May 24

Website Worth Sharing: Almost Fun- Culturally Responsive Math Lessons and Test Prep

The Almost Fun website has some nice interactive teaching resources for a variety of topics. This non-profit has a goal of providing culturally-responsive learning resources for diverse students that will engage them in learning about math. In addition to the Math Lessons: https://www.almostfun.org/lessons , they provide resources for teachers like Lesson Templates https://www.almostfun.org/for-teachers . This would be a good way to provide additional resources when students struggle with certain concepts.

In addition to their Math lessons, they provide SAT Test Prep for all 3 subjects: https://www.almostfun.org/app/profile?s=reading

You might also want to check out their College guides: https://www.almostfun.org/guides

You’ll notice that some of their lessons, especially the more advanced topics, are still under construction, so you might want to visit back if they don’t have what you need.

February 26

Website Worth Sharing: Quizizz

I know many of you have embraced Kahoot as an interactive classroom game option. If you want to change things up a bit, you might want to try www.quizizz.com .

Quizziz, like Kahoot, is a free service that provides ready made quizzes and allows you to create your own (after you create your account, of course.) You can even create a quiz using their spreadsheet template and uploading it into your account.  Students go to their website https://quizizz.com/join/ and join your quiz by entering a code, just like Kahoot, but here is where you’ll find some differences.

Quizizz allows students to work at their own pace and see the answers to the questions on their devices, rather than on the big screen (good for those students who can’t see from the back of the room). The teacher can choose whether or not to display a Leaderboard that shows student progress. Students can work on their own or in small groups by sharing a device. It also allows you to assign quizzes as “Homework” allowing a time window for students to complete it. Their reporting provides feedback on individual students and questions, so you can use the results to direct your instruction or provide remediation. For those of you using Google Classroom, you’ll be pleased to see that you can easily push out assignments through Google Classroom (they have a button.)

It even uses Internet memes for “right” and “wrong” feedback after questions. You can even create your own meme set. I created a set using my Bitmoji Avatar (Downloading the Chrome Bitmoji Extension makes it easy.)

Here’s a 2 Minute Tutorial (He talks really fast): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MgT4VNyXwrc

Here’s one that’s a bit more in-depth (7 minutes) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YVdYWzmp1gY&list=PLPv3PEdH_aguo-jW9f3upYz0OU0RfO0HT

 

October 6

Website Worth Sharing: ReadTheory

readtheoryI’ve discovered a new website that helps students develop reading comprehension skills while at the same time allowing you to monitor their progress. In addition, it provides that much needed practice of reading online texts and navigating between passages and questions that is needed in order for students to be successful on the SBA.

ReadTheory requires about a 30 minute setup time on the teacher’s part and after that the program does all of the work. Once student accounts are created and login information is shared, students login to the site and take a placement quiz. Once that is done, the program places the students in a certain lexile level and provides reading passages and questions for them to complete. If they get a question wrong, it provides an explanation as to why they got it wrong.

Teachers are able to monitor the progress in the teacher portal. They even provide a sampler of printable assessments  that teachers can use. (If you like them, more can be purchased through their site-that is how they fund their work.)

The best part of this site is that it is FREE and they promise to remain that way.

Want to try it out? Login with my sample student account: username: StudentF141  password: kelsotech1

It will give you the placement quiz and then give you a sample assignment.

April 23

App Worth Investigating: Showbie

If you want a better way to manage iPad projects, you might want to check out the Showbie app: http://www.showbie.com/ There is a video on the homepage that explains how it works.

It looks like it works with some of the apps you already use: GarageBand, Educreations, Show Everything, Storykit etc.  (find the directions and full list of apps here http://support.showbie.com/knowledgebase/articles/163893-showbie-and-garage-band )

It looks like this is a nice way to collect all assignments in one area rather than checking a classroom set of iPads.

June 6

Website Worth Sharing: Problem Attic

If you like the idea of creating custom assessments from a bank of already created questions, then you might want to create an account at http://www.problem-attic.com/

Once you login, you can create a  test by selecting a question bank of standards (Washington state isn’t represented, but there are several others to choose from.) There are a lot of math options, including some Common Core Standards, but you’ll also find science, social studies, and ELA reading passages. Once you choose standards, you can then select from a variety of multiple choice questions. You can adjust the order and the format of the test once you’re done. Then you can print out your results in multiple choice, flashcard, or overhead (under the document camera) format.

If you select the “Play Area” in the standards window you can access Common Core math standards (3-8) and create a test that can be scored online. The worksheet generates a link to a custom website that looks like a scan sheet. Kids put in their name and click the bubble with their answers. It then scores their assignment and you can access the results in your account.

Much of the content is available for free, but they have more options if you want to pay a fee. Those of you who have clickers could use these with the verbal mode as a formative assessment tool. The questions could also be transferred into a Skyward assessment.

February 22

Website Worth Sharing: Jeopardy Labs

I know many of you utilize Powerpoint Jeopardy games for content review. You might also be interested in the Jeopardy Labs website:

http://jeopardylabs.com/

Why use this when you’re happy with the Powerpoint versions?

  1. Online access-If you create a Jeopardy game here, students can access it through a weblink. This would be a nice study tool (put the link on your eBoard or in the Skyward message center.) You can also share your work with colleagues this way.
  2. No need to reinvent the wheel-Use the “Start Browsing” option to search for pre-made Jeopardy games. You might find that someone else has already created something you could use. These are games other teachers have created so you will find some incomplete and not-so-great examples. Keep searching, there are some good ones out there.
  3. Flexibility: You can choose the number of teams that will be playing and keep track of points at the bottom of the page. Just click on the plus sign to add points.
November 3

Website Worth Sharing: Testmoz

Teachers:

http://www.testmoz.com/ makes creating online quizzes pretty painless. You can choose from 4 types of questions and once you’re done putting in the questions it generates a weblink that you can share with your students. (If you have an eBoard, you can publish it there.) You have the option of creating a passcode that students can use to take the quiz. That way random folks can’t take it. There are several options regarding how the results are displayed after the student takes the quiz. I think this would be a great way to create a study guide for upcoming quizzes. It could also be used for extra credit or even as an assignment. You can login to the site with your admin password to see who took your quiz and how they performed.

They warn you to bookmark your quiz link and that’s a good idea. It’s the only way to get your quiz results or get back in to edit your quiz.

I created a sample 5 question quiz using all of the question types so you can see what it looks like from a student’s viewpoint. Go to testmoz.com/2067 and use the passcode “kelso” to give it a try.