TwosDay - Shona - Quizlet Live Engagement Tool

Quizlet is a great tool for those lower order thinking skills that typically coincide with remembering and understanding.  Most of us have vocab that is an essential building block for our content.  Once those terms are mastered, we can move onto higher order thinking skills like analyzing and application.  Quizlet live allows teachers to create an engaging and collaborative game that, when used properly, can help students apply and analyze their knowledge in a fun, gaming atmosphere.  This tool holds each student accountable (DQ 5: What will I do to engage students. Element 24: Noticing when students are not engaged, Element 25: using academic games, & Element 29: Demonstrating intensity and enthusiasm) in their role as a collaborator and creates a lively platform for engagement with content.

TwosDay - Bob - Google Calendar Workaround

Teachers that have started using Google Classroom and want to continue using Google calendar to post objectives, agendas, and essential questions have probably noticed that only events created in Google Classroom appear on the calendar.  Events created directly on the calendar itself do not show up in Google Classroom. Instead of using Google Calendar to post this information, I make a Google Slides presentation with all of pertinent  information and post it in Google Classroom as an announcement so students have access throughout the semester.  Using Slides as an agenda, along with keeping it posted in classroom, will make the information accessible to students and help you keep a calendar-like record of your semester.

TwosDay - Sean - HW Reflection

“Grading” homework for accuracy just doesn’t feel right to me. Practice is a formative process with my kids that I want them to be able to screw up and learn from. But “grading” it JUST for completion feels empty & let’s them off the hook a bit when it comes to maintaining focus and commitment to learning as opposed to just “getting it done”. So, I’ve come up with a reflective piece for homework that I can have students fill out AFTER completing the practice. This reflective piece is what is graded and keeps the kids locked into thinking about what they’ve attempted, predicting how they did, and identifying where they struggled. It’s done through a Google Form (I feel like “google form” is the answer to most things...that and chocolate) and is a simple process that’s re-usable throughout the entire school year. Check it out…

*My Marzano Connection: DQ2 “Interacting With New Knowledge” → Element 13 “Reflect on Learning”

TwosDay - Cory - Revision Analytics

Revision history is generally used as a warning to serve the purpose of “big brother” for any who may be looking for unauthorized aid.  A simple add-on, entitled revision history analytics, is a super friendly look into a student or group history without having to click through all iterations of the document.  It provides a nice platform to have productive conversations that help a group or individual think through their own contributions and editing habits.  

TwosDay - Amanda - Classroom Guardian Feature

Now that so many people are using Classroom, we’ve received numerous questions regarding the Guardian Feature. The Guardian Feature allows parents to get a weekly summary of the missing work, class activities (including announcements, assignments and questions), and upcoming assignments and deadlines for a class.. If parents have signed up for any Guardian Access, they are automatically enrolled for all Guardian Summaries. If you do not want your class included in the summary, you need to unenroll your class.  If you would like to invite parents to join, we suggest sending a Google Form to all parents to complete if they would like the summary sent. That way you can enter the invite for the interested parents. If you have parents who are still wondering what classroom is all about, send them the video Google Classroom for Parents.

TwosDay - Steve - Import Scores Into PT Pro

Ever tried copying and pasting scores from an external data source into your PT Pro Gradebook?  Although it’s (unfortunately) not that simple, a recent update to PT Pro does allow you to import scores from an external source.  This video will walk you through that process for a single assignment.  For advanced ways to leverage this feature (such as pulling scores from MathXL or importing scores for multiple assignments), come see us in the HOTSpot!

TwosDay - Sean - Columns In Google Docs

Using Google Docs has become the go to for me and so many educators today. But there are still some limitations, compared to Microsoft Word, that require a workaround. Visual organization in Google Docs is a task that’s not quite in tip top shape yet. Creating columns within a page isn’t as intuitive as I’d like it to be, but it’s possible and not all that tough. Check it out...

HOTSpot - Bob - Print Friendly & PDF

If you’ve ever gone to print an article for class or any other reason, you’ve probably discovered it can be a rather messy endeavor. There can be ads, images are out of place, and the last page has only one line of text on it! To help you print articles in a much cleaner way and in as few pages as possible, I want to show you the Print Friendly and PDF extension for the Chrome browser.