Graphic organizers guide learners’ thinking as they fill in and build upon a visual map or diagram.
Tech Connection to Classroom: If you are looking for a particular type of graphic organizer, consider using a website like pinterest. You can filter by grade level, units, type, etc. Great resource for teachers.
In a growth mindset, people believe that their most basic abilities can be developed through dedication and hard work—brains and talent are just the starting point. This view creates a love of learning and a resilience that is essential for great accomplishment.
Tech Connection to Classroom: Use the collaboration/feedback feature in all google products to continually give both positive and opportunistic feedback to students.
-Google Docs: Collaborate on text documents at the same time, in your browser. Write reports, create joint project proposals, keep track of meeting notes, and much more.
Tech Connection to Classroom: Use collaborative feature in Google docs for students to give each other feedback.
-Google Forms: Create custom forms/quizzes.
Tech Connection to Classroom: Create a google form as a quiz with 2-3 questions, and distribute to students after giving a lesson. You will get instant results to see who grasped what you were trying to teach.
–Google Sheets: Collaborate on data analysis with smart spreadsheets.
Work directly with team members in the same spreadsheet at the same time. Perform calculations with formulas ranging from simple to sophisticated. All changes are automatically saved as you type.
Tech Connection to Classroom: Use the checkbox feature in google sheets as a productivity tool for students.
–Google Slides: Beautiful presentations created together. Create and edit polished presentations in your browser—no software required. Multiple people can work at the same time so everyone always has the latest version.
Tech Connection to Classroom: Use Google Slides as a digital portfolio tool. Have students save work in slides and they and you will be able to see progress throughout the year.
-Google Drawings: Create and edit drawings.
Tech Connection to Classroom: Google Drawings can be used to create rough sketches of a product the students might be designing for a project.
–Google Drive: Google Drive is a safe place for all your files and puts them within reach from any smartphone, tablet, or computer. Files in Drive – like your videos, photos, and documents – are backed up safely so you can’t lose them. Once there, you can easily invite others to view, edit, or leave comments on any of your files or folders.
Tech Connection to Classroom: Create different folders in Google Drive to help organize different resources you have accumulated. Take pictures of room arrangements and save pictures in Google Drive for later viewing.
–Google Classroom: Classroom is a free service for schools, non-profits, and anyone with a personal Google account. Classroom makes it easy for learners and instructors to connect—inside and outside of schools. Classroom saves time and paper, and makes it easy to create classes, distribute assignments, communicate, and stay organized.
Tech Connection to Classroom: Use Google Classroom to distribute assignments to students.
–Google Calendar: Keep track of all calendar appointments.
Tech Connection to Classroom: Allow students to use Google Calendar to put in due dates for particular assignments. Use reminder feature to make sure students stay on track.
–Google Sites: Create and share websites with simple drag and drop technologies.
Tech Connection to Classroom: Use Google Sites for a presentation tool when students have completed a project. Here they can showcase what they learned and put in any resources that they have created or used in their research.
-Google Mail: Use Google Mail for all email purposes
Tech Connection to Classroom: Use Google Mail to communicate with Families on what students are doing in the classroom that week. You can also develop mailing lists of all parents for easy messaging.
Using game design principles and mechanics to drive motivation and increase engagement in learning.
Tech Connection to Classroom: Gamification doesn’t have to be high tech in order to work either. In fact, it’s simply a way to incentivize people into action whether they are students or adults. Do students need to be citing details from the text and evidence for conclusions in class discussions? Answers without evidence are now worth 1 point, a correct answer with 1 piece of evidence is worth 2 points, a correct answer + 2 pieces of evidence = 3 points.