On Friday, November 13 my good friend Joe Zlatnik of Basehor-Linwood Middle School and I had the honor of presenting at the NCSS national conference in New Orleans. In addition to taking every possible opportunity to eat Cajun food, we spoke with a group of about 40 teachers from across the country about strategies we have used to utilize our physical classroom wall space for instructional purposes
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I am a firm believer in trying to give conference attendees as many practical ideas as possible during a session and this year we offered up four activities I have attempted at both Tonganoxie and Gardner Edgerton high schools. What follows is Part One of this presentation, with parts two through four soon to come.
Strategy I: If These Walls Could Talk: The Aurasma Concept Review
(Please note that I am in no way connected with the Aurasma app, it is simply something that was shown to me by a media specialist that I thought was cool!)
A common problem that all teachers face is the reality that there are many students who need assistance and only one teacher to go around. Worse yet, how often do students need a refresher on a topic they are studying without anyone to ask other than the almighty Google? The Aurasma app provides an innovative way for kids with smartphones to receive that refresher from the teacher him or herself in the comfort of their own home.
I was recently introduced to an awesome piece of technology that allows you gather real-time data when giving formative assessments. Plickers (paper/clickers) is a mobile app linked to