I recently decided to give using Google Keep in my classroom a try. Typically, most teachers that I have talked to about using a digital note taking platform espouse the greatness of Evernote. I’ve used Evernote, and it’s a decent enough tool, but I wanted to try something different. Something that the kids might enjoy as well. Continue reading
Ron Clark. Let’s face it, his is a name that many have heard. We have heard him keynote on two occasions, the first dating back to roughly 2004ish. After hearing him speak, people typically fall into two camps.
Get Kahoot! It’s a game… no, wait, it’s a learning tool… yep, it’s both! We were introduced to the greatness of Kahoot! at the Mississippi Educational Computer Association (MECA) conference last year. Instantly, we saw the benefits. It has completely changed the way we review topics in class.
Every now and then, we need a way to ensure that a student may randomly be selected for something. It doesn’t always have to be reading, or answering a question. These are often a “gotcha” thing. You can use it for positives as well. Continue reading
Vocabulary lists. These are the things that students often hate more than anything else, and perhaps there is some justification for that. We have all been guilty of giving the dreaded list at some point in our careers. In fact, I still give a list, I just treat it differently than I did before.
PLEASE NOTE: DOCENTEDU IS NOW CALLED INSERT LEARNING. Look for an updated post soon on how to make use of this powerful tool.
In the past, I have written about both, Newsela and DocentEDU. At the time, I suppose one could say my vision was still developing regarding how to best utilize each tool. I have spent some time tinkering, playing, and trying to break them. I am happy to say, that not only have I found the perfect combination of each, I have utterly failed to break either… and I’m pretty good at breaking stuff.
Google Classroom has added some great new features to make using it even more convenient. With Google Classroom, you now have the ability to do a few things to make life easier.
Have you ever struggled with finding good primary source material for students? As an English teacher, I teach a lot of literature. I have always taught a good bit of non-fiction as well, but the reality is, there are times I wish I could teach more of it.
With the advent of Common Core, or College Career Readiness Standards, or whatever catchy name your state has given them, non-fiction text has probably become a much larger part of the expectations. History teachers are expected to pick up a significant share of that load, through the reading of primary source materials.
So, we had our back to school open house. As usual, the school was abuzz with excitement. It’s a treat to be able to meet all of our parents, a treat we really should find a way to do more often.
I decided that I would do away with the old fashioned sign in sheet. It seemed to make little sense to have parents fill out a paper sign in sheet when we are a paperless classroom. We wanted to give them an idea of how their kids are expected to work this year, so we did open house in our rooms paperless style.
My school year is under way. I understand that many districts around the nation, and the world, are not in session right now, but that time is coming, so be ready.
This is my second year using Google Classroom, and my third year being a paperless classroom. The experience has been a learning lesson the entire way. This year is no exception, but if we aren’t learning, what are we doing?