AppsEvents 4th South Korea Summit December 2-3, 2017

ISTE EdTech Coaches Blogging Buddies

Blogging Buddies

I decided to join the ITSE EdTech Coaches Blogging Buddies program for this school year. If you are unfamiliar with the idea, you sign up and agree to write one blog post per month and comment on at least one of your assigned "buddies'" posts. It is a great way to keep accountable and motivated with your blogging; plus, it puts you in touch with other EdTech Coaches. What could be better? You are interested in learning more you can use this link. I'm looking forward to adding some new people to my PLN.

3 Great Ways to Use Google Classroom Questions

I believe that the most under utilized tool in Google Classroom is Question, which is unfortunate, because it is rich with potential for gathering feedback, generating discussion, and starting a lesson. If you are unfamiliar with the Question option in Google Classroom, allow me to introduce it to you and explain way it is an amazing tool.

My favorite use of the Question is as an exit ticket near the end of a lesson. In real time, I can gather rich data about my students learning that day, which allows me to plan immediate modification if I see that students are still confused by a concept. Set your question to be done immediately and have students get into your Classroom and answer it. I recommend using multiple choice option, because the data collects in a chart automatically. You can immediately see how many students feel comfortable with the concept of the lesson and how many still feel confused or lost. But, you don't have to wait until the end of a lesson to use it either, you can gather some quick feedback during a lesson as a temperature gauge with your class.

My second favorite method is as a discussion starter. Show a short video, a photo, or share a short reading and ask a Question that requires students to have an opinion on it. As the votes roll in and populate your graph in real time, ask different students to explain why they felt the way they did about the video or reading. After doing this a couple of times, you can have students submit topics and resources for discussions they are interested in having during class.

Finally, you can use the same approach mentioned above to make a hook for your lesson. Show a video, a photo, or a reading to get your students interested for the day's lesson. It is a fast and powerful way to engage students in the learning.

Now go out and use the Question tool!