Verso - for anonymous student feedback

Verso is a great app that offers formative data for teachers. It gives students a voice and allows them the opportunity to anonymously respond to prompts, articles, videos, etc, and then allows them to respond and rate each other's comments. The thing I like most about it is that it offers a voice to students that otherwise wouldn't necessarily participate in class, while also giving the teacher the ability to see who shared what (so it's not completely anonymous, which helps with extracting authentic responses, and makes grading easier).

Submitted by Mr. Bruno

Quizizz - pre-made quizzes

https://quizizz.com/admin

An alternative to Kahoot...quizizz allows you to conduct student-paced assessments in a fun and engaging way.  Quizizz contains many pre-made quizzes from a handful of subjects.  You can use their quizzes or take questions from any quiz and combine with your own.  It also give you a detailed class level report on how everyone did.  Quizziz can be done as individual practice or as a game.  

Contributed by Ms. Gonzalez

Quizlet review game

https://quizlet.com/features/live

If you have the upgrade teacher version of Quizlet, this is a fun, collaborative review game.  Students sign in and are assigned to random teams.  They have to work together to find the term that matches the definition/concept, since each student has different answers on their screen.  They have to stay focused and communicate in order to win...everyone was contribute!  They also have pre-made games for specific topics. 

Contributed by Ms. Gonzalez

Communication with students - Remind app

I use the app Remind. This is an app that can send alerts to the students via text message without actually giving out your phone numbers. You can also change the settings to either allow or not allow students to respond. This becomes very handy when I want to tell the students something that I may have forgotten to mention in class, or when you want to remind them of an upcoming test, quiz, etc.

Contributed by Ms. Matsunaga

First day activity - favorite thing

On the first day, I play a game to help me remember their names quickly. The class sits in a circle, and you start with one person. The student says their name and favorite food. Going clockwise (or counter), the next student says their name and favorite food + the student's name and favorite food that had already gone. The third student would then say their name + the two student's answers and foods that had already gone. You repeat this process until you complete the circle. By the time we are done, I am the last one to go. It helps when you pick a unique category to bring up discussion, or something that can relate to your class. It puts a little pressure on them, but I remind them that they should all know one another's names anyway. If you know a student may struggle, or have stage fright, you can start with them to reduce the anxiety. This activity can take a while, but I know all 150 names by the end of the day. 

By Ms. Matsunaga

Answer Garden

Use this website to have students type in words as responses, and the most frequently used words will appear larger.  Display to show your class the responses.

EdPuzzle - have students answer questions as they watch videos

Great tool for confirming kids actually watch the videos

Contributed by Marie-Juliette P.

Make your own online crossword

Great place to make a crossword that they can take online.  You don't have to print it out.  They can screen shot their results.

https://crosswordlabs.com/view/accounting-through-debits-and-credits

Split screen

Dualless is a useful Google Extension that splits your browser window into two.

contributed by Ms. Lee

Free web site builder

Weebly.com is a great and easy way for students (and teachers) to create their own websites.

contributed by Ms. Lee

Random daily seating charts

Each day, I have a random seating chart on the board.  Students get to work with different classmates and experience class from different points of view.  It also prevents students from getting too chatty with the same group all the time.

contributed by Mr. Goodman

Beginning of class review/relaxation

In light of a 90 minute class I have found that taking one minute to go through the goals/schedule for the class for that day that students are given a greater sense of what is coming, and thus more ownership of the objectives for the class. This is accompanied by some visual aid (outline on the board or smart board.) 

I also take one minute at the beginning of brain studies class to dim the lights and have the students take 6 slow deep breaths (4 counts in through the nose, 8 counts out through the mouth.) Compliance is amazing. It also allows me to start class quietly and them to be better focused on what comes next.

Both of these techniques are generic enough to be used in any class.  

contributed by Mr. Piskel

25 word summary

Students can give a summary of a chapter/section in exactly 25 words.....It can be an extra challenge for students to include all important main ideas while chosing their words very carefully.  

contributed by Ms. Gomez

Daily seating changes

Each day, I have a random seating chart on the board.  Students get to work with different classmates and experience class from different points of view.  It also prevents students from getting too chatty with the same group all the time.

contributed by Mr. Goodman

Whip around review

At end of class, have students list 3 things they learned that day. Do a whip around and share. 

Hope this helps. 

contributed by Mr. Halpern

Student teacher feedback

For those that host student teachers, here's a tip that has worked really well for us:

Have your student teacher create all lesson plans in a Google doc that is shared with the cooperating teacher and also with the supervising university professor.  During the lesson, the GBN teacher can make notes in the Google doc as the lesson is happening. Not only is this a great way to provide feedback to your student teacher, but the university can also see what types of opportunities your student teacher is getting, how it is going, and what type of feedback you are providing.   This really helps to facilitate the cooperation between GBN and the colleges/universities that send us student teachers. And, at the end of the student teaching assignment, the student will have a comprehensive list of all of the lessons that they taught, with your feedback to help them tweak their lessons in the future.

contributed by Mr. Davidson

Kahoot - quizzes on your screen and their phones

I like Kahoot to review for a test or quiz.   It is class activity where everyone signs in that they compete against each other.  The most right answers in the shortest time wins.  https://getkahoot.com/

contributed by Ms. Reed

Read and Write for Google

Read and Write for Google is a great app for students and staff.  It offers text-to-speech supports in addition to a number of study tools.  It is available for all student and staff use in the Google Web Store.

contributed by Ms. Pearson

Speed Match Quiz Maker

Cool application where you can make a quick review for students.  They drag the correct answer to the question being asked.

Edmodo - great way to communicate, grade, make quizzes, and much more

Fantastic tool for teachers.  Grades quizzes and tests for you, unlike Google forms where you have to take a few steps to grade things.  Easy for kids to recognize due to Facebook-type look.

www.edmodo.com