Quick Rubric

Quick Rubric is the wonderful site for creating rubrics from the creators of Storyboard That.  This is far and away the easiest site I've seen for creating a beautiful rubric where a user can add a row or a column w/ a tap of an arrow button.  Everything inside of the rubric is customizable (i.e. from the heading tocustomizing points) and a user can save/print out as many rubrics as they need.
I highly recommend checking out Quick Rubric by clicking here!!!

Make Beliefs Comix for Digital Icebreaker

 

*Be sure to checkout how Make Beliefs Comix can work for you for Remote Learning during this pandemic!!!

Make Beliefs Comix is a excellent site that educators around the world are using for digital storytelling, project based learning, reinforcing vocabulary, and more.  Also, Make Beliefs Comix has an abundance of lesson plans, the ability to translate comics into other languages, and recently launched story starters/writing prompts to help get the student's creative juices flowing.  Finally, teachers can use MBC as a "digital icebreaker" and have students create a comic strip on what they've been doing over the summer to introduce themselves.

I highly recommend checking out Make Beliefs Comix by clicking here!!!

Brightful Games

 Brightful Games is an excellent site for educators to use to use as a "digital icebreaker" activity for

students to use when teaching Remotely.  In fact, this site goes hand-in-hand w/ T&L's list to find ways for students to meet in an online environment.  Brightful Games has such activities as: Would you rather, Draw it, Spot my lie, and more.

I highly recommend checking out Brightful Games by clicking here!!!

Thanks to Larry Ferlazzo's blog for the tip.

Knoword

 

Knoword is a super fun Vocabulary game that is perfect for integrated technology into the classroom/home.  The way this works is definitions are given w/ the starting letter of the word while a timer counts down.  The player tries to answer as many correct words by typing/spelling them correctly before the timer runs out.  Best of all, there is a teacher portal where educators can create their own "word" packs to integrate w/ their curriculum as well as track student data.

I highly recommend checking out Knoword by clicking here!!!

*Knoword is an advertiser of Technology Tidbits.

TutorMe

 TutorMe is an excellent site for finding online tutoring.  This is a great place to easily find a tutor for any subject that a student might need help in.  Best of all, all the tools a user needs to effectively tutor are here, such as: interactive whiteboard, audio/video chat,screen sharing, etc. 

I highly recommend checking out TutorMe by clicking here.!!!

30hands Learning

 

30hands Pro is the excellent iOS app for project based learning, flipping a classroom, and digital storytelling.  Educators are using 30hands to integrate technology in a easy and seamless way.

• New Features in Pro:
— Enhanced Drawing with Editing, Adding Images to canvas, Layering Images, more! (Basic Drawing is still there, too)
— Share-a-Slide to create a single slide video
— Stop Motion is easier with settings and Enhanced Drawing
— Storyboarding is faster and easier
• New icons from Font Awesome and ION
• added support for iOS 9
• fixed some bugs

• Pro has 2 Drawing Modes: Enhanced and Basic
— Enhanced Drawing is vector based which is huge!
— Add images + photos to a drawing
— Edit a drawing after saving
— Drawing lines are crisper
— Text can be on multiple lines
— Resized and stretched text can still be edited!
• Pro has Share-a-Slide to create a single slide video
— Share a single narrated drawing or image to parents, teachers or friends
— Share-a-Slide allows for better collaboration
— Add video slides from multiple students into a central presentation
• Pro has easy Stop Motion settings
— Stop Motion slides can be within a normal presentation
• Easier Storyboarding in Starter and Pro
— New + icon to add a drawing from slide preview/record screen removes extra steps

For more information on 30hands Pro, or 30hands Web click here!!!

*30hands is an advertiser of Technology Tidbits.

Top Go-to Sites for Teaching from Anywhere in 20-21

It’s anything but “that time of year again” as the typical “What will my class be like?” questions teachers often ask themselves are being overshadowed by much more ominous and anxiety-inducing ones such as “Where and how will I be teaching this year?” The situation seems to change by the day, and schools and districts are scrambling to best prepare teachers for multiple scenarios. 

But what if the instructional options provided by your school or district fail to meet your specific needs? My advice: pick one or two “go-to” tools ASAP that are easy for you and your students to use both within the classroom and remotely to start off and quickly become familiar with then continue using consistently throughout the year no matter where teaching and learning end up taking place.

Here are my ‘go-to’ sites to ensure you and your students’ success from anywhere in 2020-21:

1. Boomwriter - You may already know I’m a big Boomwriter fan, and I continue to be even though they’re not free anymore. Regardless, Boomwriter’s tools (Assignments, Student Journals, Stories) let teachers easily create and share any kind of writing activity in any and all subjects. Your students will love writing on BoomWriter, and there are many features (peer-to-peer review, teacher-student chat, vocabulary tracking, etc.) that when coupled with the ability to provide personalized feedback from anywhere are sure to consistently engage your students and improve their writing all year long. Go to Boomwriter.com and start your free trial.
2. Buncee - Buncee is a fantastic learning tool and digital canvas that educators are using in a wide variety of ways (i.e. flipped classroom, project based learning, digital storytelling, etc.)  Educators are loving new features such as: Ideas Labs, Boards, and Immersive Reader.  Best of all, is the educational portal that allows teachers to create and manage students as well as a wide variety of educational resources/templates to help educators integrate Buncee into their curriculum.
3. I Know It - A fantastic site for interact Math practice for grades K-5.  Also, educators can assign lessons, assess students, and differentiate instruction.
4. Otus - A excellent all-in-one mobile learning solution for schools that combines the best features of a Learning Management System and Data Management System.
5. Socrates - A great new site where educators can asses students and differentiate instruction through a unique Game Based Learning system.
6. Storyboard That - Storyboard That is a widely popular website that teachers are using to integrate technology in their classroom.  This is a great learning tool that educators are using for project based learning, graphic organizers, digital storytelling, writing prompts, and much much more.  Also, there are lots of lesson plans, assignments, and templates, for teachers to choose from to help meet their needs.
7. TypeTastic - A excellent K-12 site for educators integrating keyboarding/typing into their curriculum.  Best of all are the wide variety of resources and ability to track students progress.

Chronicle Cloud

 Chronicle Cloud is an innovative educational all-in-one iOS app for teachers.  Educators can use Chronicle Cloud in a number of different ways such as: assessing (using their "traffic light" system), note-taking, providing feedback, and much much more.  Also, being on the "cloud" teachers can collaborate and share best "teaching" practices in an easy way.

I highly recommend checking out Chronicle Cloud by clicking here!!!

*Chronicle Cloud is an advertiser of Technology Tidbits.

Gez.la

Gez.la is a great site for virtual field trips that I just found out about from Larry Ferlazzo's terrific blog.  

This is a great option for educators especially now that we are in the middle of a pandemic and remote learning is at the forefront.  There are a total of a 140 places to visit that include a wide range of areas such as: rain forests, museums, historical places, and more.

I highly recommend checking out Get.la by clicking here!!!

Projector Screen

Projector Screen is a great site for educators or parents looking to find screens, projectors, cables, and more for home or their classroom.  Also, this is an ideal place to find good deals and other resources such as: how to build a home theater or how a green screen works.

I highly recommend checking out Projector Screen by clicking here!!!

*Projector Screen is an advertiser of Technology Tidbits.

Monsters vs Fractions

Monsters vs Fractions is an excellent site for learning fractions through game based learning.  This is a super-fun online or iOS environment where students select through a number of games (i.e. Portal Machine, Catapult, Fractonium Mine).  These games focus on a wide variety of skills such as, sorting fractions on a number line, determining which fractions are greater, and more.  Best of all, the educational portal allows educators to track and monitor students while generating detailed reports to make it easy for differentiating instruction.

I highly recommend checking out Monsters vs Fractions by clicking here!!!

Parlay

Parlay is a very innovative online tool that educators are using to take classroom discussions to the next level.  Teachers can use Parlay in a number of different ways such as: browsing through a robust library of discussion prompts (w/ resources), creating a online roundtable, or by creating a "live" verbal roundtable.  Also, Parlay is great for assessing students making it easy to differentiate instruction and for "blended" learning.

Below is a demo of a "live" roundtable discussion...


Parlay - Live Round Table Demo from Parlay Ideas on Vimeo.

I highly recommend checking out Parlay by clicking here!!!

Dogo News for Remote Learning

DOGOnews is an excellent site for creating Reading assignments for grades K-8 that can then be integrated into Google Classroom.  This is done through 1000s of curated educated articles in a wide variety of subjects (i.e. Science, History, Current Events, etc.) where educators can then select lesson plans, create assignments, and help students increase their Reading and Vocabulary skills.

Below is a brief demo...

I highly recommend checking out DOGOnews for teachers by clicking here!!!

*DOGOnews is an advertiser of Technology Tidbits.

Seneca Learning

Seneca Learning is a wonderful site that student's can use for Remote Learning, especially w/ most

schools starting off the school year online.  All a user has to do is type in a subject/course they are looking for (i.e. Chemistry, Biology, etc.) and then start.  These courses are interactive and provides, images, videos, and more.  Best of all, the educational portal allows educators to track and monitor student progress.

I highly recommend checking out Seneca Learning by clicking here!!!

Thanks to Larry Ferlazzo's blog for the tip.

Gimkit

Gimkit is an excellent game based learning solution that makes it easy for educators to assess learning and differentiate instruction.  This is done through fun educational games that even students can help create and use for self paced learning.  Best of all, Gimkit generates detailed reports for teachers/students and can even grade assignments in real-time.

I highly recommend checking out Gimkit by clicking here!!!