Take a look: The NEW Google Forms!!!

I have been waiting for this moment for YEARS!!! Google has finally made it possible to customize your Google Form. You can now add your own photos or artwork. They have also made some super cute templates to use if you aren't feeling uber creative! Take a minute to check out all the new features of Google Forms at this link... then go in and play: 

http://googledrive.blogspot.nl/2014/09/custom-forms-themes.html

If you have never used Google Forms, and want to try it out, here is a link to the instruction page:

https://support.google.com/docs/answer/87809?p=forms_welcome&rd=1

Example Form Template:

For Blogger Users: Posting Photos and Slideshows

A little birdie told me that a video tutorial on posting pictures and slideshows to your blogs would be useful, as many of you are coming up on Parent Night in the near future. The following video will show you how!

Welcome: Let's Get Set-Up!!

Welcome to a new school year! I am so glad to see you all back on campus and fired up for a great year. But first, some housekeeping. This is the handout for today. Please download it to OneNote and/or save it on your Google Drive for future reference:

Welcome Back: Google Classroom

When I was at ISTE this summer, I stopped by the Google booth and they demonstrated Google Classroom. I thought it looked like a really nice and clean way to work with student papers and assignments, incorporating Google drive at a new and very integrated level with Google Apps. I think you will be interested in taking a look also. Enjoy!

You can request an invitation to try it, as I did at this link: 
https://classroom.google.com/u/0/signup?hl=en

Summer Tech University Enrollment Form

WCS Weekly Tech Challenge #2: Smore

WCS Weekly Tech Challenge #1: PowToon

Blogger Privacy Settings

Tech Tool: Infographics

Much research has been done in various fields about the visual nature of the human brain (I happen to have a secret interest in things like this that many of you may not know about...). As a result, I have spoken to some of you about using infographics with your content and students. For those of you with an artistic flair, this concept seems easier than to those who don't. However, creating DIGITAL graphics might be somewhat of a mystery to both groups. This link will take you to a great article which gives you some websites to start with, as well as examples of infographics and what the research says about the visual nature of the human brain. I found it to be very interesting!

As always, feel free to contact me to help you figure out how to use these in you classroom!

Click here to read: 3 Great Infographic Tools

Interesting Article to Ponder This Summer

Great blog to follow! Read the full article at:

 15 Mistakes You're Probably Making With Technology in Learning

Summer Tech University: Locate Validate & Informate

**Additional resource: http://www.boolify.org/ (review the "Lessons" button)

Locate, Validate, Informate

Find a Book Using Lexile Framework

Helping a child find an appropriate book to match their Lexile measure and range? This is a great place to go. Share it with parents, add it to your blog or website, and train your students to use it to steer themselves when choosing books:

http://www.lexile.com/fab/

Pinterest as an Educational Resource

If you are interested in another great location for educational resources, join Pinterest! This is a social networking site which allows you to "pin" resources you would like others to see onto virtual boards by category. The really interesting way to use it is when looking for great ideas for your classroom. There are literally tons of teachers who post to the education category by the minute. There are great teaching and seasonal ideas here, as well as  ideas for using iPads or other technology in your classroom. The link that follows will take you to a blog post on some of the best boards to check out. Happy Pinning!

http://edudemic.com/2012/10/pinterest-education-technology/

Great Resource: Edcanvas

Edcanvas is another awesome presentation/research tool for you and your students. I like it because it is similar to Pinterest in style, and it is FREE for both students and teachers. The student can gather resources and upload them to a page so that all their resources are in one place. The nice thing about it is you can send out invitations to your students and add them to a class, allowing you to view all their Edcanvas projects in one location for multiple classes. The video I have included shows you how to set your classes up and invite your students. Have fun trying something new!

Great Resource: Under Ten Minutes

This is one of the Educational Technology blogs I follow. I love it because it always has a short, instructional videos for using a current website. I especially enjoy the "Interesting uses for..." section of videos. Check it out!

http://www.undertenminutes.com/

Formative Assessment Tool: Socrative

If you are interested in using other tools for formative assessment in your classroom, this one is fantastic: www.socrative.com. "Socrative is a smart student response system that empowers teachers to engage their classrooms through a series of educational exercises and games via smartphones, laptops, and tablets." Take a few minutes to view the following video:

New Teaching Trends

70 Interesting Ways to Use an iPad in the Classroom

For those of you who are interested in putting a personal or school purchased iPad to use with your students, view this presentation. There are some really neat ideas to integrate anywhere from 1 to multiple iPads to work! 

70 interesting ways_to_use_an_i_pad_in_the_clas from monicacmcliff

Web 2.0 Advent Calendar

This came to me in my email today, and I thought this would be a festive and seasonal way for us to beef up our web "know-how" in the month of December. Bookmark the site on your browser and spend 15 minutes a day learning about the latest Web 2.0 tools to possibly integrate in your classroom. You simply click on the number of the date and a web tool appears with classroom integration ideas in the summary. Happy Holidays to everyone... Enjoy!

Click here to view the Web 2.0 Advent Calendar

Google Tips & Tricks

I have recently become obsessed with Infographics. I was sent this one today by a blogger I follow (Educational Technology Guy), and I thought it would have some great, all-purpose value for our staff. It has some really great tips for searching. You might also choose to share this with your middle and upper school students. Enjoy!

Created by: HackCollege