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Category Archives: Friday Flyer

Creating a matching assessment with SMART Response

Posted on by Posted in 21st Century Education, Education, Friday Flyer, Technology, Tools Leave a comment

My first experience using a clicker system was about 7 years ago when I was given a demo unit to try out in my classroom. I knew of the system and how it worked but as I set it up I found it clunky and frustrating at best. The software simply wouldn’t do what I wanted it to do but, as with all things technology, the first version of a product is often a proof of concept and simply a way to get feedback. As I look at systems like the SMART Response (formerly Senteo), there has been great growth from my first experience and it’s clear that we’ve moved far beyond that initial proof of concept.

In my work, one of the features that is often requested from the SMART Response system is the ability to create matching questions. While it’s not one of the question types, it can be done. Here’s how:

    1. Create the items that you want to be matched. In the example that I’m going to use throughout this post, I have created a simple quiz where students will identify the continents. To do this, I grabbed a world map from the SMART Notebook Gallery and placed numbers on each of the continents.

 

    1. On the next slide, create a multiple choice question that has the names of each item (continent) to be identified and matched on the map.

 

    1. Copy all of the choices from that multiple choice question and paste them back on that first page where the items to be identified are labeled (in my case it’s the map). Depending on the graphic or layout of that first page, you may have to resize your matching options so that they don’t take up the entire page.

 

    1. Go back to the question that you made (probably the second slide) and clone this page (ctrl-D). After the first time you clone it, you will be asked if you want to create a title page. For a matching assessment like this, you do. Type in the title of the assessment and a new page will be created and put at the beginning of your slides.

 

    1. Go back to the question page and clone it again for as many matching options as you have. In my case I will have seven slides all with the same question. One thing to remember, using the regular SMART Response clickers, you are limited to only 10 choices before having to start over again. In other words, there are 10 buttons (A-J). Once you reach 10, you will need to create a new set of questions.

 

    1. Once you have created the right number of questions, you will need to set the correct answers by clicking on the “Response” dropdown menu and selecting “Set all answers”. Select the correct answers for each question and click done.

 

    1. Now it’s time to start your quiz. Have your students log on and sign in (if you’ve already set up your classes) and go to your second slide. What’s nice about this technique is that your entire assessment can be given from slide number 2 and students will do their matching from the SMART Response handsets.

 

    1. When all students are finished, end the assessment and you have just completed using the SMART Response system to do a matching assessment with your students.

 

If you’d like to see it in action, you can download the example SMART Notebook file from the link below and you can watch the following video as it will walk you through the steps involved.

Download the Continent Matching example SMART Notebook File

A Culture of Sharing

Posted on by Posted in 21st Century Education, Education, Friday Flyer, Making Connections, Reflections, web literacy 2 Comments

After being hired for my first teaching position, I remember visiting my classroom the summer before that first group of students were to enter Room 7 on the ground floor of Winfield Jr. High. I walked into the building musty with the absence of kids and teachers and made my way to the office to meet the principal who would show me around again and orient me to the building and anyone who happened to be there. Like all first year teachers, I was nervous about what my future would hold. All went well that day and I met my mentor teacher who was there organizing her materials for the upcoming school year. I don’t remember her name but I do remember that during the 30 minutes that I sat with her that day, she gave me more information and materials than I even knew what to do with. At that point, everything was paper and copies of copies of copies that had probably been handed down to her by someone else. As I sorted through the stacks of papers and books, I remember thinking about how thankful I was to have these materials. Sure I was overwhelmed, but I now had stuff to teach with. I had direction. More than anything, I had a friend. Fast forward almost 20 years and that feeling of apprehension still sticks with me. That was a tough year of learning, but it’s also one that set the stage for me for the rest of my teaching career. During that year my colleagues were there to support, push and share with me all the wisdom and experience that they had to offer.

The world of education has changed a great deal since my first steps into room 7, but one thing that I still hold on to is that culture of sharing that was evident during that first year. In today’s world sharing is even more prevalent than it was then. Technology and the internet make sharing ideas, new learning and resources easier than it ever has been.With the click of a button, a file can be sent via email, shared on Google Docs or posted online. Not only does this make it easier to share, but it makes it easier to continue that sharing. When you forward an email, retweet a Twitter message or even “like” something on Facebook, that extends the reach of that initial idea exponentially because then, in turn, someone else may forward, tweet, or “like” it.

So, what does this mean? A few things, first of all, as educators, we share. We share ideas and resources with students, parents and colleagues and must continue to do so. Second, we must ask ourselves what we need to think about when it comes to student’s sharing their own ideas/content/pictures, etc. I think we’re all familiar with the fact that sometimes kids (or adults for that matter) overshare. What conversations and modeling need to occur in order to make sure they’re safe? Can we ignore it? I think not. Should we pretend it doesn’t happen? Please don’t. Sharing is an important part of our culture. Students will share and now that it’s easy, let’s help them know what to share and when to share it. Let’s teach them about digital footprints and the permanency of the internet. Most importantly, let’s not stifle their want to share.

Finally, let’s look at the ways we share and the models that we create for students. Do we share our thoughts behind a password protected area? Yes, sometimes. Do we share in public? I hope so. If you have a resource or an idea that others can benefit from, why not share it publicly? Put it online and post it for other teachers to use and share with their own colleagues and in their own circles. We learn by sharing our stories and our ideas.

Can this whole thing be overwhelming? Sure, but that’s why it’s important for us to keep sharing. We can act as a filter to find the good stuff for others to help streamline the whole process. That’s why we share, we created or found something good and want others to know about it. The culture of sharing is as strong as it was 20 years ago when I was figuring out how to work with the kids who were going to come and expect me to teach. Keep sharing. Openly and courageously. And let’s teach our students to do the same.

Cross posted to Northeast Middle School Friday Flyer

Finding Perspective

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This week was the end of the season for my son’s 3rd grade basketball team. It was a good season and, ending at 7-2, they expected to do well in the post-season tournament. Unfortunately, they did not. Losing two straight they were quickly eliminated by their opponents who probably have a little more experience than the 10 weeks that this group of boys have been playing together. Both games were close and a win could have been had by either team but, in the end, our team lost. As you might expect from a 3rd grade game, there were lots of inadvertent fouls as the teams are still working to learn how to play the game. When the game was over, my son asked, “Why was number 33 so mean?” prompting a long discussion about sports, playing a game and perspective.

In reflecting further on the idea that my son had a very limited perspective and only saw his side of it, I began to think more about my own perspective of the world and my role in it. Our perspective is shaped by our experiences, our beliefs and our own view of the world. But, as I tried to explain to my son, our perspective is our own and we can’t know, we can only try to see the world from someone else’s point of view. As educators, our perspective has great power because we bring it with us into the classroom and, because of our positions, our perspective has influence on the students who walk through the building doors. Their personal experiences are being shaped everyday as a direct result of the work done in class and the experiences they have. Educators are influencers and have great power and responsibility with their respective classes and we must recognize that our perspectives are our own, as our the perspectives of our students. Are these perspectives always right? Absolutely not. It’s simply a way of looking at the world.

All this being said, be aware of your perspective, that of your colleagues, and equally importantly, your students. Chances are they look at the world differently because of their own experiences. It’s not wrong, it’s just different.

Thinking about perspective reminds me of a photo that I saw on Twitter that was taken by an photographer named Steph Goralnick. I’m not posting it here because I don’t have permission, however, I love the perspective switch that she took in creating it. Check it out. It might take a second, but quickly you’ll see how quickly perspective can change. Also, kudos to The Cool Hunter website that pointed me to this photo.

Cross posted to Northeast Middle School Friday Flyer

Using SMART Response to check for understanding

Posted on by Posted in 21st Century Education, Education, Friday Flyer, Professional Development, teaching, Technology, testing, Tools Leave a comment

SMART Response is a great system for creating and giving assessments. There are many strategies to this from giving kids a paper copy of an assessment and having them record their responses to a simple check for understanding. Starting with SMART Notebook 10, much of the functionality around the SMART Response system has been built into the Notebook. It still requires the clickers, but adding questions and giving an assessment are so much easier than they once were. One of my favorite featrues is the “Instant Question” which allows you to, on the fly, insert a question for students to answer. Suppose you are in the midst of a lesson and you just want to see where students are in their understanding of the concept. At one point, I may have had my students give me a thumbs up or thumbs down in response to a question. I distinctly remember that when I would do that, I’d get a lot of thumgs up so that, either I’d move on and stop talking or my students wouldn’t want to be the only one who didn’t get it.

Another way to approach this is with the SMART Response system and SMART Notebook. In that same lesson, instead of asking for a thumbs up, consider posing that same question, but instead, try this.

  1. Open up SMART Notebook and click on the “Instant Question” icon on your toolbar
  2. Have your students join your class on their SMART Response handsets (your class has to be set up in advance)
  3. Choose the appropriate question type that you wish to ask
  4. Pose the question to your class. You don’t have to write it down, just ask them and let them answer on their Response handsets.

As soon as you select the question type, the “assessment” starts and students can immediately begin answering. It’s fast, simple and anonymous allowing those who don’t understand to be truthful without feeling that peer pressure to already know the answer.

When everyone has answered, click on the “Stop Assessment” button on the tool bar.

Your results will be tabulated in the sidebar and you will immediately know if your students understand and allow you to either reteach or move on with the lesson.

Some tips:

  • Choose your questions wisely. Don’t just ask them if they “get it”. Pose the question so you can tell if they understand.
  • Have them join your class before you choose the question.
  • Don’t use this technique if you want to know how everyone answered. This is simply to get the “pulse” of the group.

The following video will walk you through the process. If you have questions about when or how to use this, be sure to let me know.

Cross posted to Northeast Middle school Friday Flyer

METC Virtual Conference

Posted on by Posted in Friday Flyer, Making Connections, METC, Professional Development Leave a comment

About two weeks ago the Midwest Education Technology Conference was held at the St. Charles Convention Center. I’ve been attending METC for a number of years now and have done a number of presentations there and, truly, it’s a pretty great conference. One of the things that METC has started doing is streaming a select number of presentations online, live during the conference drawing a worldwide audience of educators.

Now that the conference is over, these sessions are still available to be viewed online on the METC Conference website and will continue to be there until this fall. If you were unable to attend, this is a great way to get a little professional learning when and where ever it’s convenient for you. There are some great tips and tricks in there for the tech savvy as well as those who are just looking for a little inspiration to bring into the classroom. Each session is just under an hour long so I hope that you’ll take a little time, even if it’s playing in the background, to listen to what these speakers have to say.

Making Global Connections

Posted on by Posted in Education, Friday Flyer, Literacy, Making Connections, Professional Development, Technology Leave a comment

In December I had the opportunity to hear Ray McNulty speak at Lindenwood and during one section of the day he showed the above video to start a discussion about how we are in a global society. In the video, you will see a multitude of yellow dots, each representing an airplane traveling. What’s I find interesting about this is that, as the day moves on, you see certain areas of the world come alive, almost as if we are migrating to one part of the world and then the population and trend reverses. At one point I remember (however, I can’t seem to find it) seeing a map similar to this that highlighted air travel just 20 years ago and the difference is marked. Instead of the mass migration of the little yellow dots across the oceans, our travel was much more centralized to a specific area or country. Of course there were still plenty of planes flying at that time, but not like now. Each day, regardless of the area of the world, we are becoming more collaborative with other cultures. This globalization is also becoming part of the educational culture as well. Teachers are more willing to look outside of their own classrooms and connect their students to other countries and students to learn from them. The Flat Classroom Project is one of those that has connected students from around the world as they learn and work together. Skype has an educational space where you can connect your classroom with others around the world. These are only two such examples but there are plenty more that will allow students to connect with others.

However, there are plenty more out there and they are not limited to students. Teachers also have the ability to connect with each other on Twitter by participating in online chats, joining email rings at Teachers.net, becoming a STAR educator with Discovery Education, or even looking to many of the professional organizations that are out there. It’s important to continue to learn and explore topics with local colleagues, but there are so many resources that can be tapped into beyond the four walls of our schools. Making connections with and for students to that global community is becoming more and more important. It provides perspective, challenges ideas, and gives us a sense of our place in the world. Just as all of those little yellow dots are traveling around the world in the video, we now have the tools available to us to get us outside of our classrooms without having to actually travel anywhere. It’s time to start taking advantage of them.

Cross posted to Northeast Middle Friday Flyer

Where did my toolbar go?

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Posted to Friday Flyer at Northeast Middle School

In Groupwise, one of the questions that I’m most often asked is how to get the “Send” button back. For some reason, and I’m not sure why, when you create a new message inside of Groupwise, sometimes the tool bar that allows you to send mail or choose an address from your address book seems to disappear. It’s simple to get back if you know where to look.

With a new message open, click on the “View” dropdown menu. There you’ll see a selection for “Toolbar”. Just make sure that there is a checkmark beside it and, voila, the toolbar returneth.

I don’t know if it’s a keystroke combination or if the Groupwise designers decided it would be fun, but if your toolbar has a habit of disappearing, you can quickly and easily find it again.

 

What was the last thing you learned? (My adventure with Minecraft)

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As I was driving my son home from basketball practice yesterday, we were talking about his new favorite subject: Minecraft. If you’re not familiar with Minecraft (some schools are using it with their students), it’s an online game where participants can create worlds and interact with each other. There’s a lot more to it and I’m certainly no expert (ask your students, they’ll probably know), but it’s his new big interest. One of the things that players can do in this game is to modify it to suit their needs. In fact “mods” are a pretty big part of the game and give you additional ways to interact with this digital environment.

Luckily, I have instilled in my 9 year old a healthy skepticism of the “free” things that are found on the internet. But, also being 9, he REALLY wanted to mod his minecraft game and he just knew that I could figure out how to do it. “After all, you’re a computer guy,” he tells me. Now, let me be clear, I like video games and I do play them, however, I have not delved into the world of Minecraft except to install it for him, watch him play and now, begin thinking about how to mod the game.

The first mod he wanted to do was one that, upon doing a little research, seemed to be a virus. No to that one. The next one seemed to check out so I began the process of figuring out which files to copy, what to delete and what to keep. It was no small task but, with the help of YouTube and some Minecraft forums, we got it done. After a brief, “Thanks Dad” he squeezed past me and was off to play.

Yesterday was not the first time the topic came up. He’s be after me for the last few weeks to mod his game but, I was resistant simply because I didn’t understand it. I think this happens more often than not in classrooms, not just with technology but with ideas and practices that are foreign to our experience. We know what works, but do we know what works for every kid? How do we reach those that seem to be unreachable? Could it be that we need to learn something new and give up that control to make that connection, even if we’re unsure of the outcome?

Last night I was part of an experiment that could have gone wrong. We could have gotten a virus or deleted a crucial file to make the computer boot up. Luckily we didn’t, but what if we had? At that point, we’d have to deal with it and the learning would continue. I took a risk and learned something last night. When was the last time you learned something? Was it new or was it adding information to a previous experience? Finally, how can you allow your students to take risks in their own learning?

Customizing the floating toolbar in SMART Notebook

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There are some great tools inside of SMART Notebook that are the basis for the interaction between the teacher/student and the board in the classroom. The pen, screen shade, and screen capture tools are all valuable and probably used regularly as a part of instruction. However, these tools are not just relegated to being used inside of SMART Notebook. Using the floating toolbar, these tools can be used with the transparency layer on almost any program when you’re hooked up to a SMART Board.

Sometimes the floating toolbar doesn’t have the tools that you need when you need them. Because of this, SMART has given you the ability to customize it with almost any tool that you want to use. For instance, clicking on the pen tool brings up a gear beside that tool where you can change the thickness and color of that pen depending on your needs. Clicking on the eraser will allow you to change the thickness of the eraser as well. But you can also change the tools that are available in the toolbar by clicking on the gear at the very bottom of the toolbar and dragging on the tools that you want so you have easy access to them without having to open up SMART Notebook. Think of these as shortcuts to the available tools. You can even organize your tools by type by adding different columns to the toolbar and adding the tools you most use in your instruction. The video below will walk you through customizing the floating tool bar.

Available tools

2 Columns

If you can’t see the floating toolbar on your computer, click on the SMART Board icon in your taskbar and select “Show Floating Tools” to turn it on. You can turn it off in the same way.

Trying Something New

Posted on by Posted in coaching, Education, Friday Flyer, Reflections Leave a comment

At the beginning of every calendar year, thousands of people make new year’s resolutions. It’s a good time to make the change because it marks a specific date where something new can happen and it brings with it the idea that new possibilities can come. Some succeed and some fail but the important thing is that they have tried something new. As I move in and out of classes, I see students trying something new all the time. They are working with new ideas, developing new strategies and working on new problems. The same can be said for teachers. Today I went into one classroom where the teacher had just learned how to use the highlighter with her SMART Board. That was cool. I also saw students thinking about research and exploring new topics using their own phones and tablets. This was new for both student and teacher as they figure out how to use these devices in the classroom. The bottom line is new things are important things. Will they always work out? No. But how do we know that unless we try? Just because it worked last year, does that mean it will work this year? What questions and decisions do we need to ask as we try new things both personally and with our students?

I don’t have all the answers to these questions but I do know that trying new things is important and it’s easy to get into a rhythm and, sometimes, a rut. Matt Cutts, an engineer at Google did a TED talk entitled “Try something new for 30 days”. In it he says:

The next 30 days are going to pass whether you like it or not, so why not think about something you have always wanted to try and give it a shot for the next 30 days.

How will you use the next 30 days with your students? Will you try something new as a part of your instruction or will you do what you’ve always done? What would happen if you did try something new? Maybe it’s worth thinking and being intentional about. After all, these 30 days are going to pass and you might just engage your students in new work and new ideas.