Back to School Tech Part 1: Classroom Architect

Believe it or not, the first day back to school is just around the corner!  To kick off another year of learning, here is the first post of many with educational technology resources for educators and students to use.  

Classroom Architect

Classroom Architect, an excellent tool from 4teachers.org, helps you to setup a floor plan for your classroom.

  

With Classroom Architect, you can create a visual of how you want your classroom setup and then print or save your floor plan for future use.  Here's an example of how you can use Classroom Architech:

You can set the dimensions of your classroom, use objects such as: rugs, desks, tables, shelves, TV stands, and computer desks, and use the drawing tool to draw anything else you may need.  

This will come in handy when you first get into the classroom and start deciding how you will best setup your classroom to optimize your learning goals - which is something the website address as well.  The article, Environments that Promote Learning, talks about best practices to use when setting up your classroom and also provides helpful tips.

As we start the school year, I would like to wish all of the educators out there the best of luck!  You are the toughest and most dedicated professionals in this country today.  Thanks to you, the lives of many students will be changed for the better this year!  

Need more resources?  Feel free to visit my Livebinder page for many other useful tools by going to the "My Livebinders" tab on this blog.    

Evernote for Educators wins Top 10 Livebinders!

During this year's Livebinders Top 10 contest, Evernote for Educators was voted as one of the Top 10 winners!

Evernote for Educators

I wanted to thank everyone so much for voting for this Livebinder.  I truly hope you have been able to use this Livebinder for any resource you might need for Evernote.  Rest assured, I will continue to update this Livebinder as much as possible.

Also, congrats to all the other winners and nominees for this year's contest!  Here's the Livebinder of all the Livebinders that won and were nominated this year:

LiveBinder Top 10 2013 Nominees and Winners!

Evernote for the Social Studies: Part 7 - Evernote Food

In this seventh installment of my Evernote for the Social Studies blog posts, we will take a look at Evernote Food - a fun and interesting app to capture, cataloged, and learn about recipes and all types of food.

What is Evernote Food?

Evernote Food (available for IOS and Android) allows you to build your own collection of recipes, take snap-shots and notes of meals, and search for restaurants in your area.  While some schools have restrictions on bringing food into the classroom, it may not be possible to have a "food day" to learn about what foods come from different continents and cultures.  From the teacher's perspective, it would be just as simple to get some pictures of different meals that are enjoyed across the globe and present a Powerpoint presentation over it.  This, however, leads to little or no engagement.

Learning and Engaging with Evernote Food

When I was student teaching, I had a wide variety of students from different cultures and ethnic backgrounds.  Some came dressed every day to class with traditional clothing and was pleased to share some activities they do in their culture.  Even though we may not realize it sometimes, the best source of information is not always the internet - it is our own students in our classrooms!  With Evernote Food, students can now share what meals they have that are specific with their culture.

Evernote Food Home Page

Accessing the Evernote Food app from their IOS or Android device, students can explore recipes, create their own cookbook of their own recipes or recipes that they have clipped, explore restaurants, and access their "my meals" section where they have saved images and information on meals they have previously eaten.

With Evernote Food, students engage in the learning process by doing their own research and sharing what they have found.  Going back to the idea of having students capture their own meals that may offer a look into different cultures, Evernote Food makes that process quick and simple.

When you create a "new meal" in Evernote Food, it provides this easy to use template.  You can choose to create a meal title, select the place which it was taken, type of cuisine, and create a tag for better organization in your Evernote account.  You can also input notes and snap shots regarding the meal into the same template.  This would work extremely well if it is shared in class or if the student shares it on the class website or blog - the explanation is already done in the template itself so students can begin reading about it as soon as they see it.

The great part about this is that you can also choose to share this meal information by coping the URL to it and sharing it that way, or you can share by posting to Facebook, Twitter, or Google +.  The unique URL would work especially nice because you could have your students copy the URL to their meal and submitting it to a designed Google Form or blog post.  And of course, once the student shares the meal either on a social media network or by simple URL, other students and teachers can save that information into their own Evernote account.

As a side note, once you have created the new meal, it automatically saves it into your default folder in your Evernote account.

Here's an example of what a finished meal template looks like:

Conclusion

Evernote Food provides many ways students can interact and engage in learning that they may not have given much thought to before.  The main reason to use any technology like this is for the students to engage with what they are learning and with each other.  Students must be able to share what they have learned with their fellow classmates and teachers.  With Evernote Food, if you ever decide to have your students do projects over certain cultures or countries, let them go out and experience it and capture whatever it is that they are doing.  Whether it be traditional meals, dances or songs, students need to capture that moment and share among their peers.

If you would like more information about Evernote or Skitch, please visit my Livebinder, Evernote for Educators:

 

Evernote for Educators

5 Excellent Note Taking Apps

Thanks to technology, notes that are taken during class, on field trips, and during experiments are more interactive and engaging.  No longer do notes contain paragraph after paragraph after paragraph of text that mean only something when it comes time to study for tests.  Notes are now much more interactive and have much more meaning.   Notes contain pictures, video, sound clips and website links - all of which can enhance the learning.  If you are looking to get your students, or yourself, started with taking digital notes, here are 5 excellent note taking apps that are worth a try:

Google Keep (Android, Chrome Web App) 

Google Keep - a note taking app released by Google earlier this year - is a simple and easy to access note taking app.  Students can quickly launch this app from their Android device and begin taking notes on the fly.  They can also attach pictures and audio or insert text or check-lists. From their mobile device, students can also share their notes via email, Facebook, Twitter or on Google +.  One of the features that makes Google Keep unique is the ability to change the color of the note itself.  Students could utilize this feature to organize their notes - i.e. blue notes are history, yellow notes are math, etc.    

Catch Notes (IOS, Android)

Catch Notes - a note taking app with many features - is also a tool that students can use in the classroom.  Catch allows students to take notes on their IOS and Android devices - while being able to attach pictures, video recordings and even set reminders.  The ability to set reminders on notes is a awesome part of Catch - no more forgetting homework prior to running out the door before heading to school or forgetting certain project deadlines.  Whenever you set a reminder on a note, you will get a alert on your mobile device (I tested this by creating a note on my Nook HD + and my standard alert tone came on letting me know of the reminder from the note).  With Catch, you can also create "spaces" (also referred to as "streams") which you can organize your notes into.  With each space you can invite collaborators to comment on notes, update checklists, and create new notes within the "space".  Free accounts are limited to 5 spaces and 250 MB of storage.  

Evernote (IOS, Android, Blackberry, Windows)

Evernote - a note taking app that showcases some of the best features out in the field today - is certainly something worth trying.  One of the aspects that makes Evernote great is the multiple platform that is supported on it.  Whether it be on IOS, Android, Blackberry or Windows, Evernote has you covered.  Students can easily create notes and organize them into different notebooks - i.e. history, economics, science, math, etc. - and have access to them whenever they need.  Students can attach pictures, files, videos and audio files - all from their smartphone, computer, or tablet.  Evernote also allows you to share notes and notebooks with classmates and colleagues via email, Facebook, Twitter and multiple other ways.  

Springpad (IOS, Android, Chrome) 

***Springpad shutdown in June 2014***

Springpad - yet another useful tool for the classroom - allows students to create notes and organize them in notebooks.  Unlike some other utilities, as of the writing of this blog post, there are no limits to notebooks or storage space you need.  What is unique about Springpad is that in each note you can "spring" different information.  You can simply type a quick note, attach photos, include a website link and several other items that Springpad has included as built-in categories such as: movies, tv shows, music, books, products, wine, recipe, scans (barcodes), tasks, checklists, events.  With this, you can easily create reading lists, movie and tv show lists appropriate for the classroom, checklists, etc and share with your students.  When you choose to share a note, it will generate a unique URL so you can post it anywhere you like.  

Fetchnotes (IOS, Android)

Fetchnotes - a quick and simple note taking app - allows you to organize your notes by using hastags.  There's not too many features other than this at this time.  However, if your students are needing something to quickly launch and type a note, they can do so with Fetchnotes and still access their notes via the fetchnotes website. With the ease of organization with the hashtags, students can quickly search through notes they've tagged.  This is a excellent app if you need jot things down really quick or even take notes while on the go.


All of these apps are well worth the time to look into.  Depending on what level of complexity you need the app to be will depend on which one will work best for you.  By the way, the best part of all these apps - they are free!

5 Free Nook Apps for Kids

The way teachers teach and the way students learn has changed over the last several years due to technology.  Instead of students seeing pictures of different landscapes across the world in a textbook, they are now touring those landscapes online with Google Earth.  Instead of teachers having their students put all their work into a folder or binder, they are now having their students create online portfolios to share with their fellow classmates, family and across the world.  

All of this comes with using technology in the classroom.  Whether it be with computers, smartphones or tablets, technology has changed how we teach and learn.  Recently, I picked up the Barnes and Noble Nook HD +.  Over the next few weeks, I'll be reviewing this device and providing more resources on how this device can engage our students and fellow teachers.  To begin, here is 5 free Nook (compatible with the Nook HD/HD+, Nook Color, Nook tablet) apps for kids:

Letter Paper

Letter Paper is a free app that allows kids, or even those learning to write for the first time, the opportunity to practice writing on their Nook.
The app provides the traditional practice writing lines for when kids are learning the basics of writing and differences between capitalized and non-capitalized letters.  With this app, students can practice their writing skills even when a pencil and paper is unavailable.





Learning Gems - Colors N Shapes

Learning Gems - Colors N Shapes is a free app available in the Nook store that lets kids learn shapes and colors in the form of a game.  The game has levels of difficulty, each getting gradually harder the further you get into the game.  Each level asks the player to click on the matching color or shape from the given color or shape displayed.  For example, the game will provide a picture of a triangle and the player must select a triangle from a selection of different shapes.  The game continues on in that fashion while adding in different shapes and colors.  

Math Racer  

Math Racer Addition is a fun math game for kids that requires the player to add different numbers.  At the beginning, the player gets to choose the color race car they want and choose the numbers that want to play with (1's, 2's, 3's, 4's, etc).  If the player chooses to play with 1's, the game will ask the player to do addition with 1's - i.e. 1+2, 1+3, 1+10, etc.  Each time the player gets the answer right, their race car advances to the "finish line".  It will track their score and time so that the player can keep track and try to beat their record.  

Memory Master Lite

Memory Master Lite is a free Nook app that helps kids with their memory skills using a simple card matching game.  The player can choose from 4 cards to start out with and go up 16 cards.

Alphabet Robots HD

Alphabet Robots HD is a another card matching game that helps kids recognize letters by sight and pronunciation.  This can be either a one player or two player game and has different levels of difficulty.  At the first level, it is a simple card matching game.  At the second level, the player matches the pronunciation of the letter (an audio file is one of the cards) to another card that is the letter of that pronounced letter.  With the addition of the audio pronunciation, the player learns how the letter is pronounced and what the letter looks like.



If you would like more resources over the Barnes & Noble Nook devices, please feel free to look at my new Livebinder, Nook for Educators:

Nook for Educators

Special Guest Post - A Teacher reflects upon 28 years in education

It is my absolute honor to have one of my former teachers, Susan McIntyre, submit a special guest post on this blog.  As of this coming May, she will have completed 28 years in the teaching profession and will be retiring.  I can honestly say that Mrs. McIntyre is one of my teachers who influenced me to be a teacher.  Here is her reflection upon her days as a teacher as she approaches retirement: 

Susan McIntyre - A reflection of 28 years in the teaching profession

Thousands of students, 28 years in the profession, 25 years as a group sponsor/coach, 15 different classrooms, 11 different courses, 3 different schools, 2 school districts, and one outstanding career. How does a teacher look back over the years and evaluate his or her success?

As I approach the end of this school year and the beginning of my retirement, I find myself trying to answer this question. I think about that first year in the classroom. The students I had. The teachers I worked with. I had a two-year-old child and a four-month-old child. My husband had the job of taking the kids to daycare on his way to work. As I think back now, I wonder how either of us ever made it. I know it was only by the grace of God.

I learned that God had a sense of humor in 1985. I had been praying for a teaching job for over a year when He answered that prayer. I forgot to ask to have my teaching position in Amarillo, so I spent my first five years as a teacher commuting from Amarillo to Hereford. I enjoyed my years at Hereford. Both my students and my co-workers left me with many good memories of those early years.

Unexpectedly, in 1990, I heard about an opening at Palo Duro High School. For the next 23 years, I spent many hours working with great students and teachers. I taught 16 years in the math department at Palo Duro, followed by seven years teaching Health. I sponsored the Class of 1997 and had a group of students who worked hard to achieve their goals every year. I then took on co-coaching cheerleaders to go along with co-coaching Academic Decathlon.

I had three special years with the cheerleaders and 14 years with the Academic Decathlon program. I expended many hours on the road in buses and 15-passenger vans with both of these groups. I have many special memories about both organizations. While working with the cheerleaders, I had the privilege of visiting a hospital in Lubbock after a cheerleader fell from an extended lift and received a concussion. I also attended the girls state basketball tournament when the Lady Dons earned the opportunity to play for a state championship. While working with Academic Decathlon, I visited several schools as we competed from one year to the next. I even mastered the skill of making cotton candy as we worked to raise money for the team. I also had the privilege of cooking for the Academic Decathlon students that went to Santa Fe on a study tour. So many memories shared with students I loved as if they were my own kids.

With the ending of the Academic Decathlon era at Palo Duro, I took on my next coaching challenge, the UIL Math team. Although I spent a few years frustrated because the UIL process was so different from the Academic Decathlon process, I enjoyed the students in UIL just as much as the students I had worked with in all my other coaching endeavors. For a few years my Academic Decathlon kids would become my UIL kids after the AD contest. To this day, I still enjoy working with the UIL Math team.

Memories continue to fill my mind as I write this article. They are the memories of a 6 and a half foot, 450 pound young man hugging me while he stands in line waiting to graduate, tears rolling down his cheeks; of a young man coming up to me at the prom and telling me thank you for holding him accountable; and of a young lady, whose mother quit her job to attend school with her daughter to keep the girl from skipping class, hugging me after her graduation while her mother stands there with tears of joy flowing. A memory of running down the hallway after one student decides to shoot another student with others being injured as well. No one said all memories would be happy ones.

So to go back to the initial question, how does a teacher look back over the years and evaluate his or her success? Well, I believe that my success is scattered across this country and even into a few other countries. My success stories, as a teacher, are the lives of those students who sat in a classroom, in a bus, in a van, and even in a plane with me. I have previous students who are serving in the military and previous students who are serving as parents. I have previous students scattered in various fields of work and in various fields of study as they are completing their college years. As a retiring teacher, I am excited about my future as I leave my profession in the hands of some of my success stories.

Written with love and gratitude for my God, my family, as well as, all students, colleagues, and administrators who have touched my life, thank you!

Susan McIntyre

  

Explaining with Skitch

 As some of you may be aware, the Texas Panhandle is covered in snow today!  I've decided to take this opportunity to talk a little bit about Skitch, a awesome tool from Evernote.

What is Skitch?

Skitch, initially a web tool on it's own but later bought by Evernote, is a image markup tool that makes explaining images much easier.  It is available on Mac, PC, Android, and IOS.  You can markup images with text, arrows, highlights, and different shapes.

Here's a snap shot of what tools are available from Skitch:

Explaining simplified

As I mentioned previously, the Texas Panhandle has been hit with a huge snow storm today.  With Skitch, instead of just saying what the snow is like, I can show you!  

By simply adding the overlay of text and arrows, the image is already explained.  This also to engages students more than just listening to you explain it.  When the student sees the image and notice the text and arrows, they are already processing what they are looking at and what "snow drifts" are.

Skitch mobile

If you have a mind of a teacher, you'll get a lot of ideas while you are out and about and want get a snapshot of whatever you find.  Skitch, available on Android and IOS, allows you to capture pictures via your smartphone and markup the image right there.  Plus, once you are done with the markup, you can share right from your smartphone to Twitter, Google +, email or several different other options.  Here's a good video from Evernote.com about the Skitch app for Android (there are several other Youtube videos over Evernote and Skitch available at Youtube.com):

     

Evernote and Skitch

Best of all, any image that you markup or capture will automatically be saved into your Evernote account.  Once you have saved the image, your image will be uploaded to your Evernote account where you can do editing with Skitch on your PC or Mac and share when you are ready.  Once it's in your Evernote account, you'll have it until you delete it.  

Want more info on Skitch?  Here's some more resources from myself and Evernote:

Evernote for the Social Studies: Evernote and Skitch

Evernote.com/skitch

Evernote for Educators Livebinder

P.S.

If you are curious, here's a another photo I took of the snow at my place.  I stand 6'6 and the snow drift was up to my knees: