The Purple Parade

Wow!  I can't believe how fast this summer has flown by.  I'd like to share my best learning from the summer workshops I attended this summer: Digital Citizenship - A great book about Digital Citizenship is:   Digital Citizenship in Schools  by Mike Ribble.  He even has a website:   http://www.digitalcitizenship.net/ .  He discusses the 9 elements of digital citizenship (Digital Access, Digital Commerce, Digital Communication, Digital Literacy, Digital Etiquette, Digital Law, Digital Rights and Responsibilities, Digital Health and Wellness, and Digital Security). Web 2.0 for the Common Core - Amazing presenter - Julie Smith!  I had heard of most of the web 2.0 tools discussed, but it was great networking with other teachers as to how they use them in their classroom.  My favorite tools are listed below: Prezi Meograph Livebinders Symbaloo Lucid Chart Screencast-o-matic Animoto Go Animate Glogster Padlet Storybird Little Bird Tales Fakebook example - MacBet

What is digital storytelling?  Well, digital storytelling is a project based activity that combines writing, audio, and pictures into a digital story.  When students use their own pictures and record their own audio to tell their story, it becomes very personal and students are completely engaged in the learning process.  It can be done with personal narratives, persuasive/opinion writing, fiction, etc., as well as writing in other subject areas. A great way to tell a digital story is through the use of Google Presentations   This can be done as an individual or group project.  For group projects, the teacher can set up a Google presentation with several slides and then "share" it with the group members (for individual projects, either the teacher or the student can start the presentation and "share" it with each other).  Make sure that you give the students "editing" privileges when sharing.  Then, each group member can contribute to the presentatio

Here's a new way of "Googling" a topic.  Google has a site called "What do You Love?"   http://www.wdyl.com/# .  When you type something into the "search bar", it organizes your searches into different categories like pictures, videos, books, blogs, news, and more about that subject. Check out this "love of algebra" - http://www.wdyl.com/#algebra . It is very cool and takes Google searching to a new level.  Go ahead and search what you love! Oh, and to view my favorite "What do you love", click here .

With the shift in education and the rise of online learning, many teachers and school districts have begun using online learning management systems.  Some well-known LMSs are Blackboard and Moodle.  But, there is a free LMS out there and it is called Edmodo .  This is a definite cost-effective way of integrating online learning without the expensive of Blackboard or Moodle system.  It looks very similar to Facebook, so the learning curve for teachers and students is very low.  As a district, you can sign up for a district domain.  The administrator of the domain has access to see all teachers and students enrolled in the system.  Student sign themselves up (with a teacher code) so the teachers don't have to type every student into the system.  Once a student is signed up with one teacher, they can join other teacher's classes by entering more teacher codes.  Students can upload their assignments to Edmodo for the teacher to view and grade. There is even a gradebook compone