halfhourofpd

Yes, edmodo.com is much like facebook but, the teacher is in control. Teachers can choose to stop all students from communicating with each other, approve all posts, or allow open communication. Facebook has game and edmodo.com has educational games and apps. Many of the games and apps are free for example CK12.org math and science that a talked about in my previous blog post.

I enjoy using edmodo.com because:

*it is free for everyone to use

*teachers can join groups to get tip and suggestions

*students can collaborate on projects, with the teachers permission

*assignments, quizzes, and test can be quickly created and will grade themselves

*there are built in grade book and calendar functions so you can find an assignment on the grade book, calendar, or by the post

Edmodo.com is like facebook but it is also like  Swiss army knife there are so many free and paid apps that work with edmodo.com that it is like a 1001 in 1 tool.

I could provide a half hour of Professional Development (PD) just on the basics of edmodo.com. The growing multitude of apps that work with edmodo.com could keep me presenting for many hours.

CK12.org is what I mostly use to add lessons to edmodo.com. CK12.org has separate math and science apps that can be installed in groups of students that you are teaching. The lesson can be chosen as assignments or quizzes and give the students instant feedback. I use CK12.org assignments for homework and test prep. Having the assignment online means the student can’t loose the assignment.

I enjoy using CK12.org because:

*it is free for everyone to use

*it grades it’s self

*there are hundreds of lessons created

*it works easily with edmodo.com

CK12.org is more then just math and science apps, there are many e-books and other resources available on their web sight. As a high school math teacher I am using the CK12.org app on edmodo.com and not much else. I think for teacher of other subjects it is worth a look.

I could provide a half of PD on CK12.org. There is something for every subject and plenty of resources for math and science.

Khanacademy.org is one of the best math learning web sight that I have ever seen. The math lessons go from kindergarten to college and beyond. Khanacademy.org collects a wealth of data on your student as they work and makes it easy to find skills that they are struggling with. I even use Khanacademy.org to make sure I am ready to teach a lesson, to stay sharp, or just for fun. Math is just the tip of the iceberg, there is so much more to Khanacademy.org.

I enjoy Khanacademy.org because:
*it is free for everyone
*it offer videos and hints to help student complete problems
*it has easy to read graphs and tables about student progress
*my student like earning points and badges
*it offer more then just math, there is science, literature, history, art, SAT test prep and much more.

Khanacademy.org is so much more then a math web sight, there is also a growing list of coding lessons. I used Khanacademy.org this year to participate in “The Hour Of Code” December 7-11 2015. People and students around the world were encouraged to try an hour of code, look for this event next December and get evolved. There are several hour of code lessons to try on Khanacademy.org form java script to html and more.

I could easily provide a half hour of PD on Khanacademy.org. To fully cover all that Khanacademy.org has to offer could take hours and hours.

NJCTL.org has changed my life. Once I started using NJCTL.org I stopped using text books, NJCTL.org is complete smartboard presentations, class work, homework, quizzes, re-quizzes, tests, re-tests, unit plans, pacing guides, and fun lab activities in most units.

I enjoy using NJCTL.org because:
* it is free to use, thanks to many corporate sponcers
* it work with the smart response system to collect student responces
* it offer lessons on levels k-12 so I can teach the same skill on many levels
* the smartboard presentation can be printed out in a number of formats to replace the need for a smartboard or to make it easier for students to follow the lesson.

 

NJCTL.org covers every topic for science and math. Well the science end looks pretty comrhensive. I teach math and I am impressed by the math section. As I said it covers k-12 but, it also has an Algebra 1 that could be taught in 8th grade, Intergrated Math 1-3, Pre-Calculus, AP-Calaulus, Algebra Based Physics, as well as the usual k-8, Algebra, Geometry, and Algebra 2.

There is also units called West Africa Math and West Africa Science that were made by NJCTL.org for students in West Africa. They make interesting supplements if you need a new approach to a topic.

I could easily provide a half hour of PD on NJCTL.org. I use NJCTL.org almost every day in every class and I am not kidding, NJCTL.org has changed my life.

https://getkahoot.com/ is an easy to use quiz tool. It reminds me of the trivia games that they put in on tv screens in bars but in a cute, student friendly way. It may seem odd to be talking about bars when I am describing an educational tool but it fits. The students are presented a question and they have four or fewer possible answers. Students earn more points if they answer quickly.

I enjoy using https://getkahoot.com/ with my students because:

• It is easy to use
• it is easy to make a quiz for your needs
• there are many quizzes free and ready to use
• it is easy to play the quiz, students go to kahoot.it and enter the code on screen
• my high school student often ask when will we play Kahoot! again

I have even played Kahoot! with my family. There are Disney character quizzes, Super Hero quizzes and Trivia of all kinds. If you play the same quiz more then once with your students or family try ghost mode. In ghost mode you compete against how you played the first time around.

I could easily present https://getkahoot.com/ for a half hour of pd, it would be fun. If you have any questions feel free to leave a comment.

My name is John Huhn, I currently teach High School Math in a self contained school. I live and teach in New Jersey. As far as I know New Jersey is the only state that offers a free teachers conference once a year. For most of my teaching career I have denied myself of what the NJEA has to offer teachers every year at no cost. Then in 2012 Hurricane Sandy hit Atlantic City and much of the Jersey Shore hard and the teachers convention was canceled.  In it’s place there were some workshops held at the Double Tree in Summit and that was closer to me then a trip to A.C.. I went to that conference and learned how to make the most out of my smartboard that up to that point I did not use that much. I learned about edmodo and njctl.org that use everyday. I have gone to many workshops scene then to NJEA conventions in Atlantic City, Techstock in Stockton College and a few other listed in the back of the NJEA magazine. When I come back form a workshop or a conference, I want to share with my fellow teachers. Some are interested some are not. I started an edmodo group for the school and 2 teachers joined. I put up a poll in edmodo and I get no responses. As I said before I teach in a self contained school, so there is only 8 teachers. I have done Professional Development (PD) for my school for the 7 other teachers and that has been fun but want to do more. I have been talking to my district supervisors about njctl.org and providing PD for my district.

They said yes.

My district wants me to present for a half hour about the on line teaching tools that I use. I asked them “Do you want me to talk about njctl.com in a half hour?”  They told me “Yes, njctl and the other things too”.  At first I thought what have I done, how am I going to do this, but if not me who. I can not simply show my district the teaching tools I have found. I have to sell these tools to them so that they will invest their time and make changes. I was given the date January 29. That is when our district is having a half day for students and the teachers of my district will have to travel to see me.

To prepare I have been watching TED Talks, making notes, started using Jupitered.com for my grade, talking to people I know who may have insight into what I am about to do, and started a blog.