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Showing posts from 2020

Chromebooks, Cast, Jamboard & Kami: The Fearsome Foursome

Do you remember back in teacher college when the professors taught us that our proximity to misbehaving students would help squash behavior problems? I do. Well, when using our classroom technology, we are typically tethered to our laptop, desktop, document camera, etc... This is a problem, but luckily there may be a solution. Tools You'll Need Google Cast for Education gives students and teachers the ability to share their screens to the classroom projector or interactive display. Cast for Edu Set Up Cast for Edu Support Article Kami is an amazing tool that gives teachers and students the functionality of an interactive board in the palm of their hands. It allows users to a nnotate a doc, slide, pdf, image, etc… Google Jamboard is a whiteboard app that can be accessed online and as an app on your tablet of choice. It's also a very expensive interactive display, but that's not what we're looking at here. Students can create a new Jamboard, share and col

Show What You Know

Asking students to show their work is a rite of passage for teachers.  It's right up there with nagging kids to stop tapping their pencils.  Boy, being a teacher is one big power trip, and it feels so good. Anyways, let's get focused.  Having your students demonstrate their understanding of a topic is easy if your students are using iPads.  They have the ability to write on a number of whiteboard apps with their fingers and/or a stylus.  If your students are forced to use a trackpad, it's another story.  You know how difficult it is to sign your name using a trackpad on a computer.  It's a ridiculously humbling experience.  Asking a kid to work out math problems using a trackpad on a Chromebook is absolutely cruel.  Look at this pathetic signature at the left.  I'm a grown man with decent penmanship for crying out loud!           The fact that many of our schools are switching to Chromebooks is why I'm writing this post.  Although some of our new Chromebooks ha