Friday, January 23, 2015

Bookmark! 15 Chromebook Keyboard shortcuts


Website:  http://www.pcworld.com/article/2871246/the-15-best-chromebook-keyboard-shortcuts-for-faster-productivity.html

Cost:  FREE  -  

Platform:  Chromebook

Level- all


This is a great resource/guide for Chromebook users for quick/easy shortcuts on Chromebooks.  Shortcuts are a necessity for faster productivity.  Bookmark it today- even if you don't have a chromebook yet, I truly believe they are the future and you will need this shortcut someday soon!

Friday, January 16, 2015

Adopt an Olympic Athlete for your classroom!


Website:  http://classroomchampions.com 

Cost:  FREE  - Need to apply and be accepted to participateDevice: 

PC-iPad - Need a google account for Hangouts

Level- K-12


This is a very neat opportunity.  One of our 1st grade teachers was chosen to participate in this outstanding program.  Teacher opportunities throughout the nation are randomly posted on the site throughout the year.  Scroll to the bottom right of the webpage to see opportunities for your state.  The Classroom of Champions is organized to connect a classroom with an Olympic athlete.   It is very neat when they do a Google hangout to actually see and talk with the athlete.  The program will send the chosen teacher technology devices to aid in connecting with the athletes.  The athlete offers lessons for students to learn.  Even if you are not in the program, there are videos posted on the website for teaching moments in the classroom.  Well worth checking out!   

Thursday, December 11, 2014

M-Step Sample is available for online evaluation



The new M-Step sample questions are out for educators, parents and students to checkout.  This is a sophisticated online test that takes place of the age old MEAP assessment in Michigan.  Questions are designed in the "smarter balanced"  design.  Recently, I administered a similar math interim assessment for Kindergarten and 1st grade students.  Let me just say that the first day of administration was not as successful as the second day.   Students were somewhat clueless how answer each of the uniquely designed questions.  Day two of the assessment was completely different, they knew what to expect and how to answer the uniquely designed questions.

So, how are we going to prepare out students for these assessments?  Two recommendations I can offer #1. have teachers start prepping students now (add the URL to your school website for easy access) with the sample online test (or search for online assessments with smarter balanced questions) and #2. make sure the students (and teachers) have more than enough time allotted to slowly go through sample questions in the student tutorial.

Tuesday, November 11, 2014

TYPING!

Begin with a test here to create a baseline for your wpm: Typing Test
Click on Start Test.  The site will keep track of your WPM (words per minute) and errors. Document your score and move on to:  BBC Dancemat---this is great because it shows where fingers go on keys in a fun way

Here is a list of other fun games (I will continue to add to these games as I find them):


Wednesday, October 8, 2014

Download the Free Full-Version Autodesk software - No Catch- Serioulsy Awesome!


Website: students.autodesk.com
Cost:  FREE  for students, teachers & Schools
Difficulty Level: High School Students 
Device: PC
Level- 7th-12th grades

Back in the day when I taught Business classes, I was assigned to teach AutoCAD. Students who have the engineering logic for that software adored AutoCAD.  Back then, it was thousands of dollars to purchase the software and provide to a lab of students.  Today when I heard it is now available for students, teachers and schools for FREE I was surprised and excited.  This program is outstanding for the engineering students and it is free (3 year license).  What are you waiting for??  I can 't wait to download mine.



Tuesday, September 30, 2014

Math On Time - FREE Math ACT Prep

Website: Mathontime.com
Cost:  FREE + options for paid areas
Difficulty Level: High School Students prepping for ACT
Device: PC
Level- 9th-12th grades

This is a great site for students who are preparing for the ACT test.  It offers many free videos that go over Math Practice problems for the ACT.  The videos are sectioned in 3 formats Easy (1-10 videos), Medium (21-30 videos) and Hard (41-50 videos).  I would highly recommend this site to any student prepping for the ACT!