Using iPads for typing

I think I am a very interesting age. I grew up with a lot of the technology students today had. I was a little girl when my family got our first computer, but I also remember card catalogs in the library. I can't imagaine having to hand write a whole essay (have you seen my handwriting?!?), but I am still not quite comfortable having students use their smart phones to take notes.It is an interesting middle ground and I really enjoy the unique perspectives that it gives me.

One of the adaptations I have been making is to iPads and other tablets. Don't get me wrong, I like iPads. I think making videos on them and using other multimedia or study based apps is amazing. However, many of my students use an iPad and pretty much ONLY an iPad in class.

I quickly realized that while for me creating things in an iPad was a struggle (I am typing this blog on my laptop), for students it came much more easily. What they were missing was software. They didn't have anything they could use to create their documents.

This is where Document Writer comes in handy. I don't know if you have noticed, but even though most of my students are tech "natives" they are REALLY bad with new technology, "Teacher what now?" "Teacher what do I do?" "Teacher what now?" They expect to know automatically how to use something without spending much time learning.

Here is a manual annotation

This was a typed annotation

Different brush strokes students may select

The good news is that is exactly what this app is. Students can link it to their Google Drive or their Dropbox to easily access files. They can also annotate any PDF on their iPad.

Basically, they can complete any handout you give them access to without using a sheet of paper. YAY for going green. Here's an example with one of my handouts about proverbs (that ties into an essay) You can see that one of the photos is landscape and one is portrait. Since this is an iPad students can pick the view that works best for them That includes zooming to stay focused.

From there they can add their answers by writing them in (with a stylus or in some cases their finger), or using the text tool to type their answers.

Students can also use the document writer to write a basic text document: short responses, journals, etc.


This is also available for iPhones, though that's another generation gap! I have no idea how they manage to type so much on those tiny keyboards nor how they manage to see everything on such tiny screens. Nonetheless, if you have a student who is limited to their phone, you may want to have them look into this.

Would you be comfortable with your students completing a handout or other work on their iPhone/iPad? Do you think this app may help? I would love to hear more in the comments!

Plicker to Check Student Comprehension

I've read on quite a few message forums that many teachers would love to use programs like Kahoot or the Socratic App in their class, but they have problems. Some schools have a strict no cell phones on campus policy. Other students don't have the financial means to each have an electronic device (cell phone, tablet, laptop, etc.). Sometimes my students all have the technology, but the school WiFi is so slow that the apps and websites just don't work.

There are also completely online alternatives like using Google Forms or SurveyMonkey where you can have students answer directly on the site, but often allowing students to take these quizzes online gives them the chance to use notes, or discuss answers with friends. Sometimes great, but not every time.

There are also plenty of old school no tech ways to get students to answer questions. This blog post is about technology that only requires the teacher to have technology.

Plickers is a free app that can be downloaded on Android or Apple products. This version of low-tech meets hi-teach is made possible through the use of  Plicker's cards. There are enough cards for 40 students, so any class of 40 students or less is set! If you are a technophobe, this may be a great first step for you! You will be using a device, but your students won't.

I like to say it is a 10 step program:

1. Sign up. You can download the app and sign up there, or sign up at their website 
2. Create a class. This has to be done on the site, not an app. 
3. Add students. Simply put in your students' names and they will be assigned a card number.
4. Print the cards (or purchase them from Amazon). If you are printing them yourself I'd suggest you print them on card stock instead of paper. You can laminate normal paper to make it last longer, but sometimes laminating paper causes glare making the reader difficult to work.
5. Make a poll. This is a "quiz" that your students will answer. You can add questions from the app or the website.
6. Give the students the question and answer options. This could be on a PowerPoint, Prezi, verbally, or on a piece of paper.
7. Let your students answer by holding their card up so that the option they think is correct (A, B, C, D) is upright.
8. Use your tablet / phone to "scan" the class and record your students' answers (anonymously).
9. Use these answers to immediately decide if students have a grasp of the material, 
10. Later go back and examine different trends for individual students and try to find ways to help them personally understand the material. This is GREAT to help you differentiate later.

 I don't think this form of technology is useful for every teacher. If you have a 1:1 program in your school you have other options. If you would rather use lo-tech options, that's great too. This is just another tool for your tool belt!

What do you think? Would you ever use Plicker?

Grading Cheats- How to grade multiple choice quickly

This is not going to talk about essays or short answer tests. It also won't discuss the online versions (which are great!). This is just a quick blog on how to quickly grade multiple choice tests.

I make little Quick Quizzes for the beginning of class. Sometimes they are creative  but often they are just really easy multiple choice tests that see if they did the required reading or understood the grammar of the last class. Since the point is just to test recall, I don't feel too guilty about making it multiple choice.

Even though these quizzes are super fast for them, they take me a while to grade. That's what this blog is about. Quick ways to grade these, "Quick Quizzes."

1. Make all of the answers the same. 
I don't do this often, but occasionally I make it so all the answers are A, or B. This way I can tell by a quick glance if students got them right or not. (Note: I usually have two versions of the quiz, so one the answers would be A and the other C). As a bonus students learn that they should trust their instinct and not change an answer just to make the pattern nice.

2. Make a pattern
Again, not very creative, but make your answers follow a pattern: ABCDC. This way you can tell quickly if a student got the questions right or wrong.

3. Use an overhead transparency 
Make a copy of the quiz with the correct answers bubbled in or circled onto an overhead transparency (alternatively place a transparency over the quiz and mark the correct answers). Lay the transparency over the students' quizzes and see if their answers still show. If they do that means their answers are incorrect. Personally, this method drives me crazy!

4. Hole puncher
Again, using your own copy as an answer key take a hole puncher and punch the correct answers. Hold this over the student's quiz and highlight the holes. Remove the paper and see if they have any answers not highlighted. If their answer is not highlighted, it is incorrect.

5. Quick Key
If you are fortunate enough to have an iPhone or an iPad you can use a free app called "Quick Key" Essentially you let quick key see the answers and it grades your students quizzes (also submitting it to your electronic grade book if available). I am very sad this isn't available for Android yet. If you are sad too you can contribute to the kickstarter campaign or just let them know that you would be interested (by going to the kickstarter link and voting in the survey they have there).



So there we go five quick ways to grade quizzes in class. Another great way is to get students to grade a partner's paper. I don't do this unless the students ID number (not name) is on the quiz and it is 100% confidential (no one would know who had graded their or whose they were grading). I don't use this much as I would rather use my time to grade than use the time of students in class.

What do you think? Any other quickies I missed?