Notes.io

What is it?

Notes.io is a free note taking site.  Go to notes.io and start typing in your notes.  Then you can hit the "short" button & it creates a shortened url where you can access your notes.  At this point you can't save your notes, and once you shorten the url, you can't edit the notes either.  By looking around the site, I noticed a couple of features that are "coming soon".  Those features will allow you to e-mail notes, attach documents to notes, print and save notes.

How can I use it?

The first thing I thought of is the teacher taking notes to study for a test, then sharing the link with students.  You could also have students take their own notes (assuming they have their own devices) during class, then use them for when they get home.  Notes.io is a very simple website to maneuver, even for hesitant tech users.

The history of a flipped classroom

I think this infographic does a fantastic job explaining the history & rationale behind a flipped classroom.    I found it John Medici's blog.

Edmodo: A Social Networking Site for Students/Teachers

What is it?

Edmodo is one of the tools that I use most often with my class.  Edmodo looks very similar to facebook and works in essentially the same way...except that it is totally overseen by the teacher.  There are a lot of features on edmodo.  Such as:  posting discussions and assignments, posting grades, creating small groups & recording homework.  Added bonus:  it's free!

How can I use it?

There are a lot of things that I like about edmodo.  For starters, when the students send messages, they can only send them to the whole group (not to each other specifically) and the teacher can see everything.  Also, there is a parent code which allows the parents to see their child's grades and the discussion boards that their child is a part of.  In addition, the students have the potential to earn "badges" for a number of different things and this has proven to be highly motivating for the kids!  I am also flipping my math classroom (for more information about that, click here) and I use edmodo as a place to post the videos for my math class.

For a wealth of information about edmodo and how to use it in your classroom, visit Richard Byrne's blog freetech4teachers.  He has many, many, many resources to help you incorporate technology into your classroom!

Weebly

What is it?
Weebly is a very user friendly web site creator.  An added bonus...it's free!  Of course there is an upgrade option, but for general day-to-day use, the free site offers many great resources.  Weebly has great customer service as well.  If you are interested in creating a classroom website, this is where I would start.

How can I use it?
I actually have three different weebly sites that I have created.  The first is my classroom website that I use to post a classroom calendar, photos of what we've been working on in class, and interesting websites for students and parents.  You can also post videos (if you pay the premium fee).  I've used that feature to post tutorials on difficult math concepts.  I also have a classroom blog that I update instead of using a newsletter.  The second weebly site that I have is designed and created by students in the journalism club at our school.  They dubbed it the Alpine Advance.  Everything you see on this site the students created.  Finally, I created a weebly site as my final project for my Ed. Specialist Degree.  This site was used to show everything I'd learned throughout my courses.

As a teacher, you can also create student accounts.  I intend to utilize this option this year as a way for each child to have an e-portfolio.