Category Archives: technology

best practices, Edtech, Tech Tools, technology, Video Tutorials

Vol.#109: My Favorite Teacher Website Hack

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I’m in my 20th year of teaching middle school. It’s rare, but every so often I discover a way of doing things that really simplifies my life. This is one of those things. Seriously. I cannot oversell this. This was a total game changer for me.

And yet, it’s so simple that it actually makes me wonder if those of you reading this are going to say, “Well, duh. I already do that. What took you so long?”

Before I made this change, I’d write out my agenda for class each day on the board. Eventually, I graduated to putting my daily agenda on google slides, where I could edit them easily, insert timers and links, and have them ready-to-tweak for the next year. Anyway, with either system, at the end of each long day, I’d go onto my teacher website and type out all the information for my students and their parents to reference.

If you still do this, get ready. I’m about to change your life.

I still make google slides based on each unit. The first slide has buttons serving as links to each day, and each slide thereafter is a day in the unit. But now… I embed the slides directly in my website.

And therefore, whenever I update my google slides, even on the fly during class when I realize we are not going to get to a certain activity or need to skip something, it’s already on my website.

Seriously, I update my teacher website at the beginning of the year and once briefly at the beginning of a unit, and don’t touch it again, and yet every single step we do in class each day is always immediately on my website.

Here’s a video from my YouTube channel that tells you how:

Want to skip creating the google slides for your unit? I have some google slide templates with linked buttons, all ready for you to embed and update with your own lessons. Please visit my Teachers Pay Teachers store here.

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What’s your favorite teacher life hack? Please share in the comments!

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reflection, technology

Vol.#107: NCTE Presentation

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Today at 3 pm, I am presenting at the NCTE 2017 conference with many of the other authors of the book Applying the Flipped Classroom Model to English Language Arts Education.  What follows are the slides from that presentation and a list of linked tech tools I discuss.

 

Tech Tool Glossary

The interactive reading platform that makes it possible to implement best practices for teaching and learning.

  • Doctopus: Found under Add Ons in a Google spreadsheet

A Teacher-built Google sheet Add On that  gives teachers the ability to mass-copy (from a starter template), share, monitor student progress, and manage grading and feedback for student projects in Google Drive.

My 2-minute video tutorial. This is a wonderful tool for flipping your classroom! Select or upload  a video, add audio notes, and design multiple choice and open-ended questions to track your students’ understanding.

  • Goobric: Found at the Chrome Webstore

An amalgamation of “Google” and “Rubric”, this a Chrome Extension that allows teachers to use rubrics to “automagically” score student work. Grades are pasted into the doc and recorded in the original spreadsheet as well. Works well in conjunction with Doctopus.

This is a Learning Management System (LMS) including productivity tools such as Gmail, Drive and Docs. Teachers can make announcements, ask questions, link assignments,  and comment with students in real time.

  • Google Docs When in your Google Drive:  New, Google Doc

A family of Web-based applications from Google that includes word processing, spreadsheet, presentations, forms creation and cloud storage. Launched in 2006, documents can be uploaded and downloaded in Word, OpenOffice, RTF, HTML or text formats.

  • Google Drive: When logged into Google, click the waffle icon by your profile picture and choose “Drive”

Google Drive is a personal cloud storage service from Google that lets users store and synchronize digital content across computers, laptops and mobile devices, including tablets and smartphone devices.

  • Google Forms:  When in your Google Drive:  New, More… Google Forms.

My tutorial on how to make an Unfailable Quiz” Using Google Forms. Google Forms is a tool that is part of Google Drive for creating surveys, tests, or web input forms. Google forms allows anyone to create an easy-to-use web form, and each user’s response is placed into a row of a corresponding spreadsheet. Google now allows you to create a “quizzes” – which is their term for any graded form. Google form quizzes compute the average assignment score, the average score per question,  and shows you a grade distribution graph. Teachers have the option to allow students to see their results immediately or at a later time, as well as to email each student a copy of their quiz answers, with or without providing an answer key.

My post “Five Google Tools that Rule at School” cover most of the above mentioned tools.

An online adaptive platform for practicing grammar and usage skills which instantly differentiates, uses student interests to build questions, and track progress toward mastery of Common Core and state standards.

My 2 minute video tutorial. Read Theory provides passages and text-dependent questions for comprehension assessment on each student’s grade level. It also provides the reasons why each answer choice is right or wrong, so students can reflect and improve with practice. Read Theory adapts to student performance. This means the reading difficulty level may change after each quiz. The reading grade level may go up, down, or remain unchanged based on the score from the text-dependent questions.

A free, simple tool to create a screencast (a digital recording of a computer screen, often containing audio narration) in order to save or share the resulting video file.

  • SubText: iPad App Store

This iPad app allows students to interact with text. You can embed polls and comprehension questions, video clips, provide different levels of text, and more.

Word Clouds:  www.Wordclouds.com

This is one of several free online word cloud generators online. Try making a word cloud using a short story text and use it as an anticipation guide before reading.

Tech Tools, technology, Video Tutorials

Vol.#106: EdPuzzle 2 Minute Tech Tutorial

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I’ve been meaning to make this tool into a “2 Minute Tech Tutorial” for a while now. EdPuzzle turns any video into a lesson. Students can’t skip ahead in the videos (unless you select to let them) but they can rewatch.  The teacher’s dashboard shows you if they rewatched any sections of the video. It’s great for flipping instruction to teach new concepts and skills, or reviewing  already-taught information.

 

Edtech, Tech Tools, technology, Video Tutorials

Vol.#100: Read Theory Tutorial

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My principal encourages us to be able to explain the great work we do at our school in a “five floor elevator speech”. I like the vivid case for brevity when delivering powerful information. Therefore, in honor of the one hundredth volume, I have created the first installment of what I hope will be a recurring series here on TSV: “Tech Tool Tutorials for Teachers in Two Minutes”.

There are so many tools and teachers have so little time. They need to know what tools are worth their time exploring further. Plus, as a language arts teacher, I’m a sucker for alliteration. 🙂

Have a tech tool you’d like to see me cover in two minutes? Make sure to leave it in the comments!

Edtech, Tech Tools, technology

Vol.#94: Five Google Tools that Rule at School

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It’s been a great start to the school year for me in my busy year-round world (which starts in July), but I am afraid I have ignored TSV nation in the hustle and bustle. This year, my county (finally) rolled out Google Accounts for the students. I thought I’d apologize for my absence by compiling and sharing the resources I’ve found helpful in making the most of Google in my Classroom.

First, if you aren’t already using Google Forms to create and then Flubaroo to grade your assessments, you owe it to your free time to do so. This second-grade teacher has created a pretty comprehensive video on using Google Forms. She’s creating a parent survey instead of a student assessment, but the principle is the same. I also like that she included instruction on how to use QR Stuff and the link shortener bitly to make sharing the Google Form with your students super simple. Once you know how to create forms and share them with your students for them to complete, your next step is Flubaroo:

I’ve had students complete homework questions on the bus on their phone by going to the Google Form link. I;ve had 17 different novels, and students scanned the correct QR code to get to the test for their novel, making handing out tests for that many different books simple. From assignments large to small, Google Forms + Flubaroo rules.

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Because of our student Google Accounts, I set up Google Classroom this year instead of continuing my use of Edmodo. Here’s a quick overview about its features:

I especially like the ability to create a frame for a written assignment and digitally “hand it out” to every student’s Google Drive. When reviewing, I like suggesting edits so they can see where to correct it, and commenting on text as well.

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I’ve started using Doctopus and Goobrics with Google Classroom. Doctopus pulls all your Google Classroom submitted assignments into one spreadsheet and Goobrics pulls in your rubric for easy assessment. I found this tutorial helpful:

The completed rubric pastes below the essay in the same google doc, so feedback is automatically and paperlessly “handed out”. I used roobrix.com to create a percentage for the gradebook.

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So…. here are the Five Google Tools at RULE at School. Did I mention they are all free?

  • Google Forms + Flubaroo
  • Google Classroom
  • Doctopus + Goobrics.

Have love for one of these tools or another to add?

Please share in the comments!

Edtech, Literacy, technology

Vol.#92: ISTE 2015 Presentation Screencast [CROSSPOST]

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ISTEMy last two posts on Teaching Speaks Volumes have been about the steps to convert student-completed Google Forms to WordPress blog posts and why I use it in my classroom for Independent Reading.

This technology process was developed with my colleague and friend Paul Cancellieri (@mrscienceteach and scriptedspontaneity.com).

We were fortunate enough to present at #ISTE2015 in a Snapshot format on Tuesday afternoon and a Poster Presentation on Wednesday morning about it.

We had lots of positive feedback, and screencasted our ISTE 2015 Presentation to be able to share it with our wonderful, extensive digital PLNs.

 

Check it out here:

 

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#edchat, Edtech, technology

Vol.#86: Facebook vs. Twitter 

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From colleagues to family, some have asked why I use both Facebook and Twitter. What is the need for two different social media venues? How much can I possibly have to say?

While there is no one way to use any digital tool, for me there is a stark difference between how I use Facebook and how I use Twitter. Simply put: Facebook is personal, and Twitter is professional. This again is certainly not the only way they could be used, but it is the way that has worked for me. I find myself often explaining how my use differs using a metaphor, and some have told me the analogy helps them. I’ve described it here in case it helps you or perhaps someone you know.

pool-115850_1280Facebook is your own personal swimming pool. You decide who is allowed to come and socialize and swim. You need to monitor your settings to know who is able to see into the windows of your establishment. You can mark people as “close friends” to follow them as a VIP and keep in closer contact with them. Your resort style might be an intimate gathering, a large vacation spot with many friends and family, or a wild spring break party hot spot. It’s a social time, fun with friends and family. And while you can’t control the conversation of all your ‘guests’, you can decide whom to invite.

niagara-218591_1280Twitter is the social media Niagara Falls. There is no controlling the deluge of information and tweets that flood the stream of social media on Twitter. You can choose who to follow, and people can choose to follow you, but essentially it’s a free-flowing river of information and you are simply targeting which ‘water’ you are more likely to sip.

When I want some ideas in the classroom, I search the key word or appropriate hashtag (#). I won’t catch everything in that topic or every tweet from someone I follow (unless they tag me in it with my @teachingspeaks name or direct message me). I just fill my cup as needed, and send out other links, images, and tidbits that I think may quench someone else’s thirst.

Cybraryman has a list of all educational chats. Following a chat is much like a chat-room of the 1990s about that topic. Following a chat is a great introduction to Twitter, since it has a structure and time parameters. It’s also a great way to find people to follow who are interested in similar topics. Of course, education is far from the only topic in Twitter. From politics to crafts, famous tv shows to obscure books, whatever your passion, there’s a feed and folks to follow.

tl,dr: Facebook is learning what’s going on in the lives of people I know, and Twitter is learning about topics I’m interested in, mostly from people I don’t.

I’ve recently added a Teaching Speaks Volumes Facebook page, which is a huge departure from the approach I’ve used for years described here. It’s an experiment still unfolding.

How do you use Social Media?

Edtech, Literacy, Tech Tools, technology

Vol#80: “Using Technology to Personalize Literacy Instruction” #NCTIES15

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This post is to:

  • provide attendees of my NCTIES presentation, “Using Technology to Personalize Literacy Instruction” with resources in one place
  • share the resources of this presentation with TSV readers and  PLNs unable to attend but would value the information

Screen Shot 2015-03-06 at 3.12.22 AM

 

Session Essential Questions:

  • What technology tools are available to support readers at various levels?
  • How can these tools support students as they work to meet CCSS ELA/Literacy standards?
  • How can they simplify and enhance a teacher’s ability to differentiate literacy instruction for classes that have a wide range of reading abilities?

Session Learning Goals:    (The teachers will be able to…)

  • use technology to assess the level of a text
  • embed questions, discussion, and video right into the text
  • enable students to create their own digital book

 

A screencast of the tools I featured is available here:    Vol.#62: Every Teacher a Literacy Teacher Via Technology

 

My own rubric for using Newsela quizzed & leveled articles as Article of the Week can be downloaded for free from TpT by clicking here.

 

Literacy Tools Featured:

 

Other tools mentioned:

Edtech, technology

Vol.#77: Early Adaptation

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One of my earliest posts (Volume #7) was about how to use technology to its maximum advantage in the classroom.  I’ve sometimes been referred to an “early adopter” (one who starts using a product or technology as soon as it becomes available) because I like trying new tools as soon as I hear about them. However, the term “Early Adoption” seemed antiquated to me when talking about EdTech. I looked it up, and in fact the term originates from the technology adoption life-cycle originally published in 1957.

I think a better term might be “Early Adaptation” as one is”adapting” to how things will  eventually be for all, rather than “adopting” something unusual, different, or foreign. Adoption is a concise process, where adaptation is ongoing. Am I just debating semantics here, or does someone else see my point?

Via: http://dcamd.com

And what even  is technology? Both Alan Kay and Sir Ken Robinson have been quoted as saying technology is: “Nothing invented before you were born.”

So, to my current sixth grade students, that would be nothing invented before 2004. This means they see laptops, hybrid cars, iPods, camera phones, DVR or Tivo, and the internet as just regular normalcy, not technology. Our using them in the classroom would be analogous to when your teachers used television in the ’70s or ’80s:  flashy and fun, but not novel or new.

The other day, I read that TRON  was disqualified from receiving an Academy Award nomination for special effects. The reason? The Academy felt that the use of computers was cheating.  No, really.

First of all, I can’t imagine the technology available in 1982 wasn’t more of a handicap than a shortcut. But anyway…

If you asked the students in your classroom about movies and special effects (or FX as they may spell it) they would think it synonymous with computers, CGI, and so on. There wouldn’t even be a line of distinction.

My point?

Education, like Hollywood, is an establishment. While we are not funded or respected like Hollywood (Vol.#45: Why Doesn’t George Clooney Have to Deal With This Crap?) there’s one important similarity this TRON trivia fact clearly elucidates:

The establishment often does not support or even understand a major industry change when it first arrives.

best practices, Edtech, Tech Tools, technology

Vol.#70: PicCollage {‘Appy Hour}

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Sometimes a simple App is the best place to start when learning to integrate technology in the classroom. PicCollage is a very straight-forward way to create digital collages. There are videos that show what it is in about 30 seconds.

But how can it be used in the classroom?

Other ideas on how to use PicCollage in the classroom? Please share in the comments!