IHMS Tech Tips

Deck Toys is an engagement platform to make learning more interactive for your students.  You can use content that you've already created (Google Slides, Powerpoint, etc.) to create decks to review content, teach new learning, or enhance your lessons.   Here are two example decks created by Laura Ballard: Vocabulary Review Flowers for Algernon To create a deck, first sign up for free with your Google account.   A Deck is a canvas where you can create an interactive lesson to engage students. You may add Activities and Paths to encourage students' progression. Explore the   Deck Gallery   for decks made by other teachers.   Once you've created your first deck, you can share the Deck Toys classroom address with your students by posting the URL in Skyward or Google Classroom. Students will then work through the deck at their own pace.  You will see their avatars as they progress through the deck.  You ca...

Book Creator is both an iOS app and a website that can be accessed through Chrome.  It links to your Google account and is a very simple way to share content or have students demonstrate knowledge.  Here is an example book : A Collection of 6th Grade's 100 Word Stories Click to read this book, made with Book Creator https://read.bookcreator.com When creating a new book, you can add media, shapes, and comics.   Once a book has been published, the reader can choose to have the book read to them as well as the option to adjust how to view the published book. Books can be added to a library which can then be shared with students, teachers, and parents for collaborating or to view the books. The Resource library allows you to search for published books by grade level and subject to use in your teaching. Each teacher gets 1 library with 40 books for free . Subscriptions are available for more books and libraries - check out the...

Orange Slice is a Google Add-on for creating rubrics.  The nice thing about Orange Slice is that it is automatically added to your students' work so you don't have a separate document as a rubric.  It also syncs well with Google Classroom. To add Orange Slice to Google: 1. Open a Google Doc.  It can be a blank one if you are creating the assignment for the first time, or it can be a Google Doc that you already have created.  2.  Go to Add-ons and then Get add-ons 3.  Search for "Orange Slice" and then select the Free button next to "OrangeSlice: Teacher Rubric". 4.  Within your Google Doc, go back to Add-ons and choose "OrangeSlice" then "Score Rubric." 5.  A menu will be appear on the right-hand side.  Either import or customize your rubric. 6.  Once your rubric has been added to the Google Doc, you can make changes to wording, add or delete rows, and change the font and such. 7.  When you're ready t...

SYNC is a free audiobook program for teens.  Starting April 25th and through August 1st, two audio books a week will be available to download for free through  the website .  The books are completely free, high-interest, and based on a weekly theme. Here is a list of the titles that are being released this summer. Be sure to sign up on the website or send a text to get alerted to new titles that are released.

GoNoodle is a free website designed to get kids moving.  The site can be used as an intro to class, a brain break, or preparation for a test.  As we enter testing season, the site also offers a host of meditation and breathing exercises to get students in the right mindset. The videos on GoNoodle can be searched by category and are all only a few minutes long.  While the videos may seem elementary, we all know that middle schoolers would get a kick out of them as well as benefit from the movement and break from their seats. There is a highlighted video every day and you have the ability to add videos to your Favorites list. Noisli and Hatnote  (my favorite site ever!!) are other sites previously referenced on this blog that could be utilized as brain breaks or to increase mindfulness.