Unboxing Education

Do you feel attacked when you open your To Be Graded list?   Nearly every online teacher has been in a situation where the grading inbox seems to be an avalanche of work that needs attention, feedback, and evaluation. There are even days when a teacher grades one assignment only to return to find the queue has grown by 5.  While most of the advice available begins with the beginning, course design, there are things a teacher can do TODAY to manage the load. Then, the teacher can find time to plan for the future, to minimize the storm of grading next semester. What to do TODAY: Wrangle the TBG Monster (To Be Graded): 1. Search for or scan for items that are easy to grade. Eliminate short assignments, assignments with rubrics attached, and anything that is for completion. Return any blank assignments, documents that are not shared, or other errors in submission. 2. Sort by Date: Feedback is most impactful when it is timely. If an assignment is more than 5 school days old, the st...

 Did you know Canva has a built-in accessibility checker? Find it in the File menu under View Settings: The checker even has AI built in to help you generate alt text quickly and easily. See demo below: If you are looking for even more info about best practices for accessibility, check out this webinar from Canva.  You can also check out resources from CAST here for UDL guidelines. 

 Freebie Alert: At the link below, find a tab with the ChatGPT prompt and a tab with the Blooket csv format. Template in Google Sheets Customize the provided prompt in ChatGPT to generate a table of questions. Copy the questions starting in 3B of the CSV template. Save CSV tab as a CSV >File>Download>Comma Separated Value Create Blooket Game Import Questions with Spreadsheet Import option Edit/Review Game and Save Have fun!

 

Conferences can be hard. You have: determined which students need support. communicated, usually multiple times, in order to find a time to meet. held a conference with parents/students/other staff. Now what? First, setting the conference up for success is important.  See my previous post on managing virtual parent/teacher conferences.  During the conference, keep the goal in mind. SMART goals, that is. With as much student input as possible, set a short-term goal that is measurable.  Next, consider these tips to ensure you get the most return on your efforts to meet with students. 1. Manage Your Communication.  Where possible, you want to build relationships with students. You do this by tracking previous conversations so that each meeting feels like a continuation of the relationship. I use several Google tools to manage my communication with students and families. Google Sheets: I use a Google Sheet to keep a list of my students. I use this list to email students ...

Tools Used: 1. ChatGPT 2. Canva     -Magic Design     -Bulk Create

“You may delay, but time will not.” —  Benjamin Franklin The most common request I hear from administrators and legal counsel regarding AI is the request to see policy language from someone else. This has resulted in a kind of standoff. Here are two sources that may help you get this process moving along Syllabus Resources Sample Syllabi Policies for AI Generative Tools