Three Great Apps for Keeping Track of Stuff

by Christian Holzinger from http://unsplash.com/

The summer is almost over (not that we teachers REALLY get to sit for two months under a beach umbrella with our legs up sipping a Daiquiri and reading a great book - although I DO think that that should count towards in-service teacher training... being well-read is an important quality for a teacher).  Most of us will be heading back to our schools in the next few days for staff meetings, and to start preparations for a new school year. 

In order to keep track of what I have to do, I use Google Calendar. I would absolutely be LOST without it! (Ummm.....well..... no.... that's Waze..... I would be absolutely LOST without Waze.....but I would never remember what I need to do, and when, without my Google Calendar.) But that's for a different blog post. Since I no longer use the hard-copy calendar diary that we get at the beginning of the school year from our Teachers' Unions, I had to find something to replace the little pieces of paper that used to populate my calendar diary, (as well as my refrigerator door).  Here are a few different ones I have tried (all have at least basic actions that are free).

Any Do  

Any.Do lets you plan your day (it will pop up at a set time each morning and invite you to "plan your day". It lets you write your To Do lists, classify and label them, and will send you pop up reminders. When you miss a call, it will remind you later on that you had a call, and ask if you want to call them back, and if not now, then when (in an hour? this evening? tomorrow? next week?). I see now that it also has developed a desktop Chrome app, so that you can use it on the go, or in front of your computer. I had used it for a while, and, although it is no longer my app of choice, I suggest you look into it and play around. (I believe it is also an Israeli brain-child, so if patriotism is a selling-point...) 

              

Out of Milk 

I had been using Out of Milk for a REALLY long time, and was completely happy with it. It is a very convenient way to make your shopping list. You can divide it into categories (stores, sections of supermarkets, whatever) and sync it. However the more advanced options (for example, sharing a list with someone or adding a photo) are not free, and the bar-code scanner (for adding something to the list using the bar-code) never worked properly for me here in Israel, anyway. Although the current version has become surprisingly graphically pleasing, let's face it: I really want to use an app that does more than just a grocery list. 

Google Keep

Google Keep Widget

View on phone

Google Keep is currently my favorite go-to app for this purpose. I use it for my shopping lists, (and have shared that list with my son, so that if he wants me to get something when I go to the store, it's already in my list), and can even add a picture of something I want to get, so that I don't have to write a lot on the list, or describe it to the store keeper (the natural mosquito repellent in the brown bottle with the light blue and green label) I can just show the photo!

Google Keep syncs with my computer, so I can use the desktop view (below) OR the mobile view (above) on my phone. I make all sorts of notes of information that I need to find quickly (my license number, which dyscalculic me never remembers, the size of the windows I want to buy curtains for "someday") and - most importantly, my "To Do" list! There is an option of adding a reminder that will pop up to remind me to do something. It will even add a location reminder, so that if you want to do something when you are, say, in Ashkelon, the reminder will pop up next time you are there!

Desktop view

You can change the color of a note, add a label, add check boxes (and tick off a task when it's been done - then delete the "done" tasks). You can also copy a note to Googledocs, and further develop it there!  

If you are on the go, you can dictate and record your note. You can access it as a recording as well as a written note (because sometimes - especially when you dictate something with a Hebrew word or name - your phone won't know how to write it correctly - or it auto-corrects to something absurd- the fact that you have your voice recorded, can come in very handy to figure out WHAT you were thinking when you wrote that note! ;-) .)

Thanks to the sharing option, you can use it to share individual notes with your family, or colleagues, or anyone with whom you wish to collaborate on something, and share "To Do" notes! All your notes sync to all of your devices that are signed into Google Keep (mobile, desktop, tablet). I haven't used it at work yet, but I can see the potential as being ENORMOUS! The only thing you (and whomever you want to share a note with) need is a Google account and to install the app. Once you have done that, you can share away! I might try it with some of my students this year!

What I am actually hoping for is an integration between Google Keep and Calendar (something I see has been a pending request on the Google Help Forum, where they have been begging for for it for two years already). THAT would be PERFECT and solve ALL of the problems in my life (well... ok - maybe not the peace in the Middle East thing .... but you never know!)  Google Calendar has "Tasks" (will address that when I write about Calendar) which is helpful, but not as superb as would be Google Keep + Calendar  teamed up together. 

Do YOU have an app that really helps you keep track of stuff, and would like to recommend? Have you tried any of the ones I have written about here, and would like to add your opinion? Please feel free to write about them in the comments below! 

From Pixabay

Have a GREAT school year! (And one last summer cocktail, on me.)  

Digitally yours, 
@dele

Nearpod - Bringing digital content to your lessons

Have you ever wanted to use a PowerPoint presentation with your lesson, but not had a board/screen on which to project? My school has Interactive Whiteboards, and some schools in Israel have projectors in each classroom - but not everyone has such technology at their disposal.  But most of our students now have smartphones! Problem solved! (Providing the phones are connected to the internet via wifi or their phone package.)

I was working with a group of counselors this week, and, while we were in a very technology-rich setting, in a room that had all the bells and whistles, for part of the session, we were divided into groups and could not all use the main projector.

Enter: Nearpod! 

Nearpod is a free application that enables  you to share a PowerPoint presentation, simultaneous with anyone who is hooked up with your presentation, on smartphones, tablets, laptops or PCs, and YOU control the progression of the slides!  

You can use NearPod:

• in the classroom.
• for synchronous online sessions (it’s easy to use with Google Hangouts on Air!).
• at any venue that has access to internet / wifi - even outside (providing you are in conditions that enable you to read the screen - meaning not in strong, direct sunlight.)

Do not be discouraged if you or your students try to download the app to your phone, and you get the message that your phone is not compatible (I almost flipped out when I saw that message ;-). If this happens, your participants can use it with their phones via the phone’s browser.

You can invite your students to a session beforehand by sending them an email from Nearpod, with the URL for the session and the PIN number.  They can go in, but it won’t start showing anything until YOU start the “show”!

You can share materials from different media: PowerPoint presentations, PDF, MP4, websites, interactive polls and lots more. While you are presenting the material, you can see how many students are connected to your presentation, with the counter in the upper left hand corner of your screen (if a student disconnects by opening another app, the counter will show that.)

There are also free lessons that you can download and use. I just played around with a nice one named “Get to Know Each Other” that could be a really nice way to start the new year, or get to know others in any new group. It includes interactive questions, opportunities to  share drawings or pictures, and other questions that will help participants learn a little bit more about each other.  

For Nearpod’s Guides, click here.

I was really pleased with how it worked, and the other counselors in the group were excited about the potential it holds, as well!

If you like the idea of this type of slide sharing, you might also want to explore “Every Slide”, which is another application I heard of JUST before i was about to go in and present with Nearpod, but haven’t had time to experiment with yet. (If I get to do so soon, I will share my impressions and comparisons, as well.)

I think these new options are REALLY exciting, and go one step further to bringing digital content to all of our classes! Can you think of situations in which this tool will help you? If so, please share, below! And if you DO try it out, let us know how it goes!

Digitally yours,

@dele  

PS Thanks to Efrat Maatoof for suggesting this tool! Check out her blog - she has oodles of great ideas (providing you read Hebrew)

Keeping Track of those Grades with a Three Year Follow-Up Page in GoogleDocs

I've written about GoogleDocs before, but this week I want to encourage the use of it for an administrative purpose in schools that have programs which span the length of more than one year, when it is vital to keep clear of records of students’ grades over the years.

In Israeli high schools, students sit for their matriculation exams from the 11th grade (until now - they could begin in the 10th - but in light of new directives, bagrut-fever will be postponed, thankfully ;-).  There is the curriculum for literature, which some schools begin teaching in the 10th grade. High school EFL students also need to read four library books and get graded on the reports they write for them, and do a research project at some point in high school. All of these grades, accrued during the 3 years of high school, are used as part of their yearly grades (sort of buffer grades) when they sit for their matriculation exams.

As a teacher-counselor, I have heard more than my share of horror stories, ending up with the loss of students’ grades: teachers leave the country/ switch schools / leave projects in cars that got stolen . Not only teacher-triggered, foul-ups can also happen when students move during the space of these three years (more often than one would think) and their grades do not always move with them! Even in the simple case of moving from one class level to another during high school can cause records of grades to go astray. It has become harder and harder to reliably keep track of these grades.

A while back I started urging staffs with whom I work, to use a 3 year follow-up page. This entails filling out a page for each student when they are in the 10th grade. On this page, the teacher records all of the grades that need to be saved for their matriculation grades. The teachers were then asked to give these pages to their coordinator at the end of each year and the coordinators were advised to save them all in a large binder.

On the surface, it may seem like annoying bureaucracy. However, really, it is simply responsible professionalism, ensuring that the grades that students earn, are reliably saved and kept to be used when needed. Unfortunately there were teachers who did not fill these pages out, or coordinators who did not collect them. And pieces of paper sometimes get lost. There were additional complications if you wanted to fill out the record in the middle of the year, you would have to go to the coordinator, take all your pages and then remember to bring them back to the coordinator. A misfiling nightmare waiting to happen.

With the inception of GoogleDocs this whole procedure has become  much simpler and more user friendly. I have prepared a template out of the 3 year follow-up page (linked here - or just do a search on Google for “Googledoc templates”, and then write:“3 year follow up” - it will pull up the template I made) . Granted, the first time you fill out a page for each student is tedious, I admit. It makes it easier if you add any information that will be common to all (name of literature text, or teacher name even, for the first time you use it, then each time make a copy and add the student’s name).  But if you save these pages in a folder in an organized manner in your GoogleDrive you can then share the folder with your coordinator. This will enable the coordinator at any point of time to see what a student's situation is regarding these grades. It will also enable the teacher to be able to add grades as work is completed,  be it different pieces of literature or projects or book reports. Or, if the student changes teachers or moves to a different school, you can share it with the new teacher. And no more worries of mis-shelving a form! It’s digital! Just a search in your GoogleDrive and it will be found!

Providing the 3 year follow up pages have been organized into a folder, and the folder has been shared with the English coordinator, if something happens (say,if a teacher leaves, or the student has been  moved from another class) it is much easier to keep track of these important grades and to ensure that they do not go lost.

It is even possible to share each student's file with the students, themselves, so that the students know where they stand. By sharing it with each student, granting them rights to view or comment (NOT edit), they can stay up to date on the grades that are going to seriously impact their final grade.

It takes a while to get used to the idea. It takes some effort, especially at the beginning, but believe me: it is worth it in the long run. It is a responsible, logical, and professional way to keep track of grades and share them with whoever needs to see them.  

Digitally yours,

@dele

Postscript: This is my 15th blog posting. The 10th since resolving to see this as being a weekly responsibility of my job as counselor for ESL and Digital Pedagogy. And I have as many followers (just checked - yep - 15!) I share the blog all over (relevant FB groups, Google +, Twitter, email) and feel sort of pushy with it - like I’m asking for handouts, or running for office. But, in fact, I’m just trying to share my enthusiasm about the helpful digital tools I come across and find convenient and productive. So…. if YOU find this blog of any value, please subscribe! It will be great for my ego ;-) Also, do let me know if there is anything specific you would like to have me write about here!

Timelines.... You'd be surprised how useful they can be!

Here's another one of those tools that I had been trying to figure out for a while. It's called Timeline JS (find it at:  http://timeline.knightlab.com/). It took me a bit of playing around with it, and some "workarounds" as they are called (work·a·round  ˈwərkəˌround/  noun COMPUTING a method for overcoming a problem or limitation in a program or system). 

I wanted to use this tool, which is an interactive, multimedia timeline producer, as a way to get people to introduce themselves at a workshop, in an unusual way - (something I had seen one of my mentors do a while back, and just HAD to figure out). 

The good news is: I finally figured it out. (It entailed using a Googleform that would feed into a Google Spreadsheet, which I would use for copying and pasting data that the participants would send me..... but that is not the usual way to use this tool, as I said - just a fun way to show off a bit ;-)

The even BETTER news is: this is a simple timeline tool that can be used in the classroom collaboratively by both teacher AND students, and it is a lot easier than I had expected!

There are a lot of occasions I can think of just off the top of my head, when a timeline tool can come in handy.

For example: one of the topics we often use in my school for an umbrella topic for projects is "Making a Difference", where the students must choose a famous person who made a difference in the world, and research him or her. Making a timeline of these peoples' lives, using photos, video footage, maps, etc. can really bring the major milestones of a famous person, their achievements, highlights and other interesting events, to life!

Another way to take advantage of this tool could be to make a timeline of events in a piece of literature you are teaching, to help your students follow plot development. It could be used for a short story, a novel or play, or even as a book report task! 

The example that I used here is a partial timeline for the play All My Sons, by Arthur Miller, which many of us teach in high schools in Israel.  It is not complete at the time of publication of this blog post, but the beauty of it is, it can be added to and reposted. So, if you have a look in a few days' time, maybe I will have had time to upload some more events in the story, and they will automatically be seen on this timeline.  Of course, some of the dates are ones I just made up (since it is not mentioned WHEN the events actually happened, I made up approximate dates for the purposes of getting them in the timeline.)

As you can see from this sample, it really drives it home in a more multidimensional way than could just a regular word-file timeline. 

It's absolutely easy enough for teachers to use, and to teach to their students.  Here is a clear, short tutorial that explains how it works.

Here is a longer, more detailed walk-thru.

               

So, what do YOU think? How could YOU use this tool with your classes? I would LOVE to hear YOUR ideas!

Digitally yours,

@dele