TurboScan...A great tool!

I received a few iTunes gift cards over the holidays and one of the apps I paid for ($1.99) has made some of my paperwork a little easier...it is called TurboScan. The app is relatively simple--you take a photo of a document, photo, etc., and the app turns the image into a PDF file that you can easily email yourself and/or colleagues.

In the short time I have owned the app, I have been able to efficiently write up grade change forms and submit them to my principal quickly. I foresee using this app to capture student work while walking around the room and storing it in a digital portfolio or saving it later for grading purposes.

The app works well with my iPhone and the website notes that it works well with iPads too. Unfortunately, this app is only created for iOS devices, though I am sure Android users have something like it available!

EdSurge...My secret hiding place of edtech goodies!

Edsurge has many components, though the most useful resource they provide for the classroom teacher is their EdSurge Wiki. You could literally spend hours finding resources to help you no matter your grade level/content area. Use their search tool to help you find items that will make your teaching more enjoyable and efficient. You will see some usual suspects (Learnzillion, Brainpop, etc.), but you will also find items you would not normally find. For instance, I am interested in trying out Drop Some Knowledge (DSK)...a study tool that students allows students to play games against their friends from their smart devices.

I highly recommend you sign up for their weekly newsletter where they provide new edtech resources. Besides providing different edtech website recommendations, EdSurge also provides edtech job postings--though these postings are geared towards computer programming jobs rather than classroom teacher positions. You can also find a variety of deadlines for different grants and other edtech opportunities, though I do not have much experience with these items.

Political Cartoon Resources

Source: Click here to find this cartoon

As an American government teacher, I use political cartoons regularly to explain different viewpoints on policies and politics. Many students often struggle in analyzing the meaning of a political cartoon. Nevertheless, political cartoons can be a great tool to help build higher order thinking skills (HOTS) of students in secondary schools.

As English and Social Studies curriculums adapt to Common Core changes, students will have more opportunities to analyze and evaluate different points of view on historic and modern issues. From my experience, I have found that a teacher needs to spend time building up student analysis skills of political cartoons. By repeating certain steps (listed in the worksheet below) regularly, students will become accustomed to the process of analyzing political cartoons.

My favorite two websites for political cartoons are the following:
- Politicalcartoons.com
- Cartoon Politics

The National Archives has a terrific worksheet that lists questions a student should be able to answer regarding any political cartoon. Besides this great worksheet, the National Archives provides a variety of primary sources and lesson plans.

This is the political cartoon analysis worksheet:

JeopardyLabs...Who doesn't love Jeopardy?

I have been using a format of Jeopardy to review for exams for many years. During all of these years, I have used a PowerPoint template to create my review game, however, with JeopardyLabs, one only needs access to the Internet and an LCD projector.

I am in the process of learning how JeopardyLabs works, but here are my current thoughts. First, I love how easy it is to set up a game. Second, I love how the scorekeeper (aka the teacher) can easily keep score on the game screen. Third, I like how you can search through other Jeopardy templates and use AND edit them instead of starting from scratch. Fourth, students can play (review) on their own since the game does provide the correct answer. Finally, I enjoy how one can embed the game into a website, as well as send a link to students and/or colleagues.

Here is a Jeopardy I found...please note that I did not make this: AP US Government and Politics Review

Bell Ringers from C-SPAN

A Note: This post is primarily geared towards social studies teachers, but I bet some of you crafty English, writing, and ESOL teachers could use this resource too ;)

C-SPAN is often stereotyped as being dull since they just show Congress blabbering. On the contrary, they have wonderful resources for teachers and for a person who loves learning about politics and the inner workings of the US government. Since I live in the DC area, we get C-SPAN on the radio and I love Sunday afternoons since they replay the audio portions of the Sunday morning news shows WITHOUT commercials. I prefer listening to the talking heads rather than watching them :)

The main purpose of this post is to show you a great resource made for the middle school/high school teacher...Bell Ringers. C-SPAN has a growing library of relatively short video clips and study questions that correspond with important topics students learn in most US history and government/civics classes---especially those AP classes. C-SPAN has been uploading their programming to the Internet for free for years, but instead of having to spend time wading through a 90 minute congressional hearing, they have done this work for you!

In order to use Bell Ringers, you will need to create a free account, but I promise it will be worth it! I like how I can share the video clips on Edmodo and add them to my class lessons to help explain challenging concepts.

Here is the link to the video below that explains the history the filibuster in 2 minutes. Here is a video clip explaining the history of the filibuster:

OneLook Reverse Dictionary

Have you ever experienced a time where you had a word on the tip of your tounge, yet you were unable to recall it? You were able to describe the word while, and still your brain would not cooperate..

Well my friends, OneLook is your solution! Simply type in the characteristics of a concept and you will receive a list of related words. If you are a crossword puzzle fanatic, you might find OneLook really helpful.

I can foresee a variety content areas using OneLook in order to have students create word clouds showing how different vocabulary words are related. I have found that if students can make a visual connection between multiple vocabulary concepts, they have an easier time learning, understanding, and internalizing the vocabulary.

13 Websites with FREE E-Books & Textbooks!

I just discovered this great resource that provides 13 websites that offer free e-books and textbooks. Some of the sites have been around for a while, though I did see some new ones. 

My favorite is the Flatworld Knowledge site...great place for FREE college textbooks. 

If you teach science, there looks to be a great one called "Science Books Online" that has a variety of articles and e-texts related to many different science fields. 

I know students in my school read 1984 and The Great Gatsby, thus why not have them download the books to their mobile devices they are already using!