Tuesday Teacher Tips: Websites and return of the podcasts!

In December, Mr. Erickson, Mrs. Neill, and I, were able to attend a workshop in Sioux Falls hosted by TIE which went over a number of devices and mobile apps that can be used on them.

While there...one of the instructors gave us a link to a google doc page where she had listed over 200 websites (and/or apps) that can be used on mobile devices.

The Link to that spreadsheet is HERE.  My advice would be to look through the list when you are thinking of trying to do something new.  There are many sites on there...some I have discussed here before, and many others that I haven't even heard of.

Secondly, I plan to begin recording some more podcasts in the coming weeks.  The main reason that I stopped, is that the phone that I was using to record the interviews had died (it would no longer charge), and I had a replacement phone that did not have a voice recording option on it.  I recently acquired a different phone that has a voice recorder...so we can pick up where we left off.

So, if you know someone with a coming event, or you have a team or organization that you would like to discuss on the podcast, please let me know.  They are very simple to do, and it does not take a large amount of time.

If you want to listen to any of the previous episodes from this past fall, they are located on the "Podcast Central" page.

Thanks for reading, and check out that spreadsheet...there are alot of good resources on there!

Teacher Technology Tools: Socrative

Another Tuesday...another Teacher Techology Tidbits!

However, this is the last one of the school year!

I still plan to post some informational websites on here during the summer... (especially the ones I learned about at TIE that are "new to me")  but I'll probably not do it as often.  Just remember to check the blog from time to time... you may find something of interest that you can use next year.

In the meantime... this is the last week with students....

I love this picture.  Reminds me of Rutland Elementary school.

Today's new helpful website is:  Socrative.

Ripped Directly from their website:
Socrative is a smart student response system that empowers teachers to engage their classrooms through a series of educational exercises and games via smartphones, laptops, and tablets.

What Socrative does, is allows teachers to interact with their students online, in any number of different formats.  You can ask the following kinds of questions:
-Multiple Choice
-True and False
-Short Answer
-Quick Quiz
and more...

It's really a neat tool...because you can limit the people who can interact with the data by "Creating a room" and then you get a code that you send to your students for that room.

This would be a great tool for "icebreakers" at the beginning of class... "Was the President's State of the Union Address succesful or not?"

One of our Presenters at TIE used it during his presentation...gave us a code and asked..."What was the best thing you learned at TIE this week?"  And as people responded...their answers would appear on the screen.

Here is an example of socrative working on a smart phone.

Very engaging tool for the students, and a great way to see realtime results in your classroom.

Another way this could be useful could be outside of class assignments... you could assign your students to watch something... (maybe a congressional hearing or something)...and you could ask them questions about the hearing over Socrative.  You could send out the code via e-mail or twitter or any number of methods.

Also... in case you are having trouble remembering... or don't know where to save all these websites.

I have saved them all in my delicious social bookmarking page:  https://delicious.com/mharming

There are 49 sites there tagged under "Elkton School links" on there.  So, there is no need to save all these sites...just the ones you think you'll use...and my delicious site...which will take you to the others.

Have a great week everyone!

The end is in sight!