Tech Tools - Shared by Teachers - Google Slides and SlideCarnival

I just so happened to see this FaceBook group called 2ndaryELA while I was getting a pedicure on a summer afternoon in July. I requested to become a member, and then - wa-la, this new world was opened to me! It's a group consisting of thousands (10,763 as of Augusts 19th, to be exact) of ELA teachers - middle and high - sharing ideas in a positive way! What? Yes - sharing lesson plans, ideas, websites, technology... If it's happened or can happen in an ELA classroom, there is an answer, a solution, a great idea, a cheat, an anything, to help out a fellow teacher. What a great group. If you're not a member, join now. (As long as you're a positive educator).

So one thing that frequently comes up in discussions with teachers (from any discipline) is technology in the classroom. So I am going to start to compile a list of shares and then use it in the classroom and see where it goes.

Basic Tech Tools: Google Slides and SlideCarnival

I consider a basic tech tool to be one that is not entirely interactive: perhaps a presentation tool like Google Slides (or PowerPoint). I use Google Slides for every unit because I link it to my website and the students can access it from their phones, group laptops, home... anywhere. All the updates are live. On my Weebly classroom website, I include a unit page with standards, objectives, and always a link to my Google Slide. The key to making it useful is the sharing option. I will attempt to explain this using screen shots.

Google has a plethora of slide options to use... plain, templates, various colors and fonts. However, I just learned of a new (fun) slide option that links to Google: SlideCarnival.

Once in SlideCarnival, choose a template and then make a copy to your Google Drive.

Name your slide how you'd like. If using SlideCarnival, there are numerous slides in your presentation that offer suggestions for editing and fonts, etc. If you stick with the traditional Google Slide, it's pretty basic. 

Now for a truly useful tool for you and your students, you'll want to embed this slide into your Learning Management System (LMS) or your classroom website. It's super easy and you can  make it as fancy as your LMS allows. The important thing is to ensure that your permissions allow "anyone with the link can view."

Click on share. It's that blue button on the top right.

Next you will select the permissions. Ensure it looks as such:

Copy the link and you can paste it simply into your LMS or you can get a bit more fancy and attach it to an image on your website like I have done below.

Every update that you make to that Google Slide (from wherever it is that you are at) is saved to your site or LMS. I have literally updated spelling errors from my iPhone in the classroom. Sure, you have to refresh your SmartBoard or students need to refresh from their end, but the updates happen immediately.

Why is this THE BEST? Well, I literally have a live schedule of our class recorded and updated real-time. Absent students can see what they missed that day. You can embed videos and tutorials into your slides. Any worksheets can be uploaded into your drive (as a Google Doc or PDF) and you can link the assignment to your slide by simply using the "get shareable link" as well. I basically maintain everything in my slides and my students (and the parents) have access to all our tools.

One word of caution. If you are using a website in lieu of a private LMS, you may want to password protect your weebly (or website) page. Otherwise your unit (and those copyrighted docs from Teachers Pay Teachers) are out there for all.