Mrs. Tech

Picasso Head  isn't a super educational activity, but boy did my students have fun creating their own Picasso head. They get to add all of the facial elements to their picture to create a very abstract face. The first time I used it, I had my middle schoolers create a self portrait. We laughed and laughed when we showed each other because the elements are so goofy. Because of this great memory, I had to share this site with you. Even if you only use it as a time filler one day when you have 10 extra minutes, or on a rainy day when you can't go to recess, just try it. I can almost guarantee you laughs. My schools art teacher does use this site to talk about the era in which Picasso painted and the way that art has changed over the decades. It is a great activity to do when looking at paintings from this time period to see how these artists created these faces. Try it out & let me know what you think, Mrs. Tech *If you are more of a visual learner, check out my  &quo

Comic Master  is a site that allows students to create their own comic book type stories. They provide the characters and the elements, and students just have to drag and drop to make their stories come to life. As you can see below, there are many different things that you can do with Comic Master. They even have teaching resources that you can download to accompany their comics. The easiest way to share their comic with you at the end it to print it. I sometimes even have my students read their comics to the class! They really enjoy this.   Part of what I love about Comic Master is that it gives students the ability to start from scratch and to design it how students envision it in their heads. I have done this activity with 1st - 12th graders and they have all had a great time with it. Students never cease to amaze me with the creative ideas that they come up with when given free rein on projects like this. Try it out & let me know what you think, Mrs. Tech

Formative  (like Socrative ) is a great assessment tool that can be used to quiz/test or review with students from an online platform. It is so easy to use and is quick to navigate on the teacher side. The longest part will be the amount of time you have to spend inputting the questions, but as soon as a student hits the submit button, it will grade it for you. So think about it - spend an hour putting in the quiz (that you can use for years to come with a little updating) and no grading time or still spending the time creating the quiz and making copies of it, and STILL having to grade. Please. This is just common sense.  One of the main differences between Formative and Socrative (shown in the video linked below) is that Formative is mainly focused around in class use and isn't used much as a summative assessment tool. One of my favorite formative features is that you can upload a picture of a diagram and have students label different parts of it while you sit there and w

I wanted to share with you some of my favorite online Presidents Day activities that my students enjoy each year! These are all kid-friendly websites and most of them are free of any ads. Some are educational and others are just fun for early finishers! Did I miss any? Let me know in the comments below! Happy President's Day! - Mrs. Tech **If you are looking to have students learn about all of the different presidents, make sure to check out my Presidents of the US Webquest , Presidents of the US I Have Who Has or if they just want to learn about the history of Presidents Day, check out my President's Day Webquest .  Presidents Day Coloring Pages Presidents Day Hangman Presidents Day Videos from History.com Presidents Word Search Win the White House If You Were President... Presidents Day Dilemma Presidents Day for Kids Video Tour the White House Mount Vernon Tour (George Washington’s Home)

Powtoon was introduced to me by a friend who was working on a presentation for one of our professional development days. She was talking about how boring PowerPoint could get when it was presenting information to those who were forced to attend meetings. She was going to try something different - and that is where Powtoon came in. Powtoon is a presentation software that allows you to share information using cartoons, speech bubbles, and animations.  Basically, you can make cartoons enter and exit your screen at any point, and they can share information while they are there. Think about Saturday morning cartoons that you are creating yourself to share something that is of interest to you! There are some great graphics and you can even add your own images and sound. Let's be real here, who wouldn't like a presentation where cartoons are teaching you about the next latest and greatest in the world of education? Try it out & let me know what you think, Mrs. Tech

It's that time of year again! I wanted to share with you some of my favorite online Valentines Day activities that my students enjoy each year! These are all kid-friendly websites and most of them are free of any ads. Some are educational and others are just fun for early finishers or Valentines Day parties! Did I miss any? Let me know in the comments below! xoxo - Mrs. Tech Valentines Day Puzzle Valentines Day Coloring Sheets Tic Tac Cupid Trap Heart Counting Hearts (tally or counting practice) Valentines Day Word Unscramble February Mad Lib Heart Match (vowel sound match) Heart Break Dora & The Lost Valentine

ZipGrade is a tool that I encourage the Middle and High School teachers in my school to use, but it can be beneficial to Elementary students as well if you take standardized tests. This is completely a teacher tool and a super easy way to grade papers. The only difference for students from regular tests/quizzes is that they fill out the answer sheet document with their tests. The answer sheet documents are available here on the ZipGrade website. The only difference for teachers is that the ONLY thing you have to do is hold your phone or tablet over the student answer sheet and it will tell you which ones they got right/wrong and a total number and grade if you so choose. ZipGrade is free (and so is the app) if you only scan 100 or less tests a month. There is a charge if you want to scan more than that, but it is worth it for the ease in grading and prepping your students for these types of tests that they will take in college. Try it out & let me know what you think,

Have you heard? There is a fabulous TpT sale going on right now where you can save up to 28% off on ALL resources! I don't know about you, but my virtual cart is pretty full of all the goodies I want to buy. I wanted to highlight some of my favorite resources that you can get on sale and use for the month of February from my store. All Month Long: This bundle includes over 40 webquests that you can use with your students to learn about those who made a difference. Included with almost ever biography webquest is a quote or two that they said, as well as a video that gives a brief synopsis of their lives that students can access via a QR code. The bundle also includes writing prompts and quotes on poster sized paper for classroom display. February 14th: Includes a 2 page (20 question) webquest, 8 writing prompts, and a list of online websites that your students can use to learn more about Valentine's Day! February 20th: Includes a 1 page (10 question) w

Wonderopolis is a fun tool to answer all of those crazy questions that your students answer that you don't really have answers to. It is all fact based information and has such a wide range and variety of questions that they answer. A lot of times when students ask me questions that go beyond our textbook, I direct them here to find answers.  You have two options to inspire your inquiries: Explore Wonders: There will be a list of top things that people wonder or the ones that are popular today for you to look over What are you Wondering? : You can search for anything. Ask it any question or insert a topic. If there isn’t an answer to your question, they will list similar topics. If you aren’t happy with similar topics, you can scroll down on the homepage to the option where it says “Make YOUR wonder a wonderful reality – Add your Question to the Wonder Bank” and add your wonder to be answered. Two things I LOVE about  Wonderopolis : There are always sourc

For those of you that don't know, I am married to a Varsity Football coach. To say that our lives revolve around football for over half the year would almost be an understatement. Although he is way more into college football than the NFL, we still appreciate any good match up of two fantastic football teams.  The Super Bowl is such an exciting time for people everywhere, but how can you let your students express that excitement in the classroom? I have found some super fun Super Bowl (or football related) activities that you can incorporate into your classroom leading up to the Super Bowl. There is something for EVERYONE from basic math facts to angles and velocity. There are also cross curricula ideas towards the bottom of the post! Make sure to check out all these goodies and let me know if you use any of them! Yay Football!  Mrs. Tech **If you're looking for a ready to go Super Bowl Activity, snatch up my Super Bowl Webques t for only $1 in my store (on sale F

Hey y'all! In case you didn't know already, I blog for a collaborative blog called Conversations From The Classroom ! It is stuffed full of such great content and information and there is a new post up almost every day. This month, we want you to meet some of us behind the blog! We are doing 3 different hops - Facebook, Instagram & Blog posts. Hop on over to each for the chance to win some fabulous products and prizes from each member of the blog. Hop on over to my instagram for a chance to win a great product from my store to supplement your learning about Black History Month! Xoxo, Hilary @ Mrs. Tech