sutton007

Live Session using Pear Deck       Student 'voice' is a concern for many teachers.   Classes are filled with those students who always participate and have their hand raised.  But these are the same classes filled with students who sit back and let others do the talking for them.  How can we ensure these students are 'active' participants? One way to make sure that "all" students have a voice is to use an "interactive" digital tool such as Pear Deck , Nearpod , Formative & more.  These tools allow students to share their answers at the same time.   Being actively engaged!       As teachers can see student answers in 'realtime' there are many advantages to using such tools. Talk about formative assessment! Immediate feedback from the teacher can clarify misconceptions on the spot. Conversations can also be extended beyond the topic depending on student activity.   There are drawing and dragging options too. ...

" Are we skyping today? "  "Can we skype this afternoon?" These are the questions my eager 4th graders ask each day.  You see, they are getting quite comfortable using this web 2.0 tool.   Over the past several months we have connected with students in Maine, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Utah, California, a local meteorologist and even the classroom down the hallway.   If you look up the word "Skype" or "skyping" in the dictionary, you will not find it.  However, it has become one of those ' new' verbs that have been identified with the 21st century (like " google it " and " text me ").  Skype has taken the pen pal idea and made it into 'instant pals!" Skype was founded in 2003 , but has recently begun to make its way into our classrooms.  Using Skype one can video-conference with another user ( for free ).  This year Social Studies has come to life via Skype.   Kim Powell , a fourth grade teacher whom I met v...