Poll Everywhere!

Another very cool tool for the high school classroom.  I could use this in multiple ways - survey number of students that prefer a test to a project.  I also have an assignment where the students create a survey and give to their friends - I'm going to change it now so they have the option to use this tool.  Believe it or not, not all students have Smartphones so I could not see using it for a test; however, they are many fun ways to use it.  I will be giving the students an ice cream party. The Personal Finance classes won $6,000 for the school because we had the most Junior Achievement Essay Scholarship Competition entries in Virginia.  My common learning team decided we would celebrate with an ice cream social for all students that participated. in the essay competition. I will send a survey to decide what flavors of ice cream we should serve - it will be fun and a great way to send the invite to. I can send the link to the survey through Remind 101.

The survey I created is titled "What's Your Tax Knowledge?" This survey is not for smartphones but on the web.

Here is the survey I created for the ice cream poll which can be used with smartphones.

iste.nets-t standards:

Standards one, two and three are supported by this tool. A teacher can create projects to facilitate and advance student learning using this software as well as provide students with multiple or a variety of formal or informal assessments. Lastly teachers can, when using the results, evaluate and use information to support research and learning.

Google Forms

This is a great tool for surveys.  I give surveys to my students at the end of the year.  This is a great tool for  me to use to gather the results of the surveys and save a ton of time.  I can also use it with my club, Future Educators Association, to get feedback from the teachers that utilize the FEA tutors. Another way I could utilize this tool is with the Student Run branch of the Apple Federal Credit Union (AFCU) to get feedback from our school customers. The best way to share the survey with my classes is to send the link in a Remind101 message. I have a create a Remind101 group for each of my classes.  If I created a survey for parents, I would send the link via emails and the same for the AFCU customers.

I tried all the different question types except for the essay. I think for the type of survey this is I would only use the grid question format - it presents the questions in the format I prefer.

Here is the link to the published Survey and the embedded version is below.  And finally here is where you can find the spreadsheet published to the web.




Iste.nets.t

Google forms meets standards 2 and 3. Teachers can design digital age assessments and evaluate the results in spreadsheet created via completing the form. This feature automatically makes the data usable and saves the educator much needed time.  Google forms also promotes collaboration which is key for common learning teams. CLTs can develop surveys for parents and students and use the results to modify the course.

Jeopardy!  Love the game - I use it quite a bit for reviews - if the ratio supports it my favorite way to make teams is by gender - it can get quite intense when you put the boys against the girls!  Jeopardy is a great review game.  Last year I started using Take Charge Today Lessons by University of Arizona in my Personal Finance class and they by far have the best jeopardy template.  The review game I am going to share is for end of the class and covers all units.  I play the game before the students complete the "Life in these United States" simulation.  In order to use the template, you have to create an account with them - it is free.  Here is the link to create an account: Take Charge Today by University of Arizona.  I like this jeopardy because it includes a five second count down for the team to answer the question; however, I could not get it to work properly when uploaded and shared.  So if you would like that template, you would have to create an account. Here is what the template looks like

Life in these United States Jeopardy

 

 

 

Here is the link to the Life in these United States Jeopardy game I created using Jeopardy

iste.nets.t

The Jeopardy game used as a review for a quiz demonstrates standard 1: Facilitate and Inspire Student Learning and Creativity, and standard 2: Design and Develop Digital-Age Learning Experiences and Assessments and standard 3: Digital-Age Work and Learning.

I have had groups of students create their own Jeopardy review games and played them as a whole class with the creators facilitating the game.  And I use Jeopardy games as a review which incorporates digital tools to enhance learning.  Lastly, the Jeopardy review game communicates relevant information and ideas effectively to the students.

 

PREZI

I made a Prezi on Credit - I do love the features of Prezi but find them time consuming, only because I do not use the tool enough. It is a great alternative to PowerPoint.  I think it is not necessarily better than PowerPoint but it is nice to have variety of presentation tools.  Students tire of PowerPoint presentations and Guided Notes. On the other hand, Prezi is similar to PowerPoint because it is used to communicate information.  I think the advantage to Prezi is that it is still fairly new and people tend to like "new".  The disadvantage is the learning curve but once that is mastered, you can quickly make interesting presentations.
My Prezi is on credit and contains a cute SNL video about credit card debt - one has to keep those high school students engaged!

CREDIT

iste.nets-t standards

This assignment meets Standards 3 and 5.  Using new digital tools shows the teacher is innovative and engages in professional growth.  Does stick to the same old stuff because it is easy.  I think it is important for a teacher to change up the lessons each year -there is always room for improvement.  Standard 2 would also be met if the teacher had the students create a Prezi as a final assessment to a unit.

Presume!  It's a Good Thing!

I really enjoyed creating the Presume.  I certainly hope my school doesn't think I am looking for a job since I made it public. Yikes!  Here is the link to my Presume. I have actually used Prezi before.  I have used it to introduce myself at Back to School night.  I also taught Multimedia last year and had all my students create a project using Prezi.  It is a very useful tool and something different from PowerPoint.

iste.net.t standards

Prezi is a great example of standard 3, modeling digital work and learning, and standard 2, design and develop digital age learning experiences and assessments. I know my students enjoyed using Preze as an alternative to PowerPoint and the learning curve is minuscule. My colleague put together a great Prezi that he uses as his introduction to his students on the first day of class.  

PowerPoint

A very useful tool for many applications.  The Banking PowerPoint I created seems more like a Public Service Announcement as opposed to a PowerPoint I would use in the classroom to teach a topic.  I realize that PowerPoints are suppose to have limited words but when students are completing guided notes I feel itis better to have each PowerPoint have more information.  With that being said, I do stick to a limit of five bullet points and no more than seven words per bullet point. I always do include graphics and many times transitions so that the bullets appear on the screen one at a time.  I feel this helps the students to take notes.  The Banking PowerPoint I created for this assignment has less that five words per slide and large graphics. It is a better design than what I typically use in the classroom, but I feel that it is not geared towards note taking.  I feel PowerPoints Presentations can have different focuses and the design of the PowerPoint is dependent upon the purpose of the PowerPoint. Here is the PowerPoint I created for the Savings and Investing Unit in Personal Finance focusing on banking and saving:  Banking PowerPoint

Another tool I used for this assignment was dropbox which I currently use to store some of my school lesson plans.  However, I have been switching over to Google Docs for no particular reason.

iste.nets-t

This assignment easily aligns with standard three: Module Digital-Age Work ad Learning.  Both these tools, PowerPoint and Dropbox are resources to support student success as well as teachers.  PowerPoint assists in communicating effectively with students.

Google Drive Resume

I had an existing Resume document created in Mircosoft Word.  I uplaoded the document to my Google Drive and shared it publicly:  Here is the link to my Resume I currently use my Google Drive for teaching then I don't have to carry a USB - it is so much easier and effiecient.  I have never published a document to the web before this assignment.

itse.nets-t standards: 3 Model Digital-Age Work and Learning.  Google drive is another 'cloud in the sky" and is quickly eliminating USBs or emailing documents to yourself.  High school students should be encouraged to use this new technology.  So many of them still email themselves documents!