Innovative Teaching and Learning Showcase

For the 7^th Year, Talladega County Schools have showcased PBL and Technology.  There are 55 tables to show their student’s hard work.   Here are just a few of the tools that were shared during this amazing showcase. Our theme this year was ENDLESS DISCOVERY.  Through PBL and Educational Technology your students also have ENDLESS POSSIBILITES.

1.    Discovery Education:  Discovery Ed was a huge focus this year during Innovative Teaching PBL throughout the year.  Board Builder from Discovery Ed was seen across the arena last night.  Board Builder is an exciting tool from Discovery Ed that allows you to create multimedia posters.  You can create posters and projects that include text, photos, and video.  To access Board Builder from your Discovery Education account, just click on the Builder Tools drop down menu and select Board Builder. It is a great way to house activities to assign to students or have students show knowledge that they have mastered.

2.     Story Kit: This is a free multimedia storytelling app. Students can create stories with text, drawing, and pictures.  There is room for one sentence of writing on each page.  This is a simple way to publish writing.  It gives you enough options without having to many bells and whistles to confuse a younger student.

3.    Green Screen App:  Green Screen let’s you travel to far away places without ever leaving your classroom.  Green Screen is used in the movies to make it look like the actors have landed on the moon, and it's used on TV to make it look like your local meteorologist is standing in front of an animated weather map. This app works by combining images from multiple sources into a single video. This app makes it easy to create incredible green screen videos right on your iPad. Classroom-tested by kids and teachers, this app emphasizes ease-of-use and simplicity while still enabling you to get fantastic results. With this you can tell a story, explain an idea, and share an idea in a creative way.

4.    Videolicious:  This app lets students make a video in just a few minutes.  Choose your pictures and let videolicious do the rest.  It is a fun way to tell a story in a great video without having to do a lot of work.

5.     iMovie:  This puts everything you need to make a video at your fingertips.  You can combine Videolicious videos, pictures, or almost any other video into a longer video or a Hollywood style trailer.  Students can share their videos on your cameral roll, you tube, or any number of other video services.  The possibilities are endless!

Have a great weekend!

QR Crazy

 QR codes are all the rage in education. QR stands for Quick Response. These 3D images are more sophisticated bar cods than you see on grocery products.  They began as part of the automotive industry in Japan.  They have  become more mainstream because of the amount of data stored in such a small code. 

There are many educational activities that can use QR codes.  This week the focus will be on ways to integrate QR codes in your classroom.

1. QR Voice:  This site allows students to type in a 100-character message to create a QR code.  When someone scans the QR code, a robotic voice reads the message.  This could be a great way for students to give a brief explanation of a display or a project. http://qrvoice.net

2. Tag My Doc/ Scan My Doc:  The Tag my doc site gives you a place to house all of the scans that you made with the Scan my doc App.  It automatically loads what you scan into the Tag My Doc website.  It also lets you upload a document and it will add a QR code to your document and make it digitally available to anyone who scans the code.  You also have the option to get a stand-alone code. http://www.tagmydoc.com/documents

Here is the Tag My Doc Code for this week's Elementary Friday Five.

3. QR Treasure Hunt:  This is a fun way to review skills or have students work together to find answers to problems.  With the Treasure Hunt Generator, you add a series of questions and it will create a series of QR codes.  Hang them around the school and have students go on the treasure hunt to discover and answer questions. http://www.classtools.net/QR/

4. Make Centers Self Checking:  With QR Code Generator, you can type in text and it will create a code for the text.  Use this code and add it to a questions or a math problem to make it self-checking.  Create several and add them to a worksheet or center cards to make a self-checking activity.  Same work, add an ipad and a QR reader and you have a whole new level of enthusiasm. http://www.the-qrcode-generator.com

5.   Vocaroo:  This is a site I have used for several years to practice fluency.  It is the easiest recording option I have found.  Students record themselves reading or talking.  After they record themselves, you can take the URL from the saved recording and create a QR code.  Students could create a book review using this method.  The book reviews can be displayed in your classroom library to provide a recommended reading for their classmates.  They could also create these recordings to be displayed around the school to give information about different areas of the school. http://vocaroo.com

Have a great time creating and scanning.  I hope everyone has a wonderful spring break!

Talladega County School System will present the Talladega County Technology Showcase on april 4 and 5, 2013 at the Childersburg High School Arena.  More information can be found here.  I hope to see you there!