Top 10 Post of February and what I've been up to

Is it spring yet?  If your are living in the Northeast I know you must be sick of the snow like I am.  I'm sure other areas of the US have a bunch of snow as well.  Being that this was a short month I don't have much to report.  We had a week off for February break so that was a great chance for me to get ahead in my planning.  I am so much more relaxed when I'm planned far ahead, but my procrastinator nature doesn't always lend to that.  Oh, how could I forget the best part of February?!  My students finally got school Google accounts and I can't wait to explore all of the uses for them.  We have already been using Classroom and I can't wait to get my students set up with their CK12 account.

How was your February?


Top Posts of February

1. StudyBlue Pro - give it a try!
2. PowToon - Animated Videos (free upgrade to premium...
3. Triptico - newly resigned website makes the resour...
4. PowToon Slides - Animated Slide Shows
5. Online Planbooks
6. Flubaroo - automatically grade online assignments
7. Keeping your Google Account Safe
8. Shelf Life - videos from AMNH
9. Remind 101 gave me a Badge!
10. Instantly grade multiple choice tests and quizzes

Triptico - newly resigned website makes the resources even better!

I just received the e-mail below from the creator of Triptico.

A New Triptico Website
New Website, New Blog, New Features and Lots of Brand New Interactive Resources


The new Triptico website has arrived: www.tripticoplus.com

This new website replaces the existing site and app and will hopefully have lots of benefits:

• Nothing to install
• Access the resources simply by visiting the site
• Create anywhere and save to the cloud
• Create groups and shared folders for easy sharing with colleagues
• A new activity stream of ideas and updates
• New and improved interactive learning resources
• And much, much more.

There is also a new blog which I will fill with tutorials and ideas (such as a guide to the new version of the popular 'Word Magnet' resource).

If you have (or have ever had) a Triptico subscription then you can visit the site and sign in immediately.

If you are a free user, you can visit the site and sign up for a free account to access the many free resources and features.

I hope that you will enjoy visiting the new website.

David

Shelf Life - videos from AMNH

Shelf Life is a new monthly video series from the American Museum of Natural History.  The AMNH is sharing its vast resources with everyone, and you don't even have to go to New York to see them.  Most of the videos are on rarely-seen items from their collection.

"Dive deep inside the Museum's collection to discover the past, present, and future of its approximately 33 million artifacts and specimens in this new series with original monthly videos." - AMNH

Right now there are 3 episodes out, with a new one being posted each month.  Episode One is entitled 33 Million Things and gives you a glimpse at all AMNH has to offer.  Episode Two, Turtles and Taxonomy, talks about the science of classification.  Six Ways to Prepare a Coelacanth is the third episode.  This one focuses on prehistoric fish.  Episodes to come include: Skull of the Olinguito and How to Time Travel to a Star.

This post is cross posted on my science blog, Savvy Secondary Science.

Keeping your Google Account Safe

Do you use Google for almost everything like me?  I'm sure you want to protect all of your data.  Google has a great way to do this called Two Step Verification.  Basically this is a way to make sure that even if someone figures out your password they can't get into your account unless they also have the authentication device (such as your phone).

Basically the way it works, is that the first time you log into a new device you'll need your password and a code that you can get via text or phone call.  It sounds like an extra step, but you only need to do it once per device and it's an added layer or protection for your account.

Check out this link to learn more.

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

Happy February! I hope all of your are staying warm.  If you live in the Northeast you are probably trying to deal with all the snow that we just got and the snow that we are supposed to get.  I'm trying to think positively about it and think that this extra time off from school is not going to stress me out that I need to catch up on things, but give me a time to work on plans and get ahead.  My school is going Google this year and I'm piloting it with my students starting this month.  I'm so excited to utilize all that it can do!

Top 10 Posts of January 

1. Flubaroo - automatically grade online assignments
2. Instantly grade multiple choice tests and quizzes
3. StudyBlue Pro - give it a try!
4. PowToon - Animated Videos (free upgrade to premium...
5. ITL Wearable Technology: What are you wearing in 2...
6. how to use any phone (including "dumb" phones) to ...
7. Online Planbooks
8. Remind 101 gave me a Badge!
9. BrainPop meets Primary Sources
10. ChemThink

ITL Wearable Technology: What are you wearing in 2015? Webinar

ITL Wearable Technology: What are you wearing in 2015?

Tuesday, January 27, 2015 8:00:00 PM EST - 9:00:00 PM EST

In January, Intel Engage welcomes Naomi Harm and Maya Georgieva as they showcase the latest and greatest wearable technology. Wearable tech is the hottest thing in technology today bringing together programming with "the Internet of Things" to allow you now to be a designer and a maker related to STEM, health, fashion and much more. Learn how you can make a fashion statement with innovative wearable technology.

Visit this link to register for this webinar

BrainPop meets Primary Sources

Take a look at this post from BrainPop about how they are connecting primary sources to their movies.  Right now about 20 of their videos have primary sources attached to them, but more are being added.  To access the primary sources simply click on the activities icon from the main topic page and then you'll see a tab for primary sources.  Once you are on that page there is a worksheet that you can print out and then a link to the primary source.  If you take a look at the images below you will see the link on the Galileo page to the primary source, which in this case happens to be another quick video to watch.  I think this is a great way to connect subject areas.  Many students associate primary source documents with Social Studies, but now they can see that primary sources are in all subject areas

This post is cross posted on my science teaching blog Savvy Secondary Science