient."

The webinars are all afternoon on Wednesday, Oct 7th.  See you there!

EdTech Vocabulary

Edudemic posted an article about EdTech Vocabulary.  It's titled:

Brush Up on Your EdTech Vocabluary with this Cheat Sheet

As you can imagine, it's a cheat sheet for all the new key phrases in emerging educational technology.  It's an extremely helpful visual aid.

Comics

Richard Byrne's Free Tech 4 Teachers had a post about a month ago explaining why comics can be a great way to get to know your students.  The post is titled:

Get to Know Your Students Through Comics

Its lists a few websites to use for comic creations (Comic Master, StoryboardThat, Make Beliefs).  Are there any other great comic creation websites?

Google Spreadsheets --> Google Docs

Google has done it, again. According to Richard Byrne's Free Technology for Teachers, users can convert Google Spreadsheet cells into a Google Document.  It's done through a Google Spreadsheet add-on called Save As Doc. Once you highlight cells in a spreadsheet, you can use Save As Doc to convert the information into a Google Document.  Learn more about this and other Google add-ons through Richard Byrne's blog, Free Technology for Teachers.

Google's New Educational Blog

Google has released a new blog titled, "Google For Education."  Since our district is moving to using Google more frequently, their new blog is a great way to stay up to date with everything happening with Google and how it can be used in an educational setting.

Free PowToon Accounts

According to Free Technology for Teachers, PowToon is now giving away 50,000 classroom accounts for free.  PowToon is a great way to create animated videos and presentations online.  Read more about the free accounts here.