International Dot Day was September 15th. It is all about being creative and making your mark on the world. The day is based on the book by Peter H. Reynolds, The Dot. It is a wonderful story about a little girl who doesn't think she can draw. She makes a dot and then builds on that one piece of art. Her teacher tells her its all about making your mark on the world and persevering. More about dot day here http://www.thedotclub.org/dotdayLast year our students used the drawing pad app on the iPads to illustrate how they would make their mark.  This year we tried something different.I got to celebrate Dot day again with Mrs. Towe's 2nd grade class. After reading the story and writing down their ideas for how they will make their mark on the world,They completed activities like making a team collage They created individual dots reflecting their favorite colors and ideas using the SpinArt App free version. The most exciting activity we completed was using this very cool app called the Colar Mix . This app allows you to see your drawings in 3D.  The class used Present.Me to create a video sharing their work, and saying how they will make their mark on the world.Kudos to Mrs. Towe for planning such a wonderful and fun filled day for her students.How will you make your mark? #dotday2014 @2t_Tweets @obeagles @peterhreynolds http://t.co/m02L1vF7Wv pic.twitter.com/n87bPWtjqi— Patricia J. Brown (@msEdtechie) September 15, 2014

Connecting Families

I've always been a huge fan of Educreations, a free whiteboard and recording app and website. I have included the app as one of my favorites on a few of my past blog posts.They have just introduced some new and improved features of their product, that will make using EduCreations even more productive. Educreations 2.0 version is better then ever!A Practical Way to Use Educreations  in a 4th grade classroomMrs. Prost created an Array Hunt lesson to help her 4th grade students make a real-world connection with arrays. Her students went on an Array hunt to find arrays around their school building, and used their iPads to show their learning.  I had the opportunity to work with Mrs. Prost & Mrs. Crawford's 4th grade classes as they used the camera app, and educations to complete their projects.Students first completed a SmartBoard mini lesson, and had a chance to interact with the SmartBoard to learn about Arrays, and how to create equations.Students were divided into groups. They used a sorting technique in Mrs. Crawford's class to make their own groups.After a few tries, they were able to make some great connections.Students were given their iPads, and were told they could go around the school to find arrays throughout the building. They had to find at least 10 arrays, and they had to be able to explain why it was an array, and also be able to create a solvable equation.They were also given this array worksheet, so they could focus their project on one array.After Array hunting, I worked with some students to show them how to use the newest version of educreations.As I said before, the new feature allows the teacher to create classes, and it also allows for students  to start and stop a presentations during the recordings.Students used their chosen array to develop a short educreations project demonstrating their knowledge of arrays.They found all kinds of arrays, and they came up with some very cool projects. Check out some of their great  projects from Mrs. Prost's class!Kudos to Mrs. Prost for creating such an authentic lesson, and both Mrs. Crawford and Mrs. Prost for creating this real-world learning experience for their students.How else could you use educreations in your classroom? Read how teachers are using EduCreations in their classrooms hereIn addition to their continued free option, they have introduced a new paid option called Educreations Pro. Their Pro Classroom and Pro School plans offer many additional features for teachers, students, and administrators. Educreations Pro provides the ultimate Educreations experience, and while it’s not free, it is affordable, at less than $2.50 per student.If you’re not able to upgrade to Pro, you can continue to use their free Basic Edition. The free app still includes all the same great features, plus some new features that let you save a draft of your work-in-progress, save your favorite lessons, track your viewing history, and create and manage classes that students can join right within the app. For new users, the free plan includes 50MB of storage space, which is enough for about 90 minutes of recorded lessons.

Using Digital Media to Connect Inside and Outside of the Classroom"True technology integration is seamless, it shouldn't be viewed as an add-on, an afterthought, or an event." P. Brown.Start by taking a moment to reflect. Think about last year. How well did you integrate technology in your classroom? The key word is integrate. Unlike "using" technology, which can seem more like an arbitrary afterthought, integrating technology can be a planned, purposeful part of the classroom environment.But at the end of the day, there are always questions to ask yourself: What tool did I use to connect with my parents and students? How well did I collaborate with other educators? What didn't work? What is one thing I would like to try differently this year? To answer these questions, I often turn to the people who can help me evaluate how effectively I’ve been integrating edtech tools into the classroom: students, parents and fellow educators. Opening up these lines of communication helps you to determine areas in which you could improve your teaching with simple tools that help you stay organized and engage your students.   Leveraging relationships with educatorsOne of the most simple ways to begin to breakdown your classroom walls is to build a strong PLN, or Personal Learning Network.  A personal learning network is made up of people/places you go to gain knowledge, share knowledge and collaborate with others of like minds and interests. After all, why reinvent the wheel? If you find someone who has great ideas that they are sharing through their blog, why not try them out? Twitter is one the easiest and common ways to develop a strong PLN. Following people who share your role in education, or what you aspire to be, is key to staying connected and current with tech trends. When corporations want to get the word out on their new products, they usually take to Twitter and other social media outlets first. Check out your local edtech organizations that host weekly chats on twitter like #moedchat in Missouri, or  hashtags #edtech, #digitalmedia, and #mobilelearning.  And don’t forget to contribute yourself--other educators want to learn your awesome practices, too!Leveraging relationships with studentsOur students need an authentic audiences, and the ability to connect with others too. How do you do this? By introducing new concepts and activities using creative measures, and out-of the box thinking.  Skype can be used in the classroom to support your curriculum, such as participating in a Mystery Skypes, or an author visit via Skype Experts. NASA has a Digital Learning Network, so you can sign up your classes to Skype with an astronaut or a member of NASA. They have a variety of topics from Food in Space to Robotics to Life on Mars. It's a great way to have your students connect with experts. Skype with another classroom to share projects or become pen pals. There are over 70,000 educators around the world who use Skype in their classrooms everyday. Discovery Education recently hosted a "Doodle For Google" contest, a Live Virtual Field trip with Google Doodlers at the Google Headquarters. Students were able to chat with professional artists and programmers to learn. Google has also launched Connected Classrooms where students can participate in virtual field trips with virtual tour guides from organizations like the San Diego Zoo, The White House or Jim Henson’s Creature Shop. Leveraging relationships with parentsParents want to feel like they are a part of their child’s learning process, and connected to your classroom. Creating  a classroom Twitter, Facebook page or blog are ways to this, but there are other digital tools that you can use with parents  to build those lines of communication as well, like Remind (formerly Remind 101). This tool allows you to send text messages to parents and students without providing them with your phone number. Teachers have found Remind helpful when they want to send scheduled test reminders, open house, or homework reminders automatically. Class Dojo is a behavior management tool for the classroom with a reward system built into the app and website that motivates students; the app allows you to provide students with immediate feedback, and allows them to earn points for rewards. The system tracks this data, and gives you the ability to share this data instantly with parents. Teachers have found that using this tool has improved overall classroom behavior, and has become a very positive force in communicating with parents.You can also save hours of time making phone calls by using SignupGenius, a free online tool for creating and managing group sign up lists and forms. Classroom teachers have used this tool to manage parent teacher conferences, class volunteers, book fairs and more. Parents can sign up digitally, and receive automatic reminders. ConclusionStill looking for ideas of tried and true ways other educators are using technology in the classroom? Try searching on Pinterest. There are so many edtech pinterest boards, where people post apps and blogs to try out, as well as ideas for using and iPads, and other technologies. If you are a visual person, pinterest is perfect for you.Teachers Pay Teachers- If only I would have thought of this! Teachers are taking what they have created for their classroom and sharing it with others. Some items for free, some are at a low -cost. Let's just face it, a lot of us don't have the time to spend hours developing lessons and projects for our students, due to various reasons, but having access to thousands of projects and lessons at your finger tips delivers a powerful one-two punch. Save time by browsing through resources other teachers have perfected, and use them to provide meaningful learning experiences for your students.Digital Media is changing how people, including our students, interact with the world. This paves the way for changes in the strategies and tools we use for teaching and learning. Becoming a digital expert doesn’t happen overnight: It takes some specific goal setting, and dedication. Focusing on one tool, or a few tools at a time is key to making sure you don't find yourself overwhelmed. Collaborating with others is a perfect way to strengthen your tech knowledge while connecting with your students and parents, both inside and outside of the classroom.

"True technology integration is seamless, it shouldn't be viewed as an add-on, an afterthought, or an event." P. Brown.Many school districts are turning to Chromebooks as a practical option for 1:1 technology initiatives. Intel-Powered Chromebooks are an easy to use, and affordable option for getting technology in the hands of students and teachers. Chromebooks are practical tools to use when striving to meet the ISTE standards, formerly the NETS. the framework for learning, teaching and leading in the digital age. These standards promote a focus of integrating technology to promote creativity and innovation, collaboration and communication, research and fluency, critical thinking, problem solving, and decision making. Google Apps for Education partnered with a Chromebook allows for simple and seamless integration encompassing those standards.So how can you integrate Chromebooks in your classroom in order to meet the ISTE standards, and create authentic learning experiences for your students? Google Apps for Education makes this very easy. Students can easily connect through already installed apps on their Chromebooks. Using Chromebooks students can use 21st century skills to communicate through Google Drive, Gmail, Video Conferencing, and Google Calendar.Chromebooks give students the option to collaborate face to face, or on the computer when working on projects through Google Docs, Google Sites, and Gmail. Students can use the productivity tools via the web to access their work anywhere and anytime. Here are some simple ways students can use Chromebooks to work in the cloud.Start by establishing the ground rules. Think of fun and engaging ways to introduce rules and procedures using this technology in your classroom. Create a video or slide show using Google Apps, or have students come up with their own rules, and create presentations to share. Students could earn their Chromebook license, similar to a drivers license their parents earn. Students could be given challenges to complete in order to learn about their new Chromebook, and to demonstrate that they are responsible users.When using Google Apps to Collaborate and Communicate, use Google Docs with students to:Have students work collaboratively from anywhereGive students ongoing and simultaneous feedback. Instead of lugging home 30 reading response journals every week to comment on, have students keep their journals in a shared Google Doc.  You can give your comments while students continue to write in their journals!Use revision history to hold students accountable for their workPublish student workTranslate letters home to parents who speak a different language, by using the translate featureUse spreadsheets to track student homework.  Give each student an anonymous number and share the sheet with parents.Students and teachers can use Google Forms to create surveys to collect data, and submit assignments.Create registration forms for events, and opinion polls, and voting.Create fictional stories, personal narratives, or essays.Teachers can create classroom websites, and students can create Digital Portfolios, or Research projects using Google Sites. Students can use Google Earth, and Google Maps to see far away places, and or Google Lit Trips. Students and teachers can use Google  Connected Classrooms to  participate in a virtual field trips with virtual tour guides from organizations like the San Diego Zoo, The White House, or Jim Henson’s Creature Shop.  Teachers also need to collaborate and connect with other educators.Teachers can use Google Docs to:Work on the same lesson plan at the same time with a colleagueStore important docs in your school's shared Doc list so that anyone at your school can find and access them.Share district curriculum, or RTI data, or district wide initiatives.  Create a folder for your grade level to share resources.Use forms to create climate surveys, or collect simple data from parents and other colleagues.Check out some other practical ways educators are using Chromebooks in their classrooms by visiting the ChromeBook Classroom YouTube Channel, or Kathy Schrock’s Guide to Chromebooks page.  "Intel Education wants to help educators everywhere with their technology integration by launching a new site: Intel.com/ChromeEDU. Find simple tips and ideas towards your Chromebook integration, with helpful blog posts by well-informed bloggers: Vicki Davis, Naomi Harm, Leslie Nielsen, and Erin Klein. Over the next few weeks until September 30, 2014, those who follow @IntelEDU and tweet about their favorite Chromebook feature with #IntelChromebooks will be entered to win their very own Intel-powered Chromebook. Join us today to spread the word to our fellow teachers! They are not alone in their tech integration!"

Fire Safety and Prevention Week is October 5-11th. Teaching Fire Safety is easy when you have the help of Sparky the Dog! The National Fire Prevention Association (NFPA) provides a variety of fun free apps and other resources for teachers to use in the classroom.Sparky.org  and SparkySchoolHouse.org both provide fun activities for students to learn about Fire Safety. They have also provided specific lessons related to their apps. (Check out the Resources) They have made learning fun with music videos like, "Little Rosalie"Sing and dance along with SteveSongs as Rosalie and her little brother learn the four key steps to follow when you hear the sound of a smoke alarm.Or this one with What’s That Sound? Can Recess Monkey and their gang of pals brave Sparky’s flying smoke alarm to learn what it takes to stay fire safe?Make sure you also check out their newest app, The Case of the Missing Smoke Alarms!Or their other app Sparky’s Birthday SurpriseTeach kids important fire-safety skills this free app is full of games, activities, and sing-a-longs. Most importantly, it is aligned to Common Core State Standards in English Language Arts and Math.Written by New York Times bestselling authors, this free eBook is ideal for reinforcing fire-safety messages with students while building critical skills in reading comprehension, fluency, vocabulary, and more. Rescue Dogs, Firefighting Heroes, and Science Facts meets Common Core State Standards in English Language Arts, Social Studies, and Science through a combination of nonfiction, fictional stories, scientific diagrams, and poetry.Download the free ebookNewsletter: Don’t miss out on any exciting news from Sparky the Fire Dog! Sign up for Safety Source, NFPA’s public education newsletter today.check out more here

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Google Apps for Education has totally transformed the way we teach and communicate inside and outside of the classroom. Through tools like Google Drive, Google Hangouts, Google Earth andBlogger, we can create authentic learning experiences for our students more than ever by promoting collaboration and helping them access their work anywhere and anytime. Curious to learn more about how to better use Google in your classroom? Come to the official EdSurge Tech for Schools Summit on Oct. 17-18 in St. Louisand talk to Brown in person. Get your ticket here for free!Teachers can utilize all of Google’s resources using Google Classroom, a simple management tool that gives teachers the ability to stay organized, assign projects and give feedback within the platform.Google Chrome also has a library of special tools you can access through the browser called Apps, Extensions and Add-ons that can make your life in the classroom easier. Plus, when you use Chrome, all of the apps, extensions and web history are stored in the cloud, so wherever you login, they are literally at your fingertips.Here are a few of the best additional Google tools for educators that help make teaching easy!ExtensionsExtensions are mini programs that modify and enhance the functionality of the Google Chrome browser. They extend Google Chrome’s abilities by adding a button next to the address bar, which applies to the current website being viewed.A Pinterest extension button automatically pins the page you are viewing to your Pinterest board. Symbaloo and Diigo extensions have the same capabilities.How many times have you had 30 or more "very important" tabs open in your browser at one time? The Onetab extension allows you take all of those tabs and convert them into one list. You can save and restore the list anytime you want, or send that list to others by sharing it as a webpage.When grading assignments in Google Drive and using a Google Chrome extension like Permanent Clipboard, teachers can store common comments on student work, or create an answer template for discussion forums.CleanPrint saves paper and helps the environment by giving you the capability to print just what's important, or to save it as a PDF or in Dropbox. It reduces page sizes and lets you remove images.Is YouTube blocked in your district? Use Google Chrome YouTube downloader to save YouTube video content to your computer, so that you can show videos to students in your classroom.Add-OnsAdd-ons are extra features within Google Drive that enhance its functions. For example, teachers can give ongoing and simultaneous feedback by using a spreadsheet add-on like Doctupus, a task-saving add-on that creates folders for students’ work and sends an email directly to students with their grade. Kaizena for Google Docs allows you to track and rate feedback and add voice comments, whileFlubaroo works great with Google Sheets to automatically grade quizzes and tests through forms.Sometimes I want to share interesting Twitter chats, or collect tweets from a workshop or conference to share with colleagues that may not be on Twitter. WithTwitter Curator, you can collect tweets right inside of a Google document and publish them by creating a PDF.Avery Label Merge creates a mail merge using Google spreadsheets to merge data. You can print it directly in Google docs, and it is perfectly formatted to match Avery templates.Easy Bib Bibliography Creator is an add-on that creates a guide within Google docs that allows you to search for books, journals, and websites to automatically generate citations in order to properly format them in MLA, Chicago and APA for a bibliography or a work cited page. (Show this one to your students writing research papers!)AppsGoogle Chrome Apps are like desktop software programs you install on your computer, except that you use them directly within your browser.Create stunningly impressive content for print, mobile or web with Lucidpress, an app that helps you easily produce newsletters, flyers, brochures, photo books and more.Newsela is an easy, creative way to build reading comprehension with informational text that's always relevant through articles on current events. The beautiful thing about this innovative tool is that it allows you to take one article and differentiate it in up to five different lexile levels, which Newsela does by changing vocabulary and sentence structure. All of your students can read the same content at the level just right for them.Make your videos come to life with EdPuzzle. Using this tool, you can crop videos, add your voice, and embed quizzes and open-ended discussion questions. Find videos directly on the site through YouTube or Khan Academy, or upload your own content, then embed them into your curriculum through other programs likeEdmodo or Schoology. You can give feedback to your students and receive data yourself immediately.VideoNote.es allows you to annotate notes and embed them in the video. When reviewing the video, you can click in the notes browser, and the video will jump to the section of the video that matches the notes. Videonot.es is integrated with Google Drive, so you can manage and share your annotated videos with students within the platform.Use Wevideo to create collaborative video projects online. Add text, effects, music and more, and invite others through Google Drive to edit and share projects. Or, if you’re looking to create animated video projects, immediately hook your audience through cartoon-explained videos with PowToon.Interested in flipping your classroom? Present.Me is an awesome presentation production tool that allows you to simply add audio and video to your presentation. Upload your Powerpoint, PDF, or Google presentation to the Present.Me platform, and record audio and video on one side of the screen as you navigate through the slides.Google Apps for Education has become a very practical tool for 1:1 technology initiatives with mobile devices, as it helps programs meet ISTE standards, formerly called NETS, the framework for learning, teaching and leading in the digital age. This article just highlights a few of the best apps, extensions and add-ons Google Chrome has to offer--check out their app store for more creative approaches to learning, and tools that will help make your life easier.Which tools do you think would make Google more effective for educators? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below!

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