Classroom Management & Gamification with ClassCraft

So as promised on my Periscope, here is my post about an awesome new classroom management tool - Classcraft.

When you first create an account, you are automatically greeted with a pop-up that allows you to explore, watch video tutorials or read FAQ. I found this extremely helpful as a newbie and was able to navigate very easily after watching only 2 video tutorials.

Now for the meat - Why Classcraft? Not only is it gamification at its finest, but it also promotes collaboration and keeps students accountable to themselves and their teammates. Rewards and "punishments" are completely customizable, although they do provide you with a few examples to begin with. Students must first decide what type of character they want to be (mage, warrior or healer) and then are put into teams that consist of each type of character. I plan to do this on the first day and then use those groups for their seating plan for the first month or two. 

Read more »

Visible Assessment at the SNAP of a finger

Sesame IO - SNAP & Desktop

We are constantly reminded as teachers that learning should be visible. This is really great when applied, especially for experiential learners, but can be difficult when asked to provide examples of assessment to parents and/or administrators. 

Enter - Seasame IO -

Sesame offers teachers the opportunity to implement visible learning principles at the touch of a finger.

Read more »

Planning and Marking with Chalk.com

Yep! It's that time of year again! The time to slowly peel ourselves out of summer caves and re-enter the classroom full of hope and promise for an awesome school year, while still dreading the amounts of planning and marking that will undoubtably ensue.

I'm sure that new teachers and seasoned veterans alike have all thought at one point or another "how can I make planning easier?" followed by the inevitable (and repetitive) attempts at organizing our massive teacher binders. However, with the purchase of an iPad mini over the summer, I swore that this year things would be different! 

Enter - Chalk.com -

Not only does this company provide teachers with a FREE online tool to help them plan their lessons, they also have a multitude of curriculum standards already in their system ready to be connected to your lessons. And to top things all off, they have a FREE iPad app which will allow me to plan wherever I go! 

Read more »