Teaching Tasks Made Easy with Tech

Image Source: http://goo.gl/qRqXN The top 6 teacher tasks identified in an online article are included below. Next to each, you will find EC Technology Operations’ recommendation for how to best make your job in accomplishing those tasks easier. Solutions have been divided up into 3 levels of simplicity, with Level 1 being the easiest and Level 3 being the most complex. Is this approach perfect or the examples elaborated well enough? Probably not. But I hope it will serve as yet another introduction to ideas, a different way of imagining how to approach teaching and learning in a technology-rich classroom such as EC3 or BYOT. These are only suggestions, of course. Each of the following levels presupposes various technologies that are available to you. For example: Level 1 - GoogleApps for Education tools (such as Gmail, Calendar, Google Sites web pages) and Edmodo.com are at the heart of Level 1. However, for those just starting out with technology, Edmodo.com makes an excellent starting point. At this level, the focus is on what YOU do as a teacher. Level 2 - This level seeks to move beyond simply using technology to organize what you're doing to helping support student learning, empowering them to share and dialogue about student content. At this level, the focus is on what YOU do as a teacher. Level 3 - This level seeks to expand the level of interaction between the technologies you bring to bear on teaching and learning. At this level, the focus is on what you do as a teacher to increase the inter-dependence of technologies to provide a web of support for student creations. Task Level 1 Level 2 Level 3 1. Planning, Developing and Organizing Instruction Managing Instruction Working with Students Edmodo.com Setup a virtual classroom in Edmodo.com that enables you and your students to safely and easily share resources (video, documents, audio), assignments, quizzes with each other. An online gradebook makes it even easier. View Example Managing Instruction Use Eduphoria LessonPlan to facilitate lesson planning with your team. Working with Students Google Sites + Edmodo.com Organize your grading period by putting all your resources online in Google Sites. Share content once on Google Sites, but have students interact with that content through discussion, assessments via Edmodo groups for each period or content area. Have students summarize what they learn in class and share it as an announcement. Working with Students Google Sites + Edmodo.com + Google Calendar In addition to Level 2 activities, enhance your Google Sites by embedding Google Calendars for when assignments/projects are due. Updates that students make on Google Sites are automatically shared to Edmodo via RSS. 2. Attendance and Grade-recording/ reporting. Managing Instruction Use TxGradebook Working with Students Edmodo.com Setup a virtual classroom in Edmodo.com that enables you and your students to safely and easily share resources (video, documents, audio), assignments, quizzes with each other. An online gradebook makes it even easier. View Example Working with Students Google Sites + Edmodo.com Prepare video feedback on student assignments (e.g. modeling problem-solving) and share it with the student via Edmodo or Google Sites. 3. Managing Student Conduct Working with Students With Edmodo available to you, students with mobile devices can create content and share it directly with the you and the class via Edmodo. Keep them engaged by encouraging creativity and collaboration on projects. Students can create videos of what/how they are learning and post those directly to Edmodo. Working with Students Google Sites + Edmodo.com + ECTV Post classroom rules online in your Google Sites area, and point parents and students to that. Encourage students to share their reflections on what they have learned, and model your thinking process by sharing it via Edmodo. Make a short video of a student explaining their thinking, and post it on ECTV for easy access from anywhere on the Internet, then link to it on your Google Sites as an example of the thinking you want to encourage. 4. Presenting Subject Material Working with Students Post your “what will students know” at the end of the lesson on Edmodo, then give a short quiz asking students to evaluate which objective they felt strongest on. Weak items might signal a re-teach opportunity. Enhance subject material with Discovery Education videos. Working with Students Google Sites + Edmodo.com + ECTV Try the Flipped Classroom approach of recording your mini-lessons then making them available as modules on GoogleSites students can work through according to your class schedule. Students review the modules out of class, then share their questions about it in Edmodo. When you re-group for class, focus is on the questions rather than your mini-lesson. Working with Students Google Sites + Edmodo.com + ECTV You can extend learning by having students prepare mini-lessons for concepts and sharing those. You can also remix Discovery Education videos and re-post them in Edmodo. 5. Assessing Student Learning Working with Students Take advantage of Edmodo’s quiz function to quickly capture grades. Working with Students Google Sites + Edmodo.com + ECTV Create a way for students to offer feedback on each other’s work. Working with Students GoogleForms + Flubaroo Use GoogleForms+Flubaroo to create a self-grading, branching quiz that assesses student learning based on what they know or don’t know.