AP Psychology Review With GetKahoot

Mr. Krause, social studies teacher, used GetKahoot as a review for his AP students.  We used Chromebooks, but the great thing about GetKahoot is that it works on an iPad or personal mobile device as well!

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AP Stats Review Utilizing GetKahoot!

We believe that GetKahoot is a great tool for AP review due to the time element.

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Google + Community For AP Biology Reviews

Earlier in the year, our AP Biology teacher, Mrs. Vertz, attempted to conduct an evening review session using Google Hangout.  It was ok, but at times the video lagged which caused some frustrations.  As we get closer to the AP Biology test in May, we have decided to incorporate the Google Plus Community as our method for posting pictures, discussion questions, and videos. Today, we used our personal iPhones or Android phones and classroom iPads to join the community and to post comments to questions.  The teacher also set up and event, which is scheduled for tonight at 8:30 P.M. Since the community members can respond Yes, No, Maybe, as to whether they will attend the session, Mrs. Vertz now has an indication as to the number of students that will be attending.  In addition, the community allows for students to return as much as they would like to look at the posted items.  Essentially, this could become her online learning management system.

View The Day's Activities


Impact On Students:
Collaboration:  Ideally, this community would allow for threaded discussions that would lead to deeper questions and deeper discussion among students and teachers.

GetKahoot! Engaging & Effective Interactive Classroom Tool

We have Chromebooks, iPads, and student personal devices in EVERY classroom of our district.  We want technology to be used for educational purposes!  We want technology to make our job of educating our students more effective.

GetKahoot!  accomplishes all of this!

Students don't need a username and password.
Students can use ANY device.
Students are required to "know their stuff."
Students love gaming aspects!
Students love multiple choice!
Students love winning!

Teachers enjoy engaged students!
Teachers enjoy enthusiasm in the classroom!
Teachers enjoy implementing their content!
Teachers will love the preview screens!
Teachers could include one a week.

New Features To Kahoot: Rich Text Editor, Kick Inappropriate Names Out
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GetKahoot!  Preview Mode
This was a huge selling point for me!  Through GetKahoot!'s website, I am able to experience dual roles as the student and the teacher.  This allows me (and teachers) to view just how it will look when the Kahoot! is running in the classroom
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Watch Our Teachers Play

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Our Final Scores!

A Lunch

 B Lunch

 C Lunch

Congratulations to COBRA (Joel J.) for 

being the Lunch N' Learn Overall Champion!

Our high school math department implemented GetKahoot!  after a homework assignment discussion and before a quiz.  

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iPads, iPhones, iPods, BYOD in Google Hangouts For AP Biology Review

Today, was a classic "go slow to go fast"!

Mrs. Vertz has decided that a Google Hangout would be the best tool for an "at home" review session. Prior to today's lesson, Mrs. Vertz walked through information for setting up personal accounts.  We spent an entire class period dedicated to setting up personal Gmail accounts.  We needed personal Gmail accounts so that Google Plus and Google Hangouts could handle more than one person.  Our district has decided that Google Plus will be enabled for teachers only.

The best way to connect students was for the teacher to search Google Plus for the exact email address that students created for their Google Personal Gmail.

The mobile devices connected for a number of students as well as personal computers on our network.  We did run into a few error messages for students when connecting to Google Hangouts.  This could be for a number of reasons which we are investigating.

Tonight, we have planned a practice Google Hangout.

Video Link



Impact On Students:
Collaboration: A review session is a perfect time for staff and students to pool their resources together to master a topic.  With Google Hangouts, many people can review together in the comforts of their own home or on the go!
Critical Thinking: Students will have questions and both students and staff will determine the best answer. With Google Hangouts, screens can be shared and therefore, resources can be shared!
Citizenship:  Students needed to create personal Google accounts.  Connecting with the proper students from the class was a lesson that forced students to choose the correct contact.

SMARTboard For Quiz Bowl AP Psychology Review Activity

Mrs. Krause asked if I knew of a technology tool for helping with a review activity for AP Psychology.  After some thinking, I realized the interactive part of the SMARTboard would be a perfect fit for a "first person to touch an object would get to answer the question" activity.

While the classroom teacher developed the questions, I created a file that would allow different animal sounds to be made when a student touched the SMARTboard.  If the sounds did not work, a "flipper" slide was created.

VIEW THE FILE

DOWNLOAD THE FILE

Even high school students were "into it" by trying to be the first to touch the board and answer the questions!  As Mrs. Krause stated, "It was a fun way to start class!"

Quizdini - Quiz/Review Tool With Explanation Feature

Quizdini provides a unique feature in that a teacher can create an explanation of the concept tested/reviewed in the the question.  A paragraph or link can be inserted.

Quizdini can be great for...

• Interactive Whiteboard Activity (buttons are large, readable)
• Whole Class
• Groups

Dashboard

Quiz Example
Vocabulary Example - Used in Human Geography Class

Math Review and Flashcardlet App and Scorekeeper XL App

Throughout Chapter 7, our students have been creating study flashcards for mathematical concepts.  Today, we created two last cards.



We introduced them to the ScoreKeeper XL app...


And finally let them review and compete against each other in preparation for the assessment.

Flashcardlet App

We are using Flashcardlet as a way to create review problems throughout our chapter.

Explain Everything As A Personal Review

Today, students started using the Explain Everything App to review concepts.  See their instructions. The problems refer to places in our textbook that give specific instructions on topics.  Students will be sharing the creations through the classroom Dropbox account.

Instructional Reteaching Tool

I've always struggled with the best way to provide positive, individual feedback for assessments.  For the most part, students complete assessments quite well.  With the four or five students that struggle, giving them positive, constructive feedback is crucial.

Today, I created a video that discussed in detail steps to solve particular problems from the assessment.
I used SMARTboard notebook software, Camtasia, and a mouse.



Students watched at their own pace.  After they changed the answers on their paper, I conferenced with them individual about specific questions pertaining to the concepts.


I believe this to be a better method than large group discussion with all 26 students.  It doesn't force students who understand the concepts to view demonstrations of information they already know.

Explain Everything For One Form of Assessment

Students created an Explain Everything production based on the mathematical terms from our recent unit of study.  Having the Explain Everything app in the students hands again worked wonderfully.  As we have used it in Social Studies quite extensively, the learning curve for the tech tool was zero!  This allowed for the students to dive right into creating.

I am amazed at how engaged the students are while performing this task.  I asked numerous students whether they liked this or if they felt it was a waste of their time.  All of them said they liked it.

I did assess them on their knowledge of the information.  This will be included with their written assessment as a final evaluation of their knowledge from Chapter 7.

After students complete the creation, they will be emailing me the production.

As the video states, I will either need to open these email files with a Mac or use a video converter as the files do not have sound on a PC.





After the students emailed me their movie, I downloaded all of the productions.  With YouTube's uploading ability of more than one video in a single click, the whole process did not take long.
Student videos are included...

Explain Everything Used For Individual Instruction

***Teachers and administrators from the Port Washington school district were an honored guest in my classroom. I feel so thankful that teachers and administrators want to view how educational learning experiences can be dramatically changed with the use of technology devices.

All of our students did not perform exceptionally well on our Chapter 7 assessment.  I needed a way to allow for students to receive the individual instruction that they needed based on the concepts that they did not understand.  I devised a lesson that followed this format.  The entire format of the lesson is presented their and details the tech tools that are used at specific times.

All of the videos were created with the Explain Everything app.  The app provided a way for me to take pictures of the test that I completed.  I then created additional audio comments and visual help.  Students commented on how they were able to go at their own pace.

The iPad and all that comes with it allows for me to really individualize the learning experience.

MemMatches App & Combining Like Terms

Sometimes in using iPad apps, an educator needs to think outside the box.  I incorporated a MemMatches App as an introduction to combining like terms.  See how we did it and most importantly a reflection from students!




Can play against one another-always a big hit!


This helped bridge the gap between the game and math concepts!


Great reflection as students use the game and concepts to understand the math!

Pic Collage App For ReviewIng Math Concepts

A collage of all the students and their Chapter 4 Math review as a pic collage.

Apps like Pic Collage really engage students to the point that time flies!  Price: Free

I have found that using apps that create items is a great way to review concepts.  See how we used the app and the features of Pic Collage.