CSDdocs in 6th Grade Social Studies

The 6th graders at Butler Middle School are using CSDdocs to work collaboratively on ancient civilization projects in Social Studies.  Students were assigned a group and a group leader is designated.  Students work with their peers through Google Docs to create Documents and Presentations on their topic.  Students are assigned a specific portion of the research and project to complete.  They work on their portion of the project in Google Docs.  When they are ready for peer feedback they share the document with the other students in their group using their CSDdocs accounts.  Students review each others work and give constructive feedback.  The group leader is then responsible for taking all portions of the project and putting it together in one document.  Students present their project to the class and then submit their final project via Canvas.  Mrs. Clyde is also using the ePortfolio feature in Canvas to have her students save some of their best work for showcase during the upcoming parent/teacher conferences.  What a great way to use CSDdocs and Canvas!

Quick Key App is a Time Saver

I am always looking for great assessment tools that provide the teacher with useful and meaningful data while giving them results instantly.

Quick Key provides a teacher with only ONE iDevice to do the above mentioned with ease.  Quick Key is similar to Scantrons, remember those (image below)? The problem however, most schools had only one machine to scan them and the Scantron themselves were expensive to buy.

Scantron

Quick Key allows you to print your own scannable document, create classes (export from Skyward), and create tests.  Once students take the test, the teacher simply uses their iDevice and Quick Key App to scan and score the students test.

The drawback at this point, Quick Key does not allow you to assign a student number that corresponds with the students CSD ID. Quick Key assigns each student a four digit code. The website does point out assigning student IDs is coming in the near future.

Quick Key Website and Apple App

For teachers with access to an iPad or computer labs and who are looking for easy ways to assess student learning please check out these assessment  tools: Socrative,  Infuse Learning, and/or Canvas.

D. Worm

Skitch for the iPad

When I was thinking of what app or feature that I would like to share, I decided to look at what I use on a regular basis, and what a teacher or student could use on a regular basis as well.

The app I use most frequently when designing training materials is Skitch. Skitch is a free application both for use on a computer and also iOS/android device.  Skitch allows you to edit images and draw circles, highlight, draw arrows, smear names, enlarge/shrink around the images then drag them into a working document. If you open an account through Evernote, you can get your images anywhere you log into your Evernote account. That feature is AWESOME because you can get them from any device.

When I downloaded the app to my iPad, I liked it even better!! It is so easy to use. It is simple to drag your edited image to your project. Simply grab the bottom and drag it to the document you wish.

Here is a sample of my gallery when I open the Skitch app. As you can see, there are a lot of images that I have edited for training purposes. I can open one of those images or create a screen snap from start and edit that. I can also edit an image that is saved on my device.

For students, I can see this being a very useful tool when creating presentations or documents that need to have images included, and particularly if the students need to focus or highlight on a specific part of an image.

Give it a try! Download the app by going to http://evernote.com/skitch/.

ExitTicket.org

Many teachers use the exit ticket teaching strategy.  These exit tickets allow students to share what they are thinking and what they have learned at the end of a lesson.  Many teachers have their students write their thoughts, questions, or answers to questions on a piece of paper which is then handed to the teacher to read through.  These exit tickets help teachers assess if students have met the lesson objectives and understand the content.  They also help the teacher plan for the next lesson or unit of instruction.

ExitTicket.org is a new way to collect exit ticket feedback.  ExitTicket.org is an online student response system that allows teachers to create multiple choice, free response, and true or false questions that students can answer using any web enabled device.  Teachers can create free accounts that allow them to create up to 8 classes with 60 students per class. Teachers can manually add students to their classes, or give students a class code and allow students to add themselves to a class. 

The best part about ExitTicket.org is the real time data that is provided to the teachers and students.  Teachers can quickly see who understands the content, and who needs a little more help. Students will see right away whether or not they answered the questions correctly. ExitTicket.org keeps track of student data in the scorebook, and this allows teachers to see student progress over time.  

Below is a video that will give you a quick tour of ExitTicket.org.

Safe Social Networking

As educators we are frequently reminding students of the dangers that exist online, yet sometimes we adults forget to practice what we preach. So, with each day bringing us closer to spring, perhaps it is time we take a moment to do a little "spring cleaning" of our own social networking and online presence. This month I challenge you to take a closer look at the sites you frequent, the privacy settings you employ and the image you've created for yourself online. 

What can you do to protect yourself? 

1. Be proactive! Change or update your privacy/ security settings on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, etc. 
2. Change passwords and sign-out of accounts after each use. 
3. Limit the images you post. 
4. Proofread your posts. Once you post it, you can't take the words back. 
5. Think long term. How will I be perceived by those in my family/ neighborhood/ community? 
6. Google yourself. It is always a good idea to check and see what is associated with your name online.

Finally, use your experience to re-teach your students. Take the opportunity to address way in which students can continue to build positive images of themselves in our digital world! For more information, videos and teaching resources visit the NetSmartz website.

3 Great Apps for English Language Learners

Technology is a great way of providing English Language Learners with additional language models and vocabulary activities across the grade levels. Here are 3 great apps that are useful in improving student's vocabulary and listening skills.  These apps can be used by the student on the iPad.

Action Words
This app provides students with four pictures. The app says a word and the student selects the picture that matches. This app provides a variety of different high quality pictures. 

  Listening Master Lite
  In this app students spin the wheel and choose a topic.    After the topic is chosen, the student listens to a brief  listening passage on the topic. The student is then asked  questions about the passage. This would be a great app to prepare students for the listening portion of SAGE. 

Comparative Adjectives
This app provides students with 2 or 3 pictures. The app then asks the student to touch the ______ object, using a many different adjectives. 






     

TED Talks & Curriculum Connections for the Classroom

Looking for a way to spice up core curriculum content? Use TED talks in the Classroom! Using keyword tags teachers can narrow the search to find rich materials to use in their classroom! While TED talks are 18 minutes in length, the entire video often does not need to shown to students. Pick the best part of the video and only show the most relevant parts! Enjoy browsing for curriculum content and watching "riviting talks by remarkable people." You never know, TED talks might just spark an idea for a lesson plan - whether you show students the video or not!

Science on TED: Animals, Astronomy, Biology, Chemistry, Environment, Geology, Physics, Science

 

Mathematics on TED: Algorithm, Finance, Investment, Marketing, Math,Origami, Statistics, Time

 

Social Studies on TED: Anthropology, Culture, Exploration, Government, History, Map, War, World Cultures

 

Language Arts on TED: Book, Communication, Journalism, Language, Literature, Poetry, Storytelling, & Writing

  

Fine Arts on TED: Art, Arts, Creativity, Dance, Performance, Photography, Piano, Theater