Dicebreakers: Using Virtual Randomizers to Foster Collaboration

At this week's TLI Committee Meeting, the team highlighted ClassroomScreen as a tool worth using. While we've written about ClassroomScreen before, recent discussions with teachers have highlighted a few needs that this tool can meet with very little effort from teachers. (For more, check out the updated TLI EdTechResource on ClassroomScreen.)

But the real story is that in checking out the ClassroomScreen twitter account, the team stumbled across an engaging idea with many ready-made templates that is EASY to use to foster student collaboration, critical thinking, and bonding: dicebreakers.

There are many icebreaker resources available online that use dice to spice up getting-to-know-you activities (like this free template), but the TCEA blog showcases many other ways that dice can be used to get students talking and working together. Essentially, dicebreakers allow students the opportunity to brainstorm and talk through their ideas about different parts of a topic without having to discuss the same concept. Using physical or virtual 6-sided dice, this activity provides six different, yet related, talking prompts that encourages in-class discussion. This could be unrelated to content, as with a traditional icebreaker, or it could be related to your business unit!

But the TCEA blog highlights other uses for dice activities that include ideas for debriefs and ready-made templates. Check out their extensive blog post and see which ideas you can use in your classroom next week.

Want more ideas for using dice in the classroom? Check out this post for using giant dice for whole class fun and this WeAreTeachers post for additional ideas to using dice to spice up ELA, math, and even music lessons.

Jamming with Jamboard

If you haven't had much experience with Jamboard, it is basically an online whiteboard that is part of the Google suite. It works well on your Smartboard, Chromebooks, and other devices, and you can learn more about it here.

If you use Slides for many things, as I know many teachers do, then it would be logical to wonder why Jamboard would be worth learning and integrating. One compelling reason is the drawing functionality. Unlike slides, the drawing tools on Jamboard allow for easy annotation:

While this many not be compelling without a touch screen, if you have a Smartpanel, this allows you to take notes on a worksheet or picture without much more effort than pasting a screenshot or scan on the board:

Jamboard also allows you to keep adding new screens to a Jam, so if you wanted or needed to save and upload all the notes from class to Google Classroom, this process becomes a snap.

While many teachers don't recommend having the whole class on one Jamboard at the same time (no version history = less accountability), it is great for small group collaboration or organizing quick teacher-directed whole group activities.

The sticky note function makes it easy for students to quickly contribute and organize ideas. This idea from Chromebook Classroom is so simple, yet it is useful for teachers as formative assessment data:

Jamboard makes it easy to manipulate objects on a screen, and if you check out this post from We Are Teachers and this post from Ditch That Textbook, you will find over 40 ready-made templates and ideas that will increase collaboration, manipulation, and accessibility. Why reinvent the wheel when someone has shared a Freyer model template or already made number cubes and calendar items?

If you are looking for something new, or you are just looking to save some time, check out the Jamboard templates that people are sharing.

If you want more ideas, you can also check out this free ebook from DitchThatTextbook with 10 Jamboard lesson ideas and templates.