Tech Thursday: Newsla.com Nonfiction Texts

Technology Thursday is a weekly linky dedicated to all things technology related. Our hope is that this linky provides a place for teachers to share and learn new ways to use technology and engage students!

Be a rule follower!
Rule #1: Include the image above and a link to our blog somewhere in your post.
Rule #2: Be a good blog reader...visit the two blogs who link up before you and leave some love on their pages!
Rule #3: This linky is not intended for product promotion. You may include products you've created in your posts, but they should not be the sole focus of the post.

We've decided to make Technology Thursday even easier to link up with by having a weekly theme! You can see them in the graphic above. This is the first Thursday of the month, so we are sharing some of our favorite websites! All you need to do when you link up is tell us what it is, why you love it, and how you use it in your classroom!

My website for this week is chock full of them!

What it is: Newsela.com

Why I love it: I'm always looking for high-interest non-fiction text for students to read, and Newsela delivers! Newsela articles are all based on current events, and are available at 5 different reading levels. (They use Lexile measures and typically range from the 700s-1200s.) There are lots of free features plus a Pro version that I haven't tried yet!

How I use it: Last year, I used their "Binder" feature to assign articles to my students, but I haven't started that yet this year. So far, I am just letting students choose an article to read and take a quiz on.

We hope you'll link up with a quick What-Why-How on one of your favorite websites!

   

    An InLinkz Link-up
   

Wordless Wednesday! What if you ONLY worked 8 hours?

Let's take time out and do a Wordless Wednesday today!  I am linking up with Miss DeCarbo at Sugar and Spice for her oh-so-fab linky.

What would NOT get done if you only worked an 8 hour day?

Whoa....I am still listing in my head....

The Sunday Scoop {9/28/14}

The Sunday Scoop is based on the popular 3-2-1 graphic organizers so many of us use with our students. Tell us three things you HAVE to do, two things you HOPE to do, and one thing you're HAPPY to do (because these days, we could all use a little motivation to find something to be happy about every week!). It's a short and sweet way to connect with each other every Sunday (or Monday... the linky will stay open all week!)

Here's what to do:
1. Just save the image above, add your text to it (we use PowerPoint), and post! You don't even have to explain yourself any further if you don't want to.
2. Include the button above and a link to our blog on your post.
3. Link our post up here on Sunday morning (or whenever :) )
4. Be a good blog reader, and leave some love for the two posts before yours!

Here's the Scoop on my week...

It's hard to believe it's already time for report cards... and parent conferences! Sure enough, the last day of our first quarter is Wednesday, we have conferences Thursday, and I'll be completing report cards Friday.
My second Morphology Word Study Unit *will* be done this week! I'm down to just the assessments now, but that's definitely the hardest part!

It's going to be a long and busy week, but at the end of it, we head into what I hope will be a restful and productive Fall Break! What's on your to-do list this week? Link up your Sunday Scoop below!

   

    An InLinkz Link-up
   

Tech Thursday: Keyboard Shortcuts You Should Know

Technology Thursday is a weekly linky dedicated to all things technology related. Share reviews of websites or apps you've tried, tech tips that make your {teaching or personal} life easier, and helpful tutorials. Our hope is that this linky provides a place for teachers to share and learn new ways to use technology and engage students!

Be a rule follower!
Rule #1: Include the image above and a link to our blog somewhere in your post.
Rule #2: Be a good blog reader...visit the two blogs who link up before you and leave some love on their pages!
Rule #3: This linky is not intended for product promotion. You may include products you've created in your posts, but they should not be the sole focus of the post.

Most of us are familiar with the basic keyboard shortcuts, like "ctrl+c" for copy, "ctrl+x" for cut, and "ctrl+v" for paste, but there are some less familiar shortcuts you should know! A couple of these have saved me major headaches when I accidentally deleted content or closed a window before I meant to...

CTRL+Z - This one's pretty familiar, and it's saved me a few  hundred times...it's the Undo command! But did you know you can use it almost anywhere?! Try it! I've used it in web browsers, all Office products, and many other applications.

Source: http://www.keepcalm-o-matic.co.uk/p/keep-calm-and-ctrl-z-5/

Windows Key +D - This one shows the desktop with just a couple of keystrokes! Great for when you have your grade book software up and don't want students to see it or when those annoying ads on your YouTube videos are less appropriate than they should be! (Actually, there's a better fix for that, but we'll save it for another week!) When you want all of your windows back up, just press windows+D again.

CTRL+T - Opens a new tab in most web browsers

CTRL+SHIFT+T - Reopens the last tab you closed!!! (Hallelujah!)

CTRL+F - Opens the "find" function in almost every program. Quick tip for internet windows: if you're looking for something within a text box, you'll need to click inside it and then press CTRL+F in order to search inside the box.

CTRL+S - Save

F11 - in a web browser (& probably other places), this removes all of the extras (like toolbars) and makes your window FULL-full screen. In Excel, if you highlight a set of data and press F11, you get an instant graph!

PrtSc or PrintScreen - Copies the entire desktop. You can then paste it into Paint, PowerPoint, Word, etc. and save the images. This is especially useful for troubleshooting if you're getting an error message! You'll have to test this one out... on some computers, you have to press CTRL or the Windows Key along with the Print Screen button.

ALT+PrtSc - Copies only the currently selected window, rather than the entire desktop. Awesome tool for creating tutorials without having to resize every screenshot!

Last but not least, one I've been using the entire time I have typed this... text formatting shortcuts:
CTRL+B - Bold
CTRL+I - Italics
CTRL+U - Underline

Think you might have trouble remembering all of these great shortcuts? Check out the linky and head over to Juliet's blog, Tech Crazy Teacher for her super easy trick to help you learn them! Come back, and link up your own quick & easy tech tips!

   

    An InLinkz Link-up

   

Sunday Scoop: 9/21/14

The Sunday Scoop is based on the popular 3-2-1 graphic organizers so many of us use with our students. Tell us three things you HAVE to do, two things you HOPE to do, and one thing you're HAPPY to do (because these days, we could all use a little motivation to find something to be happy about every week!). It's a short and sweet way to connect with each other every Sunday (or Monday... the linky will stay open all week!)

Here's what to do:
1. Just save the image above, add your text to it (we use PowerPoint), and post! You don't even have to explain yourself any further if you don't want to.
2. Include the button above and a link to our  blog on your post.
3. Link our post up here on Sunday morning (or whenever :) )
4. Be a good blog reader, and leave some love for the two posts before yours!

Here's the Scoop on my week...

An InLinkz Link-up