OpenEd

I came across this website, OpenEd, the other day.  I was curious to see what it was and signed up for a free account at https://www.opened.com/.

OpenEd is the largest K-12 educational resource library, offering over a million assessments, homework assignments, videos, games and lesson plans for every Common Core Math, Language Arts, Literacy and Next Generation Science standard. OpenEd lets you assign quizzes and homework to your students and automatically grades them, recommending videos for whatever they have problems with. The result is truly personalized learning for each student.

 OpenEd also offers a free modern (Common Core, SBAC and PARCC-oriented) assessment tool. After a student takes a formative assessment OpenEd recommends just the right resources for the student to watch or play to gain mastery. OpenEd's also offers free assessments for every Common Core Standard and more. They are the only free and open source assessment item bank in existence. 

There is lots to access with a free account but you can also sign up for a premium account with access to even more resources.  I particularly loved the video lessons.

Check out the Resource Library to see all they have!

From Room to Cart

Before school started I spent some time setting up my corner in a classroom.  I was sharing a room with two other interventionists and we each had a corner, along with the art teacher in the other corner.  I was excited to have a little more space this year, since last year we had less space.  I spent about a week setting it up, and even brought my 5 year old daughter along to help out.

Well, so much for that because at 2:30, before the first day of school started, we were told we were losing our room for a new teacher allocation.  Needless to say, I wasn't happy.  I felt like I wasted the whole week.  We had no where to go, so ended up putting our desks in a classroom and will now have a cart to keep all of our things on and push into a classroom.   So I took down my corner and took a bunch of stuff home.

I don't handle change well, especially on such short notice, so I was pretty upset at first.  It took me a few days to accept it and now I have, though it's not like I have a choice!  :-)  At least I still have a job and we are gaining some new teachers, so it's a good thing.

This will be my third year being an interventionist and I guess I got spoiled with having a room the past two years.  We were able to pick out our cart (below) and I already have ideas of how I'm going to decorate it.

I found the fabric below today and thought it'd be perfect to use.  I'm going to attach it with some Velcro.  I also picked up some hooks and things for organizing.  I will post pictures once I deck it out!

Key & Peele - TeachingCenter

Seesaw

Seesaw

Student-Driven Digital Portfolios 

 Whether you are 1:1 or just have a single device in your class, Seesaw seamlessly organizes your students’ digital and physical work in one place.

 Seesaw empowers students (as young as 5!) to independently create and organize their work in a digital journal, develop their academic voice, and collaborate with classmates.

 Seesaw facilitates parent communication with real-time notifications, giving them a glimpse of their child’s day and an opportunity to support learning at home.

 Getting Started with Seesaw

Seesaw Presentation for Teachers 

General Help and FAQ 

How to Add Links Into Seesaw

Seesaw Student Experience

Head to http://web.seesaw.me/ to get started!

BrightLoop

What is BrightLoop? 
It is an all-in-one app for student progress.

• Web-based
• Access from any web-enabled device (iPads, laptops, tablets)
• iOS and Android
• Mobile App
• Collect Notes
• Photos of Student Work
• Set Goals
• Planning
• •Quick Status from observations
• Multiple Content Areas
• Reading, Writing, Math, Speaking and Listening, Behavior

 BrightLoop brings together formative assessment, lesson planning and parent communication. Track student need via your mobile phone, tablet or computer. We then provide weekly reports helping you track student learning goals, assess how effective your lessons were and update families as needed. From there you can plan lessons for the next week right in BrightLoop.

  I learned about BrightLoop from attending the iPadPalooza conference this summer.  He has some great resources at his website and blog:

http://www.primarytechteaching.com/

Ideas for Using BrightLoop in the Elementary Classroom:

Applications in Elementary Math

Simplify Parent Conferences and Report Cards

Conferring in Writer's Workshop

Using BrightLoop for Reading Workshop

Quick Assessment Benchmarks

Creating a Digital Student Portfolio

Using BrightLoop with The Daily 5

Common Core Aligned: 

• When you signup for your BrightLoop account, the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) are already programed in based off of your selected grade level.
• Easily create notes and goals aligned to various standards.

•  All students are on one screen
• No folders, binders, or notebooks
• Collect information based off multiple content areas
• Add subjects to meet your needs

 Collect Screen - Individuals and Groups on One Screen

• Great for guided reading and small group math
• Click on Group Name to take notes on all students
• After clicking on a student, this screen will up (can set note to standards, a goal, or attach a photo)

 Notes and Goals

• After clicking on "CCSS," you can set notes aligned to standards
• All standards programmed are based off classroom grade

 Image Capture

• Take photos of student work
• Great for showing growth in writing, handwriting, etc.
• Take photos using camera or upload from Camera Roll

 
Family Share

• Share notes, goals, and photos with family members
• Families confirm email and then can be updated on student learning

  

• Great for differentiation
• Status based off visual observations
• See class understanding of standards at a glance
• Can note whether a student needs attention, is on track, or ahead
• Great as an Exit Ticket
•  Student Portfolios
• See all notes, images, and goals
• Timestamped
• Accountability
• Open and close goals

 

Setting Up Classroom

• Go to classroom setting
• Enter first and last name
• Take a photo using camera or upload a picture from the Camera Roll

Additional Resources

brightloopteacher.com 

Learn from other teachers on how they incorporate BrightLoop in to their day!