Great use of Pinterest- 200 other ways to say went

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Student Insight Into Assignments

Now that all teachers have access to the latest version of edmodo, there are numerous upgrades to the product of which educators need to be aware. Insights is one of the many new features and provides  teachers real feedback on how students feel about the assignments they are completing.  If you are using the latest version with your students, they are now required to post a reaction to assignments and quizzes. They do have the option of posting reactions to your posts and those of their peers. The insights link on the new home page shows teachers how their classes are trending; they can see overall performance at a glance, most active groups and which content was the most popular for the week.  Reflective teachers can use the insight information from assignments and quizzes to adjust future assignments based on student reflections. If you need help with the latest version of edmodo for your classroom or school, you have the option of asking for our coach-mentoring services or you can come to one of our updated edmodo workshops.

Edmodo - The Perfect Learning Management System

 Our  Guest Blogger today is Faraja Thompson, at present a Technology Literacy Teacher at Maplewood Middle School in Maplewood, NJ.  We first met her through the Talent 21 Grant where she was a Technology Integration Specialist for Roselle Public Schools.  
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Reprinted with permission of Faraja Thompson 2013

Edmodo - The Perfect Learning Management System

I signed up for Edmodo in spring of 2011, while working full time as an integration specialist/teacher mentor.  At the time, I did not foresee what an integral part of my life this learning management system (LMS) would become.  I made a couple of teacher connections, figured out ways to earn badges on my profile, and set up a few sample student accounts--that was about it.  But my perspective changed over the summer, as I made preparations to teach three brand new middle school technology courses.

The first marking period of use served as an experiment for my students and me.  We learned how to navigate our class page and to filter messages and assignments.  We learned that carefully choosing and recording usernames and passwords helped us avoid having to repeatedly sign up for new accounts, due to forgotten log-in information.  Students socialized on a special group I created, the Tech Ed Lounge, rather than clutter our class group feeds with unrelated comments.  Meanwhile, I continued making connections with other teachers and exchanging educational ideas on the community pages.

During the second marking period, we discovered intricacies of the library backpack and small groups.  This is when major collaboration and peer editing efforts began.  Students started storing files in the backpack, using it as an online flash drive.  They posted URLs of Google Docs and other real-time collaborative editing (RTCE) tools on their small group pages, so that only four or five group members would have access, for working together on assignments and for commenting constructively on each other's essays.  It was around this time that I began discovering teacher-created groups, such as Flip Share.

By the third and fourth marking periods, our Edmodo use was in full swing.  Students turned in all project tasks, classwork, and homework using Edmodo assignment boxes.  Suddenly, my desk was neater, my tote-bags--lighter, as paper became obsolete in the computer lab.  In exchange, I found myself taking time--normally spent socializing on Facebook with family and friends--to grade, create new assignments, moderate the tech lounge, and exchange ideas with teachers from around the world on Edmodo.

Thank you for reading!

Upcoming Edmodo Workshops!

Thu - January 10, 2013

Introduction to Edmodo: Safe Social Networking

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Wed - January 30, 2013

Introduction to Edmodo: Safe Social Networking

STEM in Journalism

Not every student who pursues a science degree winds up as a scientist, in this lively google hangout, deSTEMber In the Field Friday Roundtable Science & Journalism, you will get a chance to meet Science majors who became Journalists. As a group they have taken an unexpected path to sharing their passion for science with others.

Watching high school students try to make decisions about their futures becomes a little easier when one realizes that even though they have to choose a major in college, they are not necessarily locked into traditional careers. 

Time To Play With Videoscribe!

Our first guest blogger of 2013 is Jeanette James, a teacher from New South Wales in Australia.  She comes to us through the SRI & ETTC's professional learning community on edmodo. 21st Century classrooms require us to break down traditional classroom walls and collaborate with schools all over the world.

Clearly Jeanette had time over the holidays to rest, relax and most importantly, play with one of the available options of videoscribing software. We will be bringing you the perspectives of many K-12 educators as they show off their technology integration adventures. 

 If you are interested in taking a workshop where you can learn how to use Web 2.0 tools, visit our training calendar page to find the right workshop for you!
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Reprinted Permission of Jeanette James 2013

Time to Play!
Time to Play! The holidays are truly epic!  Simply put, the access to TIME allows me to play! When I can play, I learn.  Tonight, I played with a new product called Videoscribe. See below for my first creation using this tool.

Happy New Year all, thanks for all the fun in 2012.
@7mrsjames