Newsela is a great resource for any classroom. It is a site that has a collection of nonfiction articles and stories, including current events articles, that allow you to select the reading level you need to understand the text. There are usually 5 levels available for students so they can select the level that best…
This last weekend I attended EdcampIowa in Ankeny, IA. This was one of the 4 (was supposed to be 5 but there was not enough interest at one site) sites across the state to make up what has to be the largest Edcamp (if you combine all of the participants). There were some great discussions…
Recently my school was lucky to be part of the Iowa Teacher Leadership Grant that allows us to gain funds to support the hiring and placing of teacher leaders into positions to help our school improve and move forward. The grant money goes towards paying for various positions such as Teachers on Special Assignment (TOSAs),…
Google updated Classroom last week and added some features that teachers were asking for. (This shows that Google is listening to the feedback that teachers are leaving and that if there is a feature you want, make sure to suggest it.) Classroom now gives you a way to view all assignments in one place, for all classes…
One thing that should be easier than ever, thanks to the technology that is readily available to us, is the ability to quickly communicate with others, including students. There are various ways we can get information out to our students using the tools we already have, or by learning how to use some new ones.…
Imagine having 4 people in a rowboat, all rowing at the same time. If one person is rowing in the wrong direction or even not at all, the boat will not go where you want it to go. This is my analogy for what happens where we allow a single person or group to use…
I end up creating a lot of tip sheets and tutorials for teachers and students. Sometimes those require long explanations which are better solved using video but sometimes all I need is a 20 second clip or shorter. For those shorter cases, I just use Snagit for Chrome to capture a quick video and turn…
I try to live in a #growthmindset so New Year’s is not that much different for me than anytime in the year as far as resolutions go. I try to constantly look at what I can improve at and how I can change. But since so many people use this time of the year to…
(Apparently I have been forgetting to post the newsletters that I send out to the staff I work with onto this blog. I removed the stuff that pertains only to them and will post the old newsletters all at once.) Friday, December 12 Update to Google Docs – You can now merge table cells…
(Apparently I have been forgetting to post the newsletters that I send out to the staff I work with onto this blog. I removed the stuff that pertains only to them and will post the old newsletters all at once.) Tuesday, November 25th Getting rid of notifications in Mac App Store – Simple step to get…
Donovanscience 