Edmodo

 If you have not already done so, take a closer look at these tools when you get back from holiday break in 2013!

Edmodo - is a free, secure social network for classroom use and teacher professional development.  Collaborate with this tool to share content and ideas, and to access announcements and grades.  Edmodo can be accessed online or through a portable device.  Increase communication by using this tool with your students or with other fellow teachers.

• If you don't use it as an online classroom environment for students, use it to collaborate and get new teaching ideas for yourself!
• TRT Edmodo Resource Page

Remind101 - provides a safe way for teachers to text message students and stay in touch with parents.  Teachers never see the students' or parents' phone number and likewise, the teacher's phone number is never revealed to students or parents.  Students and parents can use Remind101 with cell phones or by email. Teachers can even preschedule messages to be sent on a certain date.

• Increase communication with parents for the second half of the year.
• TRT Remind101 Resource Page

MentorMob - when you Google something online, it is usually ranked by popularity and not usually by usefulness.  It takes a long time to find good resources to use with your students, teachers, or colleagues.  MentorMob sifts through all of the content and leaves you with the most useful resources organized into a playlist.  It is like a VIP version of the Internet.

• MentoMob and Learnzillion have teamed up to create playlists aligned with the Common Core.

Here's an algebra equation for you to solve...
Edmodo + Livescribe + X = Increase in student learning, solve for X

"X" can be found in Ms. Gray's Algebra classroom at Brunswick High School, it's teacher creativity with instructional technology!  Over the past semester the students in Ms. Gray's class can access all of the notes, materials, and handouts used at school when they log into their Edmodo group.  PDFs are posted each day with opportunity for students to post questions or hold discussions.

Students can either download and open each PDF or preview them easily in Edmodo. 

CPS Remotes, and a LiveScribe pen are also used in the classroom on a daily basis.  With the LiveScribe pen Ms. Gray can demonstrate and model problem solving under the document camera while also recording her voice and student participation.  The LiveScribe file is then uploaded to LiveScribe Online and linked to Edmodo as well so all of the class resources can be accessed from one location.

Click HERE to see Ms. Gray's notes from her Algebra 2 class instruction.

It's now possible to set your Edmodo group so all posts and replies must be moderated by the teacher.  This setting is similar to what some teachers may remember with tools like Kidblog or Google's Blogger.  If you're concerned about what kids are posting, or being able to keep up with their out-of-school-hours posts, simply turn on this feature so that nothing can be posted on Edmodo without your prior review and approval.

Download the direction sheet below.

 Edmodo has proven to be a powerful tool for Language Arts and Social Studies teachers over the last two years in FCPS classrooms.  But how can you use it in the math classroom?  Below are examples from Mrs. McKeever's 5th Grade math group at Lewistown Elementary.  Notice the rich dialogue and discussion that kids can particpate in, even if they're not in class together at that time!

Along with warm-ups and formative assessment questions, Mrs. McKeever can also assign quizzes, tests, projects, and homework assignments.  In the pictures below you can see how a student might share their homework assignment as a PowerPoint file, and even ask questions of other students while working online at home.

Thinking about setting up an Edmodo group to support your classroom instruction?
Check out our TRT Webpage all about Edmodo at http://sites.fcps.org/trt/edmodo or contact your school's TRT for individual support.
 

15 Things Teachers & Students Can Do With Edmodo

Edmodo recently received a $15 million grant from the founder of LinkedIn and former VP of Facebook.  So, to celebrate, here's a blog post from Richard Byrne with 15 great ideas for using Edmodo in the classroom.  And the best part?  Each one is a "million dollar idea"!

Edmodo As Part of the Future of Education
In the article "What Three Big EdTech Investments Say About The Future Of Education" by Ed Surge (http://www.fastcoexist.com/1678951/what-three-big-edtech-investments-say-about-the-future-of-education), Edmodo is cited as one of the three big changes coming to Instructional Technology.  Along with Adaptive Technology and the new Common Core Curriculum, Social Media will play a big part in what the classroom of the future will look like.

Question:  "If I have more than one child and their teachers are all using Edmodo, how (as a parent) can I log-in with one account?"

The answer is simple.  You don't have to create separate parent accounts using different emails.  You can see what all of your children are doing on Edmodo with one account.

If you have already created an account for one child using the parent code your child's teacher gave them then simply sign-in with that username/email and password.  If you have not created an account at all, click on the Parent Sign-Up link on Edmodo.

Next you need to make sure you have the parent code for your second child. Click Add.  Type in the Parent Code for the new child you want to add to your account, select your relation, click Add. 

Now you have your children all under one account. 

 If you want additional information about Parent Code/Accounts - check out the Edmodo Parent Guide created by Edmodo.

Edmodo is always making updates to improve the experience for teachers and students.  If you are an Edmodo user and ever have any suggestions, I highly recommend that you go to the Edmodo Support community and add your question or suggestion. 

I love the annotate feature on Edmodo!  Have you tried it yet? Edmodo posted a video showing how to do this.

Edmodo Annotate Feature - When a student uploads an assignment you can annotate on top of it!  By using Crocdoc you can type, draw, etc on the student's assignment to give them feedback.  Read more about it on the Edmodo blog. 

 * First click on Annotate in Edmodo under the student's assignment.  Then annotate using the highlighter, text, draw, and comment features. 

* When you are finished, click on Download.  A prompt will appear asking if you want to include annotations within the document.  Click OK.  Save the PDF.  It actually turns the document into a PDF.  I like this feature so that students can not change any of the comments you have placed on the document.

* Upload the PDF under where the student submitted their assignment. 

Over the past year FCPS has seen a tremendous increase in the number of teachers using Edmodo to engage students in online discussions, polls, and now quizzes and tests.  The notion of using a Social Network to support what's happening in the classroom has been an idea often blocked by school policies and district network settings - and rightly so.  While many teachers and students are already using Facebook, there's no safe or secure way to lock down the content or access to groups and individual walls. 

Edmodo has solved that issue by creating safe "groups" that can be set by teachers or students and maintained much like an actual classroom.  For more information about how a "Social Network Can Be A Learning Network", check out this blog post by Derek Bruff from The Chronicle of Higher Education at http://chronicle.com/article/A-Social-Network-Can-Be-a/129609

There's no better time to start an Electronic Learning Community or Social Networking Site for your students than the beginning of a new school year.  Before you begin, let's take a look at some of the new features added to Edmodo over the summer and then discuss 5 new ways to use this incredible tool.

What's New for 2011-12?
Edmodo has made several updates to their user interface, library, and gradebook.  All the details are available on the Edmodo New Release page that was published on June 24, 2011.  Even more changes were made just last week when an introductory video was added to the log in page.  To watch, scroll down on the www.edmodo.com main page and click the "Learn More about Edmodo" link.  The video will open and play directly on the screen.  This is a great way to start any Edmodo training or introduction that you might do with teachers or students.

Training for Edmodo
Introducing Edmodo to a class of students or group of teachers typically takes between 30 and 45 minutes.  The process of creating an account, explaining the different ways to post, and either setting up or joining a group are fairly simple.  Demonstrating the use of the site, or brainstorming ideas on how to implement will then take as long as you'd like to spend.

For resources, visit our TRT webpage on Edmodo at: http://sites.fcps.org/trt/edmodo
Scroll to the bottom of the page for an Edmodo User's Guide, Permission Slips, and other resources.

5 Great Ideas for Using Edmodo with Students

1. Create a paperless classroom by using the Edmodo Library as a "Cloud" storage space.

2. Differentiate by arranging students into small groups within the class based on readiness or ability.

3. Embedd Web2.0 products like gloggs, blabberizes, animoto movies, quizlet card sets and prezis to create an online exhibition hall or museum.

4. Small group discussions for science labs, novels, or writing groups.

5. Introduce new Vocabulary with the Poll feature and allow students to guess definitions or terms.

5 Great Ideas for Using Edmodo with Staff

1. Administrator, Curriculum Specialists, and Teacher Specialists can create groups for discussions and reflections while also sharing training materials and resources in the library.

2. Collect data from your staff using the poll feature in order to make school wide decisions or complete a needs assessment.

3. Network and connect with staff at other schools to share ideas and resources through the library.

4. Join professional groups within Edmodo community.

5. Create parent log-ins to provide ongoing communication and community involvement with both the school in general, and specific classrooms.