Gaffclass' Recommended Apps & Extensions

I'm not getting paid for any of these recommendations (I wish they would!), but these are the best tools I use with and without students in my classroom.

Symbaloo--My Symbaloo says a lot about the websites I use, and it's updated constantly.  Of course, these are web-based, but some also come as apps in the iTunes, Google Play, and Chrome Web store. I use all of these with my students.


Chromebook apps in addition to the ones listed above:
Notetaking/Organization:
Google Keep (available in iTunes & Android stores)
Dropbox

Student Assignments/Teaching:
Edmodo
Google Classroom
The QR Code Generator
Pear Deck

Video Projects:
WeVideo
TechSmith Snagit
Voice Recorder
PowToonEdu
Pixton for Google Chromebooks

Writing:
Tweetdeck
DuoLingo
Piktochart
MindMeister
Sketchpad
Storybird

iProducts:
Creation:
YouTube Capture App
Prezi (available on web)
GarageBand
iMovie
Thinglink (available in iTunes & Android stores & web)
QuickVoice
Canva
Book Creator
Assessment:
GradeCam (available in iTunes & Android stores & web)<--ASSESSMENT HEAVEN!!
Reference:
iPromptPro--a teleprompter for speeches
Merriam-Webster Dictionary
Google Earth
TEDTalks
Kindle (available in iTunes & Android stores & web)
Booksource Classroom--my entire classroom library is digital & sends reminders when books are due!
Audible
Google Translate

Gaffclass' MUST HAVE Chrome Extensions: (I use them daily!)
Awesome Screenshot
TechSmith Snagit
Google Translate
Pinterest
Google Calendar
Send to Google Classroom
Save to Google Drive
The QR Code Extension
Goo.gl URL Shortener

Google Docs--Offline

This is the most common problem at my school:  "I can't do anything because it keeps saying 'waiting to connect!'  Can I get another computer?"

Unfortunately, getting another computer won't help.  We use Samsung Chromebooks in 7th grade.  Chromebooks act 95%+ in the "cloud".  The reason we can't connect is because our server can't support the amount of devices we have connecting to it.

Our awesome tech crew is working diligently to improve our accessibility in each school in our district, thanks in part to our former superintendent, who placed a priority on improving technology during his tenure.  HOWEVER, we need to be prepared.

How to get OFFLINE in Google Docs (Slides, Sheets, Drawings, too!)

If that's not enough, I created a video for my students to follow to earn their Chromebook Licenses.  View it here:

NO MORE EXCUSES!  Get working:)

Tools I'm committed to using this year

I go to tech workshops often. #hpselead

For daily/weekly in class activities:
GAFE, including Google Classroom
Gradecam & Socrative
Kahoot
GoNoodle

For professional branding & classroom branding:

Blogger
Twitter
YouTube
http://gaffclass.pbworks.com

Interactive Notebooks in ELA when a teacher goes techy

I know what you're thinking.  "Not another interactive notebook post!"  Trust me, I know.  I've been using "interactive" student notebooks (ISN) for years, every year something different.  I have a pinterest board with 212 pins, JUST about interactive notebooks!  Maybe the world is ready to get rid of them by now and ride the digital wave.  Then again, maybe not.

I'm a techy teacher (#hpselead), but I also know the value of holding paper in my hand or jotting notes down in my own squirrely cursive and doodles.  So, yet again, this year my "interactive" student notebooks will be changing.

<Tech>First, I have begged my principal to let me go to online writing portfolios.  I hate all that filing of chicken-scratch, stapled-5-times, paperclips-falling-out, no-real-scope-&-sequence--YUCK!  It takes additional time to file and RE-file (4 times per year) those manila folders in the workroom.  Why can't I just send you a link and you can look at any sample you want at your convenience?  NO MORE pre-writing, drafting, editing, final drafting, peer editing, really-this-is-the-final-copy in my ISN's.  I can app-smash all that together online anyway. (that's a whole other post.). 

<Low-tech>Secondly, my students have struggled (for years) to keep up with the table of contents in their notebooks. Some students do it, but most do not.  Some skip pages when explicitly told not to.  I have even tried to start at the front AND back at the same time with different categories--oy vey!  This year, I came across a pin that recommended doing UNIT tables of contents--eureka!  We can stay together on the same page, no matter what class, and label as we go!  I have fallen in love with creating my own tabs with my Cricut Expression, but I'm just going to use the copier this year.  (I did purchase some bright colored paper, though!) The tabs I created for this year's notebook go across the top of the first RIGHT page of a new unit. The first LEFT page will be for Activating Prior Knowledge (APK) of the subject. Notice there are two different sizes--regular spiral and composition notebooks.

<Low-tech meets Tech>Here is where it gets a bit sticky.  I'm going to try to #flip my vocabulary lessons this year.  I'll send them a link to a video or slideshow (yay for tech!), and when students come into class, they will have to complete an activity in their ISN (yay for differentiated low-tech!).  For those who don't have access to the viewing at home, they can catch up quickly in class and then complete the activity. I'll have "high flyer" work for students who complete the activity quickly, of course.  I'll also have all resources, cut-outs, and activities posted to our Google Classroom site.  If any student is absent, they can see what they missed, and go over it as many times as they need to.

Last, but not least, is how I'm going old-school ISN.  I have never done the "Right-side=teacher input, Left side=student output".  We've taken the notes and made each page our own.  This year, I AM going old school.  Yes, we will have sides.  Yes, students will be "graded" on their OUTPUT, not my input.  I am wary of the typical middle schooler reactions, "But I can't draw!" "I'm not an artist!" "Do I have to?"  Yes, you have to, and all you have to do is TRY to put it into a format YOU understand.

I will be happy to find an ISN middle-ground between "I'm all tech" and "Students need something in their hands".  I hope this year is it!

Rumerations after 10 years in middle school...

"What makes a better teacher?" 

The real question is "What makes a teacher better?"  I think those are two different questions.

Test scores?
Open mindedness?
Willingness to put yourself out there to others in all your (not so) glory?
Keeping your head down and eyes on the job?
Relationships-with parents, students, colleagues?
High expectations?

The good teacher?  The best teacher?  The fun teacher?

Finding a balance between work life and personal life.

Doing what you love because you love it, not because you have to <love> it.

Taking the students as they are right now, and guiding them toward their future selves.

Fail Faster, Fail Forward, Fail, Fail, Fail, because you keep trying.  Think Moonshot.

Give more feedback than grades.

Self-reflection. Another piece of mommy wisdom I am trying to impart on my 3 year old when she gets distracted while walking and almost runs into someone/something: "Remember where you've been; always watch where you're going."

Grow your personal learning network (PLN) because it's fun meeting other nerds like you!

Two heads are always better than one--name one successful person who has done it all on his/her own.

Accept the consequences of your actions, or inactions.

Be kind.  Always be kind.

Chromebook & BYOD License

Most of my PLN comes from Pinterest or Twitter these days.  I see amazing things happening in classrooms all around the world, and I think, "How can I do that in @Gaffclassroom?!"  Well, this is one of those brilliant ideas; I can't believe I didn't think of it first; Now tech is going to be so much easier to implement; Whew!

The inspiration for adding an additional week of tech integration to my already full 180+ days is SimplySuzy. She teaches fourth grade and starts the year by requiring students to earn iPad licenses, so I've had to take the idea of earning a "license" to use iPads and tweek it for middle schoolers who use Chromebooks, as well as BYOD.

Get the License and pre-reqs check off sheet here.  Please MAKE A COPY before editing anything in this folder.  I created the actual license in Microsoft Publisher with a gift certificate template, but had to upload it as a PDF.  I'm sure there's a way to create it in Google Drawing, but I'm not that familar with Drawing yet.

Each year, we've been lucky enough to improve our technology.  Now we share a set of 32 web-based Samsung Chromebooks amongst 7 teachers (really just 4).  It's better than constantly-outdated, slowing-down, heavy-as-all-get-out, 2013-era mini-laptops everyone else requests.  7th grade teachers like to keep on the forefront of technology:)  I digress.  Last year was our first year implementing these chromebooks as a grade-level, and I'd say we did a pretty good job, because we had no idea what we were doing.  However, by March, we were getting fed up with students not knowing how to do simple things, like titling a document, going offline (when our infrastructure can't keep up with all the devices we have using it), and most of all, PUTTING THEM AWAY NEATLY and CORRECTLY!  Oh, how many times my colleagues and I cursed those "irresponsible students" for leaving the cart a mess after class!  Well, okay, <hangs head in shame> it was partly our fault.  It's not that we didn't teach them, we just weren't all consistent across classes to enforce the expectations.

This year, as the resident eLeader on the hallway, I will be in charge of a series of specific requirements students must complete in order to earn their Chromebook License.  I will use a spreadsheet to check off each step and when the student is through, he or she will earn the coveted Chromebook License!  Since I am experimenting with the #flipclass and #blendedlearning environments, I've made screencasts of some of the requirements and posted them to YouTube.  If you can use them in your class, feel free!  Find them on my Channel here.

In order to bring in their own device, they will have an optional "BYOD Endorsement" list of items to get checked off.  Students can earn the BYOD Endorsement at any time during the year (maybe they get a new device for Christmas), but still have to complete the required steps.

At any time, the license and/or endorsements can be taken away, or "suspended" for a specific amount of time, a required re-licensure, or maybe even never-to-be-returned.  I think I'm going to design a "jail" for the licenses similar to this: 

I've been given the advice to "punish the behavior, not the technology."  So, I'm hoping that by instituting this licensure system, the students can be held accountable and not get careless with the devices, Chromebook or BYOD throughout the ENTIRE year.

Branding oneself

I am working hard this summer to "brand" myself as a teacher who makes tech look easy..."well, if I can do it, you can too!"  I follow all these folks on Twitter (@gaffclass, @gaffclassroom--that's me!) because they seem to know what they're talking about.  I learn so much from this PLN because people share relevant, engaging, and SHORT articles/blogs/links/pics, etc.  This is how I want to brand myself as a teacher educator: quick, easy, how-to-revolutionize-my-teaching, thank-you-so-much!

I've also always used my PLN to try out new ideas in my classroom, but never published student responses or products.  I mean, don't get me wrong, I have dozens of projects throughout my classroom, saved to flash drives, even Google Drive for future reference and as examples for future classes.  My biggest issue with my branding is recording the action as it happens using video or pictures.  I'm so busy facilitating learning I don't have time/think about pulling out my ONE iPad to record/snap a pic.  Then, when I do think about it, I've missed the best part of the learning.  How, oh HOW do I find the balance between recording everything and recording nothing?  Afterwards, it's time-consuming to post everything.

I started a YouTube channel last year after an amazing PD session with Dr. Lodge McCammon (@pocketlodge) during our Digital Learning Academy #r7dla. I've gotten a few videos made with notes to flip our frontloading sessions at the beginning of the year.  They worked well.  I want to make more.  I want to make them better.  Summer seems to be the time to do that.  I've got the most student products on my channel (@Gaff Class), and I'm working on keeping those organized.

Next, is my Twitter presence.  I tweet, or retweet, just about every day.  I've tweeted some class info, some pics, but not many.  Due to my participation in #notatiste15, I reached over 100 followers!  Even though I couldn't make it to the actual conference in Philly, PA, I enjoyed all the chatter about the newest tech out there.  I may have to convince my husband to take a trip out to Colorado for next year's convention.  So, I feel fairly successful at Tweeting.  Why not up the ante by adding a classroom Twitter account?  Yeah, that's the goal this year, keep up with TWO accounts.

So, that brings me to creating new class jobs this year.  2014-15 found this veteran middle school teacher assigning class jobs, like passer, collector, attendance taker, info checker, tech assistant.  I had 32 students at one point this year, so I had to come up with 16 jobs, rotating on an even/odd basis--that was a lot.  This upcoming year, I'm going to add Tweeter (Twit?) and Photographer to this list to cut down on having to repeat jobs so often.

If I can show other teachers how to get the students working for them (capturing the learning & FUN), instead of feeling overwhelmed by having to do all the work themselves, I will feel successfully "branded" as an #HPSeLeader and teacher educator. #notaseasyasitlooks

Who says teachers get summers off?!

I've been working on growing my personal learning network (PLN) since before my last day with students.  Believe it or not, I can connect with educators all over the world now, using Google+, Pinterest, and Twitter.  I am checking, reading, and posting/pinning every day of my "summer".

In fact, I was visiting my hometown last week, spending time with my short-term disabled mother, trying to get her out of the house for some fresh air.  At the same time (not while driving, of course!) I was keeping up with #notatiste15 on Tweetdeck AND listening to SimpleK12 webinars on Google tools.  That was a crazy couple of days--all the tools I can use to support my students' learning in the fall!  Amazing!  And I never stop!

Summer is the time to re-engage yourself, re-energize your soul, and grow your PLN.  This is the time because once the year starts in August, time becomes a relative, social construct.  Everything I do revolves around children, whether my offspring or "my kids" as my 3 year old likes to say, "Mommy, are those your kids?"  "Why yes, E, they are!  Say hi Gaffkids!"  Yup, that's what I call my kids, Gaffkids.  They are proud to hold that title...and a little scared at first.  Every year, this is my first line: "Welcome to your ELA class.  You're MINE."  I love their reactions: wide-eyed fear, slack-jaw disbelief, barely-audible "what?!"  Then, by the end of the first week, they see me out in the community and I say, "Hi Gaffkids!" and they respond with "Hi, Mrs. Gaffney!  Hey, look there are more Gaffkids!"

So, THIS summer has been particularly busy, edtech-wise.  I just completed my first full year as an eLeader for my middle school (#Cohort3 #HPSeLead).  I'm charged with bringing all four cohorts together starting in the fall and I"m a little overwhelmed with all the possibilities for teaching my colleagues.  Not only am I looking for new strategies to use with students, but I'm looking for angles to present these strategies and tools to make teachers' lives easier, too.

I've been using my PLN to research blogging, and here I am.  Ready and willing to spill my guts about what works and what doesn't in my classroom.  One more thing, I'm going to add my students to my PLN using a classroom twitter account (Follow us @Gaffclassroom) and this blog.  I'm going to charge the students with tracking their journey.  Can 7th graders do it?  We'll find out!!