Tuesday, January 23, 2024

World Read Aloud Day


World Read Aloud Day is a day dedicated to the art of reading aloud. It is celebrated on the first Wednesday in February.  Multiple vendors and book companies provide a variety of activities to celebrate. Mark your calendars for February 7th, 2024, and get ready for a day full of excitement as we celebrate the joy of reading aloud. 


One of the great companies that will be participating in World Read Aloud Day is Curipod!  They will have a new author every 30 minutes, including a live Q & A session with each author.  Each registered classroom will get a 70-page activity packet from Curipod.  The packet includes amazing interactive, engaging lesson plans and activities, downloadable activity books, coloring pages, turnkey Curipod lessons, Genially activities and so much more!


Don't miss out on this incredible opportunity! Register your classroom now to ensure you and your students don't miss out on the literary adventure of a lifetime. Even if you can't attend, registering to receive the student activity guide is worth it! 


Register with Curipod for WRADLive at https://wradlive.com/.


Tuesday, January 16, 2024

Curipod

As teachers and school leaders, we often get pressured to implement new technologies in our classrooms. With this, one of the hardest challenges we face is guaranteeing that the technologies are being used responsibly and safely.


Curipod is one of these technologies.  It is an AI designed specifically for teachers.


Curipod is an AI that is used to make interactive lessons filled with creativity, reflection, and critical thinking.  It can be used to create interactive presentations on a myriad of educational topics for all grade levels.


As a company, they are regularly making updates to their program and adding new lesson options for teachers and students to use. 

One of the new lesson options is Curipod is Leveled Reading Passages with Comprehension Questions.  

icon image in Curipod of Leveled Reading Passages with Comprehension Questions creator

This new option is a great way to make reading fun!  It is perfect for 3rd-5th grade reading levels, or foreign language learning.

Try using students' interests as a topic, such as their favorite game, movie, sport, or animal!


Tuesday, January 9, 2024

SchoolAI

Generative AI programs have exploded in the last year. Some are for personal and professional use, some are for educational use. The generative AI program I would like to highlight this week is SchoolAI.

SchoolAI is an all-in-one AI platform for your classroom. It was specifically designed with K12 students in mind. It has built-in monitoring and controls designed to help teachers guide and support their students.

Check out this video from SchoolAI with information on how to get started.

Tuesday, December 19, 2023

Happy Holidays!

I would like to send everyone warm winter wishes and happy holidays!  I look forward to writing more posts for you in 2024!

   

                                

Tuesday, December 12, 2023

More FigJam

Last week I shared the announcement that Jamboard will be sunsetting in 2024 and the recommended alternative is FigJam.  This week I would like to provide some training information for FigJam.  

If you are unfamiliar with Eric Curts, he is the creator of the blog ControlAltAchieve,  author of the book "Control Alt Achieve: Rebooting Your Classroom with Creative Google Projects", speaker, trainer, and a Technology Integration Specialist for SPARCC in North Canton, Ohio.

Eric has created a couple of great webinars on how to use FigJam that I want to share with you this week.

FigJam also has a YouTube channel full of short videos on how to use some of the features of FigJam.

Tuesday, December 5, 2023

FigJam, the Alternative to Jamboard

If you have not already heard, Google will be sunsetting Jamboard in 2024.  They have recommended FigJam as the alternative.  Like Jamboard, with FigJam you can brainstorm, align decisions, and collaborate —all in one place.

The following announcement and information has come directly from FigJam:

To make the transition as seamless as possible, FigJam has launched an importer that converts your Jams into FigJam files in seconds. Most importantly, all your Jamboard elements—including stickies, images, text and more—will still be fully editable in your new FigJam file so you can be up and running without losing a beat!

Here's how to get started:

Import your Jamboard files: Visit figma.com and click the “Import” button in the top right corner to start converting your Jamboards to FigJam files. To learn more, check out our importer tutorial or help center article.

Get started with FigJam: Find more ideas on how to use FigJam in your classroom with our tutorials and free template library.

Join a training: Meet the Figma for Education team during a free live training where you'll learn the basics, walk through classroom applications and ask any questions.

Tuesday, November 28, 2023

Formative

Although I usually provide tools or tricks more focused on student use and success, this one is great for teachers.

Formative is a tool that provides teachers with tools to engage, instruct, and assess their students. 

Just a few of the things you can do with Formative include transforming a PDF or Google Doc into an auto-graded quiz,  enhancing reading passages with questions, promoting higher-level thinking with advanced Math tools, and unleashing student creativity with the option of audio and video responses.

Check out Formative for yourself.