Out With Erin

Tonight, I participated in a fantastic chat on twitter, #6thchat, and was bombarded with an overflow of new tech ideas and tools that could be used in the classroom with students. Although I haven’t had too much time to experiment with them yet, I thought I’d share the sites and information that was offered through this chat. A big thanks to Cary Harrod, Bryan Devine, Christine, B Buck, Josie Crawford, and Holly Sattler for sharing your insights and knowledge with me.

Here are some of the websites, platforms, and tools to try out!

Biblionasium
This is a reading social networking site for students to use, to share the books they’ve read, recommend books to others, learn what others have read, keep a log of the books read, and enjoy interacting about books in a safe environment.

Schoology
A great site for teachers and students. Teachers are able to create live chats with students, grade assignments, provide immediate and live feedback, and connect with others, while students can interact with each other and students all over the world, submit assignments, take practice quizzes, and communicate with each other.
This platform reminds me a lot of Edmodo. At a first glance, it appears that it has similar functions.

Weebly
This looks like a simple, step-by-step way for teachers and students to create their own websites/blogs.

Google Forms
A plethora of templates that you can use to check for student knowledge and understanding. This would work great as exit slips for concepts.

Newsela
Current events and non-fiction reading tools at your fingertips! This website offers a variety of reading levels of non-fiction articles to students. Great way to enhance reading comprehension and skills.

Math and Blogs
An excellent source and blog on how to use blogs in the math classroom.

An excellent visual of Cary Harrod’s District Endorsed Software. I think every district should have a visual like this!

Symbaloo
Personal homescreen page for students to add in their favourite and most visited websites. They no longer have to type in web addresses, but instead simply click on the symbol/link to access the site. An excellent way to organize important school information.

An incredible video on a 7th grader’s personal learning environment. Something to aspire to!

Excellent article on the Toolbelt Theory.

Teaching in the days of technology requires that teachers stay with the current fads, but also puts teachers back into that role of being a student. I find that I am constantly trying new things and experimenting with technology tools. It’s a great way to relate to students and supply them with safe options to communicate and share their ideas and knowledge with others. Twitter has been such a great networking tool for me to share with others, try to things, and learn about technology tools that I didn’t even know existed. I am always indebted to my wonderful PLN! Thank you all for helping me stay informed.