Category: Tech Tip

Google form Daily check in

1/30/2022

Morning check in's are a great way for teachers to check in with students, see how they are feeling, how their night was or anything to help start the day well. I create mine on Google forms, display a QR code linked to the google form and students complete it upon their arrival to class. There are different google forms I use, depending on the day of the week, what is coming up and how students are feeling. I use a daily check in on most days, with the Monday and Friday check in's being different.

Find a copy to each of the main check in's I use that you can make copies of and use in your classroom too!

Grab a copy of my Google form check in templates below! Free to use in your classroom too!

Find the templates here

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Try a digital planner this year!

1/7/2022

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There are many ways to plan and many apps you can use to plan. Some are easier than others and some have the ability to save time and energy. An app I came across these holidays is 'Notability'. A note taking app that can be used in many different ways - one being for planning!
You can upload your template onto the app (which works on an iPad, iPhone and Mac), then annotate it to plan on or organise your teaching life.

There are many ways this can be used to help plan or set up your planning. Check out my videos below to see it in use!

You can use my freebie calendar template on Notability; or stay tuned for my planning template which I made to use!

Blank Calendar Templates

NZ$0.00

Blank Calendar Templates

These blank calendar templates will help you stay on top of your workload, events and more! Simply choose from one of the four font templates, print it off and use it to keep track! These come in both colour or black and white and come in four font variations.

This comes as a zip folder so you will need software to unzip it to access the files.

Each file has 24 pages in it.

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Digital Teaching Planner (Including Google Slides version)

NZ$9.00 NZ$7.20

Digital Teaching Planner

This resource was made to be used as a digital teaching planner on a note taking app like 'Notability'. I use this on my iPad, iPhone and Mac.

This digital teaching planner is perfect for moving to an online teaching planner where you want to be able to annotate, draw on and share with others. This comes with instructions on how to get it to the app for its use.

It comes with:

cover sheet
monthly calendar grids
weekly planner (in three variations)
weekly planner template (in two variations)
to do list template
reflection template
notes

There are 137 pages in this resource.

**This has been updated to also include a Google Slides version for those of you that use Google slides for planning. This has some editable changes (headings and labels) and includes instructions for how to get started.

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Digital Teaching Planner Part 2

NZ$7.00 NZ$5.60

Digital Teaching Planner Part 2

This digital teaching planner is part two of my digital planning templates. This resource was made to be used as a digital teaching planner on a note taking app like 'Notability'. I use this on my iPad, iPhone and Mac.

It comes with:

term overview for each week
term overview for 10 weeks
term overview for 10 weeks blank
term overview for 11 weeks
term overview for 11 weeks blank
literacy overview for 10 weeks
literacy overview for 10 weeks blank
literacy overview for 11 weeks
literacy overview for 11 weeks blank
long term plan template
reading groups x4 slots
writing groups x5 slots
reading groups x8 slots
reading groups x12 slots
maths groups x4 slots
writing groups x5 slots
maths groups x8 slots
maths groups x12 slots
writing groups x4 slots
writing groups x5 slots
writing groups x8 slots
writing groups x12 slots
empty groups x4 slots
writing groups x5 slots
empty groups x8 slots
empty groups x12 slots
reading rotations x5 table
reading rotations x6 table
reading rotations empty
maths rotations x2 table with x4 group slots
maths rotations x2 table with x5 group slots
maths rotations x2 table with x6 group slots
maths rotations empty
maths rotations x3 table with x4 group slots
maths rotations x3 table with x5 group slots
maths rotations x3 table with x6 group slots
writing week overview
writing week overview empty
playful learning planning
word work and handwriting overview x 4 variations
literacy overview x 2 variations
numeracy overview x 2 variations

There are 56 pages in this resource.

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Do you get observed from visiting teachers & NEVER hear feedback?

12/6/2021

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Create a Google from!

Use it to ask key questions of the observers! It could be around engagement, tips for improvement or questions about the observation!

I've used this before & it is always a great insight into how people interpreted their time in my classroom! It is always nice to receive feedback after observations especially when you have been teaching for awhile.

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How to manage your workload

11/28/2021

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At the beginning of 2021, I published a series of posts highlighting key areas for beginning teachers. These featured a wide range of posts like reading, writing, behaviour management - with one being managing workload.
I shared a little into a way that you can manage your workload and divide your tasks or activities into four categories:

urgent and important
not urgent and important
urgent and not important
not urgent and not important

This helps those of you that like to have structure but need it separated a little to help you.
So I have fancied up my anchor chart and also provided a planning template that can be printed and used to help you categorise your life!

I have also created a range of Google Keep headers to match this type of format if this is something you are looking to switch too. These are free to download via the link below.

Google Keep Headers - for workload

NZ$0.00

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how_to_manage_your_workload.pdf
File Size:	6999 kb
File Type:	pdf

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QuiverVision - how do you use augmented reality?

5/23/2021

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Have you heard of QuiverVision? An amazing tool that brings colouring to life using augmented reality! I first came across it in 2018 when I came across it on Twitter. I was immediately hooked for the opportunities it has for bringing augmented reality into the classroom through something as simple as colouring!

QuiverVision has both free and paid colouring experiences for students to download and use. The app then brings it into 'real life' where you can interact, view, zoom, photo and video you talking or interacting with the experience.

This term my class is learning about dinosaurs - so I wanted to create a learning experience where students can interact with a dinosaur through augmented reality. Of course we could watch a video and explore learning that way. But this takes it a whole other level of fun and amazingness! My students will colour and design their dinosaur before I model and show them the experience using QuiverVision.
My example model below shows you how it brings it to life - the dinosaur even makes noises and you can hear it stomping around the paper.

The app even allows you to take photos and video recordings of what you can see. The options are at the bottom of your screen and you can choose to zoom in, rotate around, take a photo and save it to your device plus also make a video recording of yourself and the dinosaur moving around. What cool features!

Visit their website for more information and teacher resource packs with activities for your classroom! It really is so much fun and takes technology to new places with your students!

Visit quivervision here

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Seesaw activity of the week freebies!

11/25/2020

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This weeks Seesaw template of the week is this blend activity practicing the blend or adjacent consonant 'sn'. This has places for your students to practice their knowledge and application of the sound 'sn' in an activity. Click below for this fun activity to use in your classroom.

Find it on Seesaw here

This Seesaw activity is a maths number sentences practice! It has a pre-made activity for students to practice making or writing a number sentence for what they see.
Down the right there is space for students to practice a hot spot of learning, where you can write in some learning for students to complete. Click below for this fun activity to use in your classroom.

Find it on Seesaw here

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Popplet - have you used it before?

11/6/2020

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Popplet is a great free app that allows students to create brainstorms or mind maps. There are tools to type, draw and insert pictures to explain their thinking and create a place for ideas.
It is great for young learners and older learners - easy to navigate and straight forward to use.

You can even share the popplet onto places like Seesaw to share the learning wider than the classroom. Great way to keep parents in the loop. This week my students created a simple mind map about unicycles as a response from their story. My students then saved their responses and uploaded them onto Seesaw. I can give feedback online but also in person.

How would I use this? I use Popplet for lots of follow up and mind mapping activities! Here are some:

book descriptions
mind mapping of key ideas
explanations
book responses
idea documenting
number mapping

and more!

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Code a story

10/24/2020

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A few years ago my friend Michael created these lessons on how to code a Scratch story. I took his lessons and used these in my CRT lessons for digital technology; incorporating English (writing and reading) and Technology (computational thinking). My kids had lots of fun creating their stories and exploring the coding blocks in the creation.

I was asked recently about some resources that I knew of that could be used to unpack digital technologies in the classroom and remembered this fun lesson! It took a good three-four weeks to teach, as it was broken down into smaller chunks; like you would when you wrote a story. I managed to stumble upon the slides I created for the lessons; making sure I modelled how to do it for the students also in my lessons.

We used a storyboard planner to plan our stories, I taught my classes the blocks needed in the modelling sessions and then we put the series of lessons together to have a story completed! Lots of fun, and the students loved it!

Make a copy of the slides I used in these lessons here.

Scratch lesson - code a story

Watch more on how to do it exactly with Michaels videos. An informative and clear process on how to make it happen for your class.

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Ulearn 2020 - Get sweet with Seesaw

10/7/2020

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Today I presented at Ulearn2020. It was really different this year being a completely online course and I ran a presentation called 'Get Sweet with Seesaw'. It was an introductory session to Seesaw, unpacking four key ways that Seesaw can be used with students and in your classroom.
The four key themes were:

document the learning
create the learning
share the learning
reflect on the learning

It gave examples of what those themes meant for use with Seesaw, how it is represented in the classroom and then there was some play-exploration time for teachers to use the tools in practice. I find the best way to learn is via hands on learning opportunities and really value learning by using Seesaw.
If you would love access to my slides you can click on the link below! Otherwise any questions about what I shared please get in contact. I love Seesaw and really see the benefits for learning!

Yes! I would love to see the slides!

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Freebie of the week

10/3/2020

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This weeks freebie of the week are my handy Seesaw cheat sheets! Something I have been continuing to add to based on needs, questions and learning from teachers and the new updates.
These are handy for new teachers to Seesaw, parents and students; with differing cheat sheets in this download. These are already available on my website and Google Drive, but in a variety of sets and places. So I have put them all together in one easy download! So far there are 20 in this bundle, with more coming based on needs!

Free to download and use in your classroom or school! Grab it below!

Seesaw Cheat Sheets

NZ$0.00

Seesaw cheat sheets

This resource pdf contains all of my Seesaw cheat sheets. Each made to help teachers, parents and students navigate around specific Seesaw tools. These are scattered around my website and Google Drive; but I thought it would be better to put them into one easy to download bundle.

This bundle contains 23 cheat sheets:

link
video
folders
draw and record
emojis
activity
activity #2
activity #3
blogs
draft
link
video
sticker
upload
sharing
student icon
student
parent #2
parent #3
parent #4
how do students log in
how to parents sign up
how to log out of seesaw

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Seesaw activities - freebies!

8/30/2020

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Did you know I have been creating Seesaw activity templates for FREE for over three years?? These are all free to use, access and have as apart of your Seesaw activities! A giant Seesaw library of over 500 slides to be used in your classroom!

Check out some of them below or click on the picture for a link to the library!

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Seesaw 'i can' statements

8/25/2020

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Lots of teachers use 'i can' statements or progressions in their classroom for students to track their choices or actions. There are lots of different resources out there that could be used in your classroom, with these being my version.

This Seesaw checklist is a great variation for students to check they have all the parts of their learning. There are three templates in this pdf that can be used in your classroom. Download the pdf below.

child_progression.pdf
File Size:	427 kb
File Type:	pdf

Download File

This other resource which I created are these progressions for student and teachers to use - to move from a beginner level to an advanced level. Easy to follow and shows the user how they can improve each time. A great classroom prompt for your classroom. Download the pdfs below.

seesaw_learning_progressions_-_students.pdf
File Size:	114 kb
File Type:	pdf

Download File

seesaw_learning_progressions_-_teachers.pdf
File Size:	107 kb
File Type:	pdf

Download File

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Seesaw tip of the week - clickable seesaw links

7/30/2020

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Seesaw recently made some awesome updates on their app for students and teachers to further create amazing learning opportunities for teachers and students. One of these are the link feature from within Seesaw drawings to be able to navigate to website links from within Seesaw or to different activities on a drawing. This Seesaw tip of the week explains this more and I have included the Youtube tutorial below to show you how you can do this yourself!
Want to subscribe to these tips? Fill out the form below.

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School song playlist

6/27/2020

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My kids love listening to music in class and have lots of different songs we listen to. Quite often we listen to kidsbop - kids versions of popular songs that have been rerecorded without swear words or in appropriate versions for children. We also like to listen to originals, so I have searched and put together this youtube playlist of lyric versions you can play in class. These are videos of the songs with lyrics so could be used in singing time, learning time or for fun! Find the link to this playlist at the bottom to listen to the songs or add it to your own playlist for school.

Find the link here to the Youtube Playlist

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5 simple ideas to use Google apps in your classroom

6/17/2020

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Google apps are a great tool to use in the classroom - regardless of your age of students. They are free to use, multi-purpose and allow for creative opportunities in the classroom. Google incorporates a range of apps like docs, sheets, slides, drawings, sites and more! Each of these can be used in many different ways depending on your age and students you teach. Here I will share five simple ideas for using Google in your classroom!

1. Google forms
Google forms are a great tool for gathering voice, ideas and surveys. A multi-purpose tool that can be designed for lots of different learning opportunities. Some ways are:

Morning check ins
Collecting data
Maths time
Student choice in learning
Workshops
Fun tests

I have used Google forms for lots of different curriculum areas, especially in maths or data gathering. I love using it to gather voice and then create data sheets to show the information that is displayed. Check out a few examples of Google forms in use below.

2. Voice typing
Voice typing is an amazing tool that can help all students to record and type their learning. You press the voice record and dictate your sentences into your device. Voice typing will record your sentences and type them for you.
Voice typing is great for students that struggle to write, ELL's, time saver students or teachers, sharing ideas ideas from multiple people and even dictating on the go.

Watch this simple video on how it works.

3. Google sheets
Google sheets is an amazing hidden gem that can be used in so many different ways. I love how you can present information, share findings and create sheets to document/analyse learning. I have been exploring different features and tech tips with Google sheets recently that you might find interesting! I want to explore the use of conditional formatting so will share more of that once I have done it!

4. Emoji bullets
I love using emojis - i use them all the time in my classroom, resources and materials. My kids love helping me choose which ones to use, with their being heaps to choose from! I recently shared about this in my What's 'App'-ening newsletter and made a quick explanation video showing you how to do it also. See it below to add this excitement to your classroom or resources too.

5. Google Calendar
Of course a calendar app is a great way to keep your life in line. Google calendar integrates with your other apps, appearing down the right hand side of your dashboard now when using Google apps. You can click on it to add appointments, schedule items, events and more!
You can even invite others onto your calendar invites and include video conferencing for meetings that are online. It integrates great with Zoom and Google meet. Check out my two handy videos that could help you using Google calendar too.