The Twelve Days of Teacher Tech 2020

 Follow along with this year's Twelve Days of Teacher Tech.  

A new bulb (tech tip) will appear on the tree every day until it is all lit up! 

Start by clicking on bulb #1.  Try out the tip.  Then email Jen T screenshot evidence!

Particpants will receive Techmas Goodies and be entered in for a prize!!! 

Screenshare with the ActivPanel

Hey There ActivPanel Teachers! 

Want to go wireless with your device?  

Want to have students project from their Chromebooks to share with the class their findings, and discoveries? 

With a recent update the panels have a new screenshare app that works with the Promethean Screen Share Chrome Extension. 

Anyone with a Chromebook can mirror their screen wirelessly to the ActivPanel.

Watch my video below to see how to:

• find the Screen Share app on my panel
• get the Chrome Extension
• request to mirror my screen
• accept the request on the panel

Want help with initial setup?   Need alternative options?

jtamburlin.youcanbook.me

Be sure to post below how you already are using screen mirroring in your classroom!

SeeSaw Pin to Top

Pinning is super-popular in our tech world.  Pinterest, pinning tabs on our browser, and pinning posts on our Twitter feeds help to keep what is important in reach. 

Seesaw in September rolled out their version of a pinning feature which will keep a post at the top of the Journal or the Activiies tab. 

Some popular ideas for elementary pinning are: 

• Bitmoji Classrooms
• Frequently-Used Sites
• Lesson Plans 
• Today's Schedule / Specials 
• General Announcements 
• Lunch Menu 
• Google Forms
• Lunch Count
• Social/Emotional Check 
  
• Homework

• 

What activities or posts do you "Pin to the Top"? 

Have any pro-tips? Post them in the comments!

Give me your best One-Liner: for Google Classroom Rubrics

Today we aren't talking about these one-liners... 

 

 I changed my password to "incorrect". So whenever I forget what it is the computer will say "Your password is incorrect".

My email password has been hacked. That's the third time I've had to rename the cat.

My mom said that if I don't get off my computer and do my homework she'll slam my head on the keyboard, but I think she's jokinfjreoiwjrtwe4to8rkljreun8f4ny84c8y4t58lym4wawt4mylt4amlathn...

CAPS LOCK – Preventing Login Since 1980.

Source onelinefun.com 

Instead, we are going to put a twist on a post from earlier this year, "I love Google Classroom Rubrics" .

As teachers we are fans of using rubrics for efficient grading and feedback. However, we can sometimes cringe at the thought of developing them.  

What if I told you that not every rubric had to be 5 columns by 5 rows? 

Google Classroom Rubrics can be one-liners! Quickly assess the "little" things while staying consistent with point values.   By adapting this one-liner rubric, you will save time "counting errors" and quickly communicate to the student if he/she is on the right track.  You will also have more time for the real-specific, personalized feedback that they need.

Check out this rubric I made for some quick "I can" checks in Google Classroom! 

It is 5 option multiple choice that quickly lets me assign the grade of  "0" "60" "B" "A" or "100%"

Make a copy of the one-liner rubric HERE.  Make your changes in Google Sheets, then add the rubric to a new or existsing Google Classroom Assignment. + Rubric > Import from Sheets

Have you heard about the single-column rubric? 

This is a great place to start for assignments that are multi-step or have several elements that need evaluated separately. Click HERE for a template that you can edit to get started. 

Or, for all of you go-getters, click HERE for a customizeable 5x5 rubric in Google Sheets.  Remember that your rows and columns do not have to have the same quantity of descriptors, nor do they have to have the same point values. (E.g. Content can be worth way more than design or spelling.) Simply delete cells that you aren't using.

This is now my 5th post to the TechSpot about rubrics.  If you don't see what you are looking for in this post, check out the archives.  Included in these posts is a link to roobrix, a tool to help you give numerical grade values to your rubrics.

Join the Google Classroom Rubric trend with others from our #GoDutch family!

Need help with your first one? - Send me your criteria and I will get you up and running to see if you like it! 

Keep it techie!

Jen

Copy a Direct Link to an Assignment

The three dots are magical!  

Anytime you see 3 dots you know that awesome options are just a click away!

The 3 dots on Google Classroom posts lead you to a menu with the option to 

Copy link.

When could this assignment url be useful for teachers and students? 

1. Remind - For teachers who push out communication reminders you can add the direct link to the assignment in your post! 

2. Email - Keep the message clear. Include the url of the missing work right in the message to take them directly to the assignment! 

3. eSD - Use the description textbox to insert the link to the assignment.

4. SeeSaw - Have an awesome Googley assignment that you need collaboration or a copy for each student?   Make it in Google Classroom, but post it in SeeSaw! (tip: post the link in the instructions - not under multimedia)

4. Hyperdocs - Yes! This one is brilliant.  Hyperdocs offer a variety of learning activities for students, but as a teacher it can be hard to keep track of where all these great assignments are, designate sharing permissions and make each student a copy of files.   Hyperlink each activity and ta-da kids have the pedagogical benefits of the Hyperdoc and the organization Google Classroom simultaneously.

I have a worksheet.... now what? Update 2020

 It is now one and a half years after our first "I have a worksheet... now what?" post.   

Back in May of 2019 we spoke of formatting Google Docs with textboxes for responses, using Google Forms as well as leveraging Add-Ons Such as Alice Keeler's Pull Table for digital worksheet completion.

Earlier that year we also looked into ClassKick  which provided a way for students to draw on top of PDFs and access a toolbar with text, scribble and audio recording features. 

Wizer.me made its debut to the TechSpot in 2017 creating a more interactive experience for the student, but with perhaps more upfront work for the teacher. 

Remote learning heightened our awareness and increased the need for taking our paper tasks and enabling their access digitally.  Previous mentioned methods became more popular, and Google Slides allowed us to create backgrounds with our activities and have students respond on top. 

But then, here last month TeacherMade came out with a web application that is exactly what teachers had been looking for.  A quick and easy way to upload a worksheet and have students write on top with little to no prep. 

Here in today's TechTuesday, instead of just introducing TeacherMade, I decided to take a paper worksheet that I had given my students this week as a pre-reading activity and put it to the test of 4 top digital worksheet tools. 

You can view the Google Slides presentation alone to see some screenshots of my results and/or follow along with me as I test each one in the Loom recording: 

Intro: 0:02   TeacherMade: 1:03   Google Slides: 7:00   ClassKick: 12:22  Google Forms: 16:58

Elementary teachers now have SeeSaw which enables them to push out a PDF for students to complete.  The above applications may have some features that could further enhance some of  your activities and certainly be assigned through your SeeSaw platform as well.   Is there anything that stands out to you? Let us know in the comments below! 

Have you been able to try any of these applications yet?

How did it go? 

Would you mind sharing a sample with us? 

As always I would love to hear how I can help you brainstorm new ways that technology can enhance and amplify what you do in the classroom! jtamburlin.youcanbook.me

Managing Make-Up Work - Teacher Showcase

 Here at SMASD we are very fortunate to be able to see our students 5 days per week.  Our face to face instructional time is valuable, and we still do many activities in class, not on a device.  

That said, we want to provide assignments digitally for students when they need it.  Many times students are absent and/or they left the work in their locker. 

Posting every activity that we have done in class online, is no small feat.  It can also clutter up your Classwork page, making true digital assignments hard to find. 

Mrs. Erich and I are brainstorming and piloting a new approach to make-up work for tasks that would typically be done in class. 

The approach involves a Resource Doc full of links to activities that she uses in class.  However we have hacked the urls of these files to "force a copy". 

This document is listed under her Resources topic in an assignment called "Make-up Work".

I then, in a demo student account,  created a How-To video to help students use this resource, and submit Make-Up work for prolonged absences.   Students only access and submit what they need.  You as a teacher have 1 place to check for makeup work. You can see, share and use this tutorial below.

 

This will also create a communication space in the private comments for students who are absent.

We all as teachers are unique. Certainly workflow systems are something that inevitably vary from teacher to teacher. 

What system do you use for providing make up work?  

Are there any aspects of this process that could be useful for you? 

Add to the conversation in the comments below. 

Emailing Groups of Students and Parents through eSD

It's about communication.  Feedback, parental involvement and teacher clarity are all proven influencers on student achievement (Hattie).  One way we can foster those influencers is through communication. 

eSD has an email feature that will allow us as teachers to email:

• an entire class
• a small group of students and parents
• indivdual students or parents

with information to encourage, redirect or focus families on what we have going on in our classrooms.  We certainly found this communication to be essential in the spring with remote learning, and can continue that practice here in 20-21. 

Follow the infographic below to see where to find the Email Students & Parents feature in your Teacher Connect gradebook. 

If you have tried this in the past without success, watch the video that follows the infographic. 

It will show you how to set up a windows device to have gmail.com as your default handler/application. 

Having trouble getting gmail to open after following the above steps?  

Follow this tutorial for a 1-time setup on your Surface, Windows laptop or desktop. 

Remember - we are happy to help, via email, virutally or in person!

jtamburlin@smasd.org  jtamburlin.youcanbook.me

SMASD Remote Learning Week 2 Vol. 1

A preview of the site that is being created to provide you with the essentials for our remote learning journey. 

Google Earth Projects

Last year the TechSpot posted about creating Map and Tour projects with Google.

The following applications were presented in the post:


Google My Maps - map with plotted points that offer media & text descriptions

Google Tour Builder - puts the separate points into a narrative sequence

Google Tour Creator - adds the VR feature to the project




Last week at the Pete&C conference, I was asked to talk about the above applications and offer 1 on 1 sessions for teachers as part of the Google Playground experience.

In preparing for the presentation I found that Google recently released a new version of the Google Tour Builder:

Google Earth Projects

Google Earth projects offer the best of Google Earth, while allowing the user to easily narrate a story, trip or adventure.

Google Earth projects, unlike Tour Builder, save to your Google Drive and allow for the collaboration inherently found in other Google Apps. Check out the intro video below to see how your students can start creating with Google Earth. Then, click HERE for a an online how-to guide.  Provide this link to your students who are creating their first project.

Not ready to have students start creating yet?  Want to see some examples? 

Check out Google Earth Voyager.  

There are many pre-made voyages that your class can explore and many come with pre-made classroom activities.

• Interactive quiz on Ancient Civilizations

• "This is home" tour traditional homes around the world

• How Wind Becomes Electricity - for elementary students

• Media4Math: Triangular Structures

Have an idea for your classroom?  

Contact me and we can get you and your students off and running with Google Earth! 

Chromebook 101

Check out the video below to review what we learned in the Chromebook 101 session during last week's inservice, or check it out for the first time if you were unable to attend! 

Some highlights are: 

• 2:15  How to use the touchpad with 1, 2 or 3 fingers! 
• 4:24 Keyboard: Top row of keys
• 7:14  Split screen
• 8:37 Taskbar, Pinning & Shortcuts
• 10:08 Screenshots: full & partial
• 11:10 Caps lock & delete 
• 12:53 Apps, Add-Ons, Extensions 

Or click here for the slide deck only. 

Have any questions about Chromebooks that weren't answered here? 

Post them below! 

I love Google Classroom Rubrics!

Normally in Google Classroom or eSD your students see this:

46/50

But, what does that actually mean?  Where is the feedback?  Teachers have been solving this problem for years with rubrics, and now Google Classroom has joined in!

Imagine if your student now saw this descriptive rubric instead!

Google Classroom Rubrics Feature: 

• Customizable Criterion
• Customizable Point Values - Per Criterion!
• Easy Click & Assess
• Points Automatically Add Up
• Ability to Duplicate Criterion & Reuse Rubrics

STUDENT SIDE OF RUBRICS

TEACHER SIDE OF RUBRICS

Check it out, and let me know if I can help you create your first rubric!

Already tried it?  Share the love in a comment below!

Google Form Fans, This One's for You!

Google Form Fans, This One's for You!

If Google Forms have become part of your regular routine, you may want to check out some of these time-saving tips.

Make a Google Form from a Spreadsheet.

I always say teacher time is too limited to waste!  Get the most out of your efforts when creating new materials!  This is why I always promote putting vocabulary terms and key unit questions into a spreadsheet first and foremost.  From there you can import them into a variety of online quiz games and assessments.

Google Forms is no different!  And, with the help of Alice Keeler of Teacher Tech you can create a form directly from a spreadsheet.   Go to alicekeeler.com/form to get started.  Copy and paste your questions from your unit spreadsheet or import this one later for a Quizz.izz, Quizlet or Kahoot !

*Be patient with the Add-On menu when you first try it.  It takes a moment to appear on the list.



Import Questions from one Form to Another
Now that you have an easy way to create a Form from Sheets, why not make a "Master Form" for your chapter, unit or novel?   Have the whole department collaborate on a "Question Bank" Form.  No one will really use this form, it will just hold your question inventory!

Then, when creating pre-tests, post-test, formative checks, spiral reviews, differentiated quizzes, etc  all you need is one button > Import Question to access your bank of pre-made questions.

Select the "Master Form" and quickly check off the questions you would like to reuse in your comprehension check, exit ticket or summative assessment.  Then POOF you are done, faster than you could have gone to the copier!

Let me know how I can help you make this and other tech work in your classroom or office!


Keep working smarter, not harder SMASD!

BoomWriter - Be part of the "process"

One of my on-going themes this year as a teacher, is to give feedback "during the process" rather than at the end of an assignment.  Life is not one and done, and neither is learning.

Google Classroom & Google Doc comments provide a platform for a feedback conversation. I have also been utilizing video Feedback with FlipGrid and Screencastify, to get more in-depth and personal with my students' work when reviewing it.

In my continued pursuit of finding a variety of tools for feedback, I found BoomWriter.  Boom Writer comes off as elementary, but certainly can be used K-12.

Boom Writer offers several assignment options including collaborative writing/storytelling.   Today, I am going to focus on the Vocabulary Assignment.   With the vocabulary assignment you provide a writing prompt for your students, while creating a list of key terms or phrases that the students should consider including in their response.   Word count limits can be set, and a basic, or customized rubric can be attached.  

Teachers can view the writing as soon as the student begins and can suggest revisions in the feedback box. 




Hover over the hotspots below on a student sample I received.  Or, take a look at my screencast experience of using Boomwriter for the first time.




If you are interested in trying out Boomwriter with your class, let me know.  I can get you set up for success and be of support during the first time you try it!  Then, we can check out the other features such as anonymous voting & whole class story writing.

;lk ;lk 

Explain Yourself! Over, and Over Again

 Ever feel like you are wasting time explaining directions over and over again for students?

Today's Techspot may have a solution for you!

Solution #1: Screencasting 

This morning, I had a question from a student in our virtual academy on how to complete and submit a particular assignment.  After already hitting the point of frustration, the last thing this student would have wanted was an email with a narrative set of steps of what to do.  Faster than I could have typed it out, I used my Screencastify Chrome Extension to create a video that she could pause, rewatch or fast forward as needed with the automatically produced url.  The best part is now I have a video to share, if/when another student has a similar issue. See the Techspot's past blogpost on screencasting by clicking HERE. 

Solution #2: Interactive Image Tutorials

On Friday I assigned a multi-step assignment where students would be figuring out if it is cheaper to make empanadas at home, or to go out and buy them in a restaurant. I formatted the tasks, links and reflection questions into a table on a Google Doc.  Instructions were given in class, but as you can imagine many things get "lost in translation" here in room 409.  Instead of typing a narrative of directions to reference in Google Classroom, I recalled a post that I had saved from Alice Keeler, of Teacher Tech on creating Interactive Graphics with Genial.ly  In just a few minutes I had the interactive tutorial below linked to the assignment in Google Classroom. 

For teachers already familiar with Thinglink, you may want to create your interactive image there.  The only difference I can see is that you may have a limited number of "views" with the free plan of Thinglink.(e.g 1000)  Also, a paid account is required for students to create content.  Click HERE to the same interactive image on Thinglink.

Like Genial.ly? 

Genially offers a variety of projects that students can create as well!  They can embed interactive images and videos into their current presentations, or create stand alone interactive projects.  Send one of your students who is seeking something more to genial.ly to see what they come up with!

Schedule Send in Gmail

On Friday afternoon, I remembered I had a question for a colleague.  I was hesitant to compose the message, worried that it would be buried in their inbox on Monday morning.   However, I also wanted it off of my personal To-Do list as Monday morning was going to be busy enough.

Thanks to Gmail's "schedule send" feature, I was able to write the email and have it delivered at 8am on Monday to my co-worker.

Click the arrow next to Send to schedule your message!  

See a full set of instructions on support.google.com by clicking HERE.