Practical Use of Google Docs in Reading
By Jamie Guillaume

Last week I was working with a small group of 6^th graders on the skill of inferencing.  Even in my role as an eLearning coach, I still get the opportunity to work with an intervention group once or twice a week.  Consequently, these students sometimes also serve as guinea pigs for me to try new technology tools within a lesson. 

I first began creating my inferencing lesson by finding an intriguing piece of text to use about Bethany Hamilton being attacked by a shark.  The reading was on a laminated poster so the students used dry erase markers to mark the text, and to organize our inferences, we used a shared Google Doc. 

I created the Google Doc prior to the lesson and inserted a table with three columns: Inferences, Background Knowledge, and Text Clues.  First we pre-read the text by looking at titles, headings, pictures, captions and so forth.  Then we all made an inference.  I modeled this process and thought aloud making my inference, identifying a text clue to support my inference, and explained my background knowledge that led me to my inference. The students logged into the document prior to the start of the lesson, were assigned a row in the table and instructed to follow the same procedure I modeled to form and support their inference. 

I quickly noticed that the students that grasped the concept making and supporting inferences, automatically began typing in their row.  I as a teacher was able to see who was typing and give them instant feedback to help them make any needed changes.  Students who were still a little unsure would watch, read and listen to what was taking place and then they jumped in when they were ready!

It was a great intervention lesson because the students were engaged and loved typing on the Google Doc simultaneously!  I loved it because I was able to give each of them individual feedback while they were working and could see everyone processing as they typed!

If you are ever interested in using Google Docs in your classroom, do not hesitate to contact one of your eLearning Coaches.  This Google app is great for any interactive lesson!

MBC Library:  A Wealth of Resources

By Phil Zellers

 

My Big Campus is not only a place to house all of your content and organize your classes, it is also a place to find a wealth of great resources.  The MBC library houses resources including videos, images, websites, bundles created by other teachers, professional development bundles, and even schoolwork created by other teachers.  It’s a great place to start when looking for resources.  

How to Search

When you log into MBC you have a number of icons showing up down the left side of your screen.  Schoolwork, groups, and drive are a few that show up, but if you keep looking, you will see an icon named, “Library.”  Clicking on this will take you to the MBC Library.  From there, you can search for resources by keyword, media type (images, videos, bundles, schoolwork, websites, etc.), subject, grade level, and standards.  This allows you to narrow or broaden your search as much as needed by adjusting what you put in those categories.  

Branching Bundles

If you find a bundle that another teacher has created you can “branch” it to yourself.  It will then show up in your “drive.”  From there, you can access that bundle and then edit it and make any changes you wish.  It’s nice because you don’t have to start from scratch to make your own, but you can also make changes to one that’s already been created.  There are a lot of bundles already created for all subject areas.   On another note, if you would like to learn more about bundles and how to create them, see one of the eLearning coaches.  We would be glad to help you start bundling.  It’s a great way to organize and deliver your content to students and is especially nice for when you have a sub.  Students have your step by step directions in the form of a bundle with all the resources (articles, pictures, videos, etc.) embedded. 

Adding to the MBC Library

We can all add to the MBC Library.  When creating a bundle you can choose to publish.  By publishing your work, you add your bundle to the MBC Library and then others have access to it.  You can also add YouTube videos to the MBC Library which is very helpful as this is the only way students can access YouTube videos but they will only be accessing videos you want them to access.  I would recommend searching the MBC Library first to see if the video has already been added by another teacher.  There are tons of videos already there.   If the video is not there, you can add it.  There is a button called “Add a Library Item” in the top right corner.  When you click on it, you get a drop down and one option is to “Add New YouTube Video.”  You will just have to copy and paste the URL of the video you want into the field provided and fill out the rest of the fields.  Once your video has been added to the library it will also be added to your “Drive.”  You can then put in the announcements or resources of your group page to deliver it to students. 

 

There are a lot of great resources in the MBC Library that will keep you from having to “reinvent the wheel.”  It’s a great place to start looking for resources.  Remember as well, you are all members of the PC eLearn group which has a lot of resources and we will continue to add more.  As always, if you have any questions or need help, see your friendly eLearning coaches, we are more than happy to help!

Now We’re Talking

By Jamie Guillaume

Recently I attended a High Ability Conference in Indianapolis and like always, all of the ideas presented were not only good for High Ability kids, but for all kids!  Prior to this presentation, I was aware of TED talks; I have the app on my iPad, I have listened to a few, but I really did not know a fantastic way to use them in the classroom…. until now! 

TED Talks are video recorded, entertaining speeches on various topics.  In fact the topics are endless!  One idea to use them in the classroom is to first start by searching a talk based on your subject area or topic.  The TED site also lets you search by length of time.  I do recommend fully previewing the talk before using it in your classroom, because there are some talks that may not be appropriate for all ages.  After you find a talk to use, under the video you will see, “transcript.”  This pull down menu allows you to select a language and you can copy and paste the text of the talk into a Word or a Google Doc and print the transcript!

This gives students an entertaining and informative piece of text to annotate! Elementary teachers could use this as their read aloud and upper elementary and Jr.-Sr. high teachers could watch the clip and then for homework students could annotate the text of the talk.  To make this more rigorous, after the students have had time with the text, the teacher could facilitate a Socratic seminar. 

If you are not familiar with Socratic seminars, the students are arranged in a circle, they number the paragraphs of the text and the teacher poses a deep-thought question.  The students then discuss the question and reference the text to support their ideas.  The numbered paragraphs allow the student responding to let the other students know where they are referencing in the text to support their response. 

I recommend the following link to view a TED Talk titled, The Key to Success? Grit (It’s only 6 minutes): http://www.ted.com/talks/angela_lee_duckworth_the_key_to_success_grit.html
Not only will you love the context of the talk but it will allow you to see a performed talk and while you are viewing the talk, be sure to click on the transcript pull down menu to also see the text that corresponds with the talk. 

Bookmarking with Symbaloo

By Kris Walsh

Symbaloo (www.symbaloo.com) is a great web tool that you can use to save and share information. You can use it to create a page or “webmix” where you can arrange visual bookmarks or “tiles” in a way that makes sense to you and to your class. When you are done creating a webmix, you can then share it so that students in your class and in other classes can have access to your links. You can create and have tabbed webmixes so that you can switch between themes and topics quickly.

It is tough to explain until you actually see a webmix, so we will just jump into the action!

This is a Symbaloo that I created for a lower grade class that is working on fossils and geology. There is a search box in the middle that cannot be modified, but the rest of the page has a grid that I can use to fill in with links that I have found and curated myself so that I know that they meet the needs of the class. I can place the tiles anywhere I want so that my content is grouped the way that I want it. In this case, in the upper left corner are sites that deal with volcanoes, upper right has info about types of rocks, lower left has some interactive activites about rocks and minerals, and the lower right has some activities related to fossils.

These are very helpful and fairly easy to create. You will need to create an education account at symbaloo.com. They will give you a few default webmixes that you can use (or delete) To add a new webmix, you can click on the + tab and you get an option to create your own or to search existing webmixes that have been created by other users.

To create a new one- Simply click the create button, give it a name, and a blank Symbaloo page will pop up. You can click into any of the blank tiles to get the option to add a new tile. Again like the webmix itself, you can search for existing tiles or add your own.

                 

When that is complete, I can simply click and drag the tile where I want it to be located, then repeat the process. It can take some time to add all of the tiles that you want, but when your symbaloo is complete, you can then share it with your class (and the world!)

Click on the share button at the top of the page and you will get some options on how to share your mix. You will fill out the form that pops up and click share. You will want to give it a good name that is very descriptive so that it is easily found. It will also give you a link that you can write down (or use mbcurl.me to shorten) and email or simply write on the board for students to access. Students do not have to have a Symbaloo account to see webmixes, only to create and share. Don’t let students work under your account, they could modify your Symbaloo by moving or deleting tiles and undoing your hard work. Have them use the link that you get from sharing to access the mix, this way they cannot make any changes to it.

Once you create a webmix, it stays in your account until you delete it.

You can also search for webmixes that have already been created by other users. If you check them out and like the content, you can give students the link to use that mix. I have experimented with the site and rarely find a whole mix that works for my needs, but I have used them as a jumping off point to find good tiles that I may want for my mix.

This is just meant to be a basic overview of Symbaloo and how it can help you in your class.

We have used it fairly often and have a pretty good understanding of the site. If you would like to learn more about Symbaloo, please email any of the elearning coaches and we would be glad to come and sit down with you and get you going with this great tool!

Happy Mixing!!