Online Classroom Through Edmodo

Screenshot of our English 9 Edmodo Page

When our server went down before Christmas break, our online classroom at the high school (Sakai), also went down with it. I relied heavily on Sakai to post classroom documents, have discussions, offer online quizzes, etc. that I scrambled to find an equivalent site that I could throw together quickly. My solution: Edmodo.

Last year a colleague and friend from Lincoln Public Schools introduced me to the site. It's been an incredible tool in my classroom. It looks very similar to Facebook, so it's easier for me and the kids to navigate. And because of its resemblances to the popular social media site, the kids were excited to give it a whirl.

What can you do with Edmodo?

• Create multiple pages if you have several different classes
• Create a library with folders for individual units and then post links, documents, etc. for students to access
• Have online discussions
• Use for students to turn in assignments
• Connect parents with the class with Edmodo's parent code feature
• Create a calendar of events for students to access
• Keep track of grades
• Create a multiple choice, true/false, fill in the blank, or short answer quiz for students to take
• Post updates or notes to groups, classes, or individual students/parents

Edmodo is easy to use for both teachers and students, and it's not stored on the school's server...so in the event of another server crash, you could still access this site. The site also allows teachers to have a great deal of control over student access; teachers can limit individual students' access if need be. Here's a link to the help center that has many useful tools for getting started with Edmodo.

Great for Students AND your own Kids

At times I tend to be an NPR (National Public Radio) junkie (exciting I know), and I often get great ideas from their programs. Yesterday at lunch I came across a new program NPR created to celebrate kids' books. As I investigated further, I thought to myself, "This would be great for grade school and middle school reading, but also for those of us with kids at home!" So I thought I'd share.

It's called The Back-Seat Book Club. Starting in October on the PBS show All Things Considered, a new children's book and author will be featured each month. You can choose to read the book with your class or child/children, or you can go the NPR.org website for a link to the author's site where you can listen to the book online for free. You then have the option to join in the conversation with that book's author. Students can write the author and tell him or her what they thought about the book or ask the author questions about the book - a great way to get students and kids thinking and talking about what they've read.

I'm going to try to incorporate this into my daily Drop and Read time with my students. Perhaps you could try this in your classroom, or give it a go at home with your own kiddos. Just turn off the TV, sit, and listen together for 10 or 15 minutes in the evening. Give it a try!

Educational Documentaries

Some of you might be interested in perusing this educational site I came across, Snag Learning. I was looking for some good, educational films or documentary snippets I could show my World Cultures class for Hispanic Heritage Month and stumbled on to this site.

You can search by subject, and I've added the links here to make it easier for you, (arts & music, foreign language, history, math & science, political science & civics, world culture & geography) or search by grade level, or by specific channel (your choices are PBS, National Geographic, Explore, and Sundance). The few I checked out were really good. There are some full-length films, as well as some shorter 10-15 minute films that you might be able to work into your lessons if you need an extra "boost" to show your students something and not just talk about it. Let me know what you think...

The Learning Network - New York Times

I have had good success with some of the lesson plans and ideas from the The Learning Network, a site dedicated to teachers and students which utilizes content from the New York Times. You can search for lesson plans by curriculum or topic. Or start simple and follow the Student Opinion pages (an online blog) and have your students comment/blog on the topic of the day if it seems like it might fit your class. Either way, it should get your students thinking and writing.

For an easy start... Here's a link to 150 questions you could try (surely there's one that might work for you).

Give it whirl if you like and see what you think! ~ :) Loree Cain

Backchanneling in the classroom

At NETA this spring, backchanneling was all the rave. So, when I got back to my classroom---I tried it. The verdict: love. it. I've been using TodaysMeet to set up my temporary chat rooms for my students ever since. I create a new chat room for each section of my English 9 classes, leave it open for a week for absent students to participate when they return, and then open it up to students for one class period. I pull the chat up on my projector and jump in with the kids. It's a great way to start a class period and jog students' memories about a reading assignment. Students generally love this activity because it has that familiarity of an instant message but allows for multiple people to be chatting at once.

Application: Could be used in almost any high school/junior high classroom with internet access---also works on iPods! It's also a great tool to use when presenting at conferences. When I presented at NETA this spring, I opened up a TodaysMeet chat specifically for my presentation so attendees could chat about my session with one another in real time. It was a really effective way to share ideas right in the moment.

Benefits: TodaysMeet only allows posts to be 140 characters long (similar to Twitter), so students must be concise. Great virtual discussion tool to ease students into a larger class discussion; very excellent for shy students who don't participate much in a class discussion. Great way to start or end class and check for comprehension.