Tech Tuesday 10/26

Hello everyone! I hope this Tuesday find you well. I only have a couple of resources today and a cool experience I had while at a conference on Wednesday.

I was at the #140 Character Conference in Detroit on Wednesday. This was my first non-education conference and it was exciting. The focus on the conference was on social media and real time communication in different parts of the business world. I was asked to be on a panel to discuss my use of social media in my classes. Here is the video of my panel.

140 Conference Detroit Education Panel from Shelly Terrell on Vimeo.

We received tons of positive feedback from people on Twitter. It actually went so well that I was a trending topic on Twitter in Detroit!  

Here is a cool article from MLive.com that summed up the event and mentioned the education panel.

Overall, the conference was very interesting as I talked to people who were interested in the things I was doing in the classroom. I really started to get a better idea of the perception of education by "outsiders". Educators are really viewed as reluctant adopters of new technology in the classroom. I would to agree with them. Not all teachers are reluctant to integrate technology into the classroom, but there are many. To be honest, the people that I'm talking about are the ones that hit delete when my Tech Tuesday email appears in their inbox. 

I'm not going to go on a rant and tell everyone why they need to use tech in their classroom. I will say that there is a perception of teachers and technology that is fed by reluctant teachers that overshadow the teachers that are being innovative with technology. It's not just using the tool to make kids smarter, it's about using technology to give students options and diversify the amazing lessons that are already in place. Consider trying to bring one new tech tool to your class by the fourth marking period this year. See what type of impact it can have on your lessons and the students in the classroom.

Conjugation.com

This is a great site for English classes. A student can type in any verb and the site will show the different conjugations. It also has a translate function! It a very fun and simple site that teachers can use with younger students to show them the different conjugations of verbs. Share this with students so they can take it home and use it there.

Like Geometry? Eucliding Me, Right?

Here is a great article on Geometry and it has some fun sites to use in class to break up the week. One of the site focuses on the Geometry of Baseball. Math teachers are always telling me that it is tough to use technology in the classroom. Well, I hope these games help with that problem.

Punctuation Practice

Here are a great collection of sites that would work wonderfully on the Smartboard that allows students to practice their punctuation skills. Take a look at the different sites and see which ones would work well with your students. Good punctuation is something that is tested on ACT/MME exams. The more practice students can get, the better.

I hope everyone enjoyed this weeks Tech Tuesday and I hope you try something new and share it with other teachers.

As always, give it a try!