Student Engagement

In this article from Edutopia, The 8 Minutes That Matter Most, it outlines the importance of the first four minutes and the last four minutes for student engagement. It also gives a few good ideas to begin class, end class, and most importantly, to keep it engaging.

Ed Tech Tool review

Welcome back from our SNOW DAY here in Denver!!

Graphite is offering $50 to review you're favorite Ed Tech tool. Here are the steps to review your tool:

1) Search your favorite edtech tool on Graphite.
2) Go to the Graphite review of the tool you're thankful for.
3) Click on the Twitter icon in the upper-right hand corner of the review.
4) Share.

Go to Graphite to learn more.

Educational Social Networks

Here's a list of some of the best social networking sites for teachers and students according to Graphite. They have sites for students to share their work/ideas, sites for educators to connect with other educators, and site for teachers and students to work in a virtual classroom. Check out this great resource!

Winter Conference

Here's an upcoming STEAM and tech integration conference:

2016 Winter Conference

 It's an online conference and $99 for 10 hours of PD.

Google Drive search

I've heard numerous complaints about losing files in Google Drive, and I've even had difficulty finding files shared with me through my Drive. Google has heard your complaints and added updates to the way users can search for files within their Drive. Here's Google's blog post about the update, but basically, they've added an easier advanced search option and allow users to search for file types.

Common Craft

I stumbled upon CommonCraft browsing through my Twitter Feed. They house educational videos for teachers to use. Their mission: "We want to make the world a more understandable place to live and work by helping professionals like you become better explainers.  More explainers means better explanations - and that’s a good thing." Seems like a great resource!

Personalized Learning

At our elementary school, we've recently held discussions on personalized learning in the math and literacy classrooms. We want to use a program like MobyMax or IXL to personalize the learning for each student. We're hoping to use one of the programs to pinpoint student needs, provide specific data, and reduce grading for teachers. Here's an interesting article from eSchool News about personalized learning.

Best Educational Podcasts

According to Edutopia, here are some of the 7 Best Educational Podcasts. They have their podcasts listed according to teaching strategies, PLN's, educational technology, professional development, and leadership. I've heard great things about Moving at the Speed of Creativity.

Apps for Kids

I stumbled across this interesting blog: Best Apps for Kids. The site is written and managed by a group of mothers. Users can search for apps by age group, subject, platform (iOS, Android, etc.), or by bestseller lists. Seems like a great resource for teachers and parents!

Hour of Code

The week of computer programming is next week:

Dec 7-11

Learn more at Hour of Code

Educational Conferences

I found this excellent resource on the Teach Thought blog: Best Educational Conferences 2016. Teachers upload a link to their favorite conferences for the upcoming year. See if there's one you can add or one you would like to attend. Keep learning!