Take Control of Your Email Settings

Have you ever received an email sent to a large group of people? 

Of course you have. 

Have you had the experience of a cluttered inbox resulting from person after person sending a "reply to all" when it a reply to the original sender would suffice and in many cases be more appropriate?

Of course you have.

Have you ever been that person who sent a reply to all, only to realize moments later that you wanted to reply only to the original sender? Yikes! I'm guessing the answer is yes to that as well.

What if I told you that you could change your default settings in Gmail to reply instead of reply to all?

You heard me right. In fact is a very simple process. 

So simple, I have a feeling you will be wondering why you didn't do it sooner.

Take a look at my video.

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You can also follow me on Twitter @technotchr

Monday Mathematics: QR Code Measurement Fun

Who doesn't love a good mystery?  QR Codes are a fun way to infuse technology into a lesson along with a little mystery.  The code in and of itself provides the mystery. Here is one of my favorite QR Code projects from this past year.

Monday Mathematics - Learning with a Lemonade Stand

One of my all time favorite online simulations is the lemonade stand game.  Just about everyone starts thinking about lemonade in the spring.  This game lends itself to some easy integration of mathematics and technology. With a little planning, you can create an excel spreadsheet that students can use to track their progress through the game. If you want to know how to do this with your students and get a free copy of the directions for creating the spreadsheet, keep reading.

Computers Can Be So Much More

Guest post by Heidi Raki

Often I come across teachers who use their computers as video game systems and televisions.  They only allow students on them to practice games and watch videos.  While both of these are valid ways to use computers - computers are so much more!

1.)  Computers are interactive.  Use blogs and wikkis to allow for interaction on your computer.  Post a daily question to your blog and allow students to answer it during their computer center.  Use a sight like www.wallwisher.com to let students add questions they have about a topic during their computer center.  There are so many ways to have interactive computer centers! 

2.)  Computers are creative.  Students can create so much using a computer.  Students can use computers to make: drawings, writings, graphs, interactive displays, brochures, posters, etc.   There's no age level on when creation can begin either, I have taught students all the way down to Kindergarten to create Powerpoints.

3.)  Computers hold amazing information.  With the internet these days, you can find information on just about anything.  Let your students use kid friendly search engines like www.askkids.com or bookmarked sites to find information on topics you are studying in science, social studies, or even math!  Students can use this information to complete tables or answer questions - like in this FREE Internet Scavenger Hunt on Geographical Features of the USA - http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Internet-Scavenger-Hunt-Fourth-Grade-Geographical-Features-USA

4.) Computers allow us to connect.  Using e-mail and skype, my class has connected with a class on another continent this year!  Set up e-pals or partner classrooms and allow students to use the computer to see a whole new world!

I'd like to thank Heidi Raki for guest blogging on Technology Thursday.  You can find more from Heidi by checking out these links.

www.rakisradresources.com

http://www.facebook.com/RakiRadResources

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Heidi-Raki

http://teachersnotebook.com/shop/RakiRadResources

If you'd like to be a guest blogger, just fill out this simple form.

S.T.E.M.

So I was thinking that I should be more systematic about blogging.  I figured that I've got some followers who probably wish they were hearing from me more often.  I don't like to post for the sake of posting.  I want to have something valuable to share, so I've been giving this a lot of thought.  Here's what I came up with.
I have allowed myself to get boxed in by the name I chose.  Just because I am "the Teched Out Teacher" doesn't mean that I can't share other things.  For the next month, I am going to try posting

according to the acronym STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics).

You can look forward to Saturday Science, Technology Thursday, Everyday Engineering, and Monday Mathematics.  While 3 of these subject areas have specific days of the week, engineering is special in that it will appear on random days.

If this goes well, I will continue the pattern.  Since I teach in a STEM lab setting, I hope to have plenty of ideas to share.  Even so, I know that collaborating with others is much more powerful.  That is why I thought there might be others who would want to share their ideas too.  In an effort to build a more collaborative blog, I will begin offering Team Up Tuesday.  Every Tuesday, you will be able to join in the fun of sharing ideas and TpT products here on my blog.  If we all Team Up, everyone can benefit.

Now you know what to look for.  Make sure you stop by often to see what's new.

Spring Ahead

This weekend, we'll observe Daylight Savings Time by moving our clocks ahead.  For me this is usually the true signal of spring.  We've had unseasonably warm weather over the last month here in NC.  In some ways it feels like spring came earlier than usual.

Tonight I welcome spring with a cool app that surfaced in my email.  It is called iNaturalist.
I was hooked right away. Let me explain why.

Leapin' Leprachauns!

Crazy Leprachauns already visited my store. They have played Leap Year tricks on all of my prices so that the final prices all end in 29 cents. You might not think so when you first look at them but they marked my prices down 20% and then they marked them down another 10% when they messed around with TpT's pricing too. That means you're getting 28% off everything in my store and the final prices all end in 29 cents. What a funny little trick, but as with all magic it won't last forever. Once leap day is over I'm certain the magic will wear off and everything will go back to normal. Have fun shopping! http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Techedoutteacher

Clip Art for Student Projects

Sometimes I just forget about great websites like DK Books.  If you have students completing projects and want them to use quality clip art, this is the place to look first! This is free, quality clip art for personal, non-commercial use only.  Let me be clear on that.  I know that a lot of my TpT followers will be looking for clip art for their products.  That is not what this is for.  Teachers looking for an easy to search, student friendly site will definitely want to bookmark this one!  Your students will have beautiful projects with accurate images from now on.

75 Ways to Say Good Job!

I know we've all seen the posters with different ways to tell a student they've done a "good job."  How about a teched out twist on that. My QR code enabled posters were featured in the Teachers Pay Teachers newsletter yesterday and they've already been downloaded over 1,300 times.  Did you get your copy?  Have you shared it with a colleague.  Kids are going to love using a mobile device to scan the "secret code" to receive their praise.

 

Sneak Peek

 I'm working on a techie update to my I have, Who has vocabulary games. 

It looks something like this.

That's right.  I'm building a QR code enabled I have, Who has game.

If you want a sneak peek, visit my page https://www.facebook.com/thetechedoutteacher

Find my post for the private sneak peek group.

Click like.
Wait for an invitation.
Then visit the private group and claim your file.
What could be easier?

Hope you enjoy it!

Polar Bears International Webcast

I sure wish I had thought to post this sooner.  Edmodo and Polar Bears International teamed up this week on a series of webcasts from the sub-arctic. Participating in a live webcast with real scientists is a great way to promote STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics).  If your classes study animals, habitats, ecosystems, climate, or human impact on the planet these webcasts are a great resource.  Although they have already taken place, the archives can be found on their website. Tundra Connections Archive  They also have a really great game that can be played to reinforce the challenges facing the Polar Bears in the Hudson Bay/Churchill area.  It is called Polar Bear Trek.

If you missed the live webcasts and want to participate live, mark your calendar for next fall right about this same time.  This is an annual event. 

Combining Tech Tools

I've posted in the past about using Prezi and Wordle.  I'm finally getting around to sharing an idea I have had about combining a variety of tech tools.  This "mash up" is going to get a test run this week in my science classroom.  We're beginning a new unit about Weather and Climate.  Understanding the water cycle is a key component of this unit as well as our landforms, biomes, and ecosystems units.  I decided to combine some things together in a Prezi and this is the initial result. Water Cycle Introduction.

Simple K12

I subscribed to Simple K12 some time ago.  Have you ever checked it out?  It really is a great resource!  I think my favorite part about it is the professional development via webinars I can access "from home in my PJs".  It'd be nice if we could be that comfie at school. 

October is filled with some great webinar topics that could enhance your use of technology.  I think I'll be checking out the 3 Keys to Having a Successful Blog. 

There are some fee based portions of this website but you can get a lot of mileage out of their free webinars.  It's definitely one of the places I frequent to find out about the latest, greatest, newest thing for tech in the classroom.