Remind

Description of Site:
Remind is a free text messaging tool that I use with parents. I know what you are thinking... I am NOT giving out my phone number. Rest assured, phone numbers are NOT exchanged using this service! My students are under the age of 13 so I currently use Remind with the parents of my students. 

How does Remind work? First, you need to create an account. Then you create your class(es). Each class is either randomly assigned a class code or you have the option to customize this class code to make it easy to remember. I highly recommend that you customize your class code. Parents and students send the class code in a text message to the number 81010 (all US teachers use this short code). The class code is what ensures people are signing up for the correct class. The subscriber will be asked to submit his/her name when they sign up for your class.The teacher will see a list of subscribers when he/she is logged in to Remind. As an added security feature, you can change the code at any time to avoid other people subscribing to your Remind class.

Parents love the up-to-date communication using Remind. Teachers love how easy it is to use Remind!


Educational Uses of Site:
There are many ways Remind could be used as an educational tool:

• send important information about upcoming events 

• field trip tomorrow... packed lunch needed

• send pictures

• disperse class news information instead of a newsletter

• send permission forms

• send study guides

• provide office hours

• models appropriate use of digital communication

Review of Site:
Remind has made it easy to keep parents informed. One feature I really appreciate is the ability to schedule remind messages. It has saved me time. As soon as I know our field trip date, I will schedule the Remind messages about having a packed lunch. I also schedule our data delay (2 hour student delay days) dates when our school calendar is published. I don't have to worry about forgetting to send a message. I can schedule them at one time.

Parents appreciate the attach feature. It allows me to send pictures, documents, forms, study guides, etc. The chat feature allows communication between the teacher and the parents and/or students. The chat feature could also be used as a way to have office hours.
  

You Matter

 The You Matter Manifesto has changed my classroom!

The You Matter Manifesto developed by Angela Maiers has been gaining momentum in schools everywhere. I first learned about The You Matter Manifesto last year. I was intrigued and wanted to learn more so I viewed her videos and read her postings. I also read Tweets from various people in the education field who were promoting You Matter. I found myself inspired to put her ideas into practice. 

I decided to post "You Matter" quotes around my classroom before the start of the 2014-2015 school year. I started sharing this message with my fifth grade students on the first day of school. At first, my students looked at me funny. They didn't quite understand what I was trying to do. I was determined and committed to making an impact. I am glad to report that after many class meetings and lessons, I started to notice a change in my students towards the end of the first marking period. My students started to believe Angela Maier's Manifesto! They realized that even though they are fifth graders, they can make an impact. They have a contribution to make and the world is better because of them. One project that stood out was when two of my students decided to help our local SPCA as part of their Genius Hour project. One student took charge of organizing a SPCA drive in our school. The other student made blankets and toys for the animals. The commitment from these two students was amazing. On the day the items were scheduled to be delivered to the SPCA, I was pleasantly surprised to see additional class members joining us at the SPCA. It wasn't even their project. These students wanted to support their classmates. Here is a prime example of "The You Matter Manifesto" at work in my classroom. It truly was one of the highlights of our year. 

I had the privilege of being selected to present a poster session at PETE&C 2015. I was thrilled to learn that Angela Maiers would be giving a keynote at at this technology conference! Her keynote continued to inspire and motivate me to be sure my students know that they mattered to me. I returned to my classroom and continued to share this message for the remainder of the school year. I am proud to report that "You Matter" had a profound impact on my students and me! My students left elementary school knowing that their fifth grade teacher cared about them! 

Be sure to view the TeDxDesMoines video found on YouTube.

I hope you are inspired to try some of Angela Maiers ideas in your classroom!

 

Remember.... YOU MATTER!

EDpuzzle

Website: https://edpuzzle.com/ 
 
Edpuzzle is a FREE tool that allows teachers to customized web-based videos from sites such as YouTube, Khan Academy, and Vimeo. Teachers may even upload their own video. EDpuzzle is a user-friendly site that enables teachers to crop, insert audio, and add open-ended and/or multiple choice questions to videos. Multiple-choice questions can even be graded for you. Teachers may monitor the progress of students to see which students have watched the assigned videos and the progress made towards answering the questions.

Teachers may have unlimited classes, students, and videos. A time saving feature is that teachers may search the EDpuzzle channel to find premade videos. Think about it... teachers who are part of a team could divide content, find and edit videos, and save them to EDpuzzle. Then the entire team, as well as all EDpuzzle users, would have access to view and edite the videos.

Check out Edpuzzle's FAQ page to learn even more!

Ways to use EDpuzzle in the classroom:

• Use as part of center time in the classroom
• students view read-alouds and answer comprehension questions (great for  primary students)
• grammar lessons
• math lessons
• Assign EDpuzzle videos for homework
• Great to use when there will be a substitute. Students still receive your instruction even though you aren't there.
• Use EDpuzzle to support students who require additional instruction and support

Pear Deck

Website:  https://www.peardeck.com/

Description of Site:

Pear Deck is an ad-free tool that allows instructors to create interactive slideshow lessons that may include images, text, video, and more. Students join the live session and the instructor controls the activity on the participant's device. During an interactive lesson using Pear Deck, participants have the opportunity to respond to the instructor's questions. Pear Deck offers various types of interactions such as draggable, drawing, text or number, and multiple choice. Participant responses are real-time and anonymous in presentation mode. The instructor may view individual answers or toggle between participant's answers in presentation mode. Instructors may view specific individual responses on their mobile device.

Pear Deck is appropriate for school use. It works best in a 1-to-1 or BYOD setting. The Terms of Service states that schools should be in compliance with COPPA guidelines if students under the age of thirteen will be using this tool. Additionally, instructors must agree to use this site for educational purposes only. I could see Pear Deck used K-12. Primary teachers have posted that they have used Pear Deck in their classrooms. I think the biggest hurdle would be access to devices. I think it could easily be utilized in grades 4-12.  

Pear Deck has three pricing plans: Free, Premium, and Domain. The free plan allows for Google Apps integration including Google Drive file storage. The free plan is for one instructor with up to thirty concurrent session participants. The premium version includes some bells and whistles and it offers educator pricing for $99.99 per year. There is a thirty day trial of the full version available.

Educational Uses of Site:

Pear Deck would be a great tool used as a ticket out the door. Instructors may pose a few questions towards the end of a lesson to gauge how well students understood the concept. Almost any concept would be acceptable using Pear Deck. For instance, I could see Pear Deck used as a ticket out the door in math class. I could present my lesson on dividing decimals. The ticket out the door would require students to answer leveled questions that get progressively more difficult. This data would then drive future instruction.

Pear Deck could be used as a survey tool. For example, a teacher could present information about herself/himself and then question students about their interests. A pretest is another example of how Pear Deck could be used as a tool. Teachers could ask questions about an upcoming unit to determine students prior knowledge.

Pear Deck could be used as a warm-up. Teachers could pose an equation and students must create the question. The teacher then selects a student's question to display and participants must determine if the question can be correctly answered using the equation.

Review of Site:

I think Pear Deck is a terrific web 2.0 tool to use in the classroom. It captures students' interest and helps to engage them in interactive lessons. It is easy to use and the free version offers enough choices without having to pay for the premium versions. I see myself using Pear Deck when I am introducing new concepts and I would like to collect student responses anonymously. It would be used as an instructional tool without competition between students. They may truly show me what they know.