Techie Tuesday - Version 1.7 - Socrative and GroupMaker

Welcome to this week's edition of the Techie Tuesday.  Last week we covered using Audioboo and Quizlet in the classroom.  I had not tried the "Scatter" option in Quizlet before, so I decided to try it.  Let's just say that students were ENGAGED to the max!  I made it a little competitive by letting the lowest time be the winner of a "prize" when we return this week. The first time, most students took about 40 seconds or more to complete the task.  After a couple more attempts, the students really started lowering their scores.  To the right is a picture of their times.  I put up different time intervals for students to write their names and their times as they went through the activity.  It was a lot of fun watching the students keep working to improve their times...and their skills!  How do you think you could use this activity to review specific facts or skills in your classroom?  Please share with the rest of us!

Socrative - Online Quizzes, Exit Tickets, & Space Race

Socrative is a wonderful online quiz platform that teachers use across the world.  It is both an app AND a website.  There is a Teacher App for you, and a Student App for the students to use.  You may choose to have the students attempt your questions via the phone app or by using their laptop.  If they use their laptop, then they need to go to the web address:  m.socrative.com  Here they will use the Room Number that you provide to the class.  Then you can choose to have the students participate in the quiz as a Teacher Run activity, or Student Run Activity.

As the teacher, you can create multiple choice, true/false, and short answer questions.  They have also added the function of being able to include an image with your question.  Once the activity is complete, the teacher can download a report via email or through Excel.  Teachers can use Socrative as an Entrance Ticket to check student prior knowledge, or they can use it as an Exit Ticket to see what the students learned during the day.  My favorite feature is the Space Race.  It really gets the competitive juices flowing for the students!  

FEATURE TECHIE OF THE WEEK - Mr. Joe Vought - Social Studies

GroupMaker - I think cold-calling on students helps keep them more engaged, because they know they could be called on at any time.  However, I sometimes struggle with a self perception or student perception that I'm favoring certain students.  Here is an app that can help with randomizing groups or randomly selecting students from a class list.

If you think such a tool might be useful to you, please read the following (only one short page with a four minute video tutorial).

http://splaysoft.weebly.com/groupmaker.html

Below are two screenshots of me using the app.  One shows my 1920s group project groupings, while the other shows how to open a saved class list from your email.  

Importing class lists was the trickiest part, because you have to save the class list as a plain text (.txt) document and then press and hold on the list to bring up the "Open In ____" option.  It took me awhile to figure out how to drag and drop students to rearrange groups if desired, also.  You have to press and hold the students avatar to move them.

Thanks, Joe!  Great way to use the iPad in the classroom!  (And I'm not just saying that because we are related.)  Another great reason to try GroupMaker is because it makes the teacher more mobile by walking around the room.  

Don't forget to leave your ideas of how you use your iPad in your classroom in the comments section below.  Share YOUR knowledge!

Techie Tuesday - Version 1.4 - ThingLink and Action Movie FX

Welcome to the 4th installment of Techie Tuesday!  Today I would like to cover a couple of apps that are quick and easy to use.  I like to use them both for class AND for fun!  Please share how you think you could use them in your classroom.

1.  ThingLink (FREE) - Thinglink is a neat app AND website where you can make picture images interactive.  This is a pretty cool way to give more meaning to a picture.  Have you ever wanted to explain a picture in more detail?  With ThingLink, you can insert text, links to other webpages, or YouTube links into your image. Wow!  Talk about powerful!  Here are 65 ways in which to use Thinglink.  This past weekend I created an activity for my PreCalculus students to do in class (if we ever return).  My hopes is that this is a fun, yet engaging activity for my students.  I mean, it has to be better than doing a worksheet or math problems out of a book, right?!?!  Well, we will see.  My goal is to have students start creating and synthesizing their knowledge in more ways than just paper-and-pencil and quizzes and tests.  I believe ThingLink can help students develop 21st Century Skills and increase their enthusiasm for learning.  Whenever I get into graphing, this is one of the areas I really enjoy using ThingLink.  (I really need to use it more.)  Below is an example about "Fun Facts of Europe".  How could you use ThingLink in your classroom?

2.  Action Movie FX (FREE) - This is a fun app for the iPad and other Apple devices.  I first used it for personal uses before I used it in the classroom.  (Yes, I started by blowing up family members so they might get the hint about talking too much.)  Have you ever had one of those days in class when the students just won't stop talking?  It doesn't matter what you do, they just can shut it.  Well, this is where I decided to introduce it to the classroom.  

Believe it or not, the students actually got the hint and stopped talking.  There was another day when the students were really struggling with the topic in class.  So I decided to share this video later that evening.

I have also used Action Movie FX in a couple of my math music videos and even over this past Christmas Break.  Oh man, some days I have too much time on my hands.  Feel free to share with everyone else how you can use Action Movie FX for your classroom, or yourself.  :)

Math Notes are Borrrriiinng!...Or Are They?

Last week I read an article that was sent to me from my brother-in-law, who is an assistant principal at a different high school.  It was titled, "Navigating the Bumpy Road to Student-Centered Instruction".  The most influential passage from that article is:  

"On a broader note, much of what happens in most classes is a waste of everyone's time. It is neither teaching nor learning. It is stenography. Instructors recite their course notes and transcribe them onto the board, the students do their best to transcribe as much as they can into their notebooks, and the information flowing from one set of notes to the other does not pass through anyone's brain."

After reading these couple of lines I immediately thought about my Algebra 2 lesson for the next day.  It was 11:30 at night when I read these sentences, but it made complete sense.  Is what I am doing with direct-instruction being received and consumed by my students brains?  Or will they just be transcribing my thoughts? When in my lesson was I going to give the students time to question or to think about what they were writing down?  (Hmm...good questions, Kyle.  Now you are starting to think yourself!)

My original lesson called for me to cover seven different examples on the whiteboard in front of the classroom.  Granted, I was going to go over half of these problems, and then have the students do the other half in "Try It" mode.  It was basically just seeing if they could solve a very similar problem to the one I just showed them.  (Great idea!  Let's just see if they can reproduce the exact same type of problem you showed without them having to think and search for a solution on their own.  Rote memorization = NO individual thinking.)  So I scrapped that idea and decided to go with different stations where students could work with partners instead.  Here is a list of the different stations and their descriptions of the activity each group of 2-3 students had to complete.  (These are separated according to the examples they already had copied off for them on their blank notes.)

Station 1:  Write down the steps written out on the board.  Then complete the last 2 steps with your own work.  Once you have arrived at your answer, you need to check it with me.

Station 2:  Solve the given example.  You may use your book or partner to solve the problem.  Your last resort is to ask me for hints.  After you solve the problem, log in to Edmodo and answer the 1 question quiz that is posted.  (Only one member of your group needs to answer the question.)

Station 3:  Use your smartphone or my iPad to record your partner explaining how to solve the problem.  If you use your smartphone, upload the video to Edmodo and send it to me.

Station 4:  Record the steps to solve the problem from the board.  After recording the work, explain to your partner the steps to solving the problem.

Station 5:  Lay out all the blue cards.  (These contain the different steps to solve the example problem.)  Place them in the correct order.  Once your group thinks the steps are correct, call me over to double-check your work.  When they are in the correct order, record the steps into your notes.

Station 6:  View the example that was created on the iPad.  Once you are finished, discuss with your partner the steps that were taken to solve the problem.  What patterns were there?  What properties were used?

Station 7:  Solve the problem.  Once your group has agreed on an answer, login to www.socrative.com and answer the question that is presented.

Station 8:  View the example shown on the Promethean Board.  Once you have viewed the example, finish the last step.  Use the ActivExpression remotes to submit your answer.  Did you get it correct?

These were the different stations I had set up for the students.  While they were working in their groups, I was walking around answering different questions and interacting with the different groups.  It also enabled me to speak with individuals more person-to-person than usual.  It took about 15 minutes longer than usual, but the students were up and active learners on this day.  I called today, "Kline's Krazy Klassroom".  I loved this day!  However, some of the students were not big fans.  I truly believe it was because I made them "think" today.  They are used to getting the information spoon-fed to them.  On a typical day, they just sit and write down the notes I provide on the whiteboard.  They are typically "transcribers", and not "thinkers". 

I plan on posting a poll on Edmodo so I can get some feedback from the students.  I can guess their answers, but I am looking forward to seeing their responses.  Feel free to add any comments at the bottom as to how you could make this activity better and/or how it could be enriched.