Branching Quizzes

In this blog post, Alice Keeler demonstrates creating branching quizzes in Google Forms.  In this way you can provide immediate feedback and create a self-grading quiz.

Making a board game

Did you ever think of having your students create a board game?  The TED-Ed post provides background as well as lesson ideas to ensure your success!

Is it fake news?

In this post from NPR, To Test Your Fake News Judgment, Play This Game, I found Factitious.  Read the story and then swipe right for real or left for a fake!  This could be used as a station or in a whole group setting.

It’s all in the word choice

While I don’t teach math, the title of this blog post from WeAreTeachers caught my eye.  After I finished reading it, I recognized the difference a few small words (times versus groups of) could make in a student’s understanding.  I wonder what small changes I could make in other content areas that improve pupil comprehension?

Adding Forms in Google Classroom

Many teachers use forms in Google Classroom and they are easy to insert in an assignment.  Alice Keeler provides the details here.

If you are a Kahoot!aholic

If you cannot get enough Kahoot!, you will be pleased to learn they recently announced a mobile app that allows you to play at home. For more information, please see the blog post here from Richard Byrne or this Kahoot! post.

Make those notifications work for you!

While I was aware of the notification options in Google Classroom, I didn’t realize the mobile options until I read Matt Miller’s blog post here.  You can decide what notifications you want to get and respond to students quickly.

EdCamp NJ- 11/18

Sign up here for a exciting (and free) morning of professional development!  Ed-Camp 2016 will be held at the New Brunswick High School.  I’ve attended for several year and have never been disappointed.  Register by October 1 for the chance to win a ChromeBook!

Visit the Polar Bears

It’s almost October and right along with the pumpkins and mums, it’s time to plan your virtual field to polar bear country.  Please click here for all the details on the Discovery Education field trip at  1 pm on October 26.  Be sure to check out their activities and resources.  Like all DE field trips, it will be archived for later viewing.

Go virtual with National Geographic!

Check out the new virtual field trip offerings from National Geographic!  Just register your class and enjoy the free trips! (And they are recorded as well as future viewing).  Visit their site here.

DOK in Math

A depth of Knowledge in math is the subject of this blog post.  Robert Kaplinksy explores a variety of grade levels with matrices and sample problems during his guest post for Alice Keeler.

Drama in your classroom

Here’s an interesting post from PearDeck relating drama class lessons with suggestions for your classroom.   Some unusual ideas on how to increase student ownership in the learning process.

Everything you want to know about Google Classroom

Here’s a Google Classroom guide complete with videos as well as PDF tip sheets. What a great way to kick off the school year!

Google Update Review

If you want a quick update on the summer Google updates, please see this post from Richard Byrne on Free Technology for Teachers.

What’s on your placemat?

Here’s a new SOS that seems to have real potential!  Get those placemats ready! Here's the update from Discovery Education.

SOS: Placemat

Creative, research-based instructional strategies – presented by teachers, for teachers.

Placemat

PDF  and Video Versions

When students have adequate think time, the quality of their responses improves. The Placemat strategy is designed to allow each student time to think. It also provides a venue for them to share their perspectives while encouraging them to listen to and appreciate the thoughts and ideas of other team members. The outcome of student participation in this strategy is a summary response that is better than what an individual student could produce alone.

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Materials:  Discovery Education media (reading passage, video, and/or image), large piece of paper to use as the Placemat, pen or pencil

1. Select media that aligns with your curriculum.
2. Review the media and decide what ideas are most important. Develop a related question or prompt to guide student reflection.
3. Arrange students into groups. (Groups of four work well.)
4. Provide each group with a piece of chart paper, and make sure each student has a pen or pencil.
5. Set up the Placemat organizer by asking students to divide the paper into parts based on the number of members in the group, leaving a central square or circle. Also have each student select a different portion of the organizer as their work area.
6. Share the media with students, along with the question or prompt to guide their thinking and processing.
7. Ask students to reflect on the material by writing their ideas in their work area.
8. When students have recorded their ideas, ask them to share as a group and then synthesize the common ideas they all share in the center area of the organizer.

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The Placemat strategy helps students learn how to build on the ideas of others and combine common thoughts into a synthesized statement. When students have the opportunity to discuss and reflect on a topic, learning is retained and students are actively engaged in the thinking process.

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Use the Placemat strategy as a jumping off point for a writing piece, a research opportunity, or a culminating project. When students generate their own ideas and thoughts, they are more engaged and have more ownership in the final product.

Google and Folders

Here’s a nice description of all you can do with Google files.  In her post, Alice Keeler outlines ways to create folders as well as add things to multiple folders.

Storyboardthat Updates

Here’s the latest from Storyboardthat on their summer updates: 1. New Content: We now have teacher guides for French,Health, Science, and a brand new concept called Illustrated Guides. These guides include Shakespeare Plays, Literary Elements, Famous People, Innovations & Myths! 2. Advanced Cropping: Now you can crop in a circle, and many other shapes with advanced cropping. 3. Smart Scenes: We introduced Smart Scenes last year. Now all of our scenes can be edited and layered. Click "Edit Scene" after you drag it into the Storyboard Creator. 4. New Characters: We now have over 700 characters.

Shading a Google Sheet

Looking for an easy way to shade Google sheets?  Here are step by step directions from Alice Keeler on alternating colors.

Curriculum Pathways

If you teach Math, English, Science, Social Studies or Spanish-you should check out Curriculum Pathways.  This free site has a host of activities- see the updates below for some ideas!

Writing for Every Discipline

"I absolutely love using Writing Reviser with my physics students. It helps them become better writers and helps me give better feedback." Alexandra Boyd Writing Reviser guides students through the revision process, encouraging critical thinking for clarity and conviction in their written work. Writing Reviser is the most powerful of the Writing Navigator tools, a set of online resources that is also available as an iPad® or Chromebook app. Writing Reviser is also available as a Google Docs add-on. To help you get the most out of using Writing Reviser with your students, we've designed an online professional development course, Teaching Writing in the Digital Age.

New and Popular Whether you use us every day or haven't checked back in a while, we have new and popular resources on our home page to get you started. Just scroll down to find the resources that fit your needs. These are just a few of the 1,700-plus resources from Curriculum Pathways.

Algebra 1 Course Punctuation Rules! Explore! Primary Sources Spanish Video Library

A new look for Quizizz

I love Quizizz- all the excitement of Kahoot yet without the student craziness that can sometimes occur.  The ability to assign as homework and to allow students to move at their own rate is important to me.  If you check out the site, you will notice some cosmetic changes in the dashboard.

Google Forms Updates

This summer Google has updated some of the features in forms- please see this Google update for all the details.  I think the new check box format is much easier to use! Here is an additional review from Richard Byrne (Free Technology for Teachers).

Conversations in Google Classroom

If you have mastered the basics in Google Classroom, you might want to explore the private conversation option.  Check out this post from Alice Keeler for ways to increase learning with your students.

Just look at one student

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If you only want to see one student’s work in Google Classroom- now you can!  Alice Keeler explains how in this step by step post!

My Favorite Periodic Table

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I think this is my favorite Periodic  Table- I saw in this post from Richard Byrne’s Free Technology for Teachers. I think the pictures and interactive nature would have made the table more engaging to my students!

Google Classroom on the Go!

If you are using Google Classroom on a mobile device, you are going to want to check out Alice Keeler’s blog post geared to the mobile app.

Longitude and Latitude

This time of the year I often see classes working on longitude and latitude.  Here’s a fun activity form ABCya where you students can practice and maybe find buried treasures.  For the complete review, please see Teachers’ First here.

Getting Started with Google Classroom

Looking for some suggestion on using Google Classroom with your students?  Check out this blog post from Alice Keeler.  She offers very practical steps to successfully implement this with your classes.

Rearranging your classes

Ever get frustrated with the Google Classroom Dashboard?  Want to rearrange the classes (instead of the chronology creation order?).  Now you can change the class order any way you would like. Please click here to read Alice Keeler’s post with complete directions.

Spark the writing

Writing Sparks is an interactive writing prompt for elementary school students.  It steps students through the process and provides key words during the process.  For a complete description, please see Richard Byrne’s post from Free Technology for Teachers.