Welcome Back!

Welcome to the 2014-2015 school year! With so many technology opportunities for both staff and students, this is shaping up to be an amazing year. While sometimes we may get frustrated when our tech doesn't work so well, we are truly lucky to have so much available to us (many schools do not.) I look forward to working with all of you at Holmes to plan ways you can use all this technology for your students to learn, and to work it into CCSS and everything else you will teach!

This blog is here to share ideas. Mindi and I are excited to share these with you here, but we'd LOVE to have all of you involved, too!

• Please comment and share ideas at the bottom of blog posts. 
• Please share with us when you try something you've read here. 
• Please share any ideas or tools you'd like us to share with the staff via this blog. We'll give you a shout out.
• Please share any teacher and/or student examples of lessons or projects you've done so we can post it here and share with everyone!

~Elizabeth :) 

Random Name Selector

Have you ever written names on popsicle sticks to randomly choose students? If so, here's a quick tool you might find useful in your classroom: Random Name Selector from Primary Technology.

Type in or copy and paste a list of student names. Then press "Go" to randomly select a name. You have the option to remove a name from the list for the next selection (if you are making student groups, for example.)  You might even type in something other than names for random selection (student groups, station choices, etc.)

To make a list of your students and save it to easily come back to:

1. Enter your class in "Change names."
2. Click "Save and Share."
3. Copy the first web address in the black box. 
4. Paste it into a new tab or window in the internet browser you use most often.
5. Save this personalized page as a bookmark (even on your Favorites Bar) so it you'll have quick access to it anytime you need it!

Can you think of any other ways you might use this in your classroom? Please share in the comments below!

Back to School Activities with Tech Tools

It's really that time of year again already? Here are a few quick ideas to get you thinking about starting the year with technology- a tech take on those getting to know you activities. How interesting some of these ideas would be displayed in your classroom for parents on Curriculum Night!

1. Use the Popplet app for an All About Me graphic organizer (great for younger students.) This is a great time to teach about and set the tone for searching for safe images labeled for use in education (i.e. not Google images!) (See Mindi or Elizabeth for great options.)

2. QR codes hunt: each student answer some "all about me" questions and create in a specified format (Google Doc, video, etc.) Students link this to a QR code. Post QR codes on a display in the classroom and let students scan to learn about each other. Give a few minutes each day for a week, and each day you can give a task such as, "Find someone who likes the same type of books you do." Encourage students then to talk face to face about what they learn about each other.

2. Big Huge Labs website (see previous post): Students create their own trading card and share to learn more about classmates. (Combine #2 with these for a big hit.)

How will your students use technology at the beginning of the year?