A Day in My Paperless Classroom

This page: DitchThatTextbook.com/paperless

101 Practical Ways to Ditch That Textbook: Get Matt’s free ebook with lots of great ideas (including two FULL pages of Google stuff!). Sign up for his e-mail updates in the right sidebar of this page.

Link to video in the session: Voice of the Active Learner – Education from a Digital Native’s Perspective

 

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#1: CREATE A CLASS WEBSITE

Video tutorial of how to create a website on Weebly:

Check out Matt’s class website: turkeyrunspanish.weebly.com

Blog post: 20 ideas to jump start your class website

Emphasis: Going beyond having your materials live online. Creating activities that live online that can be shared.

 

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#2: GATHER IDEAS AND REMINDERSgoogle-keep

Google Keep is like virtual sticky notes, but it’s so much more. Create notes in your Google Keep with a headline and body text. Add check boxes to make an instant checklist — perfect for a grocery list or a “grading to do” list.

Color code your notes to make finding the info that you need a snap. You can even add images to them to make what you need to remember crystal clear.

Google Keep isn’t just a nifty Google tool. It can help teachers and students in so many ways:

1. Connect to-do lists with another person. Your sticky notes in Google Keep can be shared with others by entering names or e-mail addresses. Teachers can share important department notes. Students’ excuses of “My partner’s sick and he has all the notes” are eliminated.

2. Organize your life. Keep notes separated with labels. Check multiple notes and then apply a label to group them together for easy finding. Students can create labels for each class or extra-curricular activity.

3. Move big notes to Google Docs. Is one of your Google Keep notes getting too verbose? Check it and use the “Copy to Google Doc” option to save it to your Google Drive, opening up more formatting options.

4. Record inspiration when it happens. Google Keep is available on a variety of platforms, including Android devices, any web browser, and an extension for Google Chrome. When you need to jot down a genius idea, Google Keep is there. There are ways to access it for iOS devices like iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch.

5. Access that inspiration from other devices. Because Keep is connected to your Google account, notes can be retrieved from any device. Make a note on your phone at the grocery and flesh it out when you sit down at your laptop that night.

6. Get reminders when and where you need them. Add a reminder to a Google Keep note so it will call your attention to it at a certain time or when you’re at a specific place. Your device needs to identify your location with GPS for the location feature to work. It’s pretty impressive when it does — when you’re walking in the school and your phone buzzes with a timely reminder.

Emphasis: Create an organization plan (based on tags and color coding) and set of reminders (time-based and GPS-based) that work.

 

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#3: COMMUNICATE/SHARE QUICKLY

TodaysMeet is like a private chat room that you can create for you and a group of people (i.e. a classroom, a presentation, a group of teachers, etc.)

  • It gives you a URL that you can share with others so they can join.
  • When you get to the chat room, sign in with your name and start messaging to others in the room.
  • Each message can be 140 characters or less, so be concise.
  • Links posted into messages are clickable!

Tutorial of how to use TodaysMeet:

Blog post: 20 useful ways to use TodaysMeet in schools — In this post, learn how you can use TodaysMeet to …

  • Have a conversation
  • Share links
  • Ask questions
  • Give examples
  • Take a poll
  • Check for understanding
  • Gather feedback
  • Gather anonymous feedback
  • Create “rotating stories”
  • Discuss an event
  • Hold online office hours
  • Crowdsource details
  • Connect with other classrooms
  • Connect with experts
  • Host a contest
  • Teach brevity
  • Practice digital citizenship
  • Facilitate group projects
  • Create a club/team communications site
  • Have asynchronous staff/committee meetings

Emphasis: Create a flexible, simple communication space where a link, an assessment or a conversation can take place any time.

 

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#4: ASSESS QUICKLY

Formative is a site that allows teachers to ask students quick questions (draw your answer, multiple choice, true/false, short answer, etc.). Create a single question or a series of questions and deliver them to your class with a quick code or a link.

  • See student work come in live on your screen.
  • Provide instant feedback in the form of a grade and/or comments.
  • Upload files, including Google Apps files, to use as questions.

Blog post: 20 ways to use Formative for awesome assessment

Emphasis: Give students real-time feedback in the point of wrestling with the activity (instead of later, when they’ve disconnected).

 

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#5: COMMUNICATE WITH STUDENTS AND PARENTS

Remind is a site that lets teachers send text messages to students and parents. Keep them in the loop with assignment deadlines, class news, times to turn in papers, etc. Teacher contact information (as well as student and parent info) is kept private … all communication goes through Remind, so no one gets anyone else’s cell phone numbers.

 

Blog post: 20 great ways to text students with Remind

Emphasis: Promote and market your lessons with the “Teaser Hook” from “Teach Like a Pirate.” Stir up interest about your upcoming lesson and create a buzz before students hit the classroom.

 

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#6: MAKE CLASS A GAME SHOW!

Quizizz lets you turn your multiple-choice questions into a class game show. Students join the game and progress through questions at their own pace. They see the questions and answers on their own screens. The faster they get the correct answer, the more points they receive. Plus, the memes that appear after a correct or incorrect answer are a lot of fun!

Emphasis: Learning with engagement and fun!

 

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OTHER PAPERLESS CLASSROOM RESOURCES

Kahoot! (getkahoot.com) — Another game show-style review game. Students all get the same question on the screen at the same time and answer using their devices. Very similar to Quizizz.

Plickers (plickers.com) — Quick, real-time assessment without the use of student devices. Print Plickers cards for each student. They answer by turning one of the four sides of the card up to match the one of the four answers they choose. The teacher scans the Plickers cards with a tablet or smartphone and it gives instant results.

Snagit for Google Chrome (free Chrome extension) — Capture images or videos from your screen. Save them and use them however you’d like. Snagit automatically uploads your screenshots or screen capture videos into your Google Drive.

Quizlet (quizlet.com) — Online flashcard site. Create your own flashcard sets (or students can create their own!). Play review games or let Quizlet test you. Quizlet will read flashcards to students out loud.

  • Emphasis: Spaced repetition. Cognitive science tells us that if we practice a new skill or idea after we’ve let ourselves get a little rusty at it, long-term retention improves.

Padlet (padlet.com) — Digital bulletin board. Add virtual “sticky notes” to your bulletin board with text, titles, images, video, links and more. Let students add notes to one board or have students gather info on their own boards. Share boards with others.

AudioBoom (audioboom.com) — AudioBoom is like YouTube for audio files. Create your own channel with your recordings. Record audio from your web browser or the AudioBoom app. Share your channel or recording with anyone with a link.

Math tools — Some of the best (according to math teachers I’ve talked to) are …

  • Desmos Graphing Calculator (and class activities) (http://www.desmos.com) — Explore math with desmos.com, a free online graphing calculator. Includes classroom activities designed by teachers.
  • Geogebra (http://geogebra.org) — A geometry package providing for both graphical and algebraic input. Includes the program and worksheets for download, as well as screenshots
  • Visnos (http://visnos.com) — Visnos interactive whiteboard materials for use in teaching mathematics. Animated activities can teach key concepts numbers factors multiples primes.

OTHER DITCH THAT TEXTBOOK/PAPERLESS CLASSROOM RESOURCES

Ditch That Textbook 1.o conference session — The old Ditch That Textbook session Matt did in a previous summer. It includes a thorough digital handout with activities and digital tools.

Digital classroom management ideas for minds-on learning — Managing students in a paperless classroom can be daunting. Here are some ideas.

The “no textbooks” survival guide: 8 steps to freedom — Follow these steps that Matt took to move from traditional from-the-textbook teaching to a more digital environment.

20 features of a great paperless classroom — Including communication, collaboration, creation, demonstration, assessment, student work showcase and more.

5 changes for a more digital classroom — This post includes five new features of my classroom, including Remind 101, Google Apps and digital portfolios.

 

 

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ABOUT THE PRESENTER

Matt MillerMatt Miller (@jmattmiller) is a high school Spanish teacher at Turkey Run High School in Marshall, IN. His students engage in Spanish through educational technology regularly, including tools like blogs, digital videos and photos, QR codes, Google Voice and more. He blogs regularly at Ditch That Textbook, which is dedicated to teaching with less reliance on the textbook with an emphasis on technology and creative teaching. He can be contacted at matt@ditchthattextbook.com.

Matt is a member of the Indiana Department of Education’s eLearning Speakers Bureau and is available to present at your school or event. His sessions are known for being conversational and engaging. Participants leave with new ideas and incredibly thorough digital handouts with numerous links, videos and articles.

Possible session topics (among others) include:

  • Ditch That Textbook! The Paperless Classroom
  • Teaching with Google Apps
  • Social Networks for Teachers/Being a Connected Educator
  • Educational Technology the Right Way
  • Connecting Classrooms to the World
  • Blogging for Students and Teachers
  • Broadcast with Podcasts

For more information about Matt, visit the About page. For more information about Matt’s presentations, visit the Conferences page.

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