Dotstorming....Padlet on Steirods

If you have not used Padlet - www.padlet.com, learn how to use it.  Docstorming is Padlet on roids.  First things first.  Padlet has alot of awesome features for collaborating with students, teachers, and other adults...but it is really just a message board.  If you want to have students not only work together, but also have student input and collaboration.

Before I give you the website, understand that dotstorming.com is not connected with Google, so you will need to create an account and choose a password that works for you.

So, go to www.dotstorming.com

Create your account, and then make a board.

Title, Description, and the all important how many votes.

To test it out, I decided to do a primary source activity in connection to the American Revoution.  So, we were talking about Valley Forge, so Valley Forge became our example.  The students had to vote on three paintings talking about the winter in Valley Forge.  There were three pictures, but they had two votes.  

• Once you vote, you can't vote again. (you set the amount of possible votes when you create it.)

To be able to vote, they have to join the board.  This can be done a couple of ways.  The way that I did it was to embed the link in my schoology materials.  Then the student will need to put their "name" in the baord before they could vote.  As you can see from the above image, one picture got the most votes.  

• The tools allow you to sort by votes and participants can also chat about their decisions in the "chat forum". 
•  I let the kids play with the chat, but would limit or not allow the students to use this if you want.

Free and easy to use, Dostorming is an awesome tool to have students and teachers create, brainstorm, discuss, and vote.

Please try it!

If you have anything you want to share, just fill out the form below.

Awesome way to sync your planbook to your google calendar. EduSync.

What I am going to help pilot in a couple of weeks.
Might be a great way to help students keep on track. ( we will see)

Sometimes I find the most amazing technology online when I am looking for something else.  Today's post is a perfect example of this.  Through some sort of Twitter exchange earlier this week, I was introduced to EduSync.  Somehow I got connected to a developer there who agreed to let me help (with many others) a student pilot of a google app planner.  While I was looking around on the website, I found an AWESOME teacher planner that connects to your Google Calendar, and also to Google Classroom (if that every becomes a reality for us at USD 373).

Here is the website:  www.edusync.com
Sign up with your google sign in.  It will prompt you to create a course, add your term, and also how you want it to sync to you calendar.

Add your assignment, type of activity, and attach any files you want to include.

It will then sync with your calendar and create the event along with all of your other information.

Look at Monday - October 5 - Events come up Blue or whatever color you choose for the course.

Click on the event, and here is what comes up!

Don't know if it will be something that I will use everyday, but it has great potential.  The fact that it works with google also makes it a great option.

Let me know what you think!

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