The Chalk Blog

3 Great Resources to Eliminate Digital Busywork

Educators in every corner of the country have been working feverishly to put together distance learning activities for students that will keep them engaged and, let’s not kid ourselves, occupied for the next several weeks. Many edtech companies have so generously offered their products and services free, making high quality apps that were previously cost-prohibitive for districts available to all. But as I’ve come to see with my own young children at home with me the last 2 weeks, the sparkle of these digital apps and websites can quickly fade with daily use.  

Tolerance.org recently polled teachers across the country about what supports they needed most and found that “more than 80 percent requested “Do Something” projects that could easily be adapted for distance learning.” Offering daily skills practice along with real-world projects will help keep the at-home work time fresh and give kids authentic ways to apply their learning. So for all of you amazing educators looking for additional resources to keep kids learning with something more than just iPad apps, we’ve got a great list for you!  

Below we’ve curated 3 great resources and favorite projects for engaging, interdisciplinary student projects that can be completed at home.

Tools to Help You Adapt Online Learning for ELs

"This is no small task!"

Swap Your Sub Plans for Digital Student Plans

Writing substitute teacher plans can put teachers into full on panic-mode. Who needs the added stress when you’re already feeling terrible?! Wouldn’t it be great if you could quickly put together an easy-to-follow lesson plan for your students in your absence? Rather than trying to cram all of the notes and directions for the sub into a coherent doc, create a step-by-step plan for your students to follow. Instead of sub plans, write student plans! With readily available technology, students can work through your digital lesson independently. The benefits are countless:

• Create digital plans quickly from home using digital resources.
• Keep students on track with the scope and sequence of the curriculum. No more busy work or time fillers!
• Eliminate substitute teacher confusion and misunderstanding.
• Allow the substitute to simply monitor student work time and focus attention on behavior supervision.
• Review submitted student work from home to prepare for your return back to work. 

Become a Pro in G Suite!

Known as the “swiss army knife of Google tools,” Slides is the most versatile application in the G Suite. In addition to presentations, slide decks can be collaborative spaces for learning, interactive lessons, or even a digital notebooks. The possibilities are endless!  

We’ve put together a list of our favorite hacks to help you get the most out of this “anything is possible platform,” including video tutorials to amp up your teaching with Google Slides. 

Tech Tip Countdown

Get your party favors ready, people! With 2020 fast approaching, it’s time to countdown our favorite tech tips of the year. We've combed the web, visited the best tech conferences, and sifted through edtech Twitter for the newest, most valuable tools to use in your classroom. We’ve gathered all of our findings together in one handy list to inspire your most innovative, tech-infused lessons in the new year.

Five Useful Resources on Google Forms

Here at Learners Edge we value your time as an educator. We've put together this quick and comprehensive slideshow on how to use Google Forms to simplify and speed up your classroom assessments.

Five Useful Resources on Google Forms:

1. Save time and go paperless

2. Add dynamic elements

3. Customize your quizzes

4. Don't reinvent the wheel

5. Use comments to support growth

Multimedia Resources to Engage Your Brain

The resources that grab your brain are the ones I like the best: the ones you listen to as you sit in your driveway well beyond home arrival at home. The ones that get into your psyche so much that you have to (HAVE TO) talk about them, and about the new information that has taken up residency in your being. 

Of course, these resources enrich our professional lives too. What if you could earn graduate credit for consuming media AND finding a way to apply your learning with your students?  

How to engage students in educational podcastsIn Minnesota’s Land of 10,000 Lakes, we enjoy the time-honored tradition of leaving the sweltering summer heat behind and heading north to a cabin, a campground, or any where we can find water to swim, frolic, and cool off.

Last weekend, my 24 year old daughter and I packed up the car and took off in search of one of those 10,000 cool, blue lakes. As we traveled, we scrolled through staticky radio stations looking for something we could both enjoy. That’s when we exclaimed, “podcasts!”

Podcasts are stories or educational information to be listened to, much like a radio show. What makes podcasts unique and modern are their convenience, availability, and the breadth of topics.

Umbrellas, Auto-Pilot, and Top Takeaways from Blended Learning Courses

On Tuesday evenings in June, course instructor Lance Raabe and I facilitated two Blended Learning courses, one on mindfulness and one on teacher wellness. Using Zoom as our platform, we virtually connected with teachers from Florida to France (yes, a teacher who logged in from France!). C’est la vie!  

Because these Blended Learning courses were so engaging (for teachers and for us!) we wanted to share our Top Takeaways!