Tag: googleappsforeducation

1 Two 1, Chromebooks, Collaboration

#RVKony Day 1 lesson plans…simplified

Lissa Layman

1. I found articles and information pertaining to Invisible Children and Kony 2012.

2. I converted each article to a pdf using online-convert (thanks to Richard Byrne!). I uploaded each document to Crocodoc (thanks to Jeff Layman!) so that my pairs could analyze the article together.

3. Students took this survey before class.

4. I paired students and assigned them articles based on who they did (or did not) want to work with, how much they knew about the issues and their strengths and weaknesses as students. Each pair received a different article.

5. I created a google doc with the instructions for day 1. I made a copy for each pair and shared it with only those 2 students. The only thing that changed between each document was the link to their article (HERE).

6. I gave students one 45 minute period to work with their partner and get ready for the discussion that will take place tomorrow. More info on those details coming soon!

Participate in the discussion tomorrow! #RVKony

1 Two 1, Chromebooks, Collaboration, Google, Social Media

#KONY2012 is coming to us! #RVKony

Lissa Layman

Today is a day I love being a teacher! I’m so excited and have so many ideas in my head right now I just need to get them out there. Hopefully this will also help get people involved so that these ideas turn into something real for my students and everyone involved! Update: Thanks to everyone who has read my ramblings! I have a pretty good plan laid out now…check below!

This Friday (only 2 days away!) is the last day before Spring Break and the 5th annual visit from Invisible Children. I first learned about IC when the “Roadies” came during my 1st year teaching (spring 2010). This encounter inspired my husband and I to donate on a monthly basis to the Legacy Scholarship Fund. I’ve kept up with IC but our donation is directly debited and I don’t have to “do” a whole lot. When I watched the Kony 2012 video that has created so much controversy throughout the last month, my passion was reignited. I want to help my students get educated, care about something and DO something about it. This Friday, I know my students hearts and brains aren’t going to be into learning French (Spring Break!!!), so I want to get them educated about what’s going on in the world and help them form opinions concerning a real-world topic (whether they agree with me or not). Here’s my plan:

*Thursday I will be pairing up my students (update: here is the survey I gave them today). I will then be giving each pair an article to read and discuss (links to come). The articles will range from very positive to very negative to neutral to purely informational (on my way to finding & sharing lots of info). Since I’m teaching in a 1:1 classroom, I want the students to be able to collaborate together online (and not print off hundreds of articles). Update: Right now I’m planning on either using google docs (document for each article, share w/ students, they collaborate) or crocodoc. Still playing around! I am still figuring out exactly how to have my students do this in part while using our Chromebooks. Ideas welcome!!!

*On Friday most of my classes will be “discussing” what they’ve read. Each pair will be split up into two groups. One group will be the inside circle and will be discussing their opinions out loud. I want to allow them to share what they read/learned and the opinions they formed but I also want to have guiding questions in case the discussion stalls. The second group will be the outside circle. These students will be using Chromebooks to converse through a back channel. Because Twitter is not reliable at my school (https is blocked), I am experimenting with different websites. Right now I’m probably going to be using a premium room on Chatzy.com (update: no I won’t! It is blocked at our school and won’t be unblocked). I love the simplicity & look of TodaysMeet, but don’t want my students to have so much freedom and anonymity. I don’t want them to have to learn a whole new platform, it needs to be simple and fast! I will be moderating both the spoken and online discussion. Any other ideas for discussion rooms that can be moderated? Update: Adobe Connect doesn’t work with Chromebooks. Tweetchat is blocked too. Campfire is currently looking like the best alternative but I’m not the biggest fan. Even newer update: Thanks to some wonderful people in my district, I created a google group. This group has a discussion board (not a chat room). Students will be able to create topics and reply to each other. I then created a google site (only viewable if logged into the district domain) and embedded the discussion group. Right now I’m working on finding a way to embed the Twitter discussion into the site (#RVKony). Things I’ve tried – direct from Twitter, Hootsuite, FeedBurner.

*ONE of the things I’m really excited about is my 3rd period. The IC Roadies will be with us the entire period so we won’t have time for the normal discussion. However, my class has been given permission to bring our Chromebooks to the presentation. Which means they’ll be able to have a live online discussion while they are watching the Kony 2012 video for the first time (!!!!).

*Where I get even more excited is all the possibilities!! Here are just a couple of things I’ve thought of…
-other classes in the school can join our back channel chat room and discuss the issue in real time…even though they are in different classrooms (now if I can just get some other teachers on board. Update: I have at least 1 other teacher who is willing to try and sent an email to our entire staff.).
-while each class is discussing (aloud and online), I’d like to designate a couple students to use their phones to tweet out using #RVKony. This way what is happening in our classroom will also be a discussion with other people around the world. However I need a way for my students to see the Twitter discussion without using Twitter. Any ideas for how to search & view hashtags (w/out Twitter)? Update: Thanks to a friend on Facebook… hashtags.org and tweetchat.com (tweetchat is blocked for our school, hashtags is not). Newer update: Still figuring out how to embed into my google site (hosted by my district). See above for details.
-I want to get the word out NOW, not after the fact. I want my students to participate in a discussion with their peers and people around the world (#RVKony). I want them to realize that the world is bigger than them, bigger than our school, bigger than our city. Please share with anyone and everyone! The more people that participate in the #RVKony discussion on Friday (9am-3:30pm), the more meaningful it becomes.

These are my rough ideas and I don’t have much time to throw it all together. But it’s not the morning of and I’m confident that everything will come together!

1 Two 1, Google

Being absent in a 1:1 classroom

Lissa Layman

The week after our full day of professional development, I was out for 2 days. It seems like I’ve been out a lot lately 😦 (2 days for international job fair, 1 day for PD, these 2 days…). Usually it seems nothing productive gets done when I’m not physically in the classroom, especially because the students are supposed to be learning French. I usually have them do independent work, partner work, speaking exercises and watch movies. [Luckily my content tends quite well to movies! My students really enjoyed Asterix & Obelix and we were able to have some great discussion about White Material during Black History Month.] This time I decided to experiment with having my students use the Chromebooks while I was gone.

Students’ homework was to bring their headphones to class with them. I also explained to each class that they would be using the Chromebooks and I would be giving them more responsibility than I’d ever given other groups of students. I told them to make me proud and that I looked forward to bragging about them when I came back. I stayed completely positive and emphasized how much responsibility they were going to be given.

I was fortunate enough to be able to speak with the sub the day before I was absent. This made me feel so much better since I was leaving her with so much responsibility! Here is an excerpt from the letter I left my sub…

Students will be using Chromebooks today and tomorrow. Ms. Smith will come open the Chromebook cart. I have written the number they will be using on the roster next to their names (in yellow). I have also noted if they have turned in their user agreement (in orange). Please collect (and record) any missing agreements and encourage them to turn them in ASAP (there are extra copies). Each student will have a task list/assignment sheet in his/her email. The two allowed sites are their google mail/docs & my.hrw.com (I have printed out their usernames & passwords in case they forgot). They should ask you if they need to go to any other sites.

Class Agenda:
1. Get Chromebooks. Log in to their email. Open the file I’ve shared with them (assignment sheet). Do as much work as possible.
2. Put Chromebooks away correctly (do not plug in).
3. Please remind them to send me an email. They should tell me a) how much work they got done, b) how hard they worked and c) questions they have.

I made assignment documents for each of my classes (French 2 block & French 2 year long). About 30 minutes before their class period, I shared each document with them.

The biggest differences between being absent in the past and being absent this time were that I was able to see their work (in real time) and that I was able to communicate with them. At the end of the class period, students emailed me their progress. The evening of day 1, I read all the emails and emailed back any of my students who had questions. I LOVED how this worked and I am so excited to now be able to brag about my students! Our high school sometimes gets a bad rap but I always love to tell people how wonderful my students are. We have a great relationship (one of the most important classroom management strategies I’ve learned in 2.5 years) and they are (usually) wonderful 🙂

1 Two 1, Google

The first days of 1:1

Lissa Layman

On Friday, March 2, I rolled out Chromebooks in my classroom. I introduced them using this presentation (adapted from my Integration Technology Specialist – ITS):

And this video (which my students found both educational and funny 🙂 ):

I rearranged my classroom into groups of desks.

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Before I made a seating chart, I got some input from the students.

We then spent Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday slowly integrating the Chromebooks into our classroom. Another idea that I stole (and adapted) from Tami (my ITS), was the idea of a Google Race. I shared this document with my students and set them to work.

You can adapt this idea for any content area! I was able to not only have my students practice with Google Docs but also the French concepts we’ve been learning. Sylvia Duckworth has created an updated version of this race. Check it out!

I’ll be back soon with info about what it was like being absent for the first time in a 1:1 classroom.

Google

My love affair with Google

Lissa Layman

I’ve had a  account since 2007 when I graduated from college. I only used it for the e-mail function at first, but found it far superior to my yahoo and hotmail accounts. In 2009, I started using google docs to create and share documents (mostly with my husband). I experimented slowly with uploading and sharing pictures, forms, and blogger. I didn’t create a lot of documents, but I uploaded many instead of using my flash drive. This was really helpful as a teacher because I have several flash drives and wouldn’t always know where they were (nothing like having to create something on the fly because you misplaced a document!).

Towards the end of the 2009-10 school year, I found out that my high school had google apps for education. I was very excited for the possibilities and worked with our Instructional Technology Specialist to get my students going. In both the ’09-10 and ’10-11 school years I found it difficult to get my students on board and to manage all of their accounts. If they forgot their password (which they did often) I had to contact my ITS and have her reset it (not what she should be doing with her time!). Students were so comfortable with Microsoft Office that it was pulling teeth to get them to use google docs. I really don’t think they understood the power of sharing and the ability to edit a document at the same time as someone else. It was also challenging for me to have three email accounts to keep track of (personal, work and google apps for ed). I was prepared to do it all again this year because I’m obsessed with 

…but over the summer we got great news! Our entire district of 25,000 students and 26+ schools went to google apps for education 🙂 My work email is now gmail based and I have access to all the google products I could need. The best thing is that each and every one of my students also received a google account (studentID@richland2.org and birthday as password). AHHH the possibilities! I have now gone to a 99% google docs system – I’m creating all of my new spreadsheets, documents and forms with google but I’m not uploading my assessments from previous years (gdocs and word don’t always play nice).

I hate having lots of unnecessary paperwork around and I enjoy playing with technology… has done wonders for my life!

p.s. I still use google in my everyday life. Even though I recently bought a highly discounted Microsoft Office 2010, I haven’t used it once. The convenience of accessing my files wherever is too addicting. I also have a Droid phone….and I probably will upgrade to another one in the spring. I know some people are weary that google will take over the world, but I think I’d quite like a  .