The Purple Parade

Formative assessments do not have to be just paper/pencil tests. Technology is a great way to quickly assess your students to see where their level of proficiency is on the various subject standards. Have you tried any of the following technology tools to help you in your formative assessments? Mentimeter - quick exit ticket assessments Kahoot - game based quizzes that allow you to download the results Quizziz - review and practice content in a game-like format Quizalize - students complete assessment questions at their own pace GoSoapBox - features include Classroom Q&A and a "Confusion Barometer" Zaption & EdPuzzle - create assessment questions built right into your video instruction lessons Google Forms - amazing add-ons allow for differentiation and data collection Go Formative - use standards-aligned questions for a quick and easy snapshot of learning Don't let Formative Assessments drag you down!  Try using some of the technology re...

Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) or Bring Your Own Technology (BYOT) is beginning to become more popular in school districts today.  Due to budget cuts, it is difficult for school districts to keep up with the ever changing technology world.  However, most students already own the technology needed.  So, why not let them use what they already have in order to enhance their learning.  There are so many sites out there that can be used for BYOD/BYOT.  A fun one to start with when students enter the door is Poll Everywhere .  Put up a question on the board and have the students respond to it on their technology devices.  A graph will appear and change as each student enters their response.  This is a free resource that could take the place of classroom response systems.  If students do not own a device, you can provide a district laptop or mini notebook to use in class. I've been working on a list of BYOD resources for high school. After that, ...

     The most recent amazing innovation in teaching is Google Apps for Education.  It is truly unbelievable what this new technology can do for your teaching.  Google Apps for Education include: Google Docs (Documents, Spreadsheets, Forms, Presentations, and more), Sites, Mail, Calendar, and Chat.  But, it's not the products themselves that are so amazing, it is what you can do with those products.      In Google, you can share your work with others easily because all of your work is saved in a "cloud" instead of on an individual computer.  You can access your work from anywhere with internet capability.  No longer will you create something at home and email it to yourself at work or save it to your "jump drive" and then load it onto your computer at work.  You create and save within the cloud and that's it!      Here are just a few possibilities that you can use Google Apps for Education in your classroom:...

I have found the cutest book.  It is a spin on the classic book Goodnight Moon by Margaret Wise Brown.  It is called Goodnight iPad by Ann Droyd.  It is a fabulous book to share with students in this new technology age.  As a teacher of instructional technology, I truly think that students will be able to connect with this book.  It's a great read aloud book.  It has a beginning, middle, and ending.  It has comeback lines.  The words and the pictures match.  It just is a fun book for all.

I will be leaving the classroom next school year and will be changing jobs.  I will be an instructional technologist.  You may ask, "What's an instructional technologist?".  Well, even I'm not sure exactly what I'll be doing.  Since this is a brand new position, I will be learning as I go.  But, the main thing that I'll be doing is working with teachers on how to add technology to their lessons to help with student performance in the classroom.  I'm very excited about this new chapter in my life.  My blog will be changing a little.  I'll still be posting things about education, but the focus will be more about technology in the classroom.  My first big teacher workshop will be training teachers on Google Apps for Education.  It is amazing all of the things that Google can do for teachers!  If you aren't familiar with it, then "google" it.