So we've all seen the funny videos on Facebook & other social media websites about texting conversations back and forth between two people. What I had NOT thought about was how it could be used for education!
TextingStory is an app that lets you create a conversation between two characters. Think about using it for two people in history! Your students could demonstrate what they're learning by creating a conversation between Thomas Jefferson & Alexander Hamilton! How cool is that!? Also - where was this when I was in the classroom!? This would also be great for characters in ELA, to have conversations in a foreign language, for Science to impersonate a scientist and talk about a topic, etc! Super fun app that would engage students while still assessing them! Check out this classroom example from some of our DLCs: TextingStory Example
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Let's talk Flipgrid.
Super awesome video discussion tool that can SUPER enhance your classroom. Students record their answers to a question you've posed or share what they're thinking in a discussion on your class Flipgrid. Then, they can watch their peers' video posts and even comment back! Talk about upping the game when it comes to classroom discussion! Instead of having one topic discussed at a time, students can watch various viewpoints from their peers and have multiple conversations going on at once. Think of the possibilities of this when it comes to Foreign Language when you have your students talk to one another! You won't have to walk around to each individual group any longer - you can have them talk to one another and see the videos as soon as they post. I thought this was similar to Recap at first, but it's a different beast for a different purpose. Here, the students are posting to a grid that their entire class can see. They can comment back and learn from each other. Recap is fantastic - but for the purpose of assessing students in a manner that only the teacher sees. Flipgrid has paid and free versions, but the free version will do everything you need it to! Y'all! Spring break is just around the corner - literally A DAY AWAY - and I'm pretty excited about it! (could you tell?) Before I break for a week in Philadelphia, visiting my new niece, I wanted to share Adobe Spark with y'all. Adobe Spark is a great tool for curation and has three different presentation options that your students can pick from. I use "Post" with students when they're wanting to make an infographic for a project or when they're wanting to make something that will quickly grab people's attention. We've used it with Theatre productions, biography projects, quotes that they put on websites and in other projects, etc. It's easy for the students to create and share. Everything is customizable and doesn't require a lot of tech ability. I recommend using this when first starting your students out with tech.
"Page" is more used for portfolios, journaling, etc. I've used this with our Foreign Language department when students are creating travel guides for various cities, with Art when their students are showcasing their work, and with History classes when explaining events during a war or presenting information about a historical figure. Page allows students to present their information in a professional and creative way, all in one place. "Video" is great for students just starting out with video tools. It walks students through adding pictures, video, and/or text and allows for 10 seconds of voice over on each slide. I've used this with Speech classes, Spanish classes, Art classes, ELA classes, etc. Great easy tool and it's easy to download or share via a link. Check out the Spark Inspiration Gallery, here. I don't know about you but I get sick and tired of receiving tons and tons of emails every day. I get confused about which thread I'm on and, let's be honest, I don't need twenty different email chains about piddly things. I've started using Google Hangouts with my team and I really love it. I don't hear my email ding a hundred times a day, I can have separate chats depending on if I only want to talk to Middle School or High School, just a few people, or our entire group. If someone has a quick question, it's quickly answered and we don't have to receive emails. If you're busy, just mute the chat and you don't have to hear notifications. Unmute it whenever you're ready. I have a few of mine muted all of the time and I check them when I have time throughout the day. If you use Gmail through your work, you can search via your email for any topic you've discussed previously in the hangout. I love that you can video chat about certain things, hold online meetings, etc. (up to 15 people) and even record PD sessions through Hangouts On Air and broadcast them on Youtube. You can make the broadcast watchable for as long as you want, even after you've aired. We have Google Hangouts turned off in our district for students, but the benefits of using it are really great! Invite all of the members of a group and the teacher to a hangout and discuss project information right there!
Such a great tool for PLCs, departments, organizations, etc. Check it out! A test will only tell us so much about a student's understanding. Anyone can memorize basic facts so how do we know how much our students are retaining and understanding? We have to get creative with how we're getting feedback. Here are a few ways to get a better understanding of what your students are grasping. RecapRecap is a video response tool that allows students to verbally respond to a topic or question. The teacher can post a question or record themselves asking a question. Then, students create a short video response. Recap will then take all of the responses and put them into a Daily Review Reel for the teacher to view and give feedback. This is great for evaluating student understanding. Recap has made it easy for the teacher to see in just a few short moments how well the student can explain their answer and thinking. Students can use a computer, an iPad or tablet, or their phones. PadletPadlet is an oldie but goodie in my mind. I love that it's so easy for students to use. They don't have to create an account and it's a simple click & type. All you have to do is create an account as a teacher and click on "Make a Padlet". It walks you through the steps and you can even customize the URL. This can be used for any subject in a variety of ways. Students can reflect on a unit they're studying, answer questions, give feedback, have discussions, etc. You can change the layout from freeform to grid to stream depending on how you want to view the responses. Below is a student example that some of my World History teachers did with their students. I've even used this when teaching professional development to do introductions, goals, and get feedback. AvatarsAvatar programs like Voki and Tellagami are great for student feedback. Even Apps like Sock Puppets and Yakit Kids can be the creative answer to get your students engaged while providing you with feedback that will allow you to gauge the level of student understanding! Let your students create an animated recording of their voice / podcast explaining a math problem, analyzing a poem, answering questions, etc!
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AuthorDigital Learning Coach & technology lover. Constantly looking for innovative ways to engage students and facilitate 21st century learning. Archives
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