Classroom Management

One of the greatest concerns for educators when implementing a 1:1 or technology rich environment is classroom management. Technology tools engage students, but not always in the task at hand. And monitoring requires a new set of skills, as students can appear focused and attending while in reality the technology is providing multiple ways to be off task. At AHS, we continue to work on this aspect of our roll out. There are successes, and failures, but as with all changes what the situation requires is leadership from teachers. The #Miched Twitter chat this week focused on this topic and following are tips that were shared b other educators. You can view the complete chat on the #Miched Storify link.

• Possession of a tool does not imply the tool is accessible at all times. As the teacher, it is important to define expectations. At times, this may mean physically removing the tool either from individual students or establishing a place where the tool resides when not in use. 
• Have students help create classroom rules that include proper use of technology and consequences for improper use.
• If turning the iPads over on the desk isn't working, move them off the desk! Try under the desk or have an established area in the classroom where iPads are kept when not in use.
• Use a back channel (students recording and responding to the classroom instruction and activities in real time. Allows the teacher to get instant feedback; stay connected to classroom digitally while delivering instruction.

David Prindle (@dprindle) shared an infographic from @jcorripo as an example of developing guidelines for use of social media and technology tools with student input.

The tools highlighted below help with different aspects of managing technology use in the classroom. Feel free to comment with your tips and tools for classroom management.

Maximizing Google 

Group work and collaborative assignments can be difficult to manage with or without technology. Students, parents and teachers are concerned with equity of participation. Google has a built in accountability feature that will have you thinking more positively about assignment projects, group work and collaborative activities. Watch the video below demonstrating Revision History in Google Drive:

Featured Apps

Many teachers are already aware of Socrative as a student response system. But have you thought of student response systems as a classroom management tool? Quickly connecting students to the task at hand while gathering formative assessments are essential to classroom management. The video below demonstrates both the creation of an account as well as application in the classroom. For ACS teachers, Carol Bokhari and Minna Turrell have both used Socrative as part of their instructional delivery. More app recommendations for iPad classroom management are found in this TeachThought Blog Post.

In addition to the Socrative app, there are web-based back channel tools to explore including Padlet, Today's Meet, and Poll Everywhere. These web-based tools have the advantage of accessibility from all mobile devices, not just through an iPad app.

Getting the Most Out of Your Learning Platform

As many of our classes moved to blended and online formats, it becomes necessary to track student engagement and participation. All learning management systems allow teachers to see how a student is participating. Examples of how this is done in Moodle is below below.

One of the most powerful aspects of Edmodo is the integration of Apps. For Edmodo users, the InstaGrok app that I have featured previously is currently a free app! With approval of the Common Core Curriculum, integrating research standards is essential and InstaGrok provides opportunity for both short and sustained research projects. Visit the Teacher Dashboard help page at InstaGrok.com for details on tracking student research progress, including time stamps and resources visited.

Twitter Friday Follow 

Connecting with other educators as we work our way through technology integration is an ongoing process. A great way to do this is to build your professional learning network on Twitter. Every Wednesday evening, Michigan educators, and educators from elsewhere, meet and discuss an agreed upon topic, using the hashtag #miched. Join us!

Library News

A great alternative for students who have completed assignments in the classroom is to have a book to read! Consider extra credit opportunities for free choice reading related to you curriculum. Contact me to arrange book talks or align projects to Common Core literacy standards.