Millions of Books and Millions of Ideas, All Found on LibraryThing

 LibraryThing.com

   LibraryThing is an online resource that allows users to create their own book libraries. Users can search for books on the site and add them to their profile, organizing them by creating and naming book collections, as well labeling the books with curated tags. When a user adds books to their library, LibraryThing generates lists of recommended books they think the user would enjoy based on the genres, authors, and languages of books the user frequently views or adds to their library. Users can also search for books on LibraryThing using tags. The tags don't need to be specific. In fact, when a user searches for books using tags, they will be given search results of books labeled with tags curated by other users. This allows for users to connect and share with others their personal interpretations of said books. 

    LibraryThing also has a "Local" tab where users can input their location (user locations are not shared with other users unless one grants permission to have their location displayed on their profile) and discover "Little Libraries" found near them. This can be an invaluable resource to teachers, as both teachers and students alike can create their own libraries of books they've read or would like to read. Teachers can even create a class library via LibraryThing, where the books used in the course are displayed and are built upon throughout the school year. LibraryThing also has a widget--Teachers can use the widget on a class site for quick access for students. 

    It is also worthy to mention that LibraryThing isn't a direct source to read books--it instead offers links to sites and/stores that have the book available to read. Users instead can connect with one another through the LibraryThing community to discuss shared interests in books, book genres, and reading, as well as discover new authors and millions of new titles.

Purdue OWL

Purdue OWL 

    Purdue OWL is the online writing lab for Purdue University. As a student, I have referred to this resource countless times for citations, MLA and APA format, and to develop my writing. The website is open to the public, and I have had many teachers use their information for instructional purposes. I have found this resource to be a lifesaver in my academic writing. Along the left side of the website, there is a taskbar with categories such as citations, research, avoiding plagiarism, and subject-specific writing. Underneath these categories are subcategories such as different formats, the writing process, grammar, punctuation and so much more. The organization of the website allows you to find your writing weakness and target it. Purdue OWL has the most up-to-date information regarding citations, and when I have to write a formal academic paper with a bibliography or works cited page I head straight to the website. There are both instructions for manually citing sources, and they are in collaboration with Citation Machine. In addition, the ‘academic writing’ tab shows students how to formulate an argumentative essay, research papers, and paragraph writing. If you have already finished your paper, and are in the revision process this website can provide tips for voicing, sentence variety, word choice, and adding emphasis. My favorite part about this resource is that the content is put in the simplest terms possible. Examples are abundant and the information covers all the bases of the different types of writing. This website tells you not only how to do a specific writing technique, but also the function of the technique. I can’t say enough good things about this writing resource. My academic writing has improved a great deal since using this tool and I have received better feedback from both peers and professors. I hope you guys check it out at

https://owl.purdue.edu/ 

Blooket

We all remember when Kahoot! made it's way into almost every single classroom in existence in some way, shape, or form several years ago. I was in college when Kahoot! was developed and I had professors using the quiz game for exam reviews and peers using it for their semester end projects. Well, all those classrooms need to make room for the newest quiz game in town named Blooket. 

Blooket is extremely similar to Kahoot! anyone can set up a quiz and invite their students, peers, or friends to take their quiz. There must be a host who provides players with their game code that way it's a safe environment and the host can control participants and participation. 

Blooket has countless default quizzes for anyone to view and play. However, not all of them are educationally based. As I was scrolling through the dozens of preset quizzes I saw several that were math and history related and then right next to it a quiz that was based off of cartoons. While I do think this website offers several very beneficial quizzes, teachers would have to closely monitor if students were hosting quizzes themselves during school hours to play leisure quizzes. 

I decided to try and create my own quiz and the website seemed super user friendly. It's easy to navigate and all settings are clear on the first page. On this first page the teacher or quiz creator can add in whatever image they wish to be the face of the quiz, a title, and a description. The creator then chooses the privacy settings and creates the quiz. 

You can't take a quiz without questions though, right?! Now comes the fun part, creating the questions and filling in possible answers. I truly thought this process would be much harder than it was but it was incredibly simple. I simply had to write my question, give four possible answers, and then select the correct response. For each question you can choose the length of time players have to respond and whether or not answers will appear at random.

What makes Blooket stand out from Kahoot! is there are different game play modes available for players. This is where the true element of fun comes in for students. They feel as if they are playing a video game but the only way they can progress to this game play is by answering questions correctly. Game modes can be changed when beginning the quiz. 

Overall, while there are many quiz sets that are not educational. Blooket is another great resource for teachers to use in their classrooms for exam reviews, pop quizzes, or Friday afternoon activities. Students also have the ability to take advantage of creating sets for course projects or activities. It's a safe and free resource that can be accessed anywhere at anytime by simply entering a game code. 

Click on the link provided to check out Blooket for yourself:  https://www.blooket.com/play 

Virtual Field Trips

Field trips are something that almost every student looks forward to. It is a welcomed change of pace to get out of the classroom and experience something first hand. But, how do we do this in the midst of a pandemic where some schools are not even conducting face to face learning? Easy, a virtual field trip. While a virtual version of the field trip comes at the expense of not being able to see, smell, and touch the things you normally would on a regular field trip; it still offers a fun and memorable experience for students! While many teachers look forward to field trips as well, the bonus of virtual field trips is not having any students wander off or goof off when their supposed to be engaged and learning. 

There are many websites that offer virtual field trips. Some major names like Discovery offer a variety of online field trips as well. However, today I will discus a website called The Nature Conservancy. This website offers a variety of field trips to various locations and discusses extremely important topics like climate change and the importance of protecting our environment. The Nature Conservancy offers loads of materials for teachers to create lesson plans and host virtual field trips for their students. The most amazing part? Each virtual field trip comes with a teacher's guide containing questions for students (with an answer key!), worksheets, organizers, and vocab words.  

This past week I decided to use the virtual field trip titled Borneo: Symphony of the Rainforest during my weekly tutoring session. I felt like each session was becoming the same and a tad boring so it was time to switch it up and add a new element. My tutee's eyes lit up when I said we were going to do a virtual field trip. Before beginning the video, I took some questions off the guide for teachers and rephrased them to ask my tutee what he thought we would see, hear, and learn about during this field trip. I gave him things to look out for and questions to answer as he went along watching the video. I know he learned a lot about the rainforest and so did I from taking this virtual trip. Throughout the virtual field trip the host also presents activities to the students. In the Borneo trip they played four different animal calls that were previously discussed and students had to match the sound to the correct animal. 

Hopefully some day soon teachers and students will have the ability to take in person field trips again and have a full hands on experience; but until then, these are a great way to change up the pace or even have a fun Friday activity. Some things will never change though, most of us will never get to take an in person field trip to the rainforest and yet it is something we all learn about in school. So why not take a virtual field trip? While it would still be virtual, students could still experience the sounds and sights of the topic they are learning about. 

To take your own virtual field trip to Borneo or another location click here: https://www.nature.org/en-us/about-us/who-we-are/how-we-work/youth-engagement/nature-lab/virtual-field-trips/#

Or to check out out The Nature Conservancy website click here: https://www.nature.org/en-us/

Happy virtual travels! 

Type to Learn

 Type to Learn 

    I decided for this post I would head back in time to middle school and look at a program called Type to Learn. I wasn’t sure it existed still but I found the website and as it turns out it is still used and on its 5th version. I mostly wanted to see if the technology resource was still around or if it had become obsolete. I had Type to Learn in my 6th-grade educational technology class called keyboarding. The entire class was based around Type to Learn, and learning how to type effectively. Type to Learn is a game-based learning tool to help students K-12 learn keyboard skills. Per the website “Keyboarding is wrapped around a captivating, futuristic world of adventure where students become members of an ancient society to save the world from a major communication breakdown.” I absolutely loved this as a kid, and it made the class period go by so fast. I remember sitting at my computer in class and not looking away because I was so focused on the game. It has been a few years since I have interacted with the program but based on the website the basic features seem to be the same as when I used it. Schools can buy the program as part of their ed-tech curriculum for about $230 a year, or parents can get it on the computer at home for students that are homeschooled or just need extra practice for around $35. The program gets harder as the levels go on, and I never actually beat the game. Some kids finished the program but I never got that far. It focuses on speed, accuracy, and technique. The levels adjust to your accuracy, so if you keep typing the words wrong it will get a little bit easier, and if you are excelling it will continue to get more difficult. The program tracks progress and student achievement in each student’s own personal login. A new feature that was not present in the version I used is the Spanish and ESL support as well as the accommodations for hearing and visually impaired students. The program is compatible with laptops, Ipads, and Chromebooks. I would like to know if schools still use this program in their ed-tech curriculum and if they find it to be an effective enhancement to their program or recommend it. I personally found it to be helpful, and it was a fun way to learn keystrokes and the proper way to type. I have not had the opportunity to go into any educational technology classrooms so it would be interesting to see if they still use this to teach keyboarding, or if there is a new best practice for teaching keyboarding. 

\

H.I.P Pocket Change

 Money is a such a important and vital concept we all must learn in school. However, thinking back to my education learning about money was never really a fun topic to learn about. Maybe a lesson or two included using fake money but for the most part we counted change and dollar bills that were printed out on worksheets. Learning about money could really be quite an interesting topic if 

Our government has this really awesome interactive website for children to learn money in all sorts of engaging ways. The website is called United States Mint- H.I.P Pocket Change Site. There are several different activities available on the website such as scavenger hunts, designing your own coin, a library that explains all the various coin programs, and countless educational videos regarding the history of currency in America... just to name a few. 

Educational videos offered on the website consist of child specific videos discussing concepts such as the making of coins, coins in outer space, mint tours, coin design, the relation of STEM to coins, and the history of coins. Each topic area contains a few short videos to view that quickly explains currency in relation to that given topic. 

There are several free games available on the website as well. Games can be played individually or educators can choose to incorporate the games into their lesson plans. The website frequently adds new games as well so teachers can vary videos included in instruction and students can play new games whenever they choose. 

Even though at first glance this website seems almost too fun to be academic, it provides an incredible educational platform that is entertaining and engaging for students. It also provides teachers with countless resources to keep their students interested when teaching about currency. I am a firm believer in adding fun and relatable ideas into lessons as frequently as possible. Not only does this make lessons more interesting for the students, it's a fun way for the teachers to incorporate technology into their classroom as well. This website does an great job of incorporating fun in the very important learning lessons about money. 

Check out the link below!

https://www.usmint.gov/learn/kids/coins 

Education.com

    I would like to introduce a website called Education.com. I stumbled upon this website looking for activities for a student I was tutoring last semester. This website is a goldmine for elementary and middle level activities and lessons. The website includes free resources such as printable worksheets, lesson plans, games, and even entire workbooks. You have the option to choose from over 5,196 worksheets, 833 interactive activities, and 545 lesson plans. You can search for specific subjects, and concepts by using the learning library, or even use the worksheet generator if you have a concept that is not represented on the site. I used Education.com for their many different handwriting/alphabet practice sheets. The child I worked with absolutely loved to do them, and I found them to be well put together. I did not find any of the worksheets to be simply “busy work” but actually enhanced the learning experience for optimal success. I did a little digging into the other features of the sight and was just as impressed. The lesson plans are aligned with the Michigan Common Core and are well detailed. The online games are age-appropriate, and a great way to engage students. A unique aspect of this website is the free online stories. The books are separated into grade level and reading level. I opened one up and there is an option to have the book read to students, or they can read it themselves. After reading the book there is an option to assign a worksheet on it or play a game related to the story if you are a premium member. 

I signed up and created a free account and still have access to an incredible amount of their resources, but they do offer a premium membership for extra features. Since I am not a teacher I did not opt for the paid membership, but if I were teaching right now it would be something I would look into. I get emails from the website letting me know when new material has been added to the website and other improvements. There is so much to explore on Education.com and I highly recommend it to teachers, parents, and elementary education students. 

Digital Word Searches

In a previous post I had mentioned how I tutor my cousin who is in 5th grade once a week. Something we focus heavily on are his weekly spelling words. We have our session after he's out of school on Thursday's- this is our last ditch effort to be able to ace those words before his test on Friday's. 

It becomes super boring, and I mean superrrr boring to read him his words over Zoom and have him spell them back to me over and over again. I was desperate to figure out another way for him to practice his words that wasn't so boring. I began creating online word searches. I told Tyler a couple weeks ago we were going to do something a little different and do a word search. His response was "how do you plan on making that work?" I told him I had found a website where you could made the word search into a game. Immediately he was excited simply because of the idea it was a 'game'. 

The name of the website is The WordSearch and you can completely customize your puzzle. It's a quick and easy generator to use and it breaks up the mundane habits we have when practicing spelling words. The format of the words search is also customizable. Below I show the typical layout we're all used to and then a fun puzzle shaped search that we used for this week's spelling words. 

The website is completely free and saves all previous word searches. This is a great resource for teachers! That way they don't have to recreate searches year after year. It provides you with a 'play' link and an 'edit' link. This way you can go and edit the search if need be. I simply share the play link with Tyler over the Zoom chat and he shares his screen with me. I can help him out with a word if he's stuck or quickly fix an issue if something is wrong with the puzzle by quickly referencing each link. 

I mentioned the search is completely customizable and I mean it's completely customizable! There are varying levels of difficulty that can be selected, a kids version, hints that can be turned on or off, and color themes. The first puzzle I had created, I hadn't realized there were all of these features that could be changed. About halfway through the puzzle Tyler started flying through his words and I couldn't quite figure it out. I realized that every once in awhile a specific letter on the puzzle would glow. I asked him what he was doing to make the letters glow. Reluctantly he told me, if you type the first letter of one of the words it will light up those specific letters in the search narrowing down the results. In the following weeks I made sure to shut that feature off as he doesn't need those hints. 

All of their puzzles can be accessed and played online or saved and printed for in person use. The WordSearch automatically creates a key as well that can be referenced as needed.  I have fun as a tutor creating the searches and watching Tyler play the word search 'game'. I remember being in elementary school and constantly just spelling my words out loud. The WordSearch provides an opportunity to practice spelling words in a different way!

If interested in creating your own WordSearch visit their website below!

https://thewordsearch.com/maker/ 

Volt

 Volt 

Volt is an app that can help build a workout for your body type. This may not seem like educational technology, but it is actually quite versatile. I used this app all throughout high school in our physical education courses. I consider physical education to be just as important as the work you do in the classroom. Staying healthy, and bodily movement improves brain function. In addition, proper physical education is crucial early on because it will set the foundation for a healthy lifestyle. 

Using Volt, our teachers were able to program a workout for the whole class directly on our smartphones. The app shows you how to do the motion as well as provide stop by step instructions for getting the right form, and explains what the motion is targeting. Volt accounts for your body type, weight, strength, and abilities so it tells you how much weight to use and how many workouts you should be completing. Volt includes rest times, and breathing exercises. 

 The teacher who controls the workout is able to see what you have completed, how long it took you to complete the exercises and put you in certain levels. 

I found this app to be incredibly helpful in our physical education courses due to the feature that shows the correct form for the exercise. I also liked it because the exercises varied each day, and tracks your progress. Furthermore, if you do not feel comfortable doing an exercise that is programmed into your workout, there is a feature that allows you to substitute a different one. I have also used Volt for high school sports teams. Coaches can have all their players download the app and join the ‘team’ using a code. Coaches are then able to create workouts based on what the team needs to improve upon.

Volt is a free downloadable app available for all smartphones. The app caters to beginners, professionals, classes, and sports teams. You can select from hundreds of different categories such as general fitness, sports, cycling, military, rowing, marathon and so many more. I found this app to be really useful, and even digital immigrant teachers were able to navigate it. 

Physical education should not be overlooked in a student’s education. Physical activity can relieve stress from the classroom, improve mental health, motivate students, and even boost their confidence. I highly recommend this app for students, athletes, coaches, and physical education teachers. 

Notability

 Notability 

Have you ever found yourself misplacing paper you scribbled notes on, spending too much money on colored pens and markers, or hauling around multiple heavy notebooks and folders? I was right there with you until I stumbled upon an app called Notability. I was hesitant to download this app as there was a one-time $4.99 fee to obtain it, but after using it for the last couple of months I can’t imagine my academic life without it. 

Notability sounds just like what it is. An app to take notes. It sounds silly to spend money on that right? But no, it was the best $5 I have ever spent. I downloaded Notability onto my iPad and started trying out the features using the Apple Pencil. This app has different paper options, such as graph paper, lined paper with different line spacing, colored paper, and just plain white. The app allows you to change the colors of your writing, and you can create your own colors. Tools such as highlighter, pencil, eraser, and text are all at the tip of your fingers with options to change the size of each. The eraser feature makes it super quick to start over or clean up mistakes on your ‘paper’. My favorite feature of this app is the ability to upload documents, or powerpoints and write on them. You can search the web from inside the app for different images to upload, and mark those up as well.  I have created tabs for each of my classes and filed syllabuses, powerpoints, and articles to take notes on. This app has transformed the way I do classwork and made it easier for me to stay organized. The app automatically saves all your work, and you can have the contents of your app backed up to an email or to google drive in case you need extra security. I have actually used this app to complete assignments for this course, and track my homework. In addition, I turned in an entire page of notes for a separate class straight through the app into Canvas. This avoids the trouble of having to take a picture of your work, email it to yourself, download it, and then upload the file. Notability saves me a lot of time and energy when creating notes, studying, or reading. Furthermore, I never have to worry about running out of paper because of the seamless option on the app. As long as you keep writing the paper just continues. I have also found that the app makes handwriting more legible, and notes more uniform. 

Notability is a really cool, and simple way to take notes digitally and store them all in one place. I will never take traditional pen, and paper notes again. I have only used the app on an Ipad using an Apple Pencil, but I have seen others use it on a computer and their mobile phone. I find the app to be very user-friendly, and easy to navigate. It did not take me more than 15 minutes to figure out all the features and begin customizing my app. I highly recommend this app to anyone who is spending too much time writing their notes on paper, or who is looking for a way to effectively organize their classwork.

Kahoot, a way to make learning fun!

  Kahoot is a website that many teachers incorporate nowadays into their virtual classroom. It's a website you can use to make quiz's, assignments, or use just to make learning fun. Kids are able to use this website easily, teachers would just need to give them a link or code to get into the game/lesson. Kahoot games can be used for any subjects and teachers are also able to share their games with other teachers. Students are also able to work together or verse one another to include some competition. Most importantly, Kahoot keeps students engaged and entertained while they learn and collaborate. The link to Kahoot is provided below and I think you should take a look! 

https://kahoot.com/

Can Math Actually Be Fun?

We live in a time that is extremely technology based. In this technology based society we find ourselves tethered to everyday most definitely has pros, but certainly has cons. We've become physically and socially disconnected from one another and while some people find comfort and from behind the screen, others feel detached from their friends, family, teachers, and coworkers. As the COVID-19 pandemic continues, students of all ages have found it challenging to adapt to virtual learning and having to attend zoom class everyday. This is especially hard on our youngsters. Children thrive from social engagement and being in the classroom. Sitting and starting at your peers and teacher on a computer screen day after day just doesn't cut it grades could begin to suffer. 

My cousin is in 5th grade and I tutor him once a week for one hour. He introduced me to a game called Prodigy. When he told me he wanted to play a video game for the last 15 minutes of the session this past week, I was skeptical. Tyler said "Christina, I promise it's school related. It makes math fun." Math has never equaled fun in my book, like ever. Why not give it a shot though? It's video game based which kids love and if it will help with math skills, it's a win-win in my book. Tyler walked me through how to create an account since I'm "old and in college" (his words, not mine) and don't have access to a class code. Upon visiting the home page I could instantly tell that this was definitely an educational website. 

What's so cool about this 'game' is that everything can be customized. Students can design their little avatar to look just like them, pick a side kick animal that they'll train, and choose the world in which they battle- aka solve math problems, and they can change their grade each year they advance. 

As students advance and grade change their level in the game, questions become harder and more resources are provided while solving the equations. For example, I chose the highest grade option and it was 8th, I had a calculator provided to me when I was in a battle but Tyler is not provided with a calculator at the 5th grade level. All questions are submitted by 'casting a spell' and the feedback on whether or not the question was answered correctly is immediate. If the answer is correct you take 'energy' from your opponent, if the answer is incorrect 'energy' is sucked out of the player.

Overall, I was skeptical about the game but I truly believe that this is a wonderful resource for kiddos. The game is fun and most importantly educational. It gives the children the illusion that they're playing a video game but really the game is making them think and use knowledge in all sorts of ways. It's a great way to review for tests or get some extra practice in as it can be accessed from any computer at anytime. Parents can use it at home to help their children study and review too.  

Lastly, my absolute favorite thing about this game is that students can play together. This "old college girl" hasn't figured that part out yet but Tyler assures me that as classmates they can interact and play with one another in this virtual world. I think that is possibly the coolest aspect. It means that even behind our screens, socialization is still taking place all while learning. It's bringing a personal and friendship aspect back to learning when in all reality some students may not have even met all their classmates yet this year. 

My conclusion? Yes, math can be fun. 

Please visit Prodigy's website yourself to check it out!

Link: https://www.prodigygame.com/main-en/ 

Sparkenotes for Summaries

Once in a while you don't comprehend your teacher, your course books have neither rhyme nor reason, and you need to understand several chapters by tomorrow. SparkNotes is an asset you can go to when you're confused. This website can assist you with getting books, composing papers, and studying for tests. Teachers tend to give a lot of homework and sometimes students' lives are already so hectic that they don't have time to read 100 pages in one night. Sparknotes is a great resource for summarizing chapters and more. 

SparkNotes editors' main goal is to help you figure out confusing homework. They are capable of helping out. They work with specialists to make books, web journals, tests and cheat sheets that will help you ace hard material. At SparkNotes, there are various approaches to examine: on the web, on your eReader, and with old fashioned books. One of their features is SparkNotes Guides. They have aides that contain intensive rundowns and canny basic examinations. This website offers resources for English, writing, and Shakespeare, and an immense number of aides for history, math, science, and different subjects. 

When you want to look up a book summary, you can search the book title and find not only chapter summaries but also main ideas, themes, character lists, and more. You can also find certain quotes to help the student write an essay on the book. 

I would recommend using this website. I myself have used it when I was in high school and didn't have time for reading homework because I would be so tired from basketball or soccer games. The late nights after games were reserved for math homework or studying. Even though English is important and my favorite subject, finding a chapter summary on Sparknotes would help me get through the discussion. Later, I would read the actual pages. I think that this is a great resource for any student. Even though I would want my students to read the actual book, sometimes it’s ok to find summaries. This website also has study resources and Shakespeare lessons because we all know how Shakespearean language is difficult to understand. Sparknotes is a great way for students to extend their knowledge on whatever they are reading. 

https://www.sparknotes.com/

 

An Aid for Math

It is pretty common for students to not like math. They think that they aren’t good at it and that’s it’s hard to understand. Which it is. But the best thing I learned about math and how to make it not so hard in practice. Practice makes perfect and with math, being able to practice doing equations and such is important. That’s where math aids come in. 

Math-Aids.Com gives free numerical worksheets to instructors, guardians, students, and homeschoolers. The numerical worksheets are powerfully created by number related worksheet generators. The site contains more than 94 distinctive numerical subjects with more than 1223 extraordinary worksheets. These math worksheets are an incredible asset for Kindergarten through twelfth grade. The worksheets are free and easy to download and print out. They also all come with a helpful answer key. Math aids worksheets a very customizable so teachers and parents can especially make these sheets that focus on their students' needs.

Instructors and homeschoolers utilize the numerical worksheets on this site to quantify the students’ dominance of fundamental mathematical abilities, give additional training, schoolwork practice, and save valuable arranging time. Parents can utilize the worksheets on this site to give their children additional training with fundamental math-related abilities. Utilizing the mathematical worksheets over breaks and throughout the summer will permit youngsters to remain sharp and prepare for the next school term. I use this website when tutoring because the student that I tutor needs extra help and her teachers don’t give her that. I use this website for her needs and it has everything that she is currently learning.

https://www.math-aids.com/ 

Code.org

During my last year of high school, I wanted to take a different type of math class. Regular math doesn’t interest me much and calculus didn’t feel like it would future my skills. I decided to take an AP introduction to computer science. The program that I was introduced to was code.org. It was super easy and fun to use. I think that this program is great for younger and older students to develop their coding skills.

Code.org is a charity devoted to extending admittance to software engineering in schools and expanding interest by young ladies and students from other underrepresented groups. They believe that each student in each school should have the chance to learn software engineering as a feature of their center K-12 training. The main supplier of K-12 software engineering educational plan in the biggest school areas in the United States. Code.org also made the yearly Hour of Code crusade, which has connected over 15% of all students on the planet. Code.org is upheld by liberal givers including Microsoft, Facebook, Amazon, Google, and some more.

I think that this is a great resource that everyone should know about because it gives students the opportunity to learn a new skill without the expenses. I used this website to create my coding project and it teaches you about each process step-by-step. The cool thing about code.org is that you can see other people’s projects, look at their code, and revise it/make it your own. Personally, I’ve learned a skill that not many people know how to do and it’s useful as well. 

Here's my game! Check it out: https://studio.code.org/projects/applab/VZMwLBWBL-tJ2sOC3CQ-qD1tG0edSa0qIRdZaBC8gUc

https://code.org/

Gimkit Has Money and Wants You to Take It!

 

Gimkit Has Money and Wants You to Take It!

Gimkit is an online resource that allows students to play a quiz
game, or a "Kit" to learn class material. The "Kit" consists of questions, written as multiple choice or short answer, and different ways to increase one's score, displayed as a dollar amount. It is incredibly user friendly and has been proven to help promote students' learning and retention of class content. Gimkit was created by a high school student who built Gimkit "to be the game [he] wanted to play in class!" 

Find Scholarly Articles

Teachers always reiterate to make sure students are using reliable and truthful information when doing any kind of research. In Particular, they tell us not to use Wikipedia because anyone can change the information. Instead of searching long and hard for useful information, Google has a tool to help. It’s called Google Scholar. Google Scholar gives a straightforward method to extensively look for academic writing. From one spot, you can look across numerous controls and sources: articles, theories, books, modified works, from scholarly distributors, colleges, and other sites. Google Scholar causes you to find important work across the universe of insightful exploration. You can find just about anything when using Google Scholar. 

I think it’s important to have tools like this because students can be very gullible. I know I am because anything I see on the internet, even if it looks true and real, I will believe. When doing research, especially for a topic that needs to be extensively paid attention to, students need to make sure that their sources are reliable and credible. I find that using Google Scholar helps me find articles and theories that I wouldn't be able to find just by doing a normal Google search. I like how you can select a specific date or year. This helps when a teacher assigns a research paper and requires sources that are no more than six months old. Another great feature is saving articles or things you find, to your personalized library. Everything is safe in one place. 

I believe that this resource is great for students, teachers, and just about anyone. There are so many articles, academic books, theories, and more that you won't be able to find when doing a simple Google search. Google Scholar has access to free and reliable resources that will make essays so much stronger. 

https://scholar.google.com/

Grammarly the Much Needed Second Look

  Take a second to think about how many papers you have written in your academic career. Now take a second to ponder how much time you spent proofreading them just to find out you still miss something. Grammarly is a free extension that automatically makes grammar corrections. Not only does it provide insightful feedback in real-time it also offers replacement synonyms. I previously mentioned using it when writing papers but it assists your writing on any platform whether that be on an email or even on this blog post. In addition to the various benefits, I have just mentioned the true cherry on top is that it is completely free! Grammarly makes receiving and setting up an account simple and it probably will only take a few minutes of your time, if that. Although their basic program is free if you are looking for help with more advanced writing assistance Grammarly offers a premium program that does come with a fee. This relatively new writing assistance tool is something that everyone should seriously think about getting.

    In my personal experience, it saves time in the long run and I am sure teachers appreciate not having to correct small grammar errors. Furthermore, it has helped me sound more professional when I write. Grammarly takes spell check to a whole other level. Honestly, I have not any type of grammar expert by a long shot, and most of the time I can not spell to save my life. Thus, my discovery of Grammarly has exponentially improved my grammar.  

    Since most of us reading this blog are future teachers I would like to discuss what the future looks like with Grammarly. I am planning on becoming a science teacher and I will use Grammarly in my email to parents or in presentations for the students. However, English teachers will deal with this program more readily. All in I believe that Grammarly is a helpful tool to use when writing anything. 

http://www.grammarly.com/  

The Green Brothers

    In this day and age, people are consumed with the internet and videos on the internet. One of the biggest places to go to watch videos on the world wide web is Youtube. Youtube is a website where anyone can share videos of any length. However, some of these videos can be great for learning and the Green brothers are people to look out for when wanting to learn about certain subjects. 

    John and Hank Green are brothers who produce online educational videos that are straight to the point and fun to watch on their shared channel Crash Course. John Green creates American/World history and linguistic videos aimed towards Middle and High school students but I think they’re great for anyone. Hank Green produces STEM-related videos for people of all ages. He explains all questions anyone can have about biology, chemistry, physics, and more. These videos contain lots of information and are fast-paced. 

    Throughout high school, the Green brothers have occupied my history and science classes because they’re great resources for not only students but teachers as well. John Green specifically helped me study for my US history AP exam because he is so thorough and great at explaining difficult concepts. Hank Green, on the other hand, has moved platforms onto TikTok which is a social media app millions of people use. He answers random, weird science questions and makes short, 1-minute videos explaining whatever people ask. I love watching them.

    As a future middle school teacher, I want my students to be able to have fun resources like the Green brothers to help them understand concepts. I like how these brothers explain concepts in a short amount of time and are easy to understand. All of their videos are 10-15 minutes long so they dont take up the entire class time/day. 

FUN FACT: I actually met John Green in Chicago on a class trip!! 

https://www.youtube.com/user/crashcourse/videos

BibMe is the Way to Go!

All through middle school and high school, students are taught how to cite sources properly. Students must know how to give credit to other authors and scholars when doing any type of research. When I first learned about citing sources properly, my sixth-grade teacher introduced me to BibMe. BibMe is a website that automatically creates the bibliography students need to put in their essays and projects. 

It has many options on what type of citation you want to create. You can choose APA formatting or MLA or more. The way it works if that students search for the author, title, or website link into the search bar and BibMe will automatically find it. Once you see the right one, you can click on it, and BibMe will find the author, publication date, and everything you need to create a proper citation. It’s will ask you to find certain information from your source if BibMe cannot find it, but the website does all the important work for you. This website has many other features but generating your bibliography is what it’s known most for. Another bonus is that it’s free.  

As a future teacher, I think that this website is a great way for students to learn how to create citations. Yes, I will teach them how to make their bibliography without needing this website, but everything is online nowadays, so giving them this resource isn’t a bad thing. I use it all the time and it’s one less thing to worry about when writing an essay. BibMe generates everything in less than five minutes. It really is a lifesaver.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n_LeXLbGTF8 

https://indwes.libguides.com/citationmanagement/bibme 

Slides Carnival for that "Wow" Factor

Have you ever wondered how to put a “wow” factor in your powerpoints? Google Slides and Microsoft Powerpoint have limited templates when it comes to creating presentations. I was one of these people wondering how to make my Powerpoint presentations interesting without spending too much time. I discovered Slides Carnival. Slides Carnivals is a website where you can download free PowerPoint layouts and Google Slides topics for any type of presentation. All layouts are totally adjustable, simple to-alter, and free for both individual and business use. Other people make these presentation layouts for everyone to use. It’s easy to make these pre-made layouts your own. 

This website helps students (and adults) make their presentations more entertaining and different. Students are used to the same couple of layouts that Google Slides provides and their eyes are bored of seeing the same thing. Seeing something new, like a new layout, can be exciting. With the layouts come shapes and texts that are editable. 

I love this website because it’s so customizable and there are so many options to choose from. The website organizes the different templates by themes. If you want a formal layout, they have an entire section on it. If you want something for a nature PowerPoint, Slides Carnival has many to choose from. It’s organized very well and so easy to use. 

 

https://www.slidescarnival.com/hortensius-free-presentation-template/3272 

https://www.slidescarnival.com/category/free-templates