Intro
It took me awhile, but with a little help,
I was able to find a twitter chat that sparked my interest: #1stchat.
 This chat is for first grade teachers specifically, and for primary grade
teachers generally.  All of them collaborate and interact to share ideas
and tools which can improve their lessons in the classroom.  Although I
was not able to participate in the twitter chat, I learned a lot from reading
the archive and was able to see collaborative inquiry in action.
Collaborative Inquiry
According to the ASCD, collaborative
inquiry in the education field is defined as "teachers working together to
identify common challenges, analyze relevant data, and test out instructional
approaches in order to increase student learning."  It is a slightly
new twist on Vygotsky's theory that social interaction plays a fundamental role
in the learning process; instead of the social interaction being focused on
child development, this social interaction is focused on adult learning.  By
communicating with their peers, teachers are given access to a wider base of
knowledge than they possess individually, which enables them to see their
students in a new light.  Through this collaborative
inquiry teachers instruction can become exponentially more effective than if
they were to continue to stumble around in the dark by themselves searching for
the answers to their students’ struggles. 
#1st chat #edtech
chat
During this chat, the primary grade teachers collaborated,
bringing together their knowledge of a variety of technology tools to use in
the class and what to use them for.  Many
took this a step further, not only revealing their uses for technology, but
also including links to their blogs for teachers who wanted to learn more about
the particular type of technology or those who wanted to collaborate further regarding
a certain topic.  Needing help in this
area myself, I took notes on the programs the teachers used for each question
posted, and by the end of the chat, I had filled up several notebook pages of
resources to use in my future classroom. 
To keep the collaboration going, I will share some of these tools with all of you as well J
Whole Group Instruction Tech Tools:
Document Camera                   Projection devices 
Padlet                                      Planbook.com
Evernote                                 SMART board
AirPlay on iPad                       Team Doceri with Apple TV
iPad                                         iMovie
Mimio                                     Elmo
Class Dojo                              brightloop
Tools to document student learning, conferencing, and portfolios:
Kidblog.org                             educreations
Evernote                                 weebly
Confer app                              Easy Blog Jr
iPad                                        Scootpad
Padlet                                     ShutterCal
iMovie                                    brightloop
Reader's Workshop Tools:
RAZ kids                                iMovie
Spelling Monster                     Drawing Pad
Popplet                                   Audioboo
educreations                           ScootPad
Storyline online                       MeeGenius
Tellagami                                Scholastic Teach
SonicPics                                Brain Pop
Math Tools:
educreations                            Operation Code Squad
Xtra math                                Hyper Blast
Dreambox                               Ten Frame Fill app
Teaching table                         Quick Math
Pic Collage                              Show Me 
Explain Everything                  Cyberchase Quest
Draw & Tell                             30 Hands
motionmath                              Quick Clock
edmodo
Morning Meeting Tools:                      Tools to support writing:
SMART board                                      Kidblog
ActivSlate                                            Brain Pop
Corkulous                                            edmodo
Mimio Teach                                        Storybird
Class Dojo                                            educreations

 
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