10 BOY Tips for Teachers using Google Forms

Google Forms are incredible tools! Free and powerful, Google forms are ideal for teachers to gather information at the beginning of the school year.

• Data and results are easily shared and accessed online.
• Responses are summarized and organized in a spreadsheet.
• Google Forms is in Google Drive right beneath the word processor, spreadsheet and presentation Apps.  

Practical ways to use Google Forms in the Classroom at the BOY

1. Getting to know your students:

• Student self reflection - after summer holidays get to know your students. 
• Education World First Day Surveys

2. Getting to know your parents: Since you don't need a log in to complete a Google form, it is a great way to gather insight and opinions from parents, encouraging better communication between home and school. Link your Google form to a QR code to handout to parents for easy access.

• Parent and Volunteer Survey - Collect information, email addresses, twitter handles, goals for the year and information on what volunteer opportunities parents are interested in this year. 
• Parent Contact Forms on Pinterest

3. Getting to know your peers

• Whole school or department survey- Collect fresh ideas and feedback on professional development, committee planning, lessons and campus events. 

4. Placing orders: Lunch, t-shirts, books etc.

5. Reading survey: find out about the reading habits of your class.

6. Student Project Management

7. Tutorial Signups and booking/ making reservations.

8. Differentiate with Google Forms: Group students in as many ways as you like; by reading level, interest, by learning style, by skill, or by readiness and SHARE to that group in Google Apps.

• Offer assignment choices
• Flexible learning paths
• Group students

9. Informal Assessment

• Exit tickets and instant feedback quizzes
• End of Topic Tests - Allow students to create their own questionnaires about a unit of work. 
• Self grading tests with Flubaroo
• Create rubrics and graph results of a survey

10. Setting Class Culture: Gather students 5 top words about what they value most as learners and create a Wordle.

Check out these additional resources for using Google Forms in the classroom.

Resources:

• Teach Interactive

• Google Forms Cheat Sheet for Teachers

• Innovative Ideas for Using Google Forms

• Tons of Google Forms for Teachers, Administrators, and Students

• How to Create Rubrics Using Google Forms

• 81 Interesting Ways to Use Google Forms in the Classroom

• Fried Technology, Amy Mayer - YouTube Channel

• Ideas for using Google in the Classroom Thinglink

Blendspace

Blendspace (formerly Edcanvas) is the perfect, free web tool for organizing and streamlining your media materials. In a matter of seconds, you can sign up for a free account and begin creating lessons using video, Google Docs, images, web links, and so much more. Have a PowerPoint that you've created? Pull that in to your lesson too! The possibilities are endless! 

Classroom Application
Differentiated Instruction
Flipped Classroom
Project-Based Learning
Student Projects (They can create their own “lessons”!)
Sharing materials with colleagues

Creating Lessons
While users have the option of creating classes, it's not a necessary step for lesson creation. After choosing, “New Lesson” users can select a layout and get right to adding content. Content can be pulled from a huge variety of sources and everything is searchable right through the Blendspace site. Once you've found what you need, drag and drop it to your lesson. You can also search the gallery for lessons/collections created by other users. Click here to view a sample lesson from the gallery.

Want to assess your students as they progress through the lesson? No problem! Users also have the option to add multiple choice assessments. Want more options? Create a quiz in Google Forms and add the form as a web link in your lesson!

Sharing and Collaborating
Lessons may be shared to classes that have been created or through a link. Users may also share or embed lessons on the web. Privacy settings can be tailored to fit your needs, and teachers have total control over who can view the lessons. Do you want your team members to be able to add content? Add them as collaborators in settings. No need to worry when sharing lessons with others because the site is web based and works with any device that has Internet.

Creating Classes
Per the Terms of Use, students under 13 may use the program with parental permission. Teachers can set up the accounts or have the students use join using a unique code. No email is required from students. One of the benefits of creating classes is the lesson tracking feature. Students can add comments to the lesson, and they can also check the "Can We Go Over This In Class?" box to notify the teacher that some material may need further discussion. Teachers can view the stats and see feedback from the students.

How do you see Blendspace being used in your classroom? Let us know in the comments below. Then create your free account and get started!

** Shout out to Candice Karas at Old Union Elementary School for sharing this awesome tool with me this summer!

ClassFlow ... The Newest from Promethean

We have previously discussed student response systems like Kahoot, Socrative, InfuseLearning, and PollEverywhere. The newest kid on the block with a twist is ClassFlow. As of January 2014 teachers are able to sign up for a complimentary ClassFlow account. The website states that with ClassFlow, teachers can build and access interactive lessons from any web browser, share lessons with other peers, and collaborate using the latest mobile and student response technology. Not only will ClassFlow help teachers save time at the planning and setup stages of lesson development, but it can also facilitate a more connected classroom. They got my attention with the ability to use my 5 iPads, 6 netbooks, 12 students with Smartphones, 12 ActivExpressions, and 3 laptops all within the same lesson in ClassFlow.  The ability to send graphs and images to the students (similar to InfuseLearning), have them complete a task, and send it back also gained my attention. 

 Ron Clark says ClassFlow really makes lessons more engaging. The kids get feedback on their work and everyone collaborates together. ClassFlow really connects us all.

Points of Interest for the classroom teacher:
•    Deliver, create, and easily organize lessons from any web browser
•    Develop lessons by seamlessly incorporating a variety of teaching resources and formats–video,  PowerPoint, documents, webpages, new content and more
•    Collaborate with a community of teachers by sharing lessons online
•    Unify your classroom technology, from your interactive whiteboard to tablets or any student devices.
•    Make edits, save changes, assess students, deliver and even share your lessons. 
•    Information goes two ways with ClassFlow. Send and receive feedback from your students - even photographs

The following Youtube video shows ClassFlow in action.  https://classflow.com/how-it-works
Check it out at https://classflow.com/ and let me know what you think.

Ten Tech Tools to Try this Year

The 2013-14 school year has begun so why not check out some technology tools to use in your classroom this year. Be sure to check out the SAMR model on how to integrate technology in the classroom. It is a simple model that provides assistance when using technology. Click here for the graphic on the four steps of the SAMR model. As you read below considering trying new tools this year or implementing forgotten tools. Whatever the case, take time to click each tool below to learn more information.


Mobile Device Polling:  Poll Everywhere
   ☆ Poll Everywhere allows for live audience participation via texting, web, or Twitter.
   ☆ Cool new feature...results appear in live word cloud and countdown timer.
   ☆ Read more about new features.

Online Bookmarking with Annotation:  Diigo
   ☆ Free educator accounts - click here
   ☆ Bookmark/archive webpages, annotate with highlights/sticky notes, organize by tags/lists.
   ☆ Share one item or whole collection.
   ☆ Great use for research in any class.

Collaboration:  Google Drive
   ☆ Access files anywhere, anytime. Share files and folders.
   ☆ Shared files and folders allow for collaborators to update in real time.
   ☆ 15GB of file storage.

Webmix Collage:  Symbaloo
   ☆ SymbalooEDU available to teachers for their use in the classroom.
   ☆ Symbaloo just went social - read how to share your webmixes with friends/colleagues.
   ☆ Educational Benefit: you can store websites needed for class projects on one page (called a webmix) so students do not have to surf the web. Great for any grade level.

Customized Browser:  Google Chrome
   ☆ Signing in to Chrome brings your bookmarks, history, and other settings to all your computers.
   ☆ Customize Chrome by adding apps, extensions, and themes from the Chrome Web Store.
    ☆ List of my favorite Chrome Apps and Extensions - click here.

Classroom Book Management:  Classroom Organizer
   ☆ Need an inventory system for classroom novels or a way to track checked out books?
   ☆ Scan barcode on books to add them to your account, checkout/return books online or via app.
   ☆ Read more about this free web-based program to help organize your classroom books.

Voice Comments on Google Doc:  121 Writing
   ☆ The fastest, simplest way to give high quality feedback on writing.
   ☆ In Google Drive, right click on Google doc, open with voice comments, highlight and speak.
   ☆ Take grading papers to another level by using voice comments.

Week in Review:  Flocabulary
   ☆ Quality, educational hip-hop videos created to display world events in the Week in Rap.
   ☆ Videos are free and great for social studies or humanities classes for grades 5-12.
   ☆ Check out other free videos on the site by subject and grade level.

Digital Clipboard:  eduClipper
   ☆ Digital clipboard very similar to Pinterest.
   ☆ Clips can be liked, reclipped, shared, or viewed.
   ☆ New feature: create presentation portfolios (add Google Docs, Office files, Images, PDFs, videos).

Parent/Student Contact:  Remind 101
   ☆ Need to get short updates to parents or students? Try Remind 101.
   ☆ One way texting service that can be pushed to users via website or app, schedule texts, 10 classes with unlimited participants, and easy sign-up process.
   ☆ Click here for teacher resources...parent letters, etc.