As a teacher, there are so many obligations and extras that come up from time to time. So, when something comes up that makes my life easier, I take advantage of it!
I am lucky to have a iPad available to use in my class. One way that I use it to assist in grading is that I use it in tandem with Google Forms. First, I will create a Google Form off the the rubric that I have created and shared with students on the assignment. When you have finished creating a Google Form, it will ask you if you want to share or embed it. I copy the embed code and put that into a Google Site that I have created for myself.
Then, when I'm ready to grade my assignments, I pull out the student assignment papers and my iPad and I can just touch on the buttons in the Google Form on the iPad and submit a form for each student..so, easy! Each time I click submit, it sends the results to a spreadsheet that I can work with very easily.
When I have finished grading, I go to the spreadsheet and I will run two features that I really like that is part of Google spreadsheets.
1) I use a vlookup to search for the students and their responses. This way it automatically looks up and it puts it into alphabetical order. No more weeding through a big stack of responses, it does the work for you. This has become part of beginning of school routine to set up a template that I can use the entire year.
Next, I copy this page and paste the values only into a new spreadsheet that I have set up with student emails.
2) I use the formemailer script on google forms where I can set up an email template and it will automatically send each student an email with my grading responses in it...love it!
Monday, December 30, 2013
Monday, December 16, 2013
Pumpkins and Cheer
Every year between Thanksgiving and Christmas, the science department at my school cracks open the 70s yellow curtain divider that separates the 7th & 8th grade classrooms and we host a co-unit together. 7th & 8th graders are put into mixed grade groups and we explore science in a very hands-on way.
This year, the teachers were very inspired by the show Punkin Chunkin on Discovery/Science channels.
With a little assistance from a 7th grader who had a book called Mini Weapons of Mass Destruction, which was able to give students some design templates to get started with, students have been building small catapults out of ordinary things and working to launch pumpkin marshmallows as far as they can. It has been great to see their excitement with how far they have been able to launch their pumpkins!
One aspect that inspired me from the show was the basis of charity. The Punkin Chunkin event money supports multiple charities both locally and nation-wide. With this I put the word out to our fantastic staff, to see if anyone wanted to contribute to the cause. With their amazing support and pulling out from their own pockets, we were able to gather $100. From this, we told the students that the student group who shot their marshmallow the farthest would have $100 donated to a charity of their choice. Last week, the student groups chose their charities they want to compete for. They were very excited to choose their charity and many of them expressed that "that's pretty cool." I'm so happy to offer students another opportunity to find a way to invest in the projects that we are doing.
This year, the teachers were very inspired by the show Punkin Chunkin on Discovery/Science channels.
With a little assistance from a 7th grader who had a book called Mini Weapons of Mass Destruction, which was able to give students some design templates to get started with, students have been building small catapults out of ordinary things and working to launch pumpkin marshmallows as far as they can. It has been great to see their excitement with how far they have been able to launch their pumpkins!
One aspect that inspired me from the show was the basis of charity. The Punkin Chunkin event money supports multiple charities both locally and nation-wide. With this I put the word out to our fantastic staff, to see if anyone wanted to contribute to the cause. With their amazing support and pulling out from their own pockets, we were able to gather $100. From this, we told the students that the student group who shot their marshmallow the farthest would have $100 donated to a charity of their choice. Last week, the student groups chose their charities they want to compete for. They were very excited to choose their charity and many of them expressed that "that's pretty cool." I'm so happy to offer students another opportunity to find a way to invest in the projects that we are doing.
Wednesday, December 4, 2013
Choice Assessments
During my ecology unit, I have evolved in how I allow to students to demonstrate their learning of concepts that we cover in class. Middle school students relish the choice and freedom. I think it helps connect them to the curriculum and make the learning more relevant to them, which can be quite the task with middle school students.
The basic skeletal design of my ecology unit is designed so that each week we explore a topic linked to a standard. Students have a video that they watch on the topic and we have hands-on, very active labs that we collect data on to discuss and help us to extend our understanding of the standard. Each Friday, students get to choose how they would like to be assessed on the standard. I write 1 objective-based test that students take on senteo clickers and a write their reasoning on a piece of paper as to why they chose their answer.
Otherwise, I would make 5 laptops and 5 iPads available for students to use to create something to show their understanding. I received ShowMe and Explain Everything Presentations, I had students create vocabulary explanations using google drawings, and create songs about their learning! It was so great to see all of their creativity come out in different ways. Also, I was able to share their products with other students who struggled with that week's concept. A win-win where it was able to empower student voices, give them choices and have students learn from each other.
The basic skeletal design of my ecology unit is designed so that each week we explore a topic linked to a standard. Students have a video that they watch on the topic and we have hands-on, very active labs that we collect data on to discuss and help us to extend our understanding of the standard. Each Friday, students get to choose how they would like to be assessed on the standard. I write 1 objective-based test that students take on senteo clickers and a write their reasoning on a piece of paper as to why they chose their answer.
Otherwise, I would make 5 laptops and 5 iPads available for students to use to create something to show their understanding. I received ShowMe and Explain Everything Presentations, I had students create vocabulary explanations using google drawings, and create songs about their learning! It was so great to see all of their creativity come out in different ways. Also, I was able to share their products with other students who struggled with that week's concept. A win-win where it was able to empower student voices, give them choices and have students learn from each other.
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