FTT - Quizziz

Quizizz: Fun, Engaging, Multiplayer Classroom Quiz Games and Yes, Students Can Play From Anywhere!

@LisaBerghoff / @joe_edtech

I'll admit that I can be a sucker for bells and whistles.  I love toys and games and fun in the classroom if they are used in a purposeful way.  When students come back and visit years after graduation, it's the funny, silly activities that they remember and connect with most.  Do any students come back and say "Remember that time when we sat in rows quietly and took notes?" I recently led a workshop and asked teachers from various schools to describe what their classroom looks like when their students are truly engaged.  Words like "active", "participation", "loud", and "excited" came up as the teachers thought about a time in their classroom when students were engaged.

Of course, the topic of Kahoot often comes up during these types of discussions.  Remember the first time you did a Kahoot?  You will absolutely not get that kind of response when you assign a worksheet.  That's because tools like Kahoot are engaging and fun by design.  They allow students to participate in a way that does not require them to push too far out of their comfort zone, but still makes you feel like you are playing a game and taking a risk.  One of the most common questions that comes up with Kahoot is whether or not students can participate in these fun quiz games on their own or from home.

That is why I am thrilled to share Quizizz with you. 

http://www.slideshare.net/Quizizz/quizizz-presentation-49737217

Quizizz is  a free, online tool that allows you to create classroom game show-like quizzes.  Similar to  Kahoot, the students have questions and  up to 4 options for responses.  You can create your own or use one that has already been created.  You can even create your own quiz but then steal collaboratively take advantage of individual questions that other teachers have made and put them into your own quiz.

There are several key features that make Quizizz different from Kahoot.  First, you can adjust the timer from 5 seconds to 15 minutes of time allowed to answer a question, or you can adjust the settings so the question timer is off completely. You can play the games live during class but allow students to play at their own pace because the entire question shows up on the students' screens.  The way Quizizz works is such that you can play at your own pace but still feel like you're playing against your classmates.  Quizizz also has a feature that allows you to assign the quiz for homework. There is a  calendar feature to set the days that the quiz is open and give your students the Quizizz code to join your quiz. It also has a meme generator that will give the students instant feedback by way of funny kittens and silly graphics. Another feature of Quizizz is that when students finish playing, they get valuable data showing how they did on each question. 

When your students first log in at join.quizizz.com, they will enter the game code and their name.  In order to effectively grade the quiz, I suggest mandating a naming convention so that students must enter their first name and last initial or some other standard format so you will know who is participating.  The students are then assigned an avatar (mine was an adorable sheep with glasses) and then are prompted to proceed.  As students are answering the questions, they are given immediate feedback on how they did on each question.  Once they are done, they can see how they did on all of the questions and they can go back and review the questions.

https://twitter.com/quizizz/status/562659247066861568

As the teacher, you can pull up a "report" that shows the percentage of students who answered each question correctly.  You can also click on individual students to see how they did.  The reports page gives a very easy to read graphic so you can quickly see which of your students need more instruction. This type of formative assessment is quick and easy to put together, fun for the students, and very helpful you teachers as we make instructional decisions.



Quizizz can be used at any point during instruction.  You can then show the questions in slide show mode so you can explain and walk through the most missed questions.


Want to see more?  Here is a short video walk-through of Quizizz.
You're Welcome!

What are some of your favorite tips and tools for classroom engagement?  Share in the comments section below. 

FTT - Grammarly for Chrome

Using Grammarly To Improve Online Writing

@joe_edtech / @LisaBerghoff

I grew up watching Kelsey Grammer playing Frasier Crane on tv, a character who frequently corrected people's grammar. Kelsey and I have some traits in common and I have often quoted his Frasier when I've had to do something uncomfortable or hypercritical, "It's like correcting people's grammar. I don't do it to be popular." Apparently, we share quite a few traits.

"I don't do it to be popular."

I've found that there are two types of people in the world. Type 1 will post something on Facebook confusing "their" with "there" and "two" with "to," and Type 2 will post a comment correcting both misspellings. I am Type 2, usually. 

Back in the day, we all learned grammar and usage by endlessly diagramming sentences on the blackboard. Then the world changed and Bill Gates taught everyone to rely on Microsoft Word to correct their spelling and grammar mistakes. Then the world changed again and we all started writing online - where there is no reliable grammar check! The horror!

Grammarly is a Web 2.0 program and a browser extension that can help civilize Internet writing. Once the plugin is installed, Grammarly can help correct your grammar mistakes in Gmail, on Facebook posts, in LinkedIn, on WordPress, or literally anywhere you write online. I'm sure it would work in Blogger if I needed it.  (Insert sly smiley face here.)

After you've installed the extension and created a free account, there are two simple ways to use Grammarly. Anytime you are writing online, you can simply click the extension button on your browser, and Grammarly will launch a grammar and spelling checker. Just like in Microsoft Word, Grammarly will underline detected mistakes and make suggestions. You can choose to accept Grammarly's suggestions or not. 

If you need something more, you can create or upload writing drafts to your account on grammarly.com. Online, you can use Grammarly's plagiarism checker and benefit from tools like the sentence structure suggestion. If you are working on something really important, and you purchase a premium account, you can even consult with one of their professional proofreaders. However, most people will be just fine with the free service they provide online.

The best solutions to your grammar, spelling, and usage problems are careful composition and meticulous proofreading. However, when you are writing quickly for a public audience, Grammarly can be a pretty useful substitution for meticulousness. 

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If you've got some time, here is Dottotech's Review of Grammarly:

FTT - Bee Line Reader

Easy On The Eyes! Read More In Less Time With Bee Line Reader

@Lisa Berghoff /@Joe_EdTech

In the past several years there has been a giant push for educators to have a better understanding of literacy skills.  We know that reading is imperative for learning and we know that comprehension plays a major role in multiple subject areas.  However, certain aspects of reading that often get overlooked are fluency,  decoding speed, and tracking ability, especially when dealing with reading digital text.  As more and more of our text is presented in digital format, it is necessary for educators to explore ways to help our students follow what they read with increased speed and decreased eye strain.  

Bee Line Reader makes reading faster and easier by making a color gradient that guides your eyes from the end of one line to the beginning of the next.  I have been using the Bee Line Reader for 2 weeks and this simple tweak does seem to be helping me with both focus and eye strain.  The Bee Line Reader is an extension that can be found in the chrome web store.   You can use it as much as you want for free for 30 days. After that, you can continue to use it 5 times per day for free or upgrade to the pro version.  

I believe that the Bee Line Reader can benefit all of our students, but it might be a game changer for our kids with dyslexia, ADD, or students  who struggle to decode. 

Here's the explanation of how it works, while using the Bee Line Reader: