Ramble #10

I'm back! Yes, nearly 10 months later I have returned to continue my ramble. This year I am taking the course entitled "Internet for Educators" here at B.U and so far it has been very interesting. More on that later. But first, just like last year, we will begin with a video!

As a Geography and Social Studies teacher I LOVE this video. It is an amazing way to engage students in world geography and get them thinking about where places are in the world. Check it out! Next week I will post PART 2!

On Thursday this week we had two guest speakers talk to our class about ways in which they are integrating technology into their classrooms (they are current teachers). Kirsten Thompson's talk with us was very informative. As she spoke, I noted many ideas that I would like to implement into my classroom next year. The two main ideas I really liked were: a classroom YouTube channel and using plickers. I use YouTube a lot for educational content and creating a channel devoted specifically to educational content pertaining to your students' learning is genius! It is a hub for them to access all kinds of information remotely. The way Kirsten described plickers resonated with me. It is a way to integrate technology into your class when your students might not have access to technology. That is a strong consideration to think about and Plickers solves the issue!

Tyler Letkeman's talk was super interesting too. The part that really stood out to me was the way in which he integrates Google Drive and all of applications into his teaching. His use of Google Forms and social media is great. I remember participating in the #bestwordchallenge last year but I didn't know much about it. I will definitely try to think of ways to integrate Google Drive into my teaching next year. 

Overall, the class is off to a successful start!

Until next week,

Justin