November 15, 2016

Improve Reading Comprehension with Google Docs "Black Out"

This idea was shared on the G+ for Education Group by Eric Curtis from his blog titled Control Alt Achieve.

Basically, he heard about a way for students to identify main ideas, and summarization skills to help with their reading comprehension called the “Text Reduction Strategy” by Andrea Heick in a post at TeachThought. 
(link to original article: https://goo.gl/8Rs0Xe

Here is how it works. Students are given a piece of text and a black marker. They are instructed to read the article and to decide what information is critical and what is not. Then they re-read the article and black out all text that is not critical leaving behind just the main ideas.

In the original article, Andrea Heick suggested giving students a magazine article and a black marker. However, Eric Curtis suggested sharing a Google Doc with the students and having them use the highlighting feature that is built into the program.

Eric Curtis does an excellent job of showing step-by-step instructions on where to find articles of interest for the students, how to share the document and finally how to “black out” what is not critical. Read his post here: https://goo.gl/5FbZN6 

November 15, 2016

Tricks for Searching in Google Drive

Have you ever had a file or document in your Google Drive but suddenly can't find it? Did you know you can use the search bar at the very top to help?

In this article from Educational Technology comes 8 easy Google Drive search tips every teacher should know. 

November 1, 2016

From CommonSense Media:

“Mangahigh is a web-based platform that boasts dozens of math games and hundreds of tutorials and quizzes, all aligned with Common Core standards. It teaches and reinforces a wide variety of math fundamentals, from counting and number sense all the way up to beginning algebra and geometry concepts. Students can play through games at their own pace or work on teacher-assigned challenges and lessons. For extra-competitive flavor, students can earn medals, badges, and rewards, compete in social games with students across the world, or take part in school-wide challenges against other schools."

An impressive teacher dashboard lets instructors manage the whole experience with a gorgeous gradebook system, easy class setup, comprehensive analytics at the class or student level, and full interactive previews of all games and lessons. Classroom Mode allows teachers to lock down student access to teacher-assigned tasks (games or activities) for up to 90 minutes. “

For more information:
https://goo.gl/gm0gSH 

November 1, 2016

Teacher Rubric - A Google Doc Add-On

Within Google Docs, there are Add-Ons which are tools you can use within your project. These Add-Ons are developed by third-party vendors and most are free. 

To add an Add-On to your G Suite account, follow these instructions: https://goo.gl/cmXlYF

Today, I want to spotlight one add-on called  Teacher Rubric. This Add-On was created by a classroom teacher and is available under the name OrangeSlice.

What I like the most about this add-on is how it saves teachers time by creating rubrics that can then be embedded within each of the student documents. And what is even better, the rubric works very well with Google Classroom as after the rubric has been graded, it will insert the grade into the title of the document. This making it easy for the teacher and the student to see the final grade.

To see a short video over Teacher Rubric, click here: https://goo.gl/36Ivzt 

November 8, 2016

Key Questions To Ask When Analyzing Media Messages

Authorship

Who made this message?

Purpose

Why was this made? Who is the target audience (and how do you know)?

Economics

Who paid for this?

Impact

Who might benefit from this message? Who might be harmed by it? Why might this message matter to me?

Response

What kinds of actions might I take in response to this message?

Content

What ideas, values, information and/or points of view are overt? implied? What is left out of this message that might be important to know?

Techniques

What techniques are used? Why were those techniques used? How do they communicate the message?

Interpretations

How might different people understand this message differently? What is my interpretation of this and what do I learn about myself from my reaction or interpretation?

Context

When was this made? Where or how was it shared with the public?

November 8, 2016

FormLimiter is a Google Forms add-on that works really well for Google Classroom purposes and does exactly what the name implies…..it helps limit the use of the form.

FormLimiter can be used as a way to make sure only students in a certain class can complete a quiz using Google Forms by setting the time when it will no longer be available. (hint: create one quiz using Google Forms and make a copy for each class. Then use the add-on formLimiter to make the quiz only available during the class period). 

You can also use formLimiter to cut off responses after a certain number has been received or after a certain period or due date.

Carol LaRow has created a PDF handout to walk you through all of the steps on how to use formLimiter. You can access it here:

https://goo.gl/jdDbpa

To watch a how to video, click here: https://youtu.be/X3rQyf1wc_4

October 25, 2016

Google Chrome Extensions

What are they?: “Extensions are small software programs that can modify and enhance the functionality of the Chrome browser.”

What Are The Top Ones?: Like everything else, there are a wide variety of Google Chrome Extensions to choose from. Below are just a few of my favorite ones.

goo.gl URL Shortener: If I could only use one, this is the one I would choose. It is so easy to use and for someone who shares links to websites, it is a must have. Very simply put, it takes those long url’s and shortens them into an easier format.

Share to Classroom: The extension allows you to push webpages to any of your Classroom classes, so they open instantly on your students' computers.

Save to Google Drive: This extension allow you to save web content directly to Google Drive through a browser action or context menu.

LastPass: We have all been there...trying to remember a password or having to create yet another one for a program. This extension is here to help. All you have to do is remember one password to LastPass and it will automatically sign in and sync all of the other programs for you.