From the Field - 4th Grade Digital Citizenship Pledge Using Padlet

In the Little Britain Elementary School Library in the Washingtonville School District, Library Media Specialist Tracy Ebenhoe worked with a group of 4th graders to take a digital citizenship pledge using Padlet. Padlet is an online bulletin board that allows users to post comments and add pictures, videos or documents to tell a story or weigh in on a topic.  "As part of a continuing discussion on digital citizenship and safety, students worked together to brainstorm and discuss a list of safe behaviors when online. Using Padlet, I loaded an image of a digital citizenship pledge (from commonsensemedia.org) and students "signed" their names and commented."  Students were able to login to her Padlet page, sign and also comment if desired. Two of the features Tracy liked best was that the sheet was able to be password protected and that she was able to monitor and approve all posts before they became visible to the other students.

For Tracy, digital citizenship is an ongoing theme in library. She asserts: "with the prolific use of technology and new resources available to us everyday, students need to be smart and cautious users."  We couldn't agree more.  Tracy has been using Commonsensemedia.org as a resource for lessons on these issues.  Tracy came up with the idea after being inspired by Tech Challenge of the month developed by Tech Coaches in Washingtonville.  

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Enabling Google Docs for Offline Use

One major frustration of working in the cloud is when it is a sunny day and there is no cloud available for you to work in.  Google has provided you with an opportunity to work with Google Docs, Slides (Presentations) and now the new Sheets while not connected to the internet.  To do this, you need to enable Offline Mode in Google Drive on each computer that you would like to use Offline.  To do this you need to first have the Drive Web App installed.  If you haven't, you will be prompted to do so when you attempt to enable this access.  First, click on More from your Google Drive left-hand menu, then click Offline.  If you haven't installed the Drive Chrome Web App, you will be prompted to do so at this time.  Once you have installed this, you will then be able to Enable Offline Access.  Check out the animated Gif below.

When you are working on a document while in offline mode, you will see a circle with a lightning bolt to the right of the name of the document indicating that You are Offline.  Once you are again connected, your changes will be synced to your drive

There are a few important caveats to using Google Drive offline

1. You will need to enable Offline Mode on every computer that you wish to use.  
2. Anyone using your computer will have access to your offline docs so only enable offline mode on a computer that only you use if you are worried about security of your documents
3. Only one Google account per Chrome profile can set up offline access to Drive. If you are unable to set up offline access because another user has already done so, you can create a new Chrome profile and then follow the above steps to add offline access for your account. Learn how to create a new Google Chrome profile.

Get Organized with 2 Great Chrome Extensions

Staying on top of your to do list is vital to staying organized and being effective.  There are some very comprehensive project management software with some helpful apps, plugins and chrome extensions, but for most people they are simply too complicated for our needs.  For some of you with only a few things on your to-do list and only one Gmail account, simply using Google Tasks will fill your needs.  But for those of us with multiple mail accounts and multiple devices, it is helpful to find something in between.   In our search for the best tools to get organized we have found two that work seamlessly with Gmail, are simple and easy to use, have both chrome extensions and mobile apps, and are robust enough for most any user.  The two that we found are Todoist and Any.do. There are others such as Toodledo, GQues, and Wanderlist, but today we am only focusing on the ones that have a chrome extension with the free version (GQues has one with their paid level).  Below I review each one with a comparison view between the two.

Any.Do is a simple tool with lots of free features.  The things I like most about Any.do is the ability to add any tasks from a webpage in Chrome.  With the chrome extension installed, simply right click on any text or hyperlink in a webpage and choose "Add To Any.Do" and select Today, Tomorrow or Someday.

The other great features of Any.Do is the integration with Gmail.  Embedded within the email is a Gmail Followup toolbar that allows you to add a task easily related to that email such as "follow up with Serena about...".  They also have a Gmail Button added to the email toolbar that allows you to quickly add a task with the subject of the email as the title of the task.  Either way you add it, there is a link to the email attached to the task in the chrome extension.

Any.do allows for adding notes and sharing tasks with others (only in the mobile app) and has a fairly straightforward way of adding folders and notes/sub-tasks.  You can also move tasks around both within a folder and between folders.  There is also reminders for your tasks that pop up on your desktop and on your mobile device.   It is easy with Any.Do to see all of your tasks across all folders or see what is due today, tomorrow, upcoming or someday.

Todoist is a slightly more robust program built on Projects rather than folders.  The interface on both the Chrome extension and the mobile app are simple and intuitive.  The one feature that we really like about Todoist is that in the Gmail integration, there is a popup that is similar to the Google Tasks window.  This makes it easily accessible and uses the same type of interaction that you are used to in Gmail while using tasks and chat windows.

While features such as adding documents and images, reminders, and adding labels is part of a paid premium account, there is a lot to like about using Todoist.  Tasks and projects are easily dragged and dropped and sub projects can be nested under main projects.  In the image above, Soccer and Groceries are projects that fall under the main project Home.  For adding a due date and time, or a recurring task, it is as easy as speech.  Just type when you want your task due - Every Monday at 10am; Friday at noon; or today.  Go to Todoist Help Center for more suggestions.  

The Gmail integration uses a button that adds the email to your popup task list where you can then add a time to follow up.  This task is also hyper-linked to take you to that email to follow up.  This link even works in the mobile version though it takes you to the browser gmail and not to the app...  

Another cool feature that helps with motivation is the Karma trend rating in Todoist.  This rating goes up (and down) based on how many of your tasks you complete.  If you like badges and rewards, this may be the app to boost your productivity.

Whatever you choose, both apps have great features for helping you get things done in your life. Check out the comparison chart I have put together to help you decide.  

Augmented Reality in the Classroom

Augmented Reality is poised to change the way we look at the world, never mind impact education and the way students engage in learning. Connect the world of printed documents to an interactive, 3D environment using Augmented Reality Applications.  Aurasma, Layar, and Daqri AR apps, to name just a few, will allow students to literally interact with books and paper.  Watch the videos below to give you an example of how AR can be used to enhance students comsumption in the classroom.

Test Prep with Varsity Tutors

Let's face it - high stakes tests are a part of our lives and, while we don't want to teach to the test, we do need to prep students for them.  There is nothing that will replace quality instruction for preparing for a major exam, but there are a number of quality online assessment tools out there that are effective at helping students build on that quality instruction and get great test scores.  One tool that we have come across recently is Varsity Tutors.  This site offers free diagnostic and practice tests with feedback that help students prepare for an exam.  All of these tests are free and open to the public and, should you find from taking these assessments that you need extra help, you can sign up for in-home tutoring from them (for a fee).

 Creating an Account:

Creating an account is easy and allows any user to take any of the tests and get immediate feedback. 

Taking Tests:

When you first create an account, you are taken to the list of tests that you can take. You can select from over 100 tests and sub tests for everything from the intermediate and high school level to AP, SAT and CLEP.  

Diagnostic Tests, Practice Tests and Flash Cards,

There are 3 main types of assessments that you can take.  One is a diagnostic test for the major exams that are intended to be an overview of the entire exam to see how you would do.  The practice tests are broken down into different sub categories and the Flash Cards are really individual questions that you can work through one by one.  Your receive feedback on how much time was spent on each question as well as your performance on each question.  They have included an explanation of the correct answer on each question so that you can learn from your mistakes.  

Classroom Tools

• Creating Tests
• Teachers can create their own tests by either adding questions of their own or by choosing questions from the item bank.  

• Sharing Tests
• Once created, you can share the tests with students either individually or as a group

• Viewing Results
• Once students have completed their test, they get a Full report - View an example by clicking here.  
• Teachers can then see an item analysis of those test results for their whole class and can drill down and see how each student did on each assessment.  

Embedding Assessments and Flashcards

If you are interested in having students study and want to keep them on your website you can embed both complete tests and flashcards right into your website or LMS.  Check out the example below:

Powered By Varsity Tutors

Overall, we are impressed with this assessment tool and think it is worth checking out.  Let us know what you think.  

Happy Birthday Albert Einstein & Happy Pi Day

Next to "My Hero Zero", Pi is probably one of my favorite numbers. Though I may be a bit irrational at times, so is Pi, also known by the by the greek letter π. Pi is the ratio of a circle's circumference to it's diameter and is approximately equal to 3.14159.  March 14th (get it 3/14 -- 3.14!) is a day to celebrate the uniqueness of this mathematical constant and ironically it is also Albert Einstein's Birthday.  Below is a collection of websites taken from an Edutopia Article by Matt Davis for you to explore Pi with your students - If you want to celebrate Einstein's Birthday, I suggest a round cake!

• Pi Day Activities from the San Francisco Exploratorium: Without the Exploratorium, we might never have had an official Pi Day celebration. In 1988 Exploratorium physicist Larry Shaw started the tradition, and it was finally recognized by Congress in 2009. The Exploratorium highlights some great hands-on activities, and there is also a great list of Pi-related links.
• Happy Pi Day from TeachPi.org: TeachPi hosts a trove of Pi Day resources, featuring fun classroom activities, Pi Day-inspired music, and other fun learning ideas. There's plenty here to keep students engaged, and learning, on March 14. Check out the activities section for a bunch of great learning ideas.
• Pi Day Teaching Ideas from Scholastic: Scholastic produced these great lesson plans for three different grade levels -- preK-1, 2-3, and 4-6. There's also interesting information about the history of Pi, as well as a link to aWeb application that allows students to explore Pi through music.
• Pi Day Resources from Math Goodies: Math Goodies features some great, free math lessons that incorporate Pi. Check out their circle lessons, as well as links to other online resources and list of questions for students to research the history of Pi.
• What Is Pi, and How Did It Originate?: Scientific American dug deep into the history of Pi in this article, offering an insightful look at the origins of the mathematical constant.
• TeachersFirst's Pi Day Resources: TeacherFirst offers this great roundup of Pi-themed lessons and resources from around the Web focused primarily on high school. Included in the collection are some general math resources, like Simpsons Math, and they all come from a variety of great sources.
• Celebrate Pi Day with the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics: There's plenty of great resources here from NCTM. Along with fun activities, there's also an Illuminations lesson plans section with some great standards-based lesson plans for educators.

Chromebook Keyboard Shortcuts

The Google Chromebook has a keyboard shortcut overlay that can be very helpful if you're feeling like you are missing the capabilities to use Accessories you may previously have used on a desktop.  This was particularly helpful recently when we found something similar to the "Snipping Tool" that we used so often to create tutorials with screen images, but goes far beyond CTRL-V and CTRL-C for copy and paste.


Click CTL-ALT-? to open the keyboard overlay.

Hold down the CTRL key to view the first level of shortcuts.

Using the image below as an example, CTRL-d is "Bookmark current page".

Hold down CTRL-ALT for a view of more keyboard shortcuts.

Using the image below as another example, CTRL-ALT-t is "New Terminal"

Hold down CTRL- SHIFT to view the last of the keyboard shortcuts.

Using the image below as a final example, CTRL- SHIFT-w is "Close Window"