IHMS Tech Tips

Most classrooms have time dedicated in the hour for independent student work.  While some teachers allow their students to listen to their own music, you might consider using Noisli as a class next time. Noisli is a free website that is much like the sound machine I use with my five-month-old.  It's goal is to "improve focus and boost productivity." Noisli takes different sounds from nature (wind, rain, etc) and plays them directly from the site.  You can sign up with your Google account in order to save certain combinations of sounds that you like, or you can simply play from the homepage. If you do create an account, add the Noisli extension to Chrome.  Then, when you or your students are working silently, you can select one of your saved combinations of sounds to play while you work.  There is a timer that can be set and you can also tell the sounds to fade in and out if you need to share something with your students.  I'm listening to a combination of wi

The Global Oneness Project  "was f ounded in 2006, as an initiative of Kalliopeia Foundation, we   bring  the world's cultures alive in the classroom using stories as a pedagogical tool for growing minds. Committed to the exploration of cultural, environmental, and social issues, we offer a rich library of free multimedia stories comprised of award-winning films, photo essays, and articles. Free companion curriculum and discussion guides are also available. All for free." Creating an account is fast and easy.  Each week, a new lesson plan with accompanying media is released on the site, or you can choose to sign up for the newsletter.   When exploring in the site, you can search by media type, those that have lesson plans, subject, or standard.  Most films are twenty minutes or less.  You can also use the search tool to look for something specific or to browse popular topics.  Use the "share to classroom" button to...share to Google Classroom. If