Website- ThingLink

Thinglink 

“Think outside the box”

I have thought long and hard about the different ways that I can utilize this website. It’s a lot of fun to click around on the site. Basically, it’s an interactive website. 

I know Covid makes things uncertain, but I do have a few ideas for next school year and ways to optimize this website!!!

1. Classroom materials

I usually do a scavenger hunt on where all the items in the classroom are. I LOVE to get the kids moving, and this is still a plan, but I can also take a picture of my classroom, and have a visual scavenger hunt as well. It will be nice to have both!

2. How to on a website

So, isn’t it boring teaching the technicalities of Slides, Classroom, Docs, etc. I actually dislike it when kids ask, “how do I... on slides?” 

Now, I can screenshot the website I want to use, make some icons for students to click around, and learn on their own! I think it’s a better way to retain information and learn as opposed to me telling them how to do it. They get to experiment on their own. This is perfect for my EduProtocols that I will continue to utilize next year!

3. Student Interactive Reports

This is probably the best for distance learning and in class. I usually have to fast forward report sharing. I have a rather large class, and if all students share, that could take up a couple class periods. Instead, my plan is to have the students share their ThingLinks and students can explore. The best part? They can share their voice, video, etc on their link, and it is just like sharing in front of the class!

4. Publish Student Work

Probably my last one I will do, and there are many more, is publishing student work. I think it’s a nice way to show off all student work in one place. This would be nice for Distance Learning as well- because students won’t be able to see their work on a bulletin board, I can make a virtual one!

I hope you enjoy ThingLink! It’s a nice little site that can do A LOT! 

The "G" Word- Grades

Grades!

If you are a teacher, then you must hate the "G" word. I know I do. There's no easy way about it, but I did find three amazing Google Sheet hacks to help me through this process because... I. AM. LAZY. 

Listening Skills

🎧 Listening Skills Lacking? 🎧

I know exactly how you feel. Over the past few years, I had noticed that the CAASPP scores in listening were really low. I think it's because students tune us out! Or, maybe they are so used to fast forwarding and instant gratification that they start to tune out the Listening portion immediately. Either way, I have a great Podcast for you! Plus, the CAASPP listening portion sounds like a horrible robot...

My students LOVE the Podcast 6 Minutes. It's legit, 6 minutes long. Long enough to get you hooked, short enough for those that get distracted easily.

The Podcast is about a girl that looses her memory and tries to find out who she is. You can't trust anyone, and you slowly learn that there is a lot going on in this little Alaskin town than meets the eye. You can listen to this Podcast in multiple ways, all free. Kidslisten, Spotify, Google Play, Apple Podcasts, Youtube, etc.

I have even made Google Forms to go along with the Podcast. I have 5 free quizzes on my TPT store. Over the summer, I will have ALL episodes uploaded, but you can purchase my growing bundle with all the Quizzes. Each quiz is anywhere from 2-5 questions per episode. I like to listen to this RIGHT when students come in from recess or lunch. (They won't want to be late because they'll miss the episode! Another great management hack!)

After the episode, they immediately log into their Chromebooks and take the quiz. Those that finish early know the drill, look on the board for their Flow Chart. I don't have to SAY A WORD! (Another management hack.) My students are able to listen and take the quiz all in 10 minutes and are completely prepared for their Mini-Lesson for the day. 

Flow Charts usually say something like:

During this time, a timer is going so the students know exactly how much time they have. If they don't finish their quiz, that's ok- It's homework for the night. As long as they are on the Carpet by the time the timer goes off. 

If you have multiple teachers using this Podcast, that's ok, GenZ Media has MORE: https://www.prx.org/gen-z

I am in no way sponsored by GenZ Media, but I know that they are completely kid friendly AND amazing!

Personalizing Forms and Classroom

Isn’t it cute? I LOVE personalized Forms and Classrooms.

Every year my homeroom chooses their class name, and I like to incorporate it into their Google Classroom; however, it’s a pain sifting through the millions of images that “don’t fit.” That’s why I just make my OWN! 

This Reader’s Workshop image is for my Forms. I sometimes even put directions in the image to save space. Plus, it looks adorbs. ❤️

So. If you would like to know HOW! Keep on reading!

Adobe Spark is amazing! People also use canva, but I like Spark better for instagram, too! Anyway, you choose your custom image, and viola! You can have a personalized classroom, form, heading, etc.

For forms and classroom, the size you want is 1600x400. You can choose this size in the custom area. Next, be careful of the sides of the image for classroom if you don’t want anything blocked. On Google Classroom the bottom left and right sides have some text on there, so you want to adjust your images so you can see it perfectly. That is why there is “blank” space on the sides of the very top image.

If you want to get super fancy, you can adjust some more blank space so that the Mobile App looks amazing... I wasn’t that concerned, so this is what it looks like not adjusted.

As you can see, Google’s text gets in the way, but it still looks really nice. The best part is, as you may know, once you input an image for Forms or Classroom, it automatically chooses a theme color to support it. I am NOT an artist. I do not have my color wheel down, and I need help choosing colors, so I LOVE that Google does it for me! 

Adobe Spark has a free account. You will just have their Logo on the bottom. You can get a free account for 30 days, make ALL THE IMAGES, and then cancel? I’m not being endorsed by Spark, so, you do you. 

Emojis in Classroom

Did you know??

That you can add emojis to Google Classroom? I now have a super organized classroom. check it out....

Students can now visually see that they have a video to watch and something to turn in. Any time there is a green checkmark, it means that something needs to be done to earn credit.

On this post, you can see that there are sometimes just videos to watch and nothing due. Or the three checkmarks means a heavy point value is due!

Last but not least, the one with a folder means that something from Google Suit is due. For example, Docs, Slides, Drawing, etc.

Emojis are great visuals for all learners! Want to know how??? 

First, add the extension: Emoji Keyboard by Joy Pixels. 

Next you can copy/paste the emojis into your classroom. It's that simple! The best part, it is a Chrome Extension, so it works on ALL sites you use Chrome on. 

Up your classroom to the next level and provide visuals for your students!As always, make the tech work for you!

Distance Learning Ditching

You've spent so much time creating your lessons only to have your students not even show up/ turn in their lessons. Now what?

It is very difficult to motivate students when they are in your classroom, and now you are expected to motivate them virtually as well. Don't let the world get you down. You got this.

At times, you feel like a failure. It makes sense... You hit restart on that video lesson 10 times now. It's time to feel optimistic. Your kids will show up if they want to. That's it. You are not expected to drive by their house. You are not expected to go above and beyond to ensure they log on. They will if they can; they will if they want to.

For now, make your lessons meaningful and fun. kids are sitting behind a computer screen all day. They are mentally exhausted, their eyes hurt, and they have more work to do than every before. They are lost in the Google Classroom Stream of comments, questions, and assignments, and they just don't know where to begin- so they just watch YouTube instead.

• Find time to make learning meaningful and fun. We did a Spirit Week, and I'm pretty sure I had way more fun than my kids. Mismatched socks, pajamas, funny hats, oh my!
• Do some shout-outs. Kids love hearing their name called for something awesome- so showcase it. I LOVE to make FlipGrid Video Shoutouts and send it to the kiddos. They LOVE to watch them. It's time to make every day for our "ditchers" a little bit more exciting.
• Call them! They just want to know that you care. Simple as that. 
• Daily video messages: They want to see your face, and let's face it... They need to. We need to visually remind them that we and school still exist!
• Finally, be present. I am the type of person that hates the notifications on my phone for emails. I just want it to go away. Which means I work a lot. I answer those emails non-stop. I would rather just get it out of the way. Besides, they are ONLINE! Might as well answer them while I can. You don't have to be that person. I have a family. I am there for them as well, and I definitely give myself some work time on the weekend. The more present you are with an "Open Door" the more likely they will come to you with questions and answers.