Michael introduced us to some new sites, tools and concepts today. 

menti.com

Students can answer questions to prompts, and their replies will be collected anonymously and presented in beautiful patterns. 

mural.com

This requires no log-in and is very quick and easy. It is basically a site for virtual post-its where you can work collaboratively and see changes in real time.

Powerpoint tool

We were shown that if you simply have an image and a text on powerpoint, you can easily enhance the layout by just a few clicks. Powerpoint surprises once again! 

Instructional Wrap

To make students think and inquire about a topic, you can put up an image and write/ask: What do you see? What do you know? What do you wonder?

SAMR

Stands for: Substitution, Augmentation, Modification, Redefinition, and is about how tech can enhance learning (e.g. google docs, recording a presentation, etc.)

Conversations

In my small group, we talked about how much we enjoyed ed camp, where one student got to teach others about an area of expertise. Kids can also do this, making them feel confident and empowered. We also thought that there should be more discussions during class for the younger grades, as learning is partly social, and it helps them think critically and creatively. However, instead of just instructing them to ‘reflect’, the teacher should provide a scaffold, such as prompts or guidance for the discussion. Some Talk Structures are: Think Pair Share, Snowball Conversation, Fishbowl Conversations