Spelling Tests with Google Forms

If you watch young children playing school, the highlight of the game is when marking has to be done. In reality this is not the case. Marking can be an arduous task for any teacher. Most marking requires the skill of a teacher as many questions can be interpreted in a number of ways which means that there can be a number of different but correct answers. Spelling, however, is not one of these tasks. In a spelling test the word is either spelled correctly or incorrectly. I have always maintained that a computer could mark spelling tests... and now they can and they do.  

Introducing Google Forms! I love Google Forms. Since I started using Google Forms in June 2015, I have not had to mark any spelling tests by hand. As I teach all three classes in each of the three grades I teach - that translates to 78 spelling tests that I do not have to mark each time I set a spelling test in a grade. Work smarter not harder, is what I always say!

What does the process involve? Firstly I set out the test in Google Forms. I then customise it with my own header image, font and colours. 

I answer the test on the live form which generates a memo. I enable the "Flubaroo" Add-on which ensures that each submission is marked and an email is sent with the results to the boy's St Peter's email address. Each time a boy answers the test his submissions are recorded on a Responses Spreadsheet. This spreadsheet gives me a breakdown of each boy's answers as well as his overall mark. I can also see the low scoring questions and the average. It is essential that auto-capitalisation, auto-correction, spell check and predictive text is turned off when completing the tests. 

Google Classroom

At the beginning of 2015 I joined GEG Dainfern led by Anthony Egbers (@ajegbers) and Pam Macmillan (@Pam_Macmillan). GEG stands for "Google Educator Group" which is a group of teachers who meet on a regular basis to learn, share, inspire and empower each other to meet the needs of their learners through technology. I eagerly await each Saturday workshop which is held every 5 to 6 weeks. We began by learning the basics of using technology for education such as Gmail, Drive and YouTube. Now each time we meet we are introduced to new exciting apps that can be used in the classroom.

It was at the second GEG Dainfern workshop that I was introduced to Google Classroom. Wow! I was blown away by the possibilities this platform opens for teachers. Google Classroom is designed to help teachers create and collect assignments paperlessly. St Peter's is a GAfE School which means that we have registered for free Google Apps for Education and therefore Google Classroom is available to us. 

For the past few months I have been working in Google Classroom with the boys and I have just touched the surface of what can be done using this platform. I am looking forward to sharing what I have already done in Google Classroom as well as what I am planning to do. Here's to the start of an adventure together.

Welcome to "To Learn Twice"

I have always loved technology, especially when it has added to my teaching. My latest exploration into the world of technology is "BLOGGING". I have been researching the benefits of blogging as well as the nuts and bolts of how to blog. I have been reading other educators' blogs. I have been writing posts in my head. Now it's time to "Just Blog It". So here goes...

Why you may ask do I want to blog? There are many reasons why I have decided to write my own personal blog. Firstly, I have always believed that the child, the parents and the teacher form a triangle and without good communication that triangle collapses. I teach boys and I know that when a parent asks their son, "How was school today?" the answer is usually,  "Fine". The follow up question, "What did you do at school today?" usually elicits a, "Nothing!" response. So if we rely on the boys to communicate, parents may never know anything. A blog solves this dilemma as now parents can ask specific questions about what has been done at school where a, "Fine" or "Nothing" response cannot be used.

Secondly, education has changed and is changing on a daily basis. Most parents were educated in a traditional pen and paper manner of instruction. Even if parents use technology in their present jobs, they weren't exposed to it at school and as such often have no idea what is going on in the new technology based classroom. My aim will be to help parents understand what is going on in the classroom and more importantly how they can assist and enjoy the experience together with their children.

Thirdly, our lives are so busy. My husband receives an average of 80 to 160 new emails every day, sometimes more. Nobody has time to read all their emails and the last thing parents need is another email from their son's teacher. A blog gives parents the choice to visit the blog and decide whether they want to read a post or not. Of course, I would love you all to subscribe to my blog but please do not feel obligated to subscribe. If you do subscribe I recommend that you create a "To Learn Twice" folder in your inbox with a rule that all notifications are sent to that folder. In this way "To Learn Twice" emails will not clutter up your inbox and when you have time (ha ha) you can open the folder and choose which post you would like to read. If you do subscribe you will have the opportunity to comment on the posts that are published. If I do publish anything that I would like all parents to read and possibly respond to, I will email that post to all parents from my St Peter's Boys Prep email address.

Lastly, I have decided to blog for a my own personal growth. The name of my blog comes from one of my favourite educational quotes by a French moralist and essayist, Joseph Joubert (1754 - 1824).

I believe that as a teacher I learn just as much from my boys each day as they learn from me. An integral part of being open to this learning involves reflection and this blog will give me the opportunity to reflect on my own teaching practice.

I look forward to reading your comments and hearing your feedback. Here's to learning twice.