Keeping Students on Track with Google Tasks

Time management and prioritizing are two huge challenges for students (and some of us educators as well). Schools and teachers use agendas, messaging apps like Remind, Monday Folders; the list goes on and on. We know students need a variety of reminders to keep them on track, but what about tools that teach them these responsibilities for themselves. Is there a tool that already exists that teachers can show students how to become more responsible and learn how to prioritize? I believe there is: The Google Tasks Chrome Extension!

Google Tasks is a part of the Google Universe that is so simple, that it's often overlooked. With connections in Gmail and Google Calendar, Tasks offers a seamless use for your student's studying and workflow.

You may be thinking, "That's great, but my students aren't always in their calendar or checking their email when I need them to be keeping up with class assignments." That is why the Google Tasks Chrome Extension is the perfect solution.

With the Google Tasks Extension, your complete task-list is only a single click away. Like all Chrome Extensions, there is no need to switch tabs to open your calendar or mail to access your list. With easy accessibility, your students can now have a quick place to click and add to their to do list.

What about prioritizing?

Two excellent features about Google Tasks is that they allow your to rearrange your list by clicking and dragging items up and down the list. Tasks also allows you to place due dates that automatically sync to your calendar.

If your school district is a Google Apps for Education district, there isn't an easier way to teach your students (and teachers) task management and prioritizing skills than using the Google Tasks Extension.

Check it out here: Google Tasks Extension

Introducing SAMR: Planning & Reflecting Classroom Technology Usage

As the 2017 school year comes to an end, its a time of reflection for classroom teachers. A mixture of projects, activities, and events from August to May come to mind. Hopefully for most teachers and students remembering an engaging activity that utilized technology in the classroom is part of that mixture.

During this reflection, what tool do teachers have to help them reflect upon this tech usage? The answer to that question: The SAMR Instructional Model. The SAMR Model points out the 4 categories of how technology can be utilized for students. The interesting aspect of this model, is that it differs from other educational criteria tools. The "high level" of SAMR, does not equate to a DOK level 4 or the highest level of Bloom's. Instead, the model brings an awareness that there are different levels of how technology can be used to support learning in the classroom.

The following presentation is a simple introduction to the SAMR Model that I was able to present to a group of educators. There is a task card activity included to practice identifying these levels. Feel free to share with your fellow educators.

Supporting ELL Students with EdTech

Over the last 13 years, I have spent my career in education in the Springdale School District in Springdale, AR. The 3rd and 4th grade classrooms I have taught were at about a 75% or higher ELL (or ESL) population. As I have seen the boom in EdTech over the recent years in our district, I have really paid attention to the technology tools that are available to help our ELL students succeed.

There are several tools out there to provide the scaffolding and support to these students, but I am just going to focus on a few of them for this post: Translation Tools, Auditory Tools, and Recording Tools. These tools are nothing new in the world of technology, but as more students are able to access technology in the classroom they should not be overlooked.

Translation Tools:

Google Translate
 used on iPhone

The translation tool I have seen the most success with is Google Translate. It works very well in multiple ways:

• Tablet/Phone App: The app allows you to point your camera at a sign and translate it to a different language. It also allows you to speak one language into the device and it will translate and speak out loud in another language.
• Google Search/Website: If you search google translate, a text box will appear at the top of your search results that allows for instant text translation. translate.google.com also does this function.
• Chrome Extension: The Google Translate Chrome extension allows you to change the language of any website you are looking at with a few simple clicks, never leaving the web site you are viewing. 

Auditory Tools: 

I am defining auditory tools as any type of tool that reads texts to students. Many of our ELL students comprehend speech at a much higher level than they are able to read (in English). The use of auditory tools will allow students to hear the content needed even if they are struggling to read the words on the screen. There are several text to speech apps out there, but the following have worked best for me:

• iPad/iPhone: I simply use Siri. This is activated through the accessibility menu within settings. Students can change voice accents and also speech rate.  
• Chrome: I prefer the extension SpeakIt! Voice accents and speech rate are also controllable. 

As mentioned, I realize that these may seem like fairly simple tools in today's high tech classrooms, but the importance of what these tools can bring to our ELLs should not be looked over.

Recording Tools:
Apps that record student voices, screens, and actions can make a great impact with our ELL students in two ways: comprehension/assessment and reflection/meta-cognition.

Comprehension/Assessment - Giving ELL students the option to record their voice to explain a concept and turn it in to their teacher is critical. Our ELL students comprehend information at high levels, many of them just have difficulty putting their learning and understanding into writing. Why not allow them to record their understanding verbally and send that to the teacher for a comprehension check/assessment? There is a relatively new website/app called Recap just for this purpose.



Reflection/Meta-cognition For decades, coaches have recorded players on the field and reviewed it with their players. Music directors have recorded performers and had them listen back for reflection. This can now be done with every single student in the classroom. Having students record their thoughts through screen-casting, audio notes, or video will allow them to reflect upon their learning and presentation skills. This is only effective if part of the assignment is that the student listen back to their recordings for that reflection piece. There are so many great tools out there, but a few to check out are:
Chrome Extentions: Screencastify and Snagit Chrome Extensions.
iPhone/iPad: Book Creator, Draw and Tell, Educreations, Explain Everything, Seesaw, Shadow Puppet, Tellagami, and simply just use the camera. (If you would like to learn more about some of these apps, then check out my post 5 iPad apps for Student Presentations and Meta-Cognition)

As with everything with EdTech, it is important to not get wrapped up in the "bells and whistles" of an app/site, but what it really offers your students. In the case of our ELLs, thinking of how these tools can support language development should be our number one goal.

My Maps in Google Drive: Create Interactive Maps

The integration of Google My Maps within Google Drive has made it simple for anyone to create interactive maps. Both teachers and students can use these maps to display content for reports or instruction. For every pin dropped on the map, information and pictures can be added. Since it is in Google Drive, the map can be shared and worked on collaboratively as well.

To access Google My Maps, click the New button in Drive, hover over more, and select Google My Maps

Google My Maps allow for users to:

• Add different layers
• Change icon color and shape
• Measure the distance between locations
• Draw lines or shapes
• Add driving, biking, or walking routes

Take a look at a few of the images below, and then try out Google My Maps for yourself!

Simple to edit and add pictures

Add layers to identify different purposes for pinning locations

Change icon color and shape

Graphic Design Tools for ALL Students

Students are constantly bombarded with graphics in their daily lives. Social media, web page adds, video game consoles, and the environmental print around them all use graphic design tools to give our students information. So the question quickly becomes, how can our students create graphic representations of the information we want them to report and present?

While there have been tools like Microsoft Paint and Adobe Photoshop out there for years, they haven't always been "student friendly." The thought of a student quickly using those tools to make a short presentation or exit ticket was hardly an option.

For the last couple of years, I have really began to enjoy using 2 specific graphic design tools with students of all ages in the Springdale School District: Canva and Piktochart. They are both relatively easy to use, and allow students to create various types of Infographics, Presentations, Exit Tickets, and more. Both sites have several templates to get students started, and several free icons and graphics for students to use. The ability to import their own images is also easy.

If you are in a Google Apps for Ed domain, you can sign in to both sites through Google!

Check out a few examples that I was able to quickly make with these two programs, and give the sites a try for yourself. Your students will enjoy using these tools to creatively display what they have learned.

Newspaper Report - PiktoChart

Short Book Review - Canva

Time Lines - PiktoChart

Student Generated Vocabulary Cards - Canva

Chrome Extensions for Students and Teachers

Last week, I had the privilege of presenting several sessions at the Innovation Institute held at Lakeside Jr. High in Springdale, Arkansas. The following presentation was from my last session there. It consists of just a handful of Chrome Extensions that would be great for classroom use. This is not a top 5 list, because I have found extensions to be a very individualized thing. They are just some extensions that either work well for me, or I have seen work well in the classroom.

YouTube Offers Free Music for your Classroom Videos

One of the things that teachers and students often want to add to a video presentation is background music. Of course, this can become difficult when you want to post these videos to YouTube or any social media site. Do to copyright issues, you are not allowed to post videos with just any music added to them.  

YouTube actually gives you a solution to this problem! They offer free to use music that you or your students can add to videos that is legal to post and share to the public.

I have made the following tutorial for you to see just how this works:

Google Templates: The Greatest Thing in Drive That You May Not Know About!

Inside of Google Drive are a plethora of templates available for your use. The question is... Are you and your students using them? Check out the video below to see how to access them!

Sharing Student Work With Parents in a Paperless Classroom

Currently one of the biggest challenges for Google Classroom or any paperless classroom is, how do I "send" the student's work home to parents. Sure you could print out every assignment the student does, but doesn't that negate the purpose of a paperless classroom? I suppose you could have the student give the parent their password to their Google account, but there have to be better options. Here are a couple ideas about keeping parents in the loop with student work.

IMPORTANT! Before any Google Apps work can be seen by parents, you will need to go to the advanced share setting and change them to, "Anyone with the link can view" This will include people outside of your school's domain.

1. Google Shornters: http://goo.gl/

Google's URL Shornter allows people to condense the long URL that a Google App creates into a much smaller version. This would allow a student to simply write down the shortened URL on paper and pass it along to their parents. It's also simple enough for most students to do without much teacher guidance or help. For example this extremly long URL that goes beyond the legnth of the address bar

becomes this in the Google Shortner: http://goo.gl/UjD7bi infact you can even make it even shorter: goo.gl/UjD7bi A student could easily write this down and take it to their parents!

2. QR Codes

QR Codes are constanly appearing more and more. They are a quick and easy way for buisnisses to guide people to their websites for more information on goods and services. They can also easily be applied to your student's work and sent home to parents. 

Similar to Google Shortner, the URL for the Google App is placed in a QR code generator, I personally use the ShortenMe extension for Chrome and a QR code will appear. 

The student would then print out this QR code and bring it home for their parents to scan on their device. This may take a few more steps than the shortner, but it may be an easier way for a younger student to take something home to mom and dad if the teacher prints it out for them.





Of course these are just 2 ideas on how to keep parents in the loop. I'm sure there are many more! If you have an idea worth sharing, please do so below.

Student Collaboration Tips for Docs & Slides

Google Apps for Education have allowed teachers to expand their classrooms in so many ways. My absolute favorite thing about Docs, Sheets, and Slides are the multiple opportunities that students have to work collaboratively within.

Here are a couple simple tips for organizing Docs and Slides for Collaboration.

  

Tracking Student Work in Google Docs

Many teachers are really enjoying the fact that Google Apps for Education allows their students to work collaboratively. One of the many concerns of students working together has always been, "How can I tell which student has done what work?" Well thanks to the revision history in Google Docs, it is easy to see who has done what work, and when they did that work. This is a great assessment tool and will keep students accountable during collaborative work.