How Will You Welcome Back Students in 2018?

"I hope that in this year to come, you make mistakes. Because if you are making mistakes, then you are making new things, trying new things, learning, living, pushing yourself, changing yourself, changing your world. You're doing things you've never done before, and more importantly, you're doing something." Neil Gaiman

I hope everyone is enjoying their breaks and looking forward to reconnecting with your students in 2018?


How will you start the new year with your students? 
Will you jump right into the content? Reflect on the break or 2017? Something fun? Something different?


Please share your thoughts and ideas for 2018 in the comments below?

I've decided to do something new to welcome my students back. This year we will be working through a HyperDoc to start 2018. HyperDocs are not new for my students, but most of them are connected to our content. My welcome back HyperDoc will include:

  • A review of events and stories from 2017.
  • Student creation of an Avatar connected to their goals for 2018.
  • Sharing of Favorite Motivational Videos by students.
  • Connecting with the World. (This may seem a bit out of place, but one of our goals all year has been to look beyond our everyday place.)
  • Sharing and reflection on student goals for 2018 using Flipgrid.

Reboot the Noggin - New Year's Welcome Back HyperDoc


Sean Fahey recently inspired me to use a #OneWord Challenge as a hook before starting this HyperDoc. You can have students share using one of these Formative Tools or by using a word cloud generator like AnswerGarden.




Capturing Student Reflections in Google Slides - The Power of Exit Slips

"Without reflection, we go blindly on our way, creating more unintended consequences, and failing to achieve anything useful." Margaret J. Wheatley

Exit slips or exit tickets are a type of formative assessment that can help both teachers and students reflect on the learning process. Students respond to a question the teacher asks at the end of class or activity. I also believe these reflective student experiences can help cement key concepts for all learners. When the teacher reads or discusses the responses there is also tremendous value for the teacher to learn and grow..

The web is full of tools that support communication and formative assessment. Today I want to share 3 resources that work with Google Slides that support quick and easy exit slips, including the Pear Deck Add-on for Slides, The Poll Everywhere Extension for Google Slides, and the Google Slides Q and A Presenter Tool. 



This free Pear Deck Google Slides Add-on allows teachers to add a variety of different question types directly into Google Slides.


I use the "Reflection Slide" several times a week with my students.
You can explore step by step instructions to get the Pear Deck Add-on setup here.




The Poll Everywhere Extension allows teachers to add a variety of interactive questions into slides without ever leaving the presentation.


Learn more about using the Poll Everywhere Extension here.



The Q and A features are built into Google Slides for presenters. It is designed to allow viewers to ask questions and it has the unique feature of allowing viewers to vote up or down the questions. This could easily be adapted as an exit slip tool. Instead of students asking a question, they can use this tool to reflect on the learning and explore the responses of their classmates.


Learn more about Google Slides Q & A here.

Additional Resources Connected to Exit Slips and Google Slides


Save Time Watching Long YouTube Videos by Speeding Up The Feed

If you know me, it should come as no secret that I watch quite a few webinars and tutorials on YouTube. YouTube has always been a powerful resource to help me to learn and grow.
I do have one problem with watching these videos. Sometimes I don't have enough time. This means I might sometimes skip something important or just not be able to finish.

Recently I discovered the power of YouTube Speed settings. Most people can listen and learn faster than people talk. YouTube has a solution for this. If you click on the Gear Icon when watching a video, you can choose to speed up or slow down the video. 


YouTube does a nice job of adjusting the sound so you don't feel like you are listening to the Chipmunks. 


I typically use the speed of 1.5 when watching. I would recommend experimenting to see what works best for you. Try it out and let me know what you think?

There is also a Chrome Extension that you can use to adjust on the fly. 

Digital Resources to Support Math Educators and Students

Pure mathematics is, in its way, the poetry of logical ideas.
Albert Einstein

We are working on updating our web resources for different subject areas. This week the focus is on Math Chrome and G Suite Resources for K-12 teachers and students. This is the working document:


If you have suggested resources or ideas can you share them with us?

10 Great Hashtags Educators Should Be Exploring


Funny, but this is not the power of hashtags for educators! Hashtags for education are one of the most powerful tools connected to personal learning networks. 

What are hashtags?
Have you ever searched Google by using quotations to refine your results? Hashtags on Twitter work about the same way. A hashtag is the # symbol followed by a word or phrase. Two of the most popular educational hashtags are #edtech and #edchat.



A hashtag search will default to "Top" tweets connected to the hashtag. The top tweets is a good starting point, but I recommend clicking on "Latest" to get the most from your search. You can also click on "People" to connect directly with educators associated with the hashtag. 

Why use hashtags?
Hashtags allow Twitter users to narrow down results. When attached to your post they help other interested users to find what you are sharing. Educational hashtags have the power to connect educators to important conversations and educational trends.

If you are interested in a topic, there is probably a hashtag that can help. Here are 10 of my favorite hashtags connected to teaching and learning. This is by no means a complete list. There are many other great educational hashtags. My goal for this list was to provide some variety. Please feel free to share your favorite hashtags in the comments below.

#DigitalCitizenship - Educators and organizations sharing ideas and resources to support student digital footprints and online etiquette. Educators connected to this hashtag believe that all students need help to create and maintain a positive digital resume. #digcit is another popular digital citizenship hashtag. 

#KidsDeserveIt - This hashtag exists today to be a source of inspiration but also to be a place where ideas and opinions are brought about that may challenge the way things have always been done. Connected to the book Kids Deserve It.

#tlap - This hashtag offers inspiration, practical techniques, and innovative ideas that will help you to increase student engagement, boost your creativity, and transform your life as an educatorConnected to the book Teach Like a Pirate.

#edtechteam- Originally connected to the EdTechTeam Summits, this hashtag is a place where educators share valuable resources and ideas connected to edtech, learning spaces, Google for Education, and much more. 

#InnovatorsMindset - This hashtags challenges the status quo and asks educators to explore how teachers can bring a new more innovative mindset to their classrooms. Connected to the book Innovator's Mindset

#GSuiteEDU - Connected to G Suite for Education. This hashtag brings some of the best and the brightest educators together. While the focus is on Google, there are many other great resources and ideas shared. It is not just a Google hashtag. 

#ditchbook - This hashtag brings together educators who understand that technology is changing the world and so must our classrooms. Connected to the book Ditch that Textbook.

#pbl - Brings together educators interested in project based learning. 

#onesmallthing - Based on the simple idea that a BIG impact comes from focusing on one small change at a time. Connected to Teacher 2 Teacher Website (#T2T). 

#hyperdocs - Brings together educators using HyperDocs as a tool to support student-centered learning enhanced by edtech. Connected to the HyperDoc Handbook

There is also a great deal of value in following the hashtags of different educational conferences during the conferences. ISTE, ASCD, ICE, and FETC all conferences that have very active hashtags before, during, and after the conferences.

Not enough Hashtags for you? Explore these resources to find even more great Educational Hashtags.

Just a bit more Twitter fun!

Digital Literacy & Citizenship Resources

If you are on social media, and you are not learning, not laughing, not being inspired or not networking, then you are using it wrong.Germany Kent

The only constant in this world is change. The world that many educators grew up in does not exist for our students today. We are connected to the world like never before, but the world also has unprecedented access to us. Navigating the digital world is an essential skill for all learners.
ISTE Student Standard 2: Digital Citizen Students recognize the rights, responsibilities, and opportunities of living, learning and working in an interconnected digital world, and they act and model in ways that are safe, legal and ethical.
I believe that it is important for educators, students, and parents to recognize that we all have a digital tattoo. Something is added to our digital tattoo almost every time we are online.  I like this analogy because once we share something with the digital world it is very hard to erase it, just like it is hard to remove a tattoo. Good or bad, our online resume is part of us now and in the future.

I believe all educators have a responsibility to help our students become digitally literate and my PLN has been helping us organize resources to support all students now and in the future.
__________ Featured Books Connected to Digital Citizenship and Media Literacy
__________ Featured Digital Citizenship & Digital Literacy Resources
__________

Additional resources and a Digital Literacy Video Playlist can be found on our Digital Learning website.


What resources will you use to support digital literacy and citizenship in your classrooms?

Resources to Support Creative Student Voices #StudentVoice


Student Voice is no longer relegated to the traditional methods and pedagogy. Powerpoints, class discussion, writing, and drawing still have an important place in our classrooms, but they cannot be the only way Future Ready Teachers and Students engage in content. EdTech today provides students and educators with incredible resources to engage Student Voice

Today, Student Voice needs to be connected to a range of skills and connected resources including images, text, audio, interactive components, and video. The web and Google Apps for Education can provide students and teachers with a wealth of resources to flip the traditional a presentation model on its head.

The resources connected on this page are commonly used in education and are typically free. This is by no means a complete list. We’ve selected and categorized some of our PLN's favorite resources to support Creative Student Voice.

Most of the resources in this document have interactive help tutorials built into the resource. Additionally, a quick YouTube search will provide some nice tutorials for teachers and students.



Please feel free to share your favorite resources in the Padlet linked in the Document or in the comments section below.


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