Importing LPs on PlanBook.com

New discovery made today: the ability to import lesson plans (LPs) from one year to another, in sections selected, to replace other whole sections of LPs...using the PlanBook.com site! 

I just saved myself hours of copying and pasting lessons, one at a time. So, previous hours of work done by me, for me, for teaching math, can be transferred and moved as needed. I guess I knew it was possible, but to see it actually done, is pretty cool indeed!

With all the changes in education to common core, the ability to make such changes to my LPs, as needed, in such a quick efficient way, truly makes my ability to adapt and be flexible, easier! 

Thank you PlanBook.com! 

Holiday Card QR Code

Put a QR code on a collage of family photos for our Christmas card this year! The QR code, when scanned with a QR Reader app on a smartphone, goes to a link of an iMovie trailer of family highlights from the year (about a minute long). The movie trailer, saved on YouTube ( under an unlisted setting, so not public), has a link that can be copied and pasted into a QR creator app. Then the QR code created is saved on the camera roll of the iPad, or device being utilized. The photo of the QR code can be included as a photo, in a photo collage, since it is a photo.

I wrote a blog post in April 2013, about QR codes being utilized in the classroom. It's something I've done for a while now- creating QR codes...so my surprise now is that many people don't have a QR reader app on their iPhones! Unable to read my QR code on my Christmas card, since they don't have an app for that. However, I'm seeing the number of views go up, so there ARE those friends and family who ARE able to read the QR code. Cool.

Who knows what tomorrow will bring regarding technology that I can add to my holiday cards!

Letting the Technology Help with Parent Conferences

It is Parent Conference week at my school, and I'm running my meetings differently this year with the parents of my students. First I project the Edmodo grades from my laptop to the overhead projector, pointing out the ways that some grades were recorded and interpreted in each subject, determining report card grades. Next I show the Showbie app on my iPad, with the turned in assignments, and my written and voice message attached comments for each assignment. Then I show student made educreations videos called, "What I've Learned So Far This Year" that showcase the different subject areas covered in class. Student summaries of academics and preferences are noted in the movies they've made. 

Parents ask questions, and analysis ensues, and in several cases there are words of thanks and hugs. I say, let the tech help you along with your conferences!