Mr. B EdTech Blog

We have used this tool in our district for a few years now. IXL offers standards-aligned practice and curriculum for grades K-12. I witnessed a lot of student success with this tool. IXL is not a free tool, but has been well worth it according to many of the teachers using IXL. This tool works on virtually any device with a web browser and internet access. From IXL's Description on iTunes Highlights of IXL - Comprehensive standards-aligned curriculum 
 - Wide variety of question types to engage students 
- Unlimited access to all grade levels
 - Insightful reports and weekly updates on your student’s progress
 - 20 billion unique problems answered on IXL 
Math 
More than 3,300 standards-aligned skills provide comprehensive coverage of pre-K through 12th grade math. Unlimited questions and no templates mean students can practice, review, and master a skill—and never see the same question twice. From skip-counting with pictures to graphing quadratic functi...

This post from Teach Thought is a great resource for finding educational YouTube channels. Here are a few that I liked below. http://www.teachthought.com/the-future-of-learning/technology/teaching-youtube-197-digital-channels-learning/ General Education Sources YouTube EDU Teaching Channel Ted & Ted-Ed Edutopia ASCD Khan Academy, Discovery Channel, National Geographic Biography, Smithsonian Technology Related Links ISTE This week in Tech The Computer History Museum Not on the list, but I found interesting Crash Course Great source for quick and informative overviews on certain topics. 8-Bit Guy (Formerly iBook Guy) I just find this channel fascinating. This "guy" posts a lot of interesting videos on the history of some tech as well as determining if older tech is obsolete. If you are a fan of old video games, check out his "How 8-bit Sounds Works" & "How Old School Graphics Work"

Here are two useful tools that you can use to create audio recordings on Chromebooks (Chrome Browser). SpeakPipe Vocaroo Source & More Information:  http://practicaledtech.com/2015/10/04/practical-ed-tech-tip-of-the-week-two-easy-ways-to-create-audio-recordings/

https://www.gaggle.net/speaks/how-to-use-technology-in-your-faculty-meetings/ Two tools I know my school district uses... Have faculty bring their devices Have faculty share tech experiences or tech tools

WeVideo WeVideo makes video editing easy for everyone and accessible from anywhere. It supports three editing modes: storyboard, timeline and advanced mode and allows you to trim videos to focus on key moments. You can also add text, effects, music and transitions and choose from over 100 royalty-free effects and audio clips to enhance your videos. Other interesting features provided by WeVideo include: record and add your voice-overs, choose from a wide variety of professional themes to use with your videos, invite others to collaborate with you on your videos using Google Drive, publish to YouTube or Drive and share your videos on Facebook and Twitter. PowToon Presentation Edu Pontoon Edu allows you to animate difficult topics and engage your students using a wide variety of tools. You can easily drag and drop characters and props into your slides and assign it an animation, choose from different pre-designed templates and style libraries.Videos and animated pre...

I came across this article today that offers some good tips to encourage critical thinking skills in your classroom. These strategies are low-tech. It goes to show that a good teacher, not just technology, can make a huge impact on student learning. http://www.teachhub.com/teaching-strategies-promote-critical-thinking Here are a few of the points from the article below, as well as some of my input. Know when to jump in to help (Don't always jump in to help) A skill that I have learned providing tech support. Troubleshooting is a very high level of thinking. It is a skill that teaches you to find more than one answer and eliminate the incorrect ones. The more you troubleshoot, the more efficient your thinking skills become. Don't take that away from students. Make Connections Learn with a purpose. I can try to learn to play the piano. If there is not a particular song I am interested in playing however, the learning experience is very difficult, I lose interes...

http://www.readwritethink.org/files/resources/interactives/theme_poems/ I really like the tools offered on readwritethink.org. If you are an educator, and have never been there, you should check it out. This particular tool is geared toward students creating their own theme poems. While using the tool, students learn exactly what a theme poem is. Students can save and publish their work as well. Video Tutorial/Overview