Mission 100%

I initially stumbled upon the Mission 100% blog in an attempt to find resources on "aggressively monitoring" students. It's a site housing short videos of exemplary teachers modeling a certain teaching strategy. According to the home page, Mission 100% "is an online video library and platform, with over 2,000 short, targeted observation clips from real classrooms that highlight best teaching practices." A user can subscribe to receive updates on videos, easily search for videos, or look through the categories for specific videos. 

Again, I viewed the video on Aggressive Monitoring. Right away, I noticed class size. I wish my classes were less than 20 (I'd take less than 30). But in all seriousness, I love the use of the clipboard to quickly evaluate what she sees. I need to be better at moving through the room with a clipboard (and not losing the clipboard as I go). I also appreciate how the video displays what we should include on our clipboard and what we should be monitoring. Overall, I found the video helpful and look forward to viewing more of the Mission 100% videos.

 

Teaching Channel

I was trying to find a website housing teacher professional development video. I stumbled upon Teaching Channel. It has tons of videos of teachers working with students in their classrooms. The videos can be discovered by subject, grade, or content. I found "Content" to be the most helpful. Users can find videos about classroom management, collaboration, differentiation, engagement, etc. Teaching Channel is a fantastic resource.

Inquiry Based Learning

I recently listened to TeachThought's Podcast (Epsiode 37) about strategies to effectively implement inquiry into your everyday classroom routines. Kimberly Mitchell spoke about the 5 strategies she helped to create involving inquiry based learning and her website: Inquiry Partners. The podcast was an excellent introduction into her 5 strategies:

1) Personal/Emotional Connections
2) Ask higher level questions, talk less
3) Encourage students to use evidence
4) Maintain neutrality during class discussions - be a facilitator
5) Increase student thinking time

Also, the Inquiry Partners website includes videos of each inquiry strategy being effectively implemented into a classroom environment.

President's Day

Happy President's Day!!! Here's a lesson from TedEd describing how George Washington became the first president:

Math Growth Mindset

Amazon recently released a program called With Math I Can. It gives students stories of other students persevering through difficult math concepts. Teachers can use videos to learn more about growth mindset, establishing a culture of grit in the classroom, and how to personalize learning for all students. Parents can use the videos to reinforce the growth mindset at home. I'm excited to see where Amazon goes with this program!

Creating Screenshots Videos

I've documented my recent experimentation with screenshot videos for my elementary tech class. I'll get them started with some quick modeling but then I have the students watch videos of the lesson while I work with smaller groups. It's a great way to push students who understand the concepts and to work one-on-one with students who need the extra help.  Edudemic outlines exactly how to do this in an article titled, "How Teachers can use Quicktime Video Screenshots to Help Students Learn." I use a product called Snagit to create my videos but Quicktime is another great option.

Numberock: Math Videos

Here's another great YouTube channel: Numberock. It's a collection of videos for elementary students to reinforce math lessons. Here's a full review from Free Technology for Teachers.

Martin Luther King, Jr. Day

Next Monday is MLK Day, so I'll be collecting resources for students to learn more about this influential and important figure in United States' history. According to Free Technology for Teachers, ReadWorks.org compiled "a collection of articles, videos, and question sets for teaching about Martin Luther King, Jr. Learn more at ReadWorks.

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!

Static Electricity

I recently had a student ask me about static electricity. It led us on a search through the wonderful world of the internet. We stumbled upon this post from Free Tech 4 Teachers: The Science of Static Electricity. It helps students understand why rubbing a balloon on your head makes your hair stand up.

Makerspace Resources

Here's another fantastic resource for Makerpsaces, Coding, Video Game Creation, and Video Creation: Lewis and Clark Elementary School. Living up to their school's moniker as explorers!

Ghosts-Static Electricity

Here's a fun experiment for elementary students: https://www.teachertube.com/video/static-electricity-ghost-400836

It teaches kids the basic ideas around static electricity while putting them in that Halloween spirit!

Screencasts

I make a ton of screencast videos using Snagit and my HUE document camera, but Free Tech 4 Teachers recently released a blog post about FREE ways to screencast using any device. The post includes ways to record your screen using a Mac, a Windows machine, an iPad, Android, Chromebooks, or even browser based recording. A fantastic resource for any teacher!

Documentaries

Educational Technology and Mobile Learning released a post about how to find FREE educational documentaries. They recommend three sites: Top Documentary Films, Documentary Heaven, and Free Documentaries. Any sites you would add to this list?

My Youtube Channel

Here's my youtube channel:
 https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCt3fZcXjVwVXb6ZHbz-wJJw

It has numerous helpful videos I've created to show users how to use Weebly to create free websites, how to use DPS Google, and how to use Prezi (an online presentation tool. I created them for students, but hopefully, you find them helpful as well.

Practical Ed Tech Videos

If you haven't been following Richard Byrne's blog, Free Technology for Teachers, you need to do so! He recently posted a list of his how-to videos (or screencasts) from Youtube. He calls the playlist his Practical Ed Tech Tips. He says, "In the playlist you will find videos about tools for flipping your classroom, videos on managing workflow, social media tips, search strategies, and media production. " Take a look around and see if you find anything helpful.

Youtube filters

If you've ever watched videos on Youtube, you can understand the desire to want to eliminate the "related" videos that show after you play the video you wanted. Free Technology for Teachers has a few options to get rid of those unwanted recommendations.

PARCC test videos

A colleague of mine found the following video on an educational blog, Teched Up Teacher.  It's a screencast of the many nuances of the test many students will find difficult or may not realize at all.  He walks the students through the tech skills associated with the test including the drag/drop questions, scrolling through texts, checkboxes vs multiple choice questions, etc. It's an extremely valuable video for the students to see before taking the tests this spring.

Google Classroom

Since our district's implementation of Google accounts with Google Apps for Educations, I've had many teachers wondering about Google Classroom.  It allows teachers to setup virtual classrooms where you can create assignments, make announcements to the class, have a student view, and have student grading/feedback options as well.  Eduational Technology and Mobile Learning, and educational blog, has collected videos to provide support for teachers looking to use Google Classroom.

EDpuzzle

A relatively new tool, EDpuzzle allows teachers to upload videos (your own or from the web), add their voice, add notes, embed quizzes.  It's a great tool to engage students or to "flip" your classroom. 

                                Image via edpuzzle.com