Hello Bronx/Westchester STANYS

Today I gave a presentation to the lovely people at the Bronx/Westchester STANYS (Science Teachers Association of NYS) conference.  It was great, but I had so much to say what I ran out of time.  I am posting my presentation here and well on as my presentations page for all to see.  As always, please send me any questions that you have!

Twitter as Professional Development

Twitter is a great resource for learning new things and share what you know in education. Here is a great podcast that goes over how to use Twitter as a resource.



You can also participate in Twitter chats. Here is a link that shares various PLN (personal learning networks) twitter hashtags.


What are your favorite sources for pd?

Flubaroo - automatically grade online assignments

Have you heard about the new add-ons for Google Drive?  They make using Google Drive in your classroom so much easier.  One of those fantastic add-on is Flubaroo.  I've mentioned them before, but I have to say it again because it's so much better!

Flubaroo allows you to create an assignment in Google Forms and then automatically grade it.  With the advancements of Google Forms (such as the ability to add in images), it's really become a great resource.  Not only does Flubaroo automatically grade the assignments, it puts the answers in a second spreadsheet so you don't mess up the original.  In addition it will e-mail the students their grade and there is an option to also include the questions, with their answers and the correct answers.

Take a look at this short video to learn more and look at the user guide.

Have you tried Google Drive for online assignments?  What do you think? Do you have something else that you love?

Dumbphones in the classroom

Continuing on with the theme of what I learned at the NYSCATE conference I have to share with you a presentation about Dumbphones in the Classroom from the LadyGeeks.  They are two ladies who love learning about technology and sharing what they know.  They are always trying out new apps and tools and sharing their reactions.  I encourage you to check out not only their Dumbphone presentation but to check out their site as well (they often do podcasts talking about various topics.)

Where do you look for teaching ideas?

how to use any phone (including "dumb" phones) to do research

One of the great things that I learned about this past weekend at the NYSCATE conference that I went to was SMIR.CH.  SMIR.CH is a way for students to do research all through texting!  I think this is just so great because while many of my students have cell phones only about 1/3 of them have smartphones.  So even with "dumb phones" student can search sites like Google.

Science Comics

This is not super techy, but I came across website of science comics that I wanted to share.  Sciencetoons are cute one panel comics about a range of topics.  They cover a range of topics, but I think the chemistry ones are just great.  Check them out and enjoy!

Remind 101 gave me a Badge!

I know I've talked about Remind 101 before, but I really becoming obsessed with it.  I use it to send out reminders to my Science and Yearbook clubs.  It's been great for the yearbook club especially because anytime I think of something I want to tell them I just send them a Remind101 message.  If I feel like I'm sending too many at one or it's not a good time to send one I will set a reminder so that Remind 101 sends the text later.  I guess I've been using it so much because I just received a message that I've sent 100 texts and received a badge to display! 

How do you communicate with your students?

PowToon Slides - Animated Slide Shows

PowToon has a new service that will allow you to make animated Presentations (Kind of like Powerpoint and Prezi but SO much cooler) in half the time it takes you to make a regular presentation.
This is really big. They have named this " Project Slides" (Still looking for a final name for it).

They are very very excited about Slides and to celebrate the launch they decided that the most appropriate thing to do would be to thank all you teachers for your support over the last two years by giving ALL teachers access to PowToon Slides EDU for free.

So PowToon as you know it, continues as usual. PowToon slides will run as a separate product for now and will have a free version as well as a premium version.

How to get PowToon Slides for free
The slides Premium version will be automatically available to all premium users (Including EDU users). To celebrate the launch, Slides for EDU will be available Completely free during 2014 for all Teachers anywhere.

There are two ways you can get PowToon slides for free:

1. If you already have a PowToon for EDU account (That means a PowToon Teacher, Student or Classroom account), or if you purchase a PowToon for EDU account now. You will automatically be notified when it's available.

OR

2. If you signup to be notified when it's available here. and you will be notified when its available for you.

Any Teacher, Anywhere can get the new PowToon slides for EDU completely free!

Are you a PowToon user?  How do you like to spruce up your presentation?

What I've been up to and the Top 10 Posts of February

This weekend I had the fortune of going to the NYSCATE Hudson Valley Region Conference.  NYSCATE is the the New York division of ISTE (International Society of Technology in Education).  I learned some great stuff and was blown away at what some other teachers are doing.  As always, I am going to be sharing with you all that I have learned.  I just love going to conferences, don't you?

Top 10 Posts of February

1. Sharing Resources with Google Docs
2. Bill Nye Worksheets
3. Problem Attic - NYS Regents Questions Test and Worksheets
4. ReadWorks - reading meets science (and other subjects)
5. Top 10 Posts of January
6. use Google as a timer
7. Two More Ways to Find Me
8. OneDrive - another choice for cloud storage
9. What is a CSV file?
10. Win a Computer Lab for your classroom!