Google+ New features -ripples and Creative Kit for quick photo editing

See how a post is shared through rippples. Tracking the flow of information is a useful tool if you want to market your own posts or services. You can evaluate how information is spread, find the fastest route for the type of information you are trying to share and model your flow based on your research.


The creative kit tutorial is very easy to understand. My students are going to love this.

Now Google+ should be available on Google app accounts. I will be checking that out later today for a few of my districts.

Q-charts, Blooms Taxonomy and Edmodo

Adding questions to edmodo

See where the questions are clustered

The Q-Chart is in use in our language arts classrooms. The teacher asks students to create questions by using one word from the left hand column and one word from the top row. The farther down and to the right she asks them to go, the more complex and high-level the questions. She explained to them where they were on the Bloom's Taxonomy Chart based on where their questions fell in the Q charts. With this particular activity, she chose the columns from they could build their questions. After the students wrote the questions, they posted them in our edmodo group for other students to answer. By allowing the students to create their own questions, it becomes a peer activity, totally student-directed, instead of teacher directed.

We expect students will to improve their ability to ask higher level thinking questions on their own as they have opportunities to practice during their guided reading groups.

Using the Smartboard for Keyboarding

Smart Notebook solves many problems. We took a picture of the onscreen keyboard using the picture tool in Smart Notebook. Then hovered our hand over the home row keys and traced the outline using the red pen. We grouped the objects. The students come up the board and and we were able to move the keyboard with the hand placement to their height and resize it for their finger size. They were able to practice on the smartboard,(which they love) then go back to their seats and practice on real keyboards. We had them press each finger down on each key and sing the letters while they were up at the board.

Earning Edmodo Badges

Here is one of our students earning her first edmodo badge for Keyboarding in Computer Class. The other students are clamoring to earn their own badges. The gamification of the classroom is underway.  We will be developing leveled edmodo badges so that students can "Level Up."

How do we Keyboard?