Sorry about last week. Was a bit sick and didn't get a chance to blog...but I continue :-)
I'd like to talk about some of the things I use everyday...
The two devices I use the most are my Android phone and my Chromebook. I honestly can't believe how much we can do with our cellphone. I hate to say it but it seems I can do most everything I need to do on it. Access all my different accounts, post things to my Google Classroom, make a quick recording for an explanation, access my Twitter account to see what new things I can learn, and the list would go on... When I need to create something more elaborate is when I pull out the Chromebook :-D
Speaking of Chromebooks... I've had quite a few of them. I always wanted the newest and the fastest. After buying several of them figured I'd go with the best, 2015 Google Pixel and that one lasted a while and finally today with a Google Pixelbook. Wish I could do everything with it but some school demands require me to use a Windows PC :-P
On the Chromebooks or PCs used, I always use multiple Google accounts the correct way, the way Amy Mayer showed us all a few years ago. You can see this from a recent post from Tom Spall, What's a Chrome Account? You can quickly switch accounts on a Chromebook by signing in, click on the lower right (the time), click on your avatar, and select sign in another user... Once signed in, click and hold ctrl+alt keys and the comma (or period) to switch back and forth between your accounts.
The other Amy shortcut I use on my Chromebook is the icon only bookmarks in the bookmark bar...just a few I have on my bookmark bar
The three things I use the most in the classroom is Google Drive, Google Classroom and MimioTeach Interactive System. I use Docs, Sheets, Slides, Drawings and Forms a lot in class and they are all easy to create in Google Drive. I LOVE the unlimited storage available to us as teachers in a G Suite for Education district. I quickly share these files with students using Google Classroom, either as a view or to make copies for everyone. The MimioTeach allows me to record our discussions from class. I believe that notes are helpful but sometimes students need to see the steps for what we did. The solution is the recordings from class. Once the recordings are done, they can be uploaded to Google Drive and shared through Google Classroom so students can view them when needed, either to catch up for an absence or just to review. Do the size of the video files matter... Nope... Unlimited storage in Drive! :-D
And finally, the thing that I check almost as much as my phone, my Twitter feed. Twitter has been a life-changer for what I've been able to do and what I have done in classroom. It has allowed me to learn from so many educators, allowed me a chance to visit NASA, and been part of a Picademy. It has inspired me to share whatever I learned with others. It showed me that as educators, we should help each other so we can help our students. Sharing is caring as a friend I met on Twitter would say. From what I learned on Twitter, I was able to improve the ways I taught in class. I learned ways of giving students feedback and help them with their learning. People ask me me how do you know all this? Well...I've got some friends on Twitter that are always willing to share :-)
Thanks for stopping by,
Have a great day,
Efren
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