Powerful YouTube Playlists

Working with teachers this week, we were reminded of how YouTube playlists can save teachers time and provide more autonomy to students who need a little support.

If you are creating stations or individual rotations that ask students to watch videos, you can provide them with choice (while still ensuring they are looking at "good" sources) by sharing a playlist of videos, rather than a single video. In this way, students can choose what they need.

For example, as I've been browsing on YouTube for ideas, I simply used the save button to create a quick playlist with some Google Classroom Tips that could be shared with teachers. Now, instead of having to create a document with links, I can simply share link to the playlist. (Note that this doesn't work for YouTube Kids.) YouTube does the hard work!

YouTube help has these directions for creating and managing playlists, and this video walks you through the process:

Let us know if you are looking for some good videos or channels for your kids or your content area, and the TLI department will help you curate some playlists!

The Worst of Both Worlds

As we strive to wrap our heads around the big idea of the blended learning, invariably misunderstandings arise. This post "Is Blended Learning the Best of Both Worlds?" from Clifford Maxwell at the Christenson Institute addresses the misconception that blended learning models and educational technology tools themselves are magic. 

The post is worth the 3 minute read, but three important take-aways are:

Fun with Phonics

For folks interested in the science of reading and who are working with students using Fundations, a resource of interest might be a recent webinar from Edweb.net

Expert Wiley Blevins shares his thoughts on "Making Phonics Instruction More Meaningful and Effective," and what is great about this is that he isn't fighting the program--rather, he has ideas for how to plan with the programs to make this instruction more powerful for all of our learners. 

While the first 10-15 minutes are a bit dry, once you get to the slide above, the content becomes very useful and applicable. He gives great and EASY ideas for how to add opportunities for differentiation that take 5-10 minutes to implement. 

Click here to View the edWebinar Recording, and let the TLI department know if you want to talk more about ideas for phonics instruction!

Data Teams and Positive Mindset

Now that we've wrapped up NWEA MAP testing and given initial benchmark assessments to our students, I've been thinking about how we treat "data" and make it work for us in immediate and meaningful ways.

Dr. Angela Watson's Truth for Teachers podcast recently featured the topic "10 tips for making sure data meetings are actually useful," which made me laugh. Not because data meetings aren't useful, but because I think many teachers have the perception that there are more precious things they could be doing with their time or that they are powerless to influence team dynamics that aren't working for them.

And I get it. Without a clear protocol (like data driven dialogue or ATLAS protocols), sometimes it isn't clear what the goal of the meeting is or how to make it run better. The author of the post/podcast, Melissa Forbes, pinpointed several reasons that data meetings don't work, but also how they can be useful even IF they aren't working as advertised. One thing she mentioned that stuck with me was attitude:

It’s about how you can shift your thinking from “what a pointless waste of time” to “that wasn’t so bad” to even “I really feel good about today’s meeting.” Perhaps your teammates will also evolve as a result of your influence, and that would be great.

The power of looking for the positive can't be underestimated, but I also appreciated her practical tips like, "Bring a question" and "Resist discussing specific students," as these help ensure YOU get something useful from the team time to bring back to your classroom without wasting time venting. (And studies show venting rarely makes you feel better; planning to make a difference does!)

Even if you don't check out the post/podcast, I hope these tips help. And the TLI department looks forward to talking to you about how you can make data teams a positive experience.

-Jessica Gillespie

Stop the Madness! Schedule Posts

Feedback from teachers regarding professional learning needs was that TIME SAVERS are sorely needed. One such time saver, which will also save your sanity, is scheduling posts in Google Classroom. (See tutorial video below).

There are many reasons to schedule posts, but when used in conjunction with the "reuse post" tool, you can schedule out your assignments for the day (or week) as you prepare them. This saves you the time from having to go back, find documents, etc. AND from having to "pull back" assignments that might be released before you are fully ready to share.

A few minutes here or there can buy you time to respond to parent email, update grades, or even just enjoy a cup of coffee. 

Let us know if you have questions in the comments.

Motivation Inspiration!

October is when it gets real in education. Real busy, real tough. The honeymoon is over and the days grow shorter...

But as we near an exciting professional development day (and a long weekend), it's worth thinking about all the reasons we persevere. 

Recent research about motivation (looking at almost 150 studies!) has come out that shows the following:

1. Teachers are far more influential than parents in motivating students to learn.
2. The way that teachers and parents influence motivation is by satisfying three psychological needs: competency, belonging and autonomy. 

We've talked a lot this year about SEL and about fostering a sense of community and belonging--and this just reinforces how important this work has been and will continue to be. The "competency" and "autonomy" components are likewise in line with our goals for Tier 1 teaching strategies and blended and personalized learning. It's all about empowering our students to continue to grow and reach their goals!

The article is a quick recommended read, but the takeaway: your dedication to professional learning in these areas will have a major impact on the wellbeing, performance, and motivation of your students...and you.

Save Time, Increase Engagement with Mote

This week Sarah DA shared out a tutorial for using Mote in Google products. If you didn't get a chance to watch, it is well worth the 2 minutes (or visit the TLI EdTech pages at any time to view this tutorial and more)!

Mote is a tool that can increase engagement. How many times have you written a comment or email only to have someone misinterpret your tone? Sometimes it is easier (and more engaging) to just use your voice. Research shows that 

"audio feedback may be positively perceived and better utilized by the students compared to written comments (Merry and Orsmond, 2008; Lunt and Curran, 2010; Parkes and Fletcher, 2017)."

However, it can also be time consuming to keep saying the same thing over and over again. It's no fun during class, and certainly no fun during prep! Luckily, edtech teacher Avra Robinson has a trick to save you time: add audio comments to the Google Classroom comment bank! (3 min video)

Mote unlocks differentiation potential as well. For students who do better while listening, making a quick recording of directions can make a huge difference. A Google form quiz for a student who needs a reader can now be done with a pair of headphones!

Let us know what other ideas you have for Mote in the comments below!