Check out ClassFlow--a way to incorporate the Interactive White Board with the students' chromebooks.
Imagine using your IWB and take it up a notch. Imagine taking the wonderful lesson plan that you've created and push it out to your student's devices. Imagine having the students interact with your lesson, and send it back to the board to show the class.
That can be done! Check out the ClassFlow video below and see how you can incorporate the software into your already-dynamic lessons!
Picture this scenario: you're in your classroom, getting your PowerPoint set up. The projector is hooked up and running, the computer has the PowerPoint set up, and you start the lesson.
Then it starts. The bulb is dim, the students in the back can't see. The screen is blurry, and any number of issues that seem to crop up when you try to utilize a presentation to enhance the lesson.
Enter NearPod. I had heard of nearpod, but really didn't know anything about it. My "tech crew" helped me explore the software, and they were REALLY impressed!
Simplest terms would be it's a presentation you can show online. Perfect for a 1:1 classroom. Why?
A couple of reasons come to mind:
1. No more, "I can't see the board"
2. Within the presentation, you, the teacher, have the option to enter an "activity" slide, where the students can actually interact with the program.
3. You, the teacher, can choose to add 3D animation to the slides (free)
4. The basic usage is free, (that include student interaction to the slides), and for a subscription, you can have webpages embedded into the slides.
5. You, as the teacher, have the option to send out a Nearpod presentation in "live mode", which means YOU decide when it's time to advance to the next side, or as a "Student Pace", which is exactly what it means--students work at their own pace. This would be great for reviews.
There is a free version which in and of itself, is awesome. For a paid subscription, you have access to a few more bells and whistles. You decide which is right for you.
For the student interaction alone, as well as the "I can't see the board!" would be motivation enough for me to want to try it out. What about you? If you use it in your classroom, I would love to hear how you use it!
A neat idea I discovered this week was "Black Out". This is an activity created to help students discover the main idea of a story. Working in small groups, students each have an article to read. After reading the article, the students search through the article, and any information they find that is NOT pertinent to the article...not really all that important, they black out with a Sharpie. After this is done, anything that is left should be able to help the students formulate the main idea of the passage with maybe a few details sprinkled in. To save on the amount of paper needed, this could be done with dry erase as well. Take the same printed out article, and insert it into a sheet protector or some other sort of overlay. The students follow the same procedure using a dry erase marker. After discussion, the overlays are wiped clean and ready for the next small group to use. To make this a digital activity, assign the article from an online source--Newsela for example, then copy/paste the article onto a Google Doc, then choose "make a copy for each child" when it's loaded into the Google Classroom. The students can use the "highlight" color tool (choose black for the color) and work through it the same way. One bonus to using Black Out as a digital activity, is that it's a lot easier to undo when a student changes their mind about something that was highlighted. If you'd like to learn more, check out this link for more information: Improve Reading Comprehension with Black Out
Padlet is my new toy this week. Using it at a workshop, our presenter had us keep the tab open, and ask questions as they came up relating to the topic of the workshop. I LOVED it! The questions were written where I didn't have to strain to hear what the audience member was asking. It also enabled me to get the burning question out of my system and to the presenter so I could finish paying attention. I am the world's worst, if I have a question--I hear nothing else until I get the question out of my way. Not necessarily answered--just off of me and onto the expert.
So, what are some ideas to use with Padlet? Check out one that I created back in the summer and explore it a bit. Padlets are another way to:
Administer digital exit tickets
Create a Thank you board for a mentor
Students can leave "Get well" wishes for a sick student
You, the teacher, can make it as public or private as you wish. This can be students' best thoughts shared publicly, so students can share with far away relatives.
Use it as a "suggestion box" concerning new books in the library, upcoming activities or any number of items students may want an input.
