I am loving Newsela!

I had the pleasure to present at the Powering Up with Technology annual conference today. After presenting two of my own sessions about Formative Assessment, I had the pleasure to check out Ms. Michelle Contee's session showing different tools for flipping the classroom. She shared a great handout full of resources, along with descriptions of each resource.

The most relevant item she shared for my classroom was NEWSELA. After reading her description, I jumped into the website and fell in love at first sight. NEWSELA provides current event articles for a variety of content areas. What makes NEWSELA special is that you can click a button to change the reading level of each article! I have spent many hours amending articles to assist my ELL students. With NEWSELA, I won't have to do this any more.

Additionally, NEWSELA provides quiz questions for many articles, and includes Common Core connections. I particularly like how they provide PRO/CON articles about timely topics. I foresee myself using these articles not just with my ELL students, but with my AP US Government and Politics students too.

Here are a couple of helpful links to help you get started:
1. Quick Start Guide
2. 5 Easy Ways to Use NEWSELA

Enjoy!!

Using Google Forms & Kahoot to Transform Formative Assessment

I have not posted in a while. Balancing being a husband and father, along with being a teacher takes up most of my time these days. Nevertheless, I am posting a presentation I gave to my colleagues last month.

I primarily emphasize how great Google Forms and Kahoot can be for formatively assessing students. In a perfect world, education bigwigs would focus more on formative assessment rather than time consuming summative assessments that have a small impact on a classroom. Formative assessment allows a teacher to diagnose problems in real time rather than weeks or months after receiving summative assessment data.

What do you do to formatively assess your students?

Do you Vox?

Vox has become one of my favorite person resources for information ranging from politics, current events, and even silly entertainment goop. However, in the context of this blog, I want to share with you two great resources: Vox Explains and Card Stacks. Keep in mind that this post is geared mostly for social studies teachers, but language arts teachers might enjoy these resources for argumentative essay wrtiting.

Vox Explains is their collection of two-minute videos that explains various topics--ranging from gerrymandering to the child-migrant crisis.

Card Stacks is Vox's way of explaining a variety of issues in the news. The information is broken down into manageable "notecards". Check out these great Card Stacks covering inflation and affirmative action and the Supreme Court.

I am in kahoots with Kahoot!

I came across Kahoot! this morning, made a short quiz, and my students fell in love. Kahoot! allows a teacher or student to create a quiz that the class can play as a game. The students became extremely competitive right away. There is a way to incorporate YouTube videos and images into the creation of quiz questions. Additionally, one can access quizzes already created if they want to save some time. A teacher can also create surveys and discussion activities, though I have not tried them out yet.You can view my Kahoot! from today at this link.

A student logs in once the teacher starts the quiz--all a student needs is an internet accessible device and an internet connection (NO APP NEEDED). In order to join the game, the student needs to input the game pin created each time the teacher starts a new game (see image below). The questions and answers are displayed by the teacher on an LCD screen and the students in the audience get points for getting the answer right in the shortest amount of time. The scores are shown after every question...my students became quite competitive. After the game, the teacher can download the student's results (formative assessment data!!)

The image to the left is what is shown by the teacher's LCD screen, while the image to the right is what shows up on a student's internet enabled device.

Check out the excitement these students show as they answer a question. My students emulated this today....it was pretty fun to watch their excitement.

When we finished the quiz, many students asked "Why didn't we do this all year?" Lol...I found out about Kahoot! today, but guess what I will be using next year to formatively assess my students....

Flipping the Classroom INSIDE the Classroom

A colleague sent me an article a few weeks ago describing the "In Class" Flipped Model. After reading the first paragraph, I jumped out of my chair and said to myself, "This is what I am doing!!". I am lucky to have an iPad cart and reliable WiFi. However, I teach in an "urban" high school where nearly 70% of the student population receives a free/reduced lunch. Thus, requiring students to perform an assignment that requires technology/internet access can be challenging. I often use other YouTube videos or my own creations inside the classroom. The students and I like the fact that they can work at their own pace--rewinding, pausing, fast forwarding without waiting for me or slowing down their classmates. Typically, students will view a video, answer written questions that accompany the video, and complete a multiple choice formative assessment. I thoroughly enjoy walking to each student--checking their progress and giving them instant feedback or assistance. I can diagnose problems and explain errors immediately.

Here is an example of a Video/Reading Activity I used with my ESOL Government students when we learned about the Census.

Nevertheless, I do use flipped components outside of the classroom. My AP US Government and Politics students who I see daily regularly have assignments that require them to read/watch something in order to answer questions and provide feedback. I call these assignments Video/Reading Activities (I know...a catchy title!) Based upon student questions they submit and answers they provide on the attached formative assessments, I can spend class time efficiently teaching in the areas students need help rather than just guessing.

Here is an example of a Video/Reading Activity I used in my Public Policy Unit with my AP US Government and Politics students.

There are many pros to this method, however, the main cons are the amount of time a teacher needs in order to prepare these lessons. I assume I will be able to reuse and tweak current versions for future classes.

Here are the main tools I use to perform my "In Class" Flip:
- Google Forms
- Flubaroo
- Screencast-O-matic
- YouTube

Part TWO: A Centralized List of Exam Preparation Resources...

My last post showcased a centralized list of exam preparation resources for my AP US Government and Politics students. However, I have spent the last week working on this handout for my LSN Government students. In Maryland, all students must pass the Government High School Assessment (HSA) exam. Along with the HSA, I must give students two LENGTHY county assessments over the next month for which I will receive judgement (that is another issue...).

I have been teaching LSN Government for nine years, thus I do have a large supply of resources at my disposal. Nevertheless, I am always tweaking items and looking for new ways to help my mostly ESOL students pass this important exam. You will observe that I have posted a snippet of the handout above. This LINK shows the entire handout. I used a summary of the unit to include in the handout, along with three interactive resources for student practice-- Quizlet cards, Jeopardy Review, and Practice Multiple Choice questions. I have to admit that formatting everything took some serious time and patience.

Additionally, I posted a QR code to make these resources much quicker than typing in URLS, though I did work hard to create shortened URLs for each resources using Google's URL shortener. Not only was I able to create shorter URLs, but the shorter URLs helped me fit all of these resources into a two page (one sheet) handout. The QR code takes you to my Wikispaces website I have been using for many years. I don't update the AP resources, though the Government HSA resources are current. Along with all of the other resources I listed above, the Wikispaces site includes a Voicethread video reviewing each unit.

Even if you don't teach an HSA Government course, you might be able to use one or some of the resources I include above. Happy Testing!?!?

A Centralized List of Exam Preparation Resources...

I know what you are thinking..."what a sexy blog title"...lol. As my AP students reach the end of the year, we begin preparing for their AP exam in May. I have found that it is quite helpful to centralize all of the resources into a single Google Drive document. Students can easily find resources to help them study, while I can update the document as needed.

I began doing centralized exam preparation documents like this earlier in the year with both my AP and ESOL Government classes. Students can find review Jeopardy games, study vocabulary using Quizlet's different resources, and view a variety of review videos on YouTube. Over the course of a school year and career, we collect lots of resources. A document like this not only helps students, but they help us teachers stay organized.

I work hard to make my own Quizlet vocabulary sets and Jeopardy review games, however, the video playlists come from many different sources. Over the year, I add videos to each playlist for me to use in future years and so students can go back and study the areas where they struggle.

If you would like to see a copy of the AP US Government and Politics Exam Preparation Resources listed above, go to this link. If you would like to see a document with resources to help my ESOL Government course, check out this link.

Finally, at the end of last year my AP students took the following survey to help me determine what exam review strategies worked/did not work. As you can see from the questions and results, students were relatively pleased with the different activities they performed. You bet I will be using this data to guide my review plan this year!

I used to love snow days...

I teach in the suburbs of Washington, DC. We haven't had a particularly snowy winter, rather we have had lots of "nuisance" storms causing many days off and delays. As you know, students of all ages struggle with the start and stop of routines and learning due to delays and days off.

Nevertheless, I have been providing relatively short "flipped lessons" to keep students on pace. My AP students will be taking their AP US Government and Politics exam on May 13 no matter what, therefore I have told them many times that we will continue learning no matter what Mother Nature throws at us.

I have been using Edmodo and Remind101 to send out short flipped lessons that utilize Google Forms. I am a big fan of creating formative assessments using Google Forms as noted in previous posts. I love the fact that I can post a video, reading, or other stimulus along with questions to gauge student understanding. The data I gather helps me know where I will need to review.

Here are a couple of examples of assignments I sent to students over the last few snow storms. I have attempted to keep assignments relatively simple, yet full of important information they will need to know for future assessments.

Example 1: Checking the Federal Courts

Example 2: Learning about Marbury v. Madison

Example 3: Learning about the Bureaucracy Using Videos

Have you done similar activities with students during snow days? I would love to hear from you!

A Classroom Timer That You WIll Love!

This is what the students will see

The Teachit Timer is by far the best classroom timer I have discovered. The fact that the timer shows both the time gone and the time remaining is quite useful. You can also show the current time. There are many ways to customize the timer with alerts, buzzers, etc. As you get into testing season (wait, isn't it always testing season), you will like this great tool.

This is where change the timer settings.

Video Tools You'll Love!

In this post I will share a couple of video tools that I have been using recently in my classroom. They are both easy to use and will make your life much more efficient.

The first tool is a Google Chrome extension...AdBlock. As you can infer, this app only works if you are using Chrome as your web browser. In order to explain why I love this app, let me share with you an anecdote you probably have also experienced...

I love incorporating short YouTube video clips to help explain the concepts I teach. However, I used to loathe being forced to show my students commercials before I could get to the actual video. During that 30 seconds, students can easily become distracted and I would often lose that teaching momentum that was leading up to the video. Alas, AdBlock removes this obstacle and lets you get directly to your video clip without silly distractions like commercials (especially inappropriate commercials).

FYI, a student showed me this great Google Chrome extension. If you haven't browsed through the Google Chrome Store, you are missing out on some really neat resources to make web browsing more efficient.

The second tool is something I discovered from EdSurge's weekly email called Clip Converter. This great little website allows you to download YouTube videos.  If you work in an environment with spotty Internet access, you can download the video the day before you teach and have it ready for your lesson. If I was being observed by an administrator, I would definitely have my videos on hand in order to avoid any embarrassment.