Test Read-Alouds for ANY Student!

It's test day!  

            You have made your copies. 

            You have separated your desks. 

            You have fast-finisher activities ready to go.

But then.....

You forgot to schedule support staff to read your test to your population of students who need that scaffold! 

Never fear! Our 1:1 environment can help!

Technology can not only serve as a substitute but can also improve the read-aloud experience for students. Students can hear the directions and questions they need, as many times as they need them, all in your voice. 

Mrs. Deflippi recently had success using Classkick to assist with her Math 8 exam read alouds. With a Chromebook and a set of earbuds, any student was able to take advantage of the scaffold!

Not familiar with Classkick?  - Don't worry! There are many other options available.

Check out THIS VIDEO or the presentation below to see how you can have an audio recording ready to go for any of your upcoming tests or quizzes.

What options have you tried? Comment below to share out with your colleagues! 

Need help your first time around?  jtamburlin.youcanbook.me 

Middle School Teachers:  See get help with Tech Assisted Read Alouds during this year's Tech or Treat! See your "stall" news for details.

ABS Students? Classroom Android App to the Rescue

 I don't know about you, but when I am taking attendance in eSD I often see a splash or two (or 6) of red.

Not even the "Google Queen" has all of her items available for digital distribution.  

#paperhappens

Then, there is nothing worse than spending your entire prep making that one paper worksheet or note outline accessible for the one or two students who were unable to be in class.

1:1 Chromebooks have given us a quick life-saver solution to this problem through the use of the Google Classroom Android App.

On the taskbar of student Chromebooks, you will notice 2 similar icons for Google Classroom. 

SMASD Ts and Ss alike are most familiar with the Chrome web browser version of Classroom. Based on its ease of use, I still strongly recommend this version for daily teaching and learning. 

One benefit of the Android App is the ability to annotate a PDF assignment. This may be perfect for those now-and-again scenarios when you have one or two students absent. 

Annotation tools are also great for showing your work in math and as an accessibility option for students with special needs!

Check out the video (appropriate for teachers and students) to see how a student can use the pen, marker, and highlighter tools in the app to complete their notes or exercises when absent.

Want more information on what the Google Classroom Android App has to offer? Check out this blogpost by fellow Google Trainer Eric Curts. In this post, he covers in detail ways for teachers to use the Android App (on phones or Chromebooks) to: 

• markup student work with a digital pen
• quickly add videos and images from your phone to Classroom posts
• adjust your notification settings

Getting annotated PDF attachments of Docs or Slides when you want the students to edit the file directly?  Students are accidentally using the app instead of the browser. Look at this throwback post to see what I mean. 

Finding other ways to make the most of the Google Classroom Andriod App? Share below!

Chromebooks: Select -to-Speak

Click HERE to see a full size image. 

Every child learns differently. 



For some of our students, an accomodation such as "having text read aloud" can allow the student to better demonstrate his or her knowledge in a content area.



Now that Chromebooks are present in all of our district buildings, we can easily offer "Select-to-Speak".  Select-to-Speak is a Chromebook setting that once set up will follow the user from Chromebook to Chromebook.


Once the initial setup is configured the student will only have to hit 2 keys to hear any text that he or she highlights. 



Below is a video that will walk you through the setup (Only 5 clicks!) 


And, off to the right is a set of visual directions.  Click HERE for full size.