Blog Archives

10 Minute Tech Tools - Padlet

2/26/2015

Below is the latest addition to my collection of "10 Minute Tech Tools" - a compilation of technology tools and resources that can be explored in just 10 minutes. Click on the button below to view my Pinterest board with other great 10 Minute Tech Tools!

10 Minute Tech Tools

Padlet

If you are a Pinterest user, you have probably noticed the quick shift from Valentine's-related pins to St. Patrick's Day pins. As I was scrolling through my feed today, I came across the pin to the right. Thinking it was cute, I saved it for future reference. But then I started thinking about how you might be able to do this digitally with students. Then it hit me, "Why not use it as a 10 Minute Tech Tool?"! A super easy way to make it digital would involve just spending a few moments getting a Padlet wall set up.

There are so many different things that I love about Padlet. Probably the thing that I love the most is that it is very user-friendly. In a matter of minutes, you can have a Padlet wall set up and ready for students to use. Padlet has many customizable features for walls, but one that you can utilize to make your wall unique and personal to your instruction is that of making a custom background.

To make a background, I simply used a Google Slide presentation (you could also use PowerPoint or really any graphic editor) to create a slide. I saved the slide as a .png image. Then over in Padlet, I created a wall, went to Settings, and then added a background wallpaper for wall. Easy-peasy!

Some ways you could use custom background images:

Graphic organizers
Writing prompts
Collaborate with peers on a project
Share links
Activators
Summarizers
Share student projects

The possibilities are endless!

Want to use my custom wallpaper? Go ahead! Use the button below to download the image.

St. Patrick's Day Background

St. Patrick's Day Padlet Wall

Haven't used Padlet before and want to play around by contributing to my wall (or have used it and just want to play along)? All you have to do is just double-click anywhere on the wall, or click on the little pencil in the lower left-hand corner.

Created with Padlet

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10 Minute Tech Tools - Plickers

2/17/2015

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Below is the latest addition to my collection of "10 Minute Tech Tools" - a compilation of technology tools and resources that can be explored in just 10 minutes.

10 minute Tech Tools

What is Plickers?

According to their website, Plickers is "a powerfully simple tool that lets teachers collect real-time formative assessment data without the need for student devices". And that is exactly what it is! It does not require students to have a device to respond, and is minimal work for a teacher to set up. Pretty nice selling points there, huh?!

To get started with Plickers, there are just a few steps to take.

Go to http://www.plickers.com and sign up for an account.
Print the desired number/style of cards that suit your classroom/student needs.
Add classes to your account. This is helpful if you have more than one group of students you see during the day or if you want to set up questions for different subject ahead of time.
Add questions to your library and assign them to classes.
Download the Plickers app to your iPad, iPhone, or Android device.
Cue your iPad/iPhone/Android device with the Plickers app, hand out a card to each student, start asking questions, and scanning student cards!

Once you start asking questions and scanning the student cards with their responses, you will start to see data showing up in real time. How cool is that?!

What Does Plickers Look Like in the Classroom?

Below is a video of a 1st grade teacher in my district who is using Plickers in her classroom as a form of formative assessment. She explains how she uses it with her students and you have a chance to see the students interacting with her as she explains her teaching process.

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10 Minute Tech Tools - 100 Day Fun!

2/5/2015

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Below is the latest addition to my collection of "10 Minute Tech Tools" - a compilation of technology tools and resources that can be explored in just 10 minutes.

10 Minute Tech Tools

In many elementary schools, teachers and students work on practicing counting, days, months, and many other math skills through calendar work. One big part of this is counting how many days school has been in session. If your school, grade level, or classroom is celebrating 100 day, here are some fun tech tools you could use to help celebrate your day!