I'm really sorry if this blog post sucks!

Well, it's almost midnight, and I'm at the ER with my husband. I'll try to hit 500 words, but I can't make any promises. Right now, he is having a nice morphine snooze, so I have a few minutes to write my technology blog. Possible bowel obstruction, if you're curious. 

Anyhoo, let's talk technology. It was another night full of amazing and interesting presentations. And, again, I'm feeling so lucky to have this opportunity to learn about these amazing resources. This class is having a very positive impact on my teaching. I have created an Emaze for my presentation on Wednesday and one for my classes over our Puritan related literature. I used the very cool Halloween theme with bats and witches, which is very apropos of Puritan related literature. I mean, those people were really obsessed with the devil!  And  I'm interested in hearing what my students have to say about it. Emaze is very easy to use, but you have to use chrome to make it work smoothly. 

You know what's really cool? Telling your students about technology they haven't heard of!! Do you know how rare that is for me? As an English teacher, I was completely enthralled by Scott Goodrich's Google Add On Essay Reviser! This is the kind of stuff that an English nerd such as myself just completely freaks out about. I was showing some of my students how to use it on Friday. These very awesome young English nerds said to me, "How did I not know about this?" That was a terrific moment for me. I actually beat these savvy kids to the tech! I plan on doing a lesson over Google Docs and the Reviser as we turn a timed writing into a formal essay. It's a beautiful way to make kids look at their work with new eyes...Googly eyes, that is. 

The other tech that really stood out to me was the comic creator. I thought that was so neat, and I can see so many applications that could be used in a variety of learning environments. That could be used with a variety of grade levels and across the curriculum. Kids would be inventing and creating, so they are at the top of Bloom's. The MoMA App was also a really great way to get kids learning about different artists, art movements while creating at the same time. 

I really enjoyed the presentations this week, and I really hope mine isn't a big snooze inducer next week.  I typed this on pages on my phone in an ER. That's pretty great tech. 

Ok, we are off for a CT scan. Good night! I'm really sorry if this blog post sucks!