Pinky's Ed Tech Favorites

biology review

4/2/2019

Well, it’s almost review season. Final exams, EOCs, and more are approaching! We like to help with that.

In 2017, we made a biology GIF review for class discussion. We still think it’s pretty awesome; you can check it out here.

In 2018, we made a video designed for students with some study tips.

But this year, 2019, we’ve really extended ourselves because we will be releasing a MEGA REVIEW VIDEO on Sunday, April 14th! Yes, it’s called Stroll Through the Playlist. While it’s way longer than our regular videos---as our regular videos are never over 10 minutes---it is a great way to refresh your memory of major concepts and vocabulary. It can also be a great indicator of whether you may want to re-watch the full content video for a topic or do some more in-depth studying.

One thing that is especially exciting is that we’re going to try using the YouTube Premiere feature! This means that if you join the video link at the exact time that the video premieres (4/14/2019- Sunday- at 7:30 pm CT), you’ll watch it live with us, and you can participate in the live chat typing window if you’d like.

This graphic has some info about YouTube Premiere:

A few additional things to know:

If you subscribe to our channel and have your notifications on, you’ll be notified of the premiere starting.
Once the premiere starts, it has a 2 minute countdown before the video actually plays. The live-chat typing window will be available beforehand. If you want to participate in the chat typing window, you will have to be sure you are logged into your YouTube account.
On a computer, the live chat will show on the right. On a mobile device, you'll see the "live chat" option underneath the video near the 'share' button.
At 7:30 pm CT, the video will play live. You can’t fast forward in it, because it’s playing live, but you can go backwards or pause it. If you join late, you’ll join where it’s playing live, but you can go back in the video if you want to.
This does NOT involve a webcam at all.
Feel free to provide us feedback or ask a quick question in the live chat typing window while the video is playing! If you have a longer question, you may want to post it as a regular YouTube comment as it will give us more time to respond. The chat window can move fast so we may not be able to get to everything.
The video becomes a normal video after playing live, and the link doesn’t change.
Here's the video link: https://youtu.be/7xeFP0SEDdc

Keep in mind this is our first time to try out the new YouTube Premiere feature. We love trying new things, and we’re sure there may be some unexpected hiccups along the way. But, of course, that’s how we all grow. :)

Hope to see you on April 14th at 7:30 pm central on our Amoeba Sisters YouTube Channel!

Autodraw: Perfect for classroom creators

8/4/2017

On July 24th, we went into panic mode about the possibility of MS Paint being discontinued. Evidently, so did the whole MS Paint community.

See, we have a special love for MS Paint as most of our images at first were made using it! (See our About Us page). Over time, we have used a growth mindset to continue to improve and we use different tools now in trying new projects. Still, Paint---with all its simplicity---is a great tool and also works well for creating in the classroom.

While it turns out now that MS Paint is here to stay, we had been doing some exploring of alternatives that would work well in a classroom setting for creating back when we thought it might disappear. We LOVE AutoDraw, a Google project.

Other than being able to use A.I. technology to guess what someone is drawing (especially helpful for Pinky as you see the suggestions for the bird in the screenshot below), this program also requires NO downloading and works on all device types.

While we never want to focus just on a technology tool as tools come and go (with good pedagogy remaining), you will find that AutoDraw has the potential to be an awesome classroom tool for all kinds of creating. Vocab comics on a virtual word wall? Frames for a GIF? Yes, AutoDraw is fabulous for student classroom creators.

You can learn more about AutoDraw here: https://aiexperiments.withgoogle.com/autodraw

Amoeba Sisters Biology Discussion Topics with GIFs

3/21/2017

Reviewing? We have a resource that uses our GIFs in a powerful way! We think reviews can be great with visuals and questions- and these Google Slides use our Amoeba Sisters GIFs (animations)! Click the GIF below to access our "Biology Discussion Topics with GIFs!" These can make GREAT warm-ups and exit tickets, and they also can be powerful in facilitating discussion.

Instructions on how to use and present it will be found in the second slide. Click the purple button below to access entire slideshow.

Sorry, this GIF review is not set to allow for editing, but you can get the individual GIFs found in this slideshow to use in a different way. Visit our GIF page. Are you looking for a print-out? Scroll down at bottom of this post for a PDF copy.

Click purple GIF button above to access. Due to GIF animations, this is too large as a PowerPoint. However, in Google Slides, you need only click "present" (at top right) to present it just like a slideshow.

Do you need a PDF of the questions that can be printed? You can download it below. (Note: GIFs are not animated in a PDF. See our GIFs page to access individual GIFs.)

Amoeba Sisters Bio Discussion Topics PDF (not animated)
File Size:	5684 kb
File Type:	pdf

Download File

BrainRush: More than Just vocabulary drills

11/8/2015

Have you ever tried BrainRush? We love it! It is a game that teachers or students can create, but it has more than just the standard vocabulary "match the word to the definition" kind of game options. We love that it is adaptive---that is, it adapts to how the student is doing. Every student can reach 100% mastery but it will adjust to help each student reach that mastery. Oh, and of course, it's FREE.

Here is our example of the "bucket category sort" game option (click green "play" button at top so you can preview it):
http://www.brainrush.com/lesson/amoeba-sisters-genotype-vs-phenotype

Here is our example of the "sequences" game option (click "play" button at top so you can preview it): http://www.brainrush.com/lesson/amoeba-sisters-name-that-monohybrid-cross

If you search the public library in BrainRush, you will see an assortment of all types of games (including cards and hot spots) that are already pre-made. Many are excellent for all types of science.

If you set up a class, it even will keep track of how your students are doing on mastery! Yes, we are definitely placing this one in our "formative assessment" category.

EDU GIFS: Day 3- Virtual Word Walls

10/24/2015

We have featured how to create GIFs (both for teachers and students) as well as using GIFs in Google and review games (like Kahoot).

How do you feel about virtual word walls? We know that having students copy down definitions isn't the best practice. What if, instead, we let students create GIF animations for vocabulary? If every student had a different vocabulary word, you could end up with some powerful animations of an entire word wall! Plus, it allows for students to use creativity and demonstrate deep understanding in order to animate a vocab word.

Websites like Padlet or Linoit are perfect for hosting them! Take a look at our example here!

About This Page

This page features some of Pinky's favorite instructional technology websites, apps, online resources, response systems, and other tools. Please always read the terms and privacy policy of any technology tool that you plan to use in the classroom.
Disclosure? If we share a tool or website on this page, it's because we like it and find it useful. We are not endorsed by these tools, and we are not affiliates of the tools on this page. If our disclosure changes, we'll update it here.

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