Tracking Student Projects Using Trello

When students are working on long or short term projects, it is important for the teacher and the students to be able to easily track group progress. Trello does this in a very visual and drag-and-drop fashion. Signing up for Trello is easy, especially if you use the Google sign-in option. 

The website uses the metaphor of a board where users create lists and cards. Each list can have multiple cards and users assigned to each card. Once the teacher creates a board and lists, students can easily be searched for and added to the board.

Trello board for my students' screencasting project.

Currently, my students are working on a video project with multiple steps. I have created a board for the project and a list for each step along the way. After adding my students to the board, they each create a card with explains where they are at on that step and who is in their group. When a group finishes a step in the project they simply drag their card to the next list, which is also the next step in the project. When I login to Trello I am able to see at a glance where each group is at and which groups may need my help to get to the next step.

Before using Trello I would walk around to each group and ask for a status update. This process could be time-consuming and frequently I would get stuck helping one group, only to discover another group needed my attention. Trello boards for each project let me see at a glance track student and group progress and intervene when and where necessary.

Here is a video explaining the basics about how to setup Trello from the Youtube channel InfoSharer.

Gallery "Walk" Using Google Slides and Padlet

I am currently trying one of Engage NY's ELA modules in my English class. In order to build background for the novel for the unit, the module has the students complete a Gallery Walk with primary sources. The sources range from poetry, to images, to quotes from historical figures.

I decided to digitize this process and brainstormed the best solution. I needed to recreate the sticky note aspect of a gallery walk, but also keep all of the student comments organized. I thought about putting the primary sources on a Google Doc and then having students add comments, but this would create too many comments in the margin since each student had to comment on each source.

I decided instead to put each primary source on a Google Slide and create a link to a Padlet wall for that slide. Students spent time reading and observing each slide for the gallery walk, and then clicking on the link to add to the padlet wall for the slide. Students were able to add their comments about the slide and interact with other student ideas. The Padlet wall functioned as the sticky notes for each artifact.

I staggered which slide each student started on in order to cut down on the number of students adding to a Padlet wall at the same time. Once each student had contributed a comment for each artifact  of the digital gallery walk, I put students in groups in order to summarize the comments for each slide.

Using Google Slides and Padlet for the gallery walk had a couple of advantages. First, the gallery walk now had a permanent digital home. Students could access the artifacts and comments at a later date. Padlet allows the creator of the wall to make it "View Only," therefore students can access the artifacts and comments at a later date. Second, this activity could be used in a flipped classroom model. Students could complete the Galley Walk at home and then the discussion of the artifacts could happen in class.

This process would never replace all Gallery Walks in class. But when you need one that students can complete in the cloud, this process seemed to work. 

Digital Research Part 2: Instagrok

Instagrok is a research tool that allows students to search trusted websites and provides search results in a visual format. Students can view the websites within Instagrok and star the ones that fit their topic. This web tool also provides a work space for students to begin paraphrasing and analyzing the sources they have chosen.

Students do not need an account to begin using Instagrok, but signing in allows a student to save her work from session to session. If a student already has a Google account, the student can sign in using this account. The opening page has a search box where students can enter a question or the topic they are researching. The results are presented in a visual web of terms and ideas related to their topic. Students can click on any part of the web to begin exploring websites which open up within Instagrok.

If a website provides information that the student is looking for, the student can press the green pin to save website for view later. Instagrok also helps students learn how to evaluate a website. Below each webpage is a "Is this site credible?" button. When students click on the button, they are taken to a list of questions provided by Easybib that help them evaluate the website. The teacher can then choose which questions they want their students to answer about a resource.

All of the websites students pin are saved to a journal. Students can then begin paraphrasing the material to help write the report. Since students have signed in using Google or created an account, the information is saved. This allows students to easily access their information later.

Instagrok is great for elementary or middle school students conducting research reports. It can also be used with early high school students who made need extra support researching a topic. Instagrok can be used via the web or can be downloaded as an app for iOS or Android.

Using TED talks and iTunes U to Develop Students' Listening Skills

One of the goals set out in the Common Core standards is to make students better and more discerning listeners. More specifically, the standards require students to "Evaluate a speaker's point of view, reasoning, and use of evidence and rhetoric" (CCRA.SL.3). This standard considered in isolation can appear daunting. Put in exaggerated terms, it would require a regular round of speakers invited into the classroom and/or a heavy dose of student presentations. Both of these options are important in developing students' listening skills, but neither can happen on a consistent enough basis to provide the repeated practice students need to master this standard. But students can receive a steady diet of engaging presentations through online resources like TED.com and iTunes U. In addition, when videos from these online resources are embedded into units focused on Big Ideas or Big Questions, students are motivated  to do the hard work it takes to delineate a speaker's reasoning and evaluate the speaker's point of view on a topic.

First, TED.com and iTunes U are both excellent repositories of video presentations on a wide range of topics from a diversity of speakers. TED.com is best for concise and polished presentations since each speaker is only allowed eighteen minutes to communicate a message, a format that forces each speaker to narrow the topic. Anyone can stream the video directly from the TED site or download it for offline use. There are many lists available online of TED videos that are good for classroom use. In the last year, TED.com has also developed TEDEd, which is a collection of short, captivating videos teachers can build lessons around. iTunes U is another source of videos for classroom use. As the name suggests, it requires iTunes to access the videos and is generally geared towards upper academic levels. But if you are teaching Night by Elie Wiesel, the interviews available here will definitely supplement your unit. Of course, Youtube deserves a mention, especially if your district has unblocked Youtube for schools.

Second, videos discovered in the ways described above are most effective when embedded into units that focus on a particular novel, theme, big idea, or big question. This gives students a reason to watch the video and do the hard work it takes to understand the message that is being communicated. In this way, the videos, along with the fiction and non-fiction being read in class, become another source for considering the big idea or theme of the unit. For more information about designing units based on big questions, I would recommend Jim Burke's book What's the Big Idea? The first chapter of the book can be found here.

This year I plan on incorporating more video into my big question units to provide my students with more opportunities to practice their listening skills and to provide captivating sources for considering answers to our collective questions. On a side note, I am still trying to develop a helpful graphic organizer for delineating and evaluating a speaker's point of view, so if anyone out there has some ideas, please let me know.

Teaching Channel

This past weekend I attended the Fall CUE (Computer Using Educators) conference in the Bay Area. One of the sessions I participated in was on the topic of the Common Core Standards. One of the presenters mentioned an excellent online resource to help you and the teachers at your school prepare for the shift to the Common Core: Teaching Channel. The website is full of video lessons and tutorials along with the teacher handouts and resources mentioned in each video. In essence, it is a free professional development library totally devoted to the Common Core Standards.

If you click on any video, you are immediately taken to a separate page where you can view the lesson or tutorial of your choice. Along with the video player, each video lists the lesson objective, length, questions to consider, and the Common Core Standard related to the resource. Below the video player you will find any supporting materials mentioned and a discussion thread about the video. Currently users are not allowed to download videos, but you can share them via popular social networks, embed them on other websites, or send a link to the video through email.

One of the best features of Teaching Channel is the ability to sort the videos by subject, grade, and topic. As a middle school English Language Arts teacher, I was able to find fifty videos related to my subject and grade level. The videos range in length from two minutes for quick lesson tips or up to thirty minutes for larger topics.

Teaching Channel is a great resource for department collaboration time. The video lessons and tutorials are not presented in a "this-is-how-to-teach-it-correctly" tone, but instead are starters for discussion and fuel for your own ideas. If you are looking for a way to learn more about the Common Core or want to view lessons in action, visit this feature and content rich online professional development resource.