Tuesday, December 11, 2012

Edmodo Features: New Enhancements to Quizzes | Edmodo – Safe Social Networking for Schools

Edmodo Features: New Enhancements to Quizzes | Edmodo – Safe Social Networking for Schools:

I'm a big fan of Edmodo, so much so that I've been asked to lead a Birds of a Feather roundtable discussion at the KySTE conference in March.  I'm excited to see these new features added to Edmodo quizzes:

Print option – Print a copy of the quiz you created by selecting the printer icon located below the “Assign Quiz” button. The print option is also available on your quiz overview page.
Track total points – After you weight each question, the total number of points for all questions will be tracked on the right column of the page.
Randomize questions – Check the “show questions in random order” option on the right column to randomize questions for each student taking the quiz.
Re-order questions – As you create your quiz, drag and drop the question numbers from the left column to reorder them.
Lock quiz – From the quiz overview page, check the “lock quiz” box from the settings drop down to prevent students from being able to take the quiz. This can be be used to prevent students from taking the quiz during specific hours or after a certain date.

These changes are great for teachers and will help them manage their Edmodo quizzes much better.  These enhancements demonstrate that Edmodo really does listen to teachers when they upgrade the product.  

Wednesday, December 5, 2012

SignUpGenius - Free Planning Tool

Over the past couple of months, the PTA at my daughter's school has been sending emails asking us to sign up to help with one event or another.  Today, I finally decided to investigate SignUpGenius, the program the PTA is using to recruit parent volunteers.

SignUpGenius is indeed free, making its money off of advertisements on your SignUp pages.  For a small fee of about $15 per sign up page per year, you can have SignUpGenius ad-free.  SignUpGenius even walks you through how to maximize your investment by turning on and off licenses for your pages.  Beyond saving paper, other perks for SignUpGenius include RSVPs, email reminders, password-protection, integration with Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest, and calendar integration with Outlook, iCal, and Google Calendar.  You can even print a paper copy of the signups to take to your event.

As I explored the program, I found it has many potential uses for education beyond just PTA signups.  A parent-teacher conference template is provided.  Having a staff Christmas party?  Create a food signup.  Have a class project you need parent help with?  Create a classroom signup.   Leading a professional development?  Create an attendance signup.

The tool isn't just for education either.  Templates exist for Business, Sports teams, Scouting, Churches, and the list goes on.  The possibilities are endless, but like all free tools, the question has to be asked.  For how long will it be free?

Check it out, and let the rest of us know how your're using SignUpGenius.

Friday, November 30, 2012

New Year, New Goals, Updated Blog

As we grow closer and closer to Winter Break, I feel it is time to update and refresh this blog.  This blog will be completely freshened up with a new look and a new name and a new focus.  When I initially started this blog, the intention was to provide resources for the teachers in The Kenton County School District in Northern Kentucky.  Over the past 3 1/2 years, I have seen an increase of hits from folks all over the globe. I'm therefore going to change the focus of this blog from a local focus to the worldwide focus that it needs.

From my standpoint, this is going to require a name change for the blog.  However, I'm struggling to come up with a "clever" and memorable name for the blog, so I'm asking for your help.  If you have a suggestion for the new name of this blog I'd love to hear it!  I'm trying to incorporate some of the following words into the blog, but I'm not limited to these words: Ed, Technology Integration, & K-12 Education.  Unfortunately I don't have anything I can offer as a prize for the winner with the exception of my undying gratitude and collegial friendship.

I'm a big fan of Richard Byrne and his Free Technology for Teachers blog, and I wouldn't presume to duplicate what he has already created and mastered.  Instead, I want to create a conversation around how technology impacts education, how we can better use the tools we already have, and get discussion from everyday educators as to how they're using technology in the classroom.

So there you have it.  Let me hear your naming suggestions for the blog, and beginning January 2, 2013, let's really get a conversation rolling.

Tuesday, November 20, 2012

How to Share a Field Trip With Edmodo | Edmodo – Safe Social Networking for Schools

How to Share a Field Trip With Edmodo | Edmodo – Safe Social Networking for Schools:

This is a very creative use of Edmodo, one that I would encourage all teachers to utilize.  Imagine being able to virtually attend another school's field trip.  In this day and age of budget cutbacks, this can only help schools and students who are unable to go on field trips.

'via Blog this'

iLearn Technology » Blog Archive » Meraki: Manage Mobile Devices from the Cloud…FREE

iLearn Technology » Blog Archive » Meraki: Manage Mobile Devices from the Cloud…FREE:

Suffice it to say I will be testing this at home with my own devices, but if this really works, what a wonderful tool to have at our disposal.  It is free, but like so many other web tools, for how long?

'via Blog this'

Friday, November 2, 2012

Free Technology for Teachers: The First Thanksgiving Fact or Myth? - An Interactive Historical Investigation

Free Technology for Teachers: The First Thanksgiving Fact or Myth? - An Interactive Historical Investigation:

This site is great for those teachers teaching American History.  This immerses the students in uncovering the facts and myths of the first Thanksgiving, as well as what life was like at Plimoth Plantation.  Even I was surprised by some of the myths!

'via Blog this'

Wednesday, October 17, 2012

Who Do You Side With in the Presidential Election?

iSideWith.com:

iSideWith allows you to select your stance on national issues, and their importance to you, and then tells you who you should side with in the upcoming presidential election.  This site is very useful for those of you teaching students to study the candidates and their platorm and make an informed decision as to their candidate of choice.  Without revealing my results, I can say that my result was not a surprise to me.

So, who do you side with?

'via Blog this'

Tuesday, September 25, 2012

2012 Elections: 3 Ways to Engage Students through Edmodo | Edmodo –Safe Social Networking for Schools

2012 Elections: 3 Ways to Engage Students through Edmodo | Edmodo – Safe Social Networking for Schools:

To piggyback on my previous post about Election resources, from the folks at Edmodo come these 3 ways you can engage students about the elections.  Edmodo is a great way to elicit responses from students who normally wouldn't respond in class.

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Great Free Web Sites for Teaching Election 2012| The Committed Sardine

Great Free Web Sites for Teaching Election 2012| The Committed Sardine:

Great resources for teaching about the elections this year.  These come from Ian Jukes and the Committed Sardine blog.

'via Blog this'

Friday, September 14, 2012

Join the Election Insights Community | Edmodo – Safe Social Networking for Schools

Join the Election Insights Community | Edmodo – Safe Social Networking for Schools:

If you need classroom resources for Election Day this year, check out this Community from Edmodo.


"This is an exciting new resource for you to help your students understand the election process and follow the presidential debates. The Election Insights Community will provide you access to new insights and the tools you need to engage your students, including:
  • Access to lesson ideas and teaching aids designed to engage students around the electoral process
  • Data and insights generated from student conversations happening across the country
  • Discussion starters to encourage meaningful dialogue"


'via Blog this'

Wednesday, September 12, 2012

Help the Mission US team develop the next Mission! « North by Northeast

Help the Mission US team develop the next Mission! « North by Northeast:

If you're an avid or occasional user of Mission US, use this opportunity to help build Mission 3.  Mission 3's storyline revolves around the Plains Indians and how they dealt with Westward Expansion of the settlers.  If you haven't seen or used Mission US, take the time to check out Missions 1 & 2.  Mission 1, titled For Crown or Colony, deals with the American Revolution, specifically the Boston Tea Party, and Mission 2, titled Flight to Freedom, immerses the student in the plight of the slaves as they attempt to gain their freedom.  On a local note, Flight to Freedom's storyline partly takes place in Kentucky.

'via Blog this'

Wednesday, September 5, 2012

Introducing the Latest Version of Edmodo | Edmodo – Safe Social Networking for Schools

Introducing the Latest Version of Edmodo | Edmodo – Safe Social Networking for Schools:

As many people know, I'm a huge supporter of Edmodo.  Their free product is changing classroom teaching across the world, and their customer service is second only to Disney.  Their willingness to improve their product by listening to teachers is evident in this new version of Edmodo.  I was fortunate enough to get early access to this new look, and teachers and students alike appreciate the new format.  While there are some minor technical glitches, I have no doubt the folks at Edmodo will resolve them quickly.

'via Blog this'

Free Technology for Teachers: A Free Complete Guide to Evernote

Free Technology for Teachers: A Free Complete Guide to Evernote:

Evernote is a note-taking tool I use quite frequently with my iPad.  It allows me to sync notes to the cloud and view my notes on my desktop or laptop.  This guide will help me utilize Evernote more efficiently and effectively.  Thanks to Richard Byrne of Free Technology for Teachers for sharing.

'via Blog this'

Tuesday, August 14, 2012

Your Back to School Checklist | Edmodo – Safe Social Networking for Schools

Your Back to School Checklist | Edmodo – Safe Social Networking for Schools:

This is a set of resources to help you get Edmodo up and running for the new school year.  Remember to use our district subdomain of kcsd.edmodo.com.  Your principal should have your school code.  If not, you can always email me to get it.

'via Blog this'

Wednesday, May 30, 2012

8 Ways to Use Edmodo Over the Summer | Edmodo – Safe Social Networking for Schools

8 Ways to Use Edmodo Over the Summer | Edmodo – Safe Social Networking for Schools

Teaching summer school?  Looking for something to continue your students school connection over the summer?  Check out these 8 ways to use Edmodo over the summer.

Ready by Exit: CCSD Site Visit Part 7 of 7

Before we headed out to visit schools Friday morning (April 27), we were all invited to breakfast by Superintendent  Dwight Jones.  After breakfast Superintendent Jones spoke  to us about the Clark County School District Ready by Exit growth model.  With Kentucky beginning to implement a growth model, I found this presentation intriguing and informational.  CCSD is so far ahead with the growth mdoel that they should serve as an example to all of us trying to use a growth model.  In an effort to be completely transparent, their web page displays each school and where they scored on the growth model.  For those of you familiar with NWEA MAP, the gridding is similar to NWEA's growth map.

The growth model they are using in the Colorado Growth Model, which Superintendent Jones and his copresenter, Dr. Kenneth Turner designed while working together in Colorado.  I intend to follow their use of the Colorado growth model and learn from what they're doing.

Tuesday, May 29, 2012

Bracken Elementary School: CCSD Site Visit Part 6 of 7

Our final stop on our tour of schools was Bracken Elementary, one of the Clark County School District magnet schools.  We were welcomed in song by a group of students, who then took us on a tour of the building and grounds.  We met the school pet turtles who live in the courtyard, the faculty, parent, and student carved totem pole, as well as the community gardens.  The hallways were all outdoors, which living in the midwest, we could never get away with.

As for the classrooms, we visited at least one class from each grade level.  The school has Promethean boards and iPads in every classroom.  The school's reading focus centers around Accelerated Reader (AR), with the principal touting the increased amount of points students have earned.

Students and teachers alike exercise every morning together on the school grounds.  An interesting concept that I don't think would go over here.

Overall, I liked the tone the school sets, the leadership shown by the principal, and the accessibility of technology in every classroom.  I'm not so sure I agree with the focus on AR points.  I would want to dig deeper into those results and look at the actual comprehension taking place.  Hopefully that's the next step for this school.

Friday, May 25, 2012

Vertex42 Templates

One of my favorite sites to go to when I need a Word or Excel template is Vertex42.  I have found many templates useful for both my personal life and my professional life.  Their selection of calendars is plentiful, even including perpetual calendars.  Templates are available in a variety of formats such as Microsoft Office, Google Docs, and Open Office.