Paperless Mission #12: Collecting Student Work

This is the twelfth installment in my Go Paperless! Challenge Series. You can check out the other entries in the series here. Also be sure to link up with my Paperless Challenge Linky!

Mission #12: Collecting Student Work

Recently, I shared how I distribute student assignments through Dropbox. Today I'm going to share how students turn in those assignments. To do that, I primarily use Edmodo.

Once you've created an assignment in Edmodo, students will be able to see it as they log-in.

If it's just a text-based assignment, they can type the text in the comment section and submit it.

Often, however, my assignments tend to require them to include an attachment of some sort. These can fall into a couple different categories.


Photos & Movies

The Edmodo app allows you to load photos directly from your camera roll as an attachment. Just select "Attach: File."

Documents produced in other apps (e.g., Pages, Keynote, etc.)

This process has a couple extra steps, but it's still easy to accomplish. First, students will need to load the item into their backpack. This is normally accomplished through the "Share and Print" option in the original app. For example, in Pages, you have the option to "Open in Another App."

This will result in the file being added to the student's Edmodo "backpack." Once it's there, students can attach it to an assignment by choosing "Attach: Backpack."

Once the items are selected, students get to rate the assignment using the emoticons and click "Turn In Assignment."

From my perspective, it's a dream. I don't have to worry about receiving "No Name" papers, and I can quickly grade and comment on student work that's turned in.

Apprentice Guides

One of my back to school projects is to make step-by-step tutorials to help students (and teachers) with some of these iPad tasks. The first one is on Turning In Assignments from Pages to Edmodo and you can download a copy of it here.

I apologize that the image quality isn't perfect -- it lost something when I uploaded it to Google Drive for sharing, but it's still very functional. (I'll share higher-quality imaged versions later when I get more completed.)

What programs do you use to collect student work electronically in your classroom? I'd love to hear in the comments section.

Paperless Mission #4: Create Checklists in Evernote

If you haven't already completed the prior missions, be sure to complete those first.

• Mission #1: Gather Your Tools
• Mission #2: Build Evernote Notebooks
• Mission #3: Email Notes to Evernote

Also be sure to link up at the Go Paperless! Challenge linky.

Mission #4: Create Checklists in Evernote

I use checklists for everything -- keeping track of who has turned in assignments, what standards I need to teach during the term, etc., and those checklists are great at keeping me organized. But that organizational process breaks down when I start accumulating too many paper checklists. Either I can't find where I put the particular one I'm looking for, or I have to search through so many to figure out the data I'm looking for. It's a mess! But yet again, Evernote is saving the day for me with its checklist features!

In order to make an organized table checklist, you'll need to use the downloaded Desktop version of the Evernote platform. At this time, only the downloaded desktop platform seems to have the Table feature. My images show what it will look like on a Mac version; the PC version might be slightly different.

To make a checklist, create a new note. Then choose the "Table" tool.

You'll have an option about how many rows and columns you want to insert. I recommend limiting yourself to 2 rows -- one as your header and one for the checklist. I think it looks better, and it's a little easier to edit and work with later on.

Once you're ready to insert your student's names, choose the "Insert to-do" button (the checkbox) into the second row of your table and begin typing. (Leave the first line for your header). Every time you hit "return/enter," it will automatically insert a new checkbox.

After you've typed your list once, just copy and paste it into the other columns. It will automatically adjust the width to balance the columns

I use this blank list as a template for each time I want to create a new checklist. You have to manually copy and paste the table into a new note -- there's no duplicate note function that I've found on any of the platforms -- but it's still a pretty seamless process. And once I've created the initial checklist through the Desktop version, I can use the checklisted table on any platform (web, iPad, etc.). I can check off boxes and add in text, but I can't add new columns on the non-desktop versions.

You can also create checklists on the web and iPad versions, but without the help of a table, it's much harder to have a multi-column checklist that's easy to read. The multiple columns are really useful for me with tracking information across a grading period. The single column is perfect for things like my to-do list, however.

How I Use This...

I've made a separate "Homework and Report Card Tracking" Notebook on Evernote where I keep all of these checklists. I use this notebook to look at data that I need for my class as a whole -- not just individual students. This is also where I'm starting to keep reports about guided reading levels and other whole class data.

Now, when I need to keep track of assignments that are turned in, forms I've collected, or any other material I'd track, I can just carry around my iPad and check-off the student's name. Tagging each note thoroughly means that I can always easily find the data I'm looking for, so it's been an organizational blessing!

Your Assignment:

Create a tabled checklist with your students' names. Play around with the table and checklist tools and think about how you could use this to streamline your paper use. Have some ideas? Please share them in the comment section. I'd love to hear how you're using this feature because this was a recent discovery for me!

In the next post in this series, we'll start to talk about incorporating DropBox into the mix. 

Paper Slide Shows

When I talk about working in a class with 1:1 iPads, I frequently hear from other teachers about only having 1-2 iPads for the entire class -- if that many! I really do understand the challenges of having limited technology access -- it has been long since I've been there myself. Today I want to share a great classroom activity that can be done with only one iPad: making Paper Slide Shows.

A paper slide show is a video in which all of the images are either printed or created on paper before the movie is filmed. It works well for individual students, but ideally they can be made in groups of 2-3 students so that the work can be shared among the group. Students choose a topic, storyboard, write a script, design slides, and rehearse, and then when they've finished all of that, they can use the iPad to film their slide show. Paper slide shows are shot in one take, so there's no editing. If the students mess up during filming, they simply start it over. As a result, it's a really easy activity for students (and teachers) who have less iPad experience or who aren't very comfortable using camera apps.

To better explain how to make a paper slide show, I decided to make a paper slide show.


I filmed my paper slide using iMovie, but you could also use the camera app if you switch it to video and have a way to transfer the file to a computer or YouTube. The file size tends to be too large to email, and YouTube is blocked at my school, so I usually upload content to Vimeo instead.

Here's an example of a finished paper slide show created by my students earlier this year. I asked students to make a video explaining a simple machine, and these students chose to teach about a lever.

 We've also done paper slide shows on different battles in the American Revolution. Students worked in small groups to research their particular battle, and then they organized their research into slides with a script. Those turned out pretty well, too.

Have you ever made a paper slide show with your students or are you planning to do one? I'd love to hear about it in the comments section! 

Technology Tutorial: Adding Google Apps to your Google Site

This is week 3 in my summer series about building an awesome class website using Google Sites. Be sure to read Week 1 and Week 2 as well!

Part 5: Entering the World of Apps

As I'm sure you've guessed by now, I'm a big fan of Google, and I use Google Apps for everything. I have a gazillion different calendars that I use to track different things. I host almost all of the documents I use through Google Docs (now becoming Google Drive...). I use GMail, Google Reader, the list goes on... So one thing that I particularly like about my Google Site is that I can integrate many of those features into my class website. Today I'll share two examples -- my class calendar and a class form.

The Calendar Tool

One of the class tools that I feature on my website is a class calendar. I record every school event that I know of on this calendar (birthdays, curriculum nights, project due dates, tests, extra curricular practices, etc.). It helps keep me organized and it keeps the parents informed about what's going on. It's also helpful because anytime I make a change to my class calendar, it will automatically update on the website. Here's a preview of what my class calendar looks like on the website:

To get started, you'll need to have a Google Calendar already created. Then, click on the add page button.

You'll get a screen that looks like this. You won't need to change any of the settings.

Once your new page is created, go to Insert and choose Calendar. Find the name of your calendar, and that's it! It will automatically appear on your Google Site!

Google Forms

Adding a Google Form is also easy. First, you'll need to go into Google Drive and create a form. (If you don't know how to create a Google Form, there are lots of great examples and tutorials on the web!) Once your form is created, you can either add a new page to your Google Site like we did for the calendar, or insert the form into an existing page. To insert the form, click Insert > Spreadsheet Form and then choose the form you'd like to add from the list of your Google Forms. Once you're done, hit Save. Your form will now appear on the website as something like this: 

In the past, I've used Google Forms for student and parent surveys, data collecting, quizzes, and more. I'll share some specific examples of these tools in future posts, but I wanted to show you how easy it is to integrate some of the Google Apps into your website as you're building a Google Site.

What are some of the ways you could use calendars or Google Forms in your classroom? Please share your ideas in the comment section!

Technology Tutorial: Adding Pages to Your Google Site

This is Week 2 in my summer series about building an awesome class website using Google Sites. You can check out Week 1 of the series HERE.

Part 3: Types of Pages

When you add a page to your Google site, you're given four different options. 

Option #1: Your basic webpage

This is just your traditional page that could include text and links to other subpages. Here's an example of a page of my website that uses this option:

Clicking on any of the red text hyperlinks will just take you to another subpage within my website. When you get further into my website, the links might take you to external sites such as games or readings that support the concept I'm teaching. Regardless, this option is the one that I use 95% of the time when I'm adding new pages to my Google Site.

Option #2: Announcements
This is a lot like a blog-feature for your website, but without a lot of bells and whistles. It's a page that you can update frequently, and the most recent update will appear at the top of the page. For my class website, I use this type of page to post homework and announcements.

Option #3: File Cabinet
This option is a way for you to upload files and make them available to others to download. I have a page of my website simply called "Filing Cabinet" and it's where I'll upload any of the frequently used pages that students are likely to need or misplace (e.g., reading logs, spelling contracts, extra grid paper for a math assignment, etc.). You can organize the contents into folders, add descriptions, and automatically leave info about what version it is (if you replace a file, for example) or when you uploaded it so parents can see recent additions. I love this page because it really eliminates a lot of homework excuses.

Option #4: List
I'll be honest -- this is a feature that I've never used. The description says that it lets you make and organize pieces of information (lists!), but I've never had a situation where I really needed to do that on my website. Perhaps it would be good to use if you were organizing a field trip or something like that.

Part 4: Organizing Your Site

When you first set up your website, you'll just have a Home Page -- at least, that's the case if you use a blank template. From there, each additional subpage that you add will either be nested at the top level, or you can choose to nest it under something else. Here's an example.


When you look at the Navigation side bar on my website, you can see several subpages listed. 

These are all of the pages that I've created at the "Top Level" because I thought they should be easy to find and I wanted it to be fairly easy to navigate. I put all of my most important or big topic pages as "Top Level." The only exception is "Biography Project Choices" -- which is only listed there because I wanted my students to find it immediately for an in-class activity. 


If you click on "Curriculum - Grade 4," however, you can see the subpages that I've nested beneath it listed at the bottom of the "Curriculum" page.

To do that, I just click "Put page under Home" and then select the option "Choose a different location" when I'm adding a new page. This will show you all of the top level and subpages you've already created.

One of the things that I really like about the site is that no decision has to be permanent. If you want to reorganize your site -- something I'll do with mine this summer -- you can always move pages around. Just go to the page, click "More" along the editing options at the top, and then choose "Move Page" and it will take you to a menu just like the one above. It's very easy to organize and re-organize in that way, and it will update all of your links automatically.

Homework :)

If you're working on starting your own Google Site this summer, play around with the different types of pages. Try to create a curriculum page, an announcement page, and a filing cabinet. You are welcome to check out my website if you need ideas, but just remember that it's a work-in-progress. In fact, I think classroom websites are always a work-in-progress. I'm constantly adding links to new resources I find or reorganizing it to better suit my class and my instructional needs. Don't feel like it needs to be "100% done" before you share it because honestly, you'll probably never reach that point. Some information is better than none.

What features do you want to include or already use in your classroom website? Please share some of your ideas in the comment section as I would love to hear them!

Technology Tutorial Tuesday: Getting Started with a Google Site

For the next several weeks, I'll be devoting my Tuesday tutorials to talk about building an effective classroom website using Google Sites. After all, there's no better time than the summer to work on building your class website!

Part 1: Why websites matter

I'm not sure what it's like in your district, but there's a pretty large range of quality for classroom websites at all the places that I've ever taught. There are some teachers who update their websites regularly, and then there are others who work on their website for the couple hours devoted to staff website development on a professional learning day, and then never go back. This is unfortunate because having a great classroom website can be a huge plus for communication and classroom management. For me, my classroom website serves 3 important purposes:

1. It makes all of my technology lessons run effectively in the classroom. Given how much we use technology in my classroom, it helps if my students can go to one central website and get links to everything they need for the day's lesson. Sure, I still teach them how to do good web searches, but if I know a particular site that they need to use that day, I'd rather have them click a link than search for the site or try typing in the http address on their own. 

2. It facilitates communication with parents. I can give parents all of the information they need about homework, upcoming assignments and events, special requests, and curriculum in one easily accessible spot. As a side note, having a high quality classroom website can help make a good first impression when the parents invariably Google you before your back-to-school meet and greet. ;-)

3. It signals to the larger community that you're organized and competent. When I was job-hunting from out of state a few years ago, one of the biggest things I used to form my impressions about schools was their school and class websites. I narrowed my list of possible schools to apply to from that information alone, and I know from talking to other teachers recently hired in my school, they did the same. From a recruitment perspective, high quality websites can make a lasting and positive impression -- especially on new teachers.

Part 2: Getting Started

A couple of years ago, after a long story catastrophe that ended in me losing my class website, I decided to start over and move to Google Sites. Now, I will never use anything else. (And when my district eventually insists that I have a FirstClass website, I might humor them by making a Home page on FirstClass that links to my Google site...). Google Sites are very user-friendly, easy to edit, and they have a lot of features that I haven't seen matched by any other site -- particularly for those of us who are not great with coding HTML.

Here's a short (1 minute) introductory video from Google that overviews Google Sites.






To start building your own class website, you'll need a Google account. Then go to http://sites.google.com. Once you are logged in there, you'll see a screen that looks like this:

The first thing you'll want to do is select a template. There are two good options:


Option #1: Classroom site, which will pull up a page that looks like this:

It already has many of the common features you'd want on your website. You would just click the pencil icon toward the top of the page to edit the text and replace it with your own information. It's very user-friendly.

Option #2: Blank Template, which is a little more complicated than the pre-made template, but it's still pretty easy to navigate. This is the option I chose for my website because I wanted my site to be more personalized and less cookie-cutter. Either option is a good one to work with. Here's what the blank template has become on my classroom website (you can click on the image to go to my actual classroom website):

Once you've chosen a template, you can name your site and select themes to play around with the look of your site. Don't worry if you haven't decided on a look just yet --  you'll be able to go back and change themes later if you'd like.

Once you click "Create," you're done. You'll have your own website! Take some time to play around with the features and explore how the site works. Also think about what kind of information you'll want to include on your class website. Next week, we'll talk about adding pages and subpages and organizing your website. In the meantime, you're welcome to explore my class website, and I'd love to check out yours! Please leave a link to your class website -- no matter what stage it's in -- in the comments section so we can share ideas and resources.   

Tutorial - Build a Conferring Notebook with Evernote

The week of standardized testing and my sinus infection proved to be an exhausting combination that sapped all of my blogging strength. It's finally the weekend, though, so I'm back. Hooray!!!

Today I want to share a tip for building a conferring notebook for any subject -- especially reader's and writer's workshop.

Perhaps one of my very favorite tools to use for keeping track of things is Evernote. It's a free service that you can use to organize notes, pictures, and web clippings, and it works on any device -- laptops, iPads, smartphones, etc. It also recognizes text in pictures, and can search for that text. In my personal life, that feature comes in handy when I want to snap pictures of the label on a bottle of wine worth trying again or the hair dye color I'll need for doing touchups in a few weeks. But in my classroom, I like to use it for my conferring notebook.

This tutorial will help you get started with setting up your own conferring notebook in Evernote. All you'll need is an email address.

After you register, you'll need to check your email for a confirmation code to complete the registration process, but once you have that, you'll be ready to sign in and get going!

Underneath the elephant trunk in the upper left of the screen is a list of all of your notebooks. When you first get started, you'll have a default notebook that is your user name's notebook. I like to create special notebooks for the different subjects, however, so today I'll build a notebook for Writer's Workshop by clicking the down arrow by "Notebooks" and choosing "New Notebook." I'll give it a name (Writer's Workshop) and save it.

Once the notebook is created, I can make it my default notebook (the first notebook that launches when I open Evernote and the place where new notes get saved). You can do this by hovering your mouse over the notebook's name and clicking on the arrow beside it, then choose properties. You'll know which one is your default because it will have a star beside it. 

The next step is to make a new note. Typically, I create a new note for each student. 

(Note: I'd show you my real conferring notebook on Evernote, but it's got lots of student info in it that obviously can't be shared online. You'd mostly be looking at a blur. I'll revisit this topic as it gets closer to the next school year, though, and share more tips as I clear out this year's class.)

In the actual entries, I'll type the date and a brief note about what we conferred about. It automatically saves as I go, and I can set it to sort my files by the last updated date. This is useful so I can keep track of the kids that I haven't conferred with in a while. I can also take pictures and drag and drop them into notes. This is helpful if I want to take an image of a student's writing or a book he or she is working on reading. You can also send emails to your Evernote account and specify what notebook it should be filed in. 

The real advantage of Evernote is its portability. In the past, I've never really had a notebook system that worked for me. I couldn't keep up with all of my papers and artifacts, or I'd forget to bring it home with me over the weekend to plan instruction for the week ahead. Evernote works on any device and automatically syncs, so I can access my notebook anytime, anywhere. It's perfect for me as I circulate throughout the classroom, because I can use it on my phone or iPad -- items I'm likely to have on or near me anyway. If you're looking for a new system to use next year, I would highly recommend that you give this a try!

What do you use to record your conference notes? Do you use Evernote? Feel free to share your experiences in the comments below!

Tutorial Tuesday: Symbaloo

Last week, I shared some information about how to use QR codes for differentiation, and I got some great feedback - including some messages from people who wished they could use QR codes but don't have access to the smartphones or iDevices to use them. So this week, I want to share another useful tool for differentiation: Symbaloo.

'Symbaloo is a free site that allows you to create "webmixes" that are essentially bookmarks to other sites. The webmix is composed of tiles, and you can arrange them any way you want to. You can also share them with others.

Getting Started

After you've created an account with Symbaloo, you should look at the tabs at the top of the page and click on the blue plus button. This will create a new webmix. From there, click on any tile and hit the plus button.

This will open a menu to create a new tile that looks like this:

Tiles can be websites, RSS feeds, or audio. Websites that have their own logo (e.g., BrainPop or PBS Kids) will often have their logo automatically import onto the tile. Other sites may require you to design a tile yourself. You can choose background colors, icons, or upload your own image. Once you're done selecting your preferences, just click on "Add tile to webmix."

*Tip: I recommend clicking the box that says "Display the name on the tile" - especially if you end up choosing your own icons. It can make it easier to edit or give directions later on.

Tiles can be arranged in any way you want them on your webmix just by dragging and dropping them into place. 

You also have the option of changing some of the features on your webmix by going into "Edit webmix" on the main screen.

From here, you can change the background color or image (click "Change wallpaper"), adjust the number of tiles by clicking on the blue arrows at the left and right of the screen, or rename the webmix. When you're done, click "Done editing."

When you're happy with your webmix, click the "Share" button. That will pull up this option:

From here, you have two options:

Option 1: Share it publicly so that anyone else may search and find it.

Option 2: Share it privately so that anyone who has the link may use it. This is the option that I use when I'm differentiating for my students, and I post the link to the webmix at our class website.

Differentiating

I use Symbaloo to differentiate by creating a tile for each of my students.

I link a particular website or activity with each student's name. Then, when the student clicks on her name, she can go to the particular site that I've assigned for them. It's a little labor intensive when you first set it up, but it's very user friendly for students, and it works on both computers and iDevices.

The Gallery

Symbaloo also has a gallery of published webmixes that you can browse or search.

Here's an example of one that I found when I was searching for math activities:

I really like how it's visual -- kind of a combination between iPad app icons and Pinterest.

How could you use Symbaloo in your classroom?

Tutorial: Use QR Codes for Differentiation

Differentiating instruction is a big deal in my school, and for good reason. I have 26 students with a wide range of instructional needs -- from early intervention program to gifted -- and one-sized instruction never works. One of the biggest obstacles that I've found for differentiating, however, has been the management of the tasks. QR codes have helped me solve that problem.

Step One: decide what you want the students to do. 

Let's say we're studying biographies in reader's workshop, and I want students to read about Harriet Tubman. I'll try to find at least 3 different resources.

One at grade-level reading ability,

one above grade-level reading ability,

and one below grade-level reading ability.

Step two: create a QR code for each website that you're assigning.

I like to use Google's QR Code Generator.

Next, you'll get an image that looks like this:

From there, I'll right-click on the QR code and choose either "Save Image As..." or "Copy Image" depending on whether I'm ready to make labels with the QR codes. 

Once you've made a QR code for each website you're using, you're ready for the third and final step.

Step three: assign the QR codes to students.

For this, I typically use 2x4 inch labels. On the left side of the label, I'll paste the QR code. Then I'll type the student's name and any important directions on the right. Most of this is just copying and pasting for as many labels as I need, so the whole process goes rather quickly. It's important, however, to be mindful of what assignment you're copying and pasting because it's not easy to tell the QR codes apart!

I'll put the labels on index cards and distribute them to students. There are some examples above.

Step four: read the picture using a scanning app.

There are lots of QR code reading apps available for free. One that I've used with my students is called QR Code Reader and Scanner. It scans the QR code and opens the attached link. It is far more efficient and user-friendly than having students type in web addresses.

I teach in a class where I am fortunate enough to have 1:1 iPads this year, but this tip could be done using any iPad, iPod, or smartphone, and you wouldn't necessarily need to have one for each student. This could be incorporated into centers or other work.

Other tips:

1. Consider linking to your own webpage so you can reuse the same QR code. I have a Google Site that I use for my reading groups each week. The students are assigned to a particular subpage on that site, so I can make a QR code for that particular page and assign it to the relevant students. Then I just swap out the activities on that page each week. That's much faster and easier than recreating QR codes.

2. Don't just link to web content generated by others -- make your own assignments and use QR codes to assign them to students. You can have multiple versions of an assignment in Google Docs, for example, and you could create different QR codes for each version. Or you could have tiered assignments where students will be expected to complete different quantities of work in different timeframes. You could post the directions on your website and link the students to the pages that apply to them.

3. Use QR codes for interactive bulletin boards. I had my students write math riddles, for example, and the solutions were posted as QR codes next to the riddle. (More information about this is coming in a future blog post.)

4. Make an answer key and create a QR code to access it. Let students check their own work when they finish a task by using the QR code. 

Have you used QR codes in your classroom? What are some other ways you could use QR codes in the classroom?