Google Forms for Reading Open Response

I was able to meet with Trish Lopez in her 5th grade class at Elmdale Elementary School in Springdale, AR. We had a conversation about the different ways that Google Forms can be used in the classroom. While we discussed how it could be great for multiple choice type quizzes, we decided to use the Form as a reading open response tool for her guided reading group. 

She formulated a few open response questions for them in her form, and added a picture from the story in the form as well for the students to answer about. She then shared the form with her reading group via Google Classroom, where the students could easily click on the link and complete her form. Once the students completed their questions, their responses were collected on a Google Sheet for Mrs. Lopez to easily read their responses. This proved to be an easy way to integrate technology into her classroom as another simple tool to collect student work.

Mixing Pencil & Paper with Google Docs.

I was able to visit Dustin Curtis's 5th grade classroom last week at Bayyari Elementary in Springdale, Arkansas. When I walked in I noticed that students had their Chromebooks open, and a word problem was displayed for them in a Google Doc. The students were working diligently on a paper with a pen to complete the problem that was posed for them. After completing their task on paper, the students simply clicked on the insert tab to add a picture, and took a snapshot of their work. The work they had just completed was then a part of the document on their screen. Underneath the snapshot the students were then able to explain their thinking and problem solving process on the Google Doc.

This concept seems simple enough, but think of all of the benefits this truly brings:

• It still gives the students the opportunity to work with pencil in hand, something we never want to get away from as technology continues to progress.
• Student work getting lost or mysteriously landing in a random pile on the teacher’s desk is gone.
• The students having control over their work in their Google Drive file to share with teachers or parents, and eventually choosing pieces for a portfolio.

Those are just a few of the many benefits that could come from this. If anything, this could be a great first step for any classroom that is taking their first steps with 1:1 technology in their classrooms.

Free Student Selection Tools

Finding ways to randomly select students in the classroom is nothing new. I've used everything from numbering systems, spinners, dice, and even a deck of cards to randomly choose students to answer questions in my classrooms. Of course these systems are a great tool to have. They keep students accountable because they never know when they will be called upon, and it helps teachers promote fairness in the classroom.

Kagan Publishing & Professional Development has some of the to tools for classroom collaboration, including many types of randomization tools. They are fairly inexpensive, but you do pay for them. Here are some great FREE tools you can use for student selection!

Classtools.net has a Random Name Picker that is excellent. You can easily create, edit and save your class names. It makes a url for your saved list, and can be accessed anywhere.

www.barryfunenglish.com also has a few easy to use student selection tools. Dart Board Selector & Random Student Selector. You can sign up for a free membership to access these tools. Your class lists are then saved to your account and can be accessed for either selection tool you want to use.

All of these tools can be a fun way to keep students of all ages engaged and hold them accountable at the same time.