Welcome to Ms. Discepolo’s Digital Toolbox!

Educational Technologies: Storybird Educreations Plickers Popplet Flashcard Machine

Objectives: Identify the benefits/uses of the technological resources in the digital toolbox Gain a new perspective on ways to utilize these educational apps and websites in your classroom Learn strategies that can help supplement your teaching and the learning experiences of your students Increase your confidence in implementing educational technology in your classroom!

Screencast Organization Start with a brief explanation of each technology tool Continue with outlining the benefits for students/teaching strategies *Learning Styles, Bloom’s Taxonomy Finish with ways I would implement the apps/websites in the classroom * Lesson examples

StoryBird Storybird.com Students use pictures to inspire the plot, setting and characters for their stories Simple and easy to navigate *Teachers given the option to create different classes to organize student work after creating account Protect students privacy Can be used on iPads, tablets and computers “Artful Storytelling”

StoryBird in the Classroom StoryBird can be used to supplement any ELA, Science, Social Studies, Phonics or Spelling lesson! The website can be utilized in various ways in the classroom: Teacher creates Shows to all on SmartBoard Whole Group Students work together iPads, Centers, Computer Lab Small Group iPads, Centers, Computer Lab Pairs/Individual

StoryBird Lesson Nouns and Adjectives….Oh My! I’ve created my own storybook to use with a 1 st grade class I imagine gathering the students in front of a Smart Board and having the students work in pairs to identify the nouns and adjectives on each page *Extension: Students can create their own StoryBird storybooks together utilizing different parts of speech. Let’s Take a look together!

Evaluation Synthesis Analysis Review stories Application Using adjectives and nouns in their story Comprehension Summarize definitions of adjectives and nouns Knowledge Recall adjectives and nouns Designing their own stories “Were the stories of my peers correct? Do I really understand the difference?” Bloom’s Taxonomy StoryBird Lesson

Edu-Creations Educreations.com A spin on the Interactive Whiteboard Can be used on a computer, iPad or tablet Teachers can create an account for free Organization is simple *The program allows you to create multiple “classes” to organize your whiteboard videos While using Edu-Creations, the user can record his/her voice, insert pictures and write using a stylus/finger or computer mouse to supplement any lesson Once complete, you can convert your lesson into a video with a link where you can send and save for future use!

Edu-Creations in the Classroom There are multiple ways that you can utilize Edu-creations in the classroom: Whole Group Lesson Pairs/Small Groups Centers Formative& Summative Assessments *Teacher can create an Edu- Creations video to show to the class as a whole group to supplement a lesson topic *Students can work together to create their own Edu-Creations video to share with their teacher/classmates * Students can work on creating an Edu-Creations video at any center while using an ipad or tablet! *Can be used in the beginning, middle or end of a lesson to check for understanding. Students can also save their videos for easy access!

Edu-Creations Lesson The Magic E Rule! I created an Edu-Creations video to supplement a first grade phonics/ELA lesson The video serves as a review of the Magic E rule The teacher can show the video at the beginning, middle or end of the ELA lesson to check for understanding It is interactive, but leads to a good discussion or an activity of the teacher’s choice *Teacher note: Stopping the video a few times to have students discuss their thinking with a partner or small groups helps the material to sink into their long term memory! Let’s take a look together!

Evaluation Synthesis Analysis Identify the patterns Application Creating their Edu-Creations video Comprehension Understand the changes Magic e bring to a word Knowledge Recall Magic E Rule Listen to their pronunciation of words and evaluate themselves Bloom’s Taxonomy Edu-Creations Lesson

Plickers QR Codes, Made Easy! Quick and easy to make a free account on Plickers Only need one device to use Teachers can create multiple classes to organize their students’ QR codes Each student is assigned a specific QR code number that is uniquely theirs Simple set up *Teacher note: Pre-planning is a must with Plickers! Important to print out the QR codes prior to using with students *Plickers gives immediate feedback on student responses in a graph format!

Plickers in the Classroom Plickers serves as a great formative assessment tool: Beginning of the Lesson: Use as a way to gage students’ prior knowledge before starting a new topic Middle of the Lesson: Check for understanding at multiple intervals throughout the lesson End of the Lesson: Use Plickers as an “Exit Ticket” to assess quality of student learning ! You can use the app for surveys, too!

Using Plickers with Students I created my own free account and created a demo class Creating questions is simple, you get to pick the format of the question *True/False or Multiple Choice Sample Question: Butterfly Life Cycle For younger students, you can utilize Plickers in the traditional format – question & answer For older students, you can engage higher ordered thinking by having them work together to come up with review questions for a given topic! Butterfly Life Cycle Review Let’s take a look together!

Evaluation Synthesis Analysis Identify the patterns Application Identifying the correct answer and QR code Comprehension Understand the specifics of topic- different life cycle stages Knowledge Recall the skill being reviewed- butterfly life cycle Review the graph of student responses. How did the class do as a whole? Do we need to continue reviewing based on data? Bloom’s Taxonomy Plickers App Predict the outcome of assessment. Review options and determine if correct answer was picked

Popplet “An interesting way to organize your ideas” Popplet is an app that can be downloaded from the iTunes store for the iPad and can be used on computers, too There is a free version, called “Popplet Lite” For a small fee, you can have access to the Popplet app, which allows you to store all your “Popplets” as PDFs in multiple folders * There is a school discount should you want to explore creating accounts for each of your students!

Popplet in the Classroom Popplet is an exceptionally versatile app and can be used in multiple ways for various subjects: Whole Group Teacher Created “Brain Storms” Small Groups Students work together Discuss their thinking Centers Based on the topics Differentiated based on the needs of the students in the groups

Popplet Lessons Popplet can be utilized to fit the needs of almost any lesson and any subject! I created multiple Popplets on my account to help prove the versatility of the app Some examples of the Popplets I was able to create are: Scientific Method Characteristics of a Fable Syllables Number Bonds Timelines Let’s Take a Look Together!

Lesson Pedagogy Depending on how you incorporate the Popplet app in your lessons/centers, you can have your students move through the stages of Bloom’s Taxonomy Teachers can also address the different learning styles of their students: Auditory Visual Kinesthetic Working with partners/Peers Discussion Organization of “Popplets” Placement of topics Using iPad/Computer Moving “Popplets”

Flashcard Machine An innovative strategy to practice study skills! Flashcard Machine is a free resource Can be used on any computer, iPad, tablet, iPhone and Android device Allows the user to create flashcards using various online assets that traditional flashcards lack *Pictures and Audio Collaboration Easy organization * Built in study sessions, quizzes and games built in for students!

Flashcard Machine in the Classroom There are many strategies that go beyond the traditional use of flashcards in the classroom… Whole Group * Teacher created *Show to the class at different intervals of a lesson *Work as a whole class to answer Small Group * Teacher/Student created *Work together to identify the terms needed for a given topic/lesson Centers * Students can use an iPad or tablet to practice facts *Create their own flashcards to use with the class The website can also be used for different topics, too! Spelling Practice Classroom Rules Brain Breaks Pronunciation And many more…

Flashcard Machine Lesson I created a set of flashcards about maps/globes For the lesson, I imagine this set as a teacher “exemplar” Students would be put in heterogeneous groups to brainstorm vocabulary terms they think are most important to review before a test/quiz *One group might focus on maps, others on globes, or map features, etc. The groups would work together to create the flashcards to eventually share with the class Important class discussion about the terms picked and the definitions * “Do we agree on these terms? Is there one that’s missing?”

Evaluation Synthesis Analysis Analyze the terms picked Application Identifying the correct answer and terms needed Comprehension Understand the specifics of the vocabulary terms Knowledge Recall the skills being addressed- Map Skills Review the terms/definitions of each group. Were there other terms that you think were missing or lacking? What would you change? Bloom’s Taxonomy Flashcard Machine Lesson Determine patterns regarding the terms picked by groups

Final Note I hope you found this video and the educational technology resources discussed helpful and informative! Please feel free to check these resources out for yourself and try them in your own classrooms. It might help not only inform your teaching, but change the learning experiences of your students, as well! Check out happy4teaching website for more PPT templates! Thanks for checking out my Digital Toolbox!