Monday, February 27, 2017

Diigo: A Social Bookmarking





Diigo is a social bookmarking website that allows you to bookmark, tag, annotate and share websites.  You can also create or join groups, and create a personal learning network of people that share your same interests.
     The website is free but it also offers a premium membership that ranges from $10 (monthly) to $59 (yearly/professional) according to your needs.  Premium accounts offer unlimited bookmarks, image storage and webpage back up, among others.   There are different ways to use Diigo: Chrome extension, Diigolet to use with any browser or Diigo for mobile (android or apple).  It also offers a variety of services such as import/export your Diigo, save it on an e-mail or publish it.
     You can use Diigo with colleagues or even create a Diigo tag to share with your students about a particular unit. The best part is that you no longer need to go over your history to try to find that liked you were using to prepare your lesson plan.
<― Diigo allows you to tag your bookmarks for a fast & easy access.

Diigo has been around for 10 years and their community has thousands of groups that you can join!


Click HERE to look at my Diigo!



 

Monday, February 20, 2017

Black History Month WebQuest



       

Black History Month is almost over but I wanted to share my WebQuest!! 

The Black History Month WebQuest was created by Ms. Cruz (ME! 😆), an ESL teacher at a High School Connecticut. 
     After completing the WebQuest, students will be able to create a presentation about an important African American person and will prove why they should be honored by generating a Google Slides and designing a new dollar bill that will include the person that they are presenting.  The WebQuest was created with an English as a Second Language (ESL) class in mind; however, the level of difficulty allows it to be used in a mainstream History or English class.
The WebQuest has the standard parts:
Click on the picture to go to the WebQuest!
  1. introduction
  2. task
  3. process
  4. evaluation
  5. conclusion
      It also offers a links & contact me tab.  Additionally, the WebQuest provides room for differentiation and many areas to incorporate technology.  Without any doubt, the Black History Month WebQuest encourages students to develop decision-making and higher order thinking skills.

*If you would like access to the assessments, send me an e-mail by clicking HERE.*

Sunday, February 19, 2017

Animoto

      

       Animoto is a cloud-based video creation service that produces videos from photos, video clips, and music.  It is also multi-platform, which means that you can use it on its website form, on Android, I-pad, IOS, and as a plug-in.  The video creator is very user-friendly and allows you to add music to your videos from their library or from your own.  With Animoto, you will be able to convey your message in a fast and inspiring manner, allowing your audience not only to see it but also to feel it. 

        Animoto has 3 different plans to accommodate your needs.  The plans fluctuate from $8 to $34 a month; however, if you are interested but you are not sufficiently motivated, Animoto offers a 14-day free trial. 

Could it get any better? Yes! Animoto also offers teachers a free membership.  You can open an account with your school e-mail and be able to create the most gorgeous videos.