Here are some awesome tools that I discovered this summer and how I am going to use them in 2020-2021:
- Jamboard is an interactive whiteboard that is part of the GSuite Family. I will use the sticky note to collect and sort students’ questions and responses as a quick formative assessment. Thanks to Paul Anderson, I will have my students brainstorm and map science investigation ideas in collaborative groups.
- Formative is a web app for creating standards-based assessments. Despite the name, I will use this for both formative and summative assessments.
- Book Creator is an app for creating digital books. I love the suggestions provided by Dr. Monica Burns in 15 Science Projects for Book Creator classrooms. I will definitely adapt these ideas for quarterly projects.
- Loopy is a simple simulation generator for creating models of systems and phenomena. Thanks to Jon Darkow, I will have my students create dynamic drawings of systems and phenomena being investigated in class.
- Explore Learning is a subscription-based interactive science simulation resource that builds students’ conceptual understanding through, data collection, interpretation, and analysis. This will provide tremendous support as an inquiry-based virtual experience.
- Pear Deck is a formative assessment tool that is a Google and Microsoft Teams Add-in; allows students to submit anonymous responses. Great for those times when you want to discuss your “favorite no.”
- Talking points is a free translation app for communicating with students’ parents and families.
- Poll Everywhere is a web-based polling app for getting capturing students’ ideas in an instant in multiple formats: multiple choice, word cloud, competition, true-false, open-ended, ranking, clickable image activity, self-paced survey, question and answer, and numeric rating.
- Mindmup is a Google and Microsoft Teams Add-in that is great for brainstorms and notetaking