iPad and Google Apps to Manage a Classroom (Pt. 3)

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This is part three of three about my presentation at NACTE 2011 on managing a classroom using the iPad and Google Apps. In part one, I focused on the reasons why a teacher would want to use these tools, the Google calendar, and Google Docs. In part two, I focused on using Google forms and the iPad to grade students and give the students quick feedback. In this final part, I will discuss the other apps that I use on my iPad.

The first application that I use in my classroom is Dropbox.com. While I like to use Google Docs for assignments like spreadsheets, word processing, and presentations, I love using Dropbox.com for larger projects and atypical files like Photoshop, Flash, and Maya. I have created an account where I share the password with all of my students. My students will submit their work to the appropriate folder from their computers. At the end of class, I move the Dropbox folder on my computer to the desktop and grade their work from there. I am also able to send students files via Dropbox when I decide not to use Remote Desktop. In addition, I have the Dropbox.com app on my iPad and can let the students know from anywhere in the classroom whether or not I received their submissions.

The second app I frequently use on my iPad is CalenGoo. I like CalenGoo because I can create my lesson plans for each class without having to be online. I will have to sync it wirelessly later, but I am able to get some work done when I am at locations without free WiFi.

Another app that I like to use is Office2 HD. Like CalenGoo, I am able to create documents without being online at Google and sync them later on. I also like the way Google Docs, especially spreadsheets, work in Office2 HD rather than online on an iPad.

While this app does not have any sync capabilities with the software we use at our school, I still like Attendance. I do use it for an unofficial attendance record, but I am also able to create custom attendance fields. This is important for me because I can track when a student does not dress appropriately for my Industry Attire Days. Since these days are worth points in my class, it is easy to remember who receives full credit. This app would be excellent for any PE teachers that use iTouch devices to keep track of their attendance. The Attendance app also comes in helpful during fire drills because I can quickly take roll outside and not have to try and remember who was absent at the beginning of class.

The final app that I use frequently in class is Evernote. I will probably write a future post discussing all of the different ways that I use Evernote, but for now, I will say that I don’t use an app on my iPad, iPhone, or computer as much as I use Evernote. Evernote is a reference guide for all lesson plans, lesson ideas, interesting articles, and planning projects. I also take pictures of my lecture notes on the board and post them to a shared notebook that all of my students can access. I do pay for the premium version, even though, I don’t think I come close to using my full data allotment because of the high quality of Evernote.

This concludes the explanation of my presentation on how to use the iPad and Google Apps to Manage a Classroom.

iPad and Google Apps to Manage a Classroom (Pt. 2)

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This is part two of three about my presentation at NACTE 2011 on managing a classroom using the iPad and Google Apps. In part one, I focused on the reasons why a teacher would want to use these tools, the Google calendar, and Google Docs. In this part, I am going to focus grading using the iPad and Google forms. In terms of managing my classroom, this has had the biggest impact because it saves me time and I can give students instant feedback.

The first step in the process is to create a form in Google Docs using my desktop computer. I create a form for each class period that I teach and I enter the student’s names so they will appear as a drop-down list on my iPad. I only have to create this form once for each class period because I reuse the form for each assignment I grade.

Once the form is created, I email the form to myself. I open the link to the form on my iPad in Safari. In Safari, I can create a bookmark to be placed on my home screen. I complete this process for each class period’s form. In addition, I created a “Work Ethic” and “Presentation” grading forms. I use the Work Ethic form to log off-task behavior. At my school, our students complete several presentations a year and I use the Presentation form and my Brookstone keyboard for the iPad to provide feedback on those presentations.

In a typical day in my classroom, I will give notes during the first 20 minutes of class and give the students the remaining 60 minutes to complete the day’s assignment or work on the current project. While the students are working on the current day’s assignment, I am walking around to each student grading the previous assignment. I am entering the grade into the iPad for the student, submitting the form, and returning back to the form so I can grade the next student.

The great thing about grading this way is that the student receives instant feedback about the assignment and knows his or her grade before I move on to the next student. If a student completed the assignment incorrectly, I can explain what the student did wrong and have the student redo the assignment for a better grade. In addition, the student can also ask me questions about the current day assignment to make sure he or she is doing it correctly.

I am usually able to get through the entire class in the 60 minutes that they are working on assignments or projects. Once I have graded the entire class, I can open the form in Google Docs on my desktop computer. In the form (which is now a spreadsheet), I can sort by student name, highlight all of the scores, and copy and paste the scores into my gradebook. If the scores/feedback that are in the spreadsheet are scores that I want to keep, I make a copy of the form and name it after the assignment. If I don’t want to keep the scores, I just delete the rows of data in the spreadsheet and my form is ready to go for our next class meeting.

Here’s a quick tip on copying and pasting scores into the gradebook. If you have students that are absent on the day you are grading, you must enter a grade for them into the form. If you don’t do this step, the copy and paste from the spreadsheet will not match up.

In part three, I will be discussing the last portion of my presentation, which is on other apps that I use in managing my classroom.

Schools Partnering with Businesses

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I was recently reading an article from the Wall Street Journal that discussed the opening of P-Tech. The goal of P-Tech is to provide high school students with a six-year education that includes an associate’s degree in a computer science field and an opportunity to work for IBM.

This is the route that many CTE high schools need to pursue, especially in IT. The seamless integration between high school, college credit, and a career is something that most high school CTE teachers would love to see. I can’t count how many times that I have sat in a discussion with other high school teachers and discussed ideas similar to this. In Las Vegas, we are slowly getting discussions going about dual-credit with college, but the colleges are always concerned about their accreditation and budget cuts.

I realize that developing a program similar to P-Tech or an effective dual-credit program takes time, but we are living and teaching in an era that is quickly evolving and time is not on our side.

iPad and Google Apps to Manage a Classroom (Pt. 1)

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At the NACTE 2011 conference, I was selected to present on using the iPad and Google Apps in the classroom. The presentation can be viewed here. Since the presentation is mostly graphics and minimal text, I thought that I would use this space to explain my presentation. I use Google Apps and the iPad to solve/improve three issues that I see frequently in classrooms. These three are communication, feedback, and excessive paperwork.

I can improve communication with students, staff members, administration, and parents. This is primarily done through the use of Google Calendars. For each of my classes, I create a calendar that includes objectives, activities, and homework for each class period. Included in the activities are links to any articles, notes, and assignments that the student are completing that day. The calendars are embedded into my class website that students, parents, and administrators can access. Students no longer ask me what they missed after an absence because they can just check the calendar. Since I started using Google Calendars about 4 years ago, my parent-teacher conferences have declined  by about 75% because the parents can see what is going on in my class everyday and know what their child has for homework.

A great thing about using Google calendars is that I can add or modify events anywhere where I have Internet connection. In addition, I use CalenGoo to add or modify events when I have my iPad offline and sync it once the Internet is available. This has enabled me to be more productive during downtimes in meetings or appointments.

Another aspect of Google that I use in my classroom is Google Docs. I create all of my assignments in Google Docs and the majority of my notes. I then make these documents public and post the links into my calendar. My students also use Google Docs to submit assignments to me by sharing them. I am able to type in feedback into the document and save it. Students will see the graded document in their documents list and be able to see why they earned the grade that was given. My students also use Google Docs for collaboration on assignments and projects. I can have multiple students working on a group assignment simultaneously from several different computers in the classroom. The great thing about using Google Docs is that I am not taking home stacks of paper or dealing with no name papers.

In part two, I will discuss how I use Google Forms and the iPad to grade work.

In part three, I will discuss how I use Dropbox.com and other iPad apps to manage my classroom.

Outlining Sample Textbooks in Evernote

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Over the course of the last few years, I have acquired several sample textbooks. Some of these books are ones that I requested and seriously considered, but others were either just sent to me or given to me by another teacher. I don’t use textbooks in my classroom because of the nature of the software I am teaching. Like software, most software textbooks are outdated before they reach the classroom.

This summer, I decided that I was going to outline every chapter each textbook in Evernote. By outlining the books in Evernote, I am able to quickly and easily search for information in the future. I have a sub-notebook called “Textbook Outlines” and I tag each chapter with the appropriate tags. I have included a sample image of my “Textbook Outlines” folder. Once the school year starts and I start writing lesson plans, I will post how useful this idea was or was not. If anyone out there has any better ideas for keeping track of the information in textbook samples, I’d be more than glad to hear about it.

NACTE 2011

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The Nevada Association of Career and Technical Education (NACTE) held it’s annual conference last week in Lake Tahoe. After missing last year’s conference to attend SIGGRAPH, I was looking forward to attending this year. I always like to meet with teachers that teach in a similar field from across the state. In addition, I was presenting during one of the breakout sessions on the use of iPads and Google Apps to manage a classroom (details to come in the near future).

The focus of the keynote speakers were on budget cuts that Career and Technical Education (CTE), and specifically Nevada, are facing. The opening keynote speaker was Kimberly Green who is the Executive Director for the National Association of State Directors of Career and Technical Education Consortium. Ms. Green did an excellent job of focusing on the challenges that CTE faces nationally and how it applies to Nevada. Once Ms. Green completed her speech, I think that many teachers in the room were feeling a little depressed about the outlook. I will admit that I was a little depressed, but I can either go through the rest of my educational career depressed over federal and state finances or I can get motivated to do something.

The desire to do something instead of nothing is why I have rebranded this blog. I plan on discussing issues that are relevant to CTE, but a blog is not going to be enough to change the outlook for CTE funding. I am currently assessing what else I can do to help champion the importance of CTE besides writing letters to my legislators. I will document my progress on this blog and I encourage all CTE teachers to get involved to insure that CTE is funded and supported at appropriate levels.

Rebranding

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I am in the process of rebranding my blog to focus more on the technology and teaching techniques that I use in the classroom. In addition, I will also focus on Career and Technical Education as it applies to me and the educational system as a whole.

Hopefully, this blog will be utilized as a resource for other educators.