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Teaching with Technology

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

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Back to School Planning: Edpuzzle in the Classroom

July 28, 2018 by Bethany Leave a Comment

Hello, and happy Saturday! I hope you’re having a great week and are enjoying the last few days of summer vacation. If you’re like me, you probably aren’t quite sure what day of the week it is, but you know that it’s most likely not August – #teachersummer – am I right?! In keeping with my back to school planning series, I’m sharing one of my ABSOLUTE FAVORITE tools today – Edpuzzle. If you’ve read my blog over the last few years (thanks!) you know that I’m a huge fan of Edpuzzle and use it daily in my modified flipped classroom. Edpuzzle has recently enjoyed a makeover and you may find yourself searching for some necessary features – like the assign button! No worries, you can still assign videos – multiple videos at once – through the sleek, redesigned Edpuzzle page.

Check out the video below that details Edpuzzle’s new look – and please ignore the sound of my children playing and cackling in the background 🙂

As I’ve shared before, my students use this great tool daily in our classroom to view and interact with instructional videos. I love the fact that I can not only monitor their progress individually and as a class on each video, but can also provide quick and effective feedback on embedded formative assessment throughout the video. This allows me to provide more individualized help and instruction to my students – it’s awesome!

Learn more about using Edpuzzle in Chapter 1 of Illuminate!

Be sure to sign up for the Illuminate: Technology Enhanced Learning giveaway! I’ll be giving away a signed copy of Illuminate every 7 days through August 18 … click here for more details.

Thanks for reading 🙂

Filed Under: educational technology Tagged With: edpuzzle, Engage, Explore

Flipped Learning and HyperDocs: Reflections from my Classroom

April 3, 2018 by Bethany Leave a Comment

Hello, friends! I’m coming to you this evening from my desk in our basement on the evening before I head back to work after our extremely brief, but much needed, Easter break. Next year, my district will be adopting a new calendar that allows us to count hours instead of days, which means we will be at school more minutes but fewer days. This means that my eleventh year of teaching will finally include a “Spring Break” week … I haven’t had that since my college days! Woohoo! As we enter April, I think it’s a great time to reflect upon changes that I’ve made in my classroom, changes that will be made, and how the most important people in the room – my students – are learning.

I was fortunate enough to attend and share at two great conferences in February. I LOVE presenting and learning at great conferences because I get to connect with so many amazing educators that I wouldn’t get to meet otherwise. My session topics ranged from “It’s not about the tech; it’s how you use it!”, to “Flipping the Flip,” to “Creating Engaging Lessons using Nearpod.” In the first two presentations, I talked a lot about my version of the flipped classroom and how we use HyperDocs in Social Studies. Many educators I talked with after my sessions asked if I would feel comfortable with other teachers observing how we do things in my classroom, and my response is always YES! My classroom door is always open!

Later this week, my students will be diving into the Missouri Constitution, then the Judicial Branch, and finally Political Parties, Elections, and Voting. We’re nearing the end! Our unit HyperDocs follow this pattern:

  • Engage – students familiarize themselves with learning targets, view quick videos, play games relating to the topics we’re learning, go on virtual field trips with Google Earth, etc. They’re required to post on a Padlet, a Google Form, or an Answer Garden something that they’ve learned about the topic.
  • Explore – on this step, students create Quizlet flashcards to for unit vocabulary and can use text or digital resources to do so. If students are “looking for something to do” throughout the duration of the unit, they can review their flashcards as well.
  • Explain – here, students complete instructional videos through EDpuzzle. They are required to take notes as they progress through the videos, but I’m not a stickler for how they do so. Some students prefer to take notes digitally, others would rather use a notebook, and others like to sketchnote.
  • Apply – this step requires students to apply their knowledge of concepts learned throughout the unit while creating a product that demonstrates their understanding. Students create infographics, eBooks, screencasts, essays, digital conversations, flipbooks, mindmaps, etc. The main points in this step are that students are required to choose how they will create a representation of the concepts they’ve learned and that they will apply the concepts. This is where students don’t necessarily struggle, but like me less, we’ll say. The “apply” section requires them to explain and apply their knowledge of, for example, the 22nd Amendment’s limits on executive power. It’s not enough that they know what the 22nd Amendment does … I also want them to be able to discuss how this amendment limits presidents, provide examples of what this amendment looks like in action, etc. Basically – I make them think more about the concepts their learning.
  • Review/Reflect – this section includes reflection Padlets (reflection topics include: what did you learn? What should we review? Digital study sessions, etc.), review Kahoots and Quizizz games, review videos, etc. Anything that will help them review the content they’ve learned throughout the unit.
  • Extend – this phase is FUN! Activities in this phase are totally optional, but if students complete them, they can earn bonus XP (I’ll revisit my XP system soon!). Activities in the Extend phase require students to contact elected representatives, create Hashtags through History, create their own Cabinets, etc. It’s awesome!

Students work asynchronously through the HyperDoc. Per their request, we establish specific due dates for completing videos, the apply section, extend activities, etc. While the students are working, I’m answering individual questions, re-explaining concepts to small groups, or providing feedback on student responses via EDpuzzle. When the HyperDoc activities are complete, students work on their unit study guide. The day before the exam, we play a variety of review games and I encourage students to participate in digital study session through Padlet.

That’s it! This is how our Government units are structured!

How do you use HyperDocs in your classroom?

Thanks for reading 🙂

Filed Under: educational technology Tagged With: Engage, Explore, Extend, Flipped Learning, HyperDocs, Reflect, review

Using the New “Explore” feature in GAfE Programs

September 30, 2016 by Bethany Leave a Comment

A recent update made by Google to Docs, Slides and Sheets is causing quite a stir in the EdTech community! If you or your students were fans of the “Research” function, you may have noticed this morning that it has been replaced by “Explore.” Don’t be alarmed! Here’ a quick rundown of how to use the new feature, what I like about it, and what I’m adding to the feedback option to be changed!

To launch Explore in Docs, Slides, or Sheets, simply select the small star icon in the bottom right corner of the screen.

explore-3Explore allows users to access outside information based on search terms … web resources and images, as well as Drive files.

explore-2

In Sheets, Explore allows users to ask a question about their spreadsheet data and drag and drop a variety of charts and graphs in the Sheet.

spreadsheet-1

In Slides, Explore provides users with suggested layouts based on their slide content.

slides-2

A huge concern for fans of “Research” is that “Explore” does not include citations for sources that are referenced. Also, no option is given to filter images by license. However, if users insert and image instead of using the Explore tool, images are listed that are “labeled for commercial reuse with modification.”

Hopefully, the citation feature will be added soon … and judging by the resources I’ve read today, MANY users have suggested this in their feedback!

explore-gafe

On a separate note … I’m excited to share the I am a Google for Education Certified Trainer! Yippee! I’ll be hosting a giveaway soon to celebrate! I can’t wait to work with some awesome educators! And…I’m a tad excited to add that pretty new badge to my emails and blog 🙂

Thanks for reading!

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Filed Under: Google Apps for Education, Google Docs, Google Sheets, Google Slides Tagged With: Explore, GAFE, Google Docs, Google Sheets, Google Slides

Welcome to Teaching with Technology!

Hi! I'm Bethany, an early 30 something wife and mother of two. I'm a full time high school Social Studies teacher, an avid reader, runner, and shopper. I love using technology in my flipped, blended, and gamified classroom. Look for tools, tips, and reflections from my classroom. Thanks for stopping by!

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