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Fun with a Holiday Fliphunt

by Dr. Bruce Ellis
written by Dr. Bruce Ellis

Add some fun to your holiday season and learning by completing this holiday fliphunt. You’ll find a variety of options so you can start with any of the tasks. All you need is the Flip app on a phone or tablet and enter the code fa530c13. Or, if you are using a Chromebook or laptop, then you can point your browser to https://flip.com/fa530c13. Enter the guest password TCEAGuest if you do not want to log in with your Microsoft or Google credentials. Since this fliphunt is open to the world, don’t share your first and last name when recording. Instead, make up a holiday name or use a different fake name to protect your identity. To make it easier, consider printing out the holiday fliphunt tasks sheet.

What Is a Fliphunt?

A fliphunt is a fun way for students (and adults) to share their learning, interact with content, or just get to know each other better. Participants refer to a task list that is provided with the specific fliphunt that gives a variety of activities to record. Younger students and “newbies” to Flipgrid may find it easiest to work in pairs as they collaborate with other pairs to complete the tasks. Unless otherwise noted, you can start with any task on the sheet. You can find out more information about fliphunts by reading other blog posts I’ve written on the topic.

There’s Even a Reward!

Complete all the tasks on the holiday fliphunt this month and I’ll email you a special certificate recognizing your accomplishment! To receive your certificate, complete the following:

  1. Use your fake name which should appear as the Display Name (if not, edit the display name to be your fake name).
  2. Use the hashtagged task title (#tradition, #song, #worldgift, etc.) as the Title. (see the graphic below for an example)
  3. After you complete and submit all seven tasks, Send Me an Email to let me know. Tell me the fake name you used so I can verify your submissions and your real name for the certificate. I’ll email you a PDF certificate to recognize your accomplishment!
Video submission screenshot

More Winter Resources from TechNotes

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G Suite EDU
ChromebooksGoogle Tips and Tricks

Overcome Five Challenges in G Suite EDU Classroom

by Miguel Guhlin
written by Miguel Guhlin

Looking for G Suite EDU goodness? Then you need look no further than this blog post. In it, we’ll explore a few ways educators are using G Suite EDU tools to resolve classroom challenges. Let’s take a moment to review some of the main challenges that educators face.

A quick list of challenges includes:

  1. Providing individualized feedback to students
  2. Encouraging collaboration with experts and peers
  3. Learning Google Classroom
  4. Viewing educational YouTube videos in the classroom
  5. Locating top Chrome apps and extensions

Ready to get started? Here we go.

G Suite EDU Challenge #1: Individual Student Feedback

In this video, Sean Thompson shares how educators can more easily provide individualize feedback to students who then review the feedback and then hold formative, reflective discussions one on one with you.

The video uses two tools you may be familiar with, along with a third you may not. The third tool is one you may be unaware of, the Autocrat extension. Autocrat features a simple description that belies great functionality:

Autocrat is an easy to use, flexible document merge tool. It makes creation of PDF or shared Documents from a spreadsheet straightforward. Autocrat is a multi-purpose document merge tool. It allows you to take data from a spreadsheet and merge it into a document via a template.  Tell Autocrat which fields to merge via <>. Then, let Autocrat mass-generate personalized documents.  You can also send the documents as email attachments.  Or, when new forms are submitted, let Autocrat automation take over. This automation means less oversight from you, making your job easier. (Source: Adapted from Autocrat G Suite Marketplace)

The other two tools include Google Forms and Sheets. You may want to watch other videos in this series.

G Suite EDU
Image Source

G Suite EDU Challenge #2: Foster Collaboration via Expert Cards

Wish you could have students self-identify as guides on the side for other learners? You might want to try this approach that Zak Kolar suggests. He writes:

I used these “expert” cards with 5th graders for a Google Sites project last year. Students who are more experienced place “expert” cards on their desks. That signals to other students they can answer questions related to a certain area. Those areas include inserting images, creating links, changing layouts, etc.

Zak points out that this approach frees him up to circulate and answer tougher questions. Adapt the approach for both technical and content-related challenges. Teaching students self-assessment can be helpful. When students learn to check or assess their own learning, this can be quite powerful. As such, you can see a gradual release of responsibility when students own their learning. They may begin with you checking for understanding, but as they gain confidence, they move on to self-checks. As they gain knowledge, they can becomes aides to others.

You can see specific ways in these links:

Why make the effort to empower students to self assess? John Hattie explains that students are accurate at self-assessment. As their own critics, they set goals and want to achieve them. To do this, students might follow a specific process that culminates in expert cards:

  1. Students set goals for themselves. Teachers provide descriptive feedback to help them know what they need.
  2. Pupils predict their performance before they begin a task or series of tasks. For a quiz or test, students compare their actual performance with their prediction. 
  3. Learners then reflect and reconcile the difference between the two. This enables students to gain insight. Are they meeting their set goals on a specific assessment? (Source: Chris Bettiol) 

Self-reported grades empower students. Zak’s expert cards appear as the visual acknowledge of student expectations well-met.

G Suite EDU Challenge #3: Learn Google Classroom

Every time I use Google Classroom, I’m amazed at the new features. As you might imagine, the wealth of new features makes keeping up difficult. Let’s explore three miscellaneous questions that have come up about this tool.

Question #1:  “If a person gets added to Classroom later in the term, does he/she receive all the assignments? Does the new person get earlier assignments and stuff?”

Response:  “Yes, that person will have all of the stuff that everyone else in the class has.” (Source: Heather Dawson)

Question #2: “I am a robotics teacher at 4 schools. I have a different Google Classroom at each school that I access with an email address for that school. I have created a quiz at one of the schools. Is there a way to move that quiz to each of the other classrooms without entering the information again?”

Response: “Make a shared drive or a shared folder that all of your email addresses have editing access. Then anything you put in that folder will be accessible to each classroom.” (Source: Laurie Anastasio)

Question #3:  “How are you using G Suite EDU to maximize efficiency? That is, when creating standards scales, data/standard tracking (teacher & student)?”

Responses: 

  • “I made a standards based “gradebook” for my 3rd grade co-teacher. Used Sheets. You could make a master copy for yourself and import the formulas. This will make an individual one for each student and share that with each student and parent. You can also use Autocrat to have the info pulled from your sheet into a google doc. Then, have it share with students and parents.”
  • “Two videos on grading with rubrics (Video #1: Create Rubrics | Video #2: Grading with Rubrics).”

Challenge #4: View YouTube Videos in the Classroom

How can my students watch YouTube videos without advertisements? That’s the substance of questions I’ve received. Another G Suite EDU user asks the following: 

“I have a set of videos a teacher has asked students to watch from YouTube. I can access them as an administrator, but for students, it says the video is unavailable. “This video is restricted. Try signing in with a Google Apps account.” Student attempted with both GAFE and personal accounts and still could not access. Any ideas?

There can be several responses that result in a positive outcome. Most rely on what your school district’s policy is on YouTube. For example, some schools may put a block on YouTube for students when accessed via wireless (a.k.a. WiFi). Teachers may have to submit those web links to allow for access.  Unfortunately, another possibility may include student honesty. Jennifer Brower states the following:

This happens to students under 13 who have signed into YouTube and give their real age. Hooray for them not lying, but it means YouTube now restricts them from a lot, even if we have approved the video. Tech hasn’t found a way to get around it as it is YouTube’s policy that under 13 isn’t supposed to have access.

Other educators may choose to use websites like Viewpure, Safeshare. Another possibility for ad blocking includes a Chrome browser extension Video Adblocker for YouTube. Want an alternative solution that is cost-free? Use Wakelet to create a video playlist. Learn more about this solution via this Wakelet on creating a YouTube Video Playlist. Learn more about Using YouTube Videos in the Classroom.

Challenge #5: Top Chrome Apps and Extensions

Want to start a fight in the teachers’ lounge? Ask “What are your top Chrome must haves for approved student apps and extensions?” and you will be sure to get it started. Here are some responses in alphabetical order from other educators. How would you rate this list? What would you include or remove?

Note: Descriptions excerpted from the Chrome Web Store.

  • Clever: Clever is a Chrome extension that enables students and teachers to log in to their applications.
  • Draftback: Draftback lets you play back the revision history of any Google Doc you can edit.
  • Fun Text: Applies fun effects to your text, such as Rainbow, Growing, Upside down, and much more. 
  • Goobric: Facilitates rubric-based assessment. Includes two different Chrome extensions and works in collaboration with the Doctopus Add-on for Google Sheets.
  • Grammarly:  From grammar and spelling to style and tone, Grammarly helps you eliminate writing errors and find the perfect words to express yourself. You’ll get suggestions from Grammarly as you write.
  • Insert Learning:  Insert instructional content on any web page. Teachers can insert questions, discussions, and insight directly into any website. When students go to that website, they can respond to those questions and discussions. They can also take their own notes.
  • Kami: Allows you to take any existing document and enhance it in your browser. Annotate scanned PDFs, as well as write, draw, type, comment, augment.
  • LastPass Free Password Manager:  LastPass saves your passwords. It then gives you secure access from every computer and mobile device. Only remember one password – your LastPass master password. Save all your usernames and passwords to LastPass. It will autologin to your sites and sync your passwords everywhere you need them.
  • LucidChart Diagrams: The easiest way to draw flowcharts, mockups, UML, mind maps and more.
  • PearDeck:  Pear Deck is an add-on for Google Slides that will allow teachers to ask students questions. Students will be prompted to answer your questions as you advance your slides. Read these TCEA blog entries featuring PearDeck.
  • Read and Write:  Offers text-to-speech to hear words, passages, or whole documents read aloud with easy-to-follow dual color highlighting, and more. Read this TCEA blog entry. 
  • Screencastify:   Capture, edit and share videos in seconds. Read TCEA blog entries featuring Screencastify.
  • WriQ:  WriQ helps teachers assess student writing, provide valuable feedback, in Google Docs.

Looking for more ideas? John Sowash has a nice list online. And here’s my list. Remember, avoid Chrome extension overload for yourself and students by introducing a new extension when needed and not before.

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Chrome browser
ChromebooksGoogle Tips and Tricks

Make Your Chrome Browser Even Stronger

by Dr. Bruce Ellis
written by Dr. Bruce Ellis

In a previous post, I shared several flags that you can enable in the Chrome browser for additional features that you might find helpful. I have heard from several folks that enjoyed those features, so here are two more that you might want to consider. And, as a reminder, to access the flags in Chrome, you’ll need to go to chrome://flags in your Chrome browser.

Enable Tab Groups

The Tab Groups flag will allow you to cluster opened tabs into groups. Still experimental, this feature isn’t as robust as it will eventually become, but it may be helpful none-the-less. Once enabled, you’ll notice an additional choice as you right-click on a tab – Add to New Group. If you have already created a group, then you will notice that you have an option to add the tab to a particular group. The first group is named Group 1 with all the tabs added to the group obtaining the color of the group. Unfortunately you cannot rename the group name (yet) and the groups cannot be rearranged. Also, once you close the browser, the grouping is removed.

Chrome browser

Below is what my Chrome tabs look like now.  This flag is definitely in the infant stage of development, but there is great potential for it. Even if you choose not to keep this flag enabled (and you set it back to default), keep an eye on it; in Chrome Canary (the developer’s version of Chrome that is updated nightly), this flag already allows you to rename the group and assign a color to the group.

Chrome browser

If you like the concept of tab groups but are disappointed with the lack of features in this flag, then consider using the Tab Group extension. Wow, what a game changer! Not only can I create tab groups, I can also name them, easily add to them, and have the extension open a saved group in the current browser or a new window! This feature is like having my bookmarks already in a folder and able to open up at once (which is already possible but less convenient than this extension makes it).

If I’m a classroom teacher, I may use the extension to create grouped tabs that I’ll use when teaching…or teach my students to create grouped tabs so they can be more efficient (at least in my class) while on the laptop/desktop/Chromebook. I personally have started using it to group similar tabs that I need to open based on various tasks that I might be doing (work, social media, research, training, etc.).  Below is a screenshot of what my current groupings look like using the extension (not the flag).

Chrome browser

Enable Focus Mode

If you want to focus on a particular website, but don’t want to be distracted by the other tabs that may also open, then consider enabling the Focus Mode flag. Once enabled, Focus Mode will allow you to remove the identified tab from the current window of tabs and open it in its own special window. Special window? Yes, special window. The window that it will open to will be stripped of many interface elements (omnibox, extension bar, bookmarks bar, etc.) leaving you with just a title bar, the more features icon, and a scroll bar.

If you want to drop the focused window back into the window from where it was extracted, then click on the more icon (the vertical three dots on the right-hand side of the browser) and select Open in Chrome. This flag is great if you like to have multiple tabs open normally, but need to focus for a bit.

Google Chrome developers are always working to see how they can keep Chrome ahead of the game and make it the browser of choice. Stay tuned as we keep our eye out for more goodies that are coming your way!

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Creator Studio
ChromebooksGoogle Tips and Tricks

Get Creative with Google Slides Creator Studio

by Miguel Guhlin
written by Miguel Guhlin

Have you ever had a need to export a Google Slides slide deck as animated GIF, MP4 video format, or numbered images? If so, your prayers have been answered. A new add-on for Google Slides makes it easy to get those jobs done. Let’s take a quick look at it.

Creating Videos from Slide Shows

Before we jump into an overview of the new add-on, let’s review reasons why it might be great to have these features. Here are my top ones for any Google Slides user:

  • Make digital stories. Students can use Google Slides to make comic books and digital stories, add some copyright-free music to a slide, and then put it on YouTube. You can now do that with the Video with Audio feature of  Creator Studio.
  • Export slides as pictures. You can now export slides as pictures, not one at a time (currently supported), but en masse. What a time saver to be able to export all slides as an image sequence!
  • Create an animated GIF. My old workaround was to save slides one at a time, then import them into Gifmaker.me to make an animated GIF. Creator Studio streamlines this process.
  • Share your slides as video. Turn your slide deck into a video that students (and others) can watch on any device.Now you can save it as a video using the most compatible video format, MP4. The video with audio feature makes adding music easy, as well.

Learn About Creator Studio Add-on

This Google Slides add-on,  Creator Studio, makes it easy to export a slide deck in G Suites. The add-on states you can:

Convert Google Slides to GIF images and MP4 video files. Add background music or voice narration to your exported presentations. Export Slides as image sequences and they are uploaded to Google Drive.

A description of the features appears below, adapted from the Creator Studio website:

  • Animated GIF: Create an infinite loop animated GIF. Or make stop motion animation by keeping time interval low.
  • Image Sequence: These numbered PNG image file appear in Google Drive with thumbnails.
  • Video File (MP4): Create an MP4 video file using your slides. You can change the time interval on how quick slides appear in the video.
  • Video with Audio: Put any audio file in MP3 or WAV audio file format. The audio file will play alongside the presentation. This makes it possible for you to provide voice narration in the background as video plays. Note that audio files must be smaller than 10 megabytes; you may need to drop them into Audacity to shorten them.

These features are amazing to find in Google Slides. Microsoft PowerPoint users may have a ho-hum attitude as they’ve been able to export files as MP4 video for quite some time. While Google hasn’t provided these options (uh, what’s taking so long Google?), there is a clear need for them. Thank goodness  Creator Studio  makes it possible.

Creator Studio

This animated GIF created with the  Creator Studio  add-on using default settings.

Get Creative

When you first add  Creator Studio to your personal or G Suite EDU account, you will be prompted with a security warning:

Creator Studio

Select OK to move past it. You will be dropped into a brand new Google Slides slide deck. Once you verify that  Creator Studio  is working, you can switch to any Slides deck and get creative.

Your next step is to open a Google Slides slide deck you want to get creative with. Here’s what mine looks like with  Creator Studio  open:

Creator Studio

Here’s what that Google Slides deck looks like as an MP4 video file with copyright-free music:

The default is 300 pixels output width and looks like this:

Compare that with 609 pixels output width:

You will need to play with the pixels output width until you get the desired quality. You can find the full-blown Slides deck here as well.

Tip: Wondering WHERE all your Creator Studio creations live? Creator Studio puts them all in a folder entitled “Creator Studio.” This folder appears at the root level of your Google Drive.

Premium Features

Wondering at the cost? For $29 a year, single license users get the following:

  • Create high-resolution animated GIFs, image sequences, and HD videos
  • Set custom time interval (in seconds) between slides
  • Add background audio and voice narration to the exported video file
  • All add-on branding is removed from exported images and videos
  • Complimentary technical support upgradable to one-on-one support

If you are part of a team or want to get this for your domain, that’s also reasonable. Creator Studio’s price breakdown is as follows: two users for $58 a year, three users for $84, four users for $116, five users for $145. If you want to get it for everyone in your G Suite domain, the cost is $299. It’s quite a bargain given the range of features.

Get Creative with Google Slides Creator Studio

If you have been looking for an amazing way to export slides as animated GIFs, videos, videos with audio,  Creator Studio is your solution. Be sure to watch Amit Agarwal’s tutorial video on  Creator Studio.

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timeline
ChromebooksESL/ELLGood TeachingGoogle Tips and Tricks

Timelines Made Easy

by Miguel Guhlin
written by Miguel Guhlin

Why not introduce students to the concept of creating timelines to document their adventures? Consider guiding them through crafting timelines of their recent experiences. Demonstrating how to illustrate events with pictures and videos can be a powerful learning experience at any time of the year.

Timelines are critical components to teach. Students stuck in paper-and-pencil classrooms struggle to make them. I know I did when I was an elementary student. Sequencing and comprehension go together, per Reading Rockets:

The ability to sequence events in a text is a key comprehension strategy, especially for narrative texts. Sequencing is also an important component of problem-solving across subjects.

Sequencing in a timeline aids comprehension for English Language Learners (ELL) students:

Sequencing [in a timeline]…provides comprehension support to English language learners (ELLs), helping them make connections and recognize patterns in a series or process. Because numerical markers such as hours, years, days or months are placed apart with plenty of space in between, timelines can appear visually less complex than pure text, helping ELLs more easily relate events to their corresponding times (Source).

Knowing how to make timelines is an important job skill. Don’t think of it as arranging pictures and dates in chronological order alone. Rather, think of it as an unfolding story about what happened, who did what, where, and when. In this blog entry, we’ll explore a free tool for creating timelines with Google Sheets.

Why Are Timelines Important?

“The project timeline is the beating heart of every project,” says Angela Bunner. “It captures the essence of what the project will accomplish and how it will be done.” As a technology director, project management always involved crafting a timeline. Bunner says that all timelines share common elements. Those elements include:

  • Tasks: A list of what must be done
  • Dates: A list of when tasks will achieve completion status
  • Duration: How long each task will take
  • Prerequisites: The order in which tasks must be done

For timelines that look to the past, there are more expectations. Jen Giambrone (History Associates) recommends you review this infographic. In “A quick guide to Timelines,” they ask a series of questions:

  • Is a timeline the best way to tell my organization’s story?
  • How do I pick a platform for an online timeline?
  • Who is your key audience for the timeline?
  • What are the project goals?
  • What are some of the important milestones?
  • Do you have a style guide?
  • How many entries will you have in your timeline?
  • What kinds of media will you include, and where will that media come from?

For classroom timelines, it may be easy enough to create a Google Doc with tables or a template like this one. Some may prefer to use a Google Sheet, inserting images, titles, and quick pictures. And you may want to see how to make timelines with Google Slides or PowerPoint. But another nifty tool is available. Care to take a look?

Introducing Timeline JS

Finding top-notch timeline making solutions (web or software) can be challenging. Often, they cost money, and who wants to pay for a timeline creation solution they may only use a few times?

Northwestern University’s Knight Lab’s TimelineJS offers a free, open-source tool. You can use TimelineJS to build an interactive timeline with rich visuals and add all sorts of media to your timeline, such as:

  • Twitter
  • Flickr
  • YouTube, Vimeo, Vine
  • Dailymotion
  • Google Maps
  • Wikipedia
  • SoundCloud
  • Document Cloud and more

Take a moment to watch their two-minute video introduction and how-to. It walks you through the process starting with a Google Sheet template that Knight Lab’s provides. In no time, you will have a timeline you can embed.

Timeline Making Tips

Some of the tips the Knight Lab folks offer appear below:

  1. Keep it short, no more than twenty slides
  2. Select stories that have a strong chronology
  3. Embed each event in a story that encompasses all events
  4. Be sure to blend in small events that lead to something bigger

You can see some of the timelines created. Find them online.

timelines

Making timelines means crafting a compelling story that arises from insignificant or significant events. These events, taken alone, may be inconsequential. When combined, they show what happened in a way that can have a profound impact. Use TimelineJS in your school, office, or classroom for timelines made easy.

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lesson planning
AndroidChromebooksGood TeachingiOS Tips and Tricks

Back to School Apps for Lesson Planning

by Miguel Guhlin
written by Miguel Guhlin

“Does the TEKS Resource System have an app?” asked a classroom teacher in one of my sessions. “I want to pull up my lessons.” The question got me thinking. After some fruitless searches in the Google Play store, I failed to find an app. But I did find a few, no-cost apps that teachers may want as they head back to school. Care to see what they are?

App #1: Effective Instructional Strategies

Looking for a collection of research-based instructional strategies? While you may look no further than John Hattie’s list of effective strategies, where’s the app? If you’re wondering, you may disappointed to discover there is no an app. Until now.

Thanks to the magic of Glide, a website that lets you turn a Google Sheet into an app, it’s pretty easy to make your own. The resulting product works on any device, not only your smartphone. With that in mind, I’ve created a Hattie effective instructional strategies app.

lesson planning

The  Strategies That Work  app includes a short list of effective instructional strategies. As a technology director, I wish I had known about John Hattie before now. They are a real eye-opener when it comes to popular technology-focused strategies.

While Hattie says that “Everything works” with the 250+ instructional strategies we use, not everything accelerates student growth. Want an illustrated, quick reference on your device with links to video and more info? This app will get you started. What’s more, I’ll be adding more instructional strategies at least once a month. Want to help me? Make contact via Twitter @mguhlin.

Get the Strategies That Work app

App #2: TEKS

Are you a Texas educator? You may want to have quick access to the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS). Any teacher worth their salt will soon have these memorized (well, if they write lesson plans). But if your brain isn’t cooperating, why not load the TEKS app onto your phone? You can find the TEKS in detail for any content area. Give it a try.

Get the TEKS app

App #3: Lead4ward

The Lead4ward folks have a lot of fantastic resources for schools. As a classroom teacher, I love their app’s “quickchecks.” These provide a wealth of activities such as one-question quizzes, seven little words, etc.

The list of quick checks is a searchable collection of assessments. You can tap on the assessment and get instructions on how to use it in the classroom.

What a handy aid! And there’s even more included in the app. Why not check it out?

Get the Lead4ward app for iOS|Android

These three apps make it easy to engage in lesson planning. You can find instructional strategies that align to the TEKS and assess learning. Give them a try.

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seesaw
AndroidChromebooksGood TeachingiOS Tips and TricksOnline Tools and Apps

Learning to Juggle with Seesaw

by Guest Blogger
written by Guest Blogger

Are you a juggler when it comes to education?

Have you ever wanted one spot to keep track of everything as a teacher? Sometimes, we educators feel learning something new is “just one more thing to add to our plate.” But being a digital leader means sharing and collaborating effective, efficient ideas and tools. Seesaw Learning Journal is such a tool. It even can help educators communicate effectively and efficiently with both students and parents.

Seesaw is a platform to encourage student engagement online, where they can showcase their voice and ownership in their work. It is a student-driven online journal that can be used in many ways and is available through the web, iOS, and Android.

Ups and Downs of Seesaw

seesawThere are several benefits to using Seesaw. Students are able to showcase their best work for parents, peers, and teachers. Students are able to explain their masterpieces, and take pride in ownership through their use of camera, video, drawings, and notes, especially when they know it is being published. This helps shy students who want to speak but are not very vocal. Teachers benefit from Seesaw by being able to use the student journal as a paperless storage for work samples, to show and discuss at parent conferences, and even use as an assessment tool. Additionally, teachers can make private notes and give feedback.

Seesaw is also user-friendly for families. Parents can see and comment on all their child’s masterpieces, and they can communicate one-to-one with the teacher. Best of all, multiple parents or any family member can join and comment. I have one student right now that has her grandma, aunt, and mom connected, and they all comment on her work!

The core Seesaw service is free for teachers, families, and students. It is a key part of their mission to impact as many students as possible. They also offer Seesaw Plus and Seesaw for Schools, which are optional paid upgrades for teachers and schools who want to do even more with Seesaw. You can view a comparison of Seesaw, Seesaw Plus, and Seesaw for Schools features here.

As for the disadvantages of Seesaw, if students are signing in through a class QR code, they are not able to edit previous work. This requires the teacher to navigate this extra step. The appearance of the dashboard needs to be updated to be more appealing to the student. The disadvantage for the teacher is printing out invitations to the parents. You must download the entire class PDF file, not just one student’s, in order to send the QR code home. The con for the parents is the lack of push notifications on iOS and Android. On tablets, students are not able to draw on a still picture while recording their voice. For example, when my kindergarteners are reading a list of sight words, I like them to check them off as they read. They can on Chromebooks, and it may come Android soon.

Using Seesaw Learning Journals

Teaching students to use Seesaw Learning Journal is an easy task, even for kindergarteners. First, students can sign in either by email (recommended for grades 3-12) or by QR codes (recommended for grades PreK-2 ). I teach kindergarten, and in my classroom of 19, the students log in and add their “Wow Work” (best work) themselves on Chromebooks and tablets by signing in with a class QR code.

Next, students can add content by camera, video, notes, Google links, drawings, or even by uploading a PDF. My students this past week chose their “Leaf Projects” to showcase. They appsmashed with Chatterpix and uploaded it to Seesaw. Some then chose to type a sentence about their projects; others choose to type describing words. It was their choice, their voice, and they have ownership in their work.

Third, students have a choice when it comes to assignments within the “Activities Tab.” The assignment can be specifically for a certain student or be the same for the whole class. Finally, the student logs in and clicks his name, then his activity tab. After they complete their assignment, they save it to their Seesaw account.

Grown-Up Growth

Teaching the adults to use Seesaw is my favorite. After using Seesaw for six years now, my interest sparks each year as Seesaw is updated.

As a teacher, the class is set up by entering your students’ names and their email addresses, if you chose for them to sign in with emails. The teacher is then able to let students upload their work and can give feedback and comments about their work. Teachers also have the option of giving the students more power by letting them comment on their peer’s work. This is recommended as long as a digital citizenship lesson has been provided.

Next, teachers get to differentiate student work in the activities tab by only assigning certain work to certain students or the whole class. The activities tab provides teachers with a single place to see who has completed and turned in their assignments and who is still working on them. Teachers can also tag certain TEKS/objectives to certain activities. This makes it easy to pull up reports on a certain TEK and see if you need to reteach that concept, or if your students are grasping the lessons.

Seesaw has a plethora of activities already made for you. They are sorted per subject, per grade level, and are available to add to your students’ accounts. No reason to reinvent the wheel! The teacher can simply copy and adjust it to the student’s needs. The Skills tab on Seesaw is a great way to assess a child on a four-star scale.

Staying Connected

Another great part for teachers is the parent communication. For years, I used Seesaw, Class Dojo, and Remind for parent communication. I was all over the place, with some parents connected to this one but not that one. The last two years, I have only used Seesaw, and all my parents are connected in one place.

This makes it easy to send out announcements for the class, to send flyers home, or even a quick message. You can communicate to the parents/families, or just to the students, or just to one parent. It is a great way to send weekly personalized messages out on how their child is learning and participating in class. I also send out a weekly announcement on what their child is learning in my class for that week. I was able to embed my link to my Google document to sign up for parent/teacher conferences and was able to get real-time feedback.

As you can see, there are many pros and just a few cons to using Seesaw Learning Journal. Overall, Seesaw is user-friendly for the students, parents, and teachers. Give it try!

Laressia Martin is an educational technology leadership expert and elementary educator. You can learn more about her on her website or on Twitter.

“Vitz-9572”by Jon.Proehl is licensed under CC BY 2.0

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Chrome browser
ChromebooksGoogle Tips and Tricks

Make Your Chrome Browsing Experience Even Better

by Dr. Bruce Ellis
written by Dr. Bruce Ellis

There are many things I enjoy about the Chrome browser, including a wide array of extensions I can use, assigning my startup pages so they automatically load when I open the browser, and being able to cast my browser to my TV for group viewing. Needless to say, I was excited when I found out about various new features that developers are testing to see if they are worthy to become full-fledged features in Chrome. Here are some of my favorites.

A Word about Chrome Flags

First, I need to give a disclaimer.

When developers are testing new features that may not be ready for prime time, they push them out as experimental features. You can find these features by typing chrome://flags into your Chrome browser and hitting return. You want to be careful when altering flags, as it may have unintended consequences. And, if you feel you’ve gone too far and want to undo your changes, just click the “Reset all to default” button at the top of the flags page. But, if you are like me and interested in what might be coming down the road, taking a look at flags can be a sneak peek into what the developers are thinking. Also, because flags are considered experimental, they may disappear at any time if it is decided to abandon a flag. Since flags are testing grounds for features, some of them may actually make it to the prestige of becoming a “real” feature in Chrome.

Enable Reader Mode

Enable Reader Mode (#Enable-Reader-Mode) opens a new page that has been stripped of ads. This is great when you are wanting to share a web page with others, but it is cluttered with ads that distract from the page. Chrome extensions that are similar to Reader Mode include Clearly and Print Friendly & PDF. To enable Reader Mode:search for #enable-reader-mode in the search box at the top of the experiments page. Click the blue button on the right and select “enabled.” You will be prompted to relaunch Chrome to have the change take place.

To use Reader Mode, go to a website of your choice. Click on the Customize and Control icon (the three vertical dots) on the top-right of your browser. Select “Distill page.” Your page will refresh to a simplified, less cluttered view. To leave the distilled page and return to normal viewing, just click the back button. This mode is available for Mac, Windows, Linux, and Chrome OS.

Focus Mode

Focus Mode will pop out the current tab into its own window. To make use of this feature, you’ll need Chrome 7.6 or higher, which was not yet out at the time of this writing. If you like to be on the cutting edge, though, and want access to this (and other) features before they are rolled out to the masses, then consider using Chrome Beta. Chrome Beta allows you to preview features before they are released. This is great if you work in a support capacity or you find that you are the geekiest of your group of friends.

With this flag enabled, you can right-click on a tab to get the contextual menu to appear. Notice to the right in the menu that “Focus this tab” is now in the list. Select this item. The tab will be removed from the current window and will reopen in a tab-less window with no omnibox. To restore the page, click on the Customize and Control icon and choose “Open in Chrome.” This feature is available for Mac, Windows, Linux, and Chrome OS. #focus-mode

Extensions Toolbar Menu

When the Extensions Toolbar Menu flag is enabled, Google will place an icon in the top-right corner of your browser in line with the omnibox. If you like a clutter-free browser toolbar or you are making screencasts, you will find this to be a handy feature. When you click on the icon (which looks something like a bad puzzle piece or a odd ship in Star Wars), you will be able to view and access all your enabled extensions via a drop-down list. Having your extensions in this folder-like feature provides a wider omnibox for viewing URLs.  This feature is available for Mac, Windows, Linux, and Chrome OS. #extensions-toolbar-menu

Tab Hover Cards

Tab Hover Cards replace the traditional tool tip. This is great if you have multiple tabs open but have trouble identifying the difference between them. While this isn’t a huge improvement over tool tips, it may be easier to see, especially if others are looking on at your computer.

Tab Hover Cards are much more relevant when coupled with Tab Hover Card Images. This flag will generate a thumbnail of any background tabs when you hover over them. For me, however, this seems a little slow to load the image; I’m not sure if that is due to needing some more efficiency in the coding of the flag or it is the way it is intended to work. Both flags are available for Mac, Windows, Linux, and Chrome OS. #tab-hover-cards #tab-hover-card-images

 

More Information At Your Fingertips

For more information on Chrome flags, check out these resources:

If you have worked with flags before or come across a great article that shares some interesting flags, jump in the comment section below and let me know. I’d love to hear from you!

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boom cards
ChromebooksGood TeachingiOS Tips and Tricks

Using Boom Cards in the Primary Classroom

by Guest Blogger
written by Guest Blogger

Helping primary students take charge of their own learning can be difficult. But now there are Boom Cards. Boom Cards are self-checking digital task cards that provide immediate feedback to young students. Teachers have access to the data through Boom’s reports feature, giving them a powerful tool to use to make decisions about instruction.

Top Tips for Using Boom Cards in Your Early Childhood Classroom

So what’s the best way to use digital task cards in your kindergarten (or younger) class? Here are some strategies for incorporating digital learning with our young learners.

boom cardsAudio Alert

Listen to Boom Learning‘s (@BoomLearning) Della Larsen (@larsenclass) and Melissa Bucher (@iheart4th) (shown right) share at the 2019 TCEA Elementary Technology Conference on how to make instructional decisions based off data. They discuss Boom Cards and share stories from their classrooms.

Strategy #1: Morning Work

In my classroom, my students trickle in and I need some quality activities for them to complete while they wait for everyone to arrive and get settled. I put out a few Chromebooks and iPads in a work center. My kids can easily sign in and complete a deck independently before we start our day.

Strategy #2: An Extension of Reading Groups

One of the most challenging tasks for me when I started teaching was trying to figure out what the rest of my class should be doing while I was meeting with reading groups. My go-to answer? Boom Cards. Whether I am reviewing beginning sounds, reading and blending cvc words, or identifying letters, I can extend the lesson easily with Boom Cards. As soon as my kids are done with me, they head to the tech table and get a little extended practice. I can go back and see their work and check for understanding with the reports feature. It’s easy to determine if I need to move students to a different group, reteach a concept, or provide targeted intervention.

Haven’t seen Boom Cards? Check out this video to see them in action.

Strategy #3: Learning Centers

I give my kids 60 minutes of centers every day. I want them at the art center, the block area, and dramatic play. However, I also have a word work and math center. I don’t have to worry if my kids are actually completing the task I set for them. Boom keeps them accountable. I can feel confident because I can check the reports to see exactly what mistakes they might be making.

boom cards

Strategy #4: Whole Group Instruction

Do you have an interactive white board? Boom Cards work great for whole group instruction. I can have great discussions about math or numbers and begin to really understand student thinking as we work through a problem together. No white board? No problem. Just project the Boom Cards on the board and let the discussion begin.

Strategy #5: Homework

With Boom Cards, you can stop copying homework packets and actually sit down and eat your lunch during your lunch break. Parents can access Boom Cards from home. All they need is their child’s login information and some type of screen. Your kids can actually access decks on their parents’ phones. No more lost papers, or missing folders. I can then check their reports to keep them accountable for completing the work.

The applications for using Boom Cards in your classroom are limited only by your imagination. The Starter membership plan is free and includes one section with five students and five self-made decks. The Basic plan includes three sections with up to 50 students and five self-made decks for just $15/year. There are two other membership levels, Power and Ultimate, with the most expensive only costing $35/year. Give Boom Cards a try and see how they can work in your classroom.

This is a guest blog by Della Larsen. Della is a primary teacher with over 30 years of classroom experience. She is passionate about reaching every child regardless of their skills. She has spent boom cardsmuch of her time supporting teachers just starting on their digital journey. You can follow Della on Twitter @Larsenclass or feel free to reach out to Della with any questions at DellaLarsensclass@gmail.com.

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Chromebook App Hub
ChromebooksGoogle Tips and Tricks

Google Chromebook App Hub Now Live

by Lori Gracey
written by Lori Gracey

A few months ago, Google announced the future launch of their new Chromebook App Hub for education. And now it’s gone live.

What is the Hub?

Chromebook App HubThe Chromebook App Hub, according to Google, is ” a place where educators can get the most out of their devices.” It was created in response to teachers who said they were spending a lot of time searching for just the right apps to use with their students. This makes it easier to search for just the right app.

In addition, the site offers “idea sparks,” ways to use apps in the classroom for learning. These include tips for success, differentiated instruction strategies, and links to additional resources such as how-to videos, activities and websites. Besides those already included, educators can submit their own ideas. In time, there will even be a community aspect to the site to connect teachers with others who are using the same app.

Besides apps, the site will offer additional great content. Epic! will contribute to the App Hub its library of children’s books, Chromebook App Hubvideos and games; Adobe will include its visual storytelling app Adobe Spark; and Khan Academy will bring its free library of lessons across subjects like math, grammar, science, history, standardized tests and more.

How can I find apps?

The Hub can be searched in a variety of ways, including subject, age range, learning goal, and idea category. For the learning goal, you can look for apps that encourage students to:

  • Analyze and interpret data
  • Ask questions and define problems
  • Construct explanations and design solutions
  • Develop and use models
  • Explore civics and culture
  • Develop language proficiency
  • Use persuasive and argumentative skills
  • Plan and carry out investigations
  • Read and comprehend text
  • Research and develop information literacy skills
  • Respond to text
  • Speak and listen

Age ranges include 5-7, 8-10, 11-13, and 14 and up. Every possible subject area is included.

Is the Chromebook App Hub safe?

Google worked with policy partners, including the non-profit Student Data Privacy Consortium (SPDC), to assist developers considering the student privacy implications of their products. “The SDPC is proud to work with [the Chromebook App Hub] to provide transparency and openness around the critical aspects of schools, states and vendors securing learner information,” says Dr. Larry L. Fruth II, CEO of A4L/SDPC. This means administrators can rest assured that apps on the hub are built by developers committed to transparency and security.

This looks like a game changer for busy educators. The only drawback I can see is that Google will only update the content quarterly, which may mean there are not a lot of lesson ideas available now. But it should grow over time. Take a look for yourself and see what you think.

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