Formative

Although I usually provide tools or tricks more focused on student use and success, this one is great for teachers.

Formative is a tool that provides teachers with tools to engage, instruct, and assess their students. 

Just a few of the things you can do with Formative include transforming a PDF or Google Doc into an auto-graded quiz,  enhancing reading passages with questions, promoting higher-level thinking with advanced Math tools, and unleashing student creativity with the option of audio and video responses.

Check out Formative for yourself. 

Blooket

Are you looking for a fun way to assing work to your students? How about a fun whole group activity?

Check out Blooket (https://www.blooket.com/)!

Blooket is a new take on trivia and review games.  Blooket offer a variety of games to keep students engaged and excited. There are whole group games as well as one person games, great for homework or building skills independently. Blooket is motiviating and easily customizeable.

They have a couple of easy to follow YouTube tutorials available. There is a teacher tutorial (https://bit.ly/3ts1lER), student tutorial (https://bit.ly/3JzpjDF) and tutorial on how to create a Blooket question set (https://bit.ly/3KWiVqi).

Must-Have Google Slides Add-Ons for Teachers

This weeks video comes from Sam Kary, New EdTech Classroom.

In his video, Must-Have Google Slides Add-Ons for Teachers (https://youtu.be/jvpU2qPAt-k), Sam talks about 9 helpful Google Slides Add-Ons.  

1. Unsplash

2. Extensis Fonts

3. Flaticon

4. Slides Translator

5. Easy Accents

6. Hypatia

7. Pear Deck

8. Slido

9. Nearpod

If you have never looked through or installed an add-on it is simple.  I have created a very quick tutorial to show you how.  

Google: Install an Add-On (https://bit.ly/38on9XO)

Rewordify.com

Rewordify.com is a powerful, free, online software that improves reading, learning, and teaching. This site can:

• Intelligently simplify difficult English, for faster comprehension
• Effectively teach words, for building a better vocabulary
• Help teachers save time and produce engaging lessons
• Help improve learning outcomes

Rewordify.com is free and child-safe. The online demo offers some great tips for using the site in your classroom and with your students.  The first-time user guide contains text and images for an easy learning experience. It helps teachers create lessons and allows you to print free, full-color literature.

Plagiarism Checker

I have been working with a student that attends classes at a local university. His teacher consultant, a colleague and friend of mine, was doing some research on free plagiarism checkers to use with her students when she discovered Free Online Plagiarism Checker Tool by Publi6 (https://freeplagiarismchecker.pro/en).

Students can use plagiarism detection software to check completed class work, essays or research assignments. Students can face penalties for plagiarism, including failing an assignment, being put on academic probation, or even face expulsion at some colleges and universities.  Students should be aware that even unintentional plagiarism can be viewed as plagiarism and may be dealt with accordingly. 

If you have students working on writing assignments or research projects, make sure they check for plagiarism before they turn it in for grading.

The Iris Center: Differentiated Instruction

Differentiated Instruction: Maximizing the Learning of All Students
(https://iris.peabody.vanderbilt.edu/module/di/)


This Module discusses the importance of differentiating three aspects of instruction: content, process (instructional methods), and product (assessment). It explores the student traits—readiness level, interest, and learning preferences—that influence learning (est. completion time: 3 hours).

TodaysMeet

Last week I shared an article about using social media with parents, written by Clark Rodeffer.  At times this is also appropriate for in the classroom.  At other times we want class discussions and comments less public, but possibly still electronic.  

Have you been looking for a way for students to ask questions or make comments without interrupting the lecture, movie or presentation?  Do your students have access to an electronic device?

TodaysMeet (https://todaysmeet.com/) may be the answer you are looking for.  TodaysMeet is a chat room, a meeting space, a platform for learning.  Each post is limited to 140 characters to help keeps comments and questions concise.  

TodaysMeet is free and does not require a log in.  This is a great way to share information that can be referenced at a later time as well.  

PaperRater.com

The best time to check your paper for errors is before you turn it in.  

PaperRater.com uses artificial intelligence to detect grammar errors, punctuation issues, and spelling mistakes as well as give you tips to help make you a better writer. You can use the free features without having to signup, login, or download anything.

PaperRater.com also offers FREE plagiarism detection.  Simply upload or copy and paste your paper into the box.  Select your education level, 1st grade through Doctorate.   Enable Plagiarism detection and select continue.  

The free version does have some limitations: 

Maximum 5 pages per paper (longer papers can be broken up into separate submissions)

Maximum 50 submissions per month

Maximum 10 plagiarism checks per month

Despite these limitations, it is a great tool for writers of all ages.  Try it out for yourself the next time you have a paper to write.  

Google Sheets Add-on: Save as Doc

There are a number of reasons data may be saved as a Google Sheet.  Maybe you created a Google Form for a quiz or maybe a Sheet was the easiest way to input the information from a paper-based survey.  What ever the reason, there are just as many reasons why you might want to view the information in a Google Doc as well.  

'Save as Doc' allows you to do this very thing.  'Save as Doc' allows you to take information in a Google Sheets spreadsheet and view it as a Google Document. This is a great tool for making lengthy cell text readable.  This can be a great way to sort out individual responses to a quiz or a survey.

For quick instructions on how to use 'Save as Doc' please follow the instructions in the link below.

'Save as Doc' instructions.
(https://docs.google.com/document/d/10lJadrHRUrEH9qZrzsB2EuZE5CHenVRO07cmnCE4P04/view)