Less paper = more time

I had to bear with paperwork at the beginning of this school year for about 3 weeks longer than I wanted to. It took a week or two for the laptops to get set up, and I didn't want to throw the kids into too much stuff all at once, especially since they were adjusting to the laptops, new classes, new teachers, and a new schedule. So I have held back on making my life easier - but this week I took the first steps with my middle school students by using Google Docs for a few assignments.

Within Google Docs is a little item called "forms". It is a pretty easy way to just make a form (i.e. assignment). I embed my forms into my class wiki pages so the students can work on them there, but you can also easily email them to students as well (all high school students and many middle school students have emails - get their addresses!).

All you need to make a Google Doc is a Gmail address - if you have that you have a Google account. Just go to the menu up top and look for Documents. Once there, just click the "new" menu.

Choose "form" from there and begin to create yours (I always make my first question "Type your name here".) You can make fill in the blank, short answer, short essay response, and multiple choice forms quite easily. I can also pick a theme so the form isn't just a boring black and white screen.

I made the first assignment one that would be easy on my students, since this is the first time using an online form for most of them. I made a pretty straightforward vocabulary assignment and embedded it into the wikis for my 6th, 7th, and 8th grade English classes.

Today I introduced them to their new word lists like always, and then I took them to the assignments page and walked them through the basics of this form. I was very happy that unlike the paper/pencil assignments, they seemed pretty engaged in this - they were more focused on using their other tools like Visuwords to match up and try out their new vocabulary, and getting the correct responses typed into the form. Again - this was a pretty simple, straightforward type of assignment - but after using Google Docs daily, it won't be long before these kids are comfortable with anything!

Here is the best part for me - instead of a stack of notebook papers or worksheets wrinkled up, torn, and covered with scribbles and sometimes indecipherable middle school writing, and often put into the wrong inbox, I just get to see this lovely spreadsheet:

Isn't that a thing of beauty? Sure there are misspelled words - but I can read them! I can also compare them to others in the class and at a glance be able to see problems that students seemed to struggle with. Tomorrow in class, I will focus on those particular items, and not waste time on others that the students seem comfortable with.

The second a student hits the submit button at the bottom of the form, I get it in a spreadsheet with a timestamp! Isn't that cool? As I sit here at home tonight I can tab over to my Google Docs and see who has finished their homework tonight and how they've done on it!

Google Docs and forms makes formative assessment quick, simple, and pretty accurate. I know how to adjust and differentiate my instruction immediately from the feedback!

Use podcasts to make student assignments superfast!

I think I have blogged about this before, but I think this one's worth a repeat because it is such a huge time saver, not to mention a great way to differentiate instruction for your students. It's...podcasting! Contrary to popular belief, podcasts are not the domain of super-fancy special projects - they're everyday stuff. Making them is so so easy - easier than you can imagine, and believe it or not - faster than the way you are making your assignments right now!

First I'll tell you how I use it as a time-saver, and to differentiate, then I'll tell you how to do it.

Using podcasts as a time-saver:
A big way I use podcasts is instead of worksheets, plain and simple. If I want my students to answer questions about something, respond in a certain way, do a simple activity with a partner within the assignment, etc. a podcast is a quick and easy way to do this. I simply create a quick podcast then load it onto an iPod or 2 or 3. Making assignments this way is almost the equivalent of me sitting one-on-one with a student, and talking them through a series of activities. Sure you could do the same thing on a work sheet but that's soooo much typing, and for students that's soooo much reading - a major barrier for some.

Sure there are ways to make fabulous, glamorous podcasts - but what I'm talking about is simple, music-less, down and dirty, one-take kind of stuff. Students can easily make up a missed assignment without you having to repeat or recopy. Very easily adaptable for younger and older students, and a great way to introduce very young students to working independently. You can also easily read a children's book into a podcast and ta-da! You've created a listening center podcast for students to read with. Students can create them too!

Using podcasts to differentiate instruction:
I can make different podcasts for students quite easily - after all, I'm not typing up worksheets, I'm just talking for about 3 minutes per assignment. Students can respond to the activities on my podcast any way I direct them to - through writing, completing some kind of project, doing an activity or discussion with a partner, anything! Best of all, they can pause me and replay me as many times as they need. I can even lecture a little bit!

Quick! Create a podcast in 8 simple steps:
1. Open GarageBand, click "Create New Podcast Episode",

2. Name your project/assignment with an identifier you'll remember or recognize.

3. Once in your podcast screen don't be confused by all the bells and whistles - you won't need them. Just click on the head of "male voice" or "female voice" whichever applies to you.

4. Then click the round red button and start talking.

You don't have to be perfect, but have some idea of what order you are going to do things in. Make sure you state things clearly and pause a little. Make sure you say item numbers so students know when you are moving on to a new activity or problem. Pause for a second or two so they have a chance to pause the iPod.

5. Click the red button again when you're done.

6. Go up to the Share menu and click "send song to iTunes."

7. Name your playlist appropriately so you can save more than one thing to it in the future.

8. Once you've done this your podcast is on your iTunes. Simply go there and the next step is to just sync your "playlist" with your iPod like you normally would. That's it - done! Wasn't that easy?

Where to get iPods? I have saved a couple of my older ones - I use an old iPod Mini,
my last Nano I had before I got my iPhone,

and a 4G Nano I bought on ebay last year for $40.

Any old working iPod will do. How do I let more than one kid listen? I use Belkin splitters I picked up at Fred's for $20 each. They split to five inputs - so 3 iPods become 15!

Once you do this you will see how easy it is . It is so much faster than making worksheets or typing up assignments, and so much more versatile.

Starting the year with class blogs and wikis

For my class set up this year I have decided to use a combination of a "home" blog (using Blogger), and then linked wikis for each class. The home blog can have frequent general messages to students and parents about what's going on with the 1to1 laptops, and maybe some general info about my classes and expectations. That's where I also post the links to my class wikis in the sidebars. Over time, I'll add more widgets to the sidebar but for right now I'll start slow so that the kids and their parents can get used to the idea.


I've set up some simple wikis using Wikispaces for each class. Again, I'm taking this in baby steps - I haven't invited the kids to be "members" of the wikis yet - they are basically being used as web pages right now as I continue to add content. The kids simply go to those places for some class links, info, and assignments. The only pages I've added to those are a calendar page (Google Calendar), page for our current unit of study that has links, news, and assignments, and on some of them just some extra activity pages.


I foresee these becoming more dynamic and interactive as time goes on, but for now we'll just do one or two things at a time.

If you are interested in checking out what I've done so far, go to my class home blog and click the links on the right to see the classes. When you get to the class wikis, the menus are on the left to see other things besides the class home page.

I'd be interested to hear about other types of set-ups people are using for their classes with free open source stuff like Google and Wikispaces.

A teacher shares her flooding experience in Eagle

Ann Millard is the principal/teacher at Eagle School. During the course of the flood a couple of weeks ago, Ann was interviewed several times and her quotes appeared in the Fairbanks Daily News Miner.

Of course, Ann has been using her own camera to snap some shots of the event as it was occurring by her own home. She sent a few of those, which I put into a VoiceThread for people to view here. If you want to show these to your students, just pop this up on the overhead, or direct them to this site and they can just hit the arrows to view. If any of you have a VoiceThread account feel free to leave some comments or questions!

For more information and pictures of the flood in Eagle, you can visit this wiki on EagleFloodInfo.

Good resource to help you meet Alaska cultural standards

A great resource I stumbled across earlier this year is called Alaskool. It's a site chockfull of online materials about Alaska Native history, education, languages and cultures. Alaskool is actually a project developed by the Alaska Native Curriculum and Teacher Development Project (ANCTD). Teams of teachers, elders, and community members across Alaska came together with university-based specialists to develop this curriculum.

This is really in-depth curriculum, and as far as authentic - this is the real deal - not an Alaska curriculum developed by someone who doesn't really know Alaska. There are modules, projects, units, and individual lessons that address all grade levels, all Eskimo and Alaska Native tribes, and huge variety of cultural studies. Back in February I also blogged about another site for studying Alaska History. Alaskool ranks right up there in quality with that particular resource!

For those who think they really know Alaska studies, Alaskool is bound to give you something new. I cannot stress enough the depth and quality of these lessons and units - they are well thought out and just fantastic!

One of the aspects of the site I really like is the aide and support it gives to new teachers and teachers new to Alaska in terms of working in new cultures, and also using their vast resources to write their own custom units that are suited to their unique situations.

One downside is that it doesn't look like the site is being updated any longer, but it was built on a grant from the Department of Education and sometimes those lag a little between funding. However, the information is still very current and very relevant. There are many activities and discussion suggestions for classrooms regarding such issues as AFN, Molly Hootch, and a number of other topical issues. It would be easy to use these as a jumping off point to get into newer current events affecting rural Alaska, and Alaska Natives.

Some of the content areas on Alaskool with resources are land claims, education, languages, government, traditional life, subsistence, biographies. and literature. There are also supplemental modules such as regional studies, timelines, outposts, maps, and a great audio/visual library.
Alaskool is one of the top resource sites I have found with in-depth, authentic lessons and units on Alaska and Alaska cultural studies - I have been cherry picking from it quite a bit this year, and intend to do that and a lot more with it next year as well.

More helpful information about Eagle flooding

For those of you who have been watching the news, talking to friends, and reading this blog, by now you know about the terrible situation in Eagle. Conditions on the Yukon are still treacherous as the river has so much ice piling up that has yet to break loose.

Local resident and a retired colleague from Alaska Gateway, John Rusyniak, has sent out this email to some Tok residents. I'm copying his email here in its entirety so that people know what is happening in terms of local efforts to give aide and relief, as well as some FEMA efforts, which are apparently beginning.

Here is John's email message:

Tok Residents,
I've been in touch with a number of people in Eagle. I've learned some things and will be moving forward to help.

What I've Learned:

• A large number of people are homeless
• The Community reeks of diesel oil from dislodged fuel tanks
• Many private wells are contaminated
• The City well is still ok
• People had to leave their homes - many with just the shirts on their backs
• This has effected not only the Old Village, but it's up to the New Village as well
• They will need help - but not so much yet
• Paul Kelly is heading to Eagle this AM with a load of supplies
• Francine Lee is arranging another load to leave at 4pm today
• FEMA has been contacted and Jack Turk is taking a load up for them
  

http://www.nationalparkstraveler.com/2009/05/floods-sweeping-gateways-yukon-charley-rivers-national-preserve

Eagle Village is located about 3-4 miles from the NPS field headquarters in Eagle. Floodwaters have damaged or destroyed many buildings in the village. Additionally, within Eagle at least two employee homes have had water damage and one of them had water up to the second story of their home. An estimated 10 homes in Eagle had been damaged or destroyed, and an estimated 30 of the area's 125 residents were homeless Tuesday morning.

http://www.nationalparksgallery.com/park_news/8198

Actions I'm taking:

• As soon as the bank opens I"m going to see if an account has been set up there for donations
• If not I'll get one set up and send out details later or just check with the bank
• I've offered to be a point of contact to organize work crews when they are needed and can do something
  

If you have any additional information or questions please contact me.

John


John A. Rusyniak
PO Box 122
Tok, Alaska 99780
907-883-3124 Home
206-724-4591 Cell
305-425-7901 Fax

Make your students aware of nearby flooding in Eagle!

We in AGSD are devasted by the news of the flooding that has hit Eagle, destroying the old village and wreaking havoc on the nearby community of Eagle. The school has become a haven of sorts - a high ground where many are escaping the devastation and dangerous flood waters.

Although we (adults) are all aware of what is happening in Eagle right now, some of our students are not! Eagle is a neighboring community and part of our school district! Do your students a favor - take a few minutes to bring them up to speed with what has been happening to our neighbors in Eagle.

Here are a few recent news sites that provide the main facts of the story, as well as many pictures (News Miner, another News Miner, APRN, Anchorage Daily News). Ann Millard, the principal at Eagle School, has been interviewed by the News Miner in one of the articles.

Read the National Weather Service updates with your students, and look at Weather Underground forecasts for communities along the Yukon - they give frequent flood warning updates as well as all pertinent weather information.

Get your students on GoogleEarth and have them locate and trace the course of the Yukon River. Have them locate the communities of Eagle, Circle, and Fort Yukon. Use the data you find on the National Weather Service and Weather Underground and have students keep an eye on the news so as to be apprised of what may be happening next.

This kind of flooding has not happened in Eagle since early in the 1900's - a combination of heavy snow over the winter and extremely warm weather is mostly to blame for the extreme flooding that Eagle is experiencing.

Teachers - contact Ann Millard, Marlys House, or Marge McElfresh, our colleagues at Eagle School - ask them if there is anything we can do to help or get the word out about what is happening in Eagle.

Involve your students!

Instead of a blog, have your students try a Glog!

How many times have any of us assigned one of our favorite alternatives to papers? The one that will allow students to be creative, yet show us their learning - the poster. I know the poster has been a staple of my final project arsenal for years.

Well, I recently found a new FREE application that allows my students to create a poster on steriods - Glogster. Glogster is an online application in which you can make a Glog - which is the web equivalent of a poster. But it's different than a poster because you can add your own pictures or pictures from the web, movie clips, mp3 files like podcasts or music - anything! You (or your students) have instant access to all of the very best multimedia tools you could want to express an idea or opinion for display.

Glogster has a lot of benefits - students can always look at their Glogs on the site any time - and so can others - anyone with a Glogster account actually! Glogster is also a social platform. Kids can "friend" others on Glogster through interest in each other's Glogs. Although a Glog is just one poster, it can convey a powerful message. Many Glogsters begin to develop quite a reputation for a certain style of Glogs! You can also embed your Glogs in a wiki, blog, Facebook, MySpace - anything!

If you don't want to turn your students loose in the wide wild world of Glogster, there is an EDU version in which you can sign up for a teacher account and a set number of student accounts. You can sign up for accounts for just one class, all your classes, or even your whole school (up to 200 student accounts per teacher). This is a little extra work for teacher in that you have to enter your student names in each of the accounts you create. But Glogster sends you the passwords and verifications for each of the new accounts - you can simply give these to your students and keep the email. That way when a student forgets their password you have it. Another control factor of the EDU version of Glogster is that your students can't share and collaborate with the wide wild world - only the other students you sign up. Depending on your comfort level with this, the EDU version may be the one you want.

Either way, whether you go with the EDU version or have your students sign up for their own accounts, sign up is quick and easy, and you can begin building a Glog right away. Uploading images, video, and sound couldn't be easier, and Glogster offers an amazing pallet of backgrounds, frames and effects to choose from so that each Glog is as unique as possible.

I have had my French students making Glogs recently in which they are incorporating podcasts of French language conversations, music, and images. They are embedding these on our French class wiki. The kids are having a lot of fun with them, and several have mentioned that they would like to use Glogster in one or two of their other classes.

Below I've embedded 2 examples of Glogs from the main site (not my students' - theirs aren't done yet). The first is a fun weekly fact glog that allows the student who created it to make friends and interact in a fun creative way with people anywhere. I'm guessing this Glog will also provide her with lots of new food for thought! The second Glog is a tribute to a popular book and movie, "Twilight". This is a well put together fan tribute - a student who has lovingly and carefully compiled their favorite images and songs from the movie to convey their personal feelings about the story. Both of these Glogs are good examples of how Glogs can be interactive, creative, and show the voice of the student creating them.

To students, they are like the very best of MySpace and blogs combined! For teachers - they are a new and creative way to have our students get more engaged with what they are learning in class and personalize it.





Perusing the Glogster site you will see a lot of humor, a lot of silliness, some disturbing Glogs, and a healthy dose of teen angst. But what strikes you most is the amount of work, thought and creativity that has gone into most of these - the self expression is evident - and the possibilities are endless!

Our Students' Online Reality

A series of videos was published by PBS's Frontline earlier this year, beginning in January. The series was titled "Growing Up Online". The seven part series explores how the modern internet has transformed the experience of childhood.

The topics covered in this series include how much of a teen's life is lived online - and how much of that life is known to, or hidden from their parents. The second part of the series explores how school systems are trying to understand and relate to students who live lives outside of school that are often alien to their teachers. Several of the programs touch on some of the positives of this new online generation - one being the opportunity for creativity - often a kiss of death for a shy student in school - to thrive and prosper in an online environment. Also explored is the fear and myths about online predators, as well as a guide for parents trying to understand and cope with this new world their children are growing up in.

The Growing Up Online series is 7 parts long - with each segment being around seven to nine minutes long, so it is easy to view it in short segments. Although your home connection may struggle with this a little, you should have no problem viewing the segments at school.

For ANY teacher - Growing Up Online is a must see. This series offers a sometimes anxious, but often hopeful look at how our students are exploring and innovating within this new frontier.

Helping students get organized - the online dayplanner

As we begin to look ahead to next year, we begin to have discussions about how we can do things differently and how we can help our students. One thing we have been discussing at our school recently has been planners for our students. The students already have planners - spiral bound numbers that they carry around to write down homework assignments, test dates, etc.

Since we have a 1:1 program in the junior high at Tok, as well as wide-spread access to technology in most of our other classes and all of our other sites, I submit that it's high time for us to explore some of the excellent online planners that are available.

One very good planner tool for students I'll discuss in this post is called TrackClass. TrackClass is a simple planner students can use and it works like this;

Students quickly set up an account (only email and a password - that's it), and then they can begin to use this tool. The beginning of the school year is the ideal time to set this up with your classes - simply have them enter each class they are taking on the TrackClass dashboard, along with the days and times this class meets (this is a nice feature for schools with rotating or alternating schedules). Once the classes are set up, it is very easy to navigate to the different classes.

Let's say a student is enrolled in an English course - they go to that course on their TrackClass dashboard and then they have options that are easy to use and keep up with each day. They can enter assignments with the due date - there is also an easy feature for the student to record points possible and weight of the assignment if the teacher makes that info available. There is a nice help box on the side that actually explains what "points possible" means! It also defines "points scored" and "weight" - handy stuff!

Another option students have within each class is to enter upcoming exams - the entry looks just like the assignment entry - also with room for entering the points the student actually earned if they want to track this.

Here is a fantastic option within each class - a tab called "Notes". Here a student can take actual notes for any class on any day day and they are all kept filed away neatly in the student's dashboard! The Notes tab also works with Markdown - which means students can add links and html into their notes - students can create quite a rich source of class notes with this kind of capability!

Another tab available for each class is the Calendar. This calendar works as an individual calendar for each class, or will compile all classes into one calendar. Best of all - the calendar can be subscribed to by iCal or GoogleCalendar - both of which are easy and available to all of our students!

The final tab is called "Files". This tab allows students to upload literally any kind or type of files from their computer - jpg, PDF, WordDocs, anything at all. So anytime a teacher wants a student to note a particular document for homework or study or in class work they might email it or tell the student where to find it and voila - the student can put it in it's proper place in their class dashboard!

TrackClass is a deceptively simple tool that really has a lot of power! Students could really increase their productivity, not to mention their confidence by having access to a tool like this that can go to work for them.

TrackClass is worth a good look for incorporating for next year's planners.