TCEA Bound!

I am not sure when I became such a geek.  I was a dancer, majorette, cheerleader, and Miss High School.  What happened and when did it happen?  Beats me, but it happened nevertheless! I do know that one of my favorite things to do is go to TCEA (Texas Computer Educators' Association).  It is so great to hear other educators speak my language. I always learn and re-energize my love and passion for technology in education. I will be attending this conference this week.  Hopefully, there will be much to blog about.  Also, I will be doing a 3 hour hands-on workshop with  Angie, the other half of the Dueling Duo.  I will post some of that info as well.

iPhone in the Classroom

I know there are so many ways that students can cheat using their smartphones. Students may know ways we have not even thought about yet. However, if we can learn to work with the positive side of smartphones in the classroom we can save money.  With money being the driving force these days Iit may be worth a try. The phones now have such capabilities they have become mini-computers. Can you go through the day without using yours?

Let’s talk general ideas:  flashcards, polling students about understanding, video & photo opportunities, note taking, QR codes, voice memo, calendar/agenda, and scientific calculators are just a few.  Throw in the more than half a million apps that can be downloaded, and we have choices like never before.  I think it is time to dip our toe in the water and see what happens.

LiveBinder

Tutorials for LiveBinder.  LiveBinders is a way to gather all your knowledge, whether it is website links or files, all into one place for easy, elegant sharing.

Google Docs

Google Docs has been around for a while.  You and I may have used it for some time now, however, it is just now catching on with most teachers.  Here is a video about Google Docs.  Google does a great job on the "how to" with Google docs so here is another link with information on getting started.

Schoology

Check out this new product.  It is free.  I see it as a mix of moodle and facebook.
https://www.schoology.com/about.php

TCEA Day 3

We presented today at the conference.  It was a free ninety minute session using a Promethean Board.  The room was full and they seemed to enjoy the presentation.  It is always amazing to me how hungry teachers are for technology knowledge when I am here.  We had fun!!

Check out Google forms!

Forms - Creating forms

Forms - Creating forms

TCEA Day 2 Second Edition

A few Educational Apps for the iPad/iphone:
Voicecards
Dropbox....have used this for a while...great!!
Icardsort
Quickgraph
Earlyreader
Dragonsearch
Zoodles
Oneplanet
Historytools
Historymaps

A few Video/Screen Capture Utilities
Jing - For Mac and Windows, captures screen shots and screen videos
Skitch - A must-have for Mac users. Captures screen shots and pics from computer's camera.

TubeChop – “Cut” and use a section of a YouTube video.