Are you a bargain shopper?  I recently learned of "Camel, Camel, Camel" which is an Amazon price tracker.  This is a free price tracker that can assure that you are getting the lowest historical price of an item you may be looking for.  You can create price alerts for an item you are interested in looking for and have email alerts sent to you when the price drops to a level that you want to spend. 

If you are like me, then you have a list of books waiting to be read while lounging on the beach or by the pool.  I came across 5 books recommended by Bill Gates.  All sound very interesting.  I am sharing his recommendations with you, happy reading.   5 Books worth reading this summer.  If you read any, give me a review if you enjoy it so I can share your recommendation out on a future blog.  Reading over the summer is not just for the students.

Augmented Reality Word Game with Catchy Words, an interactive augmented reality word game, students create specific words with 3D letters that float around the room. Students can engage in the immersive experience without touching the screen of their mobile device. They just walk around, catch the letters with their device, and solve the word. The game encourages problem solving, language development, and physical activity. It is made available by Twice for iOS. Cost: Free

 Curriculum Connecting Science Concepts to Language Arts
​The K–3 STEM Foundations project is developing NGSS-aligned curriculum units for K–3 students that connect science concepts and guided inquiry activities to reading/language arts, as well as health and wellness. The units are designed for use during class time or after school. Presently materials that relate to life science are available. They include units entitled “Living Things and Their Needs,” “Resources and the Environment,” and “The Senses,” along with related lesson plans, videos, and slide presentations. The materials are free to download and use in the classroom. They are among the collection of science resources for K–8 teachers from Baylor College of Medicine. The comprehensive collection covers a wide range of science topics, from the brain to bird flu and butterflies in space.

Game to Develop Understanding of Calculus Concepts Created by the game developer Triseum, which grew out of the LIVE Lab at Texas A&M University, the learning game Variant: Limits is designed to assist high school and college students with the intuitive understanding of calculus concepts, which they must apply to save a planet from powerful geomagnetic storms. The game features an immersive 3D world that allows players to manipulate objects by mastering calculus principles and theories, directly connecting mathematics and gameplay. The compelling narrative and high-stakes adventure provide clear goals and motivation to succeed. Intuitive feedback and game interaction allow players to explore at their own pace. Intelligent game analytics let teachers monitor student engagement and provide insight into player progress. Teachers can see Variant: Limits in action by requesting a link to a free demo. (This game has a price associated with it, but check it out it using the free teacher demo.  It might be a good resource to share with parents as an added support for their student.)

 SPOTLIGHT! On Supporting English Learners in the Mainstream Classroom
Jessica Gonzalez, author of the popular Cult of Pedagogy blog, taps three experienced educators of English learners to create a list of resources and strategies that help support ESL/ELL students in the mainstream classroom.

Looking for summer PD?  Below are a number of professional development opportunities.  A  number are free and a number of them provide Act 48 hours.  

​Implementing NGSS may be a bit difficult. Putting entirely new standards in place can be a difficult time for everyone because it means abandoning old lesson plans and content. Ultimately, this change is for the best because it is designed to give students a top-notch science and engineering experience from kindergarten through graduation. Every classroom
will need to put these same Next Generation Science Standards into practice, but how can that happen? A short guide gives some pointers.

Three strategies to keep students engaged in STEM. This article looks at how one teacher implemented project based learning in his classroom. STEM (science, technology, engineering,  and math) is more than just an acronym or a collection of letters. Rather, it is an instructional movement that embodies cross-curricular concepts from four fundamental disciplines, as well as a research-based strategy that addresses the future needs of a technology-driven work force and sustaining a global economy. The importance of STEM is further validated by its prominence in the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS).

Masters of Science in STEM Education
​Lebanon Valley is offering a Masters of Science in STEM Education.  Click here for more information. Here are just some of the summer offerings.
 
​Supporting Three-dimensional Learning and Teaching with New Curriculum Materials is being offered by the American Association for the Advancement of Science in Washington, DC, on August 2. The free one-day workshop hosted by Project 2061, is also open to science specialists or administrators with science curriculum responsibilities. the workshop will introduce participants to a pair of curriculum units designed to give students a coherent understanding of
matter and energy in living organisms. Teams of two or more middle and high school educators are encouraged to apply, but all team members must submit separate applications. Information and registration is on the AAAS website.

Download a Free e-Book With Fresh Teaching Ideas From NSTA. NSTA has collected lessons and teaching strategies featured in NSTA Press's latest books into an e-book for science teachers to express their thanks to you. For additional resources, visit NSTA’s updated page of hundreds of sample lessons and activities you can download. The resources are organized by grade level across subject areas in life sciences, physical science, and Earth and space science.​

PSSA/Keystone Assessment Committee Application - Click Here.

The Goose Chase Safety Game I have set up will begin on 5/23.  I can have up to 10 teams of 4. All team members must be registered for the R2R Tech Camp.   It's a first come first serve set up.  Get your teams set up so that all can help you with your scavenger hunt.  Every team member gets their name in a drawing for a free Goose Chase license. This is my first time setting up a Goose Chase Scavenger Hunt, I am so excited!  I did not set an access code or password to keep it simple. Good Luck!

Participants can join the game by following these simple steps:

1. Download the GooseChase iOS or Android app.
2. Register for a personal account with a username & password of their choice.
3. Search for and select the "CVSD School Safety" game.
4. Follow the prompts to select or create their team. If the team has an access code, they will need to enter it here.

Below are the steps to saving your course as a resource so that you can use it again next year.  Click here for a link to the Schoology FAQ section.

If your course has course folders, you can save all of your folders and materials in the course to Resources.

1. Navigate to the course profile of the course you'd like to save to Resources.
2. Click on the Options button.
3. Select the option to Save Course to Resources.
4. Select the Resource Collection in which you'd like to house your course material. If you haven't created a collection, you can add the course to your Home collection.
5. Select a folder within the collection to which you'd like to save your course material (optional).
6. Click Submit to complete.

Note: Depending on the amount of materials in the course, it may take some time to save the course to Resources. Only course materials will be saved to resources. Other course items, such as members, profile picture, and events will not save to resources.

I came across a free web-based tool that allows teachers to create interactive video quizzes around YouTube and Vimeo videos.  I created an account and played with this tool.  You are able to add your own YouTube or Vimeo videos or you can use what's already there.  You can pick videos by the level of your student (there are 7 levels) as well as the type of student (Adult, Business/Professional, Elementary School, High School, Kindergarten, Student with Special Needs.  There are a number of playback modes. Students can watch the video without quiz, play video quiz in interactive mode, use the Casino game mode, or play it in non-interactive mode.  I tried out the casino option and I got $5 to start and could bet what ever I liked based on how confident I was about my response.  A right answer adds to my money and a wrong answer takes money away.  It was fun and I liked how it added a gaming element to the learning.  Students can play again and will be prompted to do so if they don't do well.  I really like this video tool.  Check it out!  It would be a fun tool to use at the start of the 18-19 school year. 

This is how it works: First, teachers choose videos from YouTube or Vimeo. Next they write questions that will pop up throughout the video. They can also add a lesson plan, vocabulary list, and discussion questions. There is an option for teachers to search for already-made video quizzes in our library. These quiz questions can be tailored to meet the needs of their students'. Once the video quiz is ready, click on ‘publish’ and provide data about the video such as title, summary, lesson type, level, etc. Below is a quick tutorial to get you started and a second explaining how easy it is to assign the video quiz for homework. 

​Also, this is a really nice site for building vocabulary skills so it would be a good one to share with EL students.  I think the videos also are good examples of how you can build vocabulary into a lesson in a fun way.  Click here to go to the site.

I recently learned about Anchor a free podcasting tool.  It was recommended by another tech coach as a really easy to use tool that can be shared out to numerous web sites.

Click here is a link to Anchor.

In one of the blogs I follow I saw this great share.  It's resources that can be used to learn a new language.  These might be great for English speakers to learn another language or for non-English speakers for learning English (EL students).  Check them out if you work with EL students maybe there is a way you can incorporate them into your curriculum to improve communication between you and your EL students and EL students and your content.

Open Culture Language​ Links
​Open Culture has this page featuring a number of interesting websites where you can learn over 40 languages including Arabic, French, English, Spanish, Italian, Russian, Mansarin and many more.

YouTube Language Channels
This is a collection of some of the best YouTube channels that offer free language learning content. Most of these channels are run by language teachers or experts in language teaching.

Exam prep - review with Kahoot!With finals approaching fast, check out these kahoots on different subjects, topics and grades that will help your learners review the most important topics! ⤵ 



The American RevolutionA History kahoot designed to review the main idea of the American Revolution.

Play now
 
Review of Story ElementsReview of literary element terms. Suitable for grades 3-5, Common Core fully aligns with RL 3.3,4.3,5.3

Play now
Algebra Review: Linear RefresherFind the slope of a line given points, table, graph, or an equation. Write linear functions. Determine parallel or perpendicular lines.

Play now
 
Science Review: Middle School StandardsThis kahoot reviews the NGSSS state standards for grade 6, grade7, and grade8. It includes questions from physical, earth, and life sciences.

Play now
See the entire collections of review kahoots HERE! 

I am continually on the lookout for video channels that teachers can use. Socratica is one I recently read about in one of my blog subscriptions.  It has numerous science, math and ELA videos in varied languages.  If you are on the lookout for videos that can be resources for your students, maybe this site would be of interest to you. Click here to check it out.

Here is a must have tool for creating classroom newspapers. Printing Press is one of the resources you will find on Read Write Think.  The interactive Printing Press is designed to assist students in creating newspapers, brochures, and flyers.  Teachers and students can choose from several templates to publish class newspapers, informational brochures, and flyers announcing class events.  

Colonial Newspaper Template.doc, By Rodney Perdew

'Newspaper format for students to create a colonial newspaper.'
​

ExtraNewspaper is a site that provides dowloadable free newspaper templates for schools.

Subfolders can now be created in Nearpod.  Here is a link to a brief video showing you how it is done. Click here.

Have your students made some amazing videos, here is your chance to showcase them.

Do your students create amazing videos? If so, here’s the chance to gain national recognition for your students on SchoolTube! 

SchoolTube is kicking off its 2017-18 Videos of the School Year contest, and we are inviting you to share your students’ best work with us.This contest is open to all K12 student-produced videos. 
​
There are three easy ways to enter:

1) Entry Form: Click on the Enter Today link to the right and follow the steps to upload your entries.
2) Twitter: Include a link to a video in a public tweet and mention @schooltube
3) Email: Email link to video outreach@schooltube.com
​
Winners will be chosen weekly May to July 2018 by SchoolTube judges and posted in the Featured Video section of SchoolTube.com.  We are looking for originality, passion, good presentation and communication skills, demonstration of recording and editing techniques, and unique incorporation of visual and audio elements.  Our goal is to showcase quality examples of student-produced videos from around the country. 

Share your best, and we'll do the rest!

-Your SchoolTube Team 
​
Entry form, rules, and information.