Teachable Moment: Twitter for Summer PD

Since it is summertime, I thought I'd take a slightly different approach to my typical Teachable Moment Monday and make it for the teacher (instead of for the students)! I personally use the summer to pursue some new professional development opportunities and catch up on hot topics I noted during the school year but didn't have an opportunity to try out. The power of Twitter has been one of these surprising hot topics that has transformed the way I approach my summer professional development.

Free Friday: Popplet

Thinking maps, graphic organizers, lists, diagrams....these are all tools we utilize on a daily basis to help our students organize their thoughts, knowledge, and questions. Most teachers commonly use paper copies of these structures or hand draw them on the board, but Popplet is a tool that expands possibilities in the realm of brainstorming, sequencing, and mapping with young learners.

Teachable Moments: Printing

Have you ever gotten to the end of computer lab time and asked your students to press the print button only to watch all of their hands go up multiple times as they walk their way through the series of print screens? Take a moment to check your students knowledge of how the printing process works and provide them with a foundation for how machines communicate with one another!

Free Friday: Wonderopolis

Have you ever wondered what's in a Wonderball? Well, if you didn't grow up in the 90's you probably haven't. But, I bet you or your students have wondered about a wide variety of other things! This week's featured resource is Wonderopolis.

Teachable Moments: The URL

Has a student ever asked a question during class that has caused you to stop and "Google it?" This is an almost daily occurrence in my classroom especially when we are reading any sort of text (especially non-fiction) or observing a special holiday. If you left it up to your students to choose the best result to find the answer to their question, would they make a good choice?

Teachable Moments: The Password

Every Monday I will be highlighting a small moment during the school day that could be easily used for teaching educational technology skills and content with minimal interruption to your scheduled lesson plan. These teachable moments are valuable opportunities to help your young learners become digitally literate! I will also be including some ideas to transform these moments into stand alone lessons, as well.

Free Friday: Online Typing Programs

I am going to feature some of the free technology tools and resources I use regularly in my classroom every Friday. On occasion there will also be a free printable or lesson resource produced by me included! Be sure to check back next Friday for the next featured tool/resource! If you are looking for a resource for a particular purpose or content area, I'd love to hear about it!

Teachable Moments: The Computer Lab Trap

My school district has no formal digital literacy curriculum so time in the computer lab is often spent on STAR Reading and Math assessments, reading and playing games on Starfall, on CoolMath4Kids, etc. While I do not discount these activities and recognize their potential in providing valuable reinforcement of essential skills (there is never enough instructional time), I believe we are doing a disservice to our students by using websites in isolation. Our approach to computer lab time should be a comprehensive one.