Teacher Quest

GoogleKeep was one of those apps that I have forgotten about. Last year, I was reintroduced to GoogleKeep by creating before school and first week of school lists with a coworker. I have used it to create some grocery lists and packing lists. However, I never really thought about using it with students. Before going to ISTE17, I created several notes to keep track of evening events and details for our time in San Antonio. It was super easy to share information with my coworker and add links. Throughout the conference, we used GoogleKeep to share notes from sessions, links, pics, and videos. It's super easy to add files, pics, videos, and links that you receive from others. Just like sharing a pic to messenger you just share to GoogleKeep. Google has made it so easy! Why wouldn't we use this with students! For my Senior Project students this app is going to be awesome! I can create lists and add reminders for them. I can link forms and resources students will need for each...

One of the worst feelings I have each time I have attended ISTE is....How did I NOT know about this person or website?! One of the best sessions of ISTE17 was presented by Kasey Bell and Tyler Tarvey. It was inspirational, educational, funny, and is rocking my world! There were so many things that I have to catch up on and make me feel like I am already a mile behind everyone else. However, it's summer and I am excited and can't wait to dig in. I decided to start by checking out Kasey Bell's website ShakeUpLearning.   She has the best resources I have ever seen for everything Google! The best part is she shares everything she creates including her ISTE presentation resources and free ebooks. She even makes them very easy to share using every form of social media as well as Pinterest. Seriously, I am so far behind.....forget the rest of the summer....I will be busy listening to the Google Tribe podcasts and checking out everything Kasey Bell has posted! Additional ...

Flipgrid was one of those buzz words this year at ISTE17. I have to admit that I glanced at it but didn't quite see what the hoopla was. Until I had a chance to really take a look at some of the Flipgrids that had been created by students, now I wish I had paid more attention. I signed up for the free version and was prompted to create my first grid.    Flipgrid allows you to post videos and organize them by topic. Students can then add videos of themselves as responses. They can comment on each other's videos and group the videos by topics. Grids can be set to be private and only accessible with a password. There are Flipgrids that have been created by various specialists on topics such as Raptors by  Mike Billington of the University of Minnesota Raptor Center.   I decided this would be a great place to share the videos I plan to take of my upcoming trip to the Alaskan bush. My goal is to have my students pose questions and respond with their own vid...

How have I missed John Spencer's videos? I LOVE them! First of all, I am a huge Harry Potter fan! Secondly, they are so motivational and easy to understand. John is easy to relate to and the videos are short and to the point. He is funny and covers topics that I totally get! I have to watch them all! I not only checked out his Twitter account, Facebook page, website , Youtube channel , and books. There are so many amazing topics he covers! He has videos for teachers and students. He teaches students to be creative and become makers. There are videos for creative writing assignments and you can even sign up to receive free student maker challenges every Thursday delivered by email. I can't wait to try some of his lessons and challenges with my students! I am thinking I will use his Invent Your Own Superhero during the first week of school as a way to get to know my new students.

Holy tech....we made it home from Texas and I have finally removed everything from my suitcase. It's overwhelming! How do you keep track of everything....new Google tricks, all the links, people you want to follow, apps you want to try, products you want to beg for, videos to watch, speakers to look for, books to buy....HELP! It's so easy to become overloaded! One thing I was able to do while at ISTE is to reflect on my teaching. I want to be the best teacher I can be for my students. In order to accomplish this overwhelming task, I am going on a teacher quest . My teacher quest is beginning my first day home. I need a way to document all those amazing ISTE17 connections and figure out how I can use them in my classroom.  I decided to create this blog as a way to track my progress throughout the year. My plan is to set several goals that will include trying all these amazing ISTE17 resources and documenting my journey. I need the accountability and a place to store all ...