Tuesday, December 21, 2021

Storyboard That for Winter Holidays

  

Storyboard That the free online resources that educators everywhere are using for a wide variety of teaching strategies has just released their Winter Holiday Classroom Activities teacher guides...

From their site.... Sometimes we use the seasons and holidays around us to engage our students in the skills we are teaching. Whether you want to use these activities just for fun, or if you have lesson plans centered around the winter holidays, Storyboard That is an excellent resource. Check out some of the great things your students can do!

I highly recommend checking out Storyboard That for Winter Classroom Activities by clicking here!!!

Storyboard that is an advertiser of Technology Tidbits.

KidNuz

 KidNuz is an amazing way for students to learn about current news in the world that is non-partisan and age appropriate for them.  This is done through carefully curated podcasts that are fun and catered towards student learning.  Best of all, there are lots of free educational resources for educators looking for worksheets, quizzes, and more to use in the classroom.

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

Super Teacher Worksheets for Christmas

 

Be sure to check out all their worksheets/printables on Christmas!!!

Super Teacher Worksheets is one of the best sites around for finding educational resources on a wide range of subjects.  Educators can find, worksheets, printables, puzzle generators and more.  Also, they are constantly updating their site w/ more resources all the time and recently released new crossword puzzle worksheet generator.

I highly recommend checking out Super Teacher Worksheets by clicking here!!!

For my Pinterest board on Educational Resources click here.
Check out their new interactive Math site by clicking here.

*Super Teacher Worksheets is an advertiser of Technology Tidbits.

SpinnerWheel

SpinnerWheel is a super-fun site for creating random spinning wheels.  This is a great free tool for educators that can be used in a number of ways such as: writing prompts, randomly choosing a student, math problems, and much much more.  Best of all, a user can create up to 8 wheels on one page and even add sound effects and images to a wheel making the possibilities endless.

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

Thanks to Richard Byrne's wonderful blog for the tip.

Monday, December 13, 2021

Chronicle Cloud

Top 5 Features that make Chronicle Cloud the best notes taking app for teachers: 





What should a teacher consider when choosing the best mobile application for managing  their classroom efficiently? A tool that assists teachers with taking notes, grading,  assessm
ents, maintaining a record of every student, organizing classes, and connecting with  parents to efficiently manage their classroom. A few of my friends suggested Evernote  when I was looking for such an App. After playing around with it for a few days, I realized  that though Evernote was a good app, it was not custom-built for teachers. I was looking for an app that helped teachers efficiently manage their classroom activities. I even browsed the internet for suggestions but to no avail.
There were not nearly as many apps that brought  most of the tasks on one platform.  Then, one of the parents suggested the Chronicle Cloud  App because this parent was receiving assignments from teachers via the Chronicle Cloud  teacher app. 

"I have been using Chronicle Cloud for two years, and I am convinced that Chronicle Cloud  is one of the most powerful apps that brings most of the classroom tasks on one platform." 

Teaching is not easy. As teachers we know how we have to juggle teaching, classroom  activities, meet deadlines, plan and execute lesson plans and assessments. With all that, we  have to observe student progress, give feedback, manage individual and group tasks, create  reports, and take care of administrative tasks also! :) 

Let me tell you all the features I like on Chronicle Cloud, and then I will tell you the best  five that have made my life easy! With Chronicle Cloud, I have been able to: 

organize classes- 

organize, and share classes and rosters with other teachers 

retrieve Notes and Speed Notes from archives 

attach multimedia files 

create artifacts for quick reference 

record formative assessments 

quick calculation of grades 

share assignments with parents via the parent app 

These are the features that I like the best on Chronicle Cloud. Take a look! 

 Advance Note-taking 

Chronicle Cloud is an advanced note-taking system that assists teachers with conferring  notes on individual students. The note-taking feature also has a separate block to write about the instructional needs of every student. Because of the user-friendly interface and simple 

design, the note-taking feature helps teachers monitor and record individual student growth. Follow-ups are an integral part of learning, and effective learning happens when teaching  and feedback go simultaneously. The note-taking feature acts as a motivational tool for me. 

I can write detailed Notes on an individual student, define learning goals, note down my  observations on every child, and plan instructional needs. 

I can write detailed Notes on an individual student, define learning goals, note down my  observations on every child, and plan instructional needs. 

I document progress and formulate strategies for optimum student performance.  There is a ‘Miscellaneous Notes’ section where I write down the behavioral aspects.  That gives me a better understanding of a student's learning needs and helps me  understand the student better. I also use the Miscellaneous Notes to write things that  amuse me about the student. With Chronicle Cloud Note Taking, I can record  assessments, track performance, and share with linked contacts. 

Chronicle Cloud is an advanced note-taking system that allows me to add multimedia notes images, audio, video, and write text in the space given. I capture photos, take videos and  add multimedia notes. I can also load it from the device gallery- whatever it is- audio, video, and text files that will help my students with a better understanding of a concept. 

Capturing thoughts with Speed Note and Organizing with Tags 

Tag a note by clicking on the tag icon, and run a keyword search when you want to refer to  the Notes. There! You will find all the tagged Notes separately! 

Speed Notes 

If ever there was a time-saver, then Speed Notes is the one! Increase efficiency levels by  quickly searching and reusing previous notes or student feedback with Speed Notes! You  can search with a keyword also! Bingo! There you go! 

Let us see how you can add Speed Notes- 

you can import speed notes from .txt or .csv format. 

Speed notes are reusable notes that you can retrieve by clicking on the ‘Bolt’ or the  ‘Lightning’ icon. 

Speed notes are in alphabetical order, hence use a keyword to search any specific  Note you want on the Chronicle Cloud App. 

And now, with Speed Notes, you can write a quick note, no matter what you are doing. Just 

jot down information on any student, anywhere, and retrieve it whenever you like from the  backend. 

 Group-Notes- 

Group notes refer to notes that you write for a group of rosters or students. Make a group according to proficiency levels and learning needs. 

Define groups by shared instructional needs or behavioral aspects for positive  reinforcement. 

Create group notes on the Chronicle Cloud app. Make a group for achieving better  learning outcomes. You can also share group notes according to proficiency levels  and learning needs. 

Whether I am assigning group project work to students or assessing group instructional  needs, Chronicle Cloud makes communication easier for teams in different settings. 

Formative Assessment 

As teachers, we always wished there was some way to record Formative assessments and  keep the data in one place, didn't we? Chronicle Cloud offers innovative ways to evaluate students in ways that are not possible with traditional multiple-choice tests. Chronicle Cloud app makes it very easy to record formative assessment data. For instance, I conduct discussions and record the formative data simultaneously on the app. The traffic light  system helps me in assessing quickly. All I have to do is note my observations in the colors  of the traffic light. That gives me an idea of a student's learning needs. And I have seen the  students responding beautifully to the traffic lights. I have observed remarkable  improvement in their concentration whenever I announce I will be giving them colors  according to their understanding and delivery of the concept. 

Grading and assessment 

A gradebook that records quantitative data and writing descriptive notes to record details on  an individual student is not connected most of the time, in both use and purpose. But the  Chronicle Cloud app bridges the gap and creates synergy, promoting all types of data to be  used as formatives. And a combination of the two has helped me maximize student learning. I can navigate easily between the gradebook and the note-taking feature. I confer text notes  in the Note Taking and calculate the numerical averages in the grade book. O, by the way,  there is an incredible feature of tagging descriptive notes with the grades too! I was  pleasantly surprised when I discovered it the first time! So, this is how it went- I was  conducting formative assessments just before the final grades, and I chose to use the grade  book to evaluate students and give them a lucid picture of their preparation. And there it  was! The note tagging with grades helped me recall my observations after the assessment,  and we had a fun exercise recalling and eliminating the minor -but-important errors!


Connected parents app 

There is a connected Chronicle Cloud Parent app too! The connected Parent App has made  my life immensely easy! I can share notes and assignments with parents, and together we  can monitor student progress. My interactions with parents via the app have proven  invaluable! We often ignore human bonds and the impact that can have on education. 

Chronicle Cloud has made collaborating with other teachers and parents very easy. I share  notes and grades with other teachers and home assignments with parents. I sometimes share  anecdotal notes and instructional needs also with parents. 

Great features should not come at the cost of our privacy. Chronicle Cloud provides  security, encryption, and the cloud to share and store student data safely. Chronicle Cloud is the only app I have come across that takes care of most of my classroom teaching tasks.


Sunday, December 12, 2021

EDpuzzle Originals







EDpuzzle the leading digital video platform for education just got better w/ the introduction of "EDpuzzle Originals".   EDpuzzle Originals are professional made curated videos by educators that cover a wide range of subjects such as: Social Studies, science, Math, and more.  EDpuzzle is the innovative platform that lets educators seamlessly flip a lesson or classroom and make any video their own.

Below is a demo...


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


Thursday, December 9, 2021

ClassroomQ

 

ClassroomQ is an innovative easy to use tool that acts a "digital' hand raising device.  This is all done via the web and requires very little setup.  All a teacher has to do is a create an account and then students join by typing in their name and a unique code that the teacher gives them.  From there, a student click on the assistance button and can even type a comment which then a teacher sees.  This is ideal to assess student's to learning and differentiate instruction w/out having to disrupt classroom time to do it.

Below is a demo video...



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

Tuesday, December 7, 2021

simpleshow video maker

 simpleshow video maker is the best online tool around for making explainer videos.  These "simple shows" are very easy to create and can be used in education in a wide variety of ways, such as: digital storytelling, introducing a subject, project based learning, professional development, and much more.  Best of all, simpleshow is very user friendly and lets educators/students seamlessly create engaging videos by just selecting a template, typing up a script (storyline) and simpleshow takes care of the rest.  There are lots of videos and examples teachers can find on the simpleshow website and a finished video can then be embedded into a website or blog.

Below is brief demo...



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

*simpleshow video maker is an advertiser of Technology Tidbits.