PreK-8 Science Update Conference, Western Illinois University, April 2014

 

Teacher Websites - Create Your Online Classroom                                             

Weebly – Offers free websites and tools to help you build your online classroom; used by our junior high and high school teachers. A tutorial is available on my website!  Examples:  mrstomm.com and HHS Bio

Wix – Easy-to-use interface with lots of options to personalize your online classroom! Example: Science Adventures

Edmodo – Lots of options from basic to advanced to develop your online presence;  offers tools for collaboration, assessment, and networking

 Google Sites – Free sites with options to create multiple pages; easy-to-use to keep all your online resources in one place that is easily accessed by students and parents

 Wikispaces – A great online tool to allow students to collaborate with each other; offers tools to increase student engagement and assess their knowledge/skills

 Other options for sharing and storage …

Dropbox – Free up to 2GB; easy to share resources with teachers and students

Google Drive - Google’s version of Dropbox; offers up to 5 GB free storage when you sign up. 

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Favorite Websites for New Ideas/Activities

Teacher’s Domain – A great resource for finding videos, podcasts, and lesson plans on a variety of science topics as well as other content areas.  Free access with registration!

 Power My Learning – Sign up for a free account to start your search for online games, quizzes, activities, and movies on a variety of subjects!

 Gooru – A great place to start your search for new resources!  Sign up for an account and start compiling your list for the next unit!  The site allows you to set up folders to help you organize your materials.

 NeoK12 – Videos as well as images, quizzes, and links to online activities for all subject areas

 Watch Know Learn – A great site to find videos and clips for your next unit!

 Other great resources:  Make Me Genius, Discovery Education, Science NetLinks, Smithsonian Education , Crash Course, & SciShow

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Challenge Your Students

Tech Integration Pyramid –  Pick a level and browse the online resources available to help your students reach the highest levels! 

 Tech Tools – Student/Teacher Tasks – Check out this chart that outlines specific technology tools you can use for a variety of tasks.
* Check out Educational Technology Guy’s Blog for more great tech tools and information!

 Google-A-Day Challenges - Combine media literacy with geography/culture, history,  & science with these online challenges!

 PBS Kids Design Squad – This site offers an assortment of project and activity ideas to target STEM and NextGen!

 Smithsonian Quests – Create an account and select your options to begin using this website to challenge your students.  They earn digital badges as they complete the various sections.

 WebAdventures – A great site for games that help students learn science concepts and processes as they have fun working their way through each adventure!

 CIESE – Join one of their collaborative projects to connect your classroom to others around the world;  offers a variety of projects to match your curriculum

 Zooniverse – Visit this site to find ways for your students to get involved in real science projects;  offers online investigations to help scientists collect and analyze data

 NSF Case Study Collection – Use case studies with your students to connect classroom learning to real-world problems; provides a searchable database with over 400 case studies.

Also check out BioQuest and  PBL Clearinghouse

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Favorite Tech Tools

Padlet – A great tool for students to share their ideas and opinions in a ready-to-post format.  Check out my wall for Bonding Basics!

 Popplet – Another great tool for students to collaborate on one project or brainstorm ideas a class activity.

 Poster My Wall – A great online tool that  is easy to use and allows students to create a poster to share with you and/or their classmates! 

 Make-A-Comic – Challenge your students to use their creativity and science knowledge to develop their own comics based on what they have learned in class.

 Socratic – Create a quick quiz with multiple-choice or short response questions that students can complete using any electronic device.
Also check out Quizlet, Pinnion, or Quiz Star

 Voki – Create speaking avatars for video projects and presentations. 

 Snipping Tool – Free for Windows – Do a search on your computer for “snipping tool” to find it; may be used to capture images, images of worksheets, etc.; options to save as graphics files that can be imported into PowerPoint, whiteboard software, and video software.

 Educreations – My favorite free iPad app for creating video “whiteboard” lessons; easy-to-use and offers online storage for easy access by students and parents. Other options: Screen Chomp, Show Me, Explain Everything, Smart Record, & Doceri

 Symbaloo Education – Make your own personalized “homepage” with symbols for sites and resources to share with your students!  See my page!

 Real Player – Download the free program to allow you to download videos for offline viewing (not all videos can be downloaded, but works with YouTube, SchoolTube, and TeacherTube.) Also check out Download Helper for FireFox.

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Additional Resources

Visit my Science Classroom and the Kid Zone for more resources

Online Textbook – Free middle school science textbook developed by a teacher in Virginia; can be accessed for homework assignments or referenced for in-class work

*Also check out his worksheets for Bill Nye & Magic School Bus video worksheets

 Middle School Science E-Group – Network with other middle school science teachers around the world to find new ideas for your classroom!

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What are your favorite resources? Need help  or more ideas? Contact me at ttomm@sciencespot.net