Project Breakdown You Can Do

Year 2. 

Overhauled master schedule. 

2 new courses for me: one is brand new; co-taught class. The other existed, just now on my plate. 

Still teaching the classes from last year. 

And study halls. 

Total = 12 different groups of students. I got this. I think. 🤣

I'm taking the best of what I did last year and modifying or substituting to make it better. I had my 7th graders last year, so I know what we covered AND I know them. After giving them a day to do some digital organization, something I feel is important to make time for, we moved right into a project. Smart move.

These kids have skills and they aren't afraid of tech. They need very little direct instruction as far as tools go, but I feel they could use practice making choices, explaining their choice, and interpreting what needs to be done. Rather than give them a specific "recipe", I wanted to leave the door open a bit for them. We are now done with project and I'm very happy with how it went! Here's a recap ... you can absolutely replicate this!

I chose two of John Spencer's video writing prompts. I kept in mind the students I had and tried to choose two I thought had wide appeal. I also chose one that needed more creativity when responding, "You Woke Up Inside of a Video Game," and one that was more straight-forward, "What would you put in a time capsule?"

Day 1:

• Short explanation of project ... choose the writing prompt AND choose the tool to create your response. I did not restrict them on tools. They could choose the one they felt was best.
• Watched the prompts together - YouTube gets overwhelmed if they all try at them same time. Allowed for questions.
• In Schoology, I created a folder with completion rules to help sequence student work:
• #1 - I had a 2 questions assessment: Which prompt are you choosing & why? 

• #2 - a discussion question: which tool are you going to use
• Students may start to work on their project

Day 2:

• With the hope that conversing and discussing the prompt in terms of what to DO would help the students drive their own ideas, I wanted them to talk about how they were interpreting the prompt.
• Before getting to work, I had students make groups of 4 with others who are doing the same prompt. Both prompts received the same questions. The paper they filled out asked several questions:
• What are you responsible for "answering" with your response?
• What are the REQUIRED pieces to your response?
• Is there anything you should NOT do as or in your response?
• How might you go BEYOND the requirements?
• After several minutes, I collected their papers and had them make a different group of 4 and repeat this exercise.
• Rest of class was time to work on their projects.

Day 3:

• Started class with the complied answers to the questions from yesterday. I have to say, they were more or less all on the same track with the answers. 
• I also allowed for questions. 
• My favorite was, "Mrs. Kiefer, can you leave this up? I think it's really good for me to look at as I keep working." [You betcha!!!]
• Work time

Day 4:

• Began class with a "Glow & Grow" peer feedback. I took their compiled answers and created a short feedback sheet. Only 3 outcomes to focus on:
• Content - Is student answering prompt appropriately?
• Soft Skills - does their tool fit the project well?
• Media Skills - project is answering the prompt creatively?
• One on side of each criteria, the peer is expected to write a positive. On the other side, a suggestion or idea for improvement.
• We covered boundaries for this and how to "take in" the feedback. It's all meant to be helpful, but changes should only be made if the creator agrees and feels it would be an improvement.
• Today, they were pairing up with another student that did the SAME prompt. Turn in paper.
• Ultimately, they will need to have 3 total peer feedbacks before turning their project in.
• I tracked this as an assignment in Schoology.
• Rest of the class was work time.

*** The feedback portion took a bit longer than I'd thought it would ... NOT a bad thing at all! ***

Day 5:

• In Schoology, I asked students to share the link to their project. This was a big topic we covered last year - ensuring the correct sharing privileges - so I wanted to be sure they all did this early on, so I didn't have to keep asking for it at the end when I went to grade it.
• Full work day.
• Recommended to do at least one more peer feedback. Only rule is it cannot be the same person. 

Day 6:

• "Temperature check" ... are we feeling good and getting close? Up to this point, I'd not mentioned a due date. Students said they were getting close. We decided to aim for tomorrow at the end of class. If they felt they needed more time, I asked them to talk to me.
• I went over how many pieces of feedback were still needed.
• Work day.

Day 7:

• Final work day.
• Turn in when finished in Schoology. Basically they copied and pasted the link again in an assignment with the rubric for me to grade it.

Whew! I have to say, I'm SUPER pleased with how this project went. My students really did seem to dig into it - didn't matter which prompt they chose.  The time capsule one did appear to go a bit quicker, but I pushed those students to really dig in and try to be creative. Off-task behaviors were limited during this project and I was thrilled.

I would really love to bring all of these projects together in one spot. I was thinking a website created by the students? However, I do feel like we need to move on. I don't want to let them get bored. Possibly at the end of the quarter, it can be a self-chosen project that a few of them decide to take on? Who knows? 

What do you think? Areas to improve? Anything to add? I know I probably won't call them "Glow & Grows" again ... they didn't scoff at it, but it felt a bit juvenile. I ended up just referring to them as their "peer feedback". 

** Update ➤ I added the Docs I created for this project into ONE cohesive Doc. It includes the questions students had to answer as a group who had chosen the same prompt in the hopes of ensuring they were interpreting the "ask" properly AND the activity I had them work through to create the rubric for their prompt. I did also include the rubric we designed for each of the 3 writing prompts as examples. Please do not feel tied to them - my students helped design them - yours might interpret things differently. The "work" in this is that THEY are identifying the requirements. 

You can find the Docs on my sister blog - Templates for Teachers. John Spencer Writing Prompts activity  

Next up ... credible sources. What are they? Where/how do we find them? How do you know it's credible? Can we crowdsource? I'll share about this, too. I'm super excited about this. We expect our students to do a LOT of research and while I was collaborating with an educator in another district about a class we both teach, I have a very exciting addition to add to this project!

*** Want to hear more from me? Every Monday, I share a newsletter with a collection of Tech You Can Do resources. It is delivered right to your inbox. Interested? Sign up here!  ***

Gratitude A-Z You Can Do

This week I am taking a pause from Google Classroom because November is quite possibly one of my favorite months! I'll be 100% honest - it IS my birthday month, BUT honest and truly, I love the leaves changing ... I love the fall smell in the air ... I love how some days are warm, but some have a chill ... and most of all, I love Thanksgiving. My mom does an AMAZING Thanksgiving dinner. The entire nine yards. Yum!!!

This year has been a tough year. Yes, all around T O U G H. But here we are. It's mid-November. I can smell the turkey. I can taste my mom's dinner rolls and the pumpkin pie. (I load mine with Cool whip!) Yum yum yum.

While it's been a tough year, I still know I have a lot to be grateful for. I write 6 items I am grateful for each day in my journal. My family is always number one. Our health is number two. Sometimes it's the weather, sometimes it's a co-worker who has been incredibly helpful; it has been that my husband didn't lose his job, my daughter didn't need stitches, we all got to go back to school, and so on.

The activity I'm sharing today is "Gratitude A-Z You Can Do" and has all the slides A-Z in the add a slide area, so it won't overwhelm any student. Instruct students to complete 1 slide each day, or multiple. It's a total of 26 slides. Not sure you can devote that much time to it? Have students spell out their name or "thankful" or another Thanksgiving-related word.

Interested in making your own copy? Click on this link for "Gratitude A-Z You Can Do." Now you can use your own copy to create an Assignment in Google Classroom (or your chosen LMS). I highly recommend using the "Make a copy" for each student.

In case you are looking for more, or even something additional, last year I shared the activity I created for 4th graders in my district. I called it "Thankful Thoughts You Can Do". (Feel free to click the link and explore that activity.) I've also been collecting Thanksgiving-related activities in, you guessed it, a Thanksgiving collection. I hope you and your students enjoy!

Do you know of other good activities? I'd love to add them. You can leave them in the comments below ⤵ or connect with me on the socials - linked above right. 

Templates You Can Do ... like Alyssa!

I am thrilled to share this today! It's a bright spot in all of the strange and difficult times we've been through the past couple of months. To start, you might know I have a co-created website - Templates for Teachers - with Beth Kingsley. We shared it nearly two years ago and have worked to add to it. About a month ago, we shifted it over to a new site and have enjoyed it even more! I can't believe it's been a month since we shared out the new site. We've published a handful more templates as we continue to move them over & we'd love for you to check them out.

Beth's and my goal with Templates for Teachers is that we create for our classes and we share the templates on our site for anyone to take. You are welcome to use them as they are, or modify them to your own needs. Our previous site only allowed us to actually share the templates. Our new site allows us to also share ideas on how to use them with younger or older students. You can also use the filtering to help you view similar templates or types of templates.

I received an email from a good friend of mine, Alyssa, on April 29. She shared a Google Slide with me and included a note telling me she'd found a template on our site & modified it to fit her class. It's stories like this that are bright spots in the midst of these strange times. 

Here is Alyssa's story - Beth created the "Mother's Day Gazette" for her 3rd graders as a project for Mother's Day last year. (This is an amazing template and they turned out super awesome!) Alyssa was browsing our site and saw it. Alyssa is a 7th & 8th grade Social Studies teacher, mind you. When she saw the gazette, she saw it as a way for her 7th grade students to demonstrate their learning of the Renaissance with a scrapbook. 

Whaaaaaaat??? Do you see a Renaissance scrapbook from the Mother's Day Gazette? I didn't, but Alyssa did! And she is graciously allowing me to share it on our Templates for Teachers website - to quickly find it, click on the label "Alyssa Bruck" on the far right side of the site! You have to check it out - BOTH are amazing! And it's truly a dream come true for me to see a colleague (& friend!) to take one of our templates and modify it to fit her needs in such a creative way!

Alyssa has since followed up the scrapbook with THREE more Renaissance themed templates! (These are also featured on our Templates site) And then this week - just when I was struggling with focus on school work, yet ANOTHER email from Alyssa appeared. I opened it to find a Civil War Choice Board she created & is using with her students during these last weeks of remote learning. Kudos to you, Alyssa! I was blown away! Truly! And to think ... all of this happening during our time of remote learning!?!

This just goes to demonstrate we all have room to grow and we all have our struggles. But when we pull together, we can do more than we thought possible. I count myself lucky to work with both Beth & Alyssa, and I count myself lucky to be able to share it with you. 

Do you have questions or comments? I'd love to hear from you! Please comment below - connect on Twitter (@kiefersj) - or email me directly (sarah@techyoucando.com).

Finally, I have a few exciting things to share:

* I was honored to be a guest on the GEG Ohio April meeting. I shared about the apps I've created with Slides & Glide Apps. You can check out the recording here (April meeting YouTube link) - be sure to fill out the fill out the form to earn PD credit!

* I am going to present a more detailed session about building apps with my #NYC19 Google Innovator Coach, Dr. Desiree Alexander, on her FREE webinar series. This will be Sat, May 30 @ 12 pm EST (11 am CST). You can find more info & the sign up link at edalex.net/appbuild .

* I will also be presenting "6 Steps to Organize Your Google Drive" on June 2 at 1 pm EST (12 pm CST) for the GEG Louisiana. The leader is fellow #NYC19 Google Innovator, Wiley Brazier! You can sign up on the GEG Louisiana website. 

5 New Templates You Can Do

I have a confession to make ... I am a terrible gift-giver. I want to give people something that means something to them, they will use and love, and often, I fall very short of that goal. However, when I have a clear idea in my mind of what the person wants, I typically find success! The same goes for when I create at school. I want to create things that give teachers and their students something that means something.

This close to Christmas, my gift to you is sharing five of the templates I've created over the past year. Most of the time, I have a very clear picture in my mind of the WHY behind the template, other times it's a bit fuzzier, but my hope is one of these templates might find a place in your classroom. If one of the following templates isn't the right fit for your class, feel free to check out the 70+ others that are housed on my co-created site "Templates for Teachers". 

You can also find the link at the top of my site:

Here we go!

 Fractions with Sheets

Google Sheets is the perfect tool to use when working with fractions. Resizing the cells allows for squares to be grouped together to visually show students fractions. I created this template for younger students to "see" fractions, calculate fractions, and then create their own fractions. The tabs at the bottom guides students through using Sheets with fractions. The 2 fraction blocks tabs will allow students to not only "see" how fractions compare, but can also allow a short intro as to how to change colors and/or fonts in Sheets. The next 2 tabs guide students in "seeing" fractions; experience a little make your own fractions math practice; and finally, create some art with fractions. The catch? You have to write the fractions for each color.

Level Up with Pixel Art in Sheets

I created this activity for students to practice not only fractions, but also to work on their creativity. As I mentioned above, Google Sheets is the perfect partner for fraction work ... the cells quickly become parts of a fraction and when you fill them with color, it gives students a super quick way to "see" fraction parts. This activity is definitely a "step up" from the first "Fractions with Sheets" activity.

I included some basic Google Sheets vocab inside this one so even the newest Sheets users can feel comfortable. The tabs at the bottom will step students through using Sheets.

Checkbook for Students

This activity uses Sheets again (it's a very useful app!) but to work on financial skills. I was working with two teachers who were creating a "city" in their class and had used paper checkbooks in the past. We infused some vocab and background on checking accounts and checkbooks, and the tabs become super handy to separate this information from the checkbook itself. (You can even customize your logo for your checkbook if you'd like using the built in Drawing!) 

*** Bonus *** Want to design your own checks to match your theme? Why yes, you can! Here's a bonus template for that, too ↬ Checks for Students

How To Article

I love when teachers come to me and show me something they have come across and ask if I can help make it happen for their students. I will never turn this down! Often, it's a writing activity of some sort and they've found inspiration in a magazine and want their students to write in that format. Sometimes, they have an idea and I help with the design.  The "How To" article template comes from a conversation I had with 2 third grade teachers who wanted their students to write a "How To" but not just with bullet points. I came across a step-by-step article layout in my second graders' magazine from school. I showed it to my teachers and they gave me the green light! Voilá! I love helping students feel like they are published authors! 

Two Sides To It

The final template I have to share comes from a conversation with another third grade teacher. This time, she had a few examples of what she wanted in hand for me to work from. She was working on opinion writing and really liked the format this provided. Personally, I really like the place at the top for background information, and then diving into the two sides. One piece of feedback I got from this teacher as I was finishing up was that she wanted to print it and have students write on paper. I was happy to oblige, but also wanted to leave it open to also being done digitally. When you open the template, there are 4 options: print, with lines; print, no lines; digital, fully editable; digital, partially editable. 

I hope you have enjoyed these 5 templates! I love making them and seeing students use them. And, as always, any template you find on our site, Templates for Teachers, is not meant to be "perfect". It was created for a purpose, but both Beth & I fully support any teacher in taking what we have shared and adjusting and modifying it to best fit you and your students. 

Have a question or comment? Feel free to comment below, reach out to me on Twitter @kiefersj, or email me at sarah@techyoucando.com.

Authentic Writing You Can Do ... with your Students!

I've shared several times that as a Technology Integration Specialist, I do not have my own classroom of students. Nor do I have any kind of regular teaching schedule. This allows me to work any teacher and any group of students! My goal is that I anything/everything I do supports classroom instruction and I love when teachers come to me and ask me to work with students. Sometimes, what we set out to do morphs into something else ... and it's always a good thing!

At the beginning of March, Mrs. Laura Counts approached me to help a group of her students. These 5 students had read several books by Sandra Markle (@Sandra_Markle) and had decided they wanted to write their own book, in her style. Laura asked if I would help. Wow! They wanted to do the research, the writing, AND the designing of the book! 

The overall task was this: the students were inspired after reading a non-fiction book to write their own book. As a group, they decided to research bird feet and each selected a bird. They would use their research to write in the style of Sandra Markle. Meanwhile, I would work with them to take their writings and make it into a book.

We set to work. I met with the students a couple times a week to work on the actual book design and on the other days, they would do their research. I had such fun talking through the design process ... we had a LOT of decisions to make! Which tool do we use? Book Creator? Google Slides? Something else? We settled on Slides. Then we poured over every detail ... the dimensions of the book (we literally pulled out a ruler to measure!); making the wooden sign; which font(s) to use - this was a BIG conversation ... do we all use the same? does each author use a different one?; whose page goes first? last? order?; gathering the credits for the images we used; and many more! I have to hand it to these 5 kiddos. They did an AMAZING job! They put forth their very best. It really shows!

A very interesting conversation we had very early on was whether or not Ms. Markle would

Research Templates You Can Do

I am a believer in #BetterTogether and I'm always looking to share Tech You Can Do. The beauty of collaboration shines through when a teacher comes to me with an idea or topic or question rolling around in their head and asks me to help them make it happen - usually by infusing a tech tool. Sometimes it's an in-person conversation, sometimes it's through email, and sometimes, even via text messages. There are advantages to all 3, but the push-and-pull is where the magic happens, regardless of the method.

I have always thought of myself as a life-long learner. [My dad even used to tease me when I struggled to settle on a major in college, that I was going to be a "perpetual student". Not a bad compliment for a future teacher, eh?] After teaching in the classroom for 14 years, I have been a Technology Integration Specialist for the two elementary buildings for my district for 3 years. Supporting these teachers and students not only cements this life-long learning in me, but continues to push me to learn more and in various ways. 

I'm finding more and more, teachers are excited about the ability to provide options to their students while also being conscious not all students have the same background with the tools. It's very exciting to collaborate and create something to fit the teacher's desired curricular goals while allowing and encouraging student creativity. 

One of the "secret weapons" on any template I create/use with students, is including "speech bubbles" for use to provide specific directions, options to go further, additional resources, or remind students of the basic requirements of the project. Using Google Slides - my #1 go-to - I also use the speaker notes at the bottom for many of the same reasons. Slides and Drawings both have gray space, which I consider valuable real estate for these same reasons. I typically add the note "Delete when finished" to help guide students, acting as a checklist.

Digital File Folder for Animal Research

File folder for research

One example of a template is this digital file folder for research I created for a 3rd grade class. The goal was to do some research - specifically on animals - and present it in a different way. The original idea was an index card but as we talked about items to include, we decided it needed to be a bit "bigger" so we settled on a 'manila folder' feel. I was invited to come into the class and work with the teacher and her students for 2 class periods. This allowed me to not only teach the students some of the tools, but the teacher was able to be a learner as well. (She has mentioned several times she enjoys this which just reminds me this is valuable for everyone involved!)

I can see making a couple of adjustments to make it work for older students: as easy as changing the font size to allow for additional typing OR a little more complex, by adding in "stapled" sheets of paper for longer research rather than the 3 small index cards on the inside. On the other hand, simplifying it can allow for use with younger students, too!

Animal File Folder template

"Who Would Win? book"

Who Would Win book

Another example is for a 4th grade class. I can't take all the credit for this one ... my friend Beth Kingsley created the book cover for her 3rd graders to use last year when they did animal research. Her students LOVED it as did the author, Jerry Pallota! 

One of the 4th grade teachers I work with, saw this book cover on our Templates for Teachers website, and asked if I could adjust it to have "inside pages" for her students to write their research. Of course!!! After doing my own research on these books, I added a few inside pages in the theme of the book, and voila! The "Who Would Win?" for 4th graders was created. Again, the teacher invited me in her class to walk them all through the customization of the template. Students were already paired up and worked collaboratively on the book. This was a beautiful time to also discuss digital collaboration.

When a second 4th grade teacher asked if I'd join her class for the same activity, I happily agreed. I never know who enjoys these activities more ... the kids or me! There was one curveball with this class. Some boys called me over and asked this question, "Mrs. Kiefer ... there are 3 of us. How do we do the cover?" 

I was stumped - the teacher confirmed they had an odd number, so these boys needed their cover to reflect this. I responded, "What do you think?" After only a small hesitation, one of the boys proposed placing the 3 animals in somewhat of a triangular arrangement on the cover. Brilliant!!! When it came to the inside pages, it was set up for 2 animals, and the boys told me, "Don't worry, he just duplicated one of the slides so there is another page for our third animal." I was so impressed! Problem solving and creativity ... excellent!

I love this process ... from start to finish. Collaborating with the teachers to create the template, working with the students to make the template their own, and then the pride on their faces when they see what they have created. If anyone wants to know why I love my job ... this is it. 

Who Would Win? (middle) template

Narrative Non-Fiction Writing

The final template I want to share was created for a 7th grade language arts class. I collaborated with a teacher I started teaching with back in 2002. We created this template in response to her desire to do something "different" for her narrative non-fiction writing. We settled on creating a magazine template for her students. 

She looked through the magazines she already had in her classroom and picked out several features she wanted to include, allowing her to reinforce text features at the same time as the writing. You'll notice there is a great deal more space dedicated to text ... a reasonable expectation for 7th graders. After she selected the text features, we decided on the layout. We created a 4 page spread for students to type in, again, a reasonable expectation for students of this age. Rather than saying "write a 4 page essay", she used the template layout to show them the space, giving them the idea they needed enough information to fit it.

Again, we used my secret weapon - speech bubbles - as well as the gray space to allow her to include directions and "helps". She then used our LMS to provide a copy for each student. Since she teaches at our middle school, I wouldn't be able to join in on this classroom adventure. She and her students enjoyed this writing activity done differently. She shared with me later, another teacher asked what program she used to create this template ... she told him, "I used the Sarah Kiefer program." What an awesome compliment! I think you'll agree our template turned out pretty professional looking! 

Narrative Non-fiction magazine

Narrative Non-fiction Magazine template

Today I've shared 3 templates. My friend Beth (mentioned above) and I have created a website - Templates for Teachers - sharing these, and many others, that you are welcome to peruse, take and use as they are, or better yet, take and modify to fit your needs. 

I truly love working with teachers and their students. The collaboration is something I will never get tired of. I am also finding our students are hungry to express themselves, especially when it comes to demonstrating their learning. Don't be afraid ... you don't need to know everything ... you just need to be confident enough to work WITH your students. And if you don't feel that confident, find a friend and collaborate with them. 

Reach out ... I wouldn't mind being that person. 

Have a question or comment? Feel free to comment below, reach out to me on Twitter @kiefersj, or email me at sarah@techyoucando.com.

#FBCALbook ... I'll be IN it!

I'm beyond excited to share that at the end of July, a dream of mine will come true! I will have a story published in a book!!! This book ... will be published and available for anyone to read! And I will have a tiny part in it. 

WOW!

My adventure began around Christmas 2017 when a tweet on Twitter caught my eye from Mari Venturino. She had published a collection of stories from educators in July, 2017. She was preparing for volume 2, and with nothing to lose, I submitted a story idea.

I'm not going to lie or pretend otherwise, I really do not consider myself a writer. Spelling was a weak spot and I never understood diagramming sentences! Thank heavens for word processing!!!

I received word my story had been accepted to be published as part of this book with other educators. BUT ... I was still nervous and didn't share the news. (I think I was still nervous about it really happening!) Then came edits and revisions and the final editing process. Mari has set up a website to share tons of info about the book and those who are apart of it. Be sure to check it out https://fueledbycoffeeandlove.com/ .

I will join the ranks of 80 or so educators who've taken a piece of their own story and shared it for the world to read. I hope you'll pick up a copy, grab the beverage of your choice, and read it. It's sure to be packed with tons of great stories!!!

I'll update as far as the official publishing date. Yea!!!! 

Want to be part of volume 3? Mari is collecting info from those interested at the official website [https://fueledbycoffeeandlove.com/].

Feel free to follow along on:

• Twitter 
• Facebook
• Instagram

Voice Typing You Can Do

Do you voice type text messages or notes to yourself? Do you ask Alexa, Google Assistant, or Echo to perform commands? Chances are you have at one point or another. 

Welcome to the world of voice controls! 

Our voices are powerful. And with every passing day, they become even more so. Google Docs included the ability to voice type awhile back and I demonstrated this tool to a group of students this past year. It is super easy to learn.

To Voice Type: 

1. Click on "Tools" in the toolbar
2. Click "Voice Typing"
3. The microphone will appear to the far left
4. Click on it to allow the microphone to listen
5. Start speaking
6. Click the microphone to turn it off

Demonstrate this tool to your students, AND encourage them to USE it! This tool was one of the most powerful tools I taught that group of students. They began using it on a daily basis. We noticed the microphone in the Google Search bar and the kids were excited to find out it works there, too! This helped their researching! AND we found we can voice type speaker notes in Slides and them copy and paste them into the Slide as a mini-workaround.

I know what some of you are thinking ... voice typing might "feel" like cheating. But it's NOT! This is where our thinking needs to shift. As a classroom teacher, I had many students who had great thoughts, ideas, and opinions but struggled when it came time to put the pencil to paper. When computers became the "norm" in my classroom, I believed this would help ... and it did ... for some. For others, typing is also a struggle.

Voice typing is not cheating because it requires knowledge of the all technical parts of writing. The punctuation commands you can give to Docs are

• "period"
• "comma"