Teaching with Technology

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

Wireless Projecting with Google Meet

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Happy Saturday, friends! I’m coming to you from my second cup of coffee and after my 25th Miracle Morning! I know I’ve said that I’ll share my thoughts on it, and I will, but I’m trying to tread water right now! I know you all know exactly how I feel. Trying to balance work, school, family, and taking care of my mental and physical health is no small feat! Fortunately, we were off yesterday which was a great break. I took TWO NAPS. Before heading to my youngest daughter’s basketball game, I wanted to share a quick tip with you, in case you’re like me and really missing the Google Cast for Education extension, or don’t have a wireless way (say that three times fast!) to project your iPad to your smartboard/whiteboard.

First of all, please tell me I wasn’t alone in having an ABSOLUTE MELTDOWN this summer when I read the email from Google saying that they were discontinuing the Share to Classroom and Google Cast for Education extensions? I used the Share to Classroom extension every single day. It was an amazing resource for sharing information directly with my students, even if we weren’t in the same room. While I used the Google Cast for Education less frequently, it provided an easy way to easily project any device directly to my smartboard, which is connected to my desktop.

Ok, enough venting. Back to the tip!

If you would like to cast a device to your projector, try using Google Meet. Sounds weird, right? Google Meet is a video conferencing tool! Yes, but … through that video conferencing tool, you can share your screen! Here’s how it works:

  1. Open a Google Meet on your desktop computer. Either invite yourself to the Meet through email, or give the Meet a nickname.
  2. Open Google Meet on your more portable device – for me, this is my iPad. Then, join the Meet you created on your desktop with either the nickname or by the email invitation.
  3. MUTE YOURSELF ON YOUR PORTABLE DEVICE. Yup, that’s a huge tip. Otherwise, you’ll hear a super annoying echo. Also, you’ll want to make sure you’re away from your desktop to, once again, avoid that super annoying echo.
  4. Share your screen – if you’re using an iPad like me, then you’ll be able to start the broadcast (dialogue box pops up with this option on your iPad) and start presenting your screen. WARNING – this will present everything on your iPad screen!

That’s it! When you’re ready to yield the screen back to your other device, just click stop broadcasting/sharing.

Wouldn’t it be easier if Google didn’t take away Google Cast for Education? UGH

I hope this helps!

Thanks for reading 🙂

3 Ways to Customize Google Classroom

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Good morning, all! Happy Wednesday! I’m coming to you today from my kitchen table – no, I’m not sick and neither are my kids! Today, I’m fortunate enough to present a seminar to amazing teachers on the West Coast about how they can use Google Classroom (and other awesome tools) to strengthen their Social Studies instruction. Even though I’m presenting my presentation from the comfort of my office in our basement (hello, comfy leggings!) the conference time zone is Pacific, and I’m in Central. So … I’m enjoying some much needed “me time” while I’m waiting for the seminar to begin. One of the many topics I’m sharing with participants today is how you can customize your Google Classroom sections. I figured I’d share some tips with all of you, too!

CUSTOM HEADER
Creating customized Google Classroom headers really isn’t a “new” thing, but the way teachers have customized Classroom headers over the last few months is definitely amazing! In order to draw attention to specific items in Classroom, such as “check Classwork for your assignments & activities!” teachers have customized headers to include a virtual dry-erase board. This, coupled with a neat picture (mine is of the ocean) and a Bitmoji (of course!), teachers are able to direct students to assignments and activities, remind students and their guardians of important items, and more just through a custom header. Click here if you’d like to use my template to customize a header for your students!

EMOJIS
I wonder if future historians will look back on our current use of emojis and compare them to ancient hieroglyphics? Hmmm … Regardless, emojis have most definitely become part of our vocabulary when we communicate, whether through text message, social media post, or … items on Classroom! Yes! Teachers can use great emoji sites and extensions, such as this one, to draw attention to specific topics/assignments/questions/materials so their students can easily reference these resources. To add the emojis into Classroom (topics, assignments, etc.,) simply copy the emoji and paste it into Classroom. That’s it! 

FUN FONTS
I’ve been experimenting with this all morning – Google Classroom is awesome, but I’m a fan of mixing things up when it comes to fonts. Call me crazy, but a good font can bring a smile to my face. One of the only things I don’t love about Classroom is that I can’t customize my fonts. Come on, Google! If you’d like to customize your font on your topics, assignments, etc., on Classroom, check out one of these resources. When updating fonts, be sure to copy and paste directly into Classroom. That’s it!

What are your favorite ways to customize Google Classroom? Let me know!

Thanks for reading 🙂

Teaching with TikTok: Connections, Engagement, and Impact

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Happy Sunday, all! This weekend has been full of basketball games for both of my daughters, club volleyball open gym for my oldest, smooches and hugs from my two-year-old nephews, and, of course, tons of coffee 🙂 I even napped today AND yesterday. Get outta town! Next weekend includes at least one, maybe two soccer tournaments for my oldest daughter, and a basketball game for each of them. I’m so thankful for my tribe of family and friends that help me taxi and cheer on my daughters as they participate in all of their fantastic activities! Did I mention I’m also starting my school law class? Ya, I’m totally fine 🤣 Today, I’m sharing with you how I’m using a popular social media platform to connect with students all over the world. Yup, that’s right. I’m on TikTok and I’m using it to connect with and engage my students in content, to continue my goal of making a positive impact.

Before I get into my entry into the world of TikTok, let me share a reflection with you about my “why” for becoming a teacher. I vividly remember thinking as I was preparing for my first interview as a teacher, how I would answer the obvious question that would undoubtedly be asked: why did you want to become a teacher? My response? I want to make an impact – a contribution. What better way to do that than become a teacher?

Fast forward 13 years (13 years??!?!?!?!) to today. I’m known throughout my school as the crazy teacher who drinks too much coffee and sings cringy songs about Government so her students can remember the concepts. Over the last few years, I’ve created many “raps” (I use that term VERY loosely) to help my students remember everything from constitutional principles, landmark cases, and types and systems of government. These raps are often set to the tune of a common song (Mary Had a Little Lamb, etc.,) that students know and are “catchy.” Then, throw in some easy to remember lyrics that describe the content, coupled with my cringy dance moves and just plain silliness, and you have a Petty Wap Rap! Yes, my students bestowed the name upon me a few years ago and I wear it as a badge of honor 🙂

Last Spring, as we were preparing for Spring Break, unknowingly preparing for virtual learning, my students and I found ourselves in a bit of a funk. As I was singing one of my songs one day to sprinkle a bit of fun into our 3rd Quarter-Final review, one of my students said, “you should put these on TikTok, Mrs. Petty!” The rest of the class erupted into “yes! Do it!” I saw their excitement and enthusiasm, and I couldn’t let them down. Also, any ounce of shame I had already vanished sometime after the birth of my youngest daughter, and I think my classroom has been better for it. So, I made a TikTok account and added my first video.

My students LOVED IT!

It took me back to the reason I started putting my “raps” on YouTube – that was the place my students were in the world of social media. That was the place where I could reach my students – to make progress toward my goal of making a positive impact.

So … yes, I’m on TikTok. I uploaded a video on Friday about Marbury v Madison – a landmark case that students in my Government class had just learned about, and apparently so had tons of other students in Law, AP Government, AP US History, and Civics classes around the world. The views, comments, and follows I’ve gotten since Friday have blown me away. TikTokers are asking me to make video raps for other landmark cases, concepts and time periods in American History, and asking why I couldn’t have popped up on their FYP (for you page) earlier so they could have passed their assessment!

What was my purpose in becoming a teacher? To make a positive impact and contribute. While creating a TikTok account and sharing cringy songs about Government concepts might be a weird way to do so, I think it’s helping me achieve my goal.

Are you on TikTok? Be sure to follow me @pettywapedu and follow the #teachersoftiktok hashtag!

Have an awesome week! Thanks for reading 🙂

Remote Learning Students in Google Classroom

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Happy Thursday, friends! I feel like I’m coming to you from my second “Miracle Morning” and I’m feeling great! Yesterday, I was able to get in a workout, Bible journaling, wash, dry, AND fix my hair — whaaat??! — and I felt like I started my day off on the right foot. Today is my rest day (I’m working on actually taking those!) so I’m coming to you from my second activity (3rd if you count drinking coffee 😜) to share a quick tip about how I’m juggling remote learners (those in quarantine) in Google Classroom.

Juggling … I think that’s an appropriate word to describe teaching in 2020. Don’t you?

When I receive information that a student or group of students will out on quarantine for a period of time (this seems to vary considerably) I use the option in Google Classroom to individualize announcements, assignments, questions, etc., and share a “task list” of sorts with those students for the day. This allows me to share specific activities for the students to complete for the day while they’re outside of the classroom.

You may ask, “why do you take this extra step, Bethany? Why don’t you tell the students to complete the assignments that you share?”

Well … sometimes, students might need a focused, itemized list to complete, as opposed to assignments just appearing at 7:45 in the morning. If you’re like me, I like to know what’s expected of me during a class period, and I like to KNOW when I’m done, so to speak. These task lists give my students that luxury. Also, we all know learning from home is different (like WAY different) than learning in the classroom. In the classroom, you have the benefit of your teacher standing beside you, guiding you along the way, whether that’s through an objective or an assignment. At home during remote learning, students have their Chromebook and (we hope) a bit of motivation!

I’ve also found it helpful to post the task list as a material instead of an assignment to avoid confusion among students. You could also share the task list as an announcement on the stream – I prefer the material option because I can easily organize what I share with my students using Topics on Classwork.

Another option I’ve considered for remote learners is to create a second section in Google Classroom. As students “go on” remote learning, I could add them to the Google Classroom section and then remove them when they return to school. However, I would use this section in Classroom almost like a message board – which is what I’m doing by using the option to select specific students to share task lists with in Classroom … hmmm … Either way works!

I hope your school year is off to a great start!

Thanks for reading 🙂

“Conversation Stations” in a High School Class

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Happy FRIDAY!! We made it to the end of another week, folks! I don’t feel like I’ve sat down since school started, between taxiing my kids back and forth to all of their after school (wearing masks and socially distanced, of course) activities so I TOOK A DAY OFF TODAY. That’s right. I took a day off! I took my daughters to a local bakery for donuts before school, went to Chapel with them this morning, and will head in to pick them up from their half-day soon. We’ll be having lunch with some friends, then will come back and rest, I’ll head downstairs for a workout and/or a run, before picking up my 2-year-old nephew for a fun sleepover tonight! All of these things help my heart be happy and recharge so I can be my best for my students next week. Teacher mental health is a real thing, friends, and we all too often sweep it under the rug. It’s ok to think about your well-being! Today, I’m sharing an idea that I tried with my high school students yesterday, which involved giant post-it notes, sharpies, pencils, duct tape, QR Codes, Chromebooks, and cell phones. What in the world could it be? I’m glad you asked! Check out our “conversation stations” activity!

First, no this isn’t the first time I’ve tried stations in my classroom. A few years ago, I set up stations around my classroom for my students. In true station-style, they were supposed to rotate from place to place. I thought it was a beautiful, fool-proof plan! However, because I was only requiring my students to use their school-provided Chromebooks, the idea of actually moving from place to place was kind of lost. One of my students raised his hand and said, “yo, Mrs. Petty, can we just stay in one spot? Since we have all of the stuff already?”

While I’m sure I deflated a bit, he had a point. I was basically asking them to carry their Chromebook from place to place to do something that they could do at their desks. 🤦🏼‍♀️

So … we tried something different yesterday. Instead of providing them with ALL tech activities to complete, we did a “four-corners” strategy about each of our learning targets. Here’s what I wrote on each post-it note:

–> CORNER 1: “What we know …”
–> CORNER 2: “What we need to review …”
–> CORNER 3: “Examples of what we learned …”
–> CORNER 4: QR Code that led to a few formative assessment questions related to that learning goal.

I wrote one learning target in the middle of each post-it at each station, making sure that it was in learner-friendly language. Students worked in small cohorts, wearing masks, and proceeded through each station. We had three learning target stations placed throughout my classroom and in the hallway, and one Quizlet Live station where students could earn TONNNNNS of XP (experience points – check Chapter 8 of Illuminate: Technology Enhanced Learning for more info!) by competing against those in their cohort.

While my students were milling about, completing tasks at each station, I was buzzing from group to group, providing guidance, individualized instruction, and tech-support, as needed because, it’s 2020 🤣

The feedback that I got from students was AMAZING! They loved working in stations, reviewing specific concepts, and doing so collaboratively with their peers. The feedback they gave me on the post-it will be SUPER HELPFUL in creating a review for their assessment next week.

While this was a face-to-face activity, the four-corner post-it strategy could easily work in a virtual environment, as well, using Google Slides, Drawings, or Jamboard.

The activity from start to finish (my explanation – students completing each station) took about 45 minutes, which was perfect for our 50 minute class period!

Don’t you love when an activity turns out just like you envisioned?!

I’d love to learn about how you use stations in your classroom!

Thanks for reading 🙂