This year’s Halloween Hack, sponsored by CMS’s PRISM Students saw many a variety of activities. They had a maze for you to guide one of their Dash Robots, you could create with candy and toothpicks, a station was setup with a…
Here’s an Equation: Nearpod + Verso = Engagement
Lately I’ve been working closely with some sixth-grade math teachers. One upcoming lesson is on ‘Combining Like Terms’. After a previous lesson using Nearpod, one of the teachers wondered would it be possible to combine tools… She loves how Nearpod…
Taking it to a Whole New Level: Tweet from Class…
***Update*** TwitShot, a third party web tool which I utilized to make this procedure outlined below work, did not renew their domain. Thus it does not work and I haven’t found another option which exists. Just over a year ago,…
A New Tool (at least for me) to Try!
This year, in addition to being building based (I’m at a middle school) the members of the Teacher Resouce Specialists for Technology (TRST) team and I are also department based. This means I will also be coordinating with the Math…
A Teacher Inquires…
“I want to dip my feet into badging. I want to introduce it very simply with not a whole lot for me to manage on my end. I want to hold the students accountable for earning it, but don’t want…
Add Audio to ThingLinks
A new, highly anticipated and often requested feature has been added to ThingLink Premium and Pro accounts — the ability to add audio (MP3 or M4A) as a hot-spot/image tag. You can read more about it at the ThingLink Education…
It’s Been Awhile…
So, I haven’t posted on here in quite some time. Lots of things have popped up in life that has always pushed this to the back burner. I do need to get back into a habit of posting and sharing…
What Educators Can Learn from Business Intelligence
“Business Intelligence” boils down to the science and tech of operating an enterprise efficiently. Solving problems before they begin, turning chores into automatic sequences and accounting for “background” data to help to paint a more vivid picture overall are just…
Education’s Biggest Cyber Security Threats of 2016
Going to school is one of those portals virtually everyone in the industrialized world will pass through. In the age of the internet and proliferation of personal computer technology, this means billion digital trails throughout millions of educational systems –…
My Opportunity as a Webinar Panelist
On June 2nd, I had the chance to present during a webinar hosted by Susan Oxnevad. I was part of an Edu-awesome group including, Kathy Schrock, Jodie Johnston, Laura Moore, and Christi Collins. Each of us presented a 360°/VR ThingLink…
Can You ‘Escape the Classroom’?
Recently, the teacher resource specialists for technology team, which I am a part of, used one of our days off to go and take the challenge of an escape room. If you haven’t had the chance to try it yet,…
Tomorrow’s Classrooms Today
Last Saturday (05.21.16), I attended and facilitated a session at Tomorrow’s Classrooms Today on the campus of Rider University. It was a great opportunity to spend the day with some wonderful, like-minded educators (gratuitous name dropping begins in 5… 4… 3……
You Need a Challenge Every Now & Then
***Update 12/01/20*** I was asked if there was a way to do this same type of Query but look for specific text in a cell that may have more than just what you are looking for… So here’s the scenario:…
Edcamp Garden State
About a month ago (April 30th 2016) I attended Edcamp Garden State, which was a first for me. Now if you have read my blog, you would hopefully know that this wasn’t the first Edcamp I’ve ever attended. But this was,…
Experience Reality by Virtual Means
Sometimes our students cannot travel or experience different places, that’s where teachers need to try and offer ways of sharing those locations with them. Enter ThingLink 360°/VR Images and videos which enable an immersive experience are just starting to take…
Infographics
It always great to see professional development opportunities which I co-plan (Kim, Melissa, & I) and deliver taking flight in classrooms. Below is the Lunch N’ Learn topic from April. ‘Student Creation’ or ‘Show What You Know’ was our umbrella…
Certified BrainPOP Educator
I’m proud to announce I have successfully completed the requirements to become a Certified BrainPOP Educator. When I say proud, I mean PROUD! It was an intense 4-week program. I found out through Twitter that BrainPOP was accepting applications for…
How to Deal with Mobile Application Spamming
Spam is like those guests or neighbors you secretly hate and wish they never ring your door bell, but they still find excuses to appear in front of your lawn every other day. In short, they are the annoying little…
Videos
First I must apologize, it’s been a rough couple of weeks, family wise, and I haven’t posted. No, I did not disappear or fall off the face of the planet. I will try to get back into a groove again.
A question was posted in one of the Google Plus Communities of which I’m a member.
I answered with a couple of links, but it had me thinking… What are some of my favorite videos to kick off a topic, talk, presentation, address, assembly, etc.
So, in no particular order here are seven which I think can bring some laughs as well as connect to various topics. A brief connection point will precede each.
I’ll start with one from a previous post, in this video we see a lesson on perspective. We all believe what we want to believe, no matter how ridiculous it may appear. When talking about technology integration, we need to get past our preconceived notions and focus on the reality.
This next one is always good for laughs and highlights how constant technology is changing. Great for when I need to start off demonstrating an update to a tool/program.
Have you ever needed the Help Desk or submitted a Technology Ticket? Here is how it was in 1060 ADE:
Sometimes, we aren’t on the same page or speaking the same language.
These next two are great for intro to iPads. Technology doesn’t replace everything…
Finally, my favorite for a keynote (I’ve never given one, but would like to one day). The world cannot function with just leaders; followers are just as crucial when making changes.
When Personal Life Crosses Over with Professional
This past week, Camp Tri-Mount announced their 2016 Program Director. Why is that important? Well Tri-Mount was the first Boy Scout Camp I ran as a program director back in 2005. As a program director, it is my responsibility to ensure…
Digital Learning Day 2016
If a picture is worth a 1,000 words, how many words is a LEGO & ThingLink worth? LEGOs can be a great story starter for students, for instance ‘A day in the life of a Digital Learning Classroom’. This is…
Elementary Math & Science Day
One of the elementary (K-3) schools in my district has a Math & Science day coming up. This is a ‘community building’ day where guests are invited in to present lessons for the students showing how math and science are…
Sketchnoting
One of my goals this year is to get into sketchnoting. This is the concept of recording notes in a visual way to make them engaging as well as connecting key concepts with easy to understand images. I consider myself a visual…
Wellness Fair Posting
My district has a Wellness Fair coming up, with the focus on how to reduce stress. I was asked to write a post about “ways to be productive and beat procrastination using technology.” Take a look at it posted on…