Halloween: Dance Their Energy Away (With Tips For Using YouTube)

Lots Of Halloween Energy? Try Some Halloween Energizers!

I remember the excitement I felt around Halloween as a kid. As a teacher, I tend to live more vicariously through my students now. As fun as it is to see students excited, it also can be challenging to keep them focussed and motivated. I find movement breaks can help.

In this blog post I will share Halloween movement break videos (see the playlists embedded below), I will walk through how to create and edit YouTube playlists and how to save playlists made by others. At the end I will share how I try to minimize distractions when using YouTube.

Thanks to M.F., S.M., and A.K. for their suggestions!

Halloween Dance Videos

FSL Halloween VIdeos

Halloween Movement Breaks (Younger Students)

YouTube Playlists

Movement breaks are a regular part of my classroom routine. During exciting times of the year, I use them even more. To help me access them quickly, I create YouTube playlists. This is helpful because it helps me organize the videos and then I have them ready to go year after year. I also like making playlists because often the videos are too short for what I want. For example, my Halloween physical education lesson is often done in class as the gym is often closed. If I want to have the dance portion of my lesson to be 20 minutes, I create a playlist that links a number of dances together. I still have the option of pausing or skipping a video.

To create a YouTube playlist you will need a YouTube channel. If you have a Google For Apps for Education (GAFE) account, you will probably already have a YouTube account. You may just need to activate it. When you go to YouTube.com, look in the top right hand corner. You will either see a blue sign in button or your avatar/icon for GAFE (this indicates you are already signed in).

Tip: If you do not have time to create a playlist, you can find the videos you watched most recently by going to "History" on the left side panel.

If  you want to create a playlist, there are different ways you can go about it. One way is to select My Channel or Library on the left. I suggest selecting "Library". Then you will have the option to make a new playlist. The new playlist button will have a plus sign.

You will be prompted to make a title. Also consider if you want your playlist available to others. You will see a globe with the word Public and an arrow. Public means anyone can search for and find your playlist. Unlisted means it is not searchable but anyone with the link to your playlist can use/view it. Private means only you can access/view the playlist. Note the default is Public and you have to select drop down menu to see the options. 

Once you have created your playlist YouTube will take you to the playlist settings page. Here you can edit your playlist. There are many options. Three that are important to know (to start with) are:

1. You can delete you playlist from this page. Select the three dots on the right.
2. You can change your playlist from Public to Unlisted to Private here at anytime.
3. You do not need to know the videos you want to add yet. 

If you do know the video(s) you want to add, select add video button and follow the instructions. If you do not know all the videos you want to add yet, you can leave your playlist settings page (no need to save) and start searching videos. 

When you find a YouTube video you like, you can add it to one or more playlist you already have. If you are like me, and have many playlists, you may want to use the search tool (box with magnifying class under Add to) to find the playlist quickly. You can create a new playlist within this option, as well. The create new playlist option is at the very bottom of the drop down menu.

Does Order Matter?

Depending on what/how you are using your playlist, you may nor may not care the order the videos appear. YouTube will play the videos in the order you have added them to your playlist. If you wish to change the order, you will need to go into your playlist settings. To access the playlist settings, select library (left hand menu). You may see the playlist you have been working on underneath the word library (click on the playlist). If not, click on library. You should see your created playlists on the right-hand side. Select the playlist you want to edit. You can click and drag the videos by selecting and holding the small bar on the left-hand side of each video.

When you click on a video in your playlist, a drop down menu will appear on the right. It will say "more" and an X will be to the right of the menu. The X is how you delete a video from a playlist. The drop down menu gives you the option to move the video to the top or bottom of the playlist, to edit/add notes about the video or set the video as the thumbnail for the entire playlist. 

Tip For Next Year

It is useful to look at your playlist before you used it each year. Over time videos get deleted for a number of reasons. Your five video playlist from 2016 could end up being only two videos in 2017. Remember you can delete videos from your playlist. You can access the edit features when playing your playlist by going to the gear in the top right corner. 

Use Someone Else's Playlist

If you want to use someone else's playlist, you can! You will have no control over the playlist but you also do not have to spend time creating it! To find a playlist, include the word playlist in your search terms. Select view full playlist to check out what videos are included. 

When you select save playlist, it is added to your library.  To accessed any saved playlists, simply select the library option on YouTube's menu. You will see all your saved playlists under the ones you have created.

Free Is Great... But All Those Distractions

Using the extension ImprovedTube helps with some of the distractions that come with using YouTube. As it is an extension, once you install it, it will be available from your Chrome browser (to the right of the omnibox). You will have to select the setting you want to use. Click on the ImproveTube extension icon and you will get a dropdown box. I suggestion looking through all the settings. I use the options under Appearance Settings. I hide the related sidebar and I hide comments. Under Player Appearance I select Start In Large Player for player size.

Sharing Is Caring

This post is by no means exhaustive for how to use YouTube playlists. Please share your YouTube tricks or treats in the comments. Or share your favourite Halloween videos or playlists!

Further Reading/Viewing

• YouTube has a page on getting you started with playlists.
• Rutherford Gets Its Google On: YouTube Playlists - a short video I made to show how to make playlists. 
• GoNoodle Brain Breaks, Many Possiblities - GoNoodle is great for movement breaks!

Persons, Places And Things And Technology

My Twitter handle is @sundayideas. I chose that as my handle because, at the time, I was regularly emailing colleagues technology ideas I had found during the week... on Sundays. Usually I had a theme. Either it was related to an upcoming event/holiday, or to concepts/activities I was researching for use in class. When I joined Twitter, I initially saw it as an extension of what I was already doing. This blog post is a bit of a throwback to my pre-Twitter days. Here's what I have going on for teaching nouns next week.

No-Tech

This may come to a surprise to many, but my class and my teaching is filled with no-technology activities. I introduce my students to nouns with a book: Chicken In The City. In addition to that, my spelling words for the week are all nouns. I review nouns later in the year again and at that time I read A Mink, a Fink, a Skating Rink: What is a Noun?

Using Read and Write For Google 

Using the SmartBoard to demonstrate, I demonstrate the technology task I assigned (using Google Classroom) students for nouns. As it is still early in the year, I first I review how to use Read and Write For Google for those students who want the text read to them. 

Then I demonstrate how to highlight text in Document. We will do other parts of speech activities throughout the year, so nouns will always be green (it matches the colour of the nouns poster I have in class). 

The Google Document I used for this activity, along with others, is available at the site: Division One Collaboration Site For Educational Technology.

For those of you working with older students, you could have students use the highlight function in RW4G and then have them "collect" the highlights to create a list of the different parts of speech you want them to identify.

I also show students how to use the dictionary tool in RW4G. The dictionary identifies the part of speech of word, so students can double check if they are unsure. What I like about this process is that often a word can be a noun or a verb (or other parts of speech). So students still have to "use their brains" and not simply rely on RW4G. It is a good introduction for younger students to not relying on computers/Internet for answers, that they still have to use their own critical thinking in combination with the tool.

Initially this is a whole class activity to teach students the steps. Eventually, this will become a literacy centre that I differentiate for students' abilities (using Doctopus). Students will do the same activity with verbs, adverbs and adjectives. Eventually students will also do similar edit/proofread activities and then a revising activities. I hope to expand this centre even more this year.

Practice Through Games

One of the powerful things about using computer/Internet games is that students get immediate feedback about their answers. In my literacy centres, students will first answer a Google form about nouns and then play:

• Turtle Diary Nouns 
• Feed the Noun Fish

I also include a two video playlist at that centre. 

I am on the look out for more grade two friendly noun games, so please post your favourites in the comments.

The Google FormI used for this activity, along with others, is available at the site: Division One Collaboration Site For Educational Technology.

Calgary Summit: Apps, Extensions, Add-Ons, Links and Tips Oh My

This summer I went to the first annual EdTechTeam Calgary Summit featuring Google for Education. This was my third "GAFE Summit". My primary reason for going to such an intense event during my summer HOLIDAYS was to get more experience with presenting. However, I also went because my previous two experiences were energizing and motivating.

As I presented three times, I missed out on attending a number of great sessions. However, I still came away with a number of ideas and contacts. I hope to share some of the ideas/links that I found inspiring and interesting. If you want to delve deeper than what my blog post provides, you can check out the Collaborative Notes from the Summit.

Going to GAFE Summits are great because they include educators from a vast majority of backgrounds and teaching positions. In this blog post, I will be sharing what I think may be useful for division one teachers.

Apps, Extensions, Add-Ons, Links and Tips Oh My

I stole this title almost straight from Michelle Armstrong who did a session on apps, extensions and add-ons. However, I will be sharing ideas from a variety of sessions.

What Are They?

Apps and extensions are mini-programs that enhance the Chrome browser. Add-ons are usually former scripts that enhance Google Document or Google Sheets. You access all of them from the Chrome Web Store. Note, there are two add-on stores: a Docs Add-On store and a Sheets Add-On store.  Like all things on the Internet, not all apps/extensions should be trusted. Check out the ratings and reviews. Also, it should be noted that having too many extensions running, doing so can slow down your browser. You can still have them installed but turned off until needed (see below for an extension to help with that). 

Extensions

• Awesome Screenshot  - allows you to edit, annotate, and share images. What I liked is that you could blur out part of an image. 
• Speak It and Announcify - read websites out loud.
• Extension Manager/Switcher - allows you to easily turn on and off your extensions.  
• Adblock and Adblocker Plus - Block advertisements. How are they different? One forum I read said that Adblock is developed originally for Chrome, and Adblock Plus comes from Firefox.
• One Tab - When you have a number of tabs open, OneTab will convert all of your tabs into a list.
• Screencastify - video screen capture software.
• Read and Write For Google - Free for teachers! In the premium version, it has a variety of for reading and writing supports. In the free version, students can have text read to them in Google Document.
• Boomerang for Gmail - remember MS Outlook's delayed send option? This replaces it for Gmail, basically it schedules messages to be sent at a later time.

Want more extension ideas? Check out the blog post Great Classroom Specific Chrome Extension by Holly Clark (who is a regular GAFE Summit presenter).

Apps

• Pixlr - photoshop but easier
• Tab Timer - timer shows in the tab while you work in other tabs

Add-Ons

• Doctopus (for Sheets)- a super easy way to share documents from your drive with others. Google Classroom looks like it will do the same. 
• Flubaroo (for Sheets) - a grading add-on. 

  

Links

• Kahoot - Online quizzes, make computers and mobile devices into smart responses.
• Flippity - makes flash cards from a Google Sheet.
• Google Doc Story Builder - user created videos that the viewer will think are being created in Google Document. Easiest just to watch an example. 
• Build With Chrome - lego online
• You Tube Teacher Portal  - Curated playlists by teachers
• Google Cultural Institute - three sites in one; navigation similar for all of them (intensive on your bandwidth).
• Art Project - has videos; can compare art side by side
• Historic Monuments - can become a virtual textbook; access to LIFE photo collection 
• World Wonders - time lapse street view!
• Digital Citizenship Links
• CommonSense Media - for kids, parents and teachers. All free - foundation funded
• Media Smarts (Canadian!)
• Bullying.org

Tips

• If you have the new Google Drive, change your drive to grid view and colour code your folders. If you associate one colour for each class / subject / theme and use then use that colour scheme across all your google apps.

• Edit (or completely remove) your bookmarks’ names so they are only icons, giving you more bookmark toolbar space.

Research with Read and Write for Google

My Grade One students have been successful at researching our class pet using Read and Write for Google. The students are always a buzz about our Chilean rose hair tarantula and they want to share information about her with others. Each students added the extension from the Chrome App Store. First the students practiced using the features in their own Google Doc. They could listen to their own writing to help with revising and editing. Then we started doing research and looking information on the web; the students were familiar with the extension already and were able to use it to listen to information on websites. Now they are creating their own information about tarantulas in a Google Doc.
Read and Write for Google allows for increased access to information that previously would have been inaccessible due to reading level. Now written information can be accessed, created and share with anyone.

Alberta Google Apps for Education Summit Bookmarks - Day One

Overloaded!

If you were at the sold out second annual EdTechTeam Alberta Summit featuring Google for Education or know anyone who was, you will know that you leave with acquiring more information and inspiration than you can process. The presenters share many fabulous ideas as well as links. This post contains my favourite recommended links, extension and apps from day one.

Chrome Store Extensions

One recommendation to keep in mind when thinking about extension... As a teacher, you may decide to use many Chrome extensions, however you will probably want to limit the extension you have your students use to around six. 

Clipboard History - keeps your copy/clipboard history so that you can paste a variety items that you copied, not just the last item copied into your clipboard.

Auto Text Expander - this allows you to create a type of technology shorthand for your emails. You create shortcuts, such as brb and the auto text expander will spell out be right back for you. 

Lucidpress in Chrome - this allows you to create more dynamic documents than you can make in Document. When you are in Drive and you select create, go to the bottom and select "add more apps". Search for and add Lucidpress (you can also find it in the Chrome Web Store). Great for newsletters. 

One Tab - Doing research that results in many tabs being open and not sure how to organize all your discoveries? Use One Tab to convert it to a list!  

Chrome Store App

Build With Chrome - LEGO®! Need I say more? 

Bookmark These Links

EduSlam - Inspired from Google Demo Slams, these short (5 minutes or less) videos are by teacher for teachers that highlight best practices. 

Movenote - a way to record voice overs.

SAMR? SAMR!

SAMR was a thread throughout the day. The image/poster at the end of the SAMR as a Framework for Moving Towards Education 3.0 is a good summary of the framework. 

Creating Interactive "Text" For Content Areas Problems and Solutions

Bandwidth Woes and Possible Solutions

Problem

So this week I was inspired and motivated to try using Read and Write For Google to help make the reading in my science lesson more UDL. Unfortunately, my school has been regularly maxing out its bandwidth. As Read and Write For Google is Internet based, this put an extra strain on the bandwidth issue. As a result the activity had a lot of delays and issues.

Solution Idea

So, the next day I had students work on science centres. My students rotated around four stations, one of which was the online reading station. This reduced the strain on our bandwidth. It also also allowed me to problem solve with a small group of students as required rather than the whole class. I demonstrated to each small group how to change the pace of the reading, how to use the dictionary and the picture dictionary. 

Read and Write For Google Hiccup and Possible Solutions

Problem

One problem I encountered that I thought would be minor was that Read and Write for Google will read the footnote number at the end of the sentence. This ended up being quite distracting for my some of my students. 

Solution Idea

I think being a role model for good digital citizenship is important. So I kept the footnotes but I did not keep them right next to the image. Instead I moved them all to the end of the document and put them together so the flow of the reading would not be disrupted.

Next Activity To Try

Learning About Insulation

This week we did two great hands on activities around animal insulation: the Walrus Mitt and the Polar Bear Blanket. I want students to get familiar with more animal insulation so we can better "identify materials that are used by humans for the same purpose". The reading material available for the wide range of reading levels in my class is limited on this topic. So I decided to try my online text experiment again. 

I took the write up materials from the EPSB brown book on Hot and Cold Temperatures and typed it into a Google Doc. As before, I added pictures. I also added links to Fact Monster definitions to extend the document to those students who need enrichment and extension. 

Wait! Maybe I Should Use Presentation!

Then I got thinking that an alternate way for making this activity be more UDL would be to add videos from my Hot and Cold playlist. So I thought I'd try making a Google Presentation as you cannot embed videos into a Google Document. It means that the Read and Write for Google will not be accessible for this activity. I think I have kept the text simple enough that it should not be problematic, except for the first slide. I plan to read that to the whole class as the set for the activity. As before, students will need to fill in a worksheet that demonstrates they have learned the concept. I have the Google Document to use for any students I think benefit from the Read and Write For Google.

Wish me luck!