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The dreaded phone picture of schoolwork. I see it every time I’m on lunch duty. Students are on their phone, copying work for various classes. Their friends send or email them pictures of their work. It’s one of the hardest types of cheating for the classroom teacher to catch. It’s not a Google Docs where sharing permissions or revision history can be checked. 

Cheating has always happened, regardless of technology. Knowing how often students are sharing information with each other, and feeling the need to cheat in the first place, is so disappointing. It destroys everything we try to build as educators. It hurts our goals. It hurts our students. Still, this is happening on the daily basis in our schools.

I’ve removed the username of the above Twitter user, but there are plenty of students bragging online about how they cheat in school. Are the assignments students doing really this useless? Are the stakes really this high? Is there really so much to complete that students must resort to cheating?

Technology has brought plenty of ways to monitor students and work to prevent some of the same cheating it creates. But that should not be the end goal. There has to be a massive shift in what we believe about points, education and cheating for this to ever change. 

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Teach your students’ history. Teach them the struggles of dialup. 

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So relatable, especially for the younger teachers, or really just any of the teachers who are on Tumblr and are sick of the constant ‘kids these days’ shtick. 

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Brainstorming race is a Google Docs add-on worth looking into if you're interested in facilitating the brainstorming process to become more fun and effective. It works seamlessly with ensuring editing rights are properly administered, and integrates with Google Forms. Check out the video for more.

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Technology You Could Be Using: GradeCam

Stop grading!

The first day I gave a test using GradeCam, I had all my students’ quizzes graded AND in our online grade book before the period even ended. 

Here’s my link for you to get 3 months of stress free grading! Let me tell you more about this program...

GradeCam works best when you have stacks of paper-based assessments to grade. One might liken it to a Scantron machine at first, but the great thing is that I can grade my tests the second the student turns it in, from my computer’s webcam. I print out GradeCam answer keys, give them to my students, and hold their keys up to my webcam when they finish their test. Of course, this tool can’t grade your stacks of essays....so keep grading those. :)

The first time I used this, my students were so amazed and impressed! I polled them and every student enjoyed seeing their grade and getting that instant feedback. They said it eliminated the post-test anxiety that comes from ‘not knowing’ what score they earned.

GradeCam accounts for multiple versions of the same test, multiple class periods, and will automatically do a thorough item analysis. You can print student grades and results and hand them back when you are ready. It’s literally saved me hours upon hours! I’ve been using it for free since September, so please feel free to sign up for GradeCam through my link, and test it out for free. They don’t ask for any payment information and I’d be happy to help with any initial questions you have setting it up. Just shoot me a message!

[dudeedu]

Being a young teacher

Starting to teach right after college usually means you’ll be about 22 when you enter the profession. In my large school, I still find myself introducing myself to other teachers in my 2nd year. My colleagues who are around the 40-60 range seem to be intrigued with my status of gainful employment. I often field questions from them about my age. ‘Wow, I have a child your age!’ they respond. Yup, that’s how this stuff works. Wasn’t I supposed to get a job at this age?

It’s not that they think I should not be teaching...sometimes their kid is still living at home and not working. I find it amusing that some of my older coworkers are so open when asking me how old I am. 

I really want to ask them back, “How old are you? 55? Wow, I have a Mom that’s your age!”

But that’s not acceptable, right?

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A collaborative idea that teachers may be interested in implementing into their first or second day of school routines. I like this idea because I want to get my students active, collaborative, and have a discussion about the results and experiences that unfold during this activity. Check out the short video from TED above, and take a look at the website for more information.

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Happy to become a Google certified educator! 

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Did you buy this back to school essential on eBay yet?

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Goal for next year: students will become better searchers

One tool to get us there: http://www.agoogleaday.com

Google a Day gamifies the searching experience. Play yourself, or check out the quick youtube video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mpPK0aktC-Y

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Growth vs. Fixed Mindset

I’d love to have this on a poster - especially during the final stretch in the school year. 

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Cubing: An Instructional Strategy

What is cubing?

Cubing is an instructional strategy that asks students to consider a concept from a variety of different perspectives. The cubes are six-sided figures that have a different activity on each side of the cube. A student rolls the cube and does the activity that comes up. Cubes can also be used for group tasks as well as individual tasks

More information here - with examples! Download a template for your cubing activity here. 

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Apps You Could Be Using: Canva

I’m a big fan of https://www.canva.com/ - this website allows your students to design anything without having any coding or photoshop skills.

They can jump right in! After signing up, students can create banners, basic inforgraphics, posters, ads, and anything imaginable. One unique application that can work for any class: students research a topic individually, and present their findings in a digital poster made in Canva. This allows students to be creative in their presentation of their knowledge. These designs can be shared and printed, and students can do a gallery walk to learn more about the other students’ topics - all from their Canva designs.

Canva does have some premium photos, but any Google Image can be imported into the site for free.

If you don’t want to create an account, check out some of the interface and examples of what Canva can create here.

[dudeedu]

Students can create, learn and visualize information through these technology creation tools.

I haven’t posted any “Apps You Could Be Using” posts in a while. To catch up, I’d like to present this digestible compilation of some student creation tools. If you haven’t tried out these sites, I’d recommend looking into them. I’ve used them all in class and have had success each time. The kids enjoy using them and the learning curve isn’t too big. 

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Trading goods to show how wealth is created in a marketplace tomorrow in my economics class!

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Fun with gravity on this snowday

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Keyboarding shortcuts: Share them with your students or use them yourself! Made by DudeEdu