Twitter for Teachers

You have probably heard of Twitter before and may even have your own personal account. However, you may not have realized that Twitter can be a great social media tool for teachers too!

Here is a quick run-down of Twitter and how you can utilize it for professional development and collaboration!

Getting Started: Visit www.twitter.com to create your free account. You will create your Twitter "handle" (user name) during this process as well. This might be the hardest part of the process :) Your handle will start with the @ symbol and can be your real name, a name to describe your interests, or a name that describes where you work. @amanda_vollmer, @SMASDtechcoach, or @FoxBVStem could be some examples of user names I could have chosen.

Finding People to Follow: To follow someone on Twitter means to subscribe to their tweets or updates on the site. Once you follow someone, their tweets will show up on your timeline. You can reply to their tweet or retweet it to those who follow you so they can read it too! You can follow people who have the same interests as you (other educators, people who like comic books, etc.), friends or family, news organizations, or just those you want to learn more about (actors, musicians, politicians, etc.).   You can search for people to follow right from the Twitter homepage. Once there, click on "Who to Follow" or "Find People You Know." You can also search for names, topics, etc. in the search bar. In order to follow someone, simply visit their Twitter page and click “Follow”. Here is a compiled list of educators you may want to follow- Twitter4Teachers. People can also choose to follow you, so once you get the hang of things you can tweet to share information,  resources and links, or share something exciting you've done in class.

Here is some great information from Scholastic about ways to use Twitter for PD and collaboration:

#HASHTAGS

Hashtags are keywords that categorize what you’re tweeting about. For instance, you might use “#edtech” at the end of a tweet about how your students use tablets. You can also search Twitter for a hashtag that you’re interested in. This will bring up tweets from other users who have tweeted about that topic. Here’s a look at some (but definitely not all) of the most popular education hashtags.

General education: #teaching, #teachers, #learning, #k12, #PLN, #edreform, #commoncore, #ccss, #teacherproblems, #edcamp, #globaled

Educational technology: #edtech, #elearning, #edapp (or #edapps), #byod, #blendinglearning, #ipaded, #1to1

Content or grade-level specific:

Literacy: #kidlit, #literacy, #readaloud

Math: #math, #mathed

Science: #scied, #STEM, #NGSS, #scienceteacher

Social studies: #socialstudies, #historyteacher

Arts: #artsed, #musiced

Early childhood: #earlyed, #preschool, #ece

ESL: #esl, #ell (or #ells)

Special education: #sped, #specialneeds, #autism, #dyslexia

Physical education: #PEgeeks

Speech and language: #SLpeeps, #speech

Other hashtags to note:

#tlap: Inspired by Dave Burgess’s (@burgessdave) Teach Like a Pirate

#comments4kids: Denotes when teachers want others to comment on students’ blog posts.

#flipclass: The latest and greatest ideas about flipped learning

CHATS

Educators join up for Twitter chats every day of the week. Moderators pose questions to keep the discussion on topic. Everyone uses the same hashtag in his or her tweets so it’s easy to follow the conversation. (You’ll also find that people use these hashtags throughout the week.) You can search for the hashtag manually on the Twitter page or try programs like Hootsuite and TweetDeck to follow along. Ready to give it a try? Pop in on some of these popular chats.

The Scholastic article also includes some great ideas of educators and organizations to follow. Click here to read the full article! If you need help getting started or have any questions, please let one of the tech coaches know! 

Make your Google Doc work for you.

The power of Google Docs is unbelievable.  Collaboration, research & productivity abound.

Every teacher and student has unique personal needs and interests with word processing.  Google allows for this type of customization and continues to improve.

First I would like to mention some overlooked features of a Google Doc that are right in your drop down menus.

Under TOOLS  teachers and students may benefit from one or more of the following:

• Research: Conduct a Google Search right within your Google Doc.  The search will come up on the right hand side and allow you to refine by searching for Quotes, Free-use Images, Tables, Scholarly Articles etc.  It will even provide citation in several formats.

• Voice Typing:  Save time by speaking out what you would normally have to type.  Use this to more quickly make an old worksheet digital.  Students who struggle with typing may take advantage of this feature to help progress more quickly with assignments.  It could be used to practice annunciation as well.  Even works in Spanish!  Punctuate by saying things like "period" and "next line".

(sentence was spoken into microphone)

Under INSERT teachers and students can find: 

• Insert Comment: 
• (Control+ ALT + M or simply highlight text and click the text bubble icon that appears)
• Use insert comment to provide feedback for student work.  Personally I find that I give more feedback by having the freedom to type as much information as I want without worrying about my handwriting or space on the printed paper page.  Links to more info can also be provided.  Works great for editing rough drafts as you can pinpoint the parts of the document that you needed to reassess.  No need to read the entire essay again.  Students can also reply to your comments to initiate dialogue when concepts are unclear. 
  

• Insert Equation:  Insert symbols needed to type out your Math problems.   Remind students of this feature to help make math digital.

Under FILE teachers can use:

• Revision History:  This feature allows you to see the writing process as it occurred.  What changes happened, when did they happen and who made them are all provided by clicking on this feature.  Be sure not to overlook the "more detailed history" button on the bottom of the right panel after opening the history.

The ADD-ONS menu is unique to Google Docs and provides unlimited customization for personal needs.

Just like searching for Apps on your IPhone, you can similarly search for tools that work with your Google Doc. Just click ADD-ONS  from the menu while having a Google Doc open.  Then click GET ADD-ONS.  You will be directed to the store where you can shop  for tools that meet your needs.  You can do a direct search or sort by category.  (one of my favorites is Productivity)

Here is a list of the top-rated Add-Ons by teachers and students:

 With a push of a button students can add accents and other special characters in foreign languages.

 Generate bibliographies right within your doc in a variety of formats.

Use both buttons and handwriting in g(Math) to create formulas & graphs for math.

 HandSign provides several free opportunities to create a legally binding signature that can then be emailed as a PDF.  

Create visually pleasing graphic organizers with LucidChart.

 

This Add-On is called "Text Help Study Skills"   highlight in a variety of colors, then sort by highlight.   Just ask to see all of one color in isolation. 

Word Cloud generator creates a word cloud based on frequency of use within the document.  This can point out key words or make students aware of the overuse of a word.  Numerical data on word usage is also provided.

Developers are always creating more add ons as well as improving existing ones.   If there is something you are looking for in your Google Doc, take a look around the store.  (located under the ADD-ONs tab)  Remember your students have access to these as well. 

Please share any tools or add-ons that have made your docs more productive in the comment section below.

Green Screen by Do Ink

What is Green Screen by Do Ink?

You know what a "green screen" effect is, right? It's used in the movies to make it look like the actors have landed on an alien planet, and it's used on TV to make it look like your local news announcer is standing in front of an animated weather map. Green Screen by Do Ink makes it easy to create green screen videos using your iPad. It emphasizes ease-of-use and simplicity while still enabling you to achieve excellent results.

Using Green Screen by Do Ink

The basic green screen effect works by combining images from two sources into a single image, using the chroma key filter to create transparent regions in the foreground image and then compositing the result with the background image. Green Screen by Do Ink extends that basic effect in a couple of ways – first, by letting you combine up to three image sources at a time, and second, by letting you create lists of image sources (videos and photos from your camera roll) and then showing them sequentially.

Quick and Easy Formative Assessment

As teachers, we're always looking for ways to make sure our students are on track. We wonder things like "Is everyone getting this?" or "Do I need to review a bit more before moving on?" Enter Plickers...a free and easy-to-use hybrid of QR codes and response devices. The nice part about Plickers is that the only technology you need is a single classroom computer and a single mobile device.

According to 5^th grade teacher Shannon Eckels, who recently started using Plickers in her classroom, “It’s a fun way to use technology as a formative assessment. My students love getting out their Plicker cards and getting scanned to see if they’re right. It is also super easy for the teacher to add questions quickly.”

Plickers is similar to handheld clicker systems some of you may be familiar with. This is where students respond to multiple choice questions by clicking the letter of the correct answer, and the resulting data is displayed for the teacher.  With Plickers, there is no need for the expensive devices. Each student is assigned a Plickers card with a unique pattern, and he or she uses the same response card all year to answer questions asked by the teacher. The students respond to a question by holding up their cards, and the teacher scans the cards with a mobile device (smartphone, iPad, etc.). The results appear instantly for the teacher to view. 

To understand how it works, take a look at the sample Plickers card below. The number on each side is the number assigned to the student in the system and each card has its own unique pattern that the system recognizes. Students respond to Plickers questions by holding up their cards and rotating them so that the correct answer is at the top. 

The teacher scans the cards all at once by using the camera on a mobile device and sweeping it around the room. As the system recognizes each card, the results are displayed instantly on the teacher's mobile device.

You can download a set of these cards for free from the Plickers website. Laminating them might be a good idea for durability, but you should laminate one and try it out first. Sometimes the glare from the plastic can cause problems with scanning. You'll also need to download the Plickers app on your device either through iTunes, or Google Play.

Teachers can create a library of questions and correct answers that can be used with any of their classes. You can display questions in full screen mode from the Plickers website, or read them aloud to students. 

Here are a few ways you can start using Plickers now:

 ·         Use Plickers to find out what your students know about a topic or skill before you introduce that lesson or unit. You can save a lot of instructional time by determining the appropriate level of instruction in advance.

 ·         Plickers can be used as formative assessment during a lesson. If your students are not grasping the concepts, it’s far easier reteach those concepts that day rather than to attempt to correct confusion the next day. 

 ·         After completing a lesson, assess students with a series of Plickers questions. You can use this as a type of exit ticket. You can view the results immediately or save them for later as you plan the next day's lesson to make sure the level of instruction is appropriate. You'll also know who's going to need extra help.

If you need help getting started or have any questions, please contact a tech coach! Happy Plickering!