Favorite Google Apps, Add-ons, and Extensions

After ending our first year of 1-1 Chromebooks grades 6-12 and being fully immersed in the "Googleverse", I have put together a list of some of my favorite Google add-ons and Chrome extensions.  I hope you find these equally awesome!

Mrs. Wade's Favorite Google Apps & Extensions

Flubaroo- Grade and analyze google forms

Awesome Screenshots- Take a screenshot and annotate, save to google drive

Google Hangouts-

Can be used to “broadcast” out events, one-on-one tutoring, and meetings.

“Hangouts on Air” - Live feed and then upload to YouTube.

goo.gl URL shortener

Screencastify- create screencasts, great for flipping the classroom

Ad Block- blocks ads

Save to Drive- save web content or browser screenshots to your Google Drive.

autoCrat- mail merge “add-on”

EasyBib- citation extension

Save to Pocket- best way to save articles, videos and more to be available offline.

Save to Classroom- If kids are logged into Chrome.. You can pull up a resource and push it out to the students in that Google classroom. Students can push to the teacher.

WeVideo - Make and share videos. Great for video editing.

OrangeSlice Rubric- create a rubric with already generated templates

Digital Citizenship- Summer Social Media Safety

As I am preparing digital citizenship lessons for next school year, I am reminded that many students struggle with what they put on social media or what they share online.  They often do not think about their digital footprint. These "posts", pictures, hashtags, location updates,  etc. can have lingering and lasting effects.  Not only that, but sharing locations and using their real name on online games is just dangerous.

Being a good digital citizen is important, both for ethical and safety reasons. What we post about ourselves and others shouldn't be an afterthought.  As summer approaches and students are filled with idle time, lots of hanging out with friends, and gaming time,  it's important that we emphasize "pause before you post " or THINK before you post. These infographics and videos are a great reminder for "netiquette" or good digital manners and internet safety. Feel free to share these reminders with your students! Also, visit the original sources of the links and images below for more information.

This video was designed by Flocabulary for teens. Please preview to ensure it is age appropriate for your grade level of students.

This is a Disney PSA on internet safety for children.

Organizing Tech Tools....

I am constantly looking for ways to compile all my resources.  I know in the classroom there is little time to search through multiple tabs and find what I'm looking for.  Putting my hands on the resource I need is important.  We all "bookmark" things or put them in our "favorites". However, I am very visual, so having a way to organize them in an appealing way that I can "see" is what works for me.  Symbaloo is a great tool that allows you to organize your resources in image tiles.  This creates an "app" look. Check out my Symbaloo and then create your own: http://www.symbaloo.com/mix/mrswadestechresource

Going Digital with Assessments--What are my options?

Digital Assessments have lots of advantages, for both students and teachers. They allow students to take the assessment via an electronic tool (iPad, iPhone, Chromebook, Laptop, computer), and provide for immediate feedback.  This immediate feedback is good for both students and teachers. This allows teachers the opportunity to address learning targets not yet mastered and re-teach material.  It allows students the advantage of knowing "where they stand" and what skills they need to continuously improve.  Grading it for you is a definite advantage for teachers...I remember spending hours grading tests and it taking me a few days to get all the tests graded... It is a daunting task and students want immediate feedback...Anything that made grading easier and more efficient, while benefiting the students was always a positive for me!

Here are a couple of my favorites that digitize assessments to a varying degree:

GradeCam

Edmodo - Quiz and Snapshot feature

Google Forms

Socrative

Kahoot 

Looking for new ideas on ways to assess students or have them demonstrate what they know?

In the classroom, I was always looking for ways to change things up...spice it up...improve the lesson...improve the assessment.  As you enter a new semester and are looking for new ways to assess or check for understanding- Check out this guide from Edutopia (@edutopia).  It is AWESOME!  There are lots of great ideas on activities that can check for understanding and become a form of assessment.  Some of these I thought would be neat to use on Non-Traditional Days, to check for the understanding of previously taught content- sort of a flashback review...

Edutopia's 53 Ways to Check for Understanding

Happy planning for the new semester!

Lookout- Matt is on the Google Train.....!!!!

With the launch of Google Classroom, we have decided that it is a great tool for teachers and students in our district.  We have a school Google domain.  To access the domain you can visit the district website: www.boyle.kyschools.us.  From the district website, you will select Google Drive, under the "Teachers" tab. We are jumping on the Google train!

Here in lies one problem...Lots of people have their own personal Google account, but want to copy all of their docs, spreadsheets, slides, etc.  Matt has put together a video tutorial that will walk you through the process of moving files from one account to another:

Type A and I LOVE Graphic Organizer!

I love graphic organizers!  I think they are great for guided reading, preparing for research projects, prewriting, timelines, etc.  I also love concept mapping.  I think it's a great visual for students as they are organizing their information.  Check out this post from Kathy Schrock's website.  It has a TON of great resources!
http://www.schrockguide.net/concept-mapping.html