CoolTools Blog - LWilliams723

So, I made a Bitmoji of myself, but can't seem to make another one, even if I try a different app. I will have to try to work on this some more.  My line of thinking was....I could create a Bitmoji of Abraham Lincoln, or Nat Turner, or Frederick Douglass (all historical figures that are part of my current unit) and then I could incorporate them into the unit. Some historical figures appear in political cartoons on the NYS Regents Exam, so it is important to know what they look like in real life so that students can easily recognize them in an image or cartoon. I was hoping to have an assignment where students create a Bitmoji of an historical figure and then either list some bulleted facts next to it or some quotes from that person. It would also be cool to use it in a "Guess-Who" style game, where I say a fact/quote and the students would have to decide which Bitmoji it matched. I have a bunch of ideas for using this tool.  I liked reading about the one Math...

I chose to check out Flipgrid, which I've never heard of before, but will probably try to incorporate into my classroom somehow. Flipgrid has many options, but the one I chose to do a video on was #8: Exit tickets get a makeover.  Post the question “What did you learn today?” or better yet ask your students “What did you create today?” for the students to answer before leaving class. Here's my video, which would be used as the Exit Ticket prompt (you have to click my selfie for the video to play!):  https://admin.flipgrid.com/manage/grids/1013642/topics/3093325  I don't always have to do a video to ask the question, but I like that students have to record an audio or video response. A lot of students are hesitant to write, but a good percentage of my weak writers could talk for hours . One of my theories that my co-teacher and I have been testing out this year has to do with the hypothesis "If you can talk about the topic or teach the topic to someone else flue...

I made a Twitter account a while  ago...probably a couple years after it became popular. At the time I did it just to do it, and I followed a few different people/associations that I felt posted things that were relevant or interesting to me. After exploring some of the hashtags that were suggesting, and finding even more that were not mentioned, I realize what a valuable tool Twitter can be in helping me access different resources.  Having taught for 12 years, its easy to fall back on previous lessons using the same old sources, but I actually found (and followed) a few new  people/associations that included links to sources that seem like they could be useful (HistoryPod, achievethecore.org). There is definitely more out there now than there was when I first joined, and I'm excited to spend some more time perusing Twitter to see what else is out there. I'd like to use Twitter to get connected to new and different resources, and I'd also like to get more act...

Image by 12019, photosforclass.com Current Unit of Study = Civil War For the first 5-6 years of my teaching career, I never thought twice about copying and pasting a photo from the Internet into a powerpoint or SmartNotebook lesson. Photos have always been (and will continue to be) a valuable teaching tool, especially for ELLs and Special Education students who benefit from visuals to enhance their learning. I liked "Thing 3" as an assignment because I learned about additional sites that allow for re-use of images. I had known of photosforclass.com and HistoryPin before, but am intrigued by PhotoPin and some of the editing sites. I'm happy to say that my school has a Twitter page, where photos are frequently posted on various topics concerning academics, athletics, and community events. I'm wondering how I can use photos more in the classroom, beyond pasting them into a lesson. I really like the "Poster My Wall" site, and I can see myself using th...

Discuss the resources you explored in this lesson. Do you see value in the use of blogging with your students? How might you use blogs to enhance or transform a student writing project? Other thoughts about student blogging? First of all, I didn't realize that there were SO many blogging sites and ways in which to blog. When I made a half-hearted attempt to blog with my students at the beginning of this year, we used blogger.com, and after a few glitches (user-error for sure!) we muddled through. I was disenchanted by the blogging experience...how was it really different than typing in a GoogleDoc and having people add comments/feedback?  I later learned about EduBlogs from another teacher, and perusing her teacher site on EduBlogs made me want to try blogging again. Knowing that there are even more sites to check out that go beyond just writing. Using images and hyperlinks and being artistic in the creation of the blog will make it more interesting for students, too. My s...

Hi everyone, My name is Lia Williams and I'm a U.S. History & Government Teacher at East High School. I have 2 young children and love to bake.  I've been in the RCSD for 11 years now, and this is my 4th year at East. I spent 4 years at Jefferson High School and 4 years at Early College High School, so I'm hoping I don't have to move buildings at the end of this year!  I'm taking part in this program to learn about some new ways I can engage students in the classroom. I feel like I know a lot about how to use technology in the classroom, but I know that there is always more to learn! Looking forward to see what I can get out of this PD, and what I can contribute as well.