Author: idtga

VECTARY: An Online 3D Modeling Tool


The Vectary motto is: “Grow creators, not consumers.”

Why Vectary?

This virtual makerspace gives students opportunities to engage in creative and critical thinking. They learn how to develop, problem-solve, revise, and persevere through the process of creation. They can even 3D print and see their designs come to life.

Something that makes Vectary stand out from similar tools is its special effects. For example, drawn objects can be texturized to look like photographs; you can even add lighting and shadows. Surfaces can be made reflective, so that as you tilt the object, it shows the reflection of other objects.

Vectary can also be a great collaborative tool. Students are able to work synchronously with one another in the same file and work as a team to produce designs.

What does it cost?

The free version of Vectary is quite limited. Users may only have three projects at a time and their only sharing/exporting option is to create an embedded link. However, Vectory is offering free premium accounts to schools! Click here and scroll waaaay down to the bottom to request an account.

How to use Vectary?

This video from Vectary is a great place to start:

Examples of Vectary

Click here for their online gallery.

Resources for Vectary

5 STEM Education Plans and Activities for Vectary
Vectary Tutorial Page
Teacher-Made Vectary Tutorials

Guest Blogger
Raina Burditt

Project-Based Learning: Am I Doing it Right?


“PBL isn’t about writing a state report. It’s about using what you know about the state you study and then creating your own state. It isn’t about building a replica of the Washington Monument. It’s about researching someone to honor, designing your own monument, and persuasively pitching a committee to build it.” –Edutopia

Characteristics of Project-Based Learning

  • Role-playing
  • Real-world scenarios
  • Blended writing genres
  • Multiple reading genres
  • Authentic assessments
  • Authentic audiences
  • Real-world expertise brought into the classroom
  • Units that assess multiple skills
  • Units that require research and comprehension of multiple subjects
  • Student choice
  • Collaboration
  • Multiple methods of communication (writing, oral speaking, visual presentations, publishing, etc.)

Am I Doing it Right?

Are your students engaged? Engaged learners find personal meaning and value in their work, and they often go above the bare minimum. They may also spend their free time on the assignment.

As a teacher, are you becoming more of a guide on the side? You should notice that students start asking each other questions instead of always coming to you. They also should become more independent in finding their own answers either through research or experimentation.

Are your students learning in new ways? One sign that your students are thinking more critically is if you are hearing questions like, “But why is it like that? But couldn’t this work, too? Has anyone tried it like this before?” Even negative push back from students is actually a sign that they are being stretched and challenged, which is a good thing!

Are your students making choices about their products or processes as they learn? In other words, are your students finding different ways to demonstrate their learning, rather than all producing the same product?Are your students learning while doing instead of learning and then doing? Many traditional class projects don’t begin until after the students have finished their learning. They master a concept and then produce something. In PBL, the learning happens through the process of producing something.

Check out this video from friEdTechnology:

More Resources

What the Heck is Project-Based Learning?
Buck Institute for Education: PBLWorks

Guest Blogger
Raina Burditt

Quia: Assessments Made Easy!


Create your own educational games, quizzes, class Web pages, surveys, and much more! Explore and use millions of activities and quizzes created by educators from around the world.

Why Quia?

Quia has a complete online testing system with automatic grading, immediate feedback, and detailed reporting. It will automatically grade most question types, but for questions that require teacher input (such as an essay question), you can quickly grade only those questions for a given class. You also have the option to give partial credit or add feedback to the computer-graded questions.

Quia’s question labeling system allows you to tag or categorize individual questions so that you can analyze data on specific skills. For example, on a grammar test, you can see how students performed on just questions that dealt with identifying adverbs. You can also use your labeling to quickly create an assessment that pulls from a larger question bank. For example, you could create a 10-question quiz that randomly pulls 2 questions labeled with “appositives,”  2 questions labeled with “infinitives,” etc.

Quia also has templates for creating 16 types of online activities/games using your own content. For example, students can review for your test playing Battleship or Jeopardy. Quia increases student engagement and gives you data on how much time they spend using the activities.

Additionally, subscribers get access to millions of shared activities and quizzes in over 300 categories. These can be copied to your own account and edited as needed.

What does it cost?

There are thousands of free activities that you can access and share with students, but to create your own content, you must purchase a license for $99 a year. Definitely try out the 30-day free trial! The license is for one teacher with unlimited students. Discounts are available for groups of 10 instructors or more.

How to use Quia?

Tutorial Videos from Tamra Willis:

Examples of Quia

Try this U.S. History Civil War Jeopardy game or this Adjective vs. Adverbs Rags to Riches game. Want to see a quiz? Try out this Geology Assessment.

Here is a full list of Quia activities made by teachers. You do not need an account to play them and can even share them with your students – all they need is the link. Note that you will not receive any data on how the students performed without a paid account.

Resources for Quia

Quia Tour
Quia FAQ’s

Guest Blogger
Raina Burditt

Things Teachers Wish People Understood About Teaching


Image Source: Jamie Santos

“Once your student always your student. I have students who were 8 years old 17 years ago and are now 25, and I still worry about them, celebrate their successes, and pray for their futures. Always my kids, always. #TeacherTalkTuesday.” – Dr. Adam D. Drummond

There are many misconceptions about what it’s like to be a teacher. Jamie Santos shares some of the highlights from when Chasten Buttigieg reached out to fellow educators on Twitter to see what they wished other people understood about the teaching profession.

Classkick: Give Feedback in Real Time!

Why Classkick?

Teachers upload content (drawings, text, images, audio, links, or video) to ClassKick and then students interact with the content on their devices. Teachers  can view all the student screens on their own device and can provide individualized, real-time feedback or allow students to give each other anonymous feedback. Students can also digitally “raise their hand” for assistance. The program helps the teacher to see who needs help and allows the teacher to monitor how students are progressing through the assignment. This is a great tool for teachers who do not have classroom management software since it gives them some control over their students’ digital space.

How to use Classkick?

Tutorial Video from Amanda Moody:

What does Classkick cost?

The free version is very robust with unlimited assignments, the ability to give instant personalized feedback (and stickers!), as well as peer-to-peer feedback. The paid version adds automated questions with grading, the ability to export grades, class chat, and more. Click here to see more information including the pricing options for the upgraded version of ClassKick.

Examples of Classkick.

Check out the Assignment Library, to see how teachers are using Classkick to create innovative lessons. Each assignment has a corresponding blog post that breaks down the assignment to encourage intentional, thoughtful planning. You can also copy the lessons into your own Classkick account!

Resources for Classkick

Classroom Success Stories
5 Reasons to Use Classkick
How to Get Started in Classkick

Guest Blogger
Raina Burditt

Flipgrid: Where Social Learning Happens

Image Source

“Flipgrid is where your students go to share ideas and learn together. It’s where students amplify and feel amplified. It’s video the way students use video. Short. Authentic. And fun! That’s why it’s the leading video discussion platform used by tens of millions of PreK to PhD educators, students, and families in 150 countries ” (Source).

Why Flipgrid?

Flipgrid provides a platform for students and educators to create a digital space for sharing their learning. A webpage is generated around a central topic, and then users upload their video responses, which are then visible to the other users. They can also post video reactions to each other’s postings. This makes Flipgrid a powerful tool for Making Thinking Visible with Technology.

There are robust instructor controls within the free version (Flipgrid One) such as password-protection, moderation, tracking student engagement, and transcripts. The paid version (Flipgrid Classroom) includes features such as unlimited grids and integrated assessment tools. Check out this post for more details on the differences between Flipgrid One and Flipgrid Classroom.

How to use Flipgrid?

The following video from It Worked will help you understand how to get started.

Examples of Flipgrid

The following video from Two Sassy Apples provides many examples of student work using Flipgrid.

Resources for Flipgrid

Interested in trying Flipgrid in your classroom? Checkout the websites below for great information.

17 Ways to Incorporate #FlipGridFever in Your Classroom
10 Ways to Enhance Math Lessons with Flipgrid

Guest Blogger
Raina Burditt

NoRedInk: Building Strong Writers!

A fun, personalized, and adaptive tool to help students improve their grammar and writing skills.

Why NoRedInk?

Students select their sports, music, and/or movie interests and NoRedInk builds sentences that incorporate these interests. Students appreciate the personalization and are more engaged. Teachers assign specific topics, and whenever students make a mistake, NoRedInk instantly remediates and directs them to more practice on the same skill. It is truly mastery learning with students taking ownership of their own learning by identifying strengths and weaknesses and working to master individual skills.

Introduction video

How to use NoRedInk?

Teachers assign diagnostic quizzes to their students. Based on the results, teachers then assign tutorial-style lessons with adaptive mastery-based practice.  Students conclude with a summative quiz and the teacher can review the students’ overall mastery of various skills.

The free version contains only 20% of their curriculum, so there are several buy-up options. Click here to see the differences between the free and paid versions of NoRedInk.
Click here for a quickstart guide for NoRedInk.

Example of NoRedInk

Check out this video from Brad Scott that shows how students interact with the program.

Resources for NoRedInk

NoRedInk State and National Standards Alignment Guide
Classroom Integration Strategies

Guest Blogger
Raina Burditt

Adaptive Learning

Image Source

“Imagine that you could give every learner their own personalized course, made specifically for their strengths, weaknesses, goals, and engagement patterns. Imagine a course that adapted in real-time to their activity and adjusted moment by moment to their performance and interest level. That’s adaptive learning.” – McGraw-Hill Education

What is Adaptive Learning?

The goal of adaptive learning is to harness computer algorithms to create a learning experience for students that changes based on the user input it receives. For example, if a student misses a practice question, the program will adapt to provide remedial work for that student. Each students’ experience is individualized based on how they perform within the program.

Check out this video from Pearson Higher Education

Why Adaptive Learning?

Adaptive learning is able to differentiate for individual students, assessing each person’s background knowledge and addressing their specific instructional needs. The student is able to work at his or her own pace while receiving targeted, real-time feedback and instruction. This results in students who do not spend time on material they already know, which leads to boredom and disengagement. Similarly, they are not pushed to a point that is too challenging for them, which can result in frustration and a reluctance to continue learning. Instead, the program is able to identify precisely what content they are intellectually prepared to work with, while scaffolding them towards the curricular goals. Teachers then have access to aggregate data on each of their students, as well as the ability to identify general class trends. The use of adaptive learning enables true mastery learning, resulting in a more solid understanding of the curriculum.

Adaptive Learning Programs

Dreambox Learning (Math)
NoRedInk (Grammar & Writing)
Istation (Reading, Math & Spanish)
MyLab and Mastering (Science & Engineering)
SmartSparrow (Design Your Own)

Guest Blogger
Raina Burditt

Dwayne Wade

Many of us admire Dwyane Wade as a basketball player, but there’s even more to admire about him as a man. When Budweiser discovered that Wade has been collecting players’ jerseys during his farewell season, they invited him to an arena to receive five surprise jerseys from individuals whose lives he has impacted in a meaningful way. Hat tip to Drew Polly.

Guest Blogger
Raina Burditt

TINKERCAD: Give Your Students a Tool to Design Anything!

Tinkercad is a free, easy-to-use app for 3D design, electronics, and coding. You can imagine, design, and make anything!

Why Tinkercad?

This virtual makerspace gives students opportunities to engage in creative and critical thinking. They learn how to develop, problem-solve, revise, and persevere through the process of creation. Students can even use 3D printers to bring their designs to life.

Tinkercad’s electronics platform allows students to virtually place and wire components to create a virtual circuit and then see how the components would respond in real life. Students could use this as a blueprint to make a real-life circuit, or they can add-in 3D design and print it with Tinkercad’s Circuit Assemblies.

Tinkercad is about to launch a new coding platform that uses drag-and-drop code blocks. Students order the blocks to define their design and then run the code to watch their design come to life. They can use this to create a GIF or export and print their completed design.

Using a unique invitation code, teachers can invite students to Tinkercad and moderate their accounts. Tinkercad is also a great collaborative tool. Students are able to work synchronously with one another in the same file and work as a team to produce designs.


How to use Tinkercad?

How to Get Started with Tinkercad in the Classroom

Examples of Tinkercad

Click Here to explore their online gallery. Note that you can actually copy any existing design and then tinker with it yourself.

Guest Blogger
Raina Burditt