Ipevo sent me this camera some time ago for a review. I took my time with it, playing with it, using it in several different ways. If you are looking for a great way to create content for distance learning or digital learning, this is a great option for you! Read on to find out more….

This camera has been used both in my classroom and in my ham radio shack. I use it in both places in similar ways, and have been impressed with its abilities.

I find that in classrooms today, the need for a traditional “document camera” is diminishing. We are at a point where we can digitally send students a document, the need to project from a book sitting on a desk is rapidly disappearing. Now, that is not at all to say the need for this type of tool is going away. In fact, this camera fits perfectly in classrooms where creating and making are a major part of learning (as it should be).

I use this camera to demonstrate various techniques, such as soldering. There is no need to have students gather around you and try to peer over each others shoulders to see what you are doing. Instead, project it on a screen… and record it at the same time. That way, students can refer back to the video.

I use this camera as a mainstay on my YouTube channel. You can find my channel HERE. My channel focuses predominantly on ham radio, and I teach some ham radio basics. IN it, I often demonstrate various things. This camera provides a great overhead view of my workspace, with great clarity. The camera is an 8MP camera, so detail is not an issue. It takes very little desk space, in fact, the base itself is about the size of a large coffee cup. The stand is tall enough, and the arm and camera head articulate in a way that you can get the perfect shot every time. The base is weighted well, so tipping has never been an issue.

The camera has USB and HDMI connections, so compatibility is not an issue. Additionally, it has its own WIFI, so you can connect to projectors and devices without the need for wires at all. In fact, you don’t even need a computer to connect this to a projector. Just plug and play.

The camera has zoom buttons on the front of the stand, eliminating the need for software to perform the zoom function. I have found the zoom function to be wonderful, with little to no loss of detail in the zoomed image, as you can see below.

I have used many document/overhead cameras in my day, Ipevo and other brands. I must say, that this camera is far and away the best I have had the opportunity to use. Ipevo has really stepped up their game and created a high end camera that is perfect for a multitude of uses. I currently use it as a camera for my YouTube channel via USB connection to my laptop. It works well with OBS Studio software, so I can easily switch views. No matter how you intend to use it, this camera is sure to be a great choice.

The world of STEM education is constantly evolving. Teachers are being tasked with keeping up with the changes, and leading students through lessons in STEM classes. The problem is that often, resources and training are out of reach. Well, that doesn’t have to be the case. The ARRL Teacher Institute on Wireless Technology is here to help!

The Amateur Radio Relay League offers STEM training for teachers. The training is focused on Amateur Radio (ham radio), but you do not have to be a ham radio operator to get in on the training. The training is offered every summer at a couple of locations. Attendees can apply to attend training in either Dayton, OH or Newington, CT. Now, before you do like I did and say, “Whoa, that’s gonna cost a bit!” hold tight. The ARRL reimburses the cost for the Teacher Institute. Yeah, that loosely translates to “free training.” This is made possible through donations from amateur radio operators and equipment vendors. You can read more about that on the page linked HERE.

The Teacher Institute is a week long training. For teachers who are new to the institute, you would need to apply for TI-1. The content is designed to be delivered to students in grades 4-12. Here is what you can expect to learn and do during that week as written in the ARRL brochure.

The Teachers Institute is a 5 day professional development workshop filled with discussions and idea sharing. hands-on activities and demonstrations, building, programming, robotics, and exploration in Amateur Radio. Teachers are offered tools and strategies to introduce basic electronics, radio science, satellite communication, Amateur Radio, microcontrollers, and basic robotics to their students. Participants are provided with materials such as an ARRL resource library, basic electronics, test equipment, and robotics kits.

For those who are unfamiliar with what exactly Amateur Radio is, head over to the ARRL webpage and explore some of the great things Ham Radio operators are doing. Amateur Radio is the perfect hobby for people who like to experiment and create. It’s the perfect thing for makers. Not only do amateur radio operators talk to people around the world, they are constantly tweaking and building new gear, doing experiments at the edge of space or in the middle of oceans, and so much more.

Now, some of you may be thinking that it all sounds good, but what about when you get back to your classroom and have questions. You see, we have you covered there as well. Most places have a ham radio club. To find a club near you, click here. Ham radio operators are generally very helpful, and are always looking for ways to help bring new people into the hobby. All it takes is contacting the club and asking for help.

Amateur Radio not only gives teachers something to use to teach STEM to kids… it opens up a lifetime of learning for everyone. I’ve been a licensed ham radio operator since the mid 1990s. There is always something new coming out that ham radio operators are experimenting with.

Folks always say those little cliche phrases like, “Teachers inspire lifelong learners,” and stuff. Well, with this ARRL program, you really can help create lifelong learners.

So, head over to www.arrl.org/ti and check it out. Applications for the 2020 summer institutes will be out sometime in January. The schedule for the summer TI-1 sessions are July 13-17 in Dayton and July 20-24 in Newington. I hope to see you there! Check out brochure and flyer below, and be sure to spread the word!

Summer is here…. and with it, I am teaching a few summer STEM camps for the University of Mississippi. Some of the camps have more of a maker focus, which makes for some fun projects.  One of the projects my campers were working on was a Rube Goldberg machine.

Now, for those who are not familiar with these machines… go ahead and Google it. See… you’ve seen these before in the movies.  The nice thing about these machines is that students can attempt to create any machine they can come up with. Kids love getting to actually build stuff, using hot glue and duct tape is always a bonus.

One of the initial challenges during this camp was the fact that so many students have been “spoon fed” everything for so long, they had little experience in actually having to struggle to make something work. The look on their faces when they asked why something didn’t work and I answered with, “That’s a great question… why didn’t it work?” was priceless.

To help the students learn a little more about how to engineer these machines, and how some tools could be used, I did a little Google Fu, and found the website www.engineering.com/GamesPuzzles/DynamicSystems.aspx  This link takes you to this fantastic little site.

This is a great tool for students to experiment with various challenges to make a ball makes it’s way to a cup.  If that weren’t enough, they can go on to create their own challenges.  I admit, it is kind of addicting…

Go ahead, you know you want to… click it and play… Have another tool you use? Comment below, I’d love to know what others are using.

In my computer science classroom, I want kids to be able to own a bit of their learning. That means finding a variety of tools that students can use to get into coding, or whatever it is tech-wise that they want to explore. One of the tools I have recently acquired is the CoDrone Pro. Every Friday I have what I call Flexible Friday, where kids can work on a variety of projects to take control of their learning. I got two of them for the classroom. Let’s crack open the box and see what we’ve got.

First off… I got the CoDrone Pro models. These come with an Arduino based remote control that can be programmed so the drone follows the code as it is written. There is a different version, the Lite, which pairs with a phone or tablet via bluetooth, it allows text based coding in Python. I opted for the Pro because I wanted to have kids code in the Arduino IDE as well as Python. Both versions can be coded with Snap, making this great for younger aspiring programmers as well.

An added bonus, at least for me, was the remote controls came in kit form. Everything had to be assembled, and it was an amazing experience watching a few of my kids work through putting these together. It was a great learning experience for them, and they learned to pay attention to every detail. The direction plugs face makes a difference.

Now, once assembled, one drone paired right up to the remote. The other did not. The drone itself would pair up to a phone or the other remote, but no matter how many times I tried, one of the remotes would not pair to a drone. I sent an email off to Robolink asking for assistance, and did some Google Fu. Turns out, there isn’t a lot of info out there about these guys, except for the Robolink website. They have some good tutorials on there, but my issue was not addressed…. so I figured I would tinker a bit. Having played around with Arduino a bit, I knew that sometimes boards have programming that doesn’t ‘stick’. I figured I would try to just reprogram the board and see if it would take a program.

The Robolink website has a good tutorial on how to get the CoDrone libraries and everything set up in the Arduino IDE. Head over there and look through their Base Camp to get that rolling. After getting everything set up in the IDE, I simply loaded the flight controller program from the example code to the drone. It took the code and everything appeared to be fine. I disconnected, reset the dip switches, and I was ready to go. I cycled the power on the remote and slid a battery into the drone, and it paired right up. Problem solved. Now, one difference. My remote now makes noises when it pairs up, whereas the other one does not. No worries.. it sounds cool.

Now, the goal here was to get the drone flying with the remote so the kids could get a feel for the drone. I flew it for a few minutes, then turned it over to a kid. We tested the drone’s hovering. It seemed pretty stable. It did float up and down a bit, but a quick calibration took care of it. You calibrate the drone by pressing the button on the side for a few seconds until the lights flash. Again, a good tutorial is on the Robolink Base Camp site.

Now, I’ve gotta say, this little guy is pretty durable. It’s really light weight, so if someone opens a door and wind comes through, it will mess with your drone, but so far, the crashes have all been no big deal. It came with a little landing piece, but it didn’t really stay on, so it went to the wayside.

Next up was a test to see how long the drone would actually fly. The claim is 8 minutes. Now, I assume that means in perfect conditions etc. I did two indoor tests, both in my classroom during lunch. The times were 5:34 and 5:46. Neither was what I would consider close to the 8 minute mark… but I flew it with the guards on the propellers, so that adds weight. Also, there as significant airflow from the HVAC unit, so it was maneuvering pretty much the whole time. When the battery went, the drone simply landed. The first flight, I was able to take off again, but it landed within seconds. The second test, when it landed, that was it… it would not even start the propellers.

Next, I took the propeller guards off and ran one final test. This time was better. The drone landed at just over seven minutes. It was able to take back off again several times, but never for a sustained flight. So, taking the guards off picked up a bit over a minute of flight time. One thing I really like about this drone is that the guards are easy to take off. All you do is place the drone on a flat surface and gently push down the guards. They come off two propellers at a time with no tools required.

Overall, this appears to be a solid little drone. Like I said, it is a project. It carries a $180 price tag for the Pro version, so if all you are after is a flyable toy, there are cheaper options that are easier to fly. If your goal is to actually learn something while flying, this may well be the drone for you. There is a distinct learning curve, and the user may need to make some adjustments to make things just right… but that is part of the maker mindset, constantly tweaking things. The Robolink team does a great job of having learning resources available on their website as well. If you have not checked those out, make sure you do. Reading through some of their documentation and watching the videos may help you make an informed decision.

I am in my second year teaching CS Discoveries on the Code.org platform. I teach the same course to students ranging from 6th grade to 8th grade. For those of you who are using the curriculum, you probably know where I am heading here. Welcome to Unit 3.

Unit 3 Lesson 10. Booleans. On the face of it, easy stuff. Then you start trying to convey the meaning of what exactly booleans and conditional statements are to your students, and their brains start to melt. Why, oh why you ask. Much of the issue is not you, my friends. It is the way students were taught leading up to your course.

Think back to the first time you were given a True/False test. Personally, I hate them, but to each their own. Students were told that they had to answer 20 “true/false questions”. You see the problem there? Kids are taught early on that true/false statements are actually questions. You really can’t have a true false question… Think about it. This way of thinking causes students to want to actually put questions in the place of conditional statements.

Is your favorite color blue? TRUE or FALSE.

How do you answer that? You don’t. To make it correct it would have to be reworded into a statement, presented as fact to derive either a response of TRUE or FALSE. So, instead…

Your favorite color is blue. TRUE or FALSE.

This one works. We can use it as a conditional statement that resolves to either be true or false. This can go in the highlighted part of the If/Else block from Code.org shown below.

You see, students who don’t understand the fundamentals of what a conditional actually is will continue to struggle. I have had students try to put all sorts of interesting stuff in there. This year, I took that extra time to ensure that they really understood what TRUE/FALSE actually means, and how valid TRUE/FALSE statements should be worded. The result is that far fewer students are confused about what actually constitutes a conditional statement.

Take that extra time and make sure that students know it MUST be a statement that can resolve to one of those two possible responses. There will be students who still try to do weird stuff with that block. For example:

When students do this, DO NOT GIVE THEM THE ANSWER! Instead, take them back to what TRUE/FALSE and conditionals actually are. Ask them to explain how raceCar.x is a conditional. This is a fundamental part of what they need to be successful in computer science. They have to get this early on, or they will continue to struggle with the concept for a long time.

Yes, that means you will have to take a little extra time to ask them questions and wait for them to come up with the answers. When they don’t, you have to take the time to back the truck up a little and ask it a bit differently. Guide them to the answer by making them answer questions and explain their thinking. While it is more time consuming up front, it saves you time in the long run, and it is much better for the student. He/she learns that when they don’t understand something, they should question their thinking and the steps they have taken. That is a skill they will need for the rest of their lives.

I keep a spoon in my room. When kids ask for answers, I hold it up and explain to them I use my spoon to eat peanut butter, not to spoon feed people answers. It’s a humorous way to remind them they need to go back and ask themselves “What went wrong?”

Virtual Reality. It’s here… you may not have noticed, but it has officially arrived in force. It has great entertainment value. The question, however, is what is the value of VR in the classroom setting?

I am getting old. I’ve been around since the days when getting a new computer meant going to Radio Shack and getting a TRS-80 computer. I learned to program in Basic at a relatively young age. I remember waiting seemingly hours for a simple game, Dungeons of Daggorath, to load on the tape drive. I’ve seen tech change a bit in my lifetime. And now, it has officially gotten to a whole new level. I remember seeing the first movie that really featured virtual reality in the theater…. Lawnmower Man. Things have changed since then… scenes like Ready Player One don’t seem so far fetched once you get a taste of the good stuff.

The days of playing games and taking in content in 2d are officially becoming a thing of the past. Google Cardboard has been around for a while, and you can take virtual field trips with very little money spent. If all you want to do is view content with very little interaction, this is a low cost way to get in the VR game.

I wanted something more. I wanted something where my students could interact with content. Something where they could really explore. Additionally, I wanted something that would really expose them to the power of what virtual reality has to offer. I wanted them to see that there is a future in creating technology and content that they have never really dreamed of. At the same time, I have a budget… and it is a rather small one at that.

I did some looking around. I could get an HTC Vive for a decent price… the issue was the computer to run it. I didn’t have one, and I certainly didn’t have the budget to build one… so systems like the Vive and the Oculus Rift were out.

The next option was the standalone VR headset. Oculus makes one, the Oculus Go. I wanted something that you didn’t have to stick a phone in and deal with cardboard on your face. I wanted something that looked and felt ‘high tech’. Keep in mind, part of my goal here was to make the kids want to learn more about what makes it tick, and what they could do with it. After looking at several different options, I went with the Oculus Go. It cost $250, but that was for the 64gb model. You can grab the 32gb model for $200. I figured fifty bucks to double my storage was worthwhile.

I will tell you this… I have not been disappointed.

Now… I teach computer science. While the device itself is certainly high tech, there are not a ton of computer science lessons or anything just floating around out there to use. Instead, I use my headset in a different way. I use it to expose kids to new things, to support learning in other classes, and more.

There is a lot of free content available on the Oculus store. You can grab the Epic Roller Coasters app and instantly have kids in awe of just how great this technology is. I went ahead and spent a few bucks and downloaded the Apollo 11 mission. I found that, unfortunately, our students know very little about the Apollo missions, or anything about space travel in general. I find this to be a bit sad, as there is a huge future in that industry. Using the Oculus Go, my students are getting to experience the Apollo 11 mission like there were there. They see Kennedy speak. They experience bits of space flight, they actually see the earth from orbit. They get a bit of history and a lot of desire to learn more.

There are tons of apps in the Oculus store that can be used for education. Some are free, some are not. You can let your students walk among the dinosaurs, explore human anatomy, and see the wonders of the world. Maybe you are an English teacher, reading The Diary of Anne Frank, you can actually allow your students to explore the Anne Frank house in VR… and it is free. Talk about a way to really let your students relate to the content.

Yes, I know some of you are saying you can do that by projecting an image onto the board where you can click and drag to look around. You are correct… you can do that. I will tell you, the experiences are completely different. With VR, you actually feel like you are there… you understand just how cramped people were in the rocket on the way to the moon. You can wander the house, turning and looking. You see everything as if you were actually in the room. It is impressive, to say the least.

The content is out there… with more coming all the time. The Oculus store has a section where you can see all the content they consider to be educational experiences. You can find that section HERE.

The best things about getting VR in my classroom is the fact that it ignites a spark in kids. Kids have a way with coming up with the craziest sounding ideas for content, their imagination doesn’t know limits… they just see what they would like to be able to do with something. Once they get that idea, they never let go. After exposing kids to VR, be sure to ask them how they think it can be used in the future… both, in the classroom, and out there in the ‘real world’, I think you will be pleasantly surprised.

The fact of the matter is that virtual reality is here to stay, and will only get better. It is going to be, and very much should be, a part of education. Students will be able to consume content in ways we never thought of. Rather than just seeing the content, they will truly experience it. So, if you are on the fence about grabbing a higher end VR unit… jump off the fence and get one. If you’re in my area, swing by, I’ll let you take mine for a test drive.

It’s the most wonderful time… of the year…. (ok, so my tune may be off a bit).  The holidays are here. Parents are scrambling to come up with gifts for their kids. So, what do you get them that will keep them interested, having fun, and… get this… learning at the same time? 

Fear not… Your choices are many. The trick here is to get something that kids actually want. Yeah, I know, as parents we think we know best. But… if the kids don’t like what you get, odds are they aren’t learning much from it.

So… now… the list.

Sphero/Ollie:

Note… I lumped these two together because they are from the same company and share some similarities. They also share some significant differences. Sphero is very ‘codable’. I use them in my classroom, and they are great. Kids are constantly begging to get to ‘code the Sphero’. They build obstacle courses and have to code Sphero to navigate it. There is also just a plain old fun way to drive it. You need a mobile device to use this one, so be aware. Sphero is waterproof and it floats… #bonus. 

Ollie is much more suited for stunts. He’s fast. He does tricks. He is also cheaper. #bonus.  

Either way… these are great high interest gifts for kids. Check them out at www.sphero.com.  Of course, they are on Amazon as well, so you can take care of that two day Prime shipping.

Next up is the Ozobot.  This one looks a bit like Sphero, but he doesn’t actually roll. Instead, this little bot has wheels. This one is great for younger kids. You can code it by simply drawing colored lines and the bot follows them. As your child gets more into it, they can code it using OzoBlockly.  You’re looking at an entry level price of about $59 for the Ozobot Bit. Grab one at www.ozobot.com

Next up is Snap Circuits. Remember way back ‘in the day’ when we got those cool little electricity kits. They came with a bunch of components, wires, and a board with springs that you put the wires in to make projects? Well, this is a modern version of that.  These come with a huge variety of components, depending on the kit you pick up. I’ve used these in classrooms with kids as young as seven years old… and I have them in my current classroom with junior high kids. They all love them. Kids learn basics of electricity, and have a huge assortment of projects to build that actually do something. You can get these guys at www.elenco.com

Next up… the Robot Smart Car from Elegoo. I have several of these in my classroom. Not only do the kids get to actually build the car from individual components, they get to program it when they are done. It is an Arduino based car, so they will get to learn how to program in the Arduino IDE. No worries if your child isn’t quite there yet. Elegoo includes some code libraries with good instructions on how to upload them to the car. They also have an app to bluetooth it to a smart device (iOS and Android). This little car is much faster than I expected. Kids simply LOVE this project, and the fact that they love it after they are done building it is even better. Grab one of these on Amazon or at the Elegoo website. 

Ok, another one from Elegoo. Yeah, I simply love this company! They have great stuff at a great price. Their customer service is top notch. These are for older kids who like to experiment.  The image above is their Arduino Super Starter Kit. This goes for around $43. Sometimes you can grab it on sale. Check Amazon, or order from their site. I do suggest that you take a look at the Elegoo website, there are a ton of options. I do suggest that you stick with a kit that includes the UNO board. They have kits that have MEGA boards, and they are great as well… however, most of the beginner projects use UNO boards. For folks who are just getting into Arduino, there are a ton of resources on the web for projects to build. There are also some great books you can get. I have the books in my classroom by Mark Geddes, shown below. They have easy to follow instructions and are very well written.

Ok, the last one is the Comgrow Creality Ender 3 3d Printer. This one is a bit on the expensive side, but it is cheap for a 3d printer. You can get one for a bit over $200. You will need to get filament as well, so expect another $25 or so for each roll of that. This one comes as a kit to be assembled. Read that as “older kid or parental assembly required.”  I have one of these in my classroom, and assembled it. It can be done in a couple of hours. The directions are decent, there are some great YouTube videos to follow that do a better job.  Pair this up with the free website, tinkercad.com, and you have a good start on 3d printing. I have a review written for it HERE. Shop around on Amazon for this one. There are TONS of them at varied prices. They are pretty much all the same. 

That ought to get you going. Now, don’t wait until the last minute to pick them up, as no one wants to find out the gift will arrive after that special day.

All images property of their respective companies. 

Nearpod is a great tool. Many teachers say the one detractor to it being perfect is the fact that you are tied to your desk while running a live session. Well, I hate to break it to you, but that just isn’t true! There is a way to run Nearpod from your phone/tablet.

So, the big question is… HOW?  Well, it’s not nearly as complicated as you may think. All you need to do is download the Nearpod app from your app store. Install the app, and log in. There is an app for iOS and Android. The Android app, as of the time of this post, is new, so make sure you share feedback with the Nearpod team about issues you may have. I will say that it is a bit easier to do this with a tablet, but that may just be because I am old and need a larger image. 

Next, launch the lesson FROM YOUR MOBILE DEVICE.  That is the key here. You want to launch it from the device so that you can manage it as you walk. Then, you can join the session on whatever computer is projecting the screen. This will show the student view of the session, while you have the teacher view on your mobile device. 

After launching the live session, share the code with your participants, and log in yourself on the computer that is projecting.

There are some distinct advantages to doing it this way. You no longer have to worry about accidentally projecting student names/scores, you can wander the room engaging with students, and you don’t have to worry about them seeing the answers to questions up front. 

As you swipe through the lesson and use the various features that make Nearpod the great tool that it is, you are free to monitor students. 

You’ve all heard it. Teachers who have taught the same stuff, from the same lesson plans, in the same file cabinet forever. They usually say something along the lines of, “This worked for me when I was in school, so it will work for my students too.” Meanwhile, some of us are saying… “Wow… just wow.”

Now, before you go getting all worked up and tweeting at me with lovely messages, hear me out. I get it. Some things are just great pieces of literature. They deserve to be read. Social studies teachers love, as they should, their primary source documents. I completely get the fact that there is a good bit of quality stuff that is old.

My issue, however, is the fact that some teachers ONLY teach the old stuff. It is bad enough that so many are deathly afraid of touching technology. Heaven forbid you ask them to use technology to get current texts for their students to read and discuss…. but that is what must happen.

Kids don’t deserve to be forced to sit and endure life of a hundred years ago all day. We don’t live in a time capsule, so they shouldn’t either. If you want to keep kids engaged, hit them with some current events that are… wait for it… actually current. Read them, discuss them, debate them… enjoy them.

Now, here comes the hard part. Where do you get these wonderful resources? That my friend, is where life gets good. There are tons of great resources out there to freshen up your content. Let’s take a look at a few of them.

First and foremost: Newsela. Newsela is by far the favorite in my toolbox. You get a constant feed of articles to read in a huge variety of subject areas. Science, Social Studies, Technology, etc… it’s all there, and it’s got it all. There are some other great features about Newsela as well. You even get a free 30 trial of the PRO features. To check out some of those, see my other posts about it. HERE

Science folks… want even more science? Check out this little gem, Science News for Students.  This one has a great collection of student friendly articles that are current. It doesn’t have the flexible reading levels of Newsela, but it does give you a readability level for each article. You can sort by topic as well.

For the ELA world. Let’s be real. Classic literature reigns supreme when it comes to text complexity. It is enduring, and has stood the test of time. So, if you want to freshen up the content, but don’t want to give up the great classics, what do you do? This one isn’t nearly as difficult as you may think. You pair things up. Paired readings are the way to go. You can find modern non-fiction articles that relate to some of the more classical titles. This takes a little more work on the teacher’s part, but it is well worth it. Are you reading Night by Elie Weisel? There is a ton of quality non-fiction material to pair with. Keep in mind, it is your responsibility to check for appropriateness for your audience. An example of this would be the recent shooting at a synagogue in Pittsburgh, PA. Certainly not something suitable for all audiences, but can be a powerful discussion.

Another example for pairing up great literature would be A Night to Remember, by Walter Lord. Pair this one up with a modern salvage operation of an old ship. This provides a great opportunity to discuss how technology has changed as well.

So, now you ask, where do you get some of these classic pieces? There are a couple of options here, such as Gutenberg.org or commonlit.org. Both of these are great resources to get quality literature… for free. Commonlit even has some great tools to assign literature to students and get some great data out of it.  You can read more about those great tools HERE and HERE.

One last little tidbit to toss out. In case you have not noticed, YouTube is the rabbit hole everyone falls down every now and again. There are some great tools on YouTube such as Minute Book Reports (kid friendly) and Thug Notes (NOT kid friendly). Both of these are great opportunities for to learn about literature. Just be careful, like I said, Thug Notes has plenty of profanity. You can also have kids create something similar as an assignment… well, maybe not the Thug Notes one.

The key here is to keep things evolving as you plan your lessons. Freshen up the lessons, add those things kids really want to know more about. Keep it fresh, and the kids will love you for it.

Nearpod has been around for a while. I’ve used it for quite some time. If you are looking at ways to transform the way your students learn, Nearpod is a must have tool for your classroom.

I don’t remember the first time I used Nearpod… perhaps somewhere around 2013? Early 2014? Either way, when I first signed up, I used it. Note, I said used. I did not master it… and I certainly didn’t take full advantage of it. Looking back, I recognize the missed opportunities. I see and correspond with teachers all the time who ‘use’ Nearpod. What they need to do is more than simply use it, they need to leverage the tools Nearpod has to maximize student learning.

The tools we have access to today on Nearpod are amazing. Those boring old sit and get slide shows can become a thing of the past. Think about how many times you have presented something via slides and wondered if your students were actually ‘getting it’. Well, we can fix that. The best part? You don’t have to recreate the wheel. You can dump your pre-made presentations into Nearpod and customize them. 

First things first, head to www.nearpod.com and sign up, if you haven’t already.

When you sign in, click the MY NEARPOD button. It looks like this:

Next, click the CREATE YOUR OWN LESSON TILE, shown below.

After that, you are going to get a screen where you can go in a couple of different directions. You can create a lesson from scratch, or upload a presentation made using other tools.  You can just drag and drop your presentation in, and Nearpod will accept it.

If you would like to send a file from the cloud, just click the UPLOAD FILES button, and you get the following screen.

When you file is uploaded, Nearpod needs a few minutes to process it. This time can vary depending on the size of the presentation. You will get this message in the bottom right corner.

When it is done chewing on it, you will see your slides laid out for you. There is one thing you need to know. When you upload your slides, it converts each slide to an image. You will not be able to directly edit the slide like you were able to in PowerPoint, Google Slides, or whatever program you used. 

Next you want to start integrating some of the amazing tools Nearpod has to offer. Doing this is simple. Click the ADD SLIDE tile, then the ADD ACTIVITY tile. This gets you the following screens, where you can select the type of activity you wish to use. The titles of each activity are pretty self explanatory. Click the one you wish to use, and it will create the activity slide for you.

Once you have customized the activity, you can find the slide at the end of the slide show. Simply drag it to the desired location. I used the DRAW IT activity in the following example. Kids of all ages LOVE this one. You can use it to have them draw something, or you can set a background image and have them circle items, etc. Whatever you can imagine, they can do. When you are done adding activities, click the blue SAVE AND EXIT button. This takes you out to your Nearpod library.

Using these tools gets you real data. Data you can see as your students are working through the lesson and you are teaching. You can tailor instruction, reteach if needed, and respond to trends on the fly. This is where Nearpod is a game changer. This is how you transform the way your students learn.

Now…. you have created these amazing Nearpod lessons, how do you get them to your students? That part is easy. You can have lessons set to be self paced, or teacher led. I use both, depending on the activity and objective. To do this simply hover over the lesson you wish to assign and select how you want to assign it.

You will then see a code to share with your audience, so they can go to Nearpod.com and put the code in. Or, you can share it using the options it gives you below the code. Nearpod integrates perfectly with Google Classroom, so that is how I assign the lessons. This way the students simply click the link and they are automatically in the lesson. 

However you choose to get your students into your lesson, the most important part is to actually do it. For many of you, Nearpod may be a new tool. Something you are not familiar with. You are going to be worried it doesn’t work like planned, or you won’t know how to do something. Take the role of “lead learner” and just flat out tell your kids you are all trying something new today. This shows that you still learn new things as well… a valuable lesson.

One last little tip. Don’t create everything. There are TONS of resources already out there you can use. Some are free, some are not. I am fortunate, our district believes in the power of Nearpod, as do I. We have a district license where pretty much everything in the Nearpod library is free for us to access. Explore and find what you are after. I will show you how, in an upcoming post. Until then… Happy Nearpodding.