Students Using a Template in Google Presentation

Often times I have teachers asking for assistance with their students creating a Google Presentation.  Recently I worked with a grade level team who wanted their students to work in small groups to create a Google Presentation for "Holidays Around the World".  Each group was assigned a different county, and students worked together to research a holiday and facts about it using KidRex and NCWiseOwl.

To provide scaffolding for the students, I worked with the teachers to help them create a template Google Presentation that was shared with each group.  Teachers added in the titles and some subtopics to each of the slides, in order to give the students some structure.  Then the teacher shared it with one member from each group as "View only".  This group member then opened it within their "Shared with me" in Google Drive and clicked File > Make a copy in order to personalize the template for their group's assigned country.

Once this copy was shared with the other members in their group, all students could work simultaneously on their presentation, most finishing within 30 minutes.  The kids got so excited to see that multiple people could be working on the same document at one time.  They enjoyed adding images and video to support their writing, and they look forward to sharing it with their classmates next week.

Kahoot! A game-based response system

If you're looking for a fun, engaging way to review concepts with your students, I highly recommend Kahoot.  This tool has been used by quite a few teachers since last school year, but it is always so much fun, so I thought I would take the opportunity to remind people of the tool or introduce it, if you've never seen it before.

I was just in a 5th grade classroom at one of our elementary schools earlier this week and was reminded of how much kids enjoy Kahoot.  In this particular class, the teacher was using it to review a genetics unit on which traits are learned and which are inherited.  As soon as they started the game, excitement filled the entire room.  Students were engaged and sitting on the edge of their seats as they sought to answer the review question as quickly (and correctly!) as possible.  After each question, a leader board is shown to motivate students and further support the game-like feel.  Here is an example of what students might see projected on the board:

Prior to the activity, the teacher creates a Kahoot quiz online and selects from one of the many public ones already created.  Once students are ready to engage, they go to a Kahoot.it.  A pin number is displayed onto the projector, and students enter it and their name from an device with the Internet--laptop, iPad, Chromebook, etc.  A question is displayed on the projector along with the answer choices.  On student devices, students select the correct answer from the color-coded choices.  Here are a couple pictures from the 5th grade class using it earlier this week:

If you've never used Kahoot before and want to watch a quick tutorial on how to set one up, check out this screencast.

Coding Club in Granville County Public Schools

This past summer, an Instructional Technology Facilitator (ITF) colleague and I had a chance to attend a FREE two-week Adventures in Alice coding workshop at Duke University.  The workshop was taught by a Computer Science Professor at Duke, Susan Rodger.  We learned how to create animated worlds and had an absolute blast doing so.

Here's an example of a world my colleague created on caring for your device:


As a result of the training we received, we were charged with thinking about how we could bring Alice Coding back to Granville County Public Schools.  My colleague and I thought we'd pilot after school coding clubs at two of our high schools.  Our first club is meeting on all four Mondays in October in their school's media center.

Here are a couple pictures of the students learning how to use Alice Coding:

In this particular workshop, we're learning how to create the Shark Attack world.  We are grateful for Ms. Distler's Google Site with so many awesome resources as we plan our coding club.

We can't wait to see how Alice coding spreads in Granville County Public Schools!

Technology Resources for the K-5 Classroom

As an Instructional Technology Facilitator, I'm often asked about some helpful technology resources I'd recommend to teachers.  For one of my grad school assignments last semester I created a LiveBinder to house links to all these resources.  Recently I shared that LiveBinder with someone and they were so appreciative.  While the purpose of this assignment was initially for grad school, I can certainly see it being a great resource to share out with teachers.

Link to Gwen Loftin's LiveBinder: http://www.livebinders.com/play/play?id=1720311

If you're looking for recommended apps, websites, Chrome add-ons or extensions, SMARTBoard resources, etc., I highly encourage you to check out and bookmark this website.

Using Shadow Puppet Edu to Create Presentations

Shadow Puppet Edu is a free iPad app that, ironically, has nothing to do with shadows or puppets!  This app allows you to create videos to tell stories, explain an idea, or document learning.  It’s a great way for students to practice their speaking skills or reading aloud.  

Using photos on the iPad’s camera roll, you can create a video with voice over narration, add music, add text titles, draw on the screen with pointer tools, zoom in/out, and swipe between photos.  Videos are saved to the iPad camera roll and can be shared using your school YouTube account, embedded on a website or blog, or the link emailed.

I had the privilege of working with some of our elementary students as they used Shadow Puppet Edu to share what they had learned about butterfly life cycles. Students used an iPad to take pictures of their work and then narrated a presentation as they described what they had created and learned. They loved the app and said it was "SO FUN!"

Here are some pictures of the students making their presentation:

How to Share a Google Form

Google Forms are wonderful!  They allow you to survey any number of people in a professional manner and all responses are collected in a Google Spreadsheet.  If you'd like to learn more about how to make a Google Form, I encourage you to check out this video.  Google allows provides great tutorial at their own support site which you can find here.

Recently I was asked how to share a Google Form once you have created a survey.  In this short screencast, you will learn how to share a Google Form via email or hyperlink, add collaborators to the form, and embed it.

Best Practices in the Use of Blogs in K-12 Education

The use of blogs in K-12 classrooms is becoming more and more prevalent.  Recently I had the opportunity to deliver a Professional Development session for teachers titled, Blogging in the Classroom.  As you consider starting a blog for your own classroom, here are some tips:

So now what?  Here are some things to think about...

What will be your student guidelines?  If you need some inspiration, check out Kim Cofino's student blogging guidelines.

Which blogging tool would best suit your needs?  As I was making this decision for my own professional blog, I turned to Richard Byrne for some advice.  Check out his comparison of five popular blogging tools, including Blogger, EduBlogs, and KidBlog.

What might your first few lessons on blogging entail?  You might want to cover what makes a quality blog, online safety, composing quality posts and commenting on others' blogs.  For detailed lesson ideas, skim over Kim Cofino's descriptions of her first five blogging lessons.

How are you going to make the blogs interactive?  Will you have students respond to each other's posts? If so, you'll want to teach your students how to compose a quality comment.  This short video (also embedded below) will likely be a hit in your own classroom as you hear from other students about how to leave a meaningful comment on a classmate's blog.

How to Compose a Quality Comment! from yourwonderfulteacher on Vimeo.

And, finally, if you're looking for some topics of what students might blog about, here are some ideas:

• post a prompt
• the week in review
• critique a site
• comment on current events
• continuing stories
• share recipes (as you study world languages and difficult cultures)
• question blog (similar to a KWL chart)
• report on a field trip or virtual event
• role-play a point of view

HAPPY BLOGGING!