Week 5 in the Connected Educator

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 really thought was fun was Bouncy Balls. It is a way to manage your students noise levels in the classroom. It uses the microphone from your computer to show the level of your students noise. You can make it sensitive towards noise, where if there is noise going on, the balls would bounce high on the screen. This could be used during a test or when students should be silently reading. You can make it less sensitive for when students are working in groups. I think the visual would be a great tool for your students. It shows right away where their level of noise is and how they need to bring it down. It is easy to use and a fun tool for the kids. 

This week really opened my eyes to how I can improve my classroom through resources that are right there for me. I saw some that I have used before, like common core sheets, where you can find all kinds of free math worksheets. I have used Teachers Pay Teachers, and GoNoodle as well. Sometimes you forget what you've used, and this week I was able to remember a few resources I forgot about, as well as finding resources that are brand new. I love finding new things to use and this week did that for me.