Welcome back to a brand new season of Tech Tuesday! Hi, my name is Darcie Priester and I’m an Instructional Technology Resource Teacher at a high school in Northern Virginia.
This is my little video series where I spotlight edtech tools, how you can integrate them into your classes, and keep you in the know on the latest edtech news. But I also want to hear from you! Let me know how you are using the tools and activities I spotlight, what tools you are using, or what questions you have. You can connect with me via Twitter or Instagram at mspriester_itrt.
It’s hard to believe I have been creating this video series for four years now, but I am very excited about what I’ve been learning and can’t wait to share some edtech knowledge with you for season 4! I am also very happy to share that after many months of preparation and a few exams, I am now a Google for Education Certified Trainer!
I’m very excited about this because I love all things Google, but even more because I know it will allow me to continue to grow and support all of you in transforming your use of integrating technology. So while you may be hearing a little more Google than normal, I will still continue to focus on all kinds of tools and lesson ideas just like the ones I want to share with you today.
As its become tradition, my first episode of the season is dedicated to ideas you can use for the first week back to school to build relationships and get to know your students! Let’s get started with the First Week Idea Round-Up!
FIRST WEEK IDEA ROUND-UP
My first idea is for Flipgrid and I’m calling it Flipgrid 73. Have you ever seen Vogue Magazine’s 73 question videos on YouTube? It’s where a reporter from Vogue interviews famous people asking them 73 random questions in rapid-fire style.
For your classroom version, have students pair up and come up with a set number of random questions. It does not have to be 73. Then have them interview each other on Flipgrid. I would have each student make separate videos based on who is being interviewed. Then you’ll have a collection of everyone’s videos in one place, everyone can get to know each other and leave feedback.
IDEAS FROM TWITTER
One of my favorite places to find activities is Twitter. I found several I want to share: Here’s another Flipgrid idea that comes from Twitter user Katherina Mendez who shared an activity focusing on informational texts and give mystery clues to learn about their new teacher.
In an instructional video that looks like she recorded using video editing software and then uploaded to Flipgrid, Mendez shares about her life through examples that students have to determine if they are problem and solution, cause and effect, and other informational text structures. This would also serve as a great review for students who would have learned about these structures in their previous grade level.
And one more Flipgrid idea, try a fliphunt! It’s like a scavenger hunt, but using flipgrid! You can learn more at blog.flipgrid.com/fliphunt.
Evan Mosier shared that during his first week with students they go over the Chromebook rules and then make memes out of those rules. He says, “It’s a really engaging way to begin and the Ss absolutely love it!”
DESMOS ACTIVITIES
Got math? Here are two Desmos activities for the first week:
This is what Nick Corley gives his students on the first day of school to get some information about their math skills and learn about them in general.
@DiSantoMath, a pre-algebra and algebra teacher, made a Desmos tutorial for the first week of school to introduce students to the graphing calculator and preview the types of classroom activities that will be used during the year. You can see more about this activity in the episode notes.
Ryan O’Donnell @creativeedtech shared a collection of “14 Ideas for those First Days of School”. I really liked “My Summer By the Numbers” introducing students to infographics and “Smart Start with (hashtag) #Eduprotocols”.
Are you interested in Gamifying your classroom this year? Then look into this really cool way to gamify your syllabus by John Meehan. He’s got all the info at his website https://edrenalinerush.com/resources/.
BUILDING RELATIONSHIPS WITH GOOGLE MY MAPS
This next idea I call “Where We Come From using Google MyMaps” and this is an activity I created. This activity updates a more traditional get to know you activity that could be done using a big printed map and post it notes. However, if you want to take things up a notch, use Google My Maps.
This is similar to Google Maps, only users can make their own tours and add data. This is perfect for a school such as mine where we have students that come from all over the world.
For this activity, students can put place markers on their home destinations and add in information answering questions to help you and fellow students get to know them.
Here’s how to set this up: go to mymaps.google.com and click on “create a new map”. When your map is open, change the name. You can start by placing the first place marker on where you’re from. Either zoom in or use the search bar to find your location. You can add a new place marker by clicking on the “add marker” icon or use the one at your location and select “add to map”. Click on the pencil icon to edit the place marker. Give the placemaker a new title with your name and add in information in the text box. Then select save.
You’ll notice that the name has changed in the navigation bar too. Back on the placemaker, you can change the style of the icon by clicking on the paint bucket and select a different color or one of the popular icons and also add photos or videos of the place you’re from or of yourself.
Next you’ll need to share this map with your students. On the navigation bar, click the share button, and under “who has access” click “change”. You can use either the option with “anyone within your school district who has the link” has access or the one “where anyone with the link can access”. The first one requires that students be logged into their school Google account and the second one doesn’t. It’s up to you.
Next, change their access to “can edit”, because you will want students to be able to add their own place markers. Then click save. When students access the map, their new place markers will be added to the navigation bar and you will essentially create your own class tour.
COLLECTIONS FROM MY FAVORITE EDTECH GURUS
Finally, here are two collection of ideas from my favorite edtech gurus: from Shake Up Learning, check out these 6 Back to School activities that you can use with Google that range from interest surveys to scavenger hunts and from Ditch That Textbook, 25 beginning of the year activities that you can use right away.
During a recent Ditch That Textbook Twitter chat, Matt Miller asked “What resources/lessons do you use at the beginning of the year to set the tone for using technology in your classroom?” What a great question and even more amazing responses! I think my favorite was Nate and Angie Ridgway’s Google Drive 3 Minute Challenge that asks students to do different tasks and make sure they know how it works. This way you know what skills your students have or don’t have and how you can best support them!
After these Twitter chats, Matt is able to copy the entire conversation and save it to a Wakelet collection. It contains every single tweet and idea from the chat, so you can see all these ideas too! This chat is entitled Back to School Share-a-Poolza! The link will be in the episode notes.
Matt also shared these two other ideas. Create a shared slide deck presentation in Google Slides: Within this slide deck, each student is assigned a slide. They take a webcam pic adding it to the slide with details about themselves. This way you get names, faces, and details that all go together.
I’ve got some additional tips to help you with this one. First, you create the slide deck with the number of slides based on the number of students in your room + plus three more additional slides. On the first slide, create a title for your class slide deck. On slide 2, put the directions and on slide 3 create an example for students to follow. Then assign each student a number beginning with the number 4. This number corresponds to the slide they will be working on. Then share the slide deck with your students, making sure everyone has edit access.
Next, it’s really easy to take a picture of yourself in Google Slides. Go to the Insert tab>image>camera. Use the spacebar on the keyboard to snap the picture and then click insert.
There’s also this cool HyperDoc from Seah Fahey, called “One Word” helping students think about their goals for the upcoming year.
You can also check out some of these ideas in my own Wakelet collection “Back to School” and view previous back to school idea episodes on my YouTube Channel at bit.ly/priestervideos.
RECEIVING PD POINTS
I realize watching these episodes are time consuming and I want to reward for continuing your professional development. If you watch any 5 episodes from this season AND come up with a lesson plan from ONE of these episodes you’ll get 5 PD points. You don’t have to create a lesson plan surrounding only the ideas I’ve shared. If one of these ideas inspires you to create your own, that’s great too!
As always, thanks for watching and I’ll see you in 2 weeks!
INSTRUCTIONS FOR PD POINTS
If you are in my school district, You MUST do BOTH steps in order to get your points.
- Submit this form telling me what you learned in each episode and add the file with your lesson plan.
- Register for the PD Session called “Tech Tuesday PD series” in Teachpoint.
If you are not in my school district:
- Submit this form telling me what you learned in each episode and add the file with your lesson plan.
- I will send you a certificate to use as proof that you participated.
Ms Priester EDU 