With any job it’s easy to eventually find oneself in a rut, doing things the same way over and over. I know back when I was teaching, sometimes the pressures of grading, paperwork, and the real world meant that I didn’t try to teach a lesson differently or try something new with my students. Maybe I blamed it on the fact that I had four preps, but no matter what the reason, it was very rewarding to take time to try a new innovative lesson and see it work very well in the classroom. As we start a new school year, there is no better time for teachers to investigate something new. And whether it is something truly transformative to teaching, or maybe just a tool to make teaching a little more efficient, any improvement is a step in the right direction. Here are some simple to use tools to get you started in the right direction.

1. Get out of the
teaching rut
Steve Young
@atemyshorts
blog: http://ctotechnotes.blogspot.com/

2. Too often class only looks like this
https://www.flickr.com/photos/x1brett/8677700404/

3. And results in this…

4. You know what a good
classroom looks like
(and what it doesn’t)
www.crazylearner.org

5. But school gets more
interesting when tech is a
embedded in the learning

6. If your school, and your school day, is not
about students collaborating, connecting, and
building knowledge and understanding
together, why would anyone come?
-- Scott McLeod
Tech&Learning, March 2014

7. The true value of
technology lies not in
learning to use the
technology, but in using
the technology to learn.
http://multiplepathways.wordpress.com/2013/12/02/2-
the-real-power-of-technology-in-schools/

8. A few practical tools and
sites to help jump start a
classroom

9. Schoology
• www.schoology.com
• Simple, free, and easy to use, yet powerful Learning
Management System
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uqc1xE2H9Wg

10. Animoto
• www.animoto.com
• Simple and powerful presentation video creator – free for
staff and students
• Great ideas:
http://animoto.com/blog/education/education-videos/
• Create your first video:
http://animoto.com/blog/news/creating-your-first-animoto-
video/

11. Content Curation & Lesson Creation
• Blendspace
– Super free tool to aggregate content and build lessons.
– https://www.blendspace.com/
– Some examples:
• https://www.blendspace.com/gallery
• Lesson Paths
– A free, great way to bring together disparate web content for
learning or for flipping.
– http://www.lessonpaths.com/
– Some examples:
• http://www.lessonpaths.com/categories/browsePlaylists/acade
mic

12. Google Apps
• http://www.google.com/enterprise/apps/education/
• Never ending uses
– 32 Ways to Use Google Apps in Schools and Classrooms:
• https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1_6fh7wXkugHQbbA2IL
rjsFqysvclJCbul2I3Oc912D8/present?authkey=COej0pME#slide
=id.i0

13. Socrative
www.socrative.com
Socrative is great for discussions,
brainstorming, assessment, etc. Similar
to Poll Everywhere, GoSoapBox, etc.

14. ExitTicket
• www.exitticket.org
• Deep student response and intervention system
– Warning: Add-ons cost $$
• Would be especially useful in a 1 to 1 environment
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cUt2mHEiVn8

15. Class Dojo
• www.classdojo.com
• Great, free classroom behavior management system
– Can help engage students and parents
• Probably best suited for middle and elementary school
• Teacher explains her use:
http://thepinspiredteacher.blogspot.com/2013/03/techspir
ed-tuesday-using-class-dojo-for.html

16. Communicate
• Class Messenger
– Free teacher, parent, & student messaging
service (phone #’s kept private)
– Two way communication
– http://www.scholastic.com/classmessenger/
• https://my.classmessenger.com/
• Remind
– Safe, easy, and free way to send info to
student and parents
• Keeps numbers private
• Only one way communication
– https://www.remind.com/

17. Other Great Resources
• Blooms Taxonomy Apps – The mother of all tool kits for
teaching
– https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0Ar0FfDINz1
W_dGdwRTFUQlJYbGE0VWNXSUZCMWRjaVE&usp=sharing
#gid=0
• 21st Century Teaching Resources – Incredibly deep list of
resources, by category
– http://www.educatorstechnology.com/p/blog-page_7.html
• 45 Tools in 45 Minutes
– https://sites.google.com/a/esc6.net/45-tools-in-45-minutes/