Text to Speech on your Chromebooks

CAN I GET A LITTLE HELP?!

Wouldn't it be great to throw a life raft to struggling readers and ESL/ELL students? Okay, perhaps it's more of a set of arm floaties. Nonetheless, Read&Write for Google, SpeakIt, and Announcify are pretty excellent extensions to help not only struggling readers, but also a unique way to have students self-edit their essays. 

In a short video, Eric Curts (http://www.controlaltachieve.com) defines 3 great text to speech extensions available in the Chrome Web Store. Further down, his blog post illustrates ways to use these extensions with your students (assistance in reading, self-editing of their essays, ELL/ESL students). 

Some thoughts: 

1. Read&Write for Google Chrome is especially good for elementary students and struggling readers, as it reads the text highlighted (yes, even on a Google Doc!) but also highlights individual words as it reads them. 
2. Idea for foreign language: translate your document to Spanish, then choose your Read&Write for Google Extension and select Espanol voice. Students can hear/see proper pronunciation. 
3. Bring the Focus! - Announcify will blur out the paragraphs not being read, so students can focus on the text being read. (Caution: it will not read just the text highlighted, but rather the entire passage, from start of the page. You can skip ahead, however). 

CK12.org resources integrate with Google Classroom

If you're not familiar with CK12.org, it is a math- and science-centric site with tons of learning activities and resources for all grade levels. Recently (a couple months ago) they announced their integration with Google Classroom. To do so--  find a lesson you like, click the Share button, choose Email, and you'll be taken to a prompt that includes the share to Google Classroom option. So swell!

For example, Location on the Earth examines longitude and latitude in interactive lessons, quiz, and readings. http://www.ck12.org/earth-science/Location-on-the-Earth/ 

Find the arrow at the bottom right of the resource you want to Share, choose Email and then choose Google Classroom to easily share that component with your students on Classroom. 

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Collaborative Classroom - Discussions

Classroom discussions are as tried and true as any classroom practice. Additionally, by giving students the opportunity to write/type their response to discussions and share them with their peers, they become not only accountable for knowing the material, but engaged in critical thinking as they examine their knowledge or opinion of the topic from different points of view.

To this end,  I recently came across the Collaborize Classroom site, designed for grades 1-12.  This resource allows you to engage your students in collaborative discussions. You can set up your own website; students then go to your newly created URL and become part of your online collaborative classroom. However - isn't this exactly what our Schoology Discussions and Google Classroom allows us to do? Sure is.  So--here's a bit of a hack to this concept. Go to the Library area and you can dig into questions by subject or grade level. Here you'll find thought provoking questions you can post to your Schoology Discussions board, Google Classroom, or for lower grades, simply have an oral group discussion (an example from the site is below). The site encourages you to sign up with a classroom roster, but you can certainly peruse their Library for topic ideas.

Relatedly, here's an interesting read from Edutopia regarding whole class discussions with concepts, steps, and a li'l quiz to gauge your understanding of concepts.

The Most Dangerous Game Discussion

Think about it:

In our selection, Rainsford and General Zaroff believe it is hunting, both humans and animals that is the most dangerous game. But, in our society what is the most dangerous game we, as humans, play? We play a lot of different games. We play sports (football, hockey). We have wars, date, and try to meet new people. Think about the “game” in our society that can burn us the most?

Instructions:

What is the most dangerous “game” in our society? In the reply box below describe the “game” that you believe is the most dangerous in society and convince our group of your position. Once you have posted your response, read and reply thoughtfully to at least 2 other members of the class. Compliment strong additions to the list, ask questions, and build on ideas shared.

Remember:

This is meant to be a persuasive. You are to make me believe that your “game” is the worst we as a human race come in contact with.

Fifteen things every teacher could try this year

Great blog post from http://www.teachthought.com/technology/the-bare-minimum-of-technology-integration/
I do hate the word 'should', however; rather, 'could' is a better verb.
Many of our teachers have tried at least one of these. Great job to all our staff for embracing technology, rolling with the punches, and SHAKING IT OFF!

The Bare Minimum Of Technology Integration

The Bare Minimum Of Learning Technology

by TeachThought Staff

What is the bare minimum of learning technology integration in a classroom?

Does it depend on nation, grade level, or content area? Socioeconomic status? Culture? Prevailing local technology use?

Though many teachers remain against reckless #edtech integration, the conversation is clearly shifting from should technology play a central role in the learning process to how should technology be used to promote learning? Inspired by a list she saw from @austin_gagnier8, @sylviaduckworth set out to itemize 15 things every teacher should try this year. Working her graphics magic, the above image is the result.

But while the original title of the image (and the collection of ideas it illustrate) works well, looking at it more closely, it was dominated by technology use–less about planning and learning models and teaching strategies and grouping activities or unit planning templates, and more about technology.

In that light, we felt like it represented another kind of idea–a bare minimum of technology integration in an average classroom. What might be considered a kind of basic standard for education technology in 2016? In theory, it’s not necessary to have any degree of education technology at all, though even that depends on your content area’s academic standards. (Here is exactly what the Common Core standards say about technology, for example.) And though numbers 5, 9, and 10 don’t absolutely require learning technology, they’d be all the better with its (strategic) integration.

But in 2016, it’s becoming more and more difficult to (rationally) avoid its application.

15 Examples Of What Could Be Considered The Bare Minimum Of Learning Technology

1. Create a class website
2. Create a class YouTube Channel
3. Create a class twitter account and make international accounts
4. Get your students blogging
5. Find other classes to collaborate with on projects
6. Do mystery Skypes/Google Hangouts
7. Invite expert guests via live video conferencing
8. Code with your students
9. Do Genius Hour with your students
10. Gamify your classroom
11. Strive for a paperless classroom (here are 26 iPad apps for a paperless classroom)
12. Create digital portfolios
13. Automate quizzes with Google Forms
14. Use Google Forms for student check-in and exit slips

Take a field trip and leave the bus driver at home

Sign up to take a virtual field trip with your class with Skype Fieldtrips. Teachers choose a trip from a variety of subject areas: animals, American Indians, authors, museums, etc. 

Just sign up for a field trip, and sign in to Skype or create a new account. Your students will be able to talk to a live expert: collaborate, communicate, use critical thinking skills, and flatten your classroom--all in one fell swoop. 

You can also sign up for a Mystery Skype tour. Students ask questions to find out where in the world you are Skyping to (I know, Sheri; don't end sentence in a preposition). You can also sign up to have YOUR class be the Mystery location.

If you go on the magical mystery tour, here's a great blog post with questions to get your students started. 

Integrating some technology

Elementary: From what I gather, many of you are choosing to keep your students in the classroom more this year than in years past.  
(High School: Lots of great tools in this video for you as well)

To that end, I came across this video from the S'More Technology blog that speaks exactly to that format. It's 20 minutes long, but well worth the time! 

http://librarylearners.com/smore-tech-week-1-tech-in-learning-centers/ 

So many great ideas, including many suggestions that teachers here are already using. 

Some highlights: 

Using Padlet to capture student artifacts (videos, text, links, photos) all gathered on one wall on which students can collaborate and create. padlet.com 

Using Voice - apps like Vocaroo capture student voice, as many students have more to say than write;) Vocaroo.com. Also useful if you want to include your recorded instructions at your centers. You can grab the link from Vocaroo and paste in your Google Classroom stream.

Student-centered news and stories: Sites like Newsela provide news stories at various lexile. Each lexile has it's own URL, so can assign individual stories to your learners based on their lexile. 

Wonderopolis.org has the Wonder of the Day, complete with videos, vocabulary words and a quiz. E.g. Water Witching http://wonderopolis.org/wonder/what-is-water-witching 

Uniteforliteracy.com has a handful of books that read to students. 

TheKidShouldSeeThis.com - Smart videos for curious minds - by subject. E.g. Up close fast fiddler - How a Violin is Played: http://thekidshouldseethis.com/post/speedy-street-violinist-an-up-close-look-at-how-a-violin-is-played 

Google Slides: Have students create a Google Slide, or assign through your Classroom. The Slide becomes their ongoing Journaling throughout the year. Each slide is a day of the week. Or, have one Google Slide show and student are assigned one slide on which to provide feedback or a vocabulary word, etc. Then, you have one Slideshow to share with the entire class, and each had a part in making it. 

So many more great ideas in that short video. I encourage you to subscribed or bookmark his blog too: learninginhand.com 

If you have any upcoming lessons, or ideas, or are thinking, "I wish I could do this (better)", please let me know! 

As he states, "Centers don't always need tech to be successful"

However, if you want to incorporate some, these suggestions are a good way to start. 

Don't Panic

I hope that when we start thinking about the vast capabilities that our Chromebooks and iPads will allow us next year, a feeling of panic and anxiety doesn't set in. Think about your classroom. Create instructional goals for your students, and we will work with the technology to support those goals. 

Examples: 

In my class I want more time to work with students

In my class I want my students to write better and provide feedback

In my class I want to assess student understanding without having to rely on grading

In my class I want students to collaborate on their assignments

Start with:

In my class...

My students struggle with...

The biggest instructional need in my class is...

Guidelines for creating these goals: 

1. Be specific

2. Focus on learning, NOT technology

3. Think in terms of a 1-year timeline.

We can then tie technology to those instructional goals. Technology is here to help you reach your classroom and teaching goals; not replace your teaching with a computer :) 

You have Atomic Learning set up with your district username and password. Use it! It's a vast resource of not only specific apps, but also pedagogical training, and more. 

http://www.atomiclearning.com/k12/target-instructional-needs-atomic-learning