Tech Tips for ELLs...

A colleague of mine sent me this article last month that covers how teachers can particularly help ELL students learn using technology. Keep in mind that many of the strategies listed can be used for students of all kinds. For instance, using small groups/pairs is an effective strategy for helping ELLs complete assignments with many steps because they can help each other and communicate/teach each other how to complete the tasks.

Many strategies are presented in the article. Here is a breakdown of helpful tips presented by this article when designing assignments that use technology:

• Short Tasks: For assignments that require technology use, it is helpful to organize direction as short tasks. This is a way of chunking text into small doses
• Steps: Along with using short tasks, it is also helpful to make assignments with numbered, step-by-step directions.
• Illustrations: Each short task should include a screen shot showing exactly what the student should be doing. 

As you create visual directions, it is a best practice to print them on paper so students can easily follow along and perform each step. This deters students from having to waste time going back and forth trying to follow directions. These tips have guided me for many years, however, it felt good reading that studies back up these practices. 

Here is an example of a handout I helped create for a Physical Education teacher:

If you need help learning how to make screenshots, check out this terrific site that shows how to take screenshots on any device!

A CENTRALIZED List of Google Application Tutorials

It must be the government teacher in me, but I get excited when I am able to take a whole bunch of resources and compiled them into one centralized hub.

Our school system has been using Google products for many years, however, many teachers (old and new) struggle with Google Drive and all of the other Google applications that are becoming a bigger part of teaching. Therefore, I put together a Google Doc document that includes a one-page cheat sheet for each of the Google products, as well as step-by-step image directions.

Google allows for easy translation of their products, so you can translate any of these resources into nearly any language you desire. I foresee the students using this hub too; therefore, I included Spanish language versions of each cheat sheet since I work with many ELL students from Central America.

If you are looking for more GAfE resources, check out this other centralized hub I created this past summer. It focuses on Google Classroom and Drive, and it includes videos.

Happy Googling!

EdTech, Meet Project Based Learning (PBL)...

Last week I came across this amazing Google Doc that organizes edTech tools by the Project Based Learning (PBL) phase. I don't remember how I got to it, but I am so happy I found it.

Even if you don't fully implement PBL in your room, you will appreciate the massive number of tools listed that you can use for smaller projects and activities.

Don't forget to check out this hyperlink located at the top of the doc that provides lots more resources with great descriptions.

If you are looking for PBL ideas based by grade level and content area, make sure you check out this other hyperlink included at the top of the document.

Kudos to @jrkauss and @suzieboss for creating this fabulous resource!!

PBL Timeline Organized by Teacher and Student
Source: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B2sthyfRZivcTV9aZFFJMk9UTjA/view

Two great resources I am loving...

It's been a while since I have had a minute to gather my thoughts, but I wanted to share two sites that I will be sharing with my teachers this week.

The first site, ReadWriteThink contains a plethora of pragmatic teaching games, lessons, resources, and professional development materials for any and all teachers. You can print handouts, as well as find lesson plans that you can tailor for your students. I particularly like the student interactives. These are online resources for students of all grade levels. The Comic Creator looks like a great tool for young and struggling readers. If you teach in a 2:1 or 1:1 environment, you will find lots great resources for your students. My daughter, who is in pre-K, loves Picture Match...she has to pick the letter that is making the sound in the picture.

IXL is the second resource I want to share with you. If you teach math, science, social studies, language arts, you will find games organized by grade level and topic. The BEST part of IXL's games are when you get a wrong answer, they provide a detailed (and visual) explanation. If you have the funds, you can purchase a license so students (and their teacher) can track their progress. However, the free parts look great too. I foresee using the questions as a warm up or closure activity. You could take screenshots of questions and incorporate the images into a Kahoot!

Podcasts for Educators...Educate yourself while you drive!

I have been a big podcast user for many years (before I even had a smartphone). I had never given much thought to using podcasts as a way to build my professional learning community (PLC). Nevertheless, I have found a collection of great podcasts that every educator should check out, BAM! Radio. They have a great array of podcasts and articles for educators of all types.

Check out their extensive collection in the screenshot below. My favorites so far are The Flip Side, #EdChat Radio, #Ed.Tech Chat, and Classroom Q&A. One of the nice aspects of each podcast is that they incorporate a variety of educators from all over the US.

I strongly urge you to try one of the podcasts Bam! Radio offers...

Gmail Hacks

Source: http://www.melauspartners.com/gmail-logo-image-211.png 

Besides being a fan of edtech, I am a genuine nerd when it comes to new gadgets. One of my favorite sources for technology news is Boy Genius Report (BGR). I don't normally peruse their site for edtech information, nevertheless, when I ran into these nifty Gmail hacks I knew I had to share them with fellow educators.

My school district has been using GAfE for many years. Gmail has so many settings one can manipulate to customize their experience. Additionally, with the Chrome Store and all of the great extensions that exist, people have created some nifty ways to make Gmail even more efficient and productive.

Of the many extensions listed, I recommend you check out...

• Wisestamp: Create cool signatures that will impress.
• MailTrack.io: Determine if people actually open and read your emails.
• Boomerang: Write an email and schedule it to be sent later.

Two nifty tools for Mac/Chrome users!

via GIPHY

One of the biggest bummers of being a Mac user is that you simply cannot click a button and make your windows magically appear all at once. If you are working with multiple spreadsheets or if you are viewing a video while taking notes...you know what I mean ;)

In a future post, I will write about the large library of FREE extensions and apps available in the Google Chrome store. For now, I want to introduce you to a great extension, Tab Resize. Download it and click on the extension whenever you are using Chrome and need to maintain multiple windows on your screen simultaneously. 

My other neat little tool is GIPHY. With this great website you can search for GIFS or make your own using Quicktime (the free version!). The GIF above showing how to use Tab Resize uses GIPHY. 

In order to make the GIF above I first created a screencast using Quicktime (something new I learned today too!). In Quicktime just click on FILE, then NEW SCREEN RECORDING and in minutes you can record screencasts that you can turn into a variety of formats (like a gif or upload to YouTube).  

My Tech Tools for Educators Checklist

Let me set up the impetus for my latest blog post and newest edTech resource. This is the first time in ten years that I will not be teaching my own classes, rather I will be helping educators integrate technology into their classrooms. I was feeling a bit overwhelmed with so many great tools available, and the fact that new tools pop up regularly.

I was listening to a terrific podcast on my way to one of my schools the other day and had an epiphany. During this podcast episode, the host quickly listed different categories: learning management systems (LMS), formative assessment, maker tools, and communication. I said to myself, "YES, I can put together a simple document of resources that would help my colleagues". The purpose of this resource would be to encourage educators research different tools for each category and begin the process of mastering a tool in each category.

Here is the fruit of my vision: a five category Google Doc that lists tools for each of the categories listed below. I included a blank Content Specific Tools category since an educator should have the goal to master a tool that is specifically made for particular content areas. Obviously, I didn't list every tool that exists for each of these five categories. I listed resources that I either have personally used or resources that have a good reputation. Knowing my love affair with tweaking things, I am sure I will make adjustments to my checklist in the future.

I hope you can find a few gems to use in the coming school year!

Do you know what GAFE stands for?

I have been a big Google Apps fan for many years. One of the best decision my school district made was adopting the Google tools. I have been doing some research on the various Google Apps that exist to share with my fellow colleagues. The product of my work is this Google Doc (did you expect something else?) with GAFE tutorials, tips, and tricks for users of all levels.

It can be quite overwhelming researching the various Google Apps. However, with more practice, the better you will become. My goal this year is to become more adept using Google Classroom. I am like how it is still relatively simple platform without too many bells and whistles to distract the students or me. On that note, I highly recommend you spend the 20 minutes or so to listen to this terrific podcast about Google Classroom. I was so impressed by the tips the guest Alice Keeler, that I purchased her book on Amazon. I can't wait to read it so I can use and share her tips.

Happy Googling!

Teacher Hacks from Buzzfeed

This is a short post, but I came across a post on social media showing 25 teacher hacks from Buzzfeed. Here is the link. I bet many pros already know some of these, but perhaps you will find a gem to add to your bag of tricks this year. Enjoy!

You need to check out Byrdseed!

I am not sure how I came across Byrdseed, but I am sure glad I found it and bookmarked during the school year. I was in the process of cleaning out my bookmarks and I found this gem. The gist of the site is that it provides a variety of ideas and views on how to differentiate lessons for "gifted" students. No matter what level of students you teach at the secondary level, I guarantee you will find ideas and resources to help you become a better educator. This isn't a tech post per se , however, this post does illustrate an extremely useful website to get you motivated for the upcoming school year.

Here are a couple of my favorite posts:

1. Writing Better Personal Narratives: This is a great, concise piece providing tangible ideas to help students write their personal narrative. As we begin the school year, my new schools are planning to spend time having students discuss their journey thus far. I plan on using and sharing this post with my colleagues.

2. Creative Math Warmups: I was never a great math student. Perhaps it was because I didn't have strong math teachers that sparked my interest in the subject like my social studies and English teachers. However, if I was a student and my teacher started class with some of these warmups, who knows how much better my math grades would have been in high school.

3. We Only Get Stronger When it is Difficult: This is a great motto for any classroom. Because I will be working with newcomer ELL students, I would like to emphasize this motto on a daily basis since most of my students will struggle and potentially think about leaving school to work for money. The post shows some great images and how he used the motto with his students.

Source: https://www.flickr.com/photos/barneymoss/6013029552 

Up your Google Apps Game!

A new colleague of mine asked me today whether one could save a copy of the same Google Drive file in multiple folders without having to make copies. I didn't know if this was possible until I did some snooping and came across this great website, Google Apps Tips. Not only did the site provide a worded explanation of this process, but it also provided a multimedia presentation explaining the process too. Here is the link to this process.

I have spent a little bit of time on the site this evening, and I am very impressed at the site's layout and practicality that teachers need.

If you haven't set this up already, I would strongly urge you to incorporate the 2-step verification process when you open your Google account on a new device. I use this function for both my Gmail and my Dropbox account to deter someone doing something malicious to my precious files and personal information. Here is a link explaining the process in more details.

Finally, the site links up to short and informational videos for using Google Apps for work/school. I am including their most recent episode below.

Grammar Goodies

As the year winds down (we go until June 24th because of snow days), I begin to start thinking about my summer teaching gig. For the last three years I have taught ESOL for advanced language learners during an intense summer school session that lasts about five weeks. One of the areas that I harp on with my students is building up their knowledge and comfort with English grammar. I emphasize from day one that learning grammar is a process that will last for one's lifetime. I like the idea of turning learning grammar into short activities and/or games. From my observations, students are more likely to enjoy learning grammar using electronic activities than paper worksheets.

I am including some of my favorite websites I use for teaching grammar. I have used some of the activities from these websites and transformed them into Kahoots too.  I hope you find a gem or two from my list of resources:

* Grammar Bytes
* English Grammar Pass
* Grammar Monster
* City University of Hong Kong
* University of Bristol
* Parts of Speech
* OWL Writing Lab for ESL Instructors (or anyone who wants grammar help)

Writing Well...

I was sad to learn yesterday that the legendary William Zinsser died the other day. I first heard of his writing strategies a few years ago. After reading his famous book, On Writing Well, I was hooked. What struck me about Zinsser is how he so adeptly describes the struggles English Language Learners encounter when writing in English. Using his book as a guide, I created the simple poster above to regularly remind my students (of all levels) what principles they should follow when writing. 

If you teach older students in any content area, I highly recommend you get a copy of Zinsser's book. His simple principles will give you a better way to teach writing!

A Shout Out from the Great Ken Halla!

I was honored to win a small contest run by Ken Halla's US Government Teacher's blog recently. He asked for submissions of the best review materials to help students prepare for the AP US Government and Politics exam quickly approaching. I sent him my centralized resources and he declared me the winner ;) Not only did I get a nice write up on his blog, but I won a copy of his great new book, Deeper Learning Through Technology: Using the Cloud to Individualize Instruction. It is a terrific and timely resource for teachers who want to learn best practices of using different technology resources within their classroom, school, and community.

If you do not subscribe to Halla's social studies blogs, you are missing out on great (and practical) resources for your classroom. Here is the nice post he wrote about my winning resource.

Also, here is the Google document my students are using to prepare for the AP US Government and Politics exam. May 12th is almost here!!

You Should Subsribe to this Great Education Blog: Mind/Shift

I came across this great blog, Mind/Shift, a few weeks ago and find myself anxiously waiting for their regular updates and articles. Because I subscribe to their posts (I highly recommend you do too!), I often read them in the morning before I get ready to teach. The blog focuses on the science of learning, with practical uses for the classroom. Mind/Shift delves into student motivations, the role of technology, gaming, and other big ideas that the mainstream media often glosses over.

The most recent post is entitled "How Memory, Focus, and Good Teaching Can Work Together to Help Kids Learn". I found myself reflecting on my own practices, while feeling good about much of what I do, but rethinking how I decorate my classroom. You will find their findings hyperlinked, giving the blog and its posts credibility.

As a classroom teacher, it is important to regularly stay in touch with new ideas and research. My favorite way to do this is by subscribing to blogs like Mind/Shift. You will not only improve your craft, but also find yourself feeling rejuvenated and motivated to help your students.

Snow Days...What Snow Days!?!

If you live in Washington, DC area, you are already aware that we have been closed many days due to winter weather. Additionally, my district has had 10 delayed openings!

Was I worried  that my students would get behind? Yes.

Did I sit back and do nothing? NO!

During these "days off", I was able to send my students Video/Reading Activities to keep them on pace to take their AP exam in May. As I tell them often, the College Board doesn't care about how many snow days we have...the exam is still May 12th!

My Video/Reading Activities are really just Google Forms that I use to provide content and formatively assess their understanding of the topics. I have been using these activities for a few years now, however, I have been dependent on them more this year because of the roller coaster calendar we are having. Students can do the activities on a smart phone, tablet, or personal computer. They can watch a video as many times as they want and read the information at their own pace. Really, these activities are my way of "flipping the classroom".

As I have noted before, I love Google Forms because I can create an activity like below and then use Flubaroo to quickly grade, analyze the data, and send the scores to students.

I posted the assignments using three different methods:

1. Email
2. Edmodo posts
3. Text messages using Remind (my favorite!)

Here are a sample of the lessons I shared with students:

Loving BrainRush

I recently came across the BrainRush website. I am a big fan! 

What is BrainRush? Check out this excerpt from their website: A BrainRush is a short, fast-paced learning game that automatically adapts to meet the needs of each student. Because they are small, they are easy to master, easy to create, and easy to fit into any curriculum. Brain science teaches us that the mind is most primed for learning when it is actively engaged, rather than when passively watching or reading, so with BrainRush all learning happens through active play. Students play each lesson-game until they fully master all the material. Some students do this quickly, and some take longer, but everyone masters every topic before they move on to the next BrainRush. This ensures that all students achieve an equal foundation, and that no one is left behind.

The coolest part of BrainRush is that the game adapts to individual students. This is something that Quizlet and other sites do not yet do. Students can focus on the concepts they are struggling with automatically.

I am still testing out BrainRush, but my students and I like it so far. The website was a little clunky when I was attempting to invite students to our class. I wish there was a code students could enter and join (like Edmodo or Quizlet). I do like how students can use their Google accounts to sign in...making it easier on me since I don't have to regularly reset passwords!

Thus far, I have only played with the flashcards, but they offer different types of games. I have inserted images into some sets, but I have not attempted to use the audio file capabilities. I can foresee a world language teacher using this capability. 

I am working with a student assistant to create BrainRush sets using my Quizlet cards...It would be nice if there was an easier way to import concepts and definitions, but for now we are doing it manually. Because the site is relatively new, the public library is not large (yet!). 

Check out their YouTube channel to learn more about BrainRush!