Leave Students Voice Comments on Google Docs

Grading student work and giving feedback to students can take a lot of time.  Google docs makes this process simpler by allowing students to share their work with their teacher.  Teachers can leave comments for students, in real time, as they are working on the project.  Using google docs, students and teachers don't need to worry about emailing documents back and forth or lugging around (and potentially losing) stacks of papers.

I recently discovered something new, thanks to Sam Patterson's tweet a few  weeks ago, that will make leaving comments for students much more meaningful and not to mention, quick.  Learn.ly has created a Voice Comment app which allows voice comments to be left on all google docs.  Here is a video showing how to install and use it.  

Reviewing for a Unit Exam using Socrative

My biology students have a unit exam tomorrow.  All the biology teachers at my school give students a common exam, so even though multiple choice tests are not my favorite way of assessing student learning, it is what I have to do.  Multiple choice tests don't always test for higher order thinking, but to prepare for the exam, I had my students engage in meaningful discussions about practice multiple choice questions this past Friday.

I took 10 multiple choice questions that were similar to the exam questions and put them in a Socrative student paced exam.  Students used one iPad per group of four and they answered the questions together.  But instead of just answering the questions, they had to discuss (and write down on notes paper) the question, the answer they chose, and the reason they chose it.  I also had them write down the three other "wrong" choices and they had to discuss and write out explanations on why they were the wrong answers.  

As I walked from group to group, students were recalling skills they learned, explaining concepts to students who didn't understand the material or question clearly, and really engaging in the material.  I didn't allow them to use any notes, so they had to rely on each other.  It was great to hear them debate the answers and back up their thoughts with evidence from the labs and activities we did during the unit.  And then they were able to see the correct answer and check if there thoughts were correct.  I think this activity was the best part of the assessment that they will take tomorrow in class.  I was able to hear meaningful conversations, see where students still had misconceptions, clear up confusion and help guide the students in what they still needed to review.  

This is one of my favorite reviews I have done in the last ten years and I will try it again for my next and last unit of the year.

*Want instructions on how to use Socrative, visit my previous blog post.

Take VideoNot.es using Google Docs

Have you ever had your students watch a YouTube or Ted Talk video and asked them to take notes?  I personally always prefer to type up my notes, but it is hard to do while watching a video.  Here is a way that will allow students to do that easily.

There is a new Google App, videonot.es, which allows you to watch a video and take notes on the SAME web screen.  There is no need to try to open different windows or browsers to both.  These notes are saved in google drive and can be shared with the teacher.  And the best part?  After students take the notes, they can review or re-watch certain sections of the video by clicking on the yellow rectangle next to the notes.  Each box you click will take you to the section of the video where students typed the notes!!  I think this would be an amazing tool for students as they review for their exams.

If you are flipping your class, this is a great way for students to take notes while watching your screencasts.  And if you ever think that your students are copying their notes from another student and not watching the video (like they never would do...), you can check them by clicking on the yellow box next to each line of notes.

Here is a video showing how to use videonot.es: