#GSuiteEdu and #EdTech Resources to Support Social Studies Teachers & Students

G Suite for Education

Recharge Learning - Digital Social Studies Resources for K-12

Classrooms must be focused on the connections between teachers and students. Technology can serve as enhancements to these connections. Digital resources can also support content and the development of essential skills for students.
We hope that everyone approaches this list with the idea that a tool is only valuable if it enhances students learning. Start with the why.


Objective: Connect teachers and students with resources to enhance teaching and learning in Social Studies Classrooms.
Chrome Apps and Extensions, along with Google Drive Add-ons and Apps, can provide valuable support for Social Studies Classrooms.

Guiding Question: How can G Suite for Education support and enhance teaching and learning in your classroom?
We’ve done our best to select resources that are highly rated and do what they should do without a huge learning curve. Many of the resources are free, but some do have premium options available at an additional cost. We recommend exploring the free features before considering any pay options.

Click here to explore our Google Tools for Social Studies for teachers and students. 

Additional Google tools for teachers and students can be found in our shared resource folder: EdTech and G Suite Resources

The Google Chrome Webstore supports keyword searches for additional Apps and Extensions.

Special thanks to my PLN for sharing so many of these valuable resources. Please feel free to suggest additional resources using the Comment feature in Google Docs.

HyperDocs - Frameworks for the 4 Cs in Student-Centered Classrooms

HyperDocs are powerful digital activities that shift the focus of learning from the teacher to the students. The best HyperDocs support essential skills connected to collaboration, communication, critical thinking, and creativity.



HyperDoc Fundamentals
  • HyperDocs are powerful frameworks to support inquiry-based learning. 
  • HyperDocs allow students to explore interactive resources at their own pace. 
  • HyperDocs are digital frameworks that can support differentiated learning. 
  • HyperDocs don't just present the facts. HyperDocs use questions, problems, and scenarios to help students learn, explore, and create. 
  • HyperDocs provide options for student voice and give students choices in how to engage in the content. 
  • HyperDocs support individual, small group, and whole class opportunities.
  • HyperDocs connected to Formative Assessments help students know what they know and explore what they don't know.

HyperDoc Resources
Want to learn more about using HyperDocs to support collaboration, communication, critical thinking, and creativity in learner-centered classrooms? Take a look at the HyperDoc Mission Control document and our 4 Cs resource documents. These resources are designed to support the creation of HyperDocs connected to the 4 Cs and the ISTE Standards. 

WeVideo - Powerful Creativity Tool for Teachers & Students

Project Based Learning is a teaching method in which students gain knowledge and skills by working for an extended period of time to investigate and respond to an engaging and complex question, problem, or challenge.

In recent years, I've shifted my thinking about content in my classroom. I teach an AP Course and the content is important if I am going to help my students meet their goals for the AP Exam. Traditionally, I've taught the content and then asked students to demonstrate their understanding of the content. This would frequently take the form of a presentation, assessment or visual. Today, I provide them the content upfront and ask students to take that content and use it to develop their creative thinking skills. They don't tell me what they know instead, they show me what they know in their own unique way.

Classroom content can be a powerful resource to help students build skills connected to the 4 Cs. Videos can be one powerful way for students to demonstrate these skills. WeVideo has become one go-to resource to help students develop skills connected to video creation. Content becomes the foundation of collaboration, creativity, critical thinking, and communication connected to the videos.

Popular WeVideo Features
  • Screencast recording with audio for your entire screen or a window.
  • Green screen effects made simple with color keying built in. 
  • Different Editing Modes to suit novices and experts alike: Storyboard and Advanced Timeline 
  • Connect Google Drive to easily use your photos, videos, music & graphics files already uploaded
  • Drag & drop media files in any order to assemble your story
  • Easily trim video clips to focus on key moments or set custom durations
  • Add text, effects, music, transitions and more
  • Add animation to videos, photos, text and annotations 
  • Record voice-overs and video directly from the app 
  • Get creative with over 100 royalty-free effects & audio clips 
  • Adjust video speed (SloMo/FastMo) 
  • Add titles and captions in different languages(most languages supported, including Mandarin, Spanish, English, Arabic, Portuguese, etc.)
  • Publish to YouTube, Google Drive, Vimeo, Facebook, Dailymotion and more
  • Take turns editing or simply share each others’ clip libraries 
  • Works with Google Drive - WeVideo adds a folder called "WeVideo" to your Google Drive directory. This folder will contain names of the WeVideo projects and videos you create. 
Click here to learn more about WeVideo and to install the Chrome App.

Additional Resources


The 4Cs - EdTech & GSuiteEDU Resources for Learner-Centered Classrooms

The skills connected to collaboration, communication, critical thinking, and creativity are essential for all students. The best activities provide students with opportunities to practice these skills in learner-centered environments.
Many of the categorized resources below can support a variety of student skills and activities connected to the 4 Cs. It is recommended that users sign-up for the resources using Google accounts whenever possible. Many of the resources have tutorials and interactive help available. You can also learn more about each resource with a quick YouTube search. Additionally,  If you prefer a Google Doc that you can add to your drive, click here



Teachers no longer need to be the experts in the classroom. A good teacher realizes that they don't need to know how to use everything before letting the students explore. Give students the opportunity to explore and experiment with something new. 

Collaboration
Google Drive (Docs, Drawings, Slides, Forms, and Sheets) Google Apps for Education resources.
Padlet (Chrome App) A digital canvas to create beautiful projects that are easy to share and collaborate on. It works like a piece of paper.
Google Keep (App and Extension)
Capture, edit, share, and collaborate on your notes on any device, anywhere.


Creativity
WeVideo (Chrome / Drive App)
WeVideo makes video editing easy for everyone and accessible from anywhere.
Google Drawings / Canva / Piktochart / Thinglink / Slides (Web and Infographic Resources)
Resources to support visual learning and creation of visual products.
Screencastify (Chrome Extension)
Screencastify is a simple video screen capture software for Chrome and Chromebooks.

Adobe Spark (Web Resource)
Create impactful social graphics, web stories & animated videos with Spark’s free graphic design app.


Communication
Google Classroom / Share to Classroom (Chrome App, Chrome Extension & Web Resource)
A suite of free productivity tools for classroom collaboration and communication.
Google+ / Google Sites / Blogger (Web Resources)
Google Apps for Education resources for online sharing of resources and links.
Remind (Web Resource)
A communication tool that helps teachers reach students and parents where they are.


Critical Thinking
Newsela (Chrome App and Web Resource)
Newsela publishes daily news articles from leading publications like The Washington Post, Scientific American, and The Guardian at 5 reading levels from grades 2 – 12 to drive gains in literacy.
TED-Ed (Web Resource)
Use videos create customized lessons. You can use, tweak, or completely redo any lesson featured on TED-Ed, or create lessons from YouTube videos.
Coggle (Chrome / Drive App)
Free collaborative mind mapping: Real-time brainstorming, add images, Drive support, save mind maps as PDF, Image, .mm, text.


Assessment
Kahoot / Quizziz / Quizlet.live
Create a fun learning game in minutes, made from a series of multiple choice questions. Add videos, images and diagrams.
EdPuzzle
Make video come alive with engaging and interactive customizable video lessons.
Google Forms (Flubaroo or Superquiz)
Create custom forms for surveys and questionnaires. Flubaroo and Superquiz are add-ons to facilitate grading and distribution of scores.


Subject Specific Chrome & Chromebook Resources
Google Drive Folder of EdTech Enhancements
Additional resources connected to Chrome Apps, Drive Add-ons, and Chrome Extensions.


Productivity / Workflow Resources
Productivity and Workflow Document
Additional resources to support students and teachers connected to Chromebooks and Google Chrome.



Hyperdoc Resources
HyperDoc Resource Document
HyperDocs are powerful learning frameworks that support and organize learning connected to the 4 Cs. 


GSuiteEdu - Digital Reading Resources for K-12 Teachers and Students

G Suite for Education

Recharge Learning  - Digital Reading Resources for K-12
Classrooms must be focused on the connections between teachers and students. Technology can serve as an enhancement to these connections. Digital resources can also support content understandings and the development of essential skills for students.

Objective: Connect teachers and students with resources to enhance teaching and learning in all classrooms.
Chrome Apps and Extensions, along with Google Drive Add-ons and Apps, can provide valuable support for reading in all subject areas.

Guiding Question: How can G Suite for Education support and enhance teaching and learning in your classroom?
We’ve done our best to select resources that are highly rated and do what they should do without a huge learning curve. Many of the resources are free, but some do have premium options available at an additional cost. We recommend exploring the free features before considering any pay options.

Click here to explore our Google Tools for Reading.

Additional Google tools for teachers and students can be found in our shared resource folder: EdTech and G Suite Resources.

The Google Chrome Webstore supports keyword searches for additional Apps and Extensions connect to specific Language Arts resources.

Special thanks to my PLN for sharing so many of these valuable resources. Please feel free to suggest additional resources using the Comment feature in Google Docs.



Google Classroom Updates Tips, Tricks, and Training Resources

Google Classroom is a great workflow solution from Google Apps for Education. It is important to understand that Google Classroom is not a traditional website that can be fully customized. Google classroom is also not a full-featured Learning Management System for teachers and students.

Why Google Classroom?

  • Classroom allows teachers to post announcements, assignments, ask questions, share resources, and create a calendar of due dates in a secure online location. 
  • Google Classroom is an essential tool to support collaboration, communication, and digital workflow connected to Google Apps for Education. 
  • Classroom helps teachers and students stay organized in a digital workspace. 
  • Classroom helps teachers communicate with parents using Guardian Summaries. 
  • Google Classroom continues to grow and evolved to better support teachers and students. 
Google Classroom continues to add new features. Most recently, Google added the ability to differentiate learning by assigning activities to individual students or the whole class. Teachers have been able to receive notifications when assignments are turned in before the due date, recent updates now include notifications for late assignments. Google Classroom has also recently enhanced the ability of teachers to communicate with parents using Guardian Summaries.

New Feature Post from Google: New Google Classroom features make it easier to learn, teach, manage and build
Here are our top 10 Tips for Google Classroom users. Additional resources and tutorials are included at the end of this post.

Google Classroom Essential Tip 1: Teacher and Student Views
It is important to understand both the teacher and student view of Google Classroom. Teachers signing into Classroom for the first time should sign-up as a teacher. Teachers can create sample classes and invite other teachers as students. This will help teachers to better understand the student view. Google Classroom also creates a Google Drive folder for both teachers and students.

Google Classroom Essential Tip 2: Assignment Options
Google Classroom supports different sharing options and it is important to understand the different Sharing Options in Google Drive before venturing too deeply in Google Classroom. Teachers also have the ability to assign an activity to all students or differentiate the distribution by choosing students or groups of students.

Google Classroom Essential Tip 3: Workflow
Understanding the workflow of distributing and collecting assignments for both the student and the teacher is essential.  Learn more about workflow with this Google Classroom Workflow Explanation

Google Classroom Essential Tip 4: Share to Classroom Extension
The Share to Classroom Extension allows teachers to share websites directly to Google Classroom or directly with students.

Google Classroom Essential Tip 5: About Section
The ‘About’ section of Classroom is the place to share resources and links that students will use frequently. This is a great place to organize frequently used digital resources without losing them in the stream.

Google Classroom Essential Tip 6: Archiving Classes
When ending or starting a new year or semester, it is best practice is to archive last year’s classes to preserve the class materials, any assignments, and any postings to the class stream. Reusing an existing class with new students can be a confusing experience. You can still access the old class files in the Classroom Google Drive Folder, but the archived classes are moved to a separate area to help you keep your current classes organized. An archived class can still be viewed by you and the students in the class. Posts can be copied from archived classes. However, when the class is archived, you can't edit or add anything to the class until you restore it. Additional Resource: Archive a Class Tutorial

Google Classroom Tip 7: File Naming Convention
Google Classroom will keep the Google Drive name of the attached file. If the option of giving a copy to each student is used, then the student’s name will be added to the end of the document. Consistency in naming is an essential to help keep teachers and students organized. Try to use the same name for the drive file, classroom assignment post, and your grade book entry. Additional Resource: Alice Keeler’s Naming Conventions for Google Classroom

Google Classroom Tip 8: Assigning Work, Topics, and Scheduling Posts
Teachers can assign posts to specific students top allow for differentiation. Google Classroom allows teachers to organize post by topic. Students and teachers can then sort post by topics. Additionally, teachers can post in the stream immediately or schedule a post for a future day and time. Additional Resource: Organizing Your Class Stream Help

Google Classroom Tip 9: Grading
Google Classroom creates a Google Drive (Called Classroom - It can be renamed.) folder for assignments created. Use these folders to quickly review and grade assignments turned in by students. You can view them in progress or after they have been turned in.

Google Classroom Tip 10: Discussion Questions, Exit Slips, and Formative Assessment.
Google Classroom allows teachers to post short-answer or multiple choice questions. Teachers have the ability to allow students to see each other's responses so this feature can be used to for classroom discussions. Additional Resource: Google Help: Create a question


Learn more:


Student-Centered Learning - HyperDocs and Formative Assessments


I still talk too much in class, but I don't talk nearly as much as I used to. I am no longer the ultimate source of knowledge in my classroom. In fact, there are days when my students don't need me at all. 

I am still learning how to be a better facilitator of learning, but there are two essentials in my 1 to 1 student-centered classroom.

  • HyperDocs
    HyperDocs are digital lessons that you give to students for engaging, inquiry-based learning; but beware, they can easily be a digital worksheet depending on the lesson design and content you include.
  • Formative Assessment
    The goal of formative assessment is to monitor student learning to provide ongoing feedback that can be used by instructors to improve their teaching and by students to improve their learning. More specifically, formative assessments: 
    • help students identify their strengths and weaknesses and target areas that need work
    • help faculty recognize where students are struggling and address problems immediately
HyperDoc Resources
"Thank you for the amazing worksheet!" - Said No Kid Ever
The best HyperDocs provide students with a framework for engagement and encourage exploration. They are not simply a set of links and questions. A well organized HyperDoc should support collaboration, communication, critical thinking, creativity, curiosity, choice, connections, and citizenship.  My best HyperDocs blend the digital collaboration and communication with face to face interactions between students. I know I've done well when students are asking each other and me about concepts and content. 
Formative Assessment Resources
"We learn by doing!" - Aristotle
Formative assessments are powerful learning checkpoints for teachers and students. Formative assessments are part of the learning process and can be enhanced with a variety of different #EdTech resources. The best assessments lead to class discussions that clarify and enhance understanding.
I also use many of my summative assessments as formative assessments. I do this by allowing students to access digital resources, work together, and providing reflective questions as part of the assessment. I believe that no test should be the end, so I also typically allow retakes.

Learn more about Formative Assessment

Google Tools for English Language Arts - G Suite for Education

G Suite for Education

Recharge Learning  - Digital Language Arts Resources for K-12 Students and Educators

Classrooms must be focused on the connections between teachers and students. Technology can serve as an enhancement to these connections. Digital resources can also support content understandings and the development of essential skills for students.

Objective: Connect teachers and students with resources to enhance teaching and learning in Language Arts Classrooms.
Chrome Apps and Extensions, along with Google Drive Add-ons and Apps, can provide valuable support for Language Arts Classrooms.

Guiding Question: How can G Suite for Education support and enhance teaching and learning in your classroom?
We’ve done our best to select resources that are highly rated and do what they should do without a huge learning curve. Many of the resources are free, but some do have premium options available at an additional cost. We recommend exploring the free features before considering any premium options.

Click here to explore our Google Tools for Language Arts


Additional Google tools for teachers and students can be found in our shared curriculum resources site: Content Resources

The Google Chrome Webstore supports keyword searches for additional Apps and Extensions connect to specific Language Arts resources.

Special thanks to my PLN for sharing so many of these valuable resources. Please feel free to suggest additional resources using the Comment feature in Google Docs.

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