Going Digital with Google: Google Slides (plus a link up!)

If you've been following along for a while, then you know my math workshop has been digital for the last 2 years. You also know that I've been using a website called Blendspace to house my math workshop directions. I even did a blog post you can check out.

I thought Blendspace was the greatest thing ever. And it still has some redeeming qualities, but it also had some downfalls. Like some days the site was reeaaaally slow to load. When I included sites to visit within blendspace it was a bit glitchy on the ipads. My class didn't have usernames so they were still recording work other places and both the kids and I were constantly clicking back and forth.

Now let's fast forward to January 2016. I discovered a great group of teacher-authors on Teachers Pay Teachers who introduced me to using Google Slides in place of Blendspace. Now I knew all about Google. My kids were using Google Drive to back things up and we used Google Classroom. That being said, it had never crossed my mind to use Google Slides in a new way!

So here are my top 3 things I love about using Google Slides for math workshop.

stay with me people, there's a link up at the bottom : )

#1

I can house EVERYTHING in one place. My directions are in slides. Any links or videos are in slides. Ask a reflection question? They type their answer right on the slide. Building something with manipulatives? Take a picture and (you guessed it) put it right on the slide. Seeing a theme here? This was a game changer folks. For me and the kids. In fact, when I asked what they liked about Google Slides, the #1 thing was no longer having to click back and forth or keep up with separate papers. 

#2

It works seamlessly with Google Classroom. I love that I can click the magical make a copy for each student button and voi la! Every kid has their own editable copy. Huge time saver! Google Classroom also automatically backs everything up to their Google Drive so it's a built in student portfolio. 

 What in the world is Google Classroom?! Read about it here

#3

I love that using Google Slides is teaching my kids valuable computer skills. These are skills that I think they will carry on for many years. Sometimes I forget that I need to teach them basic skills because they seem so tech savvy. 

Yeah that all sounds great, but what does it really look like?? Here's a sneak peek into my latest Google Slide on Comparing and Ordering numbers.

Congrats! You made it to the end. As promised...here's a fabulous link up hosted by Mrs. Beers, Danielle Knight and The Daring English Teacher for Innovative Classroom Learning Day. Check out the links below to find other blog posts and digital products to check out.

Leave a comment and let me know how you plan on using Google in your classroom this year!

An InLinkz Link-up

Going Digital with Google: Google Forms for Quizzes

One thing I love about Google is that they are constantly updating their apps. They just released an update that makes it even easier to use Google Forms for quizzes.

I made a video tutorial to show you how easy it is to create, score & analyze quizzes using forms.

Click on the video below to learn more!

Going Digital with Google: Google Classroom

This is my 2nd post in my Going Digital with Google series. Check out my first post to find out how I use Google Forms to assess my students.

This post is all about Google Classroom. This is my first year using Google Classroom with my 4th graders. Last year we used Edmodo, which I liked. There are some pros and cons to Google Classroom that I'll share with you below.

If you're brand new to Google Classroom, I'd suggest searching YouTube for some videos that explain what it is and how to set up your classroom and get started. This is a great video to help you get started.

Pro #1:
Classroom works *almost* seamlessly with Google Drive. One of my favorite aspects of Google Classroom is that I can create an item in Google Drive - using docs, slides, or sheets. Then I can create an assignment in Google Classroom and upload that item. There is the option to have Classroom automatically make a copy for each student. Y'all that's amazing. No more having kids mess up your original document. Classroom even names the document with what you titled it and the kid's name. AND it's automatically added to their Google Drive.

Con #1:
This goes along with what I love about Classroom. If your students use iPads, like mine do, they will encounter some glitches. My kids access Classroom through safari, as opposed to the app, per district request. They also have the Drive app and the apps for Docs, Slides & Sheets. Let's say I uploaded a Google Doc for each student to edit, the kids will click on the link for the doc in classroom. Then the ipad inevitably freaks out because it's unsure of whether to open the drive app or the docs app. At first, this made us freak out too! Now the kids - and myself - are used to the fact that they need to be patient and let the ipad do it's thing. If it doesn't do it's thing correctly, they can still find the doc in their docs app. I know this sounds a bit confusing, but if you try it out on the ipad you'll know what I'm talking about.

Pro #2:
When I make an assignment, the kids are able to virtually turn in the assignment. There are some cool features here. I can quickly see who is done & who isn't. I can enter a grade & return the assignment to students. I can view the grades in a Google Sheet. I can also open a Google Drive folder with all of their assignments in it. No more lugging home giant bags filled with papers to grade, I can do it all from my laptop!

Con #2:
When I used Edmodo, I was able to create groups within my classroom. I was also able to assign things to a select group of students. As of right now, that's not an option in Google Classroom. I've been able to work around it a little bit. For example, during my RTI time I have students working on some independent study projects. I created a google doc for the different independent study groups. Then I shared the doc with the students in that group. They went to it straight from Google Drive, instead of going into Classroom. I've heard rumors that this con is on Google's radar, so hopefully an update will be coming soon.

Pro #3:
Sometimes I just need to share a link with my students, but it's not anything they'll need to turn in. Classroom has assignments & announcements. Assignments have a button for students to submit, announcements don't. I use announcements to share links, directions, or anything else that doesn't require students to turn work in digitally.

Pro #4:
When students turn in a Google Doc/Slides/Sheets/etc. they lose the ability to edit it. This means that they are no longer able to make changes to the assignment after they've turned it in. I like this feature. I've also discovered that if they unsubmit, they can go in and make changes and then turn it in again. This comes in handy when they turn it in, then realize they messed something up.

All in all, I've been really pleased with using Classroom. My 4th graders have figured it out very quickly and it's become our 1-stop place for all things in our class. Stay tuned to this series to find out more about how I use Google Docs, Slides & Sheets in my classroom. 

Going Digital with Google: Google Forms for Assessing

Have you caught the Google Bug?? I have! We are using Google in new ways everyday in my 4th grade classroom. This is the 1st post in my Going Digital with Google Series.

Read on to find out how I'm using Google Forms for quick math assessments.

In the past, I've used Google Forms for surveys, but that's pretty much it. Then I discovered Flubaroo - a free Google extension. Flubaroo will automatically grade your Google Forms. 

I like to use Google Forms for quick, formative assessments.You could use them for any type of grading assignment - they work best with multiple choice questions or questions where there is only 1 right answer. I prefer to have the kids answer with a number so I don't have to worry if they spelled it wrong.

I'm going to walk you through how I create a form and use flubaroo to grade it. I made a quick, sample quiz - you can check it out here: http://goo.gl/forms/QOHInO085U

To get started, you need to be logged into Google Drive. You're going to want to create a new Google Form. As of right now, the add-ons are only working in the old version of Google Forms, so you'll want to stay in that.

Once you create the form, you'll be able to add your questions.

Some tips:

• Make sure that your questions are all required so they don't accidentally submit the form before they're done. 
• You can reorder the questions by dragging them around after you're done adding.
• Make sure to have a question for the students to type their name. 

When you're finished, you'll want to share the link with your students. I copy the link into Google Classroom, but you could share it anyway you're already sharing links with students (including QR codes). 

Next, you're going to need to "view live form" and complete the form yourself. This will create the answer key. I always put "Answer Key" for the name question.

Once the form is finished, click on the option to "view responses". This will take you to a spreadsheet.

• It bothers me when the text runs over the boxes - to fix this, select the boxes, then go to format -> text wrapping -> wrap text

Now you're going to add Flubaroo. This next step you'll only have to do the first time. You're going to click on add-ons -> get add-ons

Type Flubaroo in the search box & click free to download. You'll also have to click "allow" on the next screen that pops up. 

Now go back to the spreadsheet, click "add-ons" -> Flubaroo-> Grade assignment

 Flubaroo will walk you through the next steps. You can decide if you want to grade every question and if you want to grade them equally.

Then you'll select which response to use as the answer key. This is where naming it "answer key" comes in handy : )

Once you're done, Flubaroo will create a new page in the spreadsheet for you. Here's an idea of what it looks like (with fake entries). Not only does it show you the grade, but also how the students do on each question & if there are trends. You can even create graphs to go along with your data!

Another option is to have Flubaroo email students their grades - for this you'd have to include a question where students type their email address. I've used this option with kids, and they love being able to get such quick feedback!

I know this seems like a lot of steps, but once you get the hang of it, it's very quick - much quicker than grading 40 (or more) papers!

Solving Word Problems in a Digital Classroom

Last year I spent a couple of weeks teaching my kids how to analyze word problems. You can read all about my lessons here .

This year I did the same lessons, with a digital twist. I am really trying to incorporate more digital activities now that I'm in my second year of going 1:1 with students to iPads. 

The first day of our problem solving unit, we created a key words chart. Last year, I had the kids write on a a recording sheet like this:

This year I created the recording sheet in Google Docs and shared it with my student in Google Classroom. In Google Classroom you are able to make a copy of a Google Doc for each student. As we acted out word problems using manipulatives, we added to the Google Doc. The students each added to their own chart - this kept them more engaged than if they watched me create the chart. Now instead of having a copy in their math journals, they have a copy in Google Drive. 

On the second day of the unit, I had students sort word problems by the 4 operations. They had to write a number sentence and an explanation for each problem. Last year it looked like this:

This year instead of using paper/pencil, the kids took pictures of the word problems and put the number sentence and explanation into a pic collage. So now it looked like this:

Now, not everything lends itself to a digital activity. Sometimes I still need my students doing paper/pencil activities. However, when I'm able to make something digital I see an increase in engagement and ownership. The reduction in copies and paper is an added bonus. 

How do you incorporate digital activities into your math block?

Interested in my word problem lesson plans? The first 3 days are available in my Teacher Pay Teacher store:

Rounding on a Number Line

Last month I wrote a post about how my kids were using the Number Line app to help with rounding - you can check out the post here.

Using an app is always a great way to give kids practice with math concepts, but it does not replace the time they need with concrete, hands-on materials. I really try to stick true to the process of concrete--> pictorial --> abstract. The number line app was pictorial practice for the kids.

I made sure to give them some concrete experiences during our guided math lessons on rounding.

I started my guided math lessons by activating their prior knowledge on rounding. They played a matching game with smaller numbers. They worked together to find all the matches.  This got them talking and thinking about rounding.

Next, we spent some time working through a guided practice page together, using a number line in a clear sheet protector and a counter.

We read through the problems together and then used the number line to help us round. The number we were rounding went on top and then we set up our number line, depending on the place we were rounding to. Finally, we placed the counter on the number line to represent where our original number would go.

This was a lot more difficult for some students than I was anticipating. They really struggled to figure out what numbers should go on the number line, and they also had trouble placing the counter. You can see that student had the counter much closer to 15,000 than it should be.

After lots of discussion, we would then slide the counter over to the number it would round to.

Finally, they had to do a few problems on their own for me to check for understanding.

If you're interested in using these ideas in your classroom, you can download my Guided Math Plans for Rounding Whole Numbers - it's available in my Teachers Pay Teachers store

Giving kids choices

One of my favorite ways to keep my students engaged is to give them choice. Sometimes I over think this concept. I try to find small ways to incorporate student choice in our daily activities.

Today in science we started a new unit on soil. I wanted the kids to brainstorm what they already knew about soil. My plan was for students to make a graphic organizer - we use thinking maps at my school. I told them they could make a bubble map or a circle map (2 organizers that include a topic in the middle with facts surrounding it). The kids had a choice of using paper/pencil or any app they had on their ipads. I'm always amazed by how creative the kids can be - I'm also amazed at how different they are!

Here are some samples of what they came up with. You'll notice they're all very different, but they also achieve the same purpose.

I love that each student got to let their personality and unique learning styles show. How do you incorporate student choice into your classroom?