Edmodo

If I have one technology friend, it is Edmodo. Together, we can do anything!

But honestly, it is a very useful and user-friendly tool. If you're familiar with Facebook, it is likely that you could pick up the logistics of Edmodo very quickly.

What is Edmodo? It is a website where teachers can create classes (called "groups") that their students join. Once this is done, teachers can share posts, create polls, assign quizzes (multiple choice, T/F, short answer, fill in the blank, matching) and more. Posts can be sent immediately, or scheduled to be sent at another time (i.e. the next morning before school starts).

Everything that you post or create in Edmodo gets saved in your library so that it can be reused again. Sync it with your Google docs so that all of those gems can be accessed quickly; you can even give your students access to particular folders, if you'd like.

As you can see, I have shared some ixl.com practice as well as Learnzillion.com videos on Edmodo

To create a class, you simply "create a group." Once you have given the group a name, grade, and subject area, it will give you an access code. Students who are already on Edmodo simply have to click "join a group" and enter that code to be put in that class. Students who are not on Edmodo can use that code to create an account and join their first class. (Another option is to send the join link to everyone in an email.) Then you can start sharing! Each student is given a parent code so that parents can keep up with their assignments and grades on Edmodo. As a teacher, you can create small groups, limit students' abilities to comment, change their passwords, and more.

I have not used Edmodo extensively yet, but I intend to use it daily this year. Schools where students do not have tablets/laptops with them throughout the day can still use Edmodo for homework assignments and a sharing center during trips to the computer lab. 

For a PLE, I plan to post the day's agenda and activities in a post in Edmodo. When the activities are student-driven, they will have the freedom to go about it at their own pace, taking more time with a particular activity or assignment if they need to. Students who are grasping the information a bit more quickly can move ahead to the next assignment or assessment. Students who finish early can then peer-tutor group members that may need some assistance, or practice the topic on ixl.com, khanacademy.org, or similar sites. 

Homework Email/Keeping up with your classroom website

Using Google Docs, my teammates and I send out a homework email every day. That may sound like a chore, but it's not too hard and the parents love it. At the top are links to our websites, general announcements, and upcoming events. Then we have a table: a row for each teacher and a column for each day of the week.

Students are expected to write down their assignments in their planners, but as sixth graders, they mess that up sometimes. This email serves as backup for them, and lets the parents know what their kids are/should be working on. Something else that this provides us is an opportunity to link directly to assignments. For example, if homework was to watch a Khan Academy video, I can link directly to the video so all they have to do is open up the email and click. If homework was a worksheet, I can attach a copy of it to the email so absent students (or forgetful ones) aren't left behind.

To link to a worksheet, though, it needs to be online somewhere. That's where my classroom website comes into play: I have a tab on my site labeled "Documents Manager" where I (try to) keep documents sorted by their unit of study. Once I have uploaded the document to my classroom site, I can copy its link to the Google document.

To attach copies of worksheets that are not digital versions:
CamScanner: take pictures of documents that you have printed out and convert them to PDFs. What I like
about apps like this one is that they will combine all of the pictures from that session into one file, so you're not uploading lots of separate files for both fronts and backs. What is neat is that it will guide you in grabbing the corners of the document so that the final product is only the piece of paper you want (no random backgrounds or anything) and you can choose a filter that makes it look exactly like a printed piece of paper (bright white with black writing).

As far as I can tell from my experience, this app does not limit the number of pictures you include in one file. Other apps like Handy Scanner will limit the number of pictures you can use.

If you're interested in checking out my classroom website, feel free. It's not stellar, but it's functional! If you have any advice for it, please let me know!

Thanks for reading!