Category: one-to-one

Best Practices: Knowledge Through Text

~ iMrsHughes ~ Leave a comment

“Having children engage in books of high quality introduces them to new words, ideas, and events outside of their daily experience.” (Roskos & Neuman, 2014)

As teachers, our job is to expose students to ideas, concepts, and realities they have yet to experience.  Whether through class discussions, reading a novel, or analyzing a video, it is imperative to help student build knowledge of the world around them through the texts we choose to incorporate.  And the integration of Educational Technology provides opportunities for learning that were simply not possible before.  In fact, using technology to help create learning experiences for students is one of the Best Practices of the 21st Century Literacy Classroom!

Check out some of the links compiled below that can help your students BUILD KNOWLEDGE THROUGH TEXT.

Virtual Field Trips:  Check out the extensive list of virtual field trips on this blog post!  Tons of options for all ages and all subjects!

E-Books:  Yes, there are tons of websites available to make e-books with students, but to be honest, PowerPoint or Google Slides works just fine!  E-books can become companion readers!  Every time we visit a new location on Google Earth or find the answer to a question, have students create a new page of their Companion Reader!  Looking for additional ideas? Go here!

GAFE:  The Google Suite is the best and easiest way to build knowledge.  Reading a book and the students have a question?  Simple!  Google it!  YouTube it!  Google Earth it!  We have answers and virtual experiences to help our students build background knowledge in order to further understand a text by simply using the Google Apps for Education Suite!  

Share to Classroom Extension:  This Chrome extension pairs with Google Classroom users!  Teachers can push websites to students with one click!  Simply locate the site, click Share to Classroom, and select the Google Classroom you’d like to share with link with!  The website on your screen immediately is sent to your students and opens on their screens!  AMAZING!

Take a STAND!  One of my freebies!  After building the knowledge through the text, I like to have students formulate opinions on the things read!  Have students Take a Stand on the issue… literally!

 

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Ed Tech & Literacy Best Practices

~ Christina Hughes ~ Leave a comment

From the start of my teaching career, I integrated technology into my classroom.  I used to be a rarity!  People would come observe me using tools and ideas that today are commonplace in schools across the country.  As education begins its transition into the 21st century, schools are quickly adapting by purchasing technology to aid instructional practices.  Teachers are beginning to use these tools to have students conduct research, create multimedia, and take the lesson plan to a different, exciting level!  
All of these are steps in the right direction.  However, we must remember that this venture into the new land of Ed Tech must be rooted in best practices.  
Using Roskos & Neuman’s article from The Reading Teacher as a guide, we’ll be discussing how educational technology can help teachers be more effective and engaging while being sure to implement best practices.

Best Practices in Reading: A 21st Century Skill Update by Roskos & Neuman
PIN: 

KFBQY

How can you integrate technology into your literacy block while still holding true to the best practices highlighted by Roskos & Neuman?

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Instant Kinesthetic Learning – Get Students Moving Now!

~ Christina Hughes ~ Leave a comment

We went one-to-one two years ago, and while I love it, there are definitely some unexpected challenges.

 

The biggest challenge?  Antsy students!  

Now teaching 7th graders, one develops a certain tolerance for this type of thing.  Anyone who’s ever spent time in a middle school classroom knows someone falls out of their desk at least once a week for no reason whatsoever (LOL).

But I’m not talking about the typical, hormonal kid antsy.  This is the “I’ve been sitting at a computer all day and need to move” antsy.  That antsy is no good.  That antsy does NOT lead to learning because let’s face it.

 

Learning cannot occur when they are bored and uncomfortable.

 

To combat this problem, my goal is to get the kids up and moving at least once during our English block.  While some of the strategies I use are more extensive, below are some of the easiest ideas to implement into your classroom to get your kids moving!

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The Card Trick:  I always keep a deck of cards at my desk!  On a whim, I can pass out cards and assign students to number partners, suit partners, or even black/red if I’m looking to split the class in half!

 

Nice “Shoe” Meet You:  Super simple.  Twist on a Turn and Talk.  “Find someone in the class who has shoes most similar to yours and share your response/discuss XYZ.”

 

Take a Stand:  Pose an opinion question to the class.  Tell them to “take a stand” on the issue and jot down their thinking.  Once all students completed their written response, students quite literally “Take a Stand!”  Depending on your students, they can stand at their desks or on their chairs to share their response.  My quirky kids love the “Huzzah! Huzzah!” I have them do once each person is done sharing!  🙂 (Get the freebie here!)

 

Musical Chairs:  Play music, allow students to walk around the room, up and down the rows until the music stops.  Then they sit in the seat closest to them and work with that group for the upcoming task.  (Get my fav songs here!)

 

Gallery Walk:  Final products of group work is taped on the wall around the room.  Instead of simple report outs, students can rotate around the room to read and analyze their peer’s work.

Hope you find these strategies helpful and easy to use!  Please feel free to share your favorites below!



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Using Graphic Organizers with Google Drive

~ Christina Hughes ~ Leave a comment
Graphic organizers are a teaching no-brainer.  
View product here!

We all know how beneficial they are for helping students organize their thinking.  However, when all students have access, sometimes it can be difficult to integrate these tried and true teaching methods.

What websites do we use to help us?  
 
Do we use mind mapping software?  
 
Is Google Drawings the best option?  
 
Should I just create a table for the students to edit? 
View product here!
Honestly, all of these ideas work, but, in my experience, have been difficult to assess!  But using Google Slides has made this process a breeze! I’ve created multiple graphic organizers in Google Slides and can share them easily with my students through Google Classroom!
Students can access the document, make edits as needed, and resubmit.
When I was using Google Drawings, I had problems with the set up.  Students would click and accidentally move the boxes which messed up the format, which absolutely halts all progress until they fix it … lol!
But with Google Slides, I haven’t had that issue… and I can also easily assess by leaving students comments in the margins and by using my favorite tool ever…. DOCTOPUS!  (see future post!)
I hope you find these graphic organizers helpful in your 1:1 classrooms!
Until next time!

 

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Google Classroom VS. Calendar: Clearing Up the CLUTTER!

~ Christina Hughes ~ Leave a comment


Last year, our district went One-to-One and purchased Chromebooks for all middle school students.  Agendas weren’t needed anymore since the students had the technology and Google Classroom, which we were using, had a feature to integrate assignments to Google Calendar.  Great!  Right?
Not if you use Classroom like I do!  
Here’s what I’ve found with the Google Classroom Calendar:
 
* Classwork assignments look like homework assignments so labeling is critical
 
* Tests or quizzes can’t be posted on the Calendar unless you make them an assignment – which means posting them in advance?
 
* The calendar itself gets overwhelming, especially if you’re like me and have 3-4 documents per day (90 minute blocks!)

This is a snapshot of ONE WEEK of assignments in Classroom.  This seems overwhelming, even though it’s all classwork!
This is how one month of my Google Classroom looks in my calendar.

Here’s how I’ve remedied the situation:
 
I created a Google Calendar for my classes, in addition to the one for Google Classroom.  Yes, it takes an extra step to set this up, but I found that last year this was a game changer.
 
Step One:  Turn OFF Google Classroom calendar in Google Calendar
Have the students complete this task!

 
Step Two:  Create a NEW Calendar for your classes.
This one will be used for YOU to post homework, test, quiz, and project dates
 
Step Three: Set up calendar
I set mine to PUBLIC so parents can access as well!

Be sure to CREATE calendar at bottom of screen!

Step Four: Share with students and parents! 
You need to send the URL to parents and students!
Step Five:  Have students register to the calendar!
Use the following video the help students enroll in your new calendar!

 

 

From here, you can post assignments to the calendar without using Google Classroom!  Parents have access to the calendar, kids calendar’s are no longer filled with assignments, and you can post due dates for things not done through Classroom!
Hope this helps you in your journey with Google Classroom!

 

 

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For more Google resources, check out my Pinterest board!

 

 

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Classflow: Make Your Presentations INTERACTIVE! ::cross post!::

~ Christina Hughes ~ 1 Comment



Like many of my teacher readers, I like starting class with a Do-Now, and since I teach English, we complete a daily grammar practice.  Prior to having a one-to-one school, this would be a worksheet students would complete, and every day a different student set would come to the board.  We tried to make it collaborative, tried to assess every student quickly and daily, but it took time… too much time for a warm-up.



But there is good news!  I’ve discovered a new tool that has revolutionized my classroom, especially this section:  Classflow.

Classflow turns any presentation interactive, allowing me to send individual slides to the entire class, small groups, or specific students and have them engage with the material.  I can conduct polls, formative assessments, and even summative assessments using Classflow.  The image beside shows the options for the polls; my favorite is the creative response!  

For the creative response, students can use text, images, and even a marker to annotate the slide and return it to the teacher.  But here’s the best part.  Remember those daily grammar practices? 

Well, now I can send them to the students through Classflow, have the students individually annotate them, and when the students submit their responses, each student’s answer comes on the screen and I can review them all quickly and easily!  The students receive instant feedback, I can assess the entire class on the skill quickly and accurately, and best of all, I have data collected from the kids in front of me to guide the instruction for the class period!  

I use Classflow for so much more than these grammar exercises, but it’s a quick and easy example of how my teaching has changed!  

Feel free to reach out if you have any questions about this tool!



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Google Classroom in June – 3 Essential Tips!

~ Christina Hughes ~ 1 Comment

If you’ve been using Google Classroom for the first time this year, you and I are probably sharing similar thoughts as the school year comes to an end:  What do I do with my Classroom?  Do I really have to start ALL over next year?




After doing some research of my own, I hope you’ll find these helpful tips to successfully finish the year with your online classroom.
Tip One:  Download all grades!

Most (if not all) of my record keeping has been completed digitally this year, but we still need to turn in our grade books in June.  This is one way to download your grades so you can have them all in one spot.  You can export them to Google Sheets, download one assignment as a CSV, or download all assignments as a CSV.  
Downloading Grades from Google Classroom
make animated gifs like this at MakeaGif

Tip Two:  Create an Archive Folder

I’ll be archiving my Google Classroom from this school year, but unfortunately, in my Google Drive, the folder for the class will still be there. Therefore, my suggestion is to create an Archive Folder that you can literally move your Classroom folder into so you can have remaining access to those files, just not for your current school year.
Creating an Archive Folder

make animated gifs like this at MakeaGif



Tip Three: Archive Classes

This is the easy one.  You can archive classes in Google Classroom which is amazing because then you can reuse the posts!  Reusing the Classroom itself, while tempting, is not ideal for K-12 education because there’s no flexibility when it comes to reordering assignments, etc.  Therefore, archiving and reusing posts is the way to go!

Hope these three tips help you close out your school year with Google Classroom!
Any other tips you’d like to add, please comment below!

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The Writer’s Guide: One Page to Change the Game!

~ Christina Hughes ~ Leave a comment
  Middle school is a time when students solidify the foundation of skills they received in elementary school in order to be successful at the high school level and beyond.  Understanding how to formulate an organized essay, in my opinion, is one of the most critical skills for students to not just understand, but master upon leaving 8th grade.  
Especially with lower level students, many kids need organization and structure to help them write an essay.  The Writer’s Guide I use in class serves as the structure the students need.
Although I break down all of my essays into tangible notes with models and tons of examples for analysis, sometimes a checklist of expectations helps keep students focused while crafting.  My Writer’s Guide simply lists the components of a basic essay that is expected in my classroom.  Many students use this simply to cross of each piece once it’s completed to help them stay organized.  Some students even return the next year to ask for another copy!
Now the Writer’s Guide gives no notes.  It doesn’t give sentence starters.  It’s not an example.
It is a bookmark of cues for my students to use when writing.
We’ve used it for drafting, revising, peer editing, and even as a checklist for assessment!
It has been an instrumental part of my lower level writing classes!
If you haven’t used a Writer’s Guide or a checklist for writing, I highly recommend trying it! 
Has anyone ever used something like this?  Did you find success?
Note:  Interested in my Writer’s Guide?  Click the image to go to my TeachersPayTeachers store for a copy!

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4 Must-Try Websites for Your Middle School Classroom!

~ Christina Hughes ~ Leave a comment

Our school just went one-to-one this year, and though I’ve been using technology in the classroom for years, I’m finding this year it’s different.

Before, I’d sign out the laptops and have them for a week.  This was just enough time to complete a project for students.  Technology for project creation… that I was rocking.

But technology for everyday use in the classroom?  That’s another story. 

Thankfully, these four tools have played a crucial role in my classroom.  Instead of letting technology take over my classroom, I’ve been using it as a way to assess student learned daily!

Socrative:  Using a unique class code, students can join your virtual class.  They can take quizzes, play games like Space Race, and even use an Exit Ticket.  My go-to is the Quick Question.  As I’m lecturing, giving notes, or reviewing a model, I can pose a question verbally to the class, and click “Quick Question”.  The students’ screen will change, allowing them to type in a response using any device.  All student responses come up on the board, and I can select whether or not I want to display student names.  This is great for creating those teachable moments!  Assess right away and address right away!

Padlet:  Formerly known as Wallwisher, Padlet is a virtual corkboard.  As a teacher, you can create a “board” and send the link to your students.  Students simply double click and can create virtual post-it notes with text, hyperlinks, images, and even videos!  I’ve used this to help build background knowledge on a topic – it has been great!

Blendspace:  I’ve been using this for independent station work or reviews of certain topics.  Teachers can create their own “spaces” – a webpage with multiple tiles.  Tiles can be text, websites, videos, powerpoints, PDF files, questions for assessments… and more!  Teachers can easily find resources for the tiles within Blendspace and students can easily navigate through the teacher’s resources to complete the given task!

Formative:  Formative is a tool I just found recently and it’s completely revolutionized classwork.  Again, I have a classcode I give to the students.  When they log into my class, they can find my assignments and get to work.  I can upload PDFs or Word Documents and then annotate them with text, videos, and most importantly, questions.  As the students go through the document and answer questions, the teacher screen changes.  I can watch every student type their answer to each question in real time  – and message them to have a conversation about their work without changing screens!  Think of it like watching mini Google Docs on one screen. IT IS AMAZING!

Are there any Must-Try websites you use in your classroom?

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