Chromebooks

Last year, I applied for a technology grant via SVSD. It was a delight to receive this endowment and have 17 Chromebooks bestowed upon room 902. Later in the year, three more mysteriously showed up to make a set of 20. Though it would be exponentially more beneficial to operate with an entire class set, these devices have transformed the way that I can teach and opens up another world for students.

Primarily, Chromebooks are the gateway to Google Drive, which unlocks a myriad of avenues in the realm of editing, sharing, and grading work (more about this in my next entry). This has been very useful in teaching the structured writing that has been adopted by the district. They also serve as an excellent tool for research projects. Throughout the year, students have used them to further explore several ancient civilizations beyond their textbooks. Lastly, Chromebooks are a wonderful stratagem for student engagement. Students get excited for the opportunity to complete work on the computers. As individuals that have grown up with these technologies surrounding them, they are capable, comfortable, and enthusiastic about having access to them in the classroom.

Grammar Practice Tests

One of the things that I found very helpful this year when covering grammar was having students use their computers at home to help them study.  As I taught each unit on grammar, Nouns, Pronouns, Adjectives, etc., I would look online for resources where students could take practice tests on each part of speech as we completed it.  As the grammar units progressed, many students excelled because of their efforts outside of class.  I would provide a few websites up on the board for them to copy down and use at home.  If any student found another one while searching at home and brought it in to share, I would offer up a couple of Hawk Bucks.  It was a great way for the kids to use the resources at home to help them study for the assessments. I could tell who studied as well.  Many of the assessments online were similar to my assessments and kids did well.
Well worth the effort to find a few and let the kids do the rest.


For example...see the following.
http://www.softschools.com/quizzes/grammar/noun/quiz295.html


Tony

I have used Hapara quite a bit this year. It is a great way to go paperless. At first, I found it odd not to have the physical paper to correct, or write on, however overtime I have come to appreciate how much my school bag has lightened without 75 papers or essays in it. It works in correlation with Google Drive.

Another great aspect of the dashboard is that you can access all of your students documents in one place. With a couple of clicks you can check several documents.

Management- When I am in the computer lab using Hapara while my students are supposed to be working on their essays, I have the ability to check their document live, to see what they are doing from my computer. I use the chat box to joke around with them, and build rapport while they are working. 

Finally, while they are working, I can edit their document live, which means they see the changes I am making while they are at their computer. I usually highlight the changes or suggestions I made, and write my initials at next to it.

Give it a try!

ActivInspire

Perhaps the most useful piece of technology for my day-to-day operations is usage of the ActivInspire slides.  I use them daily as a way for the class to see what is going to be covered that day and to introduce the learning target.  Using these has also been a way to keep students on track.  If it's off when they walk in I notice a little bit of confusion.  When I turn it on, I notice that they are quick to address whatever is asked of them on the slide for the agenda. 
It's a great tool...easy to use and keep for following years with slight modifications.


Tony

Test Entry!

Ready to discuss tech.