How can you efficiently digitize your handwritten notes? This question prompted a very productive conversation with Kindra over at Monroe. She wanted to make her notes available for parents to access in supporting their students, and for students to access if they were absent or for any reason were unable to keep up with note taking.
Interactive Table of Contents
The solution that we came up with was to use the Table of Contents feature in Google Docs, and to insert snapshots of her notes into the document. By adding the titles of each section of notes to an interactive table of contents as Headers, they become active links that will take you directly to that note set. Interested in digitizing your notes? Watch the video below for a step-by-step tutorial.
Tutorial Screencast: Creating a Table of Contents and Inserting Snapshots in a Google Doc
*I recommend clicking the "full screen" button in the bottom right-hand corner when viewing.
Click here to view Kindra's interactive notes for 8th grade, which will continue to grow as the trimester progresses. Enjoy!
With the transition to Common Core State Standards in mathematics, parent communication has become increasingly important as many parents are unsure of how to best support their students. This post focuses on best practices shared in CUSD for Back to School night and beyond...
At Rolling Hills, Kathy Alsup promoted parent engagement by giving her parents the full student experience; homework AND a quiz! Prior to Back to School (B2S) night, she sent home a copy of her syllabus with instructions for parents to read. When they arrived at B2S night, she used Kahoot to check for understanding. Kahoot is a game-based assessment system that gives instant feedback on responses. Using Kahoot, she was able to determine if parents had indeed previewed the syllabus, and use their responses to determine the entry points of her discussion and what content she needed to cover more thoroughly.
Another fabulous tool that teachers Anna Lawrence, Kathy Alsup, and Gloria McGriff are using to promote parent communication is Remind. Remind allows teachers to create communication groups in order to send out information via text message about classroom events, grade updates, or anything else that requires communication (while keeping your phone number confidential).
At Monroe, Kindra Ahrens has been using technology to support lesson delivery, both with digital tools that accompany the pilot math curriculum, as well as using Google Classroom to move elements of her instruction into a digital space, promoting both increased engagement and communication. With a limited amount of time to share at B2S night, she hosted all of these crucial links on her class website and used her time with the parents to guide them to the resources available. If you scroll to the bottom of her resources page, she has embedded parent letters on using Google Apps for Ed in both English and Spanish.
As we move forward with the goal of increasing parent involvement in mathematics, please continue to share your best practices with our math teacher community!
There is a common saying that you should never use technology for technology's sake. In other words, if the technology you are integrating into your instruction is not enhancing your instruction in some way, shape, or form, is it really necessary? Technology, when used right, can enhance instruction by increasing engagement, efficiency, and accountability in learning. As an Ed Tech enthusiast, I try to find ways to effectively and seamlessly integrate technology into all parts of the instructional process.
I engaged in some great dialogue with the seventh and eight grade math teachers at Monroe this week around Google Classroom. Nichole Rogers asked the crucial question, "How can Google Classroom be used effectively in an upper grades mathematics classroom?" This is such a valid question, since many people associate the use of Google Classroom with assigning documents that students type on and submit, while mathematics involves a lot of equation writing/solving, drawing, labeling, and demonstrating stages of work. This spurred me to create a seventh grade demonstration classroom with examples of how I envision Google Classroom being used in upper grade mathematics.
Demo Classroom Ideas
*Note- if you are a CUSD teacher, there are instructions to join my Demo Classroom at the bottom of this post.
Idea # 1: Students show solutions by inserting images of notebooks/whiteboards within a Document.
In a Google Doc, insert typed questions, screenshots of questions, images of questions, or a prompt for your students. As a Classroom Assignment, assign the Document so that each student gets a copy. Allow students to work in their notebooks, on paper, or on whiteboards depending on the task. Within the Doc, they can take a picture of their work by selecting "Insert image" and "Take a snapshot". Their first time using this tool, they will have click "Allow" for camera and microphone access. The images below show the process for inserting a snapshot, as well as sample student work inserted into a Google Doc.
Idea # 2: Generate Mathematical Discussion using the new Announcement feature.
Present your students with a mathematical question that has no one right answer, such as an estimation activity, and allow them to post their ideas and respond to the ideas of others. You can attach documents, images, Drive items, video, or links to the discussion prompt in order to share engaging and relevant content. In the sample below, students are asked to estimate the amount of money recovered from a drug bust. After posting their responses, they were able to respond to the responses of other students, either confirming or disputing their estimate claims.
Idea #3 Use the Announcement feature to post links to quizzes or surveys
Create your quizzes or surveys in Google Forms. You can post relevant videos or materials to support students in reviewing the materials before the quiz either as part of the announcement, or within the Form itself.
Idea #4 Use Google Drawing to assign items that require a combo of text, drawing, and graphics
Using the Assignment feature, you can assign a Google Drawing so that each student receives their own copy (just like with Google Docs). You can insert graph backgrounds, tables, and other design elements that would support mathematical instruction. Students can type, draw, and insert graphics such as dots and lines in their responses.
Tool # 5: Integrate with other Apps for math
Anna Lawrence asked a fabulous question about Google Classroom- Does it integrate with the tools that I am already using, such as Geogebra? Classroom integrates with many apps, and as long as you and your students are logged in with the same account you use for Google Classroom, the students can submit their Geogebra assignments through Classroom. Don’t you just love when the feature you want exists?! Below is a tutorial video on how to export Geogebra assignments to Classroom.
The ideas discussed in this post are just a drop in the bucket in terms of what's possible with Google Classroom. The possibilities are really infinite. I used it regularly with my 6th grade math students and found that it really helped me cut down on paper, increase engagement and ownership in learning, prep & share lessons more efficiently, provide meaningful feedback to my students, and allowed them to (constructively) critique each other’s mathematical reasoning.
I would like to close this post with an inspirational moment I had in Kindra Ahrens room this week when we were launching Google Classroom. At one point, her students were showing her the "Insert Equation" feature in Docs, which allows for inserting almost any equation symbol you can think of. She turned to me and exclaimed, "Isn't it fantastic how much they know? They really teach me a lot when it comes to technology." I agreed with her, but what I found equally fantastic was her attitude about allowing students to take the lead, and sometimes know more than the teacher! This is truly how we respect them as individuals who bring outside knowledge into the classroom, and it takes the fear out of integrating new types of technology if you recognize that tech support is everywhere you look around the classroom!
