Our school district allows teachers and high school students to access Google's AI tool, Gemini. This includes access to Gems, a customized chatbot that can be used repeatedly for a specific purpose. For example, a Gem could be created to act as a study partner to help a student review and master content.
✨ Explore these resources from leading educational technology experts to help you get started with tutorials and "plug-and-play" Gem prompts:
I saw this idea in Brian Buffington's newsletter, Buff Nuggets, and in MagicSchool's newsletter. I had to try it out! It took me just minutes to create a test prep game for South Carolina's Algebra I EOC exam. I was even able to add our state's printable standards and sample questions to the parameters by attaching PDF documents. I asked a math teacher friend to check out the game, and he was a fan.
Google released a Chromebook app designed to "make the most of class time." It allows teachers to lock student devices entirely, provide access only to shared resources, or allow unrestricted access to all apps on the device. One of the most exciting features of this app is live captioning that is translatable. I appreciate the app's simplicity and think it is a great alternative to other options designed to manage student use of Chromebooks. This app requires both teachers and students to use ChromeOS devices that are updated to version 137 or higher. Paid access to Google Education is required.
Canva offers free online courses through their Design School. I love the way these course are designed. Each course includes an intro video and an activity. This playground is an editable presentation that explains a skill on one slide and gives participants a chance to practice the skill on the next slide. It is easy to leave a lesson and come back to it later.
Courses Designed for Teachers:
It seems some students are using AI to write their papers and complete their assignments. Check out these tips if you suspect AI is doing your students' work.
💡Tip 1: Require the use of Google Docs for writing. Students can still use another tool to "publish" their work AFTER they create a draft in Google Docs. Matt Miller recommends using the inspect writing feature included with the Brisk Teaching Chrome extension to replay every edit a student makes. Check out his post and view his explanation.
💡Tip 2: Use Blocksi's assessment feature to limit students to Google Classroom and Google Docs.
💡Tip 3: Use Blocksi's plagiarism detector to check for the likelihood of AI generated text. This tool (or any AI detector) should never be used as definitive proof.
Have you checked out Google's video editor? Google Vids can be used collaboratively and is easy to use thanks to its similarity to other Google Workspace apps. Videos created with Google Vids have a maximum length of 10 minutes and a computer or chromebook is required to edit/create. Open a new tab in Chrome and click the app launcher (waffle) to find the Google Vids app. You may need to scroll down a bit to find it. View the video below for a quick overview to help you get started.
MagicSchool has quickly become my favorite time saver. I love their tools for teachers and their chatbot, Raina. I thought I couldn't love MagicSchool anymore than I do. I was wrong. Magic School now includes tools for students. Teachers create rooms, select the tools to make available, and invite students to join the room. A few of the available tools include: writing feedback, research assistant, tutor me with AI, language learning tutor, image generator, and character chatbot. Teachers can pause the room, lock the room, and view all student/AI interactions. Students learn how to use AI responsibly in a safe environment and teachers can feel good about it. Want to learn more? Check out this video.
One slide summary assignments give students an opportunity to create and present in a single class period. This kind of assignment works best if students are place in teams of 2 to 3 and are tasked with summarizing related but differing content. Here is a recent example of a one slide summary assignment:
A clear explanation with an example and a timer are critical to success for this kind of assignment!
One Slide Summary Example:
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This past December a group of fantastic fifth graders and some super supportive staff members helped me combine some new-to-me tools with amazing results.
We started off by reading Corduroy by Don Freeman and designing 3D buttons with Tinkercad. It was my first time using Tinkercad and Tinkercad's classroom feature. Designing buttons led to some sandbox time designing tags with raised initials. The pre-engineering teacher at our district's career and technology center 3D printed (and videoed the process) for us! The students were so excited to receive their custom tags.
The next thing we read was "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening" by Robert Frost. We looked at several illustrations from different publications. Students then designed their own 3D illustrations of a winter scene using Tinkercad. They exported their illustrations and attached the files to a Google Classroom assignment. I uploaded these files to the Merge EDU platform and added them to a collection.
Our culminating activity involved viewing their illustrations with the Merge Object Viewer app and a set of older iPhones and Merge Cubes. Another fifth grade class joined in on the fun by participating in our gallery walk.
We all learned so much from this experience! The students enjoyed the challenge and so did I.
Google updated the way Google Meet works inside Google Classroom. Google removed the link in the banner on the stream and added a box with a join button on the left side.
Upgrading your link will change the URL (web address). If students click a link posted in Seesaw, Schoology, sent via email, etc, you will need to post/send the new link.
Here’s how to upgrade your link:
Click the 3 dots beside Meet on the Stream and click manage.
Click “upgrade link”.
Check the box if you want to upgrade all the Google Meet links in all your Google Classrooms at the same time.
Click the upgrade link button.
Google Forms now automatically saves responses and progress for 30 days. This means if you do NOT finish filling out a form BEFORE you click submit (or something goes wrong when you try to submit) your work will still be there when you go back to the form.
Students can start working on a form and finish it at a later time WITHOUT starting over.
This update ONLY applies to Google Forms created with district accounts that are set to collect email addresses. It DOES apply to quizzes and tests unless locked mode is turned on.
Directions for disabling autosave (turning it off):
Greenwood 50 Educators:
Complete online tech PD and earn recertification points. Completing the PD is as simple as viewing videos, visiting links, and completing a Google Form. Go to the Tech PD page on the district's professional development website to check it out!
Are you using Google Meet and teaching students in the classroom and at home simultaneously? This document shares suggestions for making everything work.COVID and the response to it has changed so many things. Tech support and PD is arguably more necessary than ever and yet it seems harder to make it happen. That's why I'm giving online, self-paced PD a try. I'm offering a self-paced PD covering the basics of Schoology for renewal credit. If all goes well, I hope to offer a series of professional learning opportunities.
If you are a Greenwood 50 educator and you would like to give this PD a try, let me know!
