Writing Rubrics: Try ForAllRubrics

Creating rubrics for writing can be a lot of work. We all know they are the best way to assess students' writing, but they do require much planning and time. Here is where a fantastic tech tool can help out! ForAllRubrics is just the right tool! With this site, teachers can create rubrics, load class lists, and assess students' work with clicks and have the scores totaled for them.

It really is this easy:

1. Upload students (or manually enter them)
2. Assign rubrics to students
3. Score by clicking the earned points
4. Site tallies total
5. Publish results (students get email)

Another great part is that teachers can copy existing rubrics and edit them later. This can save even more time. Check it out! Create an account and download the app. It is worth a try!

Password Protect Google Forms

I know that Google Forms is a lifesaver for a classroom teacher. Forget grading all those pesky multiple choice, short answer, or matching quizzes. With Google Forms and the Flubaroo script they are graded for you. The problems...but...how do I post a link to these assessments and not have someone from 3 states away find it and take it, messing up my data? Hold on! Now there is a way to stop this! I know, now I have your attention! This is not the "end all" for password protecting, but it is a simple and effective way to do it. This will help keep those you don't want in your forms out. Check out the steps below and watch the screencast to see how this can be done.

Steps to Password Protect Google Forms Submissions:

1. Create a new form (or edit an existing one)
2. Add a question named "Password" as a text answer (first question)
3. Click "Data Validation"
4. Choose "Regular Expression" in first dropbox
5. Choose "Matches" in second dropbox
6. Enter your chosen password in third box with ^ at start and $ at end Example: ^password$
7. Enter error text (what they will see if wrong password is entered) in fourth box
8. Make this a required question.
9. Click "Add Item" and choose "Page Break"
10. Now continue with your form as you wish.

This works well and will help keep your data based on responders you really want accessing your forms. 

Need to see it in action? Check out the video below:

Class Badges: Online Rewards for Students

Admit it. We all like them. Badges! They are everywhere: on papers, shirts, folders, cars, and even online. Class Badges let you make student account to store earned badges for any teacher created even, assignment, action. Best of all, it costs nothing to create and send these inspiring trinkets to your students. Creating an awesome multi-paragraph writing sample and need to encourage them as they work? Create a badge for each paragraph rewarding success in that paragraph's purpose. When a student achieves the expected outcome, reward them the badge! Kids love it (and admit it, so do adults...I can't tell you how gratifying it is seeing all the badges I earn in a Moodle course...).   

So...what type of Class Badges could you use?

• Completing a task 
• Reaching a goal 
• Reward for achievement 
• Reward for behavior 
• The possibilities are endless! 

The best part (aside from being free) is that once a badge is created, you can keep them for later. Each year you add your new class into your roster and start rewarding. All they have to do is log into their account and view earned badges. 

Class Badges is easy to use, and everyone loves getting rewards. These are like “virtual” stickers (and the sticky part never loses tack)!

Here is a sample of some class badges I made:

Log into www.classbadges.com and start rewarding!

Quizlet: A Great Student and Teacher Vocabulary Tool

Quizlet is an online tool designed to study key vocabulary terms and other concepts. It allows teachers to create flash cards and have students practice online. Teachers can make their own, or choose from millions of flash cards sets created by others. But that's just the beginning - once you've got flashcards, you can use several study modes including multiple choice tests and study games. You can add images and listen to audio, and even study on the go with Quizlet mobile apps. This is a great tool for classroom quiz/test preparation.

What are the benefits of Quizlet?

For Teachers: This is a very easy site to upload terms and create study tools. It is free and offers many great tools to make studying vocabulary fun. There are millions of already made vocabulary flash card decks already made and ready to share. Often times the perfect card deck is already created and ready to go! All a teacher needs to do is create a list of terms and definitions. If these are already created in Excel they can be copied right into the web site and auto-create study cards. Each term card can be individually created as well. After the terms are entered they can be shared by a web link with students to study.

For Students:  This is an easy tool to use. Quizlet will help students study terms with a few entertaining methods to help vocabulary retention. Best of all, no student account is needed. All a student needs is a link from the teacher and a computer with Internet access. Perhaps the best part of Quizlet, and what sets it above many others, is the options offered for studying. There are 5 different study formats to work with (Cards, Learn, Test, Speller, Scatter, and Space Race). These offer different ways to practice and learn the same terms, and best of all the teacher doesn’t need to set them up. They are part of Quizlet...all for FREE!

Here are of some of the Quizlet activities.

Types of Activities

Flash Cards

Scatter 

Spelling

Space Race

Visit http://www.quizlet.com to get started!

Socrative 2.0

I love Socrative. It is an easy and quick way to assess students. You can create surveys, quizzes, test, and exit tickets. It is an easy program to use and has an iPad app for both student and teacher. I have used it for over a year and they just came out with a fantastic update. It offers some great improvements, but at the moment it is still in beta. Give the new version or the original version a shot! 

www.Socrative.com

Poll Everywhere: A Great Way to Quickly Survey Students and Staff

So you are right in the middle of a fantastic lesson. You really want to know where to go next. What do they "want" to learn about? What interests them? How can I get this info and keep them engaged? Pull out a quick Poll Everywhere survey and you are all set! This web site tool allows you to display real time results form your class. All they need is a mobile device (phone, tablet, or computer) and a link form you. They can answer multiple choice or open ended questions. You can even display the results in many ways. This is a fantastic tool to get quick feedback on any type of question you may have for students. There are different levels of accounts from free to paid. For most teachers  the free account is all that is needed. Check out the video below to get a general overview.

Go to PollEverywhere.com and get started!