BEST of #FETC17

I've lost count of how many times I've attended FETC.  All I know is that it's already on my calendar for next year (January 23-26, 2018 in case you wanted to know).    Since I started my teaching career in Orlando, Florida, this conference was a easy choice.  Since then, they have changed the name and focus to fit the global attendance it had anyway.  I come back with so many ideas & resources, I have to take some time to process and pick the ones to focus on for the rest of the school year.  This post is to help me process and share these amazing resources! 

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This Can't Be Real ?! 

Obviously, I love technology!  These two things made me second guess what I was watching as principals Greg Bagby @gregbagby and Michael Meechin @mikemeechin shared the videos.  Seriously... StarTrek kind of stuff! 

Tilt Brush by Google

If I was an art teacher, I would have already started a Donors Choose project started for at least one of these.  I haven't had the chance to try it yet, but it's on my list of things to do!

Rocketbook Notebook

I was excited when I saw what this notebook could do, but then I saw how you can microwave it to erase the ink and reuse it.  Really...that can't be real! My notebook has been ordered, I'll let you know how it is!

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Top 10 Favorite Educational Websites to Try! 

Ready-to-Teach, Interactive Lessons for All K-12 Grades and Subjects.  These lessons leverage research-based instructional best practices created by expert educators and educational partners! You can easily create lessons in minutes for your class.  You can import files (pdf, ppt, jpg) or Google slides and add interactive activities, websites, and videos to keep your students engaged in their learning.  Nearpod even has  Virtual Reality (VR) lessons too!  Synchronize your lessons across all student devices in the classroom and get real-time feedback and post-session reports on student comprehension.

Teachers can use ClassTag to organize events, get volunteers, schedule parent teacher conferences, send beautiful automated newsletters, share important announcements and fun learning moments with parents. Connect and collaborate with more parents than ever before, all in one simple online platform!

Seesaw empowers students to independently document their learning and provides an audience for their work—their peers, parents, or the world.  Seesaw gives families an immediate and personalized window into their child’s school day, helping to answer: "What did you do at school today?"  Seesaw saves you time on organization and parent communication, makes formative assessment easy, and provides a safe place to teach 21st Century skills.


An Accessible Online Library for people with print disabilities.  Bookshare® is FREE for qualified U.S. students of any age and schools through an award from OSEP (Office of Special Education Programs, U.S. Department of Education).   It's also free for schools/agencies serving qualified individuals.

Buncee is a creation and presentation tool for students and educators to create interactive classroom content, allowing learners of all ages to visualize concepts and communicate creatively.  Buncee’s interactive, drag and drop interface helps students and educators create engaging multimedia projects and presentations to increase interactivity and flip the classroom.   It's free, but there are additional features in the paid version. 

I've used (and LOVE) this one!  Kami is an awesome tool to view and annotate documents and PDF files.  You can log in on any browser and get started automatically.  I love the Chrome extension to make it easy to access on my Chromebook.  It's highly recommended for Google Drive and Google Classroom users.  If you're trying to use less paper in class, Kami is easy for students to use with very little support.

Symbaloo is a visual bookmarking tool that makes it simple and fun to organize the best of the web. You have all your favorite websites at your fingertips. With an account you can access your bookmarks from everywhere with any device and share your online resources with others.  I've used this for classroom computers to help students find resources quicker.
​Teachers can also use Symbaloo Lesson Plans to create a gaming-style virtual lesson plan using the best educational resources. Tile by tile, create pathways for students so they may learn at their own speed. You're able to change the route of the path by adjusting the arrows in any direction when creating tiles.

Learnzillion has been a crucial part of my instruction for a few years now.  "Digital curriculum that promotes productive struggle in traditional and blended classrooms." With lessons based on standards, it's a perfect way to introduce or review ELA and Math concepts to your students in class or individually.   This one is perfect for special education or intervention classes too! 

Inspire your students with Storybird to write better and read often with this unique language arts tool. Create professional illustrated stories with your students.  The program use illustrations to inspire students to write stories: picture books for K-5, longform chapter books for Grades 5-9, and poetry for everything in-between.   You've got to check out the website to see the stunning visuals! Cool thing about it... Storybird is free for educators!
​In fact, they pay you!  Run a class or school Fundraiser and get 30% of the proceeds.  It doesn’t get better.

Imagine exploring coral reefs or the surface of Mars in an afternoon. With Expeditions, teachers can take students on immersive, virtual journeys. Expeditions are collections of linked virtual reality (VR) content and supporting materials that can be used alongside existing curriculum.  You can find reasonably priced cardboard goggle online.  This is another resource that I would start a Donors Choose project for!  Parents may even be willing to donate old phones to support your class.   Affordable cardboard viewers can be found online as well, it doesn't have to be a Google brand. 

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Honorable Mentions for Middle & High School Teachers!

Raise.Me can help you get scholarships from colleges for your achievements in high school.  It builds on leading pedagogical research to boost learning outcomes & student motivation.  I haven't tried it, but what can it hurt?! 

SchooLinks is a robust, easy-to-use platform for college planning. They help students from all ends of the spectrum find the perfect school, catered to their unique wants and needs.  This could be helpful for Special Education transition projects or your own children at home! 

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Okay, that's enough for now.   I hope you find something you are able to use tomorrow!  
​Make sure to follow @FETC and #FETC #FETC17 for more resources and connections. 
Thanks for reading!