Welcome! My name is Heather Drinkwater. I am currently a Third Grade Language Arts Teacher at Lancaster Primary School in Kilmarnock, Virgnia. I am currently working on my Media Specialist Endorsement through Old Dominion University and hope to become a Librarian at my school one day!
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Do you love using technology in the classroom? Often we may find ourselves lacking the time to sort through all the latest and greatest websites and tools. Utilizing current technology in the classroom enhances your instruction. Today, I am going to share with you some fun and innovative ways to incorporate Technology into the Elementary Classroom. While my ideas for implementation and curriculum connections are geared toward the elementary classroom, with a few tweaks, they can easily be adapted to a middle or high school classroom as well.
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Jing is an excellent FREE classroom tool! After downloading the software, you can begin creating videos that can be shared. A video can be created with audio added or even a screenshot taken. JING is free to use and allows users up to five minutes of recording time. Once you begin using Jing to capture and share videos or images in the classroom, you unlock a limitless potential!
http://www.techsmith.com/jing.html
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Ever wanted to use a lesson previously taught for a review before testing, or what if you had a new student arrive mid-year and wanted to review previously taught concepts with them—why not use jing ©? Teachers can use Jing to record lessons and examples of Best Practices in Instruction to share with other teachers. Imagine how helpful that could be to play these captured videos for a new teacher!! Whether your videos are teacher or student created, Jing has awesome potential in the classroom.
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Jing Educational Applications~
For second and third grade students learning about the ancient civilizations in History can be confusing with the amount of information students must retain. Why not create a quick jing to go along with Ancient civilizations of Egypt, China, Rome, Greece or Mali. It will surely help students when it comes to distinguishing between the civilizations.
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Allow for comments, questions, discussion and any elaboration on topic.
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Prezi is a free presentation software. This software can be accessed from anywhere on any device since it is cloud based. I found this software a bit more difficult to maneuver, if you used a blank template. However, if you utilized one of their pre-made templates it is much easier to use.

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During the teaching of SOL on the exploration of the America's, students create presentations on Explorers. SS. SOL 3.3

Use Prezi to make presentations that track the explorers journey, obstacles and contributions
SOL 3.3
a) describing the accomplishments of Christopher Columbus, Juan Ponce de León, Jacques
Cartier, and Christopher Newport;
b) identifying the reasons for exploring, the information gained, the results of the travels, and
the impact of the travels on American Indians.

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In Science, when teaching Simple Machines Unit SC SOL 3.2, compare and contrast the different types of simple machines and their everyday uses. SOL topics for presentations to cover: a) purpose and function of simple machines;
b) types of simple machines;
c) compound machines; and
d) examples of simple and compound machines found in the school, home, and work environments.

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Students could create Prezi’s for sharing stories or Digital Book Talks.
Use a Prezi to help present reports on Famous Americans SS SOL 2.11 People to research include Jackie Robinson, Helen Keller, Betsy Ross, Martin Luther King, Jr, George Washington, Abraham Lincoln and Susan B. Anthony
Or
Open House Night Welcome and Getting To Know You for Parents to view. You can share your rules, procedures, policies and curriculum. Don’t forget to add your contact information for parents to use.
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Allow for comments, questions, discussion and any elaboration on topic.
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What are those funny looking little dotted squares we see everywhere now? They are QR Codes. QR stands for Quick Response Code. This little square stores information or data that can be accessed by scanning the code with an i Pad , iPhone or Smart Device. But remember you will need to install the reader app to be able to read the code you are scanning. Both creating and scanning the codes is absolutely FREE!! The only limitation I see with these is that you must have an electronic device to use them.
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QR codes are an extremely interactive tool to use in the classroom. I have created a Scavenger Hunt using Language Arts Content Information. Reading SOL 3.4 Students pair up with a partner, one person takes the iPad, the other the activity sheet and a clipboard and they hunt for answers. This can be done throughout the school or just within your classroom.

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Another helpful use for these codes is to make one for all the important frequently visited websites in your class. I have a QR code parking lot where I copy, label and laminate all my codes. Students can just walk up and scan a code. This eliminates any errors in their trying to type those long website addresses. I have also used them to link to help for completing tough homework or even Math Problems.
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Allow for comments, questions, discussion and any elaboration on topic.
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PowToon © allows its users to create animated videos and presentations. It is totally free but you do have to sign up for an account using your name and email address.
http://www.powtoon.com/

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Using POWTOON © to engage your learners is quite an effective hook. You can use it to introduce a concept to really grab the listener’s attention. I have used it for both students and adults. POWTOON is a tool that can be used effectively within any subject and the content can be tailored to any grade level. I created a POWTOON to help students master the SOL 3.4 g and 3.7 a to understand the differences between print resources.
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Allow for comments, questions, discussion and any elaboration on topic.
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OK, so now what? We have learned about Jing. Prezi, QR Codes, and POWTOON today. Allow time for questions on the technology discussed today and methods or strategies for successfully implementing the tools in a learning environment.

How will you use these tools in your learning environment?

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Hopefully, this presentation has sparked a new interest in the applications and tools available through technology!

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Need to Contact Me?
Scan my QR code for my contact information.

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