As a teacher who enjoys technology in my own classroom, I have found there are so many wonderful EdTech tools and resources out there during this school year of transitioning between in-person and virtual learning. Some of my favorites include Flipgrid, Quizziz, Gimkit, Kahoot, Screencastify, Quizlet Live, Pear Deck, and Slides Mania for my slide templates.
These EdTech tools have helped my students stay active in their own learning and allowed me to receive student data and class accurately. I also have seen all students engaged in the material whether they are at home or in person learning.
I also can’t forget that it’s equally important to continue to check on students and parents alike and embed social emotional learning into daily lessons. This has been easy to do with the integration of Flipgrid. We use this tool to create weekly check-ins and gratitude grids. I am able to see their faces and hear their voices. Flipgrid is a great EdTech tool that allows students to see their teacher and one another.
Some other EdTech tools that have been powerful to my practice have been virtual field trips. I have taken my students on virtual trips through YouVisit – we went to Peru, Spain, and just did a recent college campus. I even dressed up with my suitcase, passport, and a hat to make it fun and spark student interest.
I continue to use the same educational technology platforms that I did before in the regular classroom so kids are not confused by using new technology they are unfamiliar with. For example, I still use Google Classroom to post daily check-ins and they can respond to me when it’s convenient for them. I have also integrated Quizizz, because my students love to play interactive games and I can collect so much data from this tool.
I have used sidewalk chalk to connect with students. For example, I wrote inspirational messages one week, had them conjugate verbs another week, and this week I designed a hopscotch board for them to do at home. I also think this is powerful because it gets them outside as well. When we returned to in person learning I took my students outside on a weekly basis to conjugate and translate sentences on the sidewalk.
