Teaching with Technology

Using educational technology to enhance the learning environment and increase student engagement!

Fabulous Features of Google Forms #2 – Confirmation Messages

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Happy Tuesday, friends! I hope you’re having a great week and are experiencing the least amount of teacher anxiety possible during the back-to-school-during-COVID craziness that we’re all enduring. The middle of next month will be the start of my 13th year in the classroom, which is super weird to think of – I still feel like a new teacher! – and here we are, at the end of July, and I basically have no clue what next year is going to “look like.” I’m trying to breathe deeply through my frustrations, keeping in mind that just as I haven’t taught during a pandemic (until this past March, of course) our administrators, school boards, local, state, and federal officials have never “done this,” either. Grace upon grace will be the motto of the year!  Last week, I shared the first post in a 5 part series about my favorite features of Google Forms, so … here comes favorite number 2!

Confirmation Messages
That’s right … customize those confirmation messages!

This is such an easy and underused feature of Google Forms. To be honest, I don’t really ever think about it! Once I select “quiz,” create the questions, set the correct answers, and update the colors/fonts, I typically just push it out to my students! However, the confirmation message could be super helpful in directing my students to the next activity while they’re waiting for their classmates to finish. In addition to directions or other text-based information, we can also share links in the confirmation message!

A few ideas for taking advantage of the confirmation message in Google Forms …

  • Share instructions for a post-quiz activity
  • Provide a link directing students to new video, audio, or text content
  • Include a link to a Padlet wall, Google Doc, or Answer Garden where students can reflect on their quiz performance, what they’d like to review or learn more about
  • Next steps in a HyperDoc

How do you use the confirmation message in Google Forms to your advantage?

Thanks for reading 🙂

 

Make Your Own Linktree with Google Slides

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Happy Tuesday (I think?), all! I hope you’re having a fabulous week and are staying cool and healthy. You know the heat and humidity is bad in Missouri when my daughters VOLUNTARILY come in from playing outside because “it’s just too hot, Mom!” My back-to-school teacher brain is starting to rev up again, even though I’m not entirely sure what in the world that’s going to look like! I’m sure many of you are in the same boat as me. One of the ideas that popped into my head earlier today was how I could use the popular website, Linktree, in my classroom. If you’re on Instagram, you know that users can only include one URL in their bio which can be pretty tricky if you’re like me and have multiple sites to share! (Have you seen the newest at bethanypetty.com yet!?) While Linktree is great for sharing links on social media, it’s somewhat limited – the free version, at least!. So … while I created Linktree for my social media platforms, I decided to “Googlfy” Linktree using Google Slides for my classroom! Here’s how I did it …

Open a New Slides Presentation
Instead of opening your Google Drive, clicking new, scrolling to Slides … try typing slides.new into the address bar of your Chrome browser! Voila! A brand new Slides presentation, ready for you to make beautiful!

Resize the Presentation
This is probably one of the MOST underused features but one that really lets you get the MOST out of Google Slides. To resize your presentation simply follow these steps –> File – Page Setup – Click the dropdown menu and choose “custom.” Then, choose the size you’d like! An easy way to create a “Google Doc” with a background is to simply resize your Google Slides presentation! Then, add backgrounds, text boxes, and more!

Add Text Boxes
When you’re happy with the size of your slide (I set mine to 7×5 inches) it’s time to add text boxes! If you’re unfamiliar with Linktree, here’s what mine looks like.

Choose a Background Image
The free version of Linktree offers limited options when it comes to color, background, and theme. HOWEVER … with Google Slides, you have a virtually unlimited amount of options for backgrounds, colors, images, etc.!

Don’t Forget Your Bitmoji!
No explanation needed, here! Bitmoji is the bomb.com!

Publish to the Web and Create a bit.ly
This part is important! When you publish a Google Slides presentation “to the web,” you’re creating a webpage version of your presentation that can be accessed by anyone. You also don’t have to worry about setting sharing permissions. When you’ve published your slide presentation (File – Publish to the Web – ok – ok), you’ll want to create a shortened URL for easy access. My favorite URL shortener is Bit.ly!  Give it a whirl! When your new “Schooltree” is published and you have a shortened URL, you can easily access the slide on your smartphone and add the “Schooltree” to your home screen as an app! (Check these posts for directions on how to add sites to your home screen on Android and iOS devices!)

Here’s the link to my “Schooltree” if you’d like to check it out for inspiration!

That’s it! You can post your “Schooltree” on Classroom, school websites, your email signature, and MORE!

I plan to share this “Googlfied” version of a linktree virtually on Google Classroom and physically in my classroom with a QR Code!

I’m already thinking of ways my students can use this to demonstrate learning!

Thanks for reading 🙂

 

Fabulous Features of Google Forms #1

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Happy Thursday, all! If you’re on my mailing list, you’ve probably already marked your calendars for the return of #IlluminateED TONIGHT at 7 PM (Central Time)! My Illuminate online course cohort had a fantastic discussion last week via Google Meet and we all fully geeked out about the infinite ways we can use Google Forms in our classroom – whether that be virtual, in-person, or a combo of both! So … I decided to share a few of my favorite features of Google Forms with you in a new series – “Google Forms Fun!”

#1 Go To Section Based On Answer
This feature was THE topic of our conversation last week after a teacher asked for an easy way to differentiate instruction with a Google Form. I use the “go to section based on answer” feature in my high school and college classes to offer students choice when it comes to what they want to learn. To “turn on” this feature, simply select the three dots at the bottom of the choice question and choose “go to section based on answer.”

When you’ve done this, you’ll see a dropdown menu appear next to each response option.

Next, you’ll want to create a section that corresponds with each option you provide. To do this, click on the “new section” icon, which looks like an equal sign.

In the example, I provided three options of articles pertaining to an issue or topic in education. I included the link to an article as the description in each of the sections. You can add questions and reflection opportunities, as well as directions for what to “do next” for each section.

When you’ve created your sections and added your activities (if needed), you’ll need to link your options to their corresponding sections. At the bottom of your sections, you’ll notice a dropdown option that says “after section …” Select that menu and click “submit form” unless you want your students to do another section.

Double-check your form to make sure that you’ve made your choice question required so students can’t skip it … not that they would 😉

That’s it! You’re done! You’ve differentiated a topic and given students choice. Go you!

Click here if you’d like to see the example form I created to demonstrate this feature.

Check back soon for the next Google Forms post – seriously, this may be my favorite Google tool. It’s at least in the top 5!

Thanks for reading 🙂

 

Collaboration in a Virtual Learning Environment

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Happy Sunday, all! If you’re a member of my newsletter, you know my weekend has been spent in drywall dust, paint fumes. and the sound of my husband cutting tile as he gives our laundry room a facelift. While I’m SUPER thankful that he has the desire and ability to work on home improvement projects, I’m not a fan of renovation projects and all of the dusty mess that comes with it! (Not a subscriber? Sign up here!) Since we’re past the 4th of July in America, my teacher-brain is officially in “back-to-school” mode, not that it ever really shut down for the summer 😉 While I’m reflecting on the year that was (wowzers!) and the year to come, I’m feeling all the feels – excited to see my students in my classroom, high-fives or fist bumps as my students enter our classroom or walk down the hall, hilarious conversations about random thoughts, surprise Petty Wap Bops from our local coffee shop and a huge amount of angst and uncertainty about what our learning environment will look like, how I can encourage collaboration among my students, and of course, how will we do our best to protect the health and safety EVERYONE, including teachers, custodians, cafeteria staff, administrative staff, administrators, and our families that we return home to at the end of the day. Instead of allowing myself to jump into a full-blown panic attack (I’m sure that’s on the horizon, anyway!), I’m thinking about my concerns and how I can address them a little bit at a time. Here’s my plan for encouraging collaboration in our classroom, whether that be face-to-face, virtual, or some funky hybrid, this fall.

BOARD Time with Jamboard
Early last school year, I introduced a new activity to my students that was designed to encourage reflection and collaboration. I felt that my classroom was too quiet after my students had worked their way through instruction – man, if you would have told me 13 years ago that I would be looking for an activity because my classroom was too quiet, I would have called you crazy! Through BOARD time (more about that here) I’m able to encourage collaboration, reflection, and utilize a few lovely strategies outlined by Dr. Marzano, specifically showing similarities and differences, and non-linguistic representations, all while having fun. Have you ever asked your students to create a non-linguistic representation of the Great Compromise or the Electoral College? The creations students produce during BOARD time are just fantastic. In case we’re not able to collaborate this year using a community dry erase board and dry erase markers (I really don’t see that happening) Jamboard is a great collaborative alternative that will allow my students to use all of the great features of BOARD time in a more hygienic environment. More about Jamboard in a later post!

Padlet Shelf (Column) Collaboration
If you’ve followed my blog, you know that I just love Padlet. I do. Yes, people, myself included, freaked out a few years ago when Padlet started charging for just a few “padlets,” but it’s just a fantastic tool. Yes, I use the free version and the premium version (I have an account for my work as a high school teacher, one for my work as a college professor, and one for my blogging, speaking, presenting, and consulting work), and if I run out of space, I simply archive or delete a padlet I haven’t used in a bit, and free up some space! If you’ve explored Padlet, you know that they offer users many different options for how teachers display their “wall,” but our classroom favorite is the “shelf” or column option. This allows … ding, ding, ding … you guessed it! Easy collaboration! I set up the column titles, send the link to my students, and they collaborate with their classmates digitally on the same topic. Check out the image below for a visual 🙂

Google Meet — Updates, coming soon!
Last week, Google announced some ah-mazing updates coming this fall to Meet. One of the great things about Google is that they really do listen to teacher feedback! Sometimes, it just takes a bit 😉 If, let’s be honest, when we have to shift from in-person to online, the new updates to Meet will be pretty great. According to this post from Google, we can expect background images (this may seem trivial, but think of our students who may not feel comfortable of sharing their homelife in front of their classmates!), the ability to turn off chat during Meets, a hand-raising option, a whiteboard, AND the ability to form breakout groups. WOOOHOOO! Yes, I know Zoom already has many of these options, but some schools may have Zoom blocked for students and/or teachers. These new additions, specifically the whiteboard (through Jamboard integration) and breakout groups will definitely help increase collaboration during virtual learning!

How do you plan to encourage collaboration in the virtual classroom? Or, in a socially-distanced, face-to-face classroom, for that matter? I’d love to hear your thoughts!

Thanks for reading 🙂

 

MUST-HAVE Chrome Extension

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Hey, all! I hope you’re doing well! Summer has officially started in the Petty family, and we’re well, basically not doing anything differently than we were during self-isolation. If we’re able to safely have in-person classes this fall (fingers crossed!) I’ll need to retrain my teacher bladder and grow accustomed to NOT taking an afternoon nap 🙂 During our time at home, I’ve been searching for new tools and tips I can share with you, and I’ve stumbled upon one that you can use to jazz up just about anything – Emoji Keyboard!

That’s right! I know, as educators, we’re not supposed to get caught up in the bells and whistles, pretty fonts, or, in this case, emojis. But, goodness gracious, adding an emoji to assignments, directions, or topics and titles in Google Classroom can add familiarity, clarity, and fun!

While there are many great emoji extensions, my personal favorite is Emoji Keyboard by Joy Pixels! By adding this extension to your Chrome browser, you can easily add emojis in just about anything like this –> 🦄 By selecting the auto-copy feature from the settings wheel, users can copy the selected emoji to their clipboard without actually using a copy feature! Pretty cool, right?!

I’ll be adding emojis to my Google Classroom topics to help draw student attention to specific units, activities, and important documents. Anything I can do to engage students, I’ll do! Even if that is just using an emoji on Google Classroom 😉

How do you use emojis in your classroom? What are your favorite Chrome extensions?

Here are a few of my must-haves!

Thanks for reading 🙂