The Tech Savvy Science Teacher

Saturday, September 5, 2015

Plickers - paper based "clickers"

I love the idea of student response systems such as Socrative, but my students don't have individual devices to use. I came across Plickers and tried it out right away. To use Plickers in your classroom you only need one device (apple or android). Students each get a card (that you can print) that looks like a QR code. Depending on the orientation that students hold the card they are presenting a different answer. All it takes is a quick pan across the room with your device and you'll get all of the students responses.

I will admit the the setup is a little cumbersome if you want to track individual students. It's not as easy as some of the other apps, but it's great low tech option. A couple of notes to help you use them in the classroom. Make sure that when the students hold up their cards their fingers aren't covering any of the code. Also, resist the urge to laminate the cards. Yes they will last longer, but the glare will prevent the camera from properly picking up the image.

What quick assessment techniques do you use in your classroom?

Monday, August 3, 2015

Thursday, July 23, 2015

Separating and Combining Columns in Excel

Many student management systems have the ability to download an excel file with student information. WE often need to manipulate the file to meet our needs.

This video will show you how to take text that is one column and split it into two columns as well as taking two columns and combining them into one.

I hope this little trick saves you some time. What other little tricks would help you?

Monday, July 20, 2015

Drive it Home with Chrome

If you are Google obsessed like me you may have heard of the Google Summits run by the EdTechTeam. I have yet to attend one, but I have found the next best thing! EdTechTeam has been live streaming and recording some of their sessions. One session that I recently watched was all about the Chrome browser. Many people don't give the browser they use a second thought, but you can really do some great things. Check out this video to learn more about all of the great things you can do with the Chrome browser.

Saturday, July 18, 2015

a little change

I'm working to update the look of my blog a bit to take it to the next level. The first thing I've done is get a domain name! You can now get to this blog by going to www.thetechsavvyscienceteacher.com. You can still use the blogspot address as well.

I hope you like the upcoming update :-)

Sunday, July 12, 2015

Setting up Right Click on a Mac

When my school switched over to Macs a few years ago many people struggled to make the conversion from PC. One thing that was a struggle was not having the right click that they were used to on their PCs. After realizing that years later coworkers were still struggling with it I have made a short tutorial on how to set it up on your mac. I hope this helps you out!