Critical Thinking Through Speaking

Engaging students in critical thinking and analysis can be done creatively at any age or grade-level. By using a technology tool to engage your students you activity can gain depth and enthusiasm, thereby creating a better assessment of what your students actually know. 

Podcasts

Podcast icons created by Flat-icons-com - Flaticon

Podcasting is an excellent way to engage students! Whether it's creating a podcast for them to listen to with tools like Soundtrap or Audiate, or AI tools like NotebookLM or Gemini, students can engage in their learning anywhere!

Then take your teaching to the next level by having students create podcasts to express their learning or argue their position on a topic! Get started today with a SoundTrap license from the EdTech Department!

Creativity in Writing

Stories! Research papers! Personalized Vocabulary lists! Students can be as structured or as creative as you want them to be. Engaging students with apps that let them control their own learning is the best form of differentiation!

Books and Portfolios

You can do all of this and so much more when you have students write and publish their own books to your teacher's library in Book Creator!

And now you can have students create a portfolio that can follow them throughout their K-12 experience! Check out our BookCreator Portfolios here! 

Read Anywhere

Sora

Did you know we have a FREE collection of over 6,000 eBooks and audiobooks, curated specifically for Aurora Public Schools? Both e-books and audio books are available through Sora, the award-winning student reading app! We have titles to support the curriculum as well as student choice. We also have professional eBooks to support educators.


Accessing Sora is as easy as 1-2-3! Students can access today directly within Clever!


Click for instructions in English and Spanish. Sora can also be accessed from home - learn more here!

Engaging Assessment

Assessments don't have to be tests or exit tickets. They can be fun and engaging in-the-moment opportunities provided to the students. 

Imbedded Quizzes

Screencastify Quizzes can transform passive video viewing into an active, gamified learning experience by allowing teachers to embed interactive multiple-choice and short-answer questions directly into their recordings. Educators can choose to assign videos for self-paced independent learning with skip-prevention, or use the "Live Learning" feature to host real-time, game-show-style competitions complete with classroom leaderboards. By capturing instant comprehension data and student reflections, these quizzes boost student engagement while providing teachers with immediate, actionable analytics to guide their next lesson.