I know I said this blog was complete, but I was wrong. The one common request from the teachers that read all 8 of my blogs start to finish, was that I still make a "Cheat sheet". It's really a simple concept. While a lot of folks will explore the journey of this series from start to finish, a majority will want to get to the "Meat and potatoes" ASAP. So for the sake of argument I wanted to make the final blog, and ironically, the first link to all the other blogs, like a table of contents. That way anyone who stumbles onto this resource can go on and dive head first into the interactive sites, links, and YouTube videos I have listed here. The links on the right are to the rest of the blogs so you can navigate that way as well. I know time is precious so those of you who want to see the relevant links go directly below with no frills and no excess. All of my interactive videos and links are here on this final blog so you can delve right in and find exactly what you are looking for with MINIMAL time of searching.
However, if you have some time and want to see my words for what they are and understand my message about the ever-changing environment for our teachers, see the links to the right. They will take you on the journey from where we started as a district and how far we have come. We have done great things in Pickens County, and I believe we will continue to do them with the strength of our teachers, the determination of our administrators, and the tenacity of our support staff...
The links below show all my videos tied to this series.I listed them and described their relevance as well. Enjoy...
The first video I have below shows anyone how to quickly set up your Google Chrome browser as an Interactive learning environment. You do this using the FVD Speed Dial Extension that you would download in the Chrome Webstore.
https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/fvd-speed-dial-3d-wall-sy/llaficoajjainaijghjlofdfmbjpebpa
Once this Extension is installed you can add specific websites and apps as you see fit. Then using the website tabs (Found in the middle of the browser) or the apps found on the left side of the page in a column, you can set up a highly dynamic web environment that essentially could have ALL of your lesson resources in one interface.
This allows the teacher full interaction and mobility depending on their available technology. With an interactive whiteboard of any type the teacher can remain in the front of the room and engage their students on a level they may not have been able to before using this configuration.
Or a teacher could use an IPad/IPhone or Android device to take over the desktop of their computer and interact with the Chrome browser in real time while moving through the room and collaborating with their students on the fly.
Using these solutions, and the power of the Chrome Webstore (Keep in mind that Google Play is ALSO available on the Chrome Browser so essentially ANY app you have already purchased for your phone or touchpad for an android device can be accessed in this way as well. This is just another way of MANY to engage your students in ways that were never available until now.
Two more videos below show other practical uses and applications of the Chrome browser and the MANY apps available for free. Check these out as well for some pretty cool ideas on how to use in your classroom in a myriad of ways, including common core.
Here is a second video that has even more features and ideas using the Chrome web browser for interactive learning environments.
I even see the potential using Livebinders to create a single interface, single website link, that you can combine every bit of your data, videos, websites, and any other interactive links in one convenient location. You can then share this with your students, or even use in your classroom environment on an interactive whiteboard or using an Ipad (with Splashtop or some other desktop controlling software app) you can interact with this website to engage your students on a totally different level. All of this in ways you have never been able to do in one place and the video below gives you an example of how to do that...
The next video below shows how easy it is to set up an Edmodo account and use all of the basic features available for student and teacher collaboration. There are five main modes of communication; Note, Alert, Assignment, Quiz, and Poll. Using these communication tools a teacher can collaborate not only with their students on anything from assignments to quizzes, but they can also collaborate with other teachers in their network (This could be as close as grade level, then school, then district, then state, so on and so forth.) and share such resources with one another in real time.
Finally, the best part of this is the fact that the teachers have all sorts of resources available to them to use to help enhance their learning management system. They have the calendar, alerts to send text messages to parents or students, and a grade book to monitor and keep a tally of their students’ progress through assignments, quizzes, and polls.
There are other Learning Management Systems out there that are similar to this one but Edmodo has seemed very intuitive and user-friendly to me. Not to mention it is free.
My final video below shows how to create a very basic, streamlined website using Google Sites. With just a few minutes of your time, and your online resources available, you can link them all in one easy to access website interface that you can tailor to your own taste and style. You can make it as basic OR complex as you like depending on the time you have available. I show how easy it is to create a quick intuitive/ interactive website that can be up and running in minutes thus optimizing the power of your technology and taking one step closer to answering the question of how to implement common core into your current lesson plans.
I wanted to add the links to the template page that shows where I found my simple template.
And this final link is directly to the website template I used in this video.
That concludes the videos I created up to this point. I will slowly begin linking each video to its own blog in future projects. For instance, Edmodo will have its own separate blog dedicated to its own set of issues and tweaks that I will address on that separate blog and link back to here. The idea, in the end, is to have one giant, free flowing information central that all interconnects back to this main hub aaronthetech.blogspot.com
Thank you everyone for your time and support on this. I know that I am only one person but I truly believe that we can all make a difference. In the time I have spent in making this project what it is today, nearly seven hundred unique hits in less than a month, dozens of teachers together, across state lines, seeing this for what it is, I believe we can do great things. Not just for each other as educators or supporters of our educators but for the classrooms across this great nation. After all it's the students that we hope to mold into our leaders of tomorrow; they are the reason we do what we do. And that, my friends, is a magical thing to be a part of. No matter how large or small your part is.
God bless,
Aaron
