Taylor ISD DuckLink # 63
empowering student success and school improvement
November 4, 2016
a publication of the Taylor ISD Technology Department
Peer Feedback Can Lead to a Student-Centered Classroom
It can be challenging to release control of what happens in the classroom. So often as educators we may feel that our classrooms will become too chaotic and unruly if we do. One of the main purposes of the Texas Teacher Evaluation and Support System (T-TESS) is to encourage teachers to facilitate a classroom that is more student-centered. One of the ways we can do this is through providing students opportunities for peer feedback. Here are three ideas you can implement in your class today.
- Have students share their Google Docs, Sheets, or Slides with one another for peer review. Have them us the comment feature or the suggesting feature. As the teacher you can use the revision history to see what they did.
- Use tools such as Recap or Educreations to have students record their work and then share with peers for critique.
- Teach students a critique protocol they use over and over throughout the year. See video below or read this article to learn more.
https://youtu.be/M8FKJPpvreY
G Suite for Education's Latest Features!
Google recently introduced these great new features. Be sure to check them out.
- Assign Action Items in Docs, Sheets, and Slides.
- Google Forms predicts question types and makes suggestions as you type them.
- Upload attached files in Google Forms!
- Added some voice commands to Google Docs.
Parent Communication Tools
Below are some great tools that you can use to connect with parents.
- Google Forms- collect data such as
- Signup.com- Awesome tool for parents to signup to volunteer for various events.
- Subscribe to Edlio- Locate your profile in Edlio. Just below your contact information there is a Subscribe button. If you post on your website the subscribers will receive an email.
- Google Classroom (Guardian Email Summaries)- Go to the Students tab and add parent email addresses. They will receive summaries of missing work, upcoming work, and various class activities you post.
- Gmail- Setup email groups and send a weekly email to parents. Try Gorgias Templates.
- Remind- Send push notifications and emails to parents about upcoming events, similar to sending traditional text messages without giving out your mobile phone number
- Class Dojo- Easily monitor student behaviors and activities and share them with parents.
- Google Doc- Create a Google Doc that you continue to add to throughout the year and share it via email with your parents. Publish it as a webpage if you like.
- Google Calendar- Create a new calendar specifically for parents and simply copy items from any other calendars you manage.
Subscribe to the IT Blog!
Visit the Instructional Technology blog. I hope to post a few tech tips per week. You can get a feed of the post via Google+ or visit the blog and sign up via email.
Help Desk Contact
Eduphoria Help Desk- http://eduphoria.taylorisd.org/
Phone: 512-365-5015 or x1900
Be sure to visit the Taylor ISD Technology site for more information.
Contact Information
JP Hale
Director of Instructional Technology
Taylor ISD
Email: jphale@taylorisd.org
Website: http://www.taylorisd.org
Location: 3101 North Main Street, Taylor, TX
Phone: 512-365-5015
Twitter: @haleedtech