Web Tools Mind Map

This is such a great Web Tools 2.0 Mind Map from TRIG I had to share it. I mainly wanted to share so I will always have a reference back to it. Find the Mind Map here.

Instructional Moodle Videos

This is primarily for teachers in my district, but others may find them useful as well. Our district is using Moodle Version 2. 5. Below will be a running video tutorial for beginner level tasks in Moodle.

How to create a class  

 

How to have students self enroll in Moodle

How to add a label (use to link to another website)

How to embed a video in Moodle
(Allows students to view videos on your site)

My First Badge

I finally got around to creating my first badge and integrating it with Moodle.  You can create your own badge at Open Badges or use stock badges from Class Badges. Creating a badge was fairly simple and straightforward.  I then just downloaded the image from these sites and uploaded it to Moodle. Go to a class you teach in Moodle, administration, and then badges. You can set the badge to be given manually by you, or you can set parameters to award it automatically to students once they complete a task or meet certain criteria. The bottom picture below is my final badge. The first picture was my draft I awarded to a student. This is their view on their profile page in Moodle. I am looking forward to delving into this digital reward system more this year. Practice and enjoy!!

iTunes U for Primary Sources

I have used iTunes U in the past to listen to a few lectures on history, but it appears they have been doing some innovative work by adding a great primary sources catalog. The best thing about it is the ease of use and search. Most primary document vaults I have seen from government are not user friendly at all! I already got side tracked while writing this blog by one of my favorite writers of the 1800's, Lysander Spooner. You will need to use iTunes to open up the link and I have found that any PDF or book will open in your iBooks. Search and enjoy. Click here or just go to it in iTunes.

Flippin' Tools

Napoleon Dynamite isn't the only one using the word "flippin" anymore. Even if you can't flip your entire classroom every teacher should start making their instruction accessible to students all the time. Refer to my MACUL 14 notes for the session, "Flipping the classroom in the classroom" if you don't know what I am talking about.  I was inspired and wanted to try and start doing some filming of myself going through math problems. You can try to do this online using Educreations but I tend to run out of space with longer math problems. I plan on using my iPhone 5 to record myself explaining math problems to students. I bought this clamp device which I plan on clamping on my elmo to have a birds eye view of the paper while I solve the math problems. Here is the link to it on Amazon.    
My math video tutorials coming soon.....

MACUL 2014: Ideas and Resources

Every two years when MACUL comes to Grand Rapids, MI I get as excited as a kid on Christmas morning! I am so pumped up to meet with other educators that have the same passion I do when it comes to integrating technology into our classrooms. The day is full of inspiring and informational sessions put on by other master teachers. There is so much to take in that your brain seems to stop absorbing information after a few hours or what you had learned early in the day is lost by the end. I made sure to take good notes during the entire two day conference to help combat this information overload. I have created a Google doc that has a summary of each session I attended so that you are able to only click on the notes that sound interesting to you. Click here to see all the great ideas, resources, and inspiration.

My Latest Symbaloo Mix

I've said it before and I know I will say it again. Symbaloo is my favorite way to organize the web.  If I don't put a site that I like into my mix I always forget about it. It allows you to see visual bookmarks on any computer, tablet, or device that can get online. Here is my latest webmix, about 5 of the sites are specific to my school district.    http://www.symbaloo.com/mix/school98

Sharing some Symbaloo ♥: THARP EDU Webmix http://www.symbaloo.com/mix/school98 via @symbaloo