Tech Talk

From the desk of Leigh Ann . . .

Are you looking for quality tech tools to help guide teaching and learning in your classroom?  Here a few picks that might interest you:

http://thinkfinity.org/  –  Thinkfinity is a free online professional learning community that provides access to curriculum resources and enhancements for K-12 teachers.

https://www.remind.com/  –  Remind allows teachers to communicate with parents and students via text messages.  This may be a great tool to keep important messages from being overlooked.

http://pbskids.org.designsquad/  –  Design Squad offers great ideas for hands-on discovery.  Kids are challenged to create, question, and explore.

http://www.tumblebooks.com  –  Tumble Books provides a wonderful collection of online animated picture books and the Tumble Book Cloud offers a variety of audio and e-books. Classroom teachers can register for a free trial.

http://gonoodle.com/  –  Go Noodle is a site filled with healthy habits for kids and features quick videos that get kids up and moving called “Brain Breaks.”

http://kidblog.org/home/  –  Kid Blog is an easy to use site that will allow your students to blog about their learning day and invites parents to go online to see what’s happening.  (There is a quick registration process before getting started.)

http://www.scootpad.com/  –  Scootpad presents “Scootorials” which are step by step interactive tutorials that differentiate depending on student’s individual learning needs.  Webinars are offered for teachers and parents that explain how to get your own learning zone up and running.  You can even distribute assignments that can be completed at school or at home.  Sign up is free for the basic plan and there is a cost for more features.

http://www.educationworld.com/  –  This site is filled with news, lessons, tech information, games, and ideas for teachers across grade levels.

http://animoto.com/  –  Animoto allows teachers and students to create videos for project-based learning or to document and share the learning that is taking place.  (A free trial is offered to check it out.)

http://www.discoveryeducation.com/teachers/  –  Discovery Education offers free resources for teachers, parents, and students across all areas of the curriculum and for all grade levels.

http://www.pbslearningmedia.org/  –  PBS Learning Media offers a variety of resources and materials for all grade levels.

http://www.scholastic.com/home/  –  Scholastic is a free site that offers a number of resources for teachers, parents, and students.

http://www.teachhub.com  –  Teach Hub offers K-12 news, lessons, and shared resources by teachers for teachers.

http://www.edutopia.org/  –  Edutopia’s focus is sharing “what works in education.”  It is filled with articles and videos that highlight what is trending and working in schools.

http://www.educatorstechnology.com  –  Educator’s Technology and Mobile Learning provides a variety of educational web resources and apps for teachers.

 “Technology is just a tool. In terms of getting the kids working together and motivating them, the teacher is most important.” – Bill Gates