Showing posts with label technology in the classroom. Show all posts
Showing posts with label technology in the classroom. Show all posts

April 29, 2013

Picture Perfect

Have you seen this all over the bloggy world the last few days?? 

Well, it peaked my interest and I started to wonder what I was missing (I was the kid who couldn't go to bed because I was afraid I would miss something!) So, the last few days I have played around and I am in love! I would love if you would follow me and I can't even wait to see how the first #teachertalktuesday goes tomorrow!!

Here are a few of my favorite pictures...I will have more to share each day! I triple {heart} pictures so this is right up my alley!!! Follow me @kickinitwithclass

Multiplication Masters Board

My kids swimming this past summer

Problem Solving Notebooks - Fractions

Head on over to What the Teacher Wants or Apples and ABC's to link up!


February 16, 2013

Technology Tip: Smart Board hyperlinks for station rotation

Hi friends! It feels like forever since I've posted.. I have lots of ideas but no time. Boo. 
So I have been seeing lots of blog posts (like this one)  about putting transition music into a smart file so you can easily access it throughout the day and I couldn't believe I had never thought of that before. I have been using smart files to hyperlink websites for the last 2 years but it never occurred to me to use it for music. Duh. However, this got me thinking that maybe some of you hadn't thought about this little trick I'm going to show you below!

During our Daily 5 rotation and our math rotation, I often allow students to use the Smart Board for either word work or math games. It was a pain to keep explaining which website to go to and even when I bookmarked them, kids seemed to need my help a lot. To solve that problem I started creating a menu in notebook and just added links. Now the students can easily see which websites or specific games they are allowed to choose from and I know they won't be wasting their time or getting into trouble trying to navigate the internet. They simply click and start playing! An added bonus is that I can save these files so next year I don't have to try and remember which games I like for each skill! I even upload the files to my teacher website so kids can play from home as long as their parents have downloaded the notebook software. 

Here is the one I have been using to review money 
* side note * my sweeties this year are having the hardest time correctly counting a group of coins... this has never been an issue before... scary! So we keep practicing..... sigh.



Click here to get this notebook file from Google Drive

I also differentiate by adding a colored box around the games. Students know which color they should choose. I like to give at least 2 choices so there is buy in. Buy in = on task kids! 









The background paper is from My Cute Graphics and the font is from Hello Literacy!

If you liked this idea or you do something similar, I would love to hear from you! I am linking up with Fern Smith's technology tips. Come see some more tips by clicking on her button below!


Fern Smith's Thursday's Tech Tips for Teachers


September 12, 2012

Lovin' me some technology!

Have you ever visited Xtramath.org? I puffy heart love this website. It is completely free and the kids love it. As a teacher you just create an account, add your student names and that's it. The program totally customizes itself to each student's needs. I used it for half a year last year and most of my students made huge gains in their fact proficiency. This "program" can be done at home, school or both. I have access to 4 laptops daily. My kids rotate through so each gets to use the program 3 - 4 times per week. I encourage all of them to use it nightly at home as well, but some of my friends don't have internet access. Look how easy this is!
1. Go here to sign up


2. Add your class. I suggest creating two classes if you are departmentalized! After you add your class names, you can print the parent letters and individual student pins! I tell all my kids to keep their parent letter on their fridge to refer to when trying to sign on from home.

3. I also create an account for myself  so I can model how to use the program correctly. Plus, I was just plain curious last year when I first found it! All students start with a placement quiz. The program then knows which facts are memorized, which are almost memorized and which ones are unknown for that student. 

4. Students see this screen. The ones with a smiley face are known facts, ones with an "x" were missed and the blank ones were not tested. If a student misses a problem (like I did here to model for the kids) the program gives that problem over and over again. Also, if a child answer too slowly or incorrectly, the answer appears in grey and the kids have to type the answer before being moved on!

5. The teacher can view graphs of their progress (or lack there of) which I love for RTI data. 

6. This is another teacher view. You can see the days they practiced, and how they did. There are color codes and symbols in the teacher view to give more detailed information about the student's performance. 

Did I mention this totally differentiated program is free? I love it because the kids are only working to beat themselves and they don't need to wait on anyone else. The program begins with addition as a default but you can change it to subtraction, multiplication or division if you'd prefer. Last year I had a friend pass all the levels quickly (at 5 seconds per problem) so I reset it for him at 3 seconds a problem, he loved the challenge and I loved being able to provide that for him without being stressed about one more thing on my plate! 

Here is a little math certificate to give your friends when they've mastered their facts! 


Do you use Xtramath? How do you manage it? Are you going to try it for your friends?? Let me know, I could use some comment love. Thanks,


July 14, 2012

QR Codes for Meet the Teacher



Classroom Freebies Manic Monday
**Edited to post for Manic Monday



I saw this amazing pin the other day that linked to a post on Pencils, Paper and Pixie Dust. The idea is you create a QR code with your email, phone number and teacher blog address so parents can get and SAVE that information right away! How many times have you sent home paper with this information only to have it either not used or lost? My plan is to have this sign hanging on my door for meet the teacher and for the first day of school. I will probably shrink it down and include it in our first weekly folder too.

 I used QRstuff.com to create the codes. I loved this site because it is super easy, free, and I could color the codes to match my poster! The picture I have above does not have my real info... figured I didn't need everyone having my school email! Did I mention it was easy? 4 steps!



Here is the barcode app I have on my phone, I am sure there are others.




Imagine all the possibilities!! I don't like to post anything as "public" on You Tube with my kids on it, I always had to email a link for the unlisted videos. The problem is I have lots of parents that do not have internet access at home or they never checked their emails. This way, I can make a QR, print, and send it home with each child.. almost all my parents have cell phones. Parents would be taken directly to the class video. Or, take pictures of the class and send home direct links to them via this teeny tiny little code! What other ways can we use these in the classroom? 

Click the link below to go grab a free copy to use in your room. Simply print your codes and paste them on. Or get your codes lined up on a blank document and print onto the poster like you would a certificate! If I knew how to make editable power points, I would have done that option for you! (anyone out there want to teach me how??)


Enjoy!

June 27, 2012

Glogster and You Tube



Hi friends, I am late to the party but I couldn't help myself. You see, I LOVE music. No, seriously, I am a musicaholic! I love almost every type of music there is. In my classroom, I love to use music. I have been know to write a song or two to teach math concepts with my third graders! So, when I saw Mrs. Nelson's You Tube linky party, and then Teaching Maddeness' turn the music up party, I knew I had to join! There were so many videos/songs that I liked, I had to put them together in Glogster. Have you used this site? Yesterday was my first time to really spend any time playing on it. I am the technology trainer for my campus and I learned about this site last year but never had time to think about it (think STAAR test). So, admittedly, these are not the most visually appealing but I think they will serve their purpose! In our district, You Tube is blocked. Embedding the videos into Glogster is a perfect solution. I can pull up the videos I need without having to mess with the firewall and I don't have to worry about inappropriate videos/ads popping up!!  Here, they are. I hope at least one of these is new to you! 

Some alphabet songs. My three-year old wanted me to play them                                                              over and over and over again yesterday!


Here are some of my favorite "teacher tip videos" Love the pencil grip trick! Have you seen all the Teacher Tipster videos? So funny!


 
This one includes a link to a shape game on ABCya.

 
Feel free to leave me a comment if your favorite You Tube teaching video was missing. I would love to have a complete collection of the best!