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FISH FUN 🎉 🐠

efisher713 / / Great Tech Sites

How’s it going?

I hope you are doing well! Can you believe it’s almost April? 🌸 OMG, I cannot believe it! Each and every day I am so proud to work with you, and proud to do what I’m doing. I love Ed Tech, and it’s a great time in education…even if it’s a little blah outside here in New England. I don’t know about you, but I’m feeling a little cabin fever lately. I’m ready for warm weather and being outside 😎! Therefore, to break up the monotony of New England Weather, I decided to focus a little on “Fish 🐟 Fun” this week! What are you doing that’s “fun” in your classroom? What would students say is fun? Learning is the central purpose of school, and cannot always be fun, but it’s a great feeling when students enjoy a lesson and maybe even call it fun. Although sometimes fun can look chaotic, students may enjoy it, and when we enjoy learning it generally seems to stick a little more than if we are bored. For me, writing is fun. I enjoy it and that’s why I do it every week here at FishinOnaMission. Let’s take a look at some fun finds this week….

A Google a Day ❓ 

This is FUN!  Check out A Google A Day for a fun game that utilizes the Google Search Engine to solve some riddles and questions. It awards points and asks some difficult questions that you truly need to “Google.” Each day you collect points and it’s a great way to learn a new fact, and also practice “Google-ing.”

Family Feud 🛎️ 

This is a GREAT post by Matt Miller that even includes the FREE template to create your very own Family Feud style review game for your class! He suggests using a Google Form to poll your class, this will allow you to come up with your % from your “survey says” results.  Simply use his template to enter in your questions and results, and BOOM, Family Feud! What a great alternative to Jeopardy Reviews! Students generally find review games FUN, so why not give this a try! He even has an app for a buzzer that’s available across devices.

KaHoot! 🖥️

Seriously, who doesn’t love KaHoot?! KaHoot is FUN! Do you ever have issues with the names students choose when playing? Or does it take too long for your students to enter their names? Well, try the name generator within KaHoot! Check out the video below for directions.

Switch it Up! 💡 

Sometimes, just switching it up is fun.  If kids are bored, if you are bored, change what you’re doing.  I know it’s hard, but reach out…don’t get stuck in a rut. Don’t forget….I’m here for you too, even if you just want an idea of something different to try.  I’m not the answer, but I’m here to assist you and sometimes just collaborating helps new ideas come about! Think about it 😊

Feel free to share with me what you’re doing to have some learning “fun” in the classroom! Comment below or email me directly!

oFISHally yours,

Erin Fisher 🐟 🐟 🐟

Fish on your Plate 🍽️ 🐟

efisher713 / / G-Suite, Google Classroom

One of the best features of Google Products is the ability to share items we’ve made.  #TogetherWeAreBetter and many teachers feel this way.  You can comb the web and find so many teacher-created, FREE, materials to use in your room.  I am a firm believer in “sharing is caring” and I love it when I see others that feel this way too. TeachersPayTeachers does have many good resources, but let’s face it, we’re not on an unlimited budget as classroom teachers.  Below you will find many AMAZING, FREE, items you can use in the classroom that are made for you and ready to use with students! Check out some great templates below, and see the “Fish” on my Plate this week!

Google Doc (free) Newspaper Templates 📰

Have you ever wanted to send out a newsletter in a newspaper format? How about making a classroom newspaper as a class, or individual student project? Check out these SUPER cool templates to create a newspaper in Google Docs. Simply click the one you like and it opens to an editable version! These templates are very easy (and fun) to work with!

Click here to access this great resource!

Google Doc (free) Graphic Organizers 📂

If you click this site here, you will be brought to a site that offers MANY, free, graphic organizers and templates made in Google Docs and Draw.  Simply File>Make a Copy to use these great resources! Push it out via Google Classroom to have access to all students’ work! Enjoy!

Google Draw (free) AMAZING Templates ✏️

Eric Curts, of Control Alt Achieve, is perhaps my FAVORITE tech blogger.  He is constantly posting amazing resources and providing video explanations on how to use them. He even gives out PDP credits if you watch his webinars and take a quiz following it.  If you click this link here, you will be brought to his MANY templates that he’s created using Google Tools.  These are free to use, edit, modify and push out to students, he only asks that you do not charge when using his resources (meaning you don’t alter something and put it up on Teachers Pay Teachers for $$).

Here is a screenshot of one example of a template he has created called “compose a Tweet” template. This would be really cute to have students create a fake Tweet:

Google Classroom Tips and Tricks 💡

This isn’t so much about Templates but with Google Classroom being the leader in applications used in our district, I thought I would share a great post by Tony Vincent.  He has some great tips and tricks when using Google Classroom like using Emojis in your announcements or assignments. He also shows how you can use the Google Classroom App on say an iPad with a stylus and draw on assignments to offer feedback. What a great idea! Check out his post by clicking here.

 

If you end up using these great items, invite me in to see! I love visiting and seeing the great things you do! 

oFISHally Yours,

Erin Fisher 🐟 🐟 🐟

Let’s “Cod”-llaborate! 😊 🐠

efisher713 / / G-Suite

I learn the most by collaborating with others! Colleagues and friends have so much to offer. When we look at our students, many times, they are able to learn and process the information best when they can get into groups and talk it out or create with peers. Collaboration is powerful and truly improves our abilities, it is a SUPERPOWER! The best part is: it’s free and available to all.   How do you foster collaboration professionally? How do you have students collaborate? Let’s take a look below for some great options that enhance collaboration.

Google Classroom – Ask a Question!

I’ve said it before, many times, and I’ll say it again – is there a better tool for a teacher than Google Classroom?  Recently, our building administrators have all started using Google Classroom to communicate and collaborate with staff – AWESOME! I see coaches use it for teams, teachers use it for students, and staff use it for professional development. Classroom is just a GREAT tool.

A useful, collaborative, feature of Classroom is the “Ask a Question” feature. This could basically turn your Google Classroom into a blog. You can ask a question and allow students to respond to each other as well as your prompt.  You can also poll your class with this option and students can see results in LIVE time (unlike Google Forms).

Read more about the  Question Feature of Classroom here!

Group Work – an EASY way to group and share the template!

This was a GREAT post by Alice Keeler this week.  She shows how one can install an add-on she coded and easily create random groups and a group assignment automatically shared with all who need it!  This may look a tad challenging at first to install – but I’m telling you, once you have this going, it’s quite easy.  Plus, you can book me if you’d like assistance 🙂

Suggestion Mode – Collaborative Writing

Last week I co-authored my first article for an Ed Tech Magazine. It was a great experience and I LOVED the collaboration between a friend and myself. I would open up the doc and see the changes he made and what was added, then I would add to it. We would discuss changes using the chat and/or comment feature. It was great, and I highly recommend trying it with students.  A lot of critical thinking went into it and it made me a better writer in the process.  Plus, who doesn’t like sharing the load!  Take a look at the video below to see some of the tools we used to collaborate.

Collaboration with You!

Really when I want to learn the most, I go to you! Although we are great on our own, we are even better together!  Through talking out lessons over the phone or in person, visiting classrooms, engaging in Twitter chats or talking at conferences, I learn so much and I would like to think those I meet with learn things in return! Collaboration is key and I would love to collaborate with you. Sometimes the conversation sparks ideas or sometimes it’s just walking into a room and seeing something special that gives you that AHA! moment! #TogetherWeAreBetter

Maybe we can collaborate! I look forward to it! 😊

oFISHally Yours,

Erin Fisher 🐟 🐟 🐟

 

 

 

(Google) DRIVE your School 🐟 🚙

efisher713 / / G-Suite

What a week!!  This week, for me, began with no power in Bridgwater since we had another Bomb-Cyclone!  What is with these storms?! I’m both teaching and taking a course outside of school, and to be without WIFI for 72 hours would have been challenging. However, I use Google Apps for everything I do – thank Google! I opened up my Chromebook, without power and without internet in my home, and set to work.  How do you ask? Well…read below 😜

Working Offline  💻

With the recent weather and a recent trip over the February break, working offline has been a HUGE bonus for me!  Did you know that a Chromebook or Google Apps on a PC/MAC will open Docs, Slides, and Sheets and let you work on said apps WITHOUT internet access? Then when access is restored, the Doc/Slide/Sheet will sync with your Google Drive.  I was able to write an entire research paper on my flight to Florida, without internet access! I certainly wasn’t paying for it on Jet Blue, and I didn’t need too. My work simply synced once I got my device back on Wifi! I recommend doing this only with singular documents/slides/sheets etc. If it is a collaborative project, you may run into confusion once your work syncs with a partner’s work.  So, let students know – no reason they can’t write that assignment or create that slide presentation if WIFI is down! As long as you have a charged battery, Google Apps are there! You can read the specifics on this from Google here.

If you get a REAL hankering for internet when Wifi is down or unavailable, your phone can be used as a personal hotspot and your Chromebook can connect to that hot spot. There are a few things I do not on Google Apps, so I find myself going to soccer practice in the dome with my Chromebook. I connect it to the hot spot in my phone, and BOOM, I can work for the hour at soccer practice on blogposts like this! You can read more about how to do this here.  **Note: using your phone as a personal hotspot for Wifi uses quite a bit of data, so be sure you have enough stored up before using this option. 

Transferring Files and Email  ✉️ 

Have you ever wanted to migrate your email or Drive files to another Google Account? How about condense files into one account? Well, of course, Google makes this SUPER easy! With a click of a button, Google will create a nice and neat, new little folder in the Gmail account of your choosing and dump a whole Drive worth of files in there. It keeps all of your files in their organized fashion with folders and subfolders.  You can do this with email as well.

For detailed directions of this process, click here and you can watch the video below as well.

Nothing is EVER Gone 😱 

Are you afraid you wiped out a whole file? When fear not, the revision history is there for you! In many of the Google Apps you can check the revision history for a detailed description of each step in the process of the Document/Slide/Sheet.  This is helpful to see who was responsible for which piece in a group assignment, and also helpful if you accidentally wipe something out that you want back! If you really look carefully through the revision history, you can even see if whole chunks of information are pasted into a Doc.

If you’re ever fearful that you deleted something, and it’s within 30 days, the Google Admin panel has the ability to restore it! So reach out to your Google Admins (me for EB) if this happens to you!

Organizing your Digital Life 📂 

Google Drive is an amazing tool and can be organized and utilized in so many great ways. Check out Neal Sonnenberg’s Slides on Organizing your Digital Life! His tips and tricks are FABULOUS!

Everything is available EVERYWHERE 🗺️ 

So, I’m going to Disney in August… where am I keeping any of my notes, important info, dinner reservation lists?  GOOGLE DRIVE.  It’s never lost this way. I can go ANYWHERE, I can lose my phone, I can lose WIFI access, but my Google Sheet/Doc/Slide will still open. Anywhere in the world, I can access my information in my Drive, even without Wifi! THAT is POWERFUL! Thank you, Google!

Reach out for any of the above tips, or any of your other tech needs!

oFISHally Yours,

Erin Fisher 🐟 🐟 🐟

The fish in MY school 😁 🐟 🏫

efisher713 / / Teacher Shout Out!

I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again #togetherwearebetter!  Monday, 2/26, was our annual technology PD day here at the East Bridgewater Public Schools and so many of our own SHINED 🌞 ! Many teachers had the chance to show off what they’re doing with technology and share with colleagues. We had 32 sessions offered throughout the day with 21 of our own staff presenting!  It was a great day and so many ideas are already being put into practice.  If you check out our Twitter hashtag #greattobeaviking you can see many of the highlights of our technology integration.  Spreading the love, and best practices, is what it’s all about!  Check out just a few of the many great presentations below:

Google Classroom 📎 

Seriously, who doesn’t LOVE Google Classroom?! After out tech PD day, even administrators were inspired to use this GREAT tech tool! Principal Andrew Gentile has now started a Google Classroom for his staff where he is posting all sorts of great, important information! What a great use of Classroom and also modeling taking risks!  Bill Silva did an awesome job showing off Google Classroom and all it can do!   Check out Bill’s presentation below, he touches upon all of the great features of Classroom and how he uses it.

 

1:1 Chromebooks in Grades 1 & 2    💻

Have you wondered how our 1st and 2nd graders are using their 1:1 Chromebooks? Well Sarah Beberman and Kim Hardiman have a great presentation below that shows how they use 1:1 technology in their classrooms.  It is AMAZING and so impressive that some of our youngest students are doing so much with Chromebooks! Imagine what these kiddos will be able to do as they progress through our school system!

 

SeeSaw – A Digital Portfolio   🖼️

SeeSaw is a pretty awesome Digital Portfolio where students can post pictures, activities, videos and much, much more! Tori Cameron did a wonderful job presenting SeeSaw to many of our staff.  The next day, Joan McLaughlin was already using it and her students LOVED it! Way to go Tori, and way to go Joan!

iPads   📱

Have you wondered how our early grades are using iPads? Preschool, Kindergarten and half of first grade are 1:1 with iPads. Walk into Sandi Telless‘s room and you can easily see her students are pretty tech saavy on the iPads! Check our her slides below where she shares some of her favorite iPad apps she uses in her Kindergarten classroom:

Differentiating with Tech  🚀

Have you thought about how to differentiate with technology? Beth Barra does a great job running small groups and having activities at different levels for her students. The very next day I saw collaboration with the same Flipgrid topic in both Beth‘s room and Kim Hardiman‘s room. Nice job ladies! Check it out below:

These are only JUST A FEW of many great presentations.  If you would like to see them all be sure to visit our East Bridgewater Smart PD Site or reach out to me at Efisher@ebps.net. I cannot express enough how much I enjoyed planning, engaging, presenting, networking, and reflecting on this day! Thank you to all of those who were a part of it! It is truly GREAT to be a Viking!

oFISHally yours,

Erin Fisher 🐟 🐟 🐟

“Reel” it in with Student Video Projects! 📽️🎞️ 🎣

efisher713 / / Welcome

HAVE A GREAT FEBRUARY BREAK!

I send you off with some REELY good ideas for video projects!  A teacher reached out this week and asked for a good program to make book trailers. What a fantastic project for students! There are so many fun ways to do this!  Check it out below:

Animoto 📸 😁 

Animoto is a great, free, website and app that allows you to make videos with premade templates.  It has themes and music, premade video or you can use your own.  It’s very easy and fun! See my how-to video below and check out Animoto here!

This is an example video I made with Animoto for Little Vikings Summer Program!

 

iMovie  😮

iMovie is also a great option for those students using their iPhones or home devices (iPads and Mac books). Like Animoto, it has premade templates and music to create pretty cool short videos.  See the how-to and video example below! iMovie

 

Screencastify 📹 

Screencastify is my favorite go-to for all things video. There’s just so much you can do with it! It works well on the Chromebooks and has a webcam option! You can pause and resume and the videos save directly to Google Drive, making it easy for students to add to Classroom.

Video Project Ideas from Others  🎥

This is a great post (click here) by Richard Byrne from Practical Ed Tech showcasing his lesson plan with video options for students. He goes into many of the free tools and how to use them. He even provides a link to example lessons.

This post (click here) by Eric Curts features video mashing using Google Slides and Youtube. Basically you insert two videos onto the same slide and have them play simultaneously. Why do that, you ask? Well, take a look at his post. He has a great explanation!

This post (click here) by Matt Miller is about how to take Google Slides and create stop motion videos. It’s pretty neat, and not too challenging! Students who like to design may enjoy this one!

Lastly, Eric Curts (click here) also suggests video dubbing using Screencastify. This is a neat idea! Essentially, you mute a video (either that you made or borrow from YouTube and you provide voice-over and narrate it.  This would be great to do over a Google Slide presentation as well to provide audio explanation.

Have a wonderful, restful break! You deserve it!

oFISHally yours,

Erin Fisher 🐟 🐟 🐟

What’s Up Dock? 🥕 📋 🌊

efisher713 / / G-Suite

HAPPY 100 DAYS EVERYONE! Like my fish pun 🐟 this week, get it Dock and Google Docs….lol….I couldn’t help it 😜. Thanks Jen McPartland for that one! When I look at our GoGuardian statistics, Google Docs is the most used application in our district. We are doing so much collaboration with Docs in our classrooms, I thought a great focus this week would be Google Docs.  Below you will see some of my favorite things you can do with Docs as well as some hidden features. For instance, did you know you can insert Word Art or even animated GIFs into your Docs??!! How about a great add-on that allows you to leave voice comment feedback for students in a doc? Google Docs is a powerful tool for collaborative writing among students. It is also a great tool because nothing is ever really lost, EVER. Read below to check this out!

 

New to Docs? Still a “Word” girl (or boy)? ✍️  

Are you having a hard time moving away from Word because Docs just isn’t the same? Maybe all of your work is in Word, so it’s just easier to use it. Does this sound familiar? Well, take a look here at the cheat sheet from G-suite themselves.  This training center resource will help you move away from Word and move towards Docs.  Change is hard, but this is the app students are using and the more comfortable we can become with this application, the better we are able to assist our students!

Feedback Tools 📣 

I posted a little while ago about feedback (Fishy Feedback), but since that post, there have been even more GREAT tools that have come out for a teacher to leave authentic feedback for students in Google Docs. Check out WriQ and Kaizena, both add-ons for Docs.

 <– This is an image from WriQ, it will score the work (for you) and allow you to give feedback in a student comment.  Check out the video below on WriQ. It is pretty awesome!

How about AUDIO FEEDBACK that you can just pull out anytime??!! Or canned text comments as well that you write yourself? Kaizena has really hit the mark when it comes to feedback! Check out my video below showcasing this amazing add-on!

Want more? This is a great post from Eric Curts that has even more feedback tools, including video and audio options!

Nothing is ever really gone in Docs!  💡

One of the best features of Google Docs is the VERSION HISTORY found under the File Menu.  With the version history, you can see the progress a student makes with writing over time. You can also see, in a group writing, who has contributed and to what degree.  You can also restore a version of a Doc in the event you accidentally delete something important.  Check it out below:

For Fun  🕺

Something really fun, that differentiates Docs from Word, is the ability to install add-ons.  Add-ons for Docs are items that “add on” or enhance the Doc itself.   There are so many different add-ons available including music notation, clipart, rubric builders and many more! I personally love Magic Rainbow Unicorn! See my short video below for some of my favorite add-ons!

For More Docs Awesomeness  🎉

Looking for more hidden features of Docs? Check out these posts below by some great tech bloggers on some hidden features within Google Docs like voice typing or the research tool!

Click Here

Click Here

As always, reach out if you’d like any help! I hope these tips and tricks make your experience with Docs that much better!

oFISHally Yours,

Erin Fisher 🐟 🐟 🐟

 

Fish food for thought… 🤔 🐟 🥫

efisher713 / / Great Tech Sites

 

Happy February! ❤️🧡💛💚💙💜

I am so happy January is over! It is such a long, cold and sometimes snowy month! Now we’re on to longer sunshine filled days, less days in the month, and hopefully less snow! ❄️ ❄️ ❄️

Are you having the winter doldrums? A little stuck in a rut? How about trying something new! I get so excited when teachers reach out and tell me the NEW things they’re doing. especially those teachers piloting Chromebooks and trying new things here in EB! A little “fish food” for ya this week…to try something new.  Are you getting a little tired of your same go-to apps/sites/activities? Check out some different ideas below! Who knows, maybe trying one new thing will spark that student who you just can’t get to come around…

Try a new tech tool 🆕  

Is KaHoot, Peardeck, Quizlet, Quizzizz, and others becoming a little dull? Well, check out this great list of other formative tools. The list is a long and there are a lot of great ones on here! Many of which you’ve probably used! If you want help using any, I’m here! 😀

The Ultimate List – 65 Digital Tools and Apps to Support Formative Assessment Practices

Cool Tools 🛠️ 

Word clouds are so much fun, but popular sites like Wordle don’t run on a Chromebook. Check out this post from Eric Curts on some great word cloud tools! You could make a super cute Valentines Heart word cloud using the Chromebooks!

http://www.controlaltachieve.com/2016/04/chromebook-word-cloud-tools.html

Did Steve McGuire get you thinking about what you could use for a Random Name Picker (the way he uses Alexa for student raffles)? Well here’s a good one from Classtools.net.  I created a video below to show how it works – but it’s pretty easy to figure out on your own!

Use Emojis! 🌮 🐸 

Sometimes it’s the little things that students really enjoy – like emojis in your posts on Classroom or in your email title.  Have you wondered how the little fish show up on my Name in my email display?  Check out this video below on the extension Emoji for Chrome.  It’s a fun little tool! *Note: when this extension runs it can cause interference with slides. I disable this extension when I’m creating a Google Slide deck.

Check out the video below: https://youtu.be/PMEVT2TG9uI

Embed your Twitter feed (or other items now) on the New Google Sites 🐦 

A great update from Google, if you wanted to add or embed any widgets on your New Google Site – now you can! See how to do it below! Twitter is just one widget that will embed, other sites that have embed codes or widgets will also work!

I hope some of this “fish food for thought” gives you some ideas to start something new with your students! Have a great weekend everyone!

GO PATS!  Image result for patriots 🏈

oFISHally yours,

Erin Fisher 🐟 🐟 🐟

 

Fishing for Forms 🎣 📋

efisher713 / / G-Suite

Hello FISHY Friends!

Seriously, is there anyone out there who HASN’T used forms in one way or another?  Google Forms is an amazing G-Suite tool that can be used in a variety of ways, and like anything Google, it is always improving!  In fact, did you know you can suggest improvements to Google on their products (click here)?  They take into consideration every suggestion made.  Google Forms is a great online survey and/or assessment tool.  Many of us have either taken a Google form, administered a Google Form, or both!  I make roughly 2-3 Google Forms a week for various tasks – so reach out! I’d be more than happy to make one for you!

 Reuse Google Form questions ♻️ 

Have you ever made a new test and you want to take some questions (but not all) from another? Well, this is a great post for you! Richard Byrne posted recently about the add-on for Forms called Form Recycler. What this allows you to do is pull in questions from other Forms you’ve made, without having to duplicate or copy and paste!

This would be great if you wanted to create your final from all of your yearly tests or a REVIEW for MCAS from all other tests! 

Check it out here: http://www.freetech4teachers.com/2018/01/how-to-quickly-copy-questions-from-one.html#.Wl-wj65KuM8

Response Validation (set rules in forms) ☑️ 

If you are a frequent giver of assessments using Forms, and you want to set some parameters around answers for various questions, response validation is a great tool.  Let’s say you have a checkbox question and students need to choose 2, you can set the validation to not let them continue the quiz until they pick two. If you have a short answer or paragraph response, you can set a validation to not let them continue until their response contains a certain word or words. If you’re giving a math assessment, and the number should be within a certain range, you can set this in response validation and the assessment will not let the student pass in the test if they do not have their response validated. This would be a great modification for certain students on an exam.  Giving a range may assist the student in trying the problem again if he or she is way off the mark.  It is EXTREMELY easy to set response validation within forms and it is one of the best-hidden tools that many are unaware of.

How to set rules for your Google Form: https://support.google.com/docs/answer/3378864?hl=en

This is a great post with video how-to’s and ideas for response validation in Forms: http://www.i-heart-edu.com/response-validation-with-google-forms/

You can even REQUIRE certain information and not allow a student to turn in an assignment unless it contains that particular item.  Check out Alice Keeler’s example of how she forces email: http://www.alicekeeler.com/2018/01/17/google-forms-require-valid-email-address/

Send certificates EASILY with Google Forms 🏆 

Would you like to send certificates once a Google Form is completed? This add-on for forms does just that, quite easily!  If you already have assessments in place in Forms, you can enable this add-on and it will automatically send a certificate to the taker of the form if they receive a certain score. Students could get a cute certificate reward for getting a certain score on a test!

Check out this add-on here: https://www.certifyem.com/try-it-now

This is a great video how-to by Meagan Kelly of this awesome tool!

Score WRITING in Google Forms 📝 

Google Forms used to only score multiple choice and short answer back in the days of Flubaroo (I wonder how they’re doing now). However, now you can even give large writings by choosing long paragraph.  This is a great option to have a variety of question types on a test.  You will need to go through each long response and manually grade, however, it’s pretty quick to give a score and copy and paste some feedback in the comment box.

Check out some detailed directions here about extended responses: http://www.controlaltachieve.com/2016/10/extended-response-forms.html

 

Eliminate Choices in Forms 🚫 

If you want to use a Google Form as a sign-up for a party or even for appointments, the add-on Choice Eliminator is a great tool.  This add-on allows you to choose when an option disappears from a form.  If you had “popcorn” as a food item for a party and you only want two students bringing it, once 2 people choose it, it disappears from the form.  Check out more on this great add-on for Forms here:

We’ve only just scratched the surface with these tips! I hope to talk with you more about FORMS, reach out anytime!

oFISHally yours,

Erin Fisher 🐟 🐟 🐟

Fishy Feedback 📝 🐟

efisher713 / / Pear Deck, Teacher Shout Out!

 

Hello hello!

I hope this post finds you well. It has been a tremendous week here in EB. It was a pleasure to pass out the Chromebooks to our first 25 teachers willing to pilot 1:1 teacher devices!  Already, we have teachers using Screencastify with students and this is due to having a Chromebook – Amazing! It was great to get to interact, even for a short time, with some faces I don’t usually see. I hope to work with you further. Remember, I am here for your benefit – so please reach out! There is no task too small!

Shout out to a whole SLEW of teachers this week – EB and OTHERS:

CHROMEBOOK PILOT TEACHERS way to step outside the comfort zone for some of you and take a Chromebook! I know you’re doing to do great things! PLEASE use me as a resource! I’m here for you!

Julie Sunderland and Kathy Pittsley are high school math teachers at Fairhaven High School.  Julie also happens to be a very dear friend of mine for over 20 years! Julie happened to text me on a Saturday night “Hey have you heard of Pear Deck?”  Have I heard of Pear Deck?!!! 🍐 OMG! Well – next thing you know, I basically force her to come to my house on MLK day for a 2 hour tutorial of how to use Screencastify, the Pear-Deck add-on in Slides, Quickshare Screenshot extension, and Equatio.  THESE TWO TEACHERS ARE AMAZING! Julie – right off the bat – told me “treat me like I’m dumb” which she is NOT. However, often I think that’s what we fear others will think when we don’t know about a certain concept – which can be anything, not just technology. Let me tell you, this is NOT the case with me. Never, ever, do I think anyone is dumb. In fact, I LOVE showing a new piece of technology you may have never seen before.  Needless to say, these two amazing math teachers left with some great stuff – and they emailed this week to let me know it! Math teachers – these four tools make for a great combination in HS math – give me a shout out if you want to see!

Matt Savage I loved walking into your room and hearing Disney Music and seeing Pear Deck Vocabulary running! Woohoo! Boy did your students look engaged! Way to integrate Steve McGuire’s Disney Day!

Speaking of Steve McGuire, I heard Central School Preschool had a pretty awesome dance party this week! The kids loved it!

So much fun podcasting with Tori Cameron! Did you know she has her OWN podcast?! I was honored she asked me to be on it, thanks Tori! Check our her Podcast site: Steam Up The Classroom.  A certain Ross Clayton has been featured on the podcast as well!

Sarah Beberman Thank you for allowing me to start digital portfolios with a group of your second graders! Imagine what their portfolios will look like when they graduate? So cool!

Let’s see what tips and tricks I have this week that may help you out:

Technology in Central School Preschool 👦🏻🖥️👧🏾 

I’m so very lucky that my own children have been able to attend the Central School Preschool.  If you are a staff member in this district, you may want to look into this FANTASTIC preschool program. All three of my sons have been through, and this year we were lucky enough to have the amazing Mrs. Gorham for the third (and final 😥) year. I am also lucky enough that Mrs. Gorham and I have built a great relationship, so much so, that I can say to her “How about I come in and try Flipgrid with your students!”  This week I had the most wonderful opportunity to run the iPad center during center time AND use Flipgrid with PreK E.  Flipgrid was very successful, we asked each student “What is a farm?” and the responses were precious.  PreK E then watched every response on their smartboard and had a great time seeing one another on screen. I would love to share this with you, but due to the blog being public, I will not post it here. If you are interested in seeing this cute example of Flipgrid please reach out! However, here’s a cute slideshow of PreK E using their iPads this week! If you are a teacher who would like me to come in and run a technology center for you, I would be more than happy to do so! I can even create you a CUTE slideshow after the fact to share with parents.

 

Feedback in Writing 📝 

Providing meaningful feedback for student writing is a hot topic everywhere you turn! As educators, we want to provide feedback that will both engage and assist our students with the writing process, but it can be so very time-consuming.  Below are some great posts regarding digital feedback that may make it easier, engaging and more productive for you and your students!

This is a great post from Catlin Tucker (yes that is how you spell her name) regarding shortcuts in Docs. 😺 Catlin is a HUGE proponent of not bringing home grading! She was the keynote speaker at MASSCUE a few years ago…and let me tell you…AMAZING! Her post is worth a look.

http://catlintucker.com/2017/07/shortcuts-in-google-docs/

Anyone who knows me, knows I just LOVE the extension Screencastify! This great post from blogger Jake Miller highlights how he uses Screencastify to provide feedback on writing for students in his class. Imagine giving a student audio feedback while you correct a paper, so effective! We have many teachers here already using this great tool, check out another awesome way to use it!

Click here for Jake’s post: http://jakemiller.net/screencastify-for-feedback/

See the video below about how to use Screencastify:

Special Characters in Docs 😀 

Speaking of feedback – how about using some smiley faces or even a taco in your feedback?! Have you ever needed a certain character in a Doc? Well, thank you Ginny McCarthy for asking me this question – it will help so many.  Take a look below to see how to get certain characters easily and efficiently!  Examples include checkmarks, happy face, dogs, frogs, – pretty much anything! ✅😀🐶🐸🌮

 

I hope to see you soon! Imagine what we can do! 

oFISHally yours,

Erin Fisher 🐟 🐟 🐟