Tech That Has Transformed My Teaching

Google docs have changed my life. More precisely, the see-revision-history option has transformed my response to student writing--and for an English teacher, that equals life-changing. The history feature allows me to watch my students compose. It's fascinating to see how some students write recursively while others pour out their thoughts like...this:

Analyzing my students' revision histories informs my feedback. My suggestions differ depending on the time students have invested and their attempts at revision. Best feature ever.

Another tech tool that I rely on daily is Google Forms, which I use for both formative assessment and organization. As a formative assessment tool, Google Forms give me direct communication with each of my students in a private, immediate way. It seems that inviting my students to share what they know and wonder about through Google Forms provides the benefits of testing while inviting a personal conversation with me. My students are incredibly candid through the Google Form channel. Here is an example of how I used Google Forms last week. 

The second way I use Google Forms is to organize the writing shared by my students. I ask students to set privileges to allow me to edit (on Google Docs) and then turn in their papers through Google Forms. This gives me one document with links to all my students' papers. It looks like this: 

My third go-to tech tool is Todaysmeet.com. This is the easiest back channel ever. If your students have access to computers (a 1-2-1 program or a similar set-up), back channels are a great way to increase engagement. Here is how I used Todaysmeet on Wednesday when my students shared their questions about their reading and the TED talk they'd watched: https://todaysmeet.com/408fashion/

Okay, honesty breaks through: Tina Fey is hosting SNL. I must watch. Now. 

Day 13: Name the top edtech tools that you use on a consistent basis in the classroom, and rank them in terms of their perceived (by you) effectiveness.

Reflection: It's Saturday night. I've completed 13 days of this challenge--and I'm learning a lot about myself and the excuses I've heretofore generated for avoiding daily writing.