Do you remember in elementary school when your teacher would pull a popsicle stick out of a jar at random with a student’s name on it? And that was the student who was chosen to read their story or feed the goldfish or go to recess first? Well, I still use popsicle sticks in my … Continue reading »
The Bouncy Balls classroom noise level monitor remains to this day one of the most popular posts on TeachBytes. So, when I came across CalmCounter, I knew I had to share immediately. Although it doesn’t have any exciting bouncing balls, it is still a solid way to measure classroom noise: Just like Bouncy Balls, CalmCounter is a website … Continue reading »
“How can teachers harness all the awesomeness, ubiquitous access, and collaborative authoring power made possible by Google Docs without creating a document management nightmare?” That is question Andrew Stillman posed, and then answered with his script, Doctopus. Doctopus allows teachers to auto-generate copies of template documents for individual students, small groups and whole classes. The … Continue reading »
This is what Bouncy Balls looks like when the classroom is silent: This is what Bouncy Balls looks like when the classroom is noisy: Essentially, Bouncy Balls is a website that activates your microphone and detects noise level. The more noise in the room, the more the balls bounce. The quieter the room is, the more still the … Continue reading »
It’s the big question circulating through my school, and probably most of yours right now: Should I let my students use mobile devices in class? As you probably already know, cell phones can be a great tool for instruction. They provide opportunities for individual feedback with tools like PollEverywhere, as well as quick access to web … Continue reading »
