Jesus Teacher Tech

Quiz Games and Healthy Competition

noreply@blogger.com (JesusTeacherTech) — Thu, 10 Mar 2016 16:52:00 +0000

I'm sure many of you have heard of Kahoot the website for creating review games to play in class, a great alternative to old school Jeopardy. I have used it myself countless times in my classes and the students love it. They love to see their names in the leader boards and the competition adds excitement to the event. Recently I found two other websites similar to Kahoot, Quizizz and Quizalize and having tried all three I really recommend Quizizz and let me tell you why. Unlike Kahoot, Quizizz shows the questions on the student devices not just the teachers so you don't need to project your own screen to play. The scoring and timing are also more accurate and fair because it times each student individually regardless of when he starts and then compares and ranks scores. The student still scores higher the faster he answers but if his page loads slower he is not at a disadvantage since the timer starts when he gets to the question. This also allows you to assign the quiz as homework and they still compete against each other which makes it fun for them. Additionally, Quizizz gives you much better feedback than Kahoot, it will show you how each student performed on each questioned and you can see how many kids missed any given question so its easy to detect what area needs to be taught again.

Everything I said so far about Quizizz is also true of Quizalize, so why do I not recommend the latter? Quizizz lets you use other users public quizzes for free just like Kahoot but Quizalize charges you for using their created content. So Quizalize is not 100% free.

Classroom Websites Made Easy

noreply@blogger.com (Dr. Carmen Lagalante) — Thu, 17 Sep 2015 21:40:00 +0000

It's amazing how fast educational technology is growing, I was in Grad School in 2012 and learned about Wikis, Blogs, Google Sites, Weebly and so much more but never really delved into the whole new world of Learning Management Systems, we learned about Moodle that was it. Honestly, 3 years ago the only people talking about an LMS were online education providers, but this has changed. Why? Moodle was difficult and although free it needed hosting, but now we have products like Canvas, Haiku, Schoology and others that allow teachers to have truly free accounts. This is how I got acquainted with Schoology and there is no going back. Schoology (and the other free to use LMS) is so much more than a school portal. It truly lets you create an entire course fully online for free or use as a companion to a traditional course. I've done both and it is amazing how much you can do for free. I liked it so much that we purchased an enterprise account and the teachers and students love it.

I no longer need Evernote or Google to have a paperless classroom, everything can be submitted, graded, and shared in Schoology. It connects with my favorite Pixton, Nearpod and lots of other tools to eliminate multiple sign ins for the students. I can embed anything, upload any type of file and even a whole zip folder. I can record videos and audios directly into my course without the need of other software, I can grade without having to download the files, it has made my life so much easier.

The best part is that it has the look and feel of Facebook so it was easy for everyone to learn how to use it! You really need to try it out: www.schoology.com.

Video Quizzes

noreply@blogger.com (Dr. Carmen Lagalante) — Mon, 17 Nov 2014 19:58:00 +0000

Videos are a great tool for teaching but if not used properly they can be a waste of time. These days if there is a video I really want students to see and learn from I do not show it in class, instead I assign it as homework. How can I do this? It is due to a great free tool I discovered at the EdSurge Summit. The tool is called EdPuzzle and it allows you to upload your videos or search for a video (youtube etc...) and customize it. You can edit the length, add captions and add questions/quizzes. It also tracks who viewed the video, and you can choose to block fast forwarding. It then creates great reports for each video. It is easy to set up and to add your students via a class code (they need to create an account but emails are not required).

Awake During Lectures

noreply@blogger.com (Dr. Carmen Lagalante) — Thu, 06 Nov 2014 23:17:00 +0000

Now that things have settled in my life and I have become the EdTech Specialist at my high school I have more time to share new tools, I also have more time to research new tools and not just for Religion! A tool that has become an almost daily part of my classroom is Nearpod which has turn lectures into an interactive activity. The free account of Nearpod lets you import your existing Power Points and then add questions (poll, quiz, drawing, free response...). Once you are done you publish it and it is ready to use in class. In class you need to select the presentation and click go live which generates a code for your students to login and participate, as you get to the questions you see the students's answers in real time. That's It! It is so easy than even my least techie teachers are using it. After each class it generates excellent reports with the students answers which saves in your account and has the option of being emailed to you.

Socrates in Your Classroom

noreply@blogger.com (Dr. Carmen Lagalante) — Tue, 26 Feb 2013 22:44:00 +0000

Socrative might not actually be Socrates but this Web 2.0 tool and App is a great way to implement the wise man's method of teaching via discussion and dialogue. I'm ashamed I have not told you about it earlier since I have been using it for two years now, I think I just use it so often that I take it for granted.
The tool is very simple and could be better but its simplicity is part of its beauty. You don't need to setup multiple classrooms or groups, no student accounts are required, it is absolutely free and it is available everywhere. It has an iTunes app, an Android app and works on all browsers taking just a few minutes to get everyone logged on.
Although it has the option for the teacher to preload a quiz or a questions it is not necessary. I love it because I can simply ask a question or write it on the board and then everyone has to answer on Socrative. This is good because you can't always predict what questions you need to ask until you are in the middle of the lesson and you notice they are not paying attention or they look really confused or tired and you must do something. The students love it, specially the voting stage where everybody has to read what everyone else wrote t and hopefully vote for their answer! It really keeps the classroom alive and everyone gets to participate not just the chosen few.

The app now has the option of requiring students to write their names and will email you a report of each session! It gets better and better!

Pixton: Worth Paying for It

noreply@blogger.com (Dr. Carmen Lagalante) — Wed, 06 Feb 2013 23:40:00 +0000

I rarely advocate a website or tool that is not free but this year I decided to give Pixton for Schools a try. I have used Pixton for Fun a lot in the past but wanted to assign longer projects without the students having to break their stories into three or four parts. Anyway I asked for the money and it was approved and it has been worth every penny. Not only does the school version allow for students to create page long comics with multiple pages but it has a great teacher website. Easy to set up assignments, easy to enroll students, easy to organize and even easy to grade! Yes they have several rubrics( or you can make your own) that are automatically attached to each comic. They also let the students grade themselves and compare it to your grading. The school site also allows several students to work on the same comic and the teacher can easily track progress.
Here is a comic illustrating a Lenten Hymn submitted by one of my seniors:

Infographics in your Classroom

noreply@blogger.com (Dr. Carmen Lagalante) — Fri, 28 Sep 2012 16:06:00 +0000

I can't believe it has been a month since school started, it has been so busy! Thankfully my seniors had me last year so they are already have their Evernote and Blogs set up. So I decided to start their Theology of the Body course with some research on the causes and rates of Divorce. I figure it was a good idea for them to know the problem before I propose a solution. I assigned the research for homework individually(minimum of 5 facts) and then in class they combined their research with a partner and together created an infographic using a great website: easel.ly.
Like the name implies the site is super easy to use, it templates you can start from, lots of images and the option to upload your own, it can also be easily embedded and it's free! Here is sample of what my students created:

Command YouTube

noreply@blogger.com (Dr. Carmen Lagalante) — Wed, 16 May 2012 22:47:00 +0000

This year's final project was another video project but a lot more complex that the Eucharist videos. The rationale was the same, there was very little came up on YouTube that when you searched any one of the commandments, so I told them we had to fix the problem. What was unique about this project is that they didn't have to do a lot of research, the content was in the textbook but that they had to become the teachers of the content. We covered Commandments 1-3 in class and then I assigned each a group a chapter that dealt with one of the seven remaining commandments. They had to make an 8min video, assign a homework assignment, make a quiz and answer questions from the audience and from me on the content. I gave three weeks worth of class time to accomplish this. You can see here the directions.
In the following weeks I want to show you the best for each because you will not believe how great the homework assignments they created are and how entertaining and accurate their videos!

Vocabulary Web - Don't just memorize!

noreply@blogger.com (Dr. Carmen Lagalante) — Mon, 23 Apr 2012 20:22:00 +0000

Have you ever wondered what you could do with the vocabulary lists at the end of a chapter? Sure we all have tried crossword puzzles, but can we go beyond that? Flashcards, sentences, and the like may lead to memorization, but do they understand why those words exist? I came up with an activity that has dramatically improved the scores on vocab quizzes, and you can use any mind-mapping sites out there. (Lately, I discovered SpiderScribe, and I love it! The students like it too because it is the easiest to use so far).
I had the students figure out the connection between the words in the chapter and the theme of the chapter. So, for example, ch.4 was on Sin and Morality, so I asked how these words are related to the topic of sin? They had to create a map connecting the words, and instead of copying the definition, they had to write the connection and their own definition. It took them a while, and they needed help with some of the words, but they did great, and the scores on the quiz went up considerably.

Is ADD the Problem?

noreply@blogger.com (Dr. Carmen Lagalante) — Tue, 03 Apr 2012 18:18:00 +0000

I know that most of my posts are about sharing lessons but today I want to share with you a video that I have watched several times and I just think there is a lot of truth to it.
There are two parts that really strike me. One the comparison of the education system to a factory where products are sorted by date and secondly the part about the ADD epidemic. I would like to suggest some solutions though and not just complain. I invite you to dialogue with me. Here is the video:

The grouping by age really makes no sense, in my own life I knew how to read by age 3 and consequently spent three years of school very bored and getting into trouble. My math skills were also above average however I could not draw or even color within the lines. So perhaps my 1st grade schedule should have read like this: Arts 100, Music 100, Writing 200, Reading 300, Math 300, Science 100. Maybe I would need an aid to help me find my classes but I'm sure by 3rd grade I could navigate the halls on my own. It is only a suggestion...

Regarding the ADD epidemic I can't get over the line about "needing to medicate our children so they can get through school" I am not denying the reality of ADD in fact I think if we were all to be tested most adults would qualify... It is the very essence of our society to multitask, to be surrounded by noise and images... yet we expect our children to sit, listen and copy a whiteboard or power-point. I just came back from a great conference and the sessions that were not interactive I spent a lot more time tweeting! Instead of medicating our children let's engage them! Let's capture their attention with projects and media that sounds and independence. I just had an ADD students transfer into my class from another religion class that is very traditional, the kid was always in trouble and barely passing, he has an A in my class and absolutely no behavior problems... I don't think he needs any meds!

Web 2.0 and 2nd Grade Religion Class

noreply@blogger.com (Dr. Carmen Lagalante) — Thu, 16 Feb 2012 20:04:00 +0000

I am really exited to share with you the work of Mrs. Fisher's 2nd grade class. Mrs. Fischer attended my presentation at the OCCUE TechFest last month about Web 2.0 in the Religion classroom. I was delighted to hear from her a few weeks later telling me how she had jumped right in and started using the tools:

I teach second grade and this week my students will be creating glogs on the frog life cycle. I have also created some of my own and my students are so excited to get started now that they have seen the examples I have created! I have also started a kidblog using www.kidblog.org. I have even embeded my glog, and videos courtesy of www.animoto.com on my blog! Without attending your session I wouldn't even know things like this existed. I am amazed at the glogs my students have created this weekend and I haven't even given the lesson yet! I love www.toondoo.com and the week after next I am planning on having my students create religious cartoons.

I asked her to send me some of the cartoons once they were finished and I just couldn't believe it! These little kids did such a great job...the Web 2.0 tool really allowed them to show what they had learned and use their creativity. Here are a couple of them:

By akarich | View this Toon at ToonDoo | Create your own Toon

By bhillshs | View this Toon at ToonDoo | Create your own Toon

Eucharist Videos Project

noreply@blogger.com (Dr. Carmen Lagalante) — Thu, 08 Dec 2011 22:57:00 +0000

This year I once again did the Eucharist on YouTube project and it was more successful! There are is key step I added that made things go smoother and that was a project planner. I found a great template in Google Docs and modified it to suit this project. Click here for an example. Another thing I did was to actually check their story boards before filming! The most important thing though for the success of this project is to present it as a problem that needs to be solved. I told them look when someone searches for the Eucharist on YouTube they find very boring videos, can we fix this? Here is my favorite from this year's students:

Can YouTube Teach? A Baptism Project

noreply@blogger.com (Dr. Carmen Lagalante) — Sun, 02 Oct 2011 02:09:00 +0000

One of the things that I want to teach my students this year is to discern sources of the content they find on the internet. An especially difficult website for this is YouTube where the videos often don't provide much information about the author. So after lecturing about some basic facts I gave them a video assignment and the first night they had to:

Find Five Videos on the Sacrament of Baptism that teach different aspects of the sacrament.

Make sure the videos are Catholic and accurate
Ask yourself why can I trust this source?
You can ask yourself these questions to help you decide
Copy and paste the embed codes for each of the five videos into Evernote.

In class the next day I taught them to embed the videos in their blogs and they had to answer these questions for each video:

1. Who made this video? How do you know it is trustworthy?

2. What did this video teach you about the Sacrament that you didn't already know? (If you already learned it in another video then you can't use it.)

3. Was this video also entertaining or was it boring? How could it be more appealing? Explain

The last step was to create a Quiz using Google Forms and embed it on their blog. They were allowed to work in groups of 3 and they all had to take the quizzes made by the other groups.

Check some out:

Mindmapping with Google

noreply@blogger.com (Dr. Carmen Lagalante) — Fri, 30 Sep 2011 18:52:00 +0000

Collaborative mindmaps are great for brainstorming as a class, and last year I used MindMeister, but my free trial expired... So I turned to Google Docs and figured we would just write comments there but then it occurred to me to search their templates. I thought it was a slim chance but went ahead and searched for "mindmap", and to my great surprise there it was! So I shared it with the class and had a great discussion. The beauty of it was the kids didn't need to create yet another account since they all have a Google one (I made them get one on Day 2 of class). When we finished that, I thought I try and search for "Venn Diagram," and it worked too, so we had a discussion on Sacrament vs Sacramental that was also very successful.

A Smart Use for SmartArt

noreply@blogger.com (Dr. Carmen Lagalante) — Wed, 21 Sep 2011 02:13:00 +0000

One of the features I really like of Microsoft Word 2010 is the SmartArt graphics (it's in the insert tab) which have many different categories and shape for organizing ideas. It is really quick and easy to use and it is great for the students to clarify and connect the things they are learning. Just the other day after we finished a lesson on Sacraments I asked them to pick what they though were the 4 major points we learned and create a graphic organizer using SmartArt. They whined a bit at first since it was their first time but with a little of coaching they finally figured out what to do. When they were finished I showed them the design options of making it 3D and changing colors and that is when I got a 'wow ' from them. Here is a couple of the good ones:

Don't Bring a Notebook Please

noreply@blogger.com (Dr. Carmen Lagalante) — Sat, 10 Sep 2011 18:09:00 +0000

Don't bring a pen either I told my students and absolutely never print anything! We are going paperless! I even wrote on the board "This is a paperless classroom"and then handed out my syllabus on paper! In all fairness the school requires us to print it out and get it signed. Anyway besides the no lecturing style I adopted last year this year I'm going totally paperless and it has not been easy this first two weeks but the teens are finally getting there.

I had planned it all out this summer...or so I thought. My first problem was when I found out from a student that the Mac version of Office doesn't include One Note! I had spent a whole day teaching them how to use it! So I decided we would use Evernote but the Macs still gave me trouble. Evernote requires a version of the Mac OS that some kids didn't have, so I Googled it of course and found an update then learned about a Mac app store... thankfully I seem to have a few Mac geniuses in the classes and they stepped in. I think 90% of the students finally have Evernote up and running. I taught them how to install the browser plug-ins and clip entire pages to their e-notebooks.

Since we are not lecturing we are using Etherpad (honors) and Google Docs (regular classes) for our class discussion notes and they are learning to save that to Evernote as well. My reward came when a couple of them asked me: "Can you tell the other teachers about this?"

Naked Bodies in Art - Whole Class Collaboration

noreply@blogger.com (Dr. Carmen Lagalante) — Sun, 05 Jun 2011 21:59:00 +0000

While my regular classes worked on their debates, I challenged my honor classes to create one single presentation (using Google Docs Presentation) on the use of the naked body in media and art. They had to work together, so it was one single slideshow without repetition of information. They all read the three Papal Audiences on the topic and had to narrow it to one point it made and do some research. The written instructions were straightforward because I wanted to give them some freedom. In fact, this is what I gave them:

Each individual student needs to read and take notes on John Paul II audiences on April 22, April 29, and May 6, 1981. [submit these to Edline "project notes" assignment.]

Students then need to then split up and research other sources, find images and videos.

Lastly each student needs to contribute to the class presentation " Bodies in Art" in the links section of this website. You will need to create a Google account if you don't have one so that Google Docs keeps track of your contributions and you can receive a grade.

So they first whined a little bit with guidance on choosing a topic and what keywords to use in their research... they all did a pretty good job.

Persuasion - Priestly Debates

noreply@blogger.com (Dr. Carmen Lagalante) — Sun, 05 Jun 2011 17:15:00 +0000

So after the marriage chapter we moved on to the chapter on the priesthood and for some unknown reason I decided to have classroom debates. I divide the teens into 6 groups and we had 3 topics and I assigned them to the pro or con regardless of what they believed. In my attempt to keep order and make it a real learning experience I gave them several steps to prepare, including creating evidence cards and a persuasion map. However when the debates took place only about two of the groups really understood the concept of rebuttal, of using their finding to back up what they were saying and actually making an argument. I think in order to do this again I would have to spend a whole week teaching them some logic and the difference between opinion and facts. I don't know if my curriculum would allow for that but I'm not opposed to trying it again next year or maybe do it with my honor classes instead. At any rate I need to prepare them better or perhaps show them a video of a good debate.

Here are the directions and rubric Debates

Not all Free Resources are Really Free

noreply@blogger.com (Dr. Carmen Lagalante) — Tue, 12 Apr 2011 22:20:00 +0000

As I was preparing my lessons I wanted an easy to use online video making website for the students to use.I remember a link I bookmarked from Twitter "10 Fantastic Creative Multi-Media & Video Applications" so I decided to check them out. I focused on the ones for video that claimed to be free and as I proceeded to create accounts and use I realized all of them limited the free use to a 60seconds video. Some told you upfront but others like Stupeflix doesn't tell you till you try to publish your creation! I wasted a lot of time and I hope to spare you the trouble. The best really free site is not even listed there I found it on another Tweet and is called Animoto which gives teachers a free Plus account plus a code so that 50 students can also get a plus account. In my case I plan to have the kids use my own account. I'll tell you how it turns out later in the week.

How a Song can Teach

noreply@blogger.com (Dr. Carmen Lagalante) — Tue, 29 Mar 2011 18:25:00 +0000

Usually my way of using a song in class is to show them the YouTube video and then write s journal entry which is fine and good but at most they give the song 3 min of their attention. Well it all changed when I came across the site Pixton (I used the for fun version which is free). I wanted the kids to really examine the words of the song "I Dare You to Move" by Switchfoot so I had them create a 12 panel comic that told a redemption story but they had to use the lyrics of the song as text. I made it clear this was more than illustrating the lyrics they had to tell a story. At first they struggled a little learning how to use the site but once they figured it out their creativity begun to flow. It was amazing and they really had to learn the meaning of those lyrics! I may be a religion teacher but this lesson involved art, technology, reading comprehension, interpretation.... and yes lesson on God's infinite mercy.

Technology is a Language not Just a Tool

noreply@blogger.com (Dr. Carmen Lagalante) — Fri, 11 Mar 2011 02:53:00 +0000

The success of last week's assignment made me realize that technology is not just a tool that makes learning easier for our kids ... technology works because it is their language! Now all languages, to be effective, have to have meaning. It can't just be a random combination of words. The language that does not communicate any meaning is useless rambling. Now, as teachers, if we want to communicate meaning to the students, it has to be in their language. In a way, we are like missionaries in a foreign territory. The first thing missionaries did upon arrival was to learn the people's language, sometimes even creating an alphabet so they could translate the Scriptures and prayers. If we, too, want to influence our audience and convince them of certain truths (like proper punctuation), we better start learning the language of technology. The mark of proficiency in a second language is when you can go beyond simply translating to composing. So when you integrate technology into your class, are you simply translating what you already had, or are you composing new lessons in the language of technology? Are we educators involved in developing new software and tools that suit our purpose just like the missionaries would write their alphabets? If you think your students are still speaking English, look at their world! Since birth, they have been citizens in a digital world surrounded by java and flash content. So let us go ahead and start writing and speaking in a way they can understand, in the only language they will bother to listen to!