EdTech Talk 24-25 Vol 1

With Read Along as a feature on Classroom, teachers can assign reading assignments effortlessly and get insights into the overall class performance and individual students reading performance. This includes data for each assignment on accuracy, speed and comprehension.

Using Read Along to assign stories can help teachers to:

• Understand students' progress better and on a continuous basis.
• Modify their teaching approach with regular and actionable data.
• Focus their in-class attention optimally on students based on their learning needs.
• Share student progress with parents and school leaders.

Read Along is designed to engage readers and it:

• Has a library of diverse reading materials (fiction, non-fiction), eye-catching illustration and an engaging reading experience.
• Provides real-time feedback.
• Offers assistance and avenues for help when they struggle.
• Encourages and rewards them with stars and badges when they do well.
• Guides them along as they progress.

Provide fun reading assignments and track students' reading progress in three easy steps.

1. Assign from a set of diverse year-appropriate reading materials such as fiction, non-fiction and decodables. Learn how to assign reading materials.
2. View reading data for individual students, like reading accuracy, fluency and comprehension. Learn how to view reading data.
3. Track progress of the students across multiple assignments. Learn how to track reading progress over time.

To understand how the specific student is growing in various reading skills, identify students at risk and track their reading progress over time, scroll down to Overall progress.

This shows four charts on accuracy, comprehension, speed and completion for the last five reading materials assigned to the specific student.

To track overall class performance, on the left panel, click ALL STUDENTS.

Class distribution: How your class has performed on the given assignment with regard to accuracy, speed and comprehension. This is distributed across different buckets.

Words need practice: This includes the top 10 words that most students have struggled with. This can help you understand and form patterns on what kind of words your class is struggling with.

When the students click the assignment, the Read Along attachment opens the reading material in a new tab. To start reading the assignment:

1. Click Start reading. Tip: If ELL support is displayed in the book for other languages, the student can select from the available languages.
2. When they start, they have to read the material aloud to Diya. Tip: To work properly, Read Along needs access to your microphone. Learn how to use your camera and microphone.

3. Use Diya to help you read the story. To have Diya:

4. Read a line in the story: Click Diya's picture.
   
5. Read the word, tell the meaning and break down the word to you: Click the word.
6. To turn the page in the story:

As students progress through the story, they will be presented with questions to help with their reading comprehension. To answer the question, they need to drag the appropriate response to the drop area provided on the left.​

Welcome to our fun and engaging "Back to School Bingo" challenge! This is an opportunity for you to complete different professional development activities while earning some great prizes along the way. Each activity listed on the Bingo card is tied to specific learning tools or platforms, and you'll be able to earn hours toward your professional learning requirements.

How it works:

1. Choose an activity from the Bingo card that you’d like to complete. Each activity has a course or tutorial link, along with the number of hours it’s worth.
2. Complete the activity and follow the instructions for submitting your evidence (like certificates, links, or Google Docs) through the Google Classroom assignment.
3. Get Bingo by completing rows of activities. The more Bingos you get, the bigger the prizes:

• 1 Bingo: Extremely Cute Sticky Notes
• 2 Bingos: Fizz Drink Card
• 3 Bingos: Flare Pens
• Blackout (all spaces completed): ALL Prizes + Swag!

Submitting evidence:

• After completing an activity, attach the required evidence (certificate, link, screenshot, etc.) and submit it in the Google Classroom assignment.
• Make sure to follow the specific submission instructions for each activity to receive credit.

Need to sign up? If you're interested in participating, just send me an email at sjolley@ecsdnv.net (Sarah Jolley), and I'll add you to the Google Classroom where you can submit your work.

Good luck, and have fun completing your Bingo card!

Whether you're a Book Creator veteran or a novice - here are some ideas and concepts to help you get the most out of Book Creator in the coming school year.

• Refresh your knowledge
  
• The First 5s - the first 5 days, the first 5 weeks, and the first 5 months.
• Teach literacy with Book Creator
  
• Capturing student work with digital portfolios
  
• Configuring your libraries
• Setting up collaboration
  
• Use journals for authentic assessment
  

Templates, tips, and tools to support your everyday tasks, from planning lessons, to giving instruction, and supporting your students’ growth.

• Specialized education templates and resources

• Get certified with Teacher Essentials

• Collaborate in real-time to get the job done fast.

• Share with your students and fellow teachers

Launching a Nearpod lesson, video, or activity allows students to join and engage in an interactive learning experience while teachers collect insights and data on student understanding. Teachers launch Nearpods by selecting one of three delivery modes and sharing the Nearpod through a code, link, or learning management system (LMS).

• Create Nearpods that engage students and collect data on student understanding in any setting in-person, hybrid, or virtual
• Use Live Participation mode to control the pace of a Nearpod to gain insight into student understanding as they teach and guide instruction or address misconceptions in the moment for strong learning outcomes
• Use Student-Paced mode to create asynchronous instruction through independent practice, small groups, or homework
• Use Front of Class mode to present a video to the class and pause at built-in key instructional moments to spark discussion without the distraction of devices
• Create multiple join codes from the same Nearpod so different student groups have their own version of lessons

BrainPOP has gotten Moby-sized new learning activities to better support learning at all levels, and to track (and celebrate!) learning outcomes.

Table of Contents

• Leveled Reading
• Vocab Builder
• Enhanced Quizzes
• Teacher-Level Reports
• FAQs

Digital Learning Coach assists teachers in using technology effectively integrating 21st-century skills, assessing student learning, differentiating instruction, and providing rigorous, relevant, and engaging learning experiences for all students. There are many Digital Coaching options, whether in-person or online; let me know your needs!

Let's work together to increase technology in your classroom!