Learning in the Lou

We are publishing this slightly out of order, this is post 2 of 2. We are currently writing about the professional development side of Voxer and will publish at a later date. Voxer is one of those tools that can be used for professional development and giving quick feedback to students. This idea comes from our Sappington principals Dr. Parker and Dr. Albers, so thankful for you sharing this idea with us! The big idea of using Voxer is that it is fast, simple and impactful. This post will detail how to use Voxer to record an audio clip and share it with the students you are working with. This could be the tool you have always dreamed of, timely feedback that does not take a ton of time to create. Getting Started Download the Voxer app on your Android or iOS device. Create an account. Open the app. Click the hamberger icon (three lines) in the upper left corner. Click My Notes . To record an audio note, click and hold the little radio button in the...

In an ELITE session, we took a look at a thinking protocol called See/Think/Wonder. We built upon this idea by finding ways for the students to share what they are thinking with each other on the fly. We picked this app because it was free, it does not require an account and it is available on Android and iOS Getting Started Search for Easy Voice Recorder by Digipom in your app store. It should look like this.                                     iOS                                                                    Android To begin recording click the app. 1. Name the recording. 2. Click the red button to begin the recording. Click pause when you are finished recording. 1. Find the recording ...

There are times when I think it is wicked hard to understand what people are thinking. Wouldn't it be awesome if there was a way they could explain things visually? Think if you could see something and hear the person explain their thinking behind whatever you were looking at? If this is something you dream of, keep reading! What is Screencastify? Screencastify is a tool that allows you to capture, edit and share whatever is on your screen wicked fast. Getting Started Signing up and Signing in. Install the Screencastify extension to Chrome. Click Add extension . You should see the extension appear somewhere in the upper right corner of your Chrome browser once it installs. Click on the extension then select  Setup Camera Access . Click Allow . If you block you will be unable to create screencasts. Save your recordings to Google Drive , click Next . Sign into your Google account. This makes the whole process...

TodaysMeet is an easy to use powerful learning tool. What makes it so easy is the site does not require you to use a password. So how do you keep randos from posting? I wanted to create a room for the kids to talk about Hatchet, a book we are reading. I could use the room simply called hatchet but someone not in my class could stumble upon and post. It appears you can't use punctuation or random symbols in your room name, which is kinda unfortunate. I just added my room number after the name. For more information about naming your rooms refer to their FAQ page . The more random the room name the more invisible it will become. 20 Useful Ways to Use TodaysMeet in the Classroom - this comes from the DITCH that textbook blog, definitely worth your time to read it. Many of these ideas are adaptable for your classroom.

Plickers providing Amanda McKay with instant, actionable data Plickers is an awesome app.  Just ask Amanda McKay. It's the end of 4th hour and Amanda's physics students have been hard at work.  A poll question appears on the board.  Her students reach under their desks and grab personalized QR codes.  As they hold up their codes, Amanda scans the room.  In a flash, Amanda knows every student's response to the poll question. Three questions with Amanda McKay about Plickers: What is/are "Plickers"? "Paper Clickers.  The mini QR codes can be oriented in four ways to show four different choices for a multiple choice question.  As I scan the room for responses with my device, a real-time bar graph of results appears." How do you use Plickers? "I use them to collect quick bits of formative information to assess what students know or how comfortable they feel about a topic that we've covered.  They are secured to the ...

Every student deserves useful, specific, timely feedback.  Formative assessments provide data that helps teachers differentiate instruction.  Personalized learning is the goal, but I just don't have enough time to sort through all that data. Can anyone help me??? *rumbling noises...like a jumbo jet or an earthquake* Look!  Up in the sky.  It's...SUPER QUIZ!!! Super Quiz is a Google Sheets add-on that does amazing things with student response data from Google Forms.  There are so many things!  Super Quiz: grades your student Google Form responses highlights correct answers by student compiles and sorts class averages on each question by teacher lists the students that got each question wrong allows the teacher to integrate specific feedback and supporting questions on individualized reports for each question creates printouts, emails, and google docs for each student with customized quiz analysis, including specific feedback an...

Plickers are awesome.  Just ask Amanda McKay. It's the end of 4th hour and Amanda's physics students have been hard at work learning how to calculate net force.  A poll question appears on the board.  Her students reach under their desks and reveal personalized QR codes.  As they hold up their codes, Amanda scans the room.  In a flash, Amanda knows every student's response to the question. I asked Amanda three questions about plickers.  Here is what she had to say: What are "plickers"? "They are what I call Paper cLICKERS.  The mini QR codes that are printed on them can be oriented in four ways to show four different choices for a multiple choice question and are aimed at an Android or Apple device that interprets the choices.  A live bar graph is shown on the device as responses are read.  A correct answer can be chosen and would then be shown as a green bar on the graph." How do you use plickers? "I use them to collect quick ...