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!

Take a Tour of SMASD's ADP:

 

#TeacherConfessions:  I rarely log in to ADP.  

Before now, ADP to me was that place where teachers could enter in hours for covering a class on their prep or doing extra duties outside of the school day. No hours to enter = No logging into ADP

But there is so much more...

Last week I had the chance to sit with Carrie Saline and take a tour of ADP!  We had a mutually eye-opening experience, as she had never seen the user side.  Meanwhile, I had no idea what was available to me on my portal.

Take a tour with me in the following screencast to see where to access things like: 

• Paystubs
• Entering and Editing Timecards
• Our Collective Bargaining Agreement
• Federal, State & Local Updates
• Investments
• Beneficiaries
• Salary & Step (Myself > Company Property)
• Hire Date

Need a quick how-to for entering & editing hourly pay? Click HERE

I personally do not get email notifications for my paystubs, company policy acknowledgments, or new announcements. However, I hear that some employees do.  Carrie is working on ensuring that we all are notified of these posts and can have quick access via a link in an email notification. 

What have you found to be useful in ADP?  What else would you like to have access to through the portal? 

Comment Below!

Make the Most Out of Wordwall.

See the video below or click HERE for just the slides to see how you can leverage Wordwall. 

Do you have any favorite Wordwall activities that you have created or discovered? 

Add the link in the comments below to provide examples in different content areas for your #GoDutch colleagues! 

Flippity for Student Engagement

 Now that SMASD is beginning its 1:1 efforts, we need to rethink how we can leverage devices in the classroom. Before, we would not have thought to use technology for something short and sweet. Devices were difficult to come by, and you didn't want to hog them for a whole period for a 5-min activity.  Now, opportunities for quick bell ringers, formative checks for understanding and extension activities for fast finishers are available.

Let's take a look at how I leveraged Flippity Manipulatives this week as a bellringer for my 7th graders. 

Click HERE for the 📼 Video or HERE for just the slides. 

Link to my manipulatives from today ➡ Click HERE. 

Don't hesitate to reach out to brainstorm more ways you can make the most of the new 1:1 environment.

Rich-Text Editor Arrives to Classroom

 Utilize text formatting in Google Classroom to improve communication! With the rich text editor at the bottom of your assignment and announcement text entry box you can... 

• bold
• italics
• underline
• create a bulleted list

... and, better yet (for you keyboard  🐱‍👤 ninjas out there) feel free to work the Ctrl B, I & U! 

(looking forward to a shortcut that starts a bulleted list 🤔)

Enjoy formatting your directions in Classroom!  

Don't forget to check out the "Featured Post" on Chromebooks as we begin our 1:1 rollout!

Padlet: Archive, Clear Posts, and Reuse

 Padlet is SMASD's go-to collaborative digital bulletin board.

Some of Padlet's inherently awesome features are: 

• immediate change of audience from teacher only to whole class or to 💡 multiple classes 💡
• ability to reply to posts, fostering dialogue
• differentiation with the variety of post types
• text, image, video, screencast, url, audio, draw (I see 👀 you math teachers!!) and more
• collaboration
• real-time interactions and feedback

Despite these features, some teachers have been put off by Padlet's limited number of free boards. (only 3)  Although what we often do not realize is that the board limit is only for active boards!  

In today's Tech Tuesday, I will show you how I  took an archived, not deleted, board from last year, cleared the posts, and reused it for this semester!

Pro Tips: 

• Ask students to SIGN IN WITH GOOGLE before posting.  This allows them to edit their post if they make a mistake or accidentally post too soon.  It also automagically puts their name on it!
• When reviewing student posts, use CTRL + F to search for a student name.  You will immediately know how many times he/she contributed to the board. 
• Want posts to be private for a high-stakes assessment? - Turn on moderation in the settings.

Inspiration Station: Google Slides - Class/Group Slide Deck

 One of the reasons we love tools like Nearpod & Classkick is so that we can increase student participation and engagement in the classroom.  The ability to see all student responses real-time offers a unique opportunity for timely feedback.  In addition, having all students, or groups of students, on individual slides in the same deck has built-in potential for peer scaffolding and collaboration. 

Instead of a straight-up how-to tutorial, today I will share with you a scaffolded discussion strategy that I used with Spanish 8.  The goal is to share out and possibly to inspire you to do a spin-off of this activity with your students. 

This strategy models collaborative slides and leveraging the "Master Slide" layouts.

Watch 0:00-3:00 to learn how to set up and deliver a group Google Slide Deck. 

*Can be delivered through SeeSaw as well!

Watch 3:00-7:00 to see how I had students interact with the slides, and how I changed the prompts through the master slide layouts.

Watch this video to see how I "prepped" all of the prompts in the "Master Slides".  Or, learn straight from the SlidesMania guru, Paula, by going to her blog. 

Did technology enhance this activity?  Yes!  

Without the technology:

• there would have been significantly less student participation
• I would not have been able to see all responses in real-time
• I may have lost teachable moments based on student responses
• students would not have benefited from the guided pace, scaffolding, and ability to learn from their peers
• there would have been a lost potential for future spiraling, collaboration, elaboration on the discussion

Interested in trying something like this?  Let's do it together your first time through! 

jtamburlin.youcanbook.me

Have something to share?  

Let me highlight the awesome strategies that you are using in your classroom to inspire others!

jtamburlin@smasd.org