Recap

Have you heard about Recap? It's a relatively new tool that has some great features! In a nutshell, Recap is a completely free assessment resource (available on the web or through an iPad app) that lets students respond to the teachers' questions or prompts via video.

Website | iPad App

With recap, teachers can...

• create questions that are typed or voice-recorded 
• choose how students will sign in: 7-digit alphabetical PIN or e-mail address/password
• add up to 10 questions in a single assignment (and, as of the newest update on April 12, teachers can now give more than one assignment to students at a time)
• give an assignment to the whole class or only certain students
• set a max response time to make grading faster and students' answers more precise
• set a due date for assignments
• add a poll at the end of an assignment that asks students how well they think they understood the material
• view individual student information or the entire class's responses as a whole
• grab the link to an individual video to share with others (e.g. parents, admin, your co-teacher, and/or social media)
• leave written feedback/commentary on student videos 

The view is super-simple from the students' side. Learners indicate that they are a student on the login screen:

Students can sign in with a class PIN or an e-mail address (whichever option the teacher enabled when he/she set up the class):

If signing in with a PIN, the child must then select his/her name from the class list before seeing any assignments:

The student dashboard allows learners to see previously submitted assignments as well as those that have not yet been completed. The dashboard is also where students can view feedback from their teacher on submitted assignments. (Note that students cannot see other students' assignments or answers.)

This video -- filmed by EdTechTeacher's Greg Kuloweic -- shows you Recap in action from both the teacher and the student side (but keep in mind that a couple of features have been added since this video was released):

 

I already use Seesaw...should I still consider Recap?

While there are similarities between Seesaw and Recap, it's important to recognize that these are two completely different resources. Recap is strictly for assessing students via video (and follow-up poll if the teacher enables it), while Seesaw is more of an ePortfolio tool that happens to have a video feature, too. If you are a Seesaw user, you may still consider incorporating Recap for the opportunity to differentiate questions and/or allow students to turn in video responses confidentially. 

To integrate Recap with Seesaw on iPads, first make sure the Recap app is on all student devices. Then push a note in Seesaw to the entire class with the login information (e.g. 7-digit PIN if students are without e-mail addresses), as shown below.

Seesaw user tip: create a folder just for login information

While students cannot copy the PIN from the Seesaw note directly into the Recap app, this at least provides a consistent place for students to find login information independently. 

Resources:

• Recap Helpdesk
• Recap Teacher Resources

#TCEA16 Favorite Finds

Guest Post by Rebecca Gould, Carroll Senior High School French Teacher

I felt so blessed to attend the TCEA Conference February 3-5 in Austin. I’m always eager to learn and incorporate new strategies in my classroom. TCEA did not disappoint. There was a wide array of classes and workshops to attend, covering a huge variety of topics. 

As other attendees have mentioned, I enjoyed learning more about Google Add-Ons, which have all kinds of applications.

I have also enjoyed discovering Quizizz and using it in class. We use Kahoot to review, then Quizizz as a formative assessment. The students can quiz on their own devices, go at their own pace, and get immediate feedback. The instructor can then get the class results in an Excel spreadsheet to enter as a grade. You can upload images to accompany the questions.

I couldn’t be more excited about the Google Cultural Institute (art project, historic moments, world wonders) for art, history, geography, social studies, and world language teachers. I didn’t even know it existed before the conference. I’m going to enjoy taking my students on virtual tours of French art in museums around the world

I’m also excited to try Microsoft OneNote, an amazing digital note-taking app. 

There are two main reasons that I’m grateful that I had the opportunity to attend TCEA:

1. My comfort level with new technology increased. I’m willing to take more risks with new apps and software, which ultimately improves student engagement and learning. 
2. It was so much fun! I developed relationships with amazing teachers from other CISD campuses and had the opportunity to swap insights.

#TCEA16 Favorite Finds

Guest Post by DaNeil Hill, Old Union Elementary School Kindergarten Teacher

Things I learned from TCEA:

Google Tools

• In the Google search box, enter “timer 5 minutes” for a timer.
• In the Google search box, enter “stopwatch.”
• Even your non-readers/emergent readers can work in Google documents; they just need to use Voice Typing. In a Google Document, pull down the tools menu to “Voice Typing”. Click the mic and start talking!
• When you are speaking text in a document, there are several phrases you can use to add punctuation:
• "Period"
• "Comma"
• "Exclamation point"
• "Question mark"
• "New line"
• "New paragraph"

Nearpod

Use Nearpod in the classroom to immediately assess students digitally. This awesome tool is described on the website as interactive lessons, real time assessment, and used across various devices. Create any task for students to complete. Give them the Nearpod code to type in when they open the app. Student show their work on the iPad, and the answers are immediately sent to the teacher. Great for use in math, science concepts, vocabulary…the possibilities are endless. Nearpod even has some already made lessons for teachers to use.


San Diego Zoo – Kids

Take a virtual field trip to the San Diego Zoo.  Watch live cameras of various animals in their zoo habitats.  Explore the videos put together by the zoo keepers at the San Diego Zoo that teach about various animals, their habitats, how they live from day to day, etc. New videos are added all the time. They even have games and activities for the kids to enjoy. My students love watching the live animals…especially the polar bears and panda bears.