Storyboard That!

Are you looking for an innovative idea to add an extra "zing" to your lesson? Try out Storyboard That! It's a free app (and also a website) that allows you to create a setting, characters, speech, and think bubbles to explain or summarize a concept. Mrs. Poggioli's 9th grade ELA class at Wando High School, were excited and actively engaged while they captured the story of Oedipus Rex using Storyboard That!

http://www.storyboardthat.com/

Google Classroom Success!

What will Google think of next? Google continues to prove it's dedication to education and innovation, and recognizing the need for a digital work space for teachers and students, Google created Google Classroom.
Google Classroom is an interactive platform where teachers can create, post, and keep track of assignments that students complete. Students can easily access daily lessons and assignments and keep track of what's due on their Assignments page. Teachers can provide direct, real-time feedback and also see quickly who has completed their work, and also monitor who may still have questions.
I recently had the pleasure of working with a science teacher at Wando High School who posted a video from Youtube along with a copy of a student assignment to be completed. Students were easily able to log in to their Google Drive accounts, accessed Google Classroom, and connected to the class by entering the class code. They were quickly engaged and on their way to production.

A tip for posting an assignment with an attachment:
To set up an assignment with an attached Google file in Google Classroom, attach the file, and choose the setting - make a copy for each student. Refer to the image below.

After you choose this setting, students will be able to log into their Google Classroom account, click on the assignment to complete, and click Turn In. The assignment will appear in your teacher Google Classroom account as Done. We hope this digital work space will make life easier for both you and your students! Happy posting!

Chromebook Launch Party!

Monday morning was no ordinary Monday for one 8th grade class at Thomas C. Cario Middle School. Senora Gomez, who teaches Spanish, French, and World Cultures, had been preparing her students for this day, a much anticipated moment, where they would finally have a Chromebook in their hands! The evening before, she Tweeted out #chromebooksmakeeverythingmorefunner! This has been a much anticipated day and her efforts to build up student engagement and enthusiasm around this deployment was very obvious! When her 8th graders entered the room, they let out squeals of excitement! Students spent the first day discussing what exactly is a Chromebook. Answers varied from “a different breed of a laptop” to “a computer that runs on Chrome OS”. How do they get so smart? Senora Gomez also included a lesson on digital citizenship, and stressed the importance of using the devices responsibly and respectively. I would say that on this day especially, she and her students were feeling Googlerrific!