Techie Nerd Alert: Tip #1 CUE Conference

 

Happy Tuesday my friends! 

As my followers know, I LOVE technology!!! I often refer to myself as a techie nerd ... yes, it's true!! I frequently include technology tips and ideas in my blog posts ... so I decided to start organizing my technology ramblings into 

"Techie Nerd Alert Tips"!!! Yay!

This will be my first "official" tip.  

Techie Nerd Alert: Tip #1 CUE Conference

 

I was fortunate enough to attend the fabulous CUE conference earlier this month in Palm Springs.  This conference is all about TECH!!! It is centered around using technology to advance learning in the classroom.  My mind was blown!  I was truly inspired by all the innovative teachers I had the pleasure of listening to.
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I learned a TON!!! I'm in the process of experimenting different websites, apps, and strategies in my classroom.  I plan to share my findings and document my never ending tech journey with you ... my lovely followers.

I'll start simple and share three of my favorites.

Edmodo is amazing! I've used this for the last few years as a collaboration tool among teachers in my district and at my school site.  It is a great way to share and post ideas with my teacher peep community.

I never really thought of using it with my students.

However, I'm always looking for new TECHIE ways to build collaboration among my students.

Many presenters at the conference suggested using Edmodo.  A few of my techie savvy colleagues also shared how they use Edmodo for homework and assignments. 

Hmmm .... ding, ding, ding!!! I decided to try it out.

I love it!!  I can ask my students questions about their learning, post surveys or polls, assign homework, attach files or web links (for students to access at home), and more.  I plan on blogging about this in the future.

Here's a link to the website.  After you create an account, you can access it online or through the Edmodo app.

Here's a link to a permission letter in English and Spanish.  I sent this home with my students last week.  Parents can create their own account as well.  They won't be able to post or reply to any comments, but they can view your class homepage.  So cool!

Here's a screenshot of what my homepage looks like.  We're finishing up our solar system unit this week.  Our Open House is this Thursday.  I'm planning on having students and families post a comment on an iPad together.

Another one of my faves from the conference is Telegami.  This app is SO much fun.  Click on the link below to see what it looks like. 

Haha! I told you I was a tech nerd.  Funny!
 
This app is a great way to showcase student learning.  Students can design their avatars, choose a background, and record their OWN voice.  The background image can be ANY picture.  It can be a photo you have taken or an image from the web.  Fun!

 
I had each of my students make their own Telegami video to share at our Academic Fair (a.k.a Open House).  Their videos will be playing on my smartboard. 

The only downside to this app is that the avatars are adult characters.  I wish they had a Telegami with kid avatars.

My last favorite (for now) is AR!!!!

This is amazing!! At my school AR stands for Accelerated Reader, but there is a NEW AR in town.  AUGMENTED REALITY!!!!

I attended a session by a fabulous presenter, Carol Anne McGuire. The whole audience was in awe of the cool things she showed us!!

I often use QR codes in my classroom.  I love them.  QR codes are fabulous.  Students scan them and are instantly taken to a link.  This link can be a website, image, or text.

Augmented reality is another way for students to scan an image and instantly get more information. 

The BIG difference here is that AR brings images to life!!!

There are many books that have AR embedded in them.  For example, Guinness World Record Books (2013 and 2014) have AR.  After you download their app, images from the book literally come to live and jump off the pages.  WOW!!!!!

Also, there is a fun app called ColAR Mix.  You can print out a few free coloring sheets from the ColAR Mix website.  After students color, they can use the app to bring their coloring to life.

 

I had my students design their own planet.  Using the ColAR app, their planets rotate!!!  

Are you amazed yet?!!!!!

This is why I call myself a techie nerd!! 

This is the first of many "Techie Nerd Alert Tips!"  I'm excited to continue sharing with you.  My goal is to share a new tech tip once a week. 

Happy TECHing,

Friday!!!! A Giveaway, Freebies, and Techie Stuff!

Happy Friday!!! I'm linking up with Doodle Bugs Teaching for Five for Friday!!!

Five tidbits from the week .....

1) Anchored in 3rd Grade 1,000 Instagram Follower Celebration -
    Head over to Carrie's blog to enter her awesome giveaway!! She is celebrating reaching 1,000 Instagram Followers.  Since I love following Carrie on IG, I decided to help her out with her giveaway.

You can win my newest product Seasonal Similes!!!!  

... and lots of other great products including Jamberry Wraps.  

Head over now!!!! Good luck!!!

2) Parent Conferences are done!!

    I had parent conferences this week.  Here's what I put on my door.  

I go through a TON of wipes and hand sanitizer throughout the year.  I'm a little bit of a germ freak.  Anytime I can stock up with donations, I shamelessly ask for them.  

3) Extreme Collaboration

     This is my newest techie discovery!!! Does anyone else use this through Notebook software on their Smartboards????  I love it.  It's a great way for students to share their ideas via iPads.  

 * First, they scan a generated QR code.

 * Then, they connect and type in their response.  This week we worked on finding details in nonfiction text.  

* They press submit.

* Voila!!! Their answers appear on the Smartboard.  So cool!!!!

4) St. Patrick's Day Similes

     This is from my Seasonal Similes product I mentioned earlier.  My students are so creative and are doing a great job with their descriptive writing.  

You can grab a FREE sample of this product from my Facebook page.  

5) Funny of the Week

    I got this adorable pop up card from one of my students.  It's hilarious that she thought to make this elaborate card of a prince proposing to me.  Obviously, she wants me to meet Mr. Right as much as I do.  

That's it friends.  Thank you so much for stopping by!  Here are FREE March Madness bookmarks for your students.  Enjoy!

Have a wonderful week!!

February Currently is Here!

Happy February friends!! That means I'm linking up with Farley over at Oh' Boy 4th Grade for her monthly "Currently!" So here it is ....

* Listening -  

     I love Pandora! I listen to it all the time!! It's also pretty great for the classroom.  Some kid friendly stations are Tween, Kidz Bop Kids, Classical Music, Radio for Kids, and they have great seasonal/holiday stations.  

* Loving - 

    Dropbox is amazing! I mentioned it in my last blog post.  It's a great way to share PDF's or screenshots instantly on your student iPads. 

  

* Thinking - 

     Who will win?! I did a Superbowl Pool with my students this year.  Each of my students picked two squares.  They could earn more squares by making good choices in the classroom.  Great behavior incentive! 

     

* Wanting - 

     I'm SO close to finishing my newest TPT product with QR codes.  QR codes are AMAZING!  Students can scan them using a scanner app.  The QR code can be linked to a website, text (i.e. an answer to a question), or a PDF file.  I plan on blogging more about QR codes in the near future.  I'm excited to use them more with my students.  

* 2 Truths and a Fib

     

    Yes, I've been skydiving! It was amazing! Free like a bird!

    Yes, I'm addicted to The Bachelor! Oooh la la!  Juan Pablo!

FIB - As prepared as I usually am, sometimes I'm not 100% planned.  Oops! I'm sure my teacher friends can relate.  Thankfully, sometimes my best teaching happens when I "wing" it.

Happy Superbowl Weekend! My TPT store is 20% off to celebrate.  Enjoy!!!

Hut Hut Hike,

Five for Friday by a Techie Nerd

Happy Friday my teacher peeps! I'm linking up with Doodle Bugs Teaching for "Five for Friday"!!

I'm obsessed with techie stuff.  Yes, I admit that I'm a complete techie nerd!! Learning about technology makes me happy!

Most of my 5 random things have to do with techonology.  Geek squad here I come!

1) Dropbox 

     I've had a Dropbox account for awhile now, but I've used it mostly to share files between my work and home laptop or to share files with other teachers.  Thanks to one of my AMAZING coworkers I realized I can use dropbox for some very SUPER cool things.

    I'm fortunate enough to have iPads in my classroom.  I finally put the Dropbox app on all my iPads.  Now I can share pictures, documents, PDF files, etc. with my students instantly.

AWESOME!

I put a screenshot of a snowboarder in my Dropbox folder.  Two seconds later, the picture was on all my student iPads.  Voila! Great to use for descriptive writing!

2)IBooks

    Through Dropbox, you can share a PDF file of any book!! That means you can have multiple copies of any book!

I read Jumanji by Chris Van Allsburg with my class this week.  My coworker showed me how to put a copy in iBooks.  Hurray!

  * Scan pictures of each page or take screen shots (if you have ebook)
  * Save the pictures as a PDF file
  * Drag the PDF file into your Dropbox folder

  * Open the PDF file in iBooks

Bam! Here it is on my cute "bookshelf" for all my students to enjoy.  This is FABULOUS for reading groups.

3) Instagram

LOVE! LOVE! LOVE! Photography + great ideas + new friends = one of my FAV addictions! I've had a personal Instagram account for awhile, but I recently set up an account for my "Trendy in Third" followers.  I love all the creativity, styles, pics, outfits, and ideas from all my Instagram teacher friends.

Check out my Instagram page!

4) Organize, organize, organize

    Organized iPads! Yes, please! I finally numbered my iPads.  This makes it easier for students to save their work on an iPad and be able to access it later .... AND it looks pretty! Anything cute ... I'll take it!

5) Little People Art

    I put these up at the beginning of each school year, but I thought it was fitting for the upcoming MLK holiday.

Happy T-H-R-E-E day weekend!!! Enjoy it!

Your techie nerd,