After demonstrating something they learned in Google Sheets, during a course taken in the Applied Digital Skills - with Google class, a grade 9 student mentioned "you can only create charts in Microsoft Excel". I asked the students to use the data they had on their spreadsheet and experiment/figure out how to create a chart in Google Sheets. After trial and error, i gave them some hints and eventually, we created a chart. We played around with a few scenarios where the chart would not have generated correctly. We edited the chart and added the missing information. One of the students used a Personal Computer, another used an iPad. We concluded that any spreadsheet app or software can create a chart.
When the students walked into class the following day, they were so excited to tell me that soon after, they used they newly acquired skill to create a chart during a Biology class. One student was so eager to show me the chart they created. Below is a screenshot of the spreadsheet.
Here is a short tutorial showing how to share digital books created using the My Story iPad app.
This tutorial shows how to share a Google Document with users/students and force them to make their own copy as soon as they open the template.
Does a full email inbox annoy you? I have been asked "How do i clear out all the unread e-mails without missing out on the important things?" Some teachers have complained about receiving a lot of e-mails from certain websites. You are in control. You can manage your e-mail subscriptions. At the bottom of every e-mail you get from most of these websites is an option to unsubscribe or edit e-mail or notification preferences. This may be in very small font but it is there. You can choose to unsubscribe completely or receive only the notifications you choose. This includes e-mail notifications from websites you know you never subscribed to. Below are a couple of images that illustrate this. This is a screenshot from notifications i get from seesaw. This is a screenshot from a managebac e-mail notification. I keep certain notifications because i want to be informed immediately, or because i know i will forget to go to the website to check on something i need to moderate. The choice is yours. You can manage your own notifications. Your inbox does not need to be flooded buy junk.
The video below, from Education Elements, explains Blended Learning and describes the different models.
At WIS (as of May 2018), we encourage the 'class rotation model' simply because teachers will have more access to the whole class and we already encourage stations in classes. Furthermore, the computer lab is mostly filled by secondary school classes making it in accessible to the whole of primary school. In the video from Edutopia below, although this is a middle/high school class, this is what Blended Learning could look like in a class.
Meet Stacy!
I approached Stacy and expressed concern over StudentX who struggled reading three letter words. StudentX was 8 years old at the time. Stacy confirmed she was also concerned about StudentX and was looking for ways to intervene and assist. We discussed the Teach Your Monster To Read game typically played by students younger than StudentX. It has different levels from letter recognition, reading first words to reading sentences. Stacy was keen to give it a go and suggested we start from the first level. I created an account for StudentX and informed Stacy that this game gives us feedback on StudentX's learning. Student X is currently enjoying learning with the game as they can play the game when they feel like playing it, it automatically adjusts scenarios as they play based on their ability and it gives them positive encouragement. Stacy regularly asks me for StudentX's progress stats from the Teach Your Moster To Read game as she would like to compare that with their performance in class and adjust classroom activities.
Below is a sample of a report from the Teach Your Monster To Read game.
Stacy employs the Blended Learning approach to supporting StudentX as she combines traditional classroom strategies with a technology tool to help them learn.
You have embedded content to your blog and you find that the width is wider than you want it to be. How do you fix that? Watch this tutorial.
Here is a quick video i created to show how to embed a video from Google Drive to Blogger. I recommend uploading all videos to Google Drive, preferably to a 'Blog Documents' folder that you will never delete. That 'Blog Documents' will maintain sharing settings allowing anyone with a link to access even without a Google Account.
A better option would be to upload videos to YouTube. Unfortunately, at this point, we can not upload content to YouTube on our school accounts in Namibia.
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