Tried It Tuesday: Today's Meet

I've been wanting to blog about Today's Meet for a couple of weeks now, so I'm finally getting around to doing it today for Tried It Tuesday with Holly over at Fourth Grade Flipper.

Today's Meet is a "back channel" that allows you to chat in real time.  Here is what the homepage looks like.

You create a room and decide how long you want it to be available.  Your room has a unique URL address for you and your students to use.

Then you give the kids the link and they type in their name and then can start responding to the topic at hand.  

I used Today's meet when I working on a Project Based Learning assignment called Road Trip.  At the end of class I had the kids tell me what they needed to work on and what information they already had.  It was a great way to see where everyone was and what issues I needed to address next class.  Here is part of their responses.  I did have some students type some goofy things and they got their privileges taken away :(  

The kids really loved it and have asked several times since if we can use it again! This would be a great resource for bell work, entry/exit tickets, or feedback on presentations.  I've also used it during my 21st Technology PLC trainings where we share websites with each other. The list is endless!

Tech Tuesday: Scootpad Edition

Ok, so it's already 9:15 and I'm tired, but I really want to share with you all this little web based tool for you classroom.  Welcome to Tech Tuesday: Scootpad Edition.  Maybe I'll work on a button for this, but that's for another day!

Ok, so Scootpad is a great resource for math, reading, and spelling practice. It's free to sign up and they make easy by letting you sign up/in with Facebook or Google.  I used Scootpad at the end of the school year last year as a way to keep my students engaged and working up until the last day.  They really loved it!  Now that I have a class set of laptops, I plan on using it even more this year!

There are 3 levels of membership when you sign up.  The basic level is free and then depending on what "extras" you want, you can enroll in the premium or ultra premium plans. Below is part of the chart that shows you what each plan includes. Click on the picture to take you to the actual pricing guide.

Here are some of the things I like about this resource:

1. This tool is totally Common Core aligned, which just about everyone needs these days!
2. You can set up rewards for the students to work towards by completing assignments and earning coins.  It's a great motivator for kids!
3. You can get email updates with information about what students are logging in, and how they are performing.
4. It customizes the problems to what the students need.

It's super easy to get kids set up with their own user name and password and they love being able to customize their avatar and emoticon.  I've got my students enrolled, and we will be logging in for the first time this week!

Anyone else out there use Scootpad?  How do you use it and what have been your experiences with it?