Thursday, March 29, 2018

BrainPop

Students and teachers at Fuller Meadow School and Howe Manning School use BrainPop, Jr., BrainPop, ELL and BrainPop to enhance their curriculum and lessons.

What is BrainPop, Jr?

Source



What is BrainPop?

Source


What is BrainPop, ELL?
Source
BrainPOP ELL™ is a comprehensive English language learning program that uses highly engaging animated movies to model conversational English. The movies and related features are leveled, building upon each other to reinforce vocabulary and usage. New concepts are presented within everyday situations, helping to provide context. BrainPOP ELL's structure enables students to master the language in a step-by-step process, giving them the confidence they need to read and speak English. (Source)

Features in BrainPop 

Storytelling
Forming and Connecting Ideas
Play

Playful Assessments
Educator Support
Using BrainPop in the classroom
Students and staff at Fuller Meadow and Howe Manning love using BrainPop in their classrooms.  The videos and activities allow for curricular topics to be explained and explored in an understandable and FUN way!  Students are constantly engaged in their learning.

Example of a 6th grade lesson on Cells and Cell Functions.

Students watch the video



Students complete activities independently or collaboratively. This is "Make-a-Map".


Students take their learning and exploration to the next level by acting out the functions of a cell.



Certified BrainPop Educator
I have been a Certified BrainPop Educator for two years now.  Each year, BrainPop offers recertification possibilities so that we can continue to help our staff and students as they integrate this program into their curriculum.



Thank you Moby and BrainPop for the fun and engaging lessons that you offer!


Wednesday, March 7, 2018

Howe Manning EdTech Challenge



Teachers at Howe Manning had the opportunity to participate in the first annual "HM EdTech Challenge."  This is a fun and quick way to dip your toe (or swim) in educational technology.  I created a BINGO board with many activities to expose teachers to different educational technology programs and professionals.

Prizes:
Fill in a row, column, or diagonal for a chance at the First Place Prize.
Fill in the entire board for a chance for the Grand Prize.
There are several different prizes, some are sponsored from professionals in the edtech field and are featured on this board.

On the second page, you’ll find some professionals in the field to add to your PLN - professional learning network.  It’s fun to follow them in your social media.

On the third page, I’m adding video tutorials to help you with some of these programs.  Please feel free to reach out to me if you need any assistance with these challenges.  I’d love to help you!



We had 15 teachers at Howe Manning participate in the HM EdTech Challenge.  It was great helping our teachers learn new programs, expand their professional learning network, and watching them get excited about new programs that they can use with their students.  Because Kids Deserve It!!


Teachers who participated in the HM EdTech Challenge received a prize.  Most of these prizes were donated by educational technology professionals who were very willing to help sponsor this challenge. 

A huge thank you to the following sponsors:
Brian Aspinall
Kasey Bell
BrainPop
Dave Burgess
Diane Carriero
EdTech Team
Flipgrid
Amy Karas
Alice Keeler
Middleton PTO
Matt Miller
Sol Bean Cafe
Paul Solarz
Adam Welcome




Next up...
FM EdTech Challenge

Friday, March 2, 2018

#ReadAcrossAmerica Day Goes Global with Flipgrid

Students at Fuller Meadow School and Howe Manning School celebrated Dr. Seuss's birthday and "Read Across America Day" using a challenge from Flipgrid - "March 2nd is #ReadAcrossAmerica Day and this year we're throwing out a challenge. Let's make this a global party and share our love of reading with the rest of the world!"

"Flipgrid is a website that allows teachers to create "grids" of short discussion-style questions that students respond to through recorded videos."  (Source)

The assignment is -

Read Across the WORLD

March 2 is Read Across America Day. Instead of celebrating in only America, we want to celebrate diverse global readers across the entire world. Our Global Classroom's reach is global, so this week's topic is Read Across the World. Share a #shelfie (selfie with a book), recommend a book for others, why you enjoy it or even read a line or two from the book. Try and keep your response free of spoilers in case others have not read that book just yet!

Read Across America Day

Add to the Flipgrid -