Wednesday, February 20, 2019

Tough Love

Today, I want to encourage you to use tough love with your students when it comes to their Chromebooks! Like any school supply, Chromebooks sometimes get lost, damaged, mishandled, mistreated, or become victims of mishaps and general wear and tear. The Chromebooks have become so much a part of the learning environment that kids and teachers both feel a tad lost when suddenly a student doesn't have a Chromebook to use due to one of the things mentioned above. The best thing to do is be as preventative as possible and keep those Chromebooks safe and in working order! That's where the tough love comes in! It's okay for kids to face natural consequences when they don't have their Chromebooks. It is important for all of us -- kids AND teachers -- to make sure all the Chromebooks are working and available, so if a kid drops his while walking down the hallway with it open or it gets left on the floor and stepped on while others are walking by, the Chromebook will need to be repaired. Tough love would include things like

  • Asking students not to leave your room until they close their Chromebooks.
  • Stopping students in the hall to ask them to close their Chromebooks if they are open or to tell them to use two hands to carry their Chromebook.
  • Asking students to pick up their Chromebooks when they are on the floor.
  • Having students return to their desks to move their Chromebooks away from the edge.
  • Reminding students to use care when packing their backpacks if you see them just cramming things in hurriedly.
  • Having students work on another activity while their Chromebook charges if they forgot to charge it at home.
  • Having students do their work on a desktop computer or using good ol' pencil and paper if their Chromebook is at home or needs to be charged.
  • Having to pay for repairs to damaged Chromebooks (well, the parents will get a notice -- the kids don't pay directly!).
  • Contacting parents personally to talk with them about when Chromebooks are mishandled, forgotten, or uncharged on a regular basis.
Kids may not like having to stop and close their Chromebooks, return to their desk to move their Chromebook to safety, or have their parents called, but none of these things are out of line for teachers to do to help kids be responsible with what has become a really valuable learning tool.

To help with this even more, I'm going to share with you a quick slide deck I literally threw together that you can review with your kids about how to show the Chromebooks a little love. Plus if you have any tips for how you manage Chromebook care in your classroom, drop them in the comments and I'll bring you a really fun Google sticker!

Friday, February 15, 2019

This One's for the Math Teachers!

I'm not going to lie, I am always on the prowl for ways to be able to use G Suite tools and Chromebooks in the math classroom. I'm sure I'm not alone in feeling unsure of the best ways to do this. Well, this gem fell in my lap! It features Google Keep, which is my favorite of all the Google tools! I first learned about it from Erin Bettenhausen, and I decided that my love for it was so strong, I wanted to do a presentation about it, so I roped her into developing and sharing a presentation with me! Our presentation focuses on using it for writing and research projects, but what I am going to share here is 100% for you math teachers! Check out this great short video, and THEN when you are ready to try using Google Keep in your math class, let me know! I'll come show you how to do everything they shared in this video, and I'll show your kids, too! Plus, when you have me come help you with this, I'll bring you a totally cool Google sticker for your Chromebook or laptop! EPIC!