December 5

Website Worth Sharing: Speechnotes

Sometimes I am asked to provide speech to text tools for students who have difficulty typing. I am a fan of Google Voice Typing which is in the Tools section of Google Docs, but I found a new tool that rivals that and might be a good companion for OW.

Speechnotes (https://speechnotes.co/  ) does a nice job transcribing dictation, but also has a clickable sidebar that allows you to add punctuation as you are dictating. Once done, you can click the Enter key and then click on the Speaker button on the lower right to have it read back to you. The copy button  next to the speaker allows you to quickly copy the text so you can paste it elsewhere.

There is also an extension that students can download that may work right in the OW fields. https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/speechnotes-speech-to-tex/nncconplehmbkbhkgkodmnkfaflopkji/related  I can’t test it so you’ll have to try that out and let me know how it goes.

Here is a video with some instructions. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Khktjg7C3jw

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November 26

Website Worth Sharing: 826Digital

If you are looking for writing activities or student samples to supplement your current curriculum, you might want to look into https://826digital.com/ .

There are 4 components on the site:

Sparks- Short, skill based writing sessions (would work well as a Google Classroom assignment)

Lessons- Longer lesson plans with included materials (perfect for a sub)

Projects- Lessons collections built around a unit or theme

Writing- Actual student samples you can use as models

The Lessons and Projects come with teaching materials including Slideshows and student handouts. There is a filter on the side of each section that allows you to filter by grade level (1-12) and Writing type. In addition to the standard forms (informative, narrative, etc) they also have SEL topics and performative and media arts.

The site is free to use but requires that you create an account (there is a step during registration where you can donate, but it is not required.) Materials can be downloaded or saved directly to Google Drive.

There is some sponsorship by Cartoon Network, but it isn’t too heavy handed.

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March 20

Website Worth Sharing: Instructables

You may already be familiar with the Instructables site http://www.instructables.com/teachers/ but I’m sharing just in case you aren’t as it’s an amazing repository of instructions for a huge variety of projects. Teachers and Students can access premium memberships for free: http://www.instructables.com/teachers/#free-premium  (kids can login with their Google accounts.)

You can use this as an instructional reading exercise and have students create something using the directions (paper crafts work well- perfect activity for right before spring break). The incorporation of images and videos along with the text make it a perfect multimedia resource. Some of the instructions include YouTube videos, which will be blocked for students, but many house their videos on Vimeo which can be viewed with the Chromebooks and most have step by step illustrated instructions in addition to or instead of videos, so most instructions are fine without them. It’s a great way to address this standard .

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.6.7
Integrate information presented in different media or formats (e.g., visually, quantitatively) as well as in words to develop a coherent understanding of a topic or issue.

Kids can even make and submit their own instructables or enter one of the contests http://www.instructables.com/contest/ . There is even an instructable on how to make an instructable. https://www.instructables.com/class/How-to-Write-an-Instructable-Class/ This is a great technical writing activity and if they submit it to the website, they are satisfying the standard that mentions publishing with technology.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.WHST.6-8.2
Write informative/explanatory texts, including the narration of historical events, scientific procedures/ experiments, or technical processes.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.WHST.6-8.6
Use technology, including the Internet, to produce and publish writing and present the relationships between information and ideas clearly and efficiently.

*I found a cool example of a teacher using this site in conjuction with the book The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind if any of you read that book with your students.

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December 12

Editing Student Work in Docs- A couple of shortcuts

Are you grading student work in Google Docs? If you are, you might find that you are typing the same comments over and over again.

One of my favorite Ed Tech experts, Eric Curts, has a shortcut that you might want to utilize. It takes advantage of the new integration of Google Keep with Google Docs. If you’re familiar with these tools, you can skim the article and get the idea. If you want more detailed instructions, the video embedded in the blog article is very helpful. http://www.controlaltachieve.com/2017/03/keep-grading-comments.html

If you like the idea of having a set of comments that you can easily copy/paste, but you don’t want something as complex as Eric’s suggestion, you might want to try installing the Permanent Clipboard extension: https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/permanent-clipboard/hilkjcfodmbdgpadbpehimibheopoccb?hl=en

I have this and use it quite often to copy and paste frequently used text. Here is a video that shows how it works: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fHlfbhsbQqI The Permanent Clipboard icon has changed to a white link on a blue background.

 

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October 23

Extensions worth Exploring: Checkmark

I wish it took me more time to grade student essays…..said no language arts teacher ever. For those of you who use Google Classroom to provide feedback on student writing, you might want to download and play with the CheckMark Extension. You can download it here: https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/checkmark/kfddponboekcbjlhhjinkefjollhhidp

This Chrome extension makes it easy to add common comments that teachers make when editing assignments. Once the extension is installed and you open student writing in Google Docs, you can highlight over an area of concern and choose from several “canned comments” that are in the app. The canned comments show up in the margin of the student work.

Watch this video so see it in action. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S4ddR2x3aXo

Below are the options

The CheckMark Abbreviations

C = Check capitalization
F = Check for fragment
P = Check punctuation
S = Check spelling
T = Tense
CS = Check for comma splice
RO = Check for run-on sentence
SV = Subject/Verb agreement
¶ = New paragraph needed
Bottom row:
cla = Clarify your idea/meaning
det = Detail needed
dis = Discussion needed
evi = Evidence needed
rep = Repetitive
phr = Rephrase
spa = Spacing
​cit = Check Citation

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October 23

Website Worth Sharing: ifaketextmessage

Text messaging is how our students communicate, so a great way to make historical or literature conversations relevant to them might be to have them create them in text message format. At https://ifaketextmessage.com/ Students can use the message editor to create text exchanges between historical figures or book characters. Once created, students can use a screen capture tool (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NWRtnw3YIsw  for how to do it on a Chromebook) to turn their project in using Google Classroom, or a Google Doc. Here’s a sample:

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October 19

Tool Worth Trying: Google Docs Named Versions

Even though your students might think they can write the perfect paper in one try, we all know that good writing is usually a result of multiple drafts. In the old days, when students turned in paper/pencil essays we could require them to also turn in their “rough drafts” so we could look for evidence of the changes and edits that they made. With digital documents, this is still possible.

Google added a new feature to Docs called Named Versions that allows students to save their documents at key revision stages so that anyone with access to the document can view the editing process. This feature is available in the Google Docs  File Menu in the Version History Section. One of the options is “Name Current Version.” Students can name their 1st draft, 2nd draft, Final Draft etc. and then once they share the document with you, giving you editing rights, (or turn it in using Google Classroom) you can go to File>Version History>View Version History to view and compare the different versions. This is a great way to see how students are applying the writing process. Revision history has always been available, but by requiring students to name the different stages of their writing, you’re asking them to be aware of the steps of their writing process and deliberate in identifying the various stages.

If the student forgets to name the versions during the course of writing/editing the paper, it’s not too late. They can open up the Version History panel and click on the three dots next to any “saved point” and name that version.

For more information/ideas on how to use this tool, check our Eric Curts blog post on this:: //www.controlaltachieve.com/2017/08/named-versions.html

To see an example, you can check out my Google Docs version of this post and go to File>Version History>See Version History

https://docs.google.com/a/kelso.wednet.edu/document/d/16V_lOBBOUdpoYnnLITVGUVkEqiHaask_tAiMpBh5DOU/edit?usp=sharing

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September 18

Website Worth Sharing: Quill

I’ve been looking at a new writing tool that shows promise, so I thought I’d share. https://www.quill.org/ was created by a non-profit group committed to providing writing tools that will help students improve their composition skills. Created from the Common Core, Quill provides exercises and assessments to help students improve their writing. The activities are brief and can be used as bell-ringers, or extensions. Teachers have dashboard access that will help them monitor student progress. Here is a brief introduction video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i-clKDhqrqQ (check out their channel for more activities: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCG9mgvktG6vxp7XoYEJTiaw )

 

Quill allows you to create classrooms, add students, and assign activities. It integrates with Google Classroom, so you if you are using Classroom, you can just connect the two. While they do have a “Premium” (paid)  version that provides greater in-depth reporting, the free version allows access to all of the tools.

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May 15

Add-Ons Worth Adding: WriQ

I discovered a Google Docs add-on that analyzes student writing and allows you to grade it with a rubric which is then embedded into the document. I tested this with one of my own documents and found that some of the “errors” it caught were not really errors, but the app is easy to use once you set it up and there is the ability to override the errors that it initially catches. This short video does a nice job explaining how to add it to your Drive and how it works: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FXpjOrSFwPE

The rubric may not match what you use, but it may be worth looking into. Texthelp usually charges for their tools, so they may be testing this one out while they work out the bugs. Use it for free while you can.

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May 15

Extensions worth Installing: Draftback

One of the downsides of having students compose their writing digitally is that the copy/paste functions makes it all too tempting for them to plagiarize the works of others. Viewing the revision history in Google Docs (go to File>See Revision History) can help give you some insight into the writing process of your students. If a document has no revision history, then it is most likely that the text was directly pasted into the document from another source. To see an even more detailed view of the creation of the document, you can download a Chrome Extension called Draftback: https://chrome.google.com/webstore/search/draftback?hl=en-US

Once installed, when a student shares a document with you, you will see a Draftback button on the upper left of the document which will give you a play-by-play video of the creation process of the document. This is a useful tool as you can see how much time the student spent on the writing, who it was shared with, and how many revisions were made. It is essentially like you looked over your student’s shoulder while he/she was typing- except in fast motion.

For more on how this works you can watch a short video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LAgcNeBEfgAOr a longer video with curriculum ideas: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TUzHWOgdjwg&t=318s

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