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Voice Recording Website

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Vocaroo is a quick and easy way to share voice messages over the interwebs.

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G-Suite App

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Holding ALL Students Accountable to the Learning When You’re Teaching and Learning Remotely

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Holding ALL Students Accountable to the Learning When You’re Teaching and Learning Remotely

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by Valentina Gonzalez

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by Valentina Gonzalez

Remote or distance learning can be described as learning environments where teachers and students are physically separated. Many educators in the United States and in the world no longer have to imagine what remote or distance learning is like, because they are living it. This situation is challenging, to say the least.

Remote teaching and learning won't look the same everywhere. It varies among states, districts, and classrooms. If this is your first experience with remote teaching and your students' first experiences with remote learning, you probably have some hurdles to face and bumps in the road to overcome.

Among many challenges, one of the biggest one that educators report with teaching remotely is holding students accountable for the learning. It can be described like herding cats. You might constantly be asking yourself questions like this:

One thing that is clear is that if we let students get by with not submitting assignments even during remote learning, they will begin to form the notion that we don't expect them to achieve. But holding kids accountable sends them the message that we believe they can do this work. Remote teaching will not look or feel the same as face-to-face teaching. In some ways it has to be even more engaging than what we do in the classroom. It has to be so compelling that students won't need us to be there to make sure they complete it. They will want to do it because it is so interesting.

In the classroom we teach students what to say instead of "I don't know" ( Seidlitz & Perryman, 2011). We teach them responses such like these:

May I please have some more information?

May I please have some time to think?

Would you please repeat the question?

Where could I find more information about that?

May I ask a friend for help?

When these responses become practices in the classroom, they will pay off during times when students and teachers are physically separated. Students who are equipped with the tools to find out how to solve problems and figure what to do when they are faced with an unanswered question become more independent outside of the classroom, too.

However, don't fret if your students have not learned these response stems. You can teach students this strategy remotely, and they will still benefit. Here's how.

Steps to Holding All Students Accountable to the Learning REMOTELY.

1. Set up a class meeting using a district-approved platform that allows students to see and hear you. Live video works best, allowing students to ask questions and interact, but you can also record yourself and share it with students to watch at their leisure.

2. Walk students through the WHY. Why is knowing what to say instead of "I don't know" important for them? Depending on the grade level, share with your students how they can use this information in real life. For example, I tell them that we are going to learn responses that will sound smarter than saying "I don't know" or shrugging our shoulders. And that they can use these responses when their grandmother, their doctor, a neighbor, a teacher, or really anyone, anywhere asks them a question! These are not just for school. With older students, I make them aware that this information is useful even during job interviews and college visits.

3. After discussing WHY, begin making an anchor chart in front of students. Yes, even online, remotely. There is power in letting students watch you create the chart. They need to see you write and explain each of the response choices. Discuss how to use each one. Model for students what it looks like to use the response.

4. Once you complete the anchor chart, take a picture of it and house it on your remote learning platform (Canvas, Google Classroom, SeeSaw, etc.). Let students know that it will be there for them.

Two Perspectives During Remote Learning

Let's imagine that you gave students an assignment on your remote learning platform, but Rafael didn't do it. We could assume that he just didn't want to do it. We could assume that he was off task. Or that he's being lazy. There's a lot of room for assumptions.

On the other hand, if we ask Rafael, he might tell us that he didn't understand the assignment or the expectations. He just didn't know what to do, so he avoided the assignment, and he's been worried about it ever since.

Remote is challenging, and remote can be just as challenging for many of our students. Often when students don't know what to do, are confused, or feel frustrated, this can manifest into avoidance. To us, it looks like they are just not completing work. The good news is that we can empower students with tools to handle situations like the one above. As Rafael's teacher, if I notice that he hasn't completed the assignment, during a discussion or an online conference, I can refer him to the anchor chart we created.

Teacher: Rafael, which of these responses would you like to use?

Rafael: May I please have some more information?

Teacher: Sure, Rafael. What I'm asking is that you take the book you are reading and you analyze the main character. Tell us about the character. Who are they? What are they like?

No matter what, all of our students need to know that we expect them to achieve, to participate, and to engage even when instruction is remote. Student success hinges on our expectations for them. Holding all students accountable to expectations demonstrates our belief in them.

Additional Tips and Considerations for Remotely Teaching English Learners:

1. Find out which families have access to technology and which do not. This information will help you to determine what remote learning will look like (paper or technology based).

2. Find out if you will be expected to create seperate ELD lessons or if you will be collaborating with content teachers to enhance and accommodate general education lessons.

3. "Meet" or make contact with families of English learners as quickly as you can to let them know what remote learning will look and feel like. This initial meeting can be a phone call or video conference.

4. Plan regular interactions with ELs and families to touch base regarding instruction and needs.

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Holding ALL Students Accountable to the Learning When You're Teaching and Learning Remotely

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by Valentina Gonzalez Remote or distance learning can be described as learning environments where teachers and students are physically separated. Many educators in the United States and in the world no longer have to imagine what remote or distance learning is like, because they are living it.

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G-Suite App

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Online Voice Recorder - Record Voice from the Microphone

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Please allow access to your microphone to continue…

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by Valentina Gonzalez

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Sentence Frames
Sentence frames essentially frame a sentence and students add in some verbiage. Think of a picture frame where you add in a picture. Sentence frames look very much like traditional fill in the blank sentences.

Here are some examples of sentence frames:

The square has ___sides/angles.

The ____has ___sides/angles.

The ___are the same/different.

Based on the experiment, I can infer that the ____will increase and the ____will decrease.

My name is_____ and I am ___years old.

The _____ revolted against the ____.

____ is north/south/east/west of ____.

___have ____, however, ____ have ____.

​Both ____ and ____ have ____.

Sentence frames are scaffolds that may fit the needs of English learners at beginning levels of English proficiency. Some students may also benefit from visuals and word banks.
However, sentence frames can be used with English learners at higher levels of English proficiency to teach specific language structures or to teach mortar words/tier II words.
Sentence Stems
A sentence stem is the beginning of a sentence. Think of the stem of a plant. It's not the whole plant, just the beginning of it. It helps students get their sentence started. Sometimes we use the term sentence starter interchangeably. Sentence stems give students the inertia to get their thoughts going. Then their sentences bloom.

Here are examples of sentence stems:

What surprised me was...because....

I think that...for example

First...then...next...

In my opinion....in addition...

Based on the passage, I can infer that...for example....

I don't understand why....

Based on the pattern, the numbers will...

Sentence stems are scaffolds for English learners at all levels of English proficiency. They are open ended.
Personalizing
By thinking of the end in mind, you can level and personalize sentence frames or sentence stems to help English learners progress in language proficiency.

Beginning-Simple sentence structure: ____and ___ are quadrilaterals.

Intermediate-Comparative sentence structure: ___and ___ are quadrilaterals, however ___has___.

Advanced-Complex comparative sentence structure: Although___and ___ are ___, ___is different because...

Why is it important for us to provide students with sentence frames or sentence stems?
Learning to communicate effectively is important for all of us. I think we can all agree on that. But providing students with vocabulary lists will not achieve that goal.

Backward Design
Let's begin with the end in mind again. What is our over-aching goal? If we want students to, let's say, understand and communicate effectively using domain specific vocabulary (vocabulary of our content area), then how will we get them there?

Students will need to hear the vocabulary in context (from the teacher and peers)

Students will need to use the vocabulary in context (in speaking and writing)

To set English learner up for success, we will provide them with linguistic supports that they may use until they no longer need them. Any student can use them, but English learners especially will benefit as they are learning English and content simultaneously.

1. We can begin by modeling the language we want students to use. We want students to hear the language structures and vocabulary over and over again.

2. Then we move to letting them use the vocabulary and language structures with partners. We provide them with sentence frames or sentence stems. They practice verbalizing and hearing a peer multiple times.

3. Finally, we move to writing. Students are asked to write. Some students will rely on the sentence frames or sentence stems as scaffolds. Others will be able to write independently. Either way, students will have had the opportunity to learn from the teacher, verbalized themselves, and heard from peers.

This model takes students through the Gradual Release of Responsibility or I do, We do, You do model.
How do I think of vocabulary?
Start with your grade level standard. Look at what students need to know. Whether it's Common Core or not, your state standards will reveal vocabulary that is critical for your students to master.

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Well, first and foremost, we should care if we want our students to speak like scholars. If we want our students to be marketable after they graduate. If we want them TO graduate! Then we should...

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Building Speaking Proficiency during Distance Learning

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Building Speaking Proficiency during Distance Learning

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Allison Hand

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Building Speaking Proficiency during Distance Learning

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Randomly select a student in Google Classroom App

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Randomly select a student in Google Classroom App

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This article is for teachers
To randomly call on your students, you can use Classroom's Student selector. The Student selector randomly picks students from your class roster. You can call on a student, skip a student to call on later, or mark a student as absent.

This feature is only available on Android and iOS mobile devices.

Note: Students can't see the Student selector.

See the class roster

To see a list of who has been marked as Picked, Not Picked, or Absent, go to the class roster.

1. On your mobile device, tap Classroom your class People .

2. In the top-right corner, tap Student selector .

3. Under their numbers, tap Not Picked, Picked, or Absent.
You'll see which students were not picked, picked, or absent.

4. To return to the Student selector, in the top-left corner, tap Back or Close .

How can we improve it?

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This article is for teachers To randomly call on your students, you can use Classroom's Student selector. The Student selector randomly picks students from your class roster. You can call on a student, skip a student to call on later, or mark a student as absent.

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6 Uses for Google Classroom Ask a Question

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6 Uses for Google Classroom Ask a Question

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Teacher Tech with Alice Keeler

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6 Uses for Google Classroom Ask a Question - Teacher Tech

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In Google Classroom ask a question easily using the 3rd option when clicking on the plus icon. Here are 6 ideas for using Ask a Question

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by Control Alt Achieve

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Google Drawings Resources

All of my resources are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial 3.0 United States license ( http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/) In short, you can copy, distribute, and adapt these resources as long as you give proper attribution and do not charge for them.

Session Agenda - "Awesome Uses for Google Drawings in Schools" - Google Document link

Help Guide - "Using Google Drawings" - Google Document link

Slideshow - "Awesome Uses for Google Drawings in Schools" - Google Slides link

Blog post - "8 Ways to Supercharge Google Docs with Drawings" - Website link

Drawings for Graphic Organizers

Blog post - "30 Free Google Drawings Graphic Organizers" - Website link

Help Guide - "Google Drawings for Graphic Organizers" - Google Document link

Slideshow - "Google Drawings for Graphic Organizers" - Google Slides link

Graphic Organizers - My collection of 40+ templates - Google Drive link

Training video - "Google Drawings for Graphic Organizers" - YouTube Video

Blog post - "Language Arts Graphic Organizers with Google Drawings" - Website link

Blog post - "11 Ways to Teach Math with Google Drawings" - Website link

Help Guide - "Teaching Math with Google Drawings" - Google Document link

Training video - "Teaching Math with Google Drawings" - YouTube Video

Blog post - "Interactive Clock Face with Google Drawings" - Website link

Interactive Clock Face template - Google Drawing link

Blog post - "Creating Fractions in Google Slides and Drawings" - Website link

Blog post - "Pattern Block Templates and Activities with Google Drawings" - Website link

Drawings for Desktop Publishing

Blog post - "Making Posters with Google Drawings" - Website link

Blog post - "Have Students Create Educational 'Motivational Posters' with Google Drawings" - Website link

Blog post - "Creating Greeting Cards with Google Drawings" - Website link

Training video - "Creating Greeting Cards with Google Drawings" - YouTube Video

Greeting Card template (Portrait Orientation) - Google Drawing link

Greeting Card template (Landscape Orientation) - Google Drawing link

Drawings for Interactive Images (Googlinks)

Blog Post - Googlink: Using Google Drawings like a Thinglink - Website link

Tangrams with Drawings

Blog Post - Exploring Tangrams with Google Drawings - Website link

Blog Post - Google Drawings Chess and Checkers for Students - Website link

Checkers game Template - Google Drawing link

Chess game Template - Google Drawing link

Blog Post - "Wintertime Magnetic Poetry with Google Drawings" - Website link

Wintertime Magnetic Poetry Template - Google Drawing link

Blog Post - "Valentine's Magnetic Poetry with Google Drawings" - Website link

Valentine's Magnetic Poetry Template - Google Drawing link

Compose a Tweet Template - Google Drawing link

Blog Post - "3 Tools for Making Memes in School" - Website link

Blog Post - "Create Your Own Story Cubes with Google Drawings" - Website link

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Google Drawings Resources All of my resources are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial 3.0 United States license ( http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/) In short, you can copy, distribute, and adapt these resources as long as you give proper attribution and do not charge for them.

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by Control Alt Achieve

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Google Drawings is often overshadowed by the other Google Drive tools such as Docs, Sheets, Slides, and Forms. However, it is an excellent tool for students and teacher to do many tasks including graphic organizers, teaching math, and desktop publishing ( see here for examples of each).

One more educational use for Google Drawings is to create an interactive multimedia poster. This is very much like creating a Thinglink. Let's call it a Googlink.

If you are not familiar with Thinglink, it is a powerful online tool that lets users annotate images with pop-up text, pictures, videos, weblinks, documents, and more. It can be a great way for students to demonstrate their learning. You can see many examples of Thinglinks here: www.thinglink.com/featured

Although Thinglink is an excellent tool, its free version does have some limitations. As an option, Google Drawings can be used very much like Thinglink, and might be the perfect alternative for you and your students.

See below for information on how to use Google Drawings in a similar way as Thinglink to create, edit, and share interactive multimedia posters, as well as a sample Googlink to test out.

Thinglink versus Googlink

As I mentioned before, Thinglink really is an excellent tool, and I certainly encourage students and teachers to use it.

It offers a free version that many users may find will meet their needs. The free version does have some limitations though including limits on the number of students and types of icons (only 10 icons in the free version).

If want more options and customization you would need to upgrade to the premium version of Thinglink for $35 per year.

As an alternative, Google Drawings can be used in a similar manner, sort of like a Googlink. Some benefits of Google Drawings would include:

No cost

Unlimited users

Unlimited choice of icons (through the many image options in Drawings)

Of course Drawing is not an exact replacement for Thinglink as there are features unique to each that the other does not have. Still though it is a good free option with a lot of potential for schools.
What is a Googlink?

If you are familiar with Thinglink, then you already know what a Googlink would be. For those who are not, here is the gist:

The user chooses an image they would like to annotate. This could be a diagram, a map, a painting, a photograph, or such.

The user then adds icons on top of the image. These could be simple shapes, or they could be icons for videos, pictures, documents, web links, and such.

The user then adds a hyperlink to each icon that links out to a related resource that explains, elaborates, or further illustrates that portion of the image.

The links might go to a video the student has recorded, a video on YouTube, a document they student wrote, a website, an online image, a map, a slideshow, or anything else that can be accessed online.

The user then shares their final product so other people can click on the links to open the related resources and learn what the user is explaining.

Uses for a Googlink

In school students could create a Googlink as a fun and interactive option to show their learning of most any content. Examples could include:

The parts of an insect

Key locations of a battle on a map

Examples of geometric shapes in real life

Their interpretation of different lines in a poem

Steps in a lab experiment

An "About Me" poster

And much more...

Example Googlink
As an example I put together a very simple Googlink to demonstrate how this could look. Use the links below to test it out. Be sure to click on the various icons in the Googlink to open the linked resources.

To open the Googlink as a Google Drawing on its own click here: Google Drawing link

To open the Googlink as a Drawing embedded in a Google Site click here: Google Site link

Creating a Googlink

Below are the basic steps for using Google Drawings to create something like a Thinglink.

Create a new Google Drawing

To create a new Google Drawing:

Go to your Google Drive, then click "New" then "More" and then "Google Drawing".

A new blank Google Drawing will be created.

You can give it a name by clicking on "Untitled Drawing" in the top left corner.

Add the Base Image

Next you will want to add the image you will be using for the base of your Googlink. This is the picture you will annotate with links to websites, videos, documents, other images, and more. You can add the image in several ways.

Click "Insert" then "Image" and then upload the image, take a webcam snapshot, choose an image from your Drive, search the picture, or more.

Or click "Tools" then "Research" and search for an image to drag and drop into your Drawing.

Or find an image online and then drag and drop the image from its website into your Google Drawing.

If you need to resize your Drawing to match your base image, you can click and drag the bottom right corner of the Drawing, or you can click " File" and " Page setup ".

Add the Shapes and Icons

Next you need to add the shapes or icons on top of the image that people will click on to get to your related resources. There are several options for adding these images.

Add Images from the Research Tool

Probably the easiest way to add icons to your Googlink is through the Research Tool.

Click "Tools" then "Research" top open the Research Tool panel.

Type what you want in the search box such as "video icon" or "document icon" or such.

Choose "Images" from the drop down menu at the left of the search box to just get picture results.

When you find an image you want, click, drag, and drop it onto your Drawing.

As needed you can resize it and drag it to the correct location.

Add Shapes

Click "Insert" then "Shape" then choose the shape you would like to add.

Your cursor will now turn into crosshairs so you can click and drag out the shape.

As needed you can resize the shape and drag and drop it to the needed location.

If needed, you can click the "Fill color" (paint can) button to make the shape hollow so you can see through it.

Add Images from the Insert Menu

Click "Insert" then "Image"

You can then upload an image, take a webcam snapshot, choose an image from your Drive, search the picture, and more.

As needed you can resize the image and drag it to the correct location.

Add the Hyperlinks

Now you want to add hyperlinks to the icons or shapes so they will link out to your related resources.

Click the icon or shape to select it.

Next click the "Insert link" button in the top menu bar.

Paste in the link to the video, picture, Google Doc, website, or such.

Note: If linking to a Google Doc, Slideshow, or such, be sure you have shared the file properly so other people will be able to view it.

When you are all done adding hyperlinks to your Drawing, you are now ready to let other people view and click on your Googlink. One option for this is to share the Drawing.

Click the blue "Share" button in the top right corner of the Drawing window.

To share with specific people, enter their email addresses in the "People" box.

To make the Googlink viewable by everyone, click "Get sharable link".

For permissions, you only need to give people View rights to be able to view and click on your hyperlinks. They do not need Comment or Edit rights.

Embed your Googlink

Another option for sharing is to embed your Googlink on a Google Site. When you add a Google Drawing to a Google Site, all of the links in the Drawing stay live, so people can still click on them to open your related resources.

Open the Google Site webpage you want to edit and click on the "Edit page" (pencil) button.

Click "Insert" then "Drive" then "Drawing".

Select the Drawing you created for your Googlink.

As needed edit the "Length" and "Width" values to match your Drawing.

Save the changes to your page.

People will now be able to view your Google Drawing on the site and click the links you have put inside of the Drawing. As always though, make sure you have properly shared the Drawing and the Site as publicly viewable so people can access them.

Conclusion

Google Drawings is an easy to use, but powerful and versatile tool, that can be used by students and teacher for many applications including a Google version of a Thinglink. If you would like to learn more about using Google Drawings in general, feel free to access my detailed Google Drawing help guide here: Google Document link

If you have suggestions for other ways to use Drawings like a Thinglink, or if you have examples of your own to share, please share your ideas in the comment section below.

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Googlink: Creating Interactive Posters with Google Drawings

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Google Drawings is often overshadowed by the other Google Drive tools such as Docs, Sheets, Slides, and Forms. However, it is an excellent tool for students and teacher to do many tasks including graphic organizers, teaching math, and desktop publishing ( see here for examples of each).

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25 FREE Google Drawings graphic organizers

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25 FREE Google Drawings graphic organizers

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by Ditch That Textbook

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Ed Tech

Sometimes, we just need some help organizing our thoughts - students AND educators.

Paper versions of graphic organizers can do a nice job of that. But by making them digital in Google Apps, they instantly become customizable. Multiple people can collaborate on them in real time. They can be shared with a link, embedded in a website or downloaded as an image file.

In short, digital graphic organizers are more versatile.

In Google Apps, there's a highly powerful yet highly overlooked app called Drawings. It gives users a blank canvas where they can add text, shapes, lines, etc. When done, they can save their work as image files or PDF files and can add those images to documents, slides and spreadsheets.
Drawings can be the virtual page where students can gather and process their ideas.

I used to shy away from doing a lot of graphic organizers because it's hard to design them in Google Docs; the moment I learned that you could change the page set-up to 8.5 x 11 inches, my world CHANGED. Now I rarely use Google Docs to make *anything*; I use Google Slides by default because I can add more graphics and have better control of the overall configuration. - Amy Nolan, high school English teacher, Commerce, Texas

Creating graphic organizer templates with Google Drawings

As Amy mentioned above, Google Slides can be used to create these as well as Google Drawings. The difference - Drawings focuses on one single page; Slides has multiple slides, which allows for multiple pages.

I've created 15 of them (see links below) that can be copied, saved, changed, tweaked or completely redone to fit your needs and your students' needs. We have added 10 more that were created by the Ditch That Textbook community and shared with us for this post.

It took me about 90 minutes to make 15 of them so that averages out to six minutes each. (Some were more time-consuming than others, and I got faster at making them as I progressed.)

Sharing your Google Drawings graphic organizers
Once you've created a graphic organizer (or have saved one of mine), there are a few easy ways to get them to your students:

If you use Google Classroom, create a new assignment and choose the option to deliver a copy of your graphic organizer to each student.

You can copy the URL (link) to the graphic organizer and deliver it to students via a class website, SeeSaw etc. You can also make a shorter, easier URL to type with URL shorteners like Bitly and TinyURL. (Check your Internet filter to make sure your shortened URLs come through. I've found that TinyURL works in most schools' filters.)

Using the blue "Share" button, click the "Get shareable link" button and set the document as "Anyone with the link" at the top and "Can view" at the bottom. That way, students won't be able to change your original copy and will have to make a copy of their own.

PRO TIP: When you copy a URL (link) to any G Suite file, it probably says "view" or "edit" at the end of it. If you change that word to "copy", it will force whoever opens that link to make a copy of the file instead of opening your file. That's another trick to keeping your original version from being altered. (If you assign it through Google Classroom, you won't need to do this.)

Here are 25 graphic organizer templates that can be used for many different subject areas and grade levels.

Feel free to make a copy of any of these google drawings templates and adapt them for your own use:

Question: What other graphic organizers would be useful to create in Google Drawings? Can you share a link to a graphic organizer you've created so others can use it, too? Leave a comment below!

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©2023 Ditch That Textbook by Matt Miller.

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25 FREE Google Drawings graphic organizers - and how to make your own

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Using Google Drawings to create graphic organizers can help students gather their thoughts and customize to their needs. Here are 25 templates to get you started.

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30 Free Google Drawings Graphic Organizers

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30 Free Google Drawings Graphic Organizers

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by Control Alt Achieve

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Several years ago when I started making webinars, my first one was on creating Graphic Organizers with Google Drawings. This was before I had started the this blog, so I never really shared all of that information in an official blog post. Until now...

Graphic organizers are a great tool to share information, explain a concept, or illustrate a relationship using elements including images, shapes, text, colors, and connecting lines. They can be used in education with any age group or subject area.

There are many excellent tools for creating graphic organizers. Some are installable programs, while others are online. Some are free, while other cost money. Educators and students should be encouraged to try out many different tools to determine what works best for them and for specific situations.

However, one great choice for graphic organizers is Google Drawings. See below for directions on how to create graphic organizers with Google Drawings (including a help guide and a recorded webinar) as well as 30 free sample graphic organizers that you can copy, use, and modify as needed.

For written directions on how to create graphic organizers with Google Drawings, see my help guide linked below.

For a 1-hour recorded training webinar, see the video below. (It was my first webinar, so it may be a little rough around the edges.)

Sample Graphic Organizers

Click the links below to get your own copy of any of these Google Drawing templates for graphic organizers. In each template, there are directions off the left side of the Drawings canvas. Feel free to use and/or modify these as needed, although please leave my attribution and blog link in the Drawings when you share them.

Word Study Diagram - Google Drawing link

State or Country Research Web - Google Drawing link

5 Senses Diagram - Google Drawing link

Frayer Model 1 - Google Drawing link

Compare and Contrast - Google Drawing link

Cause and Effect 1 - Google Drawing link

Cause and Effect 2 - Google Drawing link

Fishbone Diagram - Google Drawing link

Season Sorter - Google Drawing link

Question Chart - Google Drawing link

Story Map 1 - Google Drawing link

Story Map 2 - Google Drawing link

Character Description - Google Drawing link

Sandwich Chart - Google Drawing link

Main Idea and Details - Google Drawing link

2 Circle Venn Diagram - Google Drawing link

3 Circle Venn Diagram - Google Drawing link

3 Level Tree Diagram - Google Drawing link

3 Step Cycle - Google Drawing link

4 Step Cycle - Google Drawing link

6 Step Cycle - Google Drawing link

3 Step Sequence - Google Drawing link

4 Step Sequence - Google Drawing link

6 Step Sequence - Google Drawing link

4 Circle Web - Google Drawing link

5 Circle Web - Google Drawing link

6 Circle Web - Google Drawing link

9 Circle Web - Google Drawing link

Conclusion

If you have any of your own Google Drawing graphic organizers, please consider sharing them in the comments below. Or if you have a request for a diagram, let me know and I will be glad to create it and add it to the collection for everyone to use.

Post by Eric Curts. Bring me to your school, organization, or conference with over 50 PD sessions to choose from. Connect with me on Twitter at twitter.com/ericcurts and on Google+ at plus.google.com/+EricCurts1

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30 Free Google Drawings Graphic Organizers

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Several years ago when I started making webinars, my first one was on creating Graphic Organizers with Google Drawings . This was before...

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Fast drawing for everyone. AutoDraw pairs machine learning with drawings from talented artists to help you draw stuff fast.

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Icons for everything

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Noun Project: Free Icons & Stock Photos for Everything

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Noun Project has the most diverse collection of free icons and stock photos. Download SVG and PNG. Over 5 million art-quality icons and free photos.

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by Kasey Bell at Shake Up Learning

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Mini Podcasts

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Improve connection in and outside school through better listening.

Synth enables you to build interactive podcasts in byte-sized increments. It's the most convenient way listen to the voices of students, teachers and administrators in your school and beyond.

Make any conversation an interactive podcast.

You can turn any conversation within and outside your school into an interactive podcast experience. Some suggested applications include:

Professional Development: Use Synth as an "Audio Twitter" to collaborate with teachers anywhere in real-time with the convenience of voice, or setup a Podcast to have breakout or "slow" chat with managed participation.

Share Successes: Create a private interactive Podcast for your school or department to share successes and lessons learned across the whole teacher team. Telling these stories is proven to be one of the most important aspect of building a strong team, but there are so few opportunities in staff meetings and other gatherings do it. Don't let these important stories get forgotten!

Building Community: Do you have deep respect for a teacher in your school that you've had the chance to work with closely? Odds are that not everyone knows or fully appreciates them. Fix that problem by interviewing them in an interactive Podcast to share their story. Cover how they became a teacher, what they overcame along the way, and what techniques they use that make them effective. It will help build deeper respect amongst teachers, administrators and parents.

Want to listen to an example? Check out the Perseverance Podcast episode #002 with educator Chris Bronke.
View entire podcast on Synth.
Create a Class Podcast. Discuss announcements, important school topics, current events or use it as an essential tool for instruction. Share it with parents and administrators so that the voices you are cultivating are empowered with listeners that care and can act.

Truly Listening to Your Student. Listening is one of the hardest things to make time for in a busy class. With Synth, you can make reflections routine. Do regular formative assessment that you can listen to with the convenience of a podcast. Plus, you'll be building student's speaking skills...even the shy ones. It's an essential 21st century skill!

Want to get started?

You can sign up and get started at gosynth.com or download the app.

Want more detailed guidance? Go to our help page for instructions.

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Synth enables you to build interactive podcasts in byte-sized increments. It's the most convenient way listen to the voices of students, teachers and administrators in your school and beyond. You can turn any conversation within and outside your school into an interactive podcast experience.

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The Educator's Guide to Flipgrid eBook.pdf

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25 Ways to Use Screencastify with Google Apps

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25 Ways to Use Screencastify with Google Apps

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[9.23.19] Screencastify Google Apps eBook.pdf

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50 Ways to Use Screencastify in the Classroom

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50 Ways to Use Screencastify in the Classroom

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[9.27.18] Screencastify 50 Ways eBook.pdf

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Educators around the world are entering digital lesson design with varying experiences and expertise. Our HyperDocs Online Academy is your source for learning about designing and delivering the engagement-driving digital lessons we call HyperDocs. Our course instruction method is what we call 'just in time teaching' so that you can take on new learning when you are ready, and explore the Academy at your own pace.

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Bitmoji Classroom Scenes & Virtual Classroom Backgrounds

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Bitmoji Classroom Scenes & Virtual Classroom Backgrounds

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ERintegration

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Bitmoji Classroom Scenes & Virtual Classroom Backgrounds

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Learn everything about using Bitmoji in your virtual classroom to personalize Google Slides, Google Classroom, as a header on a website or your class LMS! Perfect for making distance learning more welcoming and interactive. This roundup includes links and examples for : Getting started with Bitmoji…

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How to Create a Virtual Bitmoji Classroom in Google Slides or PowerPoint

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How to Create a Virtual Bitmoji Classroom in Google Slides or PowerPoint

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Hello Teacher Lady

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If you want to create a Google Meet or Agenda slide like mine (or something similar), you can keep the default page dimensions and move onto Step 2.

If you want to create a Google Classroom header, change the page dimensions to 1,000 x 250 pixels by going to File -> Page Setup in Google Slides or Design -> Page Setup in PowerPoint. Just a warning though: When you upload your banner on Google Classroom, you'll get this frustrating dark overlay on your image. It's an accessibility thing and can't be changed, so just keep that in mind and try to keep everything as bright as possible.

To create a custom Google homepage, you'll want the dimensions somewhere in the neighborhood of 15 in x 8 in.

Next step is to collect the images for your scene.

For mine, I used posters from ECHO-LIT (my favorite poster shop) and a variety of Google Images. All Google Images were found using the "labeled for reuse" filter (more on that in a minute). I also want to note that I reached out to the creator of ECHO-LIT for permission to use her posters in my scene. Please do the same if you decide to include something similar.

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How to Create a Virtual Bitmoji Classroom in Google Slides or PowerPoint - Hello, Teacher Lady

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Learn how to make your own virtual Bitmoji classroom using Google Slides or PowerPoint with these step-by-step directions.

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Teach It with Tech

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What is a HyperDoc?
It's an innovative way to put an entire interactive digital lesson into your students' hands. If you're looking for something to replace boring worksheets with something more exciting that allows students to collaborate, think critically, combine information from multiple sources, and create through technology, then HyperDocs is right up your alley. HyperDocs allow you to create and package a lesson plan tailored to fit the needs of your students. Plus, it is inherently engaging! Each lesson includes all the elements you would typically include in a successful lesson: engage, explore, explain, apply, share, and extend. While students are busy collaborating and reflecting on their learning, you are free to connect with students!

​ The term HyperDocs was coined by Lisa Highfill, Kelly Hilton, and Sarah Landis. When I first heard about HyperDocs, I thought it was simply a Google Doc with hyperlinks on it. Don't be fooled! It is SO much more complex and meaningful than that. Read about what Lisa, Kelly, and Sarah have to say about HyperDocs on their website here.

Many HyperDocs follow this basic template that takes students through six steps of a lesson:

1. Engage: Hook your students, get them engaged, and activate prior knowledge. You might use a fun video, interactive website, or audio recording.

2. Explore: Link resources, such as videos or articles, for students to explore more information.

3. Explain: Clarify the learning objective for your students. This is where you could teach a whole group lesson with direct instruction, or add additional resources for students to explore.

4. Apply: What do you want students to create to demonstrate their learning? Give instructions for the assignment.

5. Share: Provide a way for students to share their work and receive feedback.

6. Reflect: Pause for reflection (whole class, think-pair-share, etc.) or link them to a digital way to share their thoughts.

7. Extend: This portion is great for early finishers. Provide extra activities, additional online resources, or challenge them with an extension assignment to extend their thinking.

Of course, not every lesson follows the same format. For a variety of templates to meet your needs, head over to this Padlet where educators are sharing templates for all types of lessons. In addition to the Basic six step HyperDoc lesson plan outlined above, there are also templates for close reading, historical biographies, and for workshop lessons. There is also a more basic template that only involves three steps: Explore, Explain, and Apply. That shortened HyperDoc templates is great for beginners that are feeling overwhelmed with creating their first HyperDoc.
If you're unsure of what types of resources to include for each section of the lesson, take a look at this helpful Google Doc template created by Sarah Landis. It's packed full of ideas for each step of the lesson. Popular apps and websites used with HyperDocs include YouTube, Google Forms, Kahoot, Storybird, Padlet, Wordle, and of course Google Docs.

​ The best way to understand HyperDocs is to see an example. Luckily, educators have been creating and sharing HyperDocs for all grade levels and subjects. A typical lesson that follows a template will look similar to the images below. Of course, not all Hyperdocs follow a template, and you are free to customize your lesson to suit your needs. To use a template for your classroom, simply open it in Google Docs, click "File" and "Make a Copy" to save it into your Google Drive. Then you can open your own copy, make any changes, and then share it with your students via Google Classroom!

Try out some HyperDocs for yourself to see what all the hype is about!

Click here to explore a Padlet where educators are sharing their awesome HyperDocs.

​Click here to find even more HyperDoc lessons through an amazing website called TeachersGiveTeachers.

​Once you start creating your own HyperDocs, don't forget to revisit the Padlet or TeachersGiveTeachers to share your lesson with others!

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What is a HyperDoc? It's an innovative way to put an entire interactive digital lesson into your students' hands. If you're looking for something to replace boring worksheets with something more exciting that allows students to collaborate, think critically, combine information from multiple sources, and create through technology, then HyperDocs is right up your alley.

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LiveBinder

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Binder of grade/subject level hyperdocs for classroom use

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More hyperdocs by grade and subjecet

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187: Hyperdocs: How to's and Tips for Teachers - Podcast

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Teaching with Technology

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I've recently discovered and fallen head-over-heels in love with HyperDocs! I'
ll be adding HyperDocs that I created and use in my classroom to this page.

Please click on the links below to check out the HyperDocs. If they are in Google Doc/Slides form, please select "FILE->MAKE A COPY" to use in your classroom. Many HyperDocs are in Google Site form. If you have any questions, please reach out!
Introduction to Government HyperDoc Foundations and Formations of Government HyperDoc US Constitution HyperDoc US Constitution HyperDoc - Entire Unit Bill to Law Process HyperDoc Executive Branch HyperDoc Economic Theories Mini HyperDoc Use of Presidential Power Mini HyperDoc Legislative Branch at Work HyperDoc (sites - entire unit) Executive Branch HyperDoc (sites - entire unit)
If you're interested in learning more about HyperDocs, order your copy of The HyperDoc Handbook from Amazon (affiliate) here!

REMEMBER -> these HyperDocs are created by me and are not intended to be for sale. Please do not attempt to copy my resources and sell them for personal gain!

Check back soon for more HyperDocs!

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HyperDocs for Social Studies - Teaching with Technology

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I've recently discovered and fallen head-over-heels in love with HyperDocs! I' ll be adding HyperDocs that I created and use in my classroom to this page. Please click on the links below to check out the HyperDocs. If they are in Google Doc/Slides form, please select "FILE->MAKE A COPY" to use in your classroom.

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How HyperDocs Can Transform Your Teaching

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How HyperDocs Can Transform Your Teaching

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Cult of Pedagogy

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Listen to my interview with Lisa Highfill, Kelly Hilton, and Sarah Landis, authors of The HyperDoc Handbook ( transcript):

In many classrooms, a learning cycle looks something like this: First, we write plans for a series of lessons and a final assessment. We gather materials-handouts, websites, rubrics, video clips. Then we teach the lessons one at a time, to the whole class, at the same pace, distributing materials as needed. Finally, we end with a project, test, or other assessment.

It's a very teacher-directed model, which can limit learning in a number of ways:

Students don't feel much ownership for their own learning. Instead, they depend on the teacher to tell them when and how to learn the material.

Because so much of the teacher's time is spent in direct instruction, there's little opportunity to work one-on-one with students.

Because it's up to the teacher to adjust instruction for students with varied needs and levels of readiness, differentiation becomes one more thing to do.

ENTER THE HYPERDOC

A HyperDoc is a digital document-such as a Google Doc-where all components of a learning cycle have been pulled together into one central hub. Within a single document, students are provided with hyperlinks to all of the resources they need to complete that learning cycle. Here's an example.

In the above HyperDoc, all of the bolded words are linked to outside resources. The right-hand column is set aside for students to take notes and do other kinds of thinking and planning as they work through the lesson.

One of the earliest iterations of the this type of "hub" was the WebQuest, which guided students through a lesson using all online resources. Now that Google tools like Docs and Slides have become so prevalent, teachers are using these tools to create similar lessons, choosing and mixing resources that go well beyond simple web pages. Last year, we looked at something called a playlist, which teacher Tracy Enos used to organize her language arts lessons and differentiate instruction for her students.

This post contains Amazon Affiliate links; if you purchase from Amazon after going through these links, Cult of Pedagogy receives a small commission at no extra cost to you.

Meanwhile, teachers Lisa Highfill, Kelly Hilton, and Sarah Landis were doing similar work in their own classrooms. They coined the term "HyperDoc" to describe their version of this, and in 2016, they published The HyperDoc Handbook to teach others their method for creating these lessons.

The book explains how HyperDocs work, why they have such an impact on instruction, and their model for how teachers can design HyperDocs for high-quality instruction. In the podcast episode above, I interviewed all three about their work. Here I will blend their expertise with some of my own thoughts about this exciting format.

BENEFITS OF HYPERDOCS

Fewer lectures. Teachers have been told for decades that we need to do less lecturing, to step away from being the sage on the stage and become more of a guide on the side. "I feel so bad for teachers when they hear that," Highfill says, "because they're like, 'Well, what am I supposed to do? I need to get information into their heads.'" A HyperDoc offers a solution by taking care of the direct instruction part of a lesson and offering a lot more as well.

More face-to-face interaction. A good HyperDoc runs itself, allowing students to work through it without needing you to guide them through each step. "Although it seems odd that you're putting a student in front of a device," Landis notes, "really what it's doing is freeing you up to move around and have increased face time with the students."

Flexibility. If one part of your lesson isn't working, you can just change it in the HyperDoc and the change takes effect immediately; no need to re-copy all your materials. Similarly, if each student gets their own copy of a HyperDoc, the elements can be changed on each to meet individual students' needs.

Multimodal opportunities. Because it is digital, a HyperDoc allows us to include all kinds of multimedia. "Living in this digital age, we're able to expose kids to different types of media that allows each child to access the learning or the content or the information in a way that's visually or auditorily appealing to them," Landis says. "I might be visual, and I might first study an image, then watch a video, and then I'm finally ready to tackle that article my teacher really wants me to read."

They don't know that maybe their text ... is at a different reading level," says Hilton. "Or they're able to use Privacy. If students' HyperDocs have been customized for them, no one else needs to know. "Read&Write for Google and just put headphones in, and that's just a little agreement between you and that student."

MODELS FOR BUILDING HYPERDOCS

Because HyperDocs are such adaptable tools, teachers structure them in many different ways, and you should experiment until you find a structure that works for you. Here are some options to consider:

Playlist: This model, explained in this article, follows a step-by-step sequence of activities that consist of learning activities as well as check-ins with the teacher and housekeeping tasks like setting up accounts on websites.

Self-Paced Learning: Explored in this post by math teacher Natalie McCutchen, this system lays out a path of lessons for a whole unit, along with links to review materials, pre-tests, and practice questions. Students decide how much practice they need and determine when to take the assessment for each learning goal. If they grasp the material quickly, they can test and move on.

5E Model: This first stage of this model is to Engage student interest. Next, students Explore the topic, Explain what they have learned, and Extend their learning by applying it in new situations. The last stage Evaluates student learning.

HyperDoc Model: The HyperDoc Handbook authors have developed a model that has some components of the 5Es above, but with some additions and adjustments. This template explains all 7 stages. One important component of this model is the first step, Explore. Highfill explains the value of this stage: "Kids are exploring and coming up with ideas and answers about a concept on their own, and it's engaging them from the beginning, instead of passively listening to a teacher explain something." During this time, while students explore, the teacher is actively gathering information: "I listen to my students," Highfill says, "I'm studying them and hearing to what level are they understanding a concept. I have the ability to pull a small group. I can work with my language learners during that time. The whole time I'm doing formative assessment in the classroom, which will then really be my basis for the next part of the lesson."

Agenda: This model, borrowed from the kind of planning done at a typical Montessori school, provides each student with a planner listing out their assignments for the week. Students decide how they want to use their class time each day, but are expected to complete all goals by the end of the week. Although these are traditionally done on paper, they could easily be converted to a HyperDoc format.

OTHER USES FOR HYPERDOCS

Building an extended lesson or unit is one of the most instructionally robust ways to use HyperDocs, but they can also be used for:

substitute teacher plans

video or podcast playlists

learning centers or stations

student-made HyperDocs

parent resources

departmental-, team-or grade-level HyperDocs to gather and share resources among teachers

TIPS FOR SUCCESS

Start with a template.
Rather than build your first HyperDoc from scratch, you might find more success by starting with a pre-made template, like the ones available for free on HyperDocs.co. You could also start with a completely finished HyperDoc that someone else created for their own classroom and modify it for your own use.

Build in participation, collaboration, and multimedia.
One risk inherent in HyperDocs is that they could simply become online worksheets, replicating the kind of work students could just as easily do on paper. Take advantage of this medium by including ways for students to participate actively, collaborate with others, and learn from a variety of media: video, interactive posters like ThingLinks, podcasts, online flashcards, and so on.

Offer choice...
HyperDocs are designed to allow students to work at different speeds and navigate learning in a way that works best for them. So when you can, offer choices: Give students options for the kind and quantity of materials they need to learn the material, how they will practice and apply it, and how they will demonstrate their learning.

...but don't "kitchen sink" it.
If you stuff your HyperDoc with every possible resource on a topic ("everything but the kitchen sink"), you'll overwhelm students. Choose resources thoughtfully.

Give students HyperDocs training.
Even if your students have used HyperDocs in other classes, your design probably has its own unique qualities, so take the time to demonstrate how it should be used. And within the HyperDoc itself, provide clear directions for its use.

So if you create a HyperDoc," says Hilton, "in the header or footer, say Collaborate with other teachers.
You do not need to do this alone! Thousands of teachers are sharing and collaborating on the HyperDocs.co site and using the #hyperdocs hashtag on Twitter. And be sure to give credit to the person who created the original: " Created by, and maybe link to your Twitter handle or your email, for yourself, and then if you make a copy of someone's, we encourage you to give that person credit by saying Inspired by or Remixed HyperDoc originally created by, just because we want an inclusive, appreciative sharing community."

Don't feel like you have to create a HyperDoc for every lesson.
"That's not something that any teacher should feel pressured to do," says Landis, "and it's not really realistic. We don't want teachers doing any one thing all the time, because then it becomes redundant for our kids."

HyperDocs Resources: How to Learn More

Book: The HyperDocs Handbook

Website: HyperDocs.co: The online hub for Landis, Hilton, and Highfill's work on HyperDocs. It contains helpful blog posts and the Teachers Give Teachers system where participants share their own HyperDocs with one another. To browse and borrow other teachers' HyperDocs, all you need to do is register.
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How HyperDocs Can Transform Your Teaching

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HyperDocs make room for more interactive, personalized, and student-directed learning. Let's look at how they work.

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Welcome to our fantastic collection of random name pickers, list pickers, winner pickers, and more!

These visual name pickers feature sounds, and they are all free to use :-)

Got an idea for another Random Name Picker? Or Number Generator? Let us know! :-)

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A massive collection of Random Name Pickers, Random Number Generators - and More! Choose a random Selection of Names, Numbers, Lists and More!

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Enter names, spin wheel to pick a random winner. Customize look and feel, save and share wheels.

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Easily turn a Google™ Spreadsheet into a Set of Online Flashcards and Other Cool Stuff!

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Flippity.net: Flashcards and Other Resources for Educators and Learners

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Create an interactive virtual breakout activity.

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Empower your Math Class with GSuite for Education. Google ISTE18 Teaching Theatre

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Math Menu Bitmoji Classroom Hyperdoc Example

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Math Menu Bitmoji Classroom Hyperdoc Example

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Remote Learning Math Menu - Week 7 | Brittney Mata

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Empower your Math Class with GSuite for Education. Google ISTE18 Teaching Theatre

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Using QSSSA to Enhance Classroom Conversations with John Seidlitz

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Using QSSSA to Enhance Classroom Conversations with John Seidlitz

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ELLevation Podcast

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How might we create and nurture a classroom and school culture that encourages respectful conversations where everyone has a chance to participate? What are some practical ways to increase quality conversations with English learners? What is QSSSA and how might it help engage all students in high quality classroom conversations?

Click here for a complete transcription of this episode.

We discuss these questions and much more in our conversation with John Seidlitz, founder and CEO of Seidlitz Education. Seidlitz Education's mission is to support school districts and teachers with increasing academic achievement for English Language Learners. They provide research-based consultations, trainings, coaching, and products with innovative educational tools that focus on ways to help give students the gift of academic language. They are always looking for user-friendly ways to help teachers give students rich background knowledge and the ability to communicate in academic settings.

John Seidlitz is an independent educational consultant and the author of Sheltered Instruction Plus: A Guide for Texas Teachers of English Learners; Navigating the ELPS: Using the New Standards to Improve Instruction for English Learners; and a contributing author for The SIOP® Model for Teaching History-Social Studies for English Learners. He is the co-author of numerous publications including the 7 Steps to Developing a Language-Rich Interactive Classroom®. He has also been a guest lecturer for many regional and national language development conferences.

John taught social studies and ESL, served as a secondary ESL program coordinator, and held the position of education specialist at ESC Region 20 in San Antonio, Texas. In 2005, he founded Seidlitz Education which is dedicated to the mission of Giving Kids the Gift of Academic Language™.

During our conversation, we reference the following books and resources:

Be sure to subscribe to Highest Aspirations on iTunes or wherever you listen to podcasts so you never miss an episode. Also, please consider leaving us a rating and review on iTunes to let everyone know how we're doing. This will help us get the word out and bring in more great guests.

Finally, we love to crowdsource from the community! If you have an idea for a topic or guest for an upcoming episode, please reach out to stevens@ellevationeducation.com.

As always, you can find more free resources, including our Whiteboard Wednesday short video series, curated news articles, blog posts, and at ellevationeducation.com/ellcommunity. You can join the community there to get a weekly email with fresh content you can use and share with others.

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Using QSSSA to Enhance Classroom Conversations with John Seidlitz

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How might we create and nurture a classroom and school culture that encourages respectful conversations where everyone has a chance to participate? What are some practical ways to increase quality conversations with English learners? What is QSSSA and how might it help engage all students in high quality classroom conversations?