Instructional Strategies to Jumpstart Your Teacher Brain

Wednesday, October 28, 2015 No comments
As I was doing my daily PLN on Twitter I came across this great infographic that I just knew I needed to share. It is called "A List Of 50+ Teaching Strategies To Jumpstart Your Teacher Brain". I love this list for face to face as well as online teaching. My gears are going and I am creating a plan of action to utilize these strategies with a technology approach.




Find all the specifics on each strategy by going to: http://www.fortheteachers.org/instructional_strategies/

The Power of Voki in the Classroom - Not Just for the K-12 setting

Friday, October 16, 2015 No comments

One of my favorite go to technology tools is Voki. I love creating my own personalized speaking avatars that I can use to engage learners in the content being taught, but also allow the learner to create their own avatars to explain difficult topics. I have been a user of Voki as an educator and as an educational technology specialist, and educational technology consultant. 

As an educational technology consultant I am currently working on a Lunch and Learn Webinar on Voki in Higher Education. I am very excited to present the effectiveness of using Voki in the higher education setting.

As we know 90% of what we retain is from doing (creating) and Voki does an outstanding job of bringing active learning into your classroom to engage and motivate students to want to learn. 

So what exactly is Voki you ask?
In a nutshell Voki is an interactive learning tool that allows students and teachers to create avatars to provide evidence of their knowledge and skills. 

Teachers can use Voki to launch a new lesson, go over lesson objectives, and disseminate important information. You can also embed your Voki into your learning management system, PowerPoint and other venues. 

Students can create avatars to reflect on content taught, teach about a difficult topics, deliver speeches, propaganda techniques, sum up class content, present book reports, vocabulary practice, and much more. 

The possibilities are truly endless for using Voki in you classroom!  Voki is a great tool for all grade levels including higher education.



Here are some Voki's that my students' created:




Here is one I created as part of my Online Learning Teaching certification (OLC):




Here is one that I created for my webpage:




Great for teaching topics to students!!



For all the latest and greated on Voki, make sure to follow them their social media sites.

Voki Facebook 

Voki Twitter

Voki Google+

Voki Pinterest




Increasing Active Learning Yields Big Results Infographic



Going Interactive with your Syllabus

Thursday, October 8, 2015 No comments

The thought of writing a syllabus can be...well daunting. To have to think about the whole year in one sitting can be mind boggling. After writing syllabuses for years, I decided it was time to liven things up and make it more of a living document that would encourage students to visit it frequently and reflect on the course goals and objectives. If I am going to invest the time I want to make it useful to all who come in contact with it. I also wanted it to be fun!!

Thanks to the power of Glogster, I created a fully interactive syllabus. I also created a Tellagami to personalize the syllabus even more and utilized web conferencing for virtual office hours. I also enjoy how easy it is to update the syllabus from anywhere with an internet connection. 

Since I am a power user of Moodle, I love that I  can easily embed my interactive syllabus.




I hope you enjoy it and please let me know if you have any questions at all.

Click on the image below to go to the interactive syllabus.




Another Giveaway to Thank You for Being You!

Thursday, October 1, 2015 No comments
I think it is time for another giveaway as I want to thank you for being you and being such wonderful educators.

Since I am a huge LSU fan, I asked my friend Tabitha with FlapJack Educational Resources if she would make a purple and gold themed classroom pack and what do you know...she did! She is awesome!! Tabitha has agreed to let me give away a classroom decor pack. 

You can also win $10 in products from my Teachers Pay Teachers Store.

ENTER TO WIN BELOW!!





Please check out all her wonderful products:
http://www.flapjackeducation.com/
https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Flapjack-Educational-Resources
https://www.pinterest.com/tabithacarro/
https://www.facebook.com/flapjackeducationalresources

This is what you will get if you win:

If you're looking for an editable class decor kit with a purple and gold color scheme, this is it! Various printable materials are provided along with many EDITABLE PowerPoint files for you to create just what you need for a matching, beautiful classroom. 

The editable resources are great for creating party decorations, too!








Browse other color scheme kits to combine with this one or check out the Ten Colors Editable Class Decor Mega Bundle.

Printable Materials Included:
* Alphabet Posters (8.5" x 11")
* Calendar Squares 1-31 (2.5")
* Circle Numbers 0-35
* Cursive Posters (8.5" x 11")
* Days of the Week Labels
* Hall Passes
* Large Circle Numbers 1-12
* Months of the Year Labels
* Primary Name Plate
* Reward Coupons
* Welcome Banner

EDITABLE PowerPoint Templates:
* Binder Covers (3 designs)
* Binder Spine Templates (1")
* Birthday Calendar Template
* Bookmark Template
* Bulletin Board Display Template
* Bunting 1 Large Triangle Template
* Bunting 2 Flags Template
* Bunting 2 Pointed Flags Template
* Bunting 2 Triangles Template
* Bunting 3 Triangles Template
* Circle 1 Large Template
* Circles 2 Large Template
* Circles 3 Medium Template
* Circles 12 Small Templates (2 designs)
* Gift Tag Templates
* Job Display and Template (for creating more jobs)
* Name Plates Labels Large Template (3 to a page)
* Name Plates Labels Small Template (6 to a page)
* Newsletter Template
* Postcards Templates (4 to a sheet)
* Posters Templates (3 designs)
* Presentation Slides (title slide and text slide - great for open house presentations or morning work assignments)
* Rectangle Labels Templates (12 to a sheet, 3 designs)
* Rectangles 4 Horizontal Template
* Rectangles 4 Vertical Templates
* Rectangles 6 Horizontal Template
* Rectangles 9 Template
* Rectangles 12 Round Label Template
* Squares 12 Small Template (2.5")
* Teacher Calendar Template
* Word Wall Display and Card Templates