IHMS Tech Tips

While Guardian Summaries have been available in Google Classroom for some time, it seems like a good time to revisit what this looks like.   First, don't worry, parents cannot get into your actual Google Classroom.  They are merely seeing an overview/summary of the class and their student's work.  They cannot add, submit, or edit anything that is being done by the student from the Summaries.  They also cannot see the Stream.   The one catch is, parents/guardians have to have a Google email to sign up.  If you find that you don't even see the option to "invite guardians", please let me know. When a guardian receives a summary, they will see: Missing work—Work that’s late at the time the email was sent Upcoming work—Work that’s due today and tomorrow (for daily emails) or work that’s due in the upcoming week (for weekly emails) Class activity—Announcements, assignments, and questions recently posted by teachers Guardians can choose how...

A lot of us use rubrics to assess our students' learning.  It's a great tool to provide students at the beginning of an assignment or project so that they know exactly what is expected of them.  However, Edutopia thinks that providing only a single-point rubric would more greatly benefit students in that, " the single-point rubric includes only guidance on and descriptions of successful work..."  Why are we telling our students how to fail? Most of them can figure that out on their own.  Instead, we should be providing information on what the student needs to do to successfully complete their assignment.  Here is an example as provided by Edutopia: They go on to list 6 reasons why we should be transitioning to this type of rubric: 1. It gives space to reflect on both strengths and weaknesses in student work. Each category invites teachers to meaningfully share with students what they did really well and where they might want to consider making some ...

If you have ever had your students working collaboratively, then you might have found yourself reminding them to be mindful of their noise level.  Today's tip provides several websites that you can display for your students during group work time to indicate the volume of the classroom. I can imagine it was entertaining to watch me get these sample screenshots for you. 1. Bouncy Balls This one is probably my favorite.  Go to the bouncy balls website and display for your students.  You will have to allow access to the microphone with any of these sites.  Set the sensitivity of the microphone and watch the balls bounce around.  When students are too noisy, the balls bounce higher and a notification will appear.  You can choose what item is bouncing around (eyeballs, emojis, bubbles, and more). 2. Zero Noise Classroom Go to the Chrome Web Store  and download the Zero Noise Classroom (ZNC) app.  Once you have downloaded it, it will appear ...

This week's tip is courtesy of Nichole Hoehn! Many of you use YouTube in the classroom for teaching and learning.  Have you ever found a great YouTube video to show your students, but you only want a certain part of the video?  Today's tip will help with just that.  There are a few ways you can share a certain part of a YouTube video with others.  The two we talk about today will be from within YouTube itself, but there are other sites/apps that do the same thing. 1. Use the Share button Choose your video and decide where you would like the video to start.  Then click the "Share" button.  Before you close that window, choose "start video at ____" and enter the point at which the video should begin .  If you pause the video at the time you want it to start and then click Share, it will automatically enter the time stamp of when you paused it.  Copy the link and paste the video into Google Classroom, Skyward, or wherever. 2. Use the ...

Many of you are using Google Docs or DocHub for annotating text, but there is also a tool built right into Google Docs that allows for some pretty great stuff for students and teachers.  This tip comes from Lindsay Stephenson, our district technology coach. Google Add-ons are like customized extensions specifically for Google.  I've previously blogged about Google Add-ons  if you would like to know more.  Some add-ons, like the Highlight Tool, are built in automatically like the Highlight Tool while some you can add yourself.  The purpose of using add-ons is to make your life easier when using Google tools.  There are add-ons for rubrics, inserting math symbols, music notation, and more.  For this post's purpose, I'm going to be talking about the highlight tool in Google Docs.  If you often have students annotate text, you might try this tool and see what you think. Copy and paste the text into a blank Google Doc.  This could be an onl...

I know there has been a lot of interest in the additional capabilities and features of Manager.  That being said, we have asked for training on these and been told there will be none.  Luckily, we have teachers that explore on their own and are willing to share! Manager In addition to housing all district-purchased software and apps, Manager has the ability to show you student devices.  While this is not fool-proof, play around with it and see what you think. I will tell you that if a student's screen is not visible to you or if you have an incorrect roster, there's really no way to fix that at this point...or so they say. ;) Check out this presentation from Nick Adams at SMN on some of the features of Mosyle Manager. Apple Classroom Classroom is now available for download in Manager.  It has much of the same capabilities as Manager, but some are saying it's faster and more accurate.  Not having any classes assigned to me, it's hard for me to tell if thi...

Gimkit is a gamification site much like Kahoot and Quizlet, but there's a twist!  Teams can earn cash as points based on correct answers, streaks, and speed.  Teams can then strategize what they want to do with that cash throughout the game.  They can purchase level-up bonuses or multipliers.  That means that if they buy a 1.5 multiplier for $5, every time they get a correct answer, they will get 1.5 times the original question value.  Clear as mud? Watch this video. Signing up syncs with your Google account.  To create a quiz, click "Create Kit". Give your kit a title and subject and then begin creating.  You can import from a question/answer spreadsheet or add questions manually.  You can add photos to your questions as well. If you choose "Add from Question Bank", you can search already created kits. Like Kahoot, students join using a code.  They do not need to have an account to play.  Gimkit i...