Groovy Grader

Remember way back when? Back when we used that wonderful little greenish colored EZ Grader? Do you remember when you went without it for some reason? Granted, it was not difficult to figure out grades without one, but they made grading so… well… EZ, hence the name.

Now, here we are in the Age of the App (yes, that is my official designation for this era). Now, we have options. We have iPads, Android Tablets, smartphones, laptops, etc. With Groovy Grader, you have all the wonders of your handy old EZ Grader at all times.

Give it a look, it is a small app, so it doesn’t take much space at all.

Available through iTunes/App Store.

https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/groovy-grader/id376433959?mt=8

For the Android folks in the world, here is a similar app:

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.prestongriffith.easygrader&hl=en

Need a great way to get feedback? Try Socrative.com

As teachers, we have used many ways to gauge student understanding and attempt to hold the interest of students throughout an entire day. In the early days of our teaching, we used everything from little popsicle sticks with red on one end and green on another. Not much later, we were introduced to clickers, by eInstruction. We got a couple of sets of those, and they were the best thing since sliced bread. After several evolutionary cycles of clickers, we have now progressed to a 1:1 classroom.

We are blessed to have a great group of administrators who support us, and keep us well stocked on tech to make our paperless classrooms go. We have class sets of chromebooks, and that has enabled us to make use of a great website….

http://www.socrative.com

There are many advantages to using socrative. You get real time feedback from students, and it is more than just multiple choice. You can throw questions out there via computer, ipad, etc. and have kids answer.  The sky is the limit. You can get reports sent to you to use later. You can even use it as a toaster! (ok that one may be a stretch)

If you have not tried http://www.socrative.com, and are in a situation where the tech is there, you need to.  Even if you are not 1:1, it has value. Students can work in groups and formulate answers to post.

There are tons of great resources out there for you, and many are free. Take a look around, and share!

Great Read about Google Classroom updates

Check out this great article about updates to Google Classroom. We use Classroom daily, if you have not given it a try, you really should give it a shot.

http://www.jerryswiatek.com/2015/05/updates-to-mobile-app-make-google.html