Google Sites vs. Google Classroom

Google Sites vs. Google Classroom

G-Suite enables students to access course content and to learn 24/7/365, and now that the new Google Sites makes creating and maintaining a website as simple as creating a Google Slide, teachers have more choice in where and how they house content for students. Here are a few suggestions on deciding where to put online content for your students.

Use Google Sites...

• if you want your students and their parents to have access to the content without having to sign in (ie weekly spelling lists, flipped lessons, study materials, extension activities, etc. especially for our youngest students.

Use Google Classroom...

• for graded assignments
• for materials/resources for older students 
• for any subscription-based links that would violate acceptable use by putting content out freely on the internet (ie articles from our databases, content from Discovery Education, etc.)

Google Teacher Tribe Podcast

If time for filling your professional gas tank is at a premium and you make a bit of a commute, the Google Teacher Tribe podcast by Kasey Bell of Shake Up Learning and Matt Miller of Ditch That Textbook is 30+ minutes chock full of inspiring ways to harness the power of G-Suite in your classroom.  Last week's podcast discussed using Google Sites for showcase portfolios and growth portfolios. The show notes include links to physics portfolios so you can see some examples. This week's podcast offers suggestions for using Google Photos in the classroom. The show notes include Kasey's recommendation of 16 podcasts for teachers. The Google Teacher Tribe launches a new podcast each Monday during the school year. 

Google Forms on Google Sites: Make life easier!

I've become a huge fan of embedding Google Forms on my new Google Sites website. It's as easy as 1-2-3.

1. Create a Google Form
2. Open your new Google site.
3. On the INSERT tab of the site, click FORMS, select your form, and click insert.

Done!

Consider embedding a Google Form on your website for sign-ups, voting, or even a quick exit ticket for a flipped lesson.

EdCamp, Digital Math Manipulatives, Multiple answers on Google Forms quiz, Buttons on New Google Sites

#EdCamp

As teachers, you spend your day taking care of others. Every day. All day. And sometimes you need a little something to refuel your own tank. EdCamp can be just the ticket. EdCamp is a free unconference that is educator-led and educator-driven. The video above gives a great one minute overview of what you can expect in an EdCamp. HERE is a link to a list of upcoming EdCamps. The permissions on the document allow anyone in BISD to edit, so if you find an EdCamp that's not on the list. Please add it. I'm putting this doc in the curriculum/digital learning classrooms on all the campuses if you need to find it later.

Digital Math Manipulatives

Talk about a one-stop shop for digital math manipulatives! This resource from Toy Theater can really support learning in your classroom. According to their site the, "...online manipulatives include an interactive clock, two color counters, 3D dice, probability spinners, graph builders, fraction bars, base ten blocks, and more! We also recommend some of our art activities that can be used as teaching manipulatives, such as Cube or Build that allow kids to make designs using blocks to learn concepts like area, perimeter, or volume or Mirror to teach symmetry to early learners." This site is definitely worth your time!

Enabling Multiple Answers on Google Forms Quiz

Eric Curts, who blogs at Control Alt Achieve, explains how you can configure the answer key on a Google Form to accept more than one answer on a short answer question.

Check out his post for more details. You can follow him on Twitter @ericcurts.

Another New Google Sites Feature: Buttons

Clean up the look of your website by adding buttons: clickable graphics that act as hyperlinks on your website.

Click HERE to access an animated .gif that quickly explains how to add this feature to your site.

Google Keep, Padlet changing pricing model, New Google Sites

More Ways to Use Google Keep

Over the last two weeks there's been a lot of conversation at the secondary level about different ways to use Google Keep. 

Google Keep is a digital sticky note tool integrated into your G-Suite apps. Find it by clicking on your nine boxes and scrolling down. On the teacher side, it's a great way to collect and share resources with co-teachers and to provide students feedback.Students can use Keep for notetaking and learning.

• Students can use the color palette in Google Keep to organize bibliography and corresponding note cards. Bonus, the cards can't be lost!
• Students can use a Keep note as an exit ticket by recording their learning, taking a screenshot, and turning the screenshot into Google Classroom.
• Students can click on Tools in Google Docs or Slides to access their Keep notes from within the document they're using to access resources and  previously taken notes or to record new thoughts and questions. Since notes can be dragged/dropped directly into Slides or Docs, one of the middle school teachers had her students put their screenshots on a shared Google Slide to create her own Padlet-like board.
• Teachers can use Keep to create a library of feedback for common errors or stickers for informal feedback.Kasey Bell of ShakeUpLearning has great ideas on her Google Keep Resources page.
• Teachers can drag Keep notes into docs to create checklists for their students. Like the idea of a checklist for students but aren't ready to explore Google Keep? Check out Control Alt Achieve's post on creating interactive checklists in Google Docs. 

• (My fav trick? Personalizing notes by inserting a picture on the top of the note.)

Padlet Is Changing Its Pricing Model

Last week Padlet announced that it will be making some changes to its pricing model. Users will still be able to access a free basic account but will be limited to 3 Padlets, 10 MB of file uploads, and will see banner ads. Padlet Pro is $8.25/mo. Read more here.

New Google Sites is Amazingly Easy to Use

Really! The new Google Sites, which has been around a couple of years, has a click and drag interface that makes website creation a breeze. So, if you're looking at that sweet spot of time between STAAR testing and the end of the year to get a jump on next school year, you may want to consider updating your website or creating one with the new Google Sites. 

Santa Tracker, New Google Sites Updates, New Year's Resolutions

Santa Tracker

'Tis the season. Thanks to our awesome middle school counselor for sharing the Santa Tracker site.  Learn about holiday traditions, do a little coding, track Santa and interact with the elves during the month of December.

Finally! New Google Sites Allows HTML and Java Script Embedding 

If you maintain a Google Site, this is long-awaited news! The New Google Sites launched last year. It is incredibly more intuitive to use than the Classic Sites. Elements can be dragged and dropped making webpage construction much easier. However, the inability to insert embed codes was a huge drawback, and it's the main reason I haven't promoted the New Sites before now.

(What's an embed code? It's code language that allows you to insert information from one site into another. For example, on BMS Middle School Library site, the feed from our Around BMS blog and the Symbaloo tile of icons are embedded on the website using embed codes.)

Check out G-Suite's post for more details. If you want to add a little pizzazz to your webpage using embedded content and need some help, please email me. I'd love to help.

Technology New Year's Resolutions

As we usher out 2017 and usher in 2018, consider a techy New Year's Resolution.

• Set up a Google Classroom
• Try out Google Keep for bookmarking or collaborative to-do lists
• Give a favorite lesson a new twist by integrating technology
• Weave coding into your lesson 
• Mark those emails in your inbox READ and start the new year fresh with a clean inbox. (Need help giving them a label and moving them out of your inbox? Click HERE for details.)