Week 14

Here are some highlights from Technology this week:

                          Week 14 (November 27 – December 1, 2017)              

Thursday Giggles:            How do you catch a unique rabbit?
                                                Unique up on it.

Pick and choose your favorites.  Don’t use every tool. 
Chefs don’t use every ingredient.  Gardeners don’t plant every type of plant.

CUE. CUE stands for Computer-Using Educators.  They just celebrated their 40^th year as an organization that supports teachers and promotes technology in the classroom. Wahooo!  Memberships are FREE until March of 2018.  I encourage you to become a member. 

Head to their website and check it out.  There is a conference in the Spring in Palm Springs.  Hotels will sell out quickly.  So, start planning today if you would like to attend.

VIDEO LINK HERE.

Hour of Code.  Did you know that in Great Britain, kindergarten students are taught how to code?  It’s part of their technology framework.  I encourage you and your students to explore one hour of code during this global tech event.  For the gift card (one winner), our window of completion will run from Monday, November 17 – Friday, December 22.  Here are four websites to consider:

                Code.org – This is the easiest one.  Great for all grades.
                Code Monkey – found in Clever (Sign up for an account and track student progress.)
                Code Academy – found in Clever (Google Slides / PowerPoint you may copy and use.)
                Scratch – various online tools
When you explore code with your students, take a picture of what you are doing.  Then, fill out THIS Google Form and let me know that you participated.  You will be entered into a drawing (CN area elementary teachers only).  One winner will receive a gift card for $20 (Amazon, Starbucks, something local). 

ABCya.com. For my little learners, have you explored ABCya.com?  It contains a host of early-learning tools.  Phonics.  Letter recognition.  Blending.  Sounds.  Shape identification.  Colors.  Punctuation.  All good things for little learners. It is also available as an app.  Web link HERE.

Screen capture from website.

Starfall is another great resource for young children.  Early stories.  Phonics.  Letter identification.  Holidays and calendar tools.  Web link HERE.

Screen capture from website.

Add-ons.  Did you know that Google is more awesome than you ever imagined?  If you have not explored Add-ons, here is a quick glimpse of just one of those free tools.  Use the drop down menu from Docs, Sheets, or Forms:

Screen capture from Docs.

This will let you search various tools that you can add to your experience.  And, they can revolutionize the way you give student feedback or the way you grade—sometimes, in the snap of a finger.  SEE THIS BLOG entry to find out more.  CheckMark by CheckMarkClass.com.

Screen capture of Add-ons.

Screen capture from CheckMark video tutorial.

Kindly,