November Strategy Sharing

Many fabulous ideas were shared by your colleagues at the November Strategy Sessions. If you have a chance, I recommend checking out the resources posted on the Deepening & Reinforcing Learning Discussion board. I've included a few highlights below:

How is this picture like the law of diminishing returns?

• Brandon Wolf shared four different strategies that he uses and posted the templates. He talked about how his students find non-linguistic representations helpful in solidifying and personalizing concepts, giving the example of students who remembered the law of diminishing returns because they had represented it with a box of donuts or another who connected it to Spotify. I also really like the At Home Discussion Chart, where students summarize a conversation that they had at home about their recent learning and reflect on why they better understand the concept discussed as a result.  
• Dakota Cronin shared the Feynman Technique, which is based on the idea expressed in this quote from Albert Einstein: "If you can't explain it simply, you don't understand it well enough." The basic idea is that the process of explaining (verbally or in writing) a concept without using complex vocabulary or jargon helps you to understand it better. Learn more about this mental model in this 4 minute video.
• Dominic Mooney shared one of his favorite tools for curating content: Pocket. With an easy to navigate visual interface, Pocket is a great way for you and your students to easily save articles, videos and other resources that are related to what they are learning about. All of the content goes to one place, so you can view it anytime, on any device. You don't even need an internet connection. I'm sure that Dom would be more than happy to personally share with you how he uses it - just drop by his lair and ask for a tutorial!
• And finally, here are a few ideas that teachers shared for grouping students: by VIA strengths, clock partners, popsicle sticks, the flippity.net random name picker, which also creates random groupings, playing cards, and multiple copies of pictures/visuals related to content passed out as students enter the room. Plus, did you know that Power School has a random student selector tool? I did not. This handy tidbit was shared by Robert Ogle. 

Thanks to everyone who has shared ideas so far! The next round of sessions isn't until February, so you have lots of time to try something new. :-)

Tech Tip Tuesday: Surveys and Stickies and Polls, Oh My!

It's that time of year when your Inbox is flooded with requests for feedback via a variety of surveys and polling tools. Why not include your students in the fun? Here are three tools that are great for gathering students' opinions all year long, and of course they can also serve as quick and easy checks for understanding. 

ParticiPoll is a service that you can use to add interactive polls to your PowerPoint presentations. Your polls are created and delivered within your PowerPoint slides. Once you've added ParticiPoll to your PowerPoint you can create as many polls as you like. Each poll can have up to six response options. The best aspect of ParticiPoll is that you don't have to leave your slidedeck at all in order to administer the poll and see the results of your poll. Your audience can respond to your ParticiPoll poll through their cell phones, tablets, or laptops. To respond they simply go to the URL for your poll and choose a response. When you want to display the poll results you just click to the next element in your PowerPoint slidedeck and the results are displayed for all to see. All polls are anonymous.

AnswerGarden is a neat service that allows you to embed a open-ended feedback tool into your classroom blog or website. With an AnswerGarden embedded into your blog your students can simply type responses to your question and see their responses appear in a word cloud. Creating an AnswerGarden is a simple process that does not require you to create an account. To get started go to the AnswerGarden homepage and click "create AnswerGarden." On the next screen you will enter a question or statement for your students to respond to. To share your AnswerGarden with students you can give them the link or embed the AnswerGarden into your blog. Optionally, before sharing your AnswerGarden you can turn on moderation of responses and set an admin password.

Dotstorming combines a bit of Padlet (online sticky notes) with a polling tool. On Dotstorming you can create a space for people to post digital sticky notes. Those notes can contain text and or images. That part of Dotstorming is just like Padlet. What makes Dotstorming different is that once the notes are posted, you can have people vote for their favorite notes. As the creator of a Dotstorming space you can restrict the number of votes that each person can cast. For example, you could say that each person gets two votes and once those votes are cast they're prevented from casting any more votes. After the voting is completed, you can sort the notes according to the number of votes they received. See Dotstorming in action in this video (from freetech4teachers.com).

3 Tools for Sharing Part of a Video

"Online videos can be quite useful for reiterating a lesson to your students, for inspiring thought and conversation, and for introducing a new concept to your students. The struggle we have sometimes is finding a video that gets to the point quickly. And sometimes we don't need students to watch all of a TED Talk or other lecture in order to get them thinking about a concept. That's where tools for sharing portions of videos are useful.

In YouTube there is an option to start a video at a specific point. Under the sharing options on a YouTube video there is an option to select a start time for the video. Unfortunately, there is not an option to select an end time. See the image below for a look at the time-stamped sharing option in YouTube. 

Vibby is a service for breaking YouTube videos into segments and inserting comments into those segments. To segment a YouTube video on Vibby simply grab the URL for the video and paste into the Vibby editor. Once inserted into Vibby you can highlight a segment on the video timeline. Vibby then plays only the sections you've highlighted. Click on a highlighted section to add a comment to it. Videos edited through Vibby can be shared via email, social media, or embedded into a blog or website. Click here for a Vibby tutorial.

TubeChop gives you the ability to clip a section from any YouTube video and share it with others via a link or via an embed code added to your own blog or website. TubeChop lets you select a start time and an end time for an video that you share." 

Have questions or need a "tech partner" to collaborate with you on using one of these tools? Your instructional coach is here for you!

The content in this post is excerpted from Richard Byrne's Free Technology for Teachers blog.

Internet Search Tips

Whether you teach students who are ten years old or forty years old there will be times when they turn to you and say, "I can't find anything about this" while they are researching. In most cases the problem isn't that the Internet doesn't hold any information for them. Rather, the problem is that students don't know enough strategies to help them dive deeper in their Internet research. In the slides embedded below Richard Byrne shares his favorite search tips. The slides also include some videos that demonstrate how to use the methods he has mentioned. Good tips! (From freetech4teachers.com)

The fourth slide refers to the keyboard shortcut that enables you to search for key words in a document or on a webpage. On a Mac, it is Command + F. A Google survey found that only 1 in 10 computer users are aware that this feature exists. Are you part of the 10%? For more handy keyboard shortcuts (which are huge time savers), click here. 

Tech Tip Tuesday: Tools to Use with Instructional Videos

Whether you are "flipping instruction" or using video to spark discussion, these two tools can help to engage your students while also providing you with formative data about their level of understanding. 

Annotate Already Existing Videos
Using VideoANT, anyone can add annotations to any publicly accessible YouTube video. To do this, copy the URL of a video and paste it into the VideoANT annotation tool. Then as the video plays, click the “add annotation” button when you want to add an annotation. To have others annotate the video with you, send them the VideoANT link. You are the only person that has to have a VideoANT account. Your collaborators do not need to have a VideoANT account to participate in the annotation process with you. Nathan Hall wrote a complete run-down of all of the features of VideoANT. He also posted a how-to video. Read his post and watch his video here.

Incorporate Online Discussions of Videos

Vialogues is a free service that allows you to build online discussions around videos hosted online and videos that you have saved on your computer. Registered users can upload videos to Vialogues or use YouTube videos as the centerpieces of their conversations. In the video embedded below, a short overview of how Vialogues works is provided.

Content in this post adapted from Practical Ed Tech with Richard Byrne

Tech Tip Tuesday: App Provides 3 Sides to Every Story

This tip is brought to you by Richard Byrne at Free Tech 4 Teachers:

"Perspecs is a new app that aims to provide users with three sides to every news story. On Monday through Friday the free Android and iPhone app offers a selection of articles about current topics in the news. The topics could be breaking news or they could be topics of a more evergreen nature like national education systems.

I tested Perspecs on my Android phone by selecting one of Friday's topics which was 'Is China Best for Education?' The app then presented me with three articles on the topic. Each article took a different position on the topic. I was able to read all of the articles within the app."

You and your students can use Perspecs to easily find a balanced selection of news sources and multiple perspectives on current events. 

Tech Tip Tuesday: Google Drive 101

For those of you who are relatively new to using Google Drive, I have compiled a few links to help you master some of the basic functions and features.

Five Essential Google Drive Skills for Teachers

How to Make Copies of Google Docs that Aren't Directly Shared with You

Three Google Drive Features that Impress New Users

As always, if you would like personalized support, I am happy to be of service!

Tech Tip Tuesday: Two Time Savers for Assessment

Today's tips can help you use Google Apps to save time in two different assessment scenarios:

1. short, formative quizzes 
2. written assignments submitted using Google Docs.

Formative Quizzes
If you are giving an assessment that can be administered using Google forms (multiple choice, T/F, simple fill in the blank), I recommend using Flubaroo, a free tool that not only automatically scores student responses, but also:

• Computes average assignment score
• Computes average score per question, and flags low-scoring questions
• Shows you a grade distribution graph
• Gives you the option to email each student their score, and an answer key
• Lets you send individualized feedback to each student

This is a great way to get quick and dirty data on what students know in relation to specific learning targets in a timely manner. The Flubaroo user guide has clear, step by step instructions for how to set this up, and I am happy to provide support, as well.

Written Assessments
When providing students with feedback on written assignments, you may find yourself writing the same types of comments repeatedly. While this is good information for you, in that it identifies a skill that many students still need to work on, it can be exhausting to write or type the same thing over and over. If your students submit their work using Google Docs, you can create shortcuts, which allow you to type in a simple abbreviation that will then automatically convert to the full length comment. For specific instructions on how to set this up, check out this post from SmartBlog on Education.

Tech Tip Tuesday: QR Codes

Where will this QR Code take you?

During one of our recent learning walks, one teacher's take away was a reminder that he needs to be more conscious of incorporating opportunities for movement into all of his classes, even if that just means getting students out of their desks for a minute or two. Using QR codes is one way to get students up and moving. Here are some resources that will help you get started or perhaps provide you with some new ideas if you're already using them.

Here are a few quick ideas for getting started with QR Codes (from freetech4teachers.com):

• What QR Codes Can Do for You!
• Three Ways to Make Useful QR Codes for Your Students (includes info about the QR Treasure Hunt Generator)

For a more in-depth, philosophical and pedagogical discussion of this strategy, I recommend "QR Codes: Pushing the Narrative on Scannables" from Edutopia. 

If you are using QR codes in a lesson, let me know. Your colleagues would love to see this strategy in action!

Tech Tip Tuesday: New Google Forms

Have you noticed that Google recently updated the interface for creating and managing Forms? Perhaps you've had some trouble finding the menus and features that you are familiar with? Or maybe you are new to Google Forms altogether and are interested in a quick tutorial to help you get started...

What's New?
The basic differences between the old and new versions include:

• Simplified design to view and edit on mobile
• Brand new colors and themes
• A quicker way to view and manage responses

Beyond the Basics

One of my favorite resources for new technology ideas is the Free Technology for Teachers blog written by Richard Byrne. He recently put together a Google Forms tutorial playlist, which includes videos demonstrating how to customize both the old and new versions of Google Forms, how to install Add-ons in both versions, and tutorials on some of his favorite Google Forms Add-ons. You also might want to check out 80 Interesting Ways to Use Google Forms in the Classroom from TeachThought.

Tech Tip Tuesday: Kahoot

On a learning walk last week, Caroline, Ahmed and I visited Jean Nightingale's Geometry class and got to see Kahoot! in action. As described on the website, "Kahoot is a learning game created on the Kahoot! platform, which consists of multiple choice questions - as a quiz, discussion or survey - in any topic, language or ability. It’s projected at the front of the classroom, & played by the whole class together in real-time (answering on their own personal device)." As we saw in Jean's class, the students were engaged and enjoying the game, and Jean was able to instantly assess where students are in their learning and then address misconceptions on the spot.

I was going to use this post to plug the upcoming TTT session on Kahoot!, but sadly, it has been postponed. So instead, here are some resources to help you get started with this awesome tool on your own. As always, if you need additional support, your instructional coach is here for  you!

You might want to start with the Getting Started with Kahoot tutorial from their website. Or, if you prefer to watch a video tutorial, you could check this one out.

Once you've got the basics down, you might be interested in learning about how to use "ghost mode" in this post from Free Technology for Teachers. This feature essentially gives students the opportunity to play a Kahoot review game against themselves in order to measure their own progress and growth.

For a peek behind the scenes, this episode from the TeachThought podcast features the co-founder of Kahoot! discussing their mission driven approach to learning and how Kahoot! is more than just an assessment tool.

Tech Tip Tuesday - LastPass

Do you have trouble keeping track of all of your usernames and passwords? Or maybe you have a "secret" spot where you keep them all, but it is really not secure and if you lost your device, someone could get access to your data.

A password manager can simplify your life, and a good one makes it easy to improve your overall online security. I've been using LastPass for years, so this is the one I personally recommend, and I am not alone. In 2015, Lifehacker ranked it as one of the top 5 password managers. 

LastPass remembers your usernames and passwords so you don't have to, and it will auto-populate the fields for your saved sites, making signing in a breeze. It also makes it easy to audit your passwords, use stronger passwords in general, and it gives you the option to store all of your passwords either online and synced with other computers and devices, or locally on one device.

According to the LastPass website, "Getting started is free, fast and just a few simple steps." What are you waiting for? 

Support available for the technologically-challenged!

Tech Tip Tuesday - Random Name Picker

"Perhaps the simplest way to improve classroom questioning is simply not to ask for volunteers, but instead to choose a student at random," says Dylan Wiliam, an expert on formative assessment and effective questioning strategies. Read more about how random questioning increases student engagement in Wiliam's article "The Right Questions, The Right Way." 

Try these two tools to easily digitize the popsicle stick strategy:

Random Name Picker is a free tool from Classtools.net. It lets you input names and spin a virtual wheel to have a name randomly selected from the list. After a name is selected you can remove it from the wheel so that it is not selected again. You can save your lists by assigning passwords to them. You can also re-use your saved lists. 



Stick Pick is an app for iPhone or iPad where you can set up multiple virtual cans of sticks. It also suggests question starters for learners at different levels and allows you to keep track of student responses. 

Tech Tip Tuesday - Printfriendly

Have you ever wanted to print an article from a blog or a website, but wished you could do it without printing all of the ads and widgets in the side columns? Or perhaps when reading online, you find all of the clutter distracting and wish you could just have a clean, easy-to-read page? PrintFriendly is the tool for you. 

Simply copy and paste the URL of the article or post that you want to print into the PrintFriendly site. You’ll get an editable version of the page that lets you delete images, resize or change fonts, and delete specific pieces of text. This allows you to create the perfect document ready for printing. You can also email the document or download and save it as a PDF file.

PrintFriendly also offers the option to install a browser bookmarklet. Once installed, the bookmarklet allows you to simply click a button on your browser’s task bar whenever you’re on a site you want to print. Very handy!

Want to see it in action? Check out this video demo:

Interested in learning more about how online reading impacts concentration and comprehension? Check out Nicholas Carr's article in Wired magazine: "The Web Shatters Focus, Rewires Brains."

Tech Tip Tuesday - Save & Share Browser Tabs

The newest twist on TTT is "Tech Tip Tuesday", a weekly blog post that includes a quick technology tip that will enhance teaching and learning in your classroom, help you stay organized and ideally, save you time. If you have a Tech Tip suggestion, you can: a) send it to Susan Payne, b) share in the comments, or c) do a guest blog post. Let's pool our collective knowledge and learn from each other!

Today's tech tip comes from SmartBlog on Education:

Tech Tip: How to save and share multiple browser tabs

By Ari Flewelling on January 12th, 2016 | Comments (0)

You’re sitting in your classroom researching websites for an upcoming lesson and you have about ten tabs open in your Google Chrome browser when you realize it’s almost 5pm and you need to leave to go home. One problem, what are you supposed to do with all the tabs? Here are two solutions to help you:

• TabCloud: This Google Chrome extension lets you save and name tabs. For example, say you have 10 tabs open pertaining to “The Great Gatsby.” Simply on Tab Cloud, name the group “Gatsby” and save it for later. You can access the tabs again by clicking on Tab Cloud.
• One Tab: With One Tab you can save your group of tabs and share the list as a web page or via QR code. This is great when working with students because you only have to share one link instead of several. You can also favorite tab groups if there are groups of tabs you use on a regular basis.