Using Google Presentations as a way to debrief a fourth grade math lesson

One of the first things I have students do with the Chromebooks, is learn how to create a Presentation in Google. I've found it incredibly useful tool to organize thoughts, and demonstrate learning.

On Thursday I gave the students the task to calculate the cost of college for four years. I put tuition of nine local public and private Universities and a very low cost of living estimate ($1000 per semester... like that's gonna happen...) in a spreadsheet and asked them to calculate the cost of a four-year degree. As I was about to pass out poster paper for students to demonstrate their learning a student blurted out, "Are we going to create a Presentation to show how much it costs?"

Don't you love that? When students come up with better ways to do things? Sometimes it can almost be irritating, but today I ran with it. I played it cool... or as cool as I can play things. (I don't typically play ANYthing cool. Just ask my wife). "Well, of course!" I answered back. "That's what I was thinking," I lied. I threw together a quick Presentation Template, and created a new folder titled "College Costs" in our Math folder. The Math folder was already shared, so the new folder was automatically shared with the whole class. Kids knew how to make a copy of the template, and to put their copy back into the folder so I, and everyone else in the class could see their work. Within 2-3 minutes of my exchange with that student everyone had the Presentation, and began working.

On each slide of their Presentation, I had them perform a different task. On one they calculated the cost of their dream college. On another they figured out the most expensive college in the state (Utah, we're looking at you...) and on another they shared how they calculated which was the best buy (Congratulations, Snow College!). Then I had them figure out how much they needed to save every year between now and then if they wanted to have enough money to pay for college. Most needed to put away over $3,000. We had a number of awesome conversations from this task. If students finished while the rest of the class was working, they went into other Presentations and made comments, or suggestions.

When they were done I split the class in half. Half of the students presented "Poster Session" style, while the rest of the class walked around listening to the students and watching their presentations. Then we switched.

Student Sample: I made a vanilla template. They added the theme, pictures and detail.

Using Google Presentations may have added some time to this lesson. I had the time, so it worked out. It was also worth the time, because students were accountable to one another, and spent that extra bit of time creating a product they were proud of. They really had to examine their math in order to create something they were ready to show their peers.

Exitticket and Mastery Connect: Free resources, but upgrades available.

Before my state adopted the CCSS I had to spend hours matching resources to the state core. Most publishers didn't match their books to the Utah state core. And why would they? Write a book that matches California's core, and Utah can figure it out.

But now I have more resources than I can sort through. I'm not just talking about math books. In fact, many of my favorite resources are free, or mostly free.

Formative Assessment
I need to know what students need tomorrow, within a week, and longer periods of time. Last week I talked about how I've been using Plickers to find out what kids know right now.

Someone at exittix.com messaged me, and told me about their software. Pretty useful stuff, and I approve. Like socrative and kahoot, this "web-based clicker system" runs pre-loaded assessments. The cool thing about exittix, is that you can monitor students as they take the assessment. The graphics are totally cool, too. Because that matters. The system seems to be created mainly for secondary schools, but I've had a lot of success with it in an elementary setting.

A neat thing about Exittix, is that it's expandable through their library of apps. For example, you can add badges for your students if gamifycation is your thing. You can add functionality that aligns your quizzes and exit tickets directly with the core. There is another option that will connect Exittix with systems like Powerschool, so your students' scores can be directly imported. If that's your thing.

I was also impressed with their customer service. I had a suggestion to add multi-user functionality so I emailed them. Within minutes I had an email response from an actual human that responded in a meaningful way. So that's awesome.

Mastery Connect is another pretty awesome system that allows you to record student responses quickly. The system is fully integrated with the CCSS. There is also a robust social network where teachers can share common assessments. You can search for assessments by grade level or domain. If you and your team are full subscribers, you can even compare student data from common assessments. This is something we've been doing for a long time, but MasteryConnect just does it faster.

Maybe one of the most gimmicky and fun things about Mastery Connect: You can use your webcam to grade a bubble sheet. Super cool.

Both resources off many of their functions for free. But just like those free apps on your phone, if you want everything the systems have to offer you have to pay. Mastery Connect is a little more pricy, at $6 a student. Exittix offers apps on a monthly basis. It might cost you between $60-$90 for a school year depending on which apps you purchase. I think the cost of both systems is worth it.

Georgia gets it
The Peach State hit a pedagogical home run with this website. A group of researchers and educators put together resources to develop meaningful mathematics tasks that correspond with the CCSS.

These resources are awesome, and free.

There are hundreds of pages of tasks. These tasks are sorted by domains, linked to the core, and are classified according to the task purpose. I've used these for the past two years as launching points for new topics, practicing and solidifying procedures, and even task-based assessments. I don't subscribe to one program exclusively, but I probably use this resource more than any other.

Does Common Core force me to teach that weird number line?

Yeah. That makes sense. Get that 1 a little closer to the 2.

In the past few days I've seen a few posts about the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) on Facebook, or other social media. The idea behind the posts is that the CCSS have forced teachers into teaching subtraction in a way that parents just don't understand. They claim that teachers are teaching kids to do this ridiculous number line. Kids have to convert the subtraction problem into an addition problem with an unknown variable, where kids count on from one addend to solve for the unknown variable.



So to solve the problem:

1000 - 123= x

Students would convert it to

123 + x = 1000

Sounds like Pre-Algebra.

Then they count on from 123.

123 + 7 = 130
130 + 70 = 200
200 + 800 = 1000

800 + 70 + 7 = 877

They show it in a number line, and it looks super confusing.

They also say a few of these gems.

1. This is what the CCSS is forcing our students to learn, and that teachers are no longer required to teach the standard algorithm. 
2. Someone is trying make them dumb, and trying to confuse parents
3. This is a new way of looking at math, why mess with something that isn't broken?

Here's my problem with that. None of this rhetoric is fact.

Let's take a look at what the actual CCSS says about what students should learn about Subtraction:

Fourth Grade; Number and Operations in Base Ten; Use place value understanding and properties of operation to perform multi-digit arithmetic

4. Fluently add and subtract multi-digit whole numbers using the standard algorithm. 

So... as a fourth grade teacher, I am required to be a). Familiar with the core, and b). get my kids to the point where they can add and subtract multi-digit whole numbers using the standard algorithm. The choice to teach using a number line to help kids get to the point where they are fluent with the conceptual idea of subtraction is a pedagogical decision left up to teachers. Some districts may encourage a style of teaching. Certain text books or curriculum may subscribe to different styles of teaching. The documents the Common Core was based on certainly encourage a conceptual understanding style of teaching. I have neither heard of nor experienced the idea that because I teach the Common Core, I should teach a certain way.

So is someone trying to make our students dumb, or trying to confuse parents? Believe this paranoia if you want. I know that I don't want a bunch of idiots running my city when I retire, so I'm working my tail off every year to make sure I send 35 kids into the world that can think for themselves.

But this is a new way of figuring out math though, right?

Hardly. Anytime I go to the store with my dad, he grumbles that nobody knows how to subtract these days. He always pays in cash. When the cashier gives him his change he gives them a lesson on how to give back correct change. It's incredibly embarrassing to be with the old guy that tries to give a math lesson at Home Depot, but it proves that this isn't a "new" way to look at subtraction. Let's look at our earlier example, but throw in a decimal, so it looks a little bit more like a real life scenario.

I buy something that costs $1.23. I pay with a $10.00 bill. The cashier hands me a wad of bills, and a handful of change. The cashier can quickly do the subtraction problem $10.00-$1.23=$8.77 without breaking a sweat.

Start with the pennies place...

$1.23 + $0.07 = $1.30

Then the dimes place...

$1.30 + $0.70 = $2.00

Then the one dollars place...

$2.00 + $8.00 = $10.00

The way the cashier should say it is, "$1.23 and $0.77 makes $2.00 and $8.00 makes $10.00.

This isn't new. My dad learned how to do a subtraction algorithm in his head like this in the 1960s while working at the Academy Theater. He didn't have a register or calculator, just had to do it in his head. So this isn't a new way of solving the problem invented by President Obama when he wrote the Common Core (sarcastic punctuation?). Many cashiers over the age of 50 count change out like this too. This isn't new.

So he could fluently add and subtract multi-digit numbers. Kinda like what I'm trying to get my kids to do.

So lay off the number line strategy. It is a solid way of looking at subtraction. It doesn't work with all of my students, but neither does the standard algorithm. The Common Core doesn't tell me how to teach. It just tells me what to teach. All the complaints I hear about the Common Core have nothing to do with the Common Core, they have more to do with the terrible curriculum teachers are using. ***THIS JUST IN*** Canned curriculum programs are terrible at writing math problems. Shocker of the century...



If you're going to criticize the Common Core, that's cool. But know what is in there before you do. Go read it, and turn down the volume. Because when we amplify everything, we hear nothing.

Sometimes technology gets in the way, and why that's not a bad thing.

So the other day a commentator asked about how free digital class response systems such as Plickers, Socrative, or even Kahoot (an awesome Japanese gameshow version of Socrative) are better than a piece of card-stock in a sheet protector with a whiteboard marker.

I think that's a super valuable question. "What is this tech bringing to my classroom?" Sometimes the answer is "very little." Sometimes the answer is: "something that I couldn't have even imagined doing before."

These questions and many more have been addressed by Dr. Ruben Puentedura, in a model he calls the SAMR model. Here are a few places you can read about SAMR: A blog post about SAMR; Dr. Puentedrua's own blog, or a simple 120 second YouTube video explaining the basics. Essentially the answers to the question "what is this bringing to my classroom?" can be answered in a continuum.

Substitution- Old tech is replaced by new tech, same task is performed with no benefit.
Augmentation- New tech does old job, but does it faster, better, or more efficient.
Modification- Technology allows for more interactive tasks and assignments. (ex: kids commenting on a google doc)
Redefinition- A new and previously unimaginable task through the use of new technology

The SAMR model (http://jennyluca.wikispaces.com/TPACK+and+SAMR)

The contributor was asking how these response systems improved the whiteboard response system he uses, I've used, and my high school Chemistry teacher used. How are clickers a step up from the slate boards my grandmother used while teaching in a one-room schoolhouse in the 1940s?

The new tech does the exact same old job, but does it faster, with more color, and compiles the data more efficiently. I've only augmented the pedagogy of the past, not redefined it. So the guy had a point; this new technology isn't earth shattering. The practice isn't even new. I'd classify this technology as "augmentation" on the SAMR continuum. It is approaching "modification" depending on how I use it. If I put the bar graph up on the board so students get immediate feedback and see how they stack up to their peers, then I believe I have achieved modification. That pedagogy, however may not be best practice... all the time.

Every time I implement a new technology into my fourth grade classroom I ask myself how the technology is going to support the learning objective. Ultimately, I believe that technology should enhance learning, and not get in the way. Is this technology helping me be more efficient (Augmentation), or is it helping give the task context that would not have been available without the technology (Modification and approaching Redefinition)

But sometimes it gets in the way.

Like last week, I was trying to have kids annotate PDFs instead of hard copies of a graphic organizer using a Chrome Web Store App called PDFzen. (technology objective: learn how to use a PDF annotating software) Instead of giving kids the 35 minutes they had to do a pre-write activity (writing objective: do a pre-write), they only got about 10 minutes. The other 25 minutes were dedicated to me modeling how to use the software, and then dealing with technical issues as they tried to annotate their own document. Using the technology took away from the writing objective of that lesson.

But it wasn't a waste of time.

Teaching them to use the software was inconvenient, the first time. After the first time, most of them get it, and the technology no longer gets in the way. The technology can now serve the pedagogy. Now that the kids know how to use the software, I can use it for the rest of the year.

Sometimes tech gets in the way of the lesson objective. But if I use the tech in the future, regularly, and repeatedly, the benefit of the technology can eventually overcome that initial cost. Do we as teachers forget about that initial cost? Are we ever frightened away from using technology in the classroom because it gets in the way the first time?

Turning things in on the cloud: Google Drive organization in the digital classroom

The first time I sat in the computer lab and had kids share writing assignments with me I was so excited. I was going to be able to see all of their assignments as they worked on them. This was going to be awesome.

And it was.

Until my phone blew up.

Please don't blow up my phone, kids.

34 new and unread emails. Each time a student created a new document and shared it with me I got another email saying what I already knew by looking in my Drive. I needed to fix that.

At least I'm not a secondary teacher. Can you imagine? Over 200 emails per assignment. Good grief. Multiply that by the number of assignments, and sections of classes... ugh. It becomes unmanageable pretty quickly.

So I found a way to fix the problem on my own, and now I've seen a few other fixes and Google Ad-ons that can accomplish the same thing.

I created a shared folder and shared it with my students. I could do this easily because I had created a group with my students contact information in it. Creating and sharing a folder one-by-one would be a little ridiculous. Once a folder was shared, anything I put into that folder was automatically shared with the student. No email, no notification, no mess. The same was true the other way around. If a kid wanted to turn something in all they do is put it in the folder, and I don't get 34 emails.

Then I created folders within that folder for each subject. Then I created folders within each subject folder for specific assignments. This Inception approach to organization can get confusing at first. Had I rolled the system out all at once at the beginning it probably would have exploded like my phone. These folders were also great because students were able to collaborate with each other on documents.

There were times when I didn't want to have kids sharing work. Certain writing assignments needed to just be shared with me. Sometimes students need to collaborate on assignments, and other times they don't need to. I needed a folder that was just shared with the student, not with an entire group.

I didn't want to go through, create a folder for each student, and then share that folder with the student. So I had the kids do the work. They created the folder and shared it with me. Sure, it exploded my phone again, but only once. I called these folders my "Turn in folders." Each kid has one.

There are Add-ons that can do all that for you. If I were a secondary teacher, I would definitely look into using gClassFolders, or Doctopus.  I only have 34 students (that's right, Billy is fictional) so it only takes me part of Ocean's Eleven to set up a group in my contacts. I do this right at the beginning of the year so that I can email students and share documents with them quickly. I may play with the Add-ons next year, but so far I've been okay without them. If I had 200 students like my sister that teaches High School Biology, then I wouldn't waste my time creating the folders and contacts on my own.



Today I tried to use an"Inbox" and "Outbox." Inside their "Turn in folder" they have a folder to turn things in, and after I've graded their assignment I switch it over to their outbox.

Billy's Inbox and Outbox

I use class numbers to alphabetize assignments quickly too. Each student has a number, and that way I can organize the assignments by title and find out who has and who has not turned it in.

Plickers: Free is better than $3000 for a clicker system

Do yourself a favor and download the app Plickers on your phone.

Plickers is a way to employ a student response system without dropping a huge sum on a system of student response system like this.

Plickers uses the camera on my iPhone to scan codes that look like this:

Each kid has a card with this icon on it. Each card broadcasts to the camera two bits of information: identifying information, and the option the student has chosen. This card shows that student 1 has chosen option B. 

It takes me about 30 seconds to scan the room, and the app collects each students' response. Today I was using this app during my math instruction. I asked a couple of questions before starting on a task. I asked the students about the value of a base 10 rod if a 100s square was worth 1. (We're talking about decimals). I put four answers on the board, and asked them to choose. 

Looks like about 9 kids still don't get it...

The app scans the cards, and gives me information about who understands, and who doesn't. It shows a class roster and highlights each student that got the question wrong. So, as they go about doing their independent work, I have 9 kids I'm going to target.

This cost me nothing for the app, and the cost of printing the papers they hold up. I printed mine on cardstock... fancy, right? I didn't laminate them though... who has time for that?

The system does not have a way to export the data. What you see is what you get. So this is not a great formal evaluator. Plickers helps answer the question: who needs help right now? Sure it is limited by the multiple guess format. I can absolutely get more from looking at a students' work than using this system. But as far as on the fly formative assessment as I'm sending them off, or we're changing gears... I haven't found a system for cheaper that tells me what this tells me. 

The other day my principal came in while I was using it. He talked about how engaged the students were. I would ask a question, and then we'd talk about why we could get rid of the wrong answers. I would get the conversation going, and get those that picked the wrong answers try to defend their stance. This brought out some awesome conversations where kids were forming theories, defending their theories, and using evidence from others to support their claims. pretty higher level thinking, for fourth graders. 

Digital writing conferences with GAFE

Have you ever been to one of those Brazilian restaurants where they bring out tons of meat? They have these things on the table that help the servers know whether or not to bring out meat. The idea is, green means go, bring it on. Red means stop, leave us alone. If you put it down on its side, bring me a check. This is a great way to tell the well-meaning servers, "now isn't a great time for the bacon-wrapped garlic sirloin. Come back after I've finished this grilled pineapple." Without having to actually say it.

I needed a similar system to find out when my kids needed support in their writing, and when they just needed to be left alone to write. 

So I created a system using Google Drive. When students create a document, the last word of the document corresponds with how much help they need. If they're drafting, and need to be left alone, the last word would be "Drafting." If they need a peer to edit their document, the last word would be "peer edit," or "editing." This way at a glance I can see what students need. No problem. 

Looks like Billy could use some feedback

In less than 15 minutes I can scan through my students' documents and leave meaningful comments specific to what each student needs. I also only conference with students that are ready and need feedback. With analog conferencing I conferenced with students according to my schedule. I had no idea where a student was in the project when I called them back. With this system, I have a decent idea where just about every student is at any time. 

Now I'm not the annoying restaurant worker constantly interrupting the conversation, but I'm the tactful server that arrives just at the right time. 

Oh, how do they get the documents to me in the first place? More on that later.