Wirelessly project your iPad

There are so many cool apps for iPad and iPhone that teachers are always looking to share with students. This cool, $13 piece of software will let you wirelessly project whatever's on your iPad or iPhone screen to the projector.

http://www.airsquirrels.com/reflector/pricing/

Here's a "How To" video: http://youtu.be/5ynjVq9FM4g

Menu of Options for Students

This infographic lays out some great web and mobile tools that students can use to demonstrate content knowledge in a variety of formats!

Jackpot Pinterest!

There are a number of resources for literacy, technology, etc. on Pinterest. I highly recommend joining and following "Larry Ferlazzo". He pins tons of videos and infographics that are highly engaging and can be embedded into a number of curricular areas. 

Follow Michael's board Educational Technology on Pinterest.

Follow Michael's board Education Infographics on Pinterest.

SBAC Mimic

All educators are trying to find authentic resources & assessment tools that challenge students the same way that SBAC does. Jennie Bremer (Travis Ranch) just shared this amazing free resource with me, and I thought I'd pass it along. It's called "ThinkCERCA". It operates like Google Classroom, but with lessons and assessments already built in. 

Informational Texts

Exposing students to expository texts is crucial. But, we want to find sources that are engaging, contemporary, and tied to our content. Ask students to partner or team up and discuss the curricular connections. I always suggest the following sources for high-interest and leveled texts. 
1. Newsela
2. Readworks
3. npr.org
4. PBS Newshour
4. TweenTribune

Listen, Speak, & Write!

Embed analysis, communication, collaboration, and writing into your content area, while connecting your curriculum to the real world in 10min or less! 

Here's a quick and easy idea that I recommend incorporating once a week:


1. Students listen or watch a current event podcast (or vid) related to your subject area (I recommend npr.org - Science, Music, Art, History, Math) 
2. Partners or teams are given 2-3min to discuss and connect what they heard to the content area.  
4. Teams write a quick 2-3 sentence response utilizing content specific vocabulary and/or sentence frames.
5. Share out and praise their observations! 

Cite This!

As students are given more evidence-based writing tasks, they will be required to properly cite information they find on the net. Here's a cool Google Plugin that makes things a bit easier: Cite This For Me

Annotate the Web!

Students need to know how to research and curate the web as 21st century learners. With Scrible, they can do just that for free! Watch this video to see how it works! 

Video Editor - Edpuzzle

With Edpuzzle, you can grab portions of YouTube, Vimeo, TeacherTube, etc. videos, splice them together, add your own voice-over, and even embed questions. Check out the demo video and FAQ page. Give it a try!

Padlet

Padlet is an amazing, free tool that can be used by teachers and students to present information, save resources, collaborate on projects. You can easily add notes, text, images, videos, and drawings. Click here for instructions and ideas, and here for an example and more ideas.

MultiPurpose Infographics

Teachers can use infographics as primary sources (initiating debates, discussions, or as evidence in DBQs). Students can display lab data, literature interpretations, math concepts, etc. in this stunning visual format. 

Resources: 

• Ease.ly 
• Daily Infographic
• Popsci

21st C - Performance Tasks

In Google Classrooms, teachers can easily post writing assignments for students. By integrating videos, audio clips, and pictures as primary sources, learners can:

1. Analyze information across a variety of mediums.

2. Exract relevant evidence from these pieces.

3. Compose a piece of argumentative writing asserting an argument or position.

Google Flip Packs

Deliver the learning content with Google Presentations (embedded pictures, content, videos, etc.) for students to independently explore and reflect on content. On your last slide link students to a Google Form to assess their learning.  See Kate Cheal's fab GAFE presentation, Google Flip Packs, for a brilliant overview.

VTS - Resources

Visual Thinking Strategies promote oral and written language literacy, visual literacy, and collaborative interactions among peers. Besides Google Images, try searching these resources for pictures, images, and art too:

• Behance
• Google Art Project
• Pinterest