Miss McHenry's Blog

So many times we want our students to become more engaged in their learning, yet we don't change what we are doing in the classroom. This week in the Connected Educator, I was able to find multiple tools that would increase engagement in my classroom and help my students with their learning. The first tool that I learned about was Symbaloo . Symbaloo is a great source that helps you keep all of your webpages on one single page. You can create a Symbaloo for a research project, for math activities that students can use, or to keep all of your important webpages in one place. You can design your Symbaloo page to look any way you want and you can organize it in a way that works best for you or your students. You then can share a link so that they can see your Symbaloo page and use it for themselves. I created a page that has all of the online math activities that my students could use to study or practice when they are at home or have time in advisor. Here is a video to show ...

I feel like I am always looking for new tools to use in my classroom to make my day just a little bit easier. I am always looking to find more resources to use with my students, during my lessons and to use different types of ways to engage my students in their learning. This past week in class has shown me so many new options of how to manage a class, find resources and stay organized in my teaching. I found over 15 new items that I have never heard of before. The first one that really drew my attention was Flippity . With Flippity I was able to create vocabulary review cards for my students. It was easy to use and to set up. There was an excel spread sheet that was already created and you just needed to put in your own words and definitions. You could also create game shows, crossword puzzles, bingo, word searches and more. It is a great site that is so convenient and is a resource that can help keep the engagement in your students. Another fun resource that I found and rea...

Using Google Classroom I have used Google Classroom before, but have not gone into the Add-Ons in Google. This week I was able to find new tools to use within Google. I also got to create a Google Drawing that I used in my classroom right away. An Add-On that I liked was adding equations to Google Documents. As a math teacher, I am always creating assignments and I was pleased to see a tool that could help me create equations that look professional and well organized. There are so many Add-Ons to help you create a document to the best of your ability. Kaizena is also a fun way to communicate back with your students. You can voice in what you want to say to your students and then they can hear your response instead of read it. I think students will like the use of that since it will seem more authentic. Here are some of the best Add-Ons to use as a teacher. Another tool that I loved in Google is the Google Drawing. I don't always feel super artistic and sometimes struggle w...

I have found two new FREE resources to use in my classroom that will be a great addition to any subject you are teaching. Schoology and Edmodo are the resources we really focused on this week, and I have to say, they are easy to use, easy to set up, and your students will enjoy the use of technology in your classroom. Schoology reminded me of Canvas or a college class you have had to take online. It is broken down by classes and then those classes can be broken down by folders. Edmodo reminds me of Facebook with a mix of twitter. You have a page where it looks like your home Facebook page and it can have post on it, videos, pictures, polls, quizzes and assignments. It is the site that I decided to try. It was easy to se up a group (or class) and I was able to set up a few assignments and quizzes for my students. They can join that group by using the code to my class. I kept it private, so that only those students can see our class and our discussion. I think my students will like to ...

NEW FINDS! I love when we find new resources to use in our classrooms. I feel that I am always looking for resources that are good, easy to use, and reliable. This week in class, I found a resource that is going to be a great tool for me, my colleagues, and my students. That tool is Diigo . Diigo is a free site that shows you how to connect to other educators by looking at resources and websites that they have found and want to share with you. You are able to join specific groups, where they have websites that work for the specific group you are in. You can write notes and highlight specific information in the websites that are given to you. It is easy to use and will be great for my classroom. OLD FINDS... A resource that I have used before, as a non educator, that is a great tool for teachers as well, is Twitter. Twitter is a FREE tool to find other educators and to communicate with people. I have created a Twitter account for the volleyball team that I coach and it has been ...

As an educator, I love to learn. I love to learn about new technology, new resources, new ideas, old ideas, and how to improve connecting to my career with new materials that benefit me and my students. This first week in class I was able to already see the benefit of reaching out to other people, by finding new blogs, and getting engaged and encouraged through those blogs. One blog that stuck out to me was a middle school math blog that had so many great ideas and images that I can take back into my classroom right away. This blog, called Middle School Math Rules , is well organized and easy to understand and use, it is just very catchy and a blog that has stuck out to me. Another great idea that I have never heard of is Feedly. Feedly allows you to keep your ideas, resources, and links connected in one spot. I have SO many resources that I look back to all the time, but I have them all saved in so many different areas that sometimes I forget where they are and I have to relook for t...