Evernote

 Anyone who knows me knows I am fanatical about Evernote.  I figure it's about time I share my love with you! 

Evernote is a lifesaver! It has helped me become organized, both at work and with my family.  And I think I've barely scratched the surface as far as what it's capable of!  I seriously don't know what I'd do with out it.  It helps me keep information at my finger tips, organize projects, birthday parties, vacations, and I never worry about losing anything!

Evernote is a free note-taking, organizing and archiving productivity app.  It has unlimited storage (with a limit of 60mb upload/month).  It is extremely user-friendly.  It's open-ended.  You determine how to set it up and use it!  Here's the basics:  You create notes.  The notes are organized into Notebooks.  Notebooks can be organized into Stacks.  You can also create tags for your notes to help expedite searches.  You label your notes, notebooks and stacks any way you want!  

For example, I have a Stack labeled Number Systems.  I have Notebooks within the stack labeled Approximating Square Roots, and Repeating Decimals to Fractions, etc.  And within the notebooks, I have the handouts and ideas I've come across for each of these topics.  Can you see how easy it makes planning?  If I come across something I don't plan on teaching until the spring, I can still save it in Evernote, and when I need it - I'll actually be able to find it!  There a so many ways to use this app - especially for teachers!  

Notes can be created within the app.  OR, you can email them to yourself using your personal Evernote email - found in

settings.  OR you can use Web Clipper - a browser extension - that lets you bookmark and save full pages that you can also annotate!  It lets you save emails, .pdfs, and even audio files!  You can take and save pictures within the notes!  

Another app that works seamlessly with Evernote is Penultimate.  It has virtual journals that are automatically synced in Evernote.  This is where I take notes at meetings.  I have a separate journal for Team Meetings, Math Meetings, PLCs, PDs, and Staff Meetings.  I even created journals to store my kids' artwork! 

You can also share notebooks!  You can do this with colleagues, parents or students.  Here's one of my favorite ways of using Evernote with Edline:  I created a notebook called "Absent" in Evernote.  Every day I create a new note and title it with the date.  In the note I take pictures of my board (objectives, hw, warm up, etc) and any handouts we used.  I have shared this notebook with my Edline page.  Parents and students can go on to Edline, open up this notebook and see what they've missed!  They can even print out the handout if they need it.  This is GREAT for students who are out sick for extended time!

I also use a LiveScribe pen (more on that in the future!)  It allows me to take notes that sync with an audio file.  This lets you see AND hear the notes.  Also great for students who miss class.  And guess what?!  I share this with my Evernote account which is also shared with Edline.  Students can hear the notes they missed, in my voice, and print out the notes.  This is a favorite with parents, as you can imagine!

My kids use Evernote to save Science Fair and History Day information, along with other projects.  They've been using it for years - as young as 3rd grade!  I  keep a pic of my teacher ID in here - so when I'm shopping I can get my discount without worrying about taking my ID with me!  This would work with library cards and other store cards, too.

Sign up for your free account at Evernote.  Like I said, it's very user-friendly.  There are also a TON of videos on YouTube, and more information all over Pinterest.  This is easily one of the most versatile and accommodating apps I've ever come across. If you're already using Evernote, I'd love to hear how you use it!

Explain Everything

 Explain Everything is an interactive screencasting whiteboard app that is available on Android and iOS.  It can be used in classrooms by teachers and students  to convey material either being learned or for assessment.  I use it to reteach material covered in class.  It gives students an opportunity to hear the lesson again if they didn't get it the first time.  It's incredibly useful for students who were absent, so they don't miss out on critical information.  Even more useful for students who are out for extended periods.  It can also be used for summative assessments.  Having students "teach" or present projects on this platform is very revealing as far as the level of their understanding.  We only have a handful of iPads in our building, but I can have groups take turns recording, while the other students prepare and practice their presentations.  This would be perfect for a station activity.

There are many features in this app!  You can choose the color palette for starters.  You can also write by hand with a stylus or type in a text box.  You can use shapes or import pictures.  You can use a variety of laser pointers to help viewers focus, and of course there's audio!  When you record your presentation, it records everything you do on the screen and the audio, too! 

The best feature of this app is that it uploads to a wide variety of platforms.  Some of these include Dropbox, Google Drive, YouTube, Vimeo, Twitter, and Facebook.  I created a YouTube Channel for my students and parents where I can directly upload my videos. It does take a while to upload - the longer the video, the longer the upload takes.  If you can upload through a MAC computer, it goes faster.  (I'm still saving!)

Using Explain Everything makes for a unique alternative to summative assessments.  Students can showcase what they've learned, and it's "safe" because it only uses their voices - their identity remains private.  It's very user friendly, and easy to learn to navigate.  Best of all, it's FUN! 

CCBOE Teachers:

Technology Tip of the Week

·         Need Office for your home PC, laptop or Mac?  Login to https://portal.office.com/home with your CCBOE email address and password.  Staff and students are able to install on up to five (5) personal devices.

OneNote is a great tool to collect information.  It is an electronic organizer/notebook. You can create sections and easily add multiple types of documents (Word, Excel, and PowerPoint).

Kahoot!

Have you heard of Kahoot?!  It's fantastic!  It combines learning with your students' love of games and devices.  And it's FREE!  Teachers love it because you can print out a spreadsheet of student data.  It's web based, so you can use it with laptops, too.  It's a fun and effective way to assess your students' learning.

How to Kahoot:
Go to getkahoot.com to sign up for free.  Once you're signed up, you have a choice of creating a quiz, a discussion or a survey.  But WAIT!  At the top you'll see "Public Kahoots".   If you click here you can search through pre-made quizzes by searching by your topic. There are some great things ready to use - what a time saver!  Creating your own quiz/
discussion/survey is really easy, too, if you can't find something "perfect" that fits your needs. 

Quiz

This is for collecting data on your class. This is just like giving a multiple choice quiz on paper, but it is WAY more fun because of its game-like format. The teacher enters questions and answer choices, and then you're all set to "Launch".  You can add images and video to your questions, too.   The data is collected as you go so you can easily identify students who have mastered the skill and which students need more support..

Discussion

This option is meant to spark a discussion with your class with just one question.  I honestly haven't used it - I don't think it fits as well in a math class.  Either that or I haven't figured out how to use it in a way that benefits my class.I'd love to hear from you if you've figured out a successful way to use this!

Survey

The survey is very much like a quiz, but there are no scores.  I suppose this would be a great option for classes whose competitive nature causes problems.

It's really this easy to use!

Creating a Quiz:

1.  Select Quiz

2.  Enter a (unique) title.

3.  Enter the question and the amount of time you want students to have and then enter your answer choices.  Make sure you indicate the correct answer with the green button.  

4.  When you're done adding questions, click "Next".

5.  Add a cover image.  *You can also choose music to play while students are signing up.  Really sets the mood!

And that's IT!  Your Quiz will be stored under "My Kahoots" tab on top.  When you click here, you will see a list of your creations.  There is an option next to the title that says "Share".  This is where you can enter your colleagues' user name and it will populate in their account!  I shared one with Mrs. B. a couple of weeks ago and it worked seamlessly!

Game Time! 

1.  You log in to Kahoot, on your projector/computer.  Find the Kahoot you want to use under "My Kahoots" tab on top.  Click "Play".

2.  Students log in to www.kahoot.it

3.  When you're ready to begin, click LAUNCH on the Quiz you want to use.

4.  The game-pin will be displayed.  Students log in using this code and sign in with their name (or their class #!  Their name will show when they're successfully signed in.

5.   Click "Start Now" when your students have all joined.  (It will show the # of students).

6.  There will be a wait time before the question and answer choices are displayed.  (Answer choices are only displayed on the projector, not on their devices.  Weird, right?)

7.  The timer will countdown on the screen depending on how much time you assigned the problem.

8.  When time is up, or when all students have answered, you will see the results.  You can also review the image here if you'd like.  Then you can click "next" to see the Leader board. 

*  Students are given immediate feedback if they are right or wrong AND they're given their ranking in the class by points earned!  This is really motivating and exciting for the students and what makes it so fun! 

Gathering Data:

At the conclusion of the game, you can select "Save Results".  You have the option of saving it to Google Drive, or downloading a spreadsheet.  It will break down the results by student and by question.  It's impressively thorough!

I really hope you'll try this app.  It does require access to devices, but you can easily put students into teams if you have limited devices to share.  I promise you, it's worth it.  The kids really do enjoy playing and it's incredibly valuable in terms of gathering data!  Definitely a Win-Win!