Movie Day!

Movie Day, the teacher's fallback when you've got nothing else. But it doesn't have
to be that way. Movies are a great way to quickly introduce content or to drum up
interest in the material you are covering. The trick is to make sure that it is presented
in a way that the student understand that it is a learning activity and not just a "free
day."  Here are some suggestions that can make your movie day a productive part of
instruction.


Insert a video segments into Google Forms. If you didn't know you can insert videos
into Google Forms. Create a few questions related to the video and have the students
answer them after they watch it. This is a great way to make sure students pay
attention when watching a shorter video clip.

Video guides (follow along). If you have a longer video that you are showing create
a video guide. Fill in the blanks work well for this because students can quickly
answer the questions without missing too much of the video. You may also want to
to give the students a reflection question at the end of the guide. This will help keep
students from just copying answers from someone else, and it will make them think
critically about what they have just seen.

Use Programs like Edpuzzle. Online programs like Edpuzzle allow you
to create places in the video where it will stop and present students with questions
or further explanations about the content being covered. After students have finished
watching the videos, the teacher can see how long each student spent watching the
video and how many questions they got correct. Edpuzzles and some other programs
even work with Google Classroom, so you can assign a video from their site and
sync grades after students have finished.

Choose Wisely. Not every movie or video is worth taking class time to watch. Start
by asking yourself what do I want my students to take away from watching this.
If you can't directly relate it to what you are doing skip the video, or add it as an
optional assignment students can do outside of class.

Make it an event. Watching videos can grab students attention when they are tired
of doing the same thing in class over and over. However, if you show videos too
frequently students will not be as attentive while watching and they will being
to expect videos and not want to do other important classwork.

In the comments below share a 

video that you like to share with students. 

Teach without even being there.

Note: This post was originally scheduled to go live on 3/26/2020, but due to school
closures I decided to post it early.


Everyone has to miss a day. Sometimes it's for personal reasons or illness, while
other times you doing something school related that takes you out of the class.
In any case, there are times that you really want to make sure that the students
don't get behind, but how can you be away from school and still keep things moving
forward in the classroom? In this blog I will give you a few tips that will help
with just that. (Note: There are days that you might miss because you need to
get away from the classroom. That is fine, enjoy the time off.)


Use Screencastify. Leaving instructions doesn't mean that your students will
get them or understand them. Create a video using screencastify and share it
with your students. This means that students can hear what you want them to
do straight from your mouth.

Digitally answer questions. This is a tip that you should use all the time, but it
can be really helpful if you are away from the classroom. Have students submit
questions to you through email or Google Classroom. Email is a great way
to do this because you can create templates to answer repetitive questions, or
you can use the messaging options in Google Classroom. One benefit for using
Classroom is you can answer questions students send you as a public comment
that will show up with the assignment. If other students have the same questions
they can see it right along with the assignment.

Check GoGuardian. If your students are using Chromebooks, you can see their
screens from anywhere as long as you have internet. If students are wasting time
on sites they shouldn't be on, you can close the tab just like if you were in class.

Google Hangouts. If you really want to check in your classroom you can do it
with a little help. Google Hangouts allows you to video chat. The catch to this
is you will need someone to answer and share with the class on a TV or Projector.
This one isn't practical, but is really cool when you can work out all the details.

How to you keep up with your classes 

when you are away? Share your answer 

in the comments below. 

Learning Menus

In last week's blog, I gave some ideas on how to differentiate instruction. I want to build
on that by telling you about learning menus. Some of you are already familiar with them,
but if you aren't, you might be surprised at how useful they can be if you are trying to
differentiate instruction.

In this blog I am going to do something a little different. Since this blog is about
differentiation, I am going to give you a choice if you want to find out more about
learning menus.


Option 1
Read about Learning Menus by reading Kasey Bell's Blog Shake Up Learning.
https://shakeuplearning.com/blog/interactive-learning-menus-choice-boards-using-google-docs/


Option 2
Watch the video Below.

Advanced Challenge. 

Do Both!

In the comments below share ideas of how you 

plan on using learning menus in your classroom. 

Remarkable Reviews: Part 3 Differentiation

Differentiation

The goal all teachers should have is that every student will master all the content that

we teach. The problem is that we are often driven by the number of standards that we

have to cover. That causes us to keep moving forward even if all the students haven’t

obtain a sufficient level of mastery. Then to expound the problem, we have such a

short time span to review for the final assessment, we end up providing a one size

fits all review. A great example of this is the number of teachers playing Jeopardy or

Kahoot with their students as the test day nears. These are both great tools to use

with students, but in every class you will have students that know all the answers, in

which the review is pointless, and students who don’t know any of the answers, and

let’s be honest, showing them the answer one more time probably isn’t enough for

the student to gain a last minute understanding of the content. So why do we do these

kinds of activities? Because these reviews are helpful for the students in the middle.

The students that just need a reminder of something they haven’t seen in a while.

If you have a classroom full of these “average” students then go for it. Play Kahoot

until the day of the test. But chances are your students are more diverse than that,

which means your reviews need to be just as diverse. Differentiated review/ instruction

is not the easiest way to teach, however it does have a huge impact on student learning.

Below are some tips on how to make differentiated instruction a reality in your classroom. 

Find out where your students are. It’s easy to use something like Google Forms to

determine what standards your students are struggling with, however you also need to

know the students reading level, and their interests. You can search for online reading

and interest tests. This is really worth the time because it will help you determine what

content to present to each student. The goal is to give students materials that they can

process without being overwhelmed and hopefully they will be able to relate to. 

Don’t start from scratch. Spend a little time finding resources that might help students l

earn the content. Many textbooks come with review activities and materials, there are a

ton of things online, and don’t be afraid to ask your fellow teachers. You can easily find

10 activities in the time it would take you to make 1. 

Be open to the type of content you present to students. The goal in differentiation is

to meet the student where they are, not where we want them to be. Present  resources

that are at different difficulty levels and presented in as many ways as possible. Don’t limit

yourself to grade level content. A senior that is struggling might do better with content

geared for an elementary student and a third grader might learn more than you expect by

reading an article in the Wall Street Journal. 

Use Google Classroom to the fullest. With Google Classroom you can create reviews

and assessments ahead of time and then save them as drafts. As soon as you assess

students on a standard determine what they need to do next. Some students will be ready

to move on, while others need to do more work on that standard. The joy of Google

Classroom is you can give each student specific assignments. Student’s don’t know what

their classmates are doing so no one needs to feel singled out. You can also communicate

with students through the private message section for each assignment. This allows

studentsto review what you are “telling” them, and it also keeps them from feeling singled

out. Google Classroom really makes differinitation easier. 

Use Split Screen and multiple tabs. This tip is just technological, not pedigological.

When you are looking over an assessment, drag the results to one side of your desktop.

On the other side have the screen have your assignments open in different tabs. This

will make it so much easier to add students to a specific assignment. 

Keep the students accountable. With differentiation you start where students are at,

but you don’t stay there. You need to make sure students know where they are at in

comparison to where they need to be. If a student seems to be doing well with the material

you are presenting them with, slowly give them more advanced materials. Tell the student

what you are doing and remind them to try their best, even if it is a little harder. Let them

know you want to help them be successful. Raising the difficulty could mean things like

trying  a higher reading level or more questions. If they are struggling too much talk with

them again and adjust. Never let the student or yourself become complacent at their

current level. Labeling students as smart or dumb isn’t differentiation and neither is giving

students “easy” or “hard” work. 

In the comments below share one way

you differentiate content for your students.