Mr. Chris Hiltz

Hopewell Avenue Public School

Bio

A super nice member!

I teach: Mathematics

To ages: 12 to 14

Reviews

April 13, 2012

What can I say? Google Docs rocks. Since rolling out Google Apps for Education at our school (K-8, around 1000 students & staff), most our older students have quickly made Google Docs their number one choice for their school work done on a computer. No more issues of different computing platforms or programs being a pain, your doc will work and look the same on any computer you use. Many teachers are well on their way to creating a near-paperless collaborative classroom, sharing notes and creating worksheets that students can complete online, and in real time! Google Forms make surveys and data collection a snap – and can be used to create simple, self-grading online quizzes (check out Flubaroo . . . do it). I also personally use a Google Spreadsheet as my markbook too.

Google Docs is just one great asset to having Google Apps for Education – if you district/school is looking for something to ease communication and collaboration, do yourself a favour and look into it.

April 13, 2012

Two ideas that may save a bit of time for you. First you can create a folder (a.k.a. collection in Google Docs) and set privacy settings for that folder. Anything you drag and drop into that folder will automatically be given those settings. You can share that folder with each student, and they will see that folder in their Google Docs page under "Collections shared with me". Alternatively, you can upload a doc as a template. Students would then be able to download a copy of your doc as a template for their own use (a really handy way for students to use Docs to fill out worksheets).

April 12, 2012

A great and simple tool that allows for instant student input. No fumbling around with individual student accounts and passwords. Just provide a "room number" to a group and they are all in, using an Android or iOS device or a desktop/laptop computer.

The shiny:

+ simple/kid-friendly interface

+ create multiple choice quizzes that can be used as interactive games

+ automatically create random teams

+ EXCELLENT for exit cards – students can summarize what they have learned in a lesson and answer a question provided by the teacher

+ reports e-mailed to you (as a spreadsheet) that is easily opened by Excel or imported into Google Docs

The dull:

– multiple choice quizzes can take time to create

– question and game formats can be a little restrictive

– not too much customization

The final word:

Definitely worth a shot. Head to t.socrative.com to create a teacher account, get a room number and play around. There are a few good video tutorials on Youtube as well

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