Collaboration Tools for Teachers and Administrators

I have been thinking a lot about what tools are most helpful for teachers in their classrooms and for PD sessions. These are some of my favorites and I use them in my training sessions whenever possible.       

Twitter - Have participants to tweet their exit tickets - this would be a great way to get the whole Staff/Class/Team/Grade Level on Twitter! #faday
Create a 30 sec Voki and share - Turn and Talk without turning!
Socrative -  A Student Response System, mostly Q&A but definitely fun and there are lots of pre-made quizzes available online to use or adapt for your needs. Works great on iPads too!
Infuse Learning - Another great SRS which also includes drawings, really powerful!
Popplet - Easy to collaborate, share, embed and much more! One of the best visual organizers out there!
Today's Meet - backchannel, awesome to set up and leave running during a presentation
Titan Pad - Allows for many to work on the same document, great for backchanneling, colors and fonts are fun!

Welcome and Voki!

Welcome. This is my new Blog for the Day Middle School Instructional Technology Department. Here is where you will find the lastest and greatest ideas and tools to be used in you classrooms. My plan is to update this blog weekly, but we'll see how it goes! For today, I would like to introduce you to Voki. 

What is Voki?

Voki is an educational tool that allows users to create their very own talking character. Voki characters can be customized to look like historical figures, cartoons, animals, and even yourself! Give your Voki a voice by recording with a microphone, using our dial-in number, or uploading an audio file. Voki characters can be emailed, shared on social media, and embedded on websites!