Matos’s Favorite Finds from TCEA

Here are my favorite finds from the TCEA (Texas Computer Educators Association) Convention…

Brain break/calming sites

• Weave Silk (you can drag a color circle onto another and they blend, the faster your mouse moves the more it shows the 2nd color)

• Color Mandala – very good for my symmetrical, organized brain!

Radial Timers

• Much less stressful than the traditional bomb countdown!

• 2-minutes, 5-minutes, 10-minutes

Amazon’s Leadership Principles

• Along the lines of what our students need to be Future Ready… These are the principles that Amazon leaders focus on every time they meet and in every decision they make. A trainer from Amazon shared these and stressed how they guide everything they do. 

• https://www.aboutamazon.com/about-us/leadership-principles 

Canva Presentations

• Magic Shortcuts - So fun! Create a quick Canva presentation then when in presentation mode, play with these:

• Present and Record - You can record yourself giving the presentation!

• If you don’t have a FREE educational Canva account, click here.

• Canva for Education also includes a Classroom so you can manage your students and see their work! Adding students also gives them access to all of the additional FREE Educational resources.

Yellkey.com 

• Creates a shortened URL for a short period of time. Great for sharing a URL with students when it’s just needed for that time during class. 

Crowd Buzzer

• Turns devices (phones, chromebooks) into a buzzer. Great for class review games!

• Teacher: https://ccg.buzz/host/ 

• Students: https://ccg.buzz/ 

Gimkit update 

• KitCollab - students can create content; you can pull from it to use

• Now the free account allows as many people as you want & includes basic game types

Wakelet

• Wakelet is like Pinterest for education. 

• When creating a new board, select from several layout options.

• Many types of items can be added to a Wakelet board. 

• Boards can be used as a template for students to add their own resources to 

• Boards can be collaborative for group work. 

• Ideas of use:

1. Backchannel during class

2. Keeping track of resources/research

3. Newsletters

4. Calming Rooms (examples: MS, HS)

5. Station work

6. Sub plans (example; great for subs who can’t log into Canvas)

• Examples: Representation of Disability Through The Media and Fairytales, The 3 Branches of Government, Art in the Time of COVID-19, Digital Citizenship

Building Culture in your School/Classroom

• Culture is built 30 seconds at a time.

• Stand in halls during passing periods and talk with kids!

• Congratulate students on accomplishments

• Idea to build relationships: 

1. Pull out your phone, open photos. 

2. Find one to share and tell the story. 

3. 1 minute per person in pairs.

• 3 key findings that work with EdTech

1. Interactive learning

2. Use of tech to explore and create rather than to drill and kill

3. The right blend of teachers and tech