Teaching in my classroom was not easy. I was made for the profession, but there were plenty of challenges. However, I was still able to manage behavior, produce an effective lesson (most days), maintain strong relationships, and look for new technology to increase engagement and productivity in the classroom. Although…
Technology in the classroom is growing exponentially. Teachers and students alike are leveraging technology to increase productivity and become well versed in an increasingly digital world. It seems as though everyone at every age finds that technology makes their lives much easier. Even babies! How many times have you seen…
The power of G Suite (and especially G Suite for Education) is undeniable. This versatile cloud-based platform is full of easy-to-use document creation tools, organizational resources, and a myriad of ways to support the Four Cs. The Google team is highly dedicated to its educational offerings, so it’s no surprise…
Digital Learning is alive and well in Boyle County Public Schools. Situated in Danville, KY, the district’s commitment to promoting anytime, anywhere learning led to the 2015-2016 school year deployment of 1800 Chromebooks to support a 1:1 environment for all middle and high school students. After much consideration of the…
Students today are different than they were five or even 10 years ago. Their lives are flooded with technology and students want to use this tech to create in a variety of ways. Think about the times in your teaching career when you assigned an open ended project, meaning students…
There’s nothing like seeing the name of your school scroll across the bottom of the TV screen when the snow starts to fall outside. It means a day of sledding and hot chocolate! But, not anymore. In many states, schools are opting for e-Learning as a way of keeping up…
ThingLink continues to be my top app pick for both student explanation of learning and teacher created content. It works in a BYOD, iPad, Chromebook, or laptop environment, and is an excellent suggestion for creating student products outside of the classroom. It’s quick, easy, and user friendly. Create classes, add students, and manage their accounts with a ThingLink Teacher account, or have your students over the age of 13 create their own free accounts.
You have a great idea… Your Teachers Pay Teachers budget is gone and you’ve resorted to sitting down and creating a handout yourself. You want it to be wonderfully creative and intriguing for their young eyes (like you see EVERYWHERE), the task is daunting. The room is quiet, computer is on, and you’ve got all the time in the world. {A teacher’s world that is, so let’s go with 10 minutes, once your kids leave, and before you finally get to go home. Sound about right?} But there’s a problem; everything is ready to go but your creative mind. What do you do?
Take these tips and steps and break that creative block… Give your students a stimulating worksheet to encourage task completion using your original thinking.
Now you’re probably telling me, ‘I don’t have the software I need to be creative.’ You’re wrong. You do, right there in your Google Drive, which you should be using because it’s an essential tool for a digital classroom. What’s it called? Google Drawings, and it’s going to rock your socks.
I was asked to go head to head with a well-known Google Certified Trainer, Donnie Piercey (@MrPiercey) at a training yesterday. Our topic? Chromebook vs iPad.
Although we’ve talked smack the past few months, when it comes down to it, my personal opinion is that both have the power to transform the teaching and learning in a classroom. Also, one is a mobile device for creation and the other is a laptop with the power of Google; therefore, it’s really like comparing apples to oranges. Both have positives and negatives. Make no mistake, I was asked to represent the iPad, so I did my best to highlight the attractive features of the iPad (and show Donnie up). Donnie and I go back five years, so the competition was fierce, but playful.