PDFescape...typing, highlighting, etc. on PDF documents

Mr. Peters had asked for a way to annotate on documents...  PDFescape is a great resource for typing/drawing/highlighting/placing sticky notes, etc. on a PDF on your MacBook. There are several apps available for mobile devices, including one we are looking at purchasing called Notability.  By signing up for a free account, you can share, save, and print documents as well as view files online.  Use it as a way for students to fill in templates or forms, digital worksheets, etc.  

Mrs. Krehbiel's 8th Grade Quizlet Resource

Mrs. Krehbiel is using quizlet.com in her classroom.  "A simple tool, that lets you study anything, for free"!  You can create your own, have your students create your own, or use what other teachers/students have created around the world.  You can search by topic, subject, grade level, etc.  Once in Quizlet you will have a variety of choices for students to study, including flashcards, quizzes, races, tests, etc.  Students love studying because it is fun and competitive!

3rd Grade Kansas Communities Keynotes

Mrs. Lafferty's 3rd grade students completed Kansas Communities Keynotes.  

The students worked together to research Kansas communities using a guide of questions including population, location, and interesting facts.  

The students then put the information into a Keynote to present.  

Mrs. Boese provided a livebinder with pictures for them.  If you haven't checked out livebinder, you need to!  I have several and it is an online organizational tool you can use to get specific resources to students.  I used it entirely for my computer classes.  Here is her binder for this project: 

As you can see there are tabs across the top with resources for the students in each tab.  It prevents you from having to give each resource individually and also prevents students from having to go find the websites.  If you are interested in livebinder I would love to help you set one up!!

http://www.livebinders.com/play/play?id=759997

Here is one of the completed projects:  

Mrs. Becker's HS Biology Meiosis App

Mrs. Becker brought iPads into her high school Biology classroom this week using the app Meiosis.  I bet the students had a blast!  
Here is what she said about the lesson:

"Went well...kids were engaged.  It was an interactive lesson on "meiosis" of forming of gametes/ sex cells (sperm and egg).  ALWAYS enlightening to teach to HS kids.  Wrap up of our unit on genetics.  App creates mythical "Snurfles" by creating their gametes.  From that point on, it leads into Punnett Squares, using the gametes that were created in the lesson.  They use the interactive squares to predict the offspring. Teaches a lot of key concepts of genetics.  Handout that tracks their progress.  Answer questions along the way.  Interactive quiz questions throughout and "game" at end to check for understanding."  

Mr. Schrag's (4th)Free Pic/Safe Searching Websites

Looking for a way for your students to search safely online and use copyright-free images?  Here are a couple of really good tools Mr. Schrag had requested for use in his 4th grade classroom. The first 3 links provide "safe searching" for students while on the internet.  The last 3 links are sites that contain copyright-free images for use in projects.  

1. Safe Google Searching for kids: http://www.wikiforkids.ws/safe-search.html#.UugQRWTnYy4

2. Safe Searching: http://www.kidrex.org/

3. Safe Search: http://www.sweetsearch.com/

4. Free pics for learning: http://www.pics4learning.com/

5. Edupic: http://www.edupic.net/

6. free pics: http://weblist.me/copyright-free-images-for-education

Mrs. Kaufman's (1st) TumbleBooks Resource

Mrs. Kaufman shared this wonderful resource she uses in her 1st grade classroom called TumbleBooks. "TumbleBookLibrary is an online collection of animated,

talking picture books which teach young children the joys of reading in a format they'll love."  You can sign up for a free 30 day trial of the resource.  The paid version includes things like quizzes, lesson plans, and teacher guides.  What a fun and interactive tool for kids! Also available for mobile devices!

****Update from Mrs. Yoder:  Just a note on TumbleBooks--we actually get it free through the State Library of Kansas.  I'm sure we don't have access to the paid version with quizzes, etc., but no one should need to sign up for a 30 day free trial.  

http://www.tumblebooks.com/library/asp/home_tumblebooks.asp

(Hopefully that link works--if not, go here http://www.kslib.info/digitalbooks.html and click on the TumbleBooks icon.)

Mr. Graber's Depression Era Podcasts HS

Students in Mr. Graber's class have been studying the Depression Era and putting projects together to show their knowledge of this unit.  Mr. Graber has a VERY detailed outline of the project at this link: Mr. Graber's Depression Era Project Directions including detailed directions, timeline, rubrics, etc. for the project.  His project could be used as a template for a project like this in your class!  Please visit Mr. Graber's YouTube page (http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCVe-CFEN1U6WJhXyIvF046A/videos) to see the finished podcasts created by our Hesston Juniors.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pD-svdOB2M4&feature=youtu.be

Mrs. Pennington's 6th Grade "I Am" Poems & iMovies

Mrs. Pennington's classes created "I Am" poems using phrases such as "I dream, I hope, I feel".  After writing the poems the students partnered and created an iMovie together.  I love this project as it pushes the students to think deeper about themselves.
The movie ties it all together so well and the kids love making them! 

 "I Am" Video 6th Grade

I Am…from one of our 6th graders:

I am loyal and caring,

I wonder where I came from and how I got here,

I hear a wolves cry in the night,

I see me in 20 years,

I want my family to have faith in me,

I am loyal and caring,

I pretend I am on a unicorn sometimes,

I feel a horses scared breath,

I touch a cow’s nose,

I worry about my dad,

I cry when I think about my Great Mother,

I am loyal and caring,

I understand our money problems,

I say my problems to God,

I dream that I have someone’s shoulder to cry on,

I try to do my best on everything that I do,

I hope that my mom and grandma make things up,

I am loyal and caring.

Elementary Teachers: TurtleDiary

Elementary School Teachers:  Turtle Diary is now available as a shortcut on the desktops in the 1-2 Lab.  You can search by grade level, subject, or topic.  There are hundreds of interactive games and activities for the students to choose from that give instant feedback to the student.

Creating Contact Lists for Gmail/Drive

Creating Contact Groups can allow you to quickly and easily share Google Drive files with groups of students or colleagues.  So many of us are now using Google Drive with our students as well as colleagues.  The principals are using it regularly to send out information to staff.  Many district groups you would need are already built in through our email system, however if you would like to build a class or other list here is how to do it:   

Step 1: Open your mail, place your cursor over "Mail" and choose "contacts" from the drop-down menu.

Step 2: Click the "add contact" icon.

Step 3: Select at least one contact name to reveal and open the "contacts group" icon.

Step 4: Name your new contacts group.

Step 5: Your new group is now created. You can add more names by simply selecting them from your contacts list and assigning them to your new group. Contacts can be members of more than one group.

Step 6:  Now when you open the sharing menu on a Google Document you can type the name of a contact group rather than entering emails individually.