GoNoodle, iTutoring and Tech Support- Tons of great info to share!

By Kris Walsh

Hello and welcome back. For my first edition of Techy Tuesday I have several things that I am going to share so please read through the whole post so you don’t miss any of the super awesome things that I am sharing today.

GoNoodle.com

First I want to share some information about GoNoodle.com. This tool may seem elementary at first, but I first heard about it from some Indianapolis middle and high school teachers over lunch at a training I attended this summer. They enjoy using this with older students, so I think that anyone will be able to find this tool useful.

Many of us have heard the research behind allowing students to have brain breaks and step away from their work and even move around a bit before getting back down to business with more focus than they had before the break. This site does a good job of making that process more formal and structured and has some activities that students enjoy.

GoNoodle.com is a free site that teachers can use to present different types of brain breaks of their choosing to their class. The breaks are broken down into categories: calm, energize and focus. You can select which category meets your needs and an appropriate break. These videos illustrate this better than I could describe with words. Please check out this short video to see how GoNoodle works. As with any tool that we share, please let any of us know if you need any support getting things started and we will be glad to get you started.

iTutoring.com

While I was writing today’s issue of Techy Tuesday, Bob Linne dropped by and shared a new tool that we have access to. itutoring.com is a site that both teachers and students can use to access quality math videos and lessons for a variety of topics in math that range from Algebra 1 through Pre-Calculus. When you log in to the site (scroll down to enter the username and password for the corporation) you can then click on a course and then see the breakdown of topics that are offered. In addition to the course specific tutoring, there are resources that can be used for SAT prep as well. This site does require a username and password. I cannot share that info on the blog, but I included that info with the email. You can also request the info from Mr. Linne or me. This will prove to be a great resource for students when they work independently. (the picture below is not a video, I could not get one to post. Don't click play, it won't do anything :) )

Student Tech Support

Many of you have already had one of our student tech support interns come to your class and assist you or your students with a minor tech issue. This is a new creditied class that students can take to learn more about technology and how to assist others who need help. In working with the students, my main goal for them is that they are professional in their demeanor with you and provide the best support that they can to staff and students. Since they are students, they may not have the answer, but Mr. Wright and I have talked with them about referring more advanced issues to him or to the eLearning team. Students are stationed in the high school library if they do not have any tasks assigned to them.

This is a graded class for these students, and in addition to getting graded on the quality of their work and their professionalism when performing their tasks, students in this class are also going to be responsible for writing one blog entry per quarter. We will be featuring these blog entries in Techy Tuesday starting next week. This will bring a student’s perspective to our blog and hopefully prove to be a positive for us. Don’t get too upset, Phil, Jamie and I will still be taking our turns with the blog as well. :)

Sorry for the book today, too many cool things to share.

Happy Tuesday,

Kris