Author Archives: EduAppsAndMore

Making Life Easier with Google Chrome Extensions

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The internet is a virtual wonderland of resources. Today, it seems that there are websites and tools for just about anything, you just need to know where to find them.

Youtube is a great resource for the classroom. Everyone loves to use a clip to spur discussion, right? However, sometimes, the ads that come up before the clip can make for an uncomfortable situation in the classroom.  Certainly, there is a way to skip that thing and not have to wait 15 seconds for the students to see who knows what, right?

Let’s here it for Google Chrome extensions. If you don’t know what an extension is, it is a sort of add on to your Chrome web browser that helps it do certain tasks.

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Using Games for Assessment | Edutopia

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Great read here!

Using games for assessment is about more than tracking points. The past five years have seen a lot of growth in the digital games and assessment field, developing data collection engines that use sophisticated tools to measure student learning and provide teachers with targeted feedback (seeGlassLab, for example).

But one of the most common misconceptions we have run across is that all good learning games must assess learners within the game. The truth is that assessment happens around a game more often than it happens inside the game, and teachers must still design and provide authentic, useful assessment tasks for students.

For the rest, read it at Edutopia!

Using Games for Assessment | Edutopia.

App Smashing and Sandwiches

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Ok, I know you read the title of today’s blog and asked yourself, “What?” No worries, I am about to explain.

First, let’s take care of a little lunch business. Sandwiches. Now, there aren’t too many people in the world who don’t love a good sandwich. If you happen to be one of the few who don’t, bear with me, there is hope for you yet.

The thing I love about sandwiches, Panini sandwiches in particular is the way you can put together EXACTLY what you want. Get some cheese, some tasty meat (if meat is your thing), some vegetables, whatever other goodies you want on a sandwich (mayo, olive oil, whatever), throw it in a Panini press, and VIOLA, you have the perfect sandwich, for this time. Now, you may not feel like the same sandwich tomorrow. Problem? Absolutely not, it’s the beauty of customization. You smashed your sandwich together to suit what you wanted, and can always smash it together a different way, should you desire.

Now, APP SMASHING, works in much the same way. You see, there are literally more apps than I care to try to count out there. Each does their own thing. Some do their thing really well, and well, some just pretend to do their thing. The fact is, that one thing is something we often settle for, because, well, it’s close to what we want.

Enter the app smash. App smashing is just like making that sandwich. You take all of your favorites, and put them together to get a desired result. With the ease of access to cloud based storage and sharing (Google Drive, Dropbox, etc) we can now collaborate with others more easily than ever to smash things together. Perhaps your class is reading, A Night to Remember, the story of the sinking of the Titanic. You could easily take a picture of the titanic, put your image in front of it,green screen perhaps? Maybe an animated version of a student in front of the Titanic using Tellagami? You can share that via drive to several people. Maybe some students rewrote a song and make it into a summary of the text, and sing it to the animated guy? Publish that on Youtube, share it on drive, you get the idea. The possibilities are endless! The point is, you can make it much better than our first attempt was when we did a singing summary to that very text to the tune of Katy Perry’s Firework. Yes, it’s still out there on Youtube… and it is horrible! I was never meant to sing!

Or, maybe it’s books that are you seek. No worries, the same sandwich making skills apply. Smash together your favorite scene creator app with your favorite book creator app, next thing you know, you have an ebook!

There are TONS of resources out there to find examples of app smashes that work, with directions and everything.  Do a quick Google search, and see for yourself. Here is a site to get you started, from Greg Kuloweic, a master of the App Smash.

http://edtechteacher.org/category/greg-kulowiec/

However, I ask one thing of you. After you look at all the examples out there you can handle, try to smash something new… something different. That is the best part about this, the creativity. Most importantly, if you come up with some really cool app smash project, SHARE it! The power of EdTech is in collaboration.

Wattpad, a way for everyone to get out there

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For years, teachers have been telling students to get out there, write something. The problem for many was having an audience. When an author has an audience, they are much more inclined to write, and write well.

Teens, as many of us know, tend to be a different breed altogether. They are discovering who they are, or, more accurately, molding themselves into who they want to be. They write for school, and maybe even for friends. The problem is, when they write for teachers at school, they feel limited.

Yes, I know, many of us tell students they should feel free to write what they think, what they feel, etc. At the same time, many teens want to write things they are not so willing to just hand over to their teacher, more for fear of school imposed consequences. This is not to say that what they are writing is inappropriate, just that it may push limits of school rules.

Teens will be teens, and, as such, they will find an avenue to express themselves. If you have students who are aspiring authors, wattpad.com may be a tool you want to show them.

Screenshot 2015-06-18 11.17.18

Wattpad allows the student (or anyone, for that matter) to set up an account, free of charge. They can build in a certain level of anonymity, using nick names, etc. They are then able to search out stories to read. The best part about wattpad is it provides an audience for writing.

Wattpad becomes infectious. A few students start writing and sharing, then more want to write and share. Eventually, you end up with students who finish classwork, and ask if they can work on their wattpad writing. Hmm… let’s think about that one. Kids, begging to write? It doesn’t take long to figure out the obvious answer to that one. Students end up thinking, formulating story ideas, plot twists, character motivations, etc. doing something they choose to do, on their own, for fun. Maybe it’s just me, but that seems to be a pretty good deal.

To make life even easier for students, yes, there is an app for that. Wattpad is accessible via the web, or their mobile app.

So, if you are looking for a way to provide your students with a meaningful audience, a place to read other stories, and critique and comment on them, wattpad is the place for you.

How to make Google Search work for you

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Ok, everyone knows that if you want to search the internet for something, Google has been the go to search engine for quite some time. Many people, however, do not fully understand how to use Google’s search engine to get precisely the results they want. Follow along and I will show you a few tips and tricks to make Google more… Googleable.

1- Use the right wording. Often, people search for something and get frustrated because they can’t find what they are looking for. Sometimes, the problem is in the words you choose to search for. Remember, Google is looking for the words that you put in the search box, so you have to “talk like a website”.  For example, look at the following search phrases:

-I want to learn to make enchiladas    -how to make enchiladas

Those two searches bring up different results. The ‘how to’ search will likely get you better results.

2. Quotes are  your friend- Want to make your above search even more accurate? Put it in quotes. When you have a search in quotes, Google searches for the exact phrase you type in. Without quotes, Google just looks for the words, in any order. When you know exactly what you are after, quote it. Teachers, this is also a great way to check for… umm… shall we say, authenticity of a student’s writing. Quote chunks of text and you might be amazed at what you find.

3. Use the tabs after you search- After you type in your search, you will see tabs at the top. Clicking on those tabs filter your results even further. You can also search directly inside of each of those tabs. Looking for a picture? Click the images tab. You get the idea.

Screenshot 2015-06-17 08.22.42

4. Use big words- Ok, not really… but you should use the important words when executing a search. Think about it, do you really want to know every result that has the word THE in it? Use the words that you know are important to your search, cut out the little guys.

5. Index- Index searches are a different beast altogether. To execute an index search, head to Google. Instead of just typing what you are looking for, we are going to get more specific. Let’s say you are looking for a certain type of file, perhaps an mp3 file that is out there. Let’s say it is a public domain recording of the reading of “Treasure Island”.  Type the following in your search bar: “Index”+”mp3″+”treasure island”  then hit enter. You end up with over 100,000 possible locations for the file. Just make sure what you are searching for is public domain, and not protected under any copyright law.

6. Plus and Minus- You may have noticed I used the + symbol in the search above. What that did was tell Google to search for results that had the “MP3” AND “INDEX” (think of it as a directory things are stored in) AND the phrase “TREASURE ISLAND”. You can also use the – symbol to tell it to exclude results with certain words. So, if you are looking for cute dogs, you could be sure to say -pug and ensure no pugs make it into your search. 🙂

7. Site specific search- Ok, the last one I will cover today. If you know you are looking for results on a specific site, you can head to Google and search for it from there. The syntax for this is just to follow up your search with the following:

site: cnn.com

That tells Google you are only interested in results from CNN, nowhere else.

There are tons of other tips and tricks Google has built into their search engine. Explore them, figure out what Google really can do. Most importantly, teach someone else how to use them. Students today need to learn to find the RIGHT information EFFICIENTLY, and Google certainly has the tools to do this, if we would just take the time to show them how.

Using Goodreads as a classroom checkout system

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I was having a Twitter conversation with Eric Démoré (@EricDemore) about books for classroom libraries. Check out his blog as well, it has some quality stuff. (http://demore.ca) After going back and forth for several minutes, the conversation turned to our blogs, and eventually, to the use of www.goodreads.com. 

We discussed the strengths of Goodreads, such as being able to have a list of “to read” texts, a way to keep up with books you have read, and a place to find suggestions for one’s next great book. It is made even better by the fact that one can download the app to a mobile device, and add those books straight from the bookstore, using the UPC barcode scanner.

Eric then mentioned that he would like to find a way to make it work as a means of keeping up with student checkouts; a way to keep up with what student has what book off the classroom shelf. I had not thought of that before, so I was intrigued.

Quickly, I poured myself another cup of coffee, and got to it. As it happens, it is far easier than one would think.

Step one:  Log into your account at www.goodreads.com (or make one if you don’t have one and really want to be cool)

Step two: In the header section, click MY BOOKS

Screenshot 2015-06-16 09.16.56

Step three: Click ADD SHELF on the left side, and name it something like BOOKS BORROWED

.Screenshot 2015-06-16 09.21.11

Step four: Next, click the new folder (whatever you named it), then click settings. Here you can change what is viewable in that folder. You will want to uncheck several of the items, as you probably are not as interested in the ratings and such in this area. Be sure you keep title, author, and date added. Also, click the box to add NOTES. This is where you will put the student’s name who has the book.

Screenshot 2015-06-16 09.22.46

Step five: Finally, you are ready to add books to this shelf. You can either scan them from the app, or add them by typing the name. After you add the book, just click the little “edit” link in the NOTES column and add the students name. When they return the book, just delete it from the shelf by clicking the X at the end of the line.

Now, get reading!

Digital Footprints, why Students need to understand them now!

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Admit it, you have Googled a person or two, trying to see what you can find out about them. Maybe it was someone who was applying for a job with you. Or maybe it was the person doing the hiring, and you were the one in the hot seat. Whatever the case, odds are they found you… or someone with your name, at the very least.

Let’s face it, information is power. The major difference between now and just 10 years ago is the accessibility of that information. 30 years ago, it was extremely difficult to dig up information on someone, you had to ‘know’ someone. 20 years ago, it was still hard, but there were some of us active on the early stages of the internet, or bulletin boards (yes, that one dates me).

Now, pretty much everyone has a digital footprint. What is a digital footprint you ask? Think of it as a history of what you have said, done, and who you have been hanging around. Things you have done and said when you were happy, sad, angry, etc. The prevalence of social media just increases the size of one’s footprint.

Kids today are all over these social media sites, posting, taking pictures, sharing information, etc. All of it is saved.. somewhere, someone has a copy of it. What a student posts in anger in 9th grade will be there, forever.

Every time that student later applies for a high paying job, you can bet that someone is doing their homework, looking for that person’s digital footprint. Many people think they can just use fake names, etc on websites, and thus avoid being found.

We, as educators, need to ensure that students understand, if someone is determined enough, they can be found. You can find people by trolling through Google, Facebook, etc. If you know who their friends are/were in real life, that just helps you find them.

So, as you prepare for the beginning of next school year, please take the time to really teach what a digital footprint is. Don’t do as many do, write in your lesson plans, so you can say you did it, then don’t. It’s important, kids MUST understand this.

Should the toughest kids be assigned to the best teachers?

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Should the toughest kids be assigned to the best teachers?

You know exactly which kids I’m talking about here–their faces appeared in your mind’s eye as soon as you read the blog post title.  These are the kids who are violent and relentlessly disruptive in class, the ones who have a reputation throughout the school as being incredibly difficult to handle.Each spring, the teacher’s lounge is filled with speculation over who will get each of those kids the following year…and in many schools, it’s a highly predictable pattern. The teachers with the best classroom management skills get the toughest kids. And every year, those teachers say, “I don’t know if I can take another class like this one. I need a break. I can’t keep doing this year after year.”

Sometimes the principals listen and spread out the toughest kids among multiple classrooms in a grade level, but many times, they don’t, and the teachers who used to be amazing become mediocre because they have nothing left to give. They stop researching new activities in the evenings because all they have the energy to do at night is sleep. They show up at school early to plan meaningful learning experiences, and then get so disgusted with breaking up student fights all morning long that they put on a movie in the afternoon and call it a day. They don’t have the energy for the hands-on activities they used to do, so they pass out worksheets.

I’m not saying that response is right. What I’m saying is that it’s happening, in thousands of classrooms all across the country. Our best teachers are burning out from bearing too much of the burden.

I understand the need to place students with the best possible teacher for them. The problem is that teachers with strong classroom management skills often feel like they are being punished by getting the most challenging students year after year after year. It doesn’t matter that it’s not intended as a punishment. It feels that way when your job is knowingly made 100 times harder than the job of your colleagues simply because “you can handle it.” What happens when you can’t handle it anymore?

And what happens when the grouping of students interferes with the entire class’ education? I can think of two years in particular during my teaching career when I considered it a miracle that the rest of the class learned anything because my attention was so focused on the third of the class who had constant meltdowns. It absolutely broke my heart to see some of my sweet, hard working kids get less attention and assistance because I had to spend every spare second heading off their peers’ violent outbursts. No child should go to school each day in fear of being harmed by other kids in the class, or be unable to get the individualized learning they need because the teacher is constantly attending to severe behavior problems.

I don’t know of any clear cut solutions. I’m wary of principals burdening brand new teachers with students they know will be challenging–the teacher attrition rate is already astronomical. Some of these kids are so challenging that a new teacher would probably leave the profession before the year is out. I also don’t want to see high needs students suffer under the leadership of a teacher who is unable to handle them.

Maybe schools need to provide more professional development to teachers so they are equipped to handle a wide range of student needs and behavioral issues. It’s rare that a district acknowledges how much classroom management issues interfere with student learning: PD in most schools is centered around improving test scores and implementing curriculum. I did work in one district that allowed principals to identify teachers who struggle classroom management skills and provided extra training through CHAMPS, which is an excellent program, but the change in those teachers’ classrooms was negligible. Without ongoing, individualized support, the results are not going to be transformative. And some kids are just so disruptive that all the PD in the world is not going to prevent the average teacher from being exhausted by 9 a.m. on a daily basis.

Is the solution to get rid of teachers who aren’t able to handle their students? How would we identify those teachers in a fair way? Many of them are not “bad” teachers and are perfectly capable of educating the majority of the student population, they just aren’t prepared to manage the type of kids who throw desks when they’re frustrated and threaten to stab any adult who dares to correct them. Let’s be real: some of these students have no business being thrown into a general education classroom with little to no support. I don’t think it’s fair to blame the teacher for not being able to handle such extreme behaviors in addition to, you know, actually teaching the other 29 kids in the class.

So maybe this brings us to the heart of the issue: schools need to figure out how to meet  these tough kids’ needs, instead of tossing them in the classroom with teachers who are expected to manage on their own. These students deserve small class sizes, psychological counseling, ongoing social skills/coping strategies support through small group sessions with the school guidance counselor, and so on. Some of these students even need individual one-on-one behavioral aides. But these resources take money, and schools just don’t have it.

Where does that leave us? If all outside factors–teacher training, special services, class sizes, and so on–stay exactly the same, what should principals do? Should all the toughest kids go to the teachers with the best classroom management skills? How does this work in your school?

Wikipedia… a credible source?

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Over the years, Wikipedia has managed to create a chasm between educators. Some educators have preached that great evil resides in all things Wiki. Others, such as ourselves, have always said Wiki is a great place to begin research.

Wiki has many advantages over a standard dusty set of 10 year old encyclopedias. Obviously, the fact that it is probably more current is a huge one. Another is the fact that Wiki is searchable. That fact makes it extremely easy to find information that would otherwise be extremely tedious to find.

Wiki has stated that they are not a credible source, however, many educators in the K-12 and Higher Ed systems are beginning to accept Wikipedia citations.

We had the pleasure of presenting paperless classrooms at the Alabama Educational Technology Conference recently. While we were not presenting, we attended other concurrent sessions. One of those sessions was presented by Jeff Utecht. Jeff showed the audience things about Wiki that many of us were not aware of.

For example, all Wikipedia entries are ‘graded’. Entries that are ‘stubs’ or ‘starts’ are generally considered not accurate or credible. However, articles graded as a C level article could be considered credible, and A or B graded articles almost certainly are.

The key here is that you have to teach students how to tell what is credible. You can no longer just preach Wiki is bad, when in fact, it is often more up to date and more accurate than other sources.

So, the question is, how do we see what each article is graded?  It is far simpler than we think.

First, let’s start with the Wiki quality scale. An example of this can be found by scrolling down on the following page:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:WikiProject_Cricket/Assessment#Quality_scale

Next, in order to find an articles rating, you just click on the TALK tab near the top of the article.

wiki talk link

You then see the screen that gives you some of the nitty gritty about it’s quality rating. This is where you see just how credible an article is.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/2bkbfkwtz9fevlw/Screenshot%202015-06-12%2009.01.46.png?dl=0

So, the answer to the question… Is Wikipedia a credible source?  The answer is changing over time… it could be credible.