Kletke Tech Resources - Tech Thoughts

Teachers.Tech: How to Use Adobe Spark

2/24/2021

How to Use Adobe Spark
We know you’ve heard of the popular software company Adobe, but have you ever heard of Adobe Spark? Spark is an online and mobile design app that easily allows all skill levels to create and share impactful visual stories.
Adobe Spark gives you the option to create three story formats, which lets you express your ideas in the following ways:

Spark Page lets you create beautiful and attention-grabbing web pages
Spark Post lets you create captivating social graphics in seconds
Spark Video allows you to turn your story into an entertaining and animated narrated video

Adobe Voice, Adobe Slate, or Adobe Post users may find these concepts familiar. This is because those three existing apps have been brought together to become Adobe Spark, and have been renamed Adobe Spark Video, Adobe Spark Page, and Adobe Spark Post respectively. We’re going to take you through the basics of how to use Adobe Spark, so you can start bringing your ideas to life in no time....

Note: The above comes directly from their website. Click here to read more.

ComputerScience.org: The Ultimate STEM Resource Guide for Kids

11/12/2020

STEM—which stands for science, technology, engineering, and math—is a crucial piece of the educational experience. Biologist Judith Ramaley coined the acronym in 2001 for the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) as the organization began ramping up programs to promote STEM subjects in American schools.

As the country rolled into the 21st century, student STEM achievements in the U.S. lagged behind those in other countries. Naturally, the NSF sought solutions for improving STEM programs in schools. After a 2005 report noted a strong connection between economic privilege and STEM achievement, the NSF and other organizations began working to close this gap and make STEM resources more widely available.

A strong STEM foundation opens doors to a variety of educational options and lucrative, fulfilling career opportunities.

THE U.S. BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS (BLS) PROJECTS OCCUPATIONS FOR MATH-RELATED PROFESSIONALS, SUCH AS ACTUARIES AND STATISTICIANS, TO GROW BY 26% FROM 2018 TO 2028, FAR FASTER THAN THE NATIONAL AVERAGE GROWTH RATE FOR ALL OCCUPATIONS.
Parents may struggle to provide home-based learning in STEM for kids. This page presents top online resources in each STEM subject, plus a list of 150 courses, websites, activities, and competitions arranged by grade level.

Note: The above comes directly from their website. A representative of their organization reached out to me asking if I would provide this information to our teachers, students and families. I am pleased to be able to make this information available. Click here to read more!

Teacher Vision: Native American Heritage Month Teacher Resources

11/11/2020

Look at this website for lessons, activities, and printables on Native American life and culture. Use these resources to teach students of all ages about the colonization of America from a different perspective. You'll find great educational resources for Native American Heritage Month in November. There are also plenty of activities to use throughout the year for music, drama, art, and language arts.

Note: The above comes directly from their website. Click here to read more!

A Mathematician Has Created a Teaching Method That’s Proving There’s No Such Thing as a Bad Math Student

7/9/2020

Math is a notoriously hard subject for many kids and adults. There is a gender gap, a race gap, and just generally bad performance in many countries.

John Mighton, a Canadian playwright, author, and math tutor who struggled with math himself, has designed a teaching program that has some of the worst-performing math students performing well and actually enjoying math. There’s mounting evidence that the method works for all kids of all abilities.

As of 2017, his program, JUMP (Junior Undiscovered Math Prodigies) Math, is being used by 15,000 kids in eight US states (it is aligned with the Common Core), more than 150,000 in Canada, and about 12,000 in Spain. The US Department of Education found it promising enough to give a $2.75 million grant in 2012 to Tracy Solomon and Rosemary Tannock, cognitive scientists at the Hospital for Sick Children and the University of Toronto, to conduct a randomized control trial with 1,100 kids and 40 classrooms. The results, due out in late 2017, hope to confirm previous work the two did in 2010, which showed that students from 18 classrooms using JUMP progressed twice as fast on a number of standardized math tests as those receiving standard instruction in 11 other classrooms.

“It would be difficult to attribute these gains to anything but the instruction because we took great pains to make sure the teachers and the students were treated identically except for the instruction they received,” Solomon said....

Article written by Jenny Anderson
Note: The above comes directly from her article. Click here to read more.

Tech & Learning: How to Use Google Jamboard, for Teachers

7/6/2020

Google Jamboard is an innovative tool that allows teachers to interact with students with a whiteboard-style experience, only digitally without being in the same room. It's essentially a giant digital whiteboard that can be used by any teacher for any subject, making it a great tool for schools to use right across the -- ahem -- board.
Jokes aside, Jamboard does mean the hardware investment must be made for the full 55-inch 4K touchscreen experience. This offers 16 simultaneous points of touch contact and WiFi connectivity, plus handwriting and shape recognition. A Full HD webcam and two styluses are available, with an optional rolling stand that ideal for moving between classrooms.
However, Jamboard also works digitally as an app so it can be used on tablets, phones, and other devices. It'll even work via the web using Google Drive so it is really widely accessible. Of course, it also runs on Chromebooks, albeit without the shape or stylus support, but it's still a very capable presentation platform.

Note: The above comes directly from their website. Click here to read more!

Marathon Kids

7/3/2020

The Marathon Kids program is now free—no grant required—and includes access to Marathon Kids Connect, our cloud-based platform. Marathon Kids Connect offers runner recruitment, impact reports, a parent portal, and a mobile app for digital lap tracking. It’s now easier than ever for coaches, PE teachers, classroom teachers, students, and parents to track miles, access free PE resources, and celebrate students’ progress throughout the year.
Whether kids are running with Marathon Kids at school or meeting milestones at home during periods of long-distance learning, they can use the new app and platform to track and celebrate their achievements and continue developing their running skills, building toward a lifetime of physical activity and good health.

Note: The above comes directly from their website. Click here to read more!

Wakelet.com

6/19/2020

A few years ago, our founder Jamil found himself encountering the same problem over and over again; how to save, organize and share a collection of links in a meaningful and visually-engaging way.
University research, trip recommendations, work resources – every time he tried to share information with friends, lecturers and colleagues, he ended up with unwieldy text documents and emails filled with lists of links.
Jamil set out to find a better way of doing things; a way to bookmark, organize and curate content from across the web and use it to create beautiful, informative and engaging collections.
Today, millions of people around the world use Wakelet every day. Educators, students, sportspeople, bloggers, researchers, travelers, journalists, librarians, photographers, organizations and individuals are all using the platform to curate content from across the web, gather research, create digital portfolios, tell digital stories, distribute newsletters, and much, much more.

Note: The above comes directly from their website. Click here to learn more!

StickerYou.com

6/19/2020

About StickerYou
StickerYou was created to empower businesses and individuals to make the best custom die-cut sticky products - whether it be for their marketing or personal expression. We enable you to make what matters stick!

Any Shape StickerYou’s die-cut technology allows customers to create any shape without any constraints. StickerYou can produce images that contour to the shape of the image (die-cut) or create standard shapes, such as rectangles, squares, or circles.
Any Size StickerYou is able to customize the size of your art to your exact request. Whether you want a simple 4inch x 4inch design or a 4.1inch x 3.9inch design, StickerYou guarantees the product to be cut within 0.1 inches of your specifications.
Any Quantity

StickerYou produces custom products using digital printers/cutters mixed with our proprietary technology. This enables you to order quantities as low as 1 (no really!) or up to 10,000. For higher quantities, we can offer you a custom quote. The benefit is you only pay for the quantity that you need!

Note: The above directly from their website. Click here to learn more!

Personal Note: I learned of this and other similar sites from my grand daughter who regularly purchases stickers to put on her high school Chromebook. I created, ordered and received "Permanent" stickers to put on our school Chromebooks for student distribution. Fantastic quality and super easy creation and order process. I can see parents, students, and teachers getting excited about this site.

Mystery Science

6/18/2020

Free memberships available to teachers who haven't tried Mystery Science, at schools that haven't had full memberships. Homeschool free memberships available for the first two Mysteries in each unit.

* Hands-on — lead students in the doing of science and engineering.
*NGSS-aligned and Common Core — make the transition to the Next Generation Science Standards and support Common Core.
*Less prep, more learning — prep in minutes not hours. Captivate your students with short videos and discussion questions.
* 1+ million children — STEM education is in crisis. Help us fix it.

Note: The above comes directly from their website. Click here to learn more.

Campus Press: The Complete Guide To Student Digital Portfolios

6/9/2020

Digital portfolios can revolutionize the teaching and learning process. This complete guide to student ePortfolios answers many questions you may have, from the academic benefits of portfolios, the platform to use, to ongoing management, and how to get started.

Note: The above comes directly from their website. Click here to learn more!

Note: This is probably the best "digital portfolio" resource I have seen. My Calvary 4th - 8th graders will either use Padlet, Wakelet, and/or Weebly for this purpose.