Who is Melvin Bubble - Templates to make a student version - Great End of Term Writing Project

The Book, "Who is Melvin Bubble" by Nick Bruel is such a fun book to read to your students, and is a great template for having them write their own version of the book.

The book template 
Below I have a link to a Google Docs version of a template document that I use with my students. After you have read the book together they will be able to fill in the book with their own information, humour and creativity,
Tap here for a open the storybook template

Learning how to draw yourself as a cartoon
I have also included a copy of the presentation I put together to help students learn how draw themselves as a Melvin Bubble style cartoon. I found the best way to use this was to email the link to the slides to the whole class and then have them go through it by themselves when they get up to the illustration stage.

If you find this useful and get some good results I would love if you could share them with me on twitter mentioning @Shaunyk@shaunyk

Tap here for a open the storybook template

Flat Stanley Aventure Story

A short time ago I posted about creating Choose Your Own Adventure stories using Google Slides, you can view that here. It is such a simple project, but one that is so engaging and fun for students.

After introducing this to some of my colleagues, one teacher asked if we could do the same style of writing for a Flat Stanley project he was completing, if you haven't heard about it you can find out more information here: Flat Stanley Official Project information

We followed the same template as we had before for a choose your own adventure, except this time we themed it for the Flat Stanley Project. Below is a copy of the planning Popplet I created for my own story, and the final version of my Flat Stanley story. You may notice in the planning document that I kept the numbers in each planning bubble the same as the slide number that information is on in the slide deck. This is important as it helps students when they are linking their files.

This was a great project, and a different way for our students to teach someone else about our home of Singapore.

Send out a template file to your class
 Click this link to make a copy of the template file I send out to students. Clicking on this link will create a copy of the document. You can copy and paste this link if you want to share it directly with your students.

The ABC's of Anything - Handy book template for any classroom

I was recently working with a class that was making ABC books, and decided to try and pimp out a Google Slide deck for the job. I'm really happy with the results, particularly the hyperlinked letters around the edge so you can jump to any letter, and the design overall.

Uses for this slide deck could include:

• Unit summaries for any subject
• Classroom guidelines
• Character analysis for literature
• Second language instruction or with English as a second language learners.
• Make a classroom book where each person is responsible for one letter

Click here to make a copy of the slide deck for your own use.

Choose Your Own Adventure stories - How to engage reluctant writers (Pick a path)

I remember reading Choose Your Own Adventure books a lot as a child, in particular the "Your Very Own Robot". I'm sure I read through that book 20-30 times, choosing a different path each time. For that reason I have always liked the idea of giving my students the chance to create their own Choose Your Own Adventure stories using hyperlinks.

Using Google Slides on the iPad or Browser
There are a few ways to do this, but the best way I have found is using Google Slides. It's simple, free and platform agnostic.

Below is an example of a story I wrote myself. The last 3 slides have the planning documents that I use with the students.





Send out a template file to your class
 Click this link to make a copy of the template file I send out to students. Clicking on this link will create a copy of the document. You can copy and paste this link if you want to share it directly with your students.

Planning - The most important step!
Planning out how the story flows is very important when you do this for the first time. I use Popplet with the students, but you could simply use a piece of paper. If you look at the image below I number each step so that it is the same as the slide number in the presentation slide deck. It's important that students can see how the story flows and which step links to the next.

Adding the links on the iPad

Adding links in a browser

Once you have highlighted the text, right click and then click on link. In the link pop up you can choose "Slides from this presentation instead" and click on the slide you want to link to.

Another reason that I like this option for creating choose your own adventure stories is that Google Slides embed very nicely into student blogs, and as I mentioned at the start, are platform agnostic so you can read them on any device.

Using hyperlinks is an important skill for students to understand and this project is a great way to teach students how to use them and gives them some starting ideas on how they can be used.

The fastest way to write your reports - Use a spreadsheet to write your reports

When I was in the classroom report time was not my favorite time of year. I could never think of the words to get started, and it was all a little overwhelming.

At the same time I have always been fascinated with spreadsheets, and so put these two together and over the last few years I have come up with this spreadsheet that basically writes reports for you based on a comment bank that you set up yourself.

This new version puts the student name and gender pronouns using a basic code (### for their name, and #his/her etc for the pronouns.

Here is a direct link to the spreadsheet, and embedded here is a short video that will tell you how to use the spreadsheet.

If you have any questions you can find me on Twitter @shaunyk or leave a comment on this post.

Making the ultimate WANTED poster using Google Slides.

Recently as part of a social studies unit we had class I was asked to help create "Wanted" posters. Given our students have used Googles Slides for many projects this year we decided to create the posters using this tool. As a point of difference we used a custom slide size so that we could create portrait posters. A link to this template is here, as well as on the last page of the slideshow below. (It will prompt you to make a copy)

It was a great lesson and resulted in some terrific outcomes. I also gave students the option to use iPad apps such as "Over" or "PicCollage", but most of them ended up using Slides.

Create a Simple Digital Portfolio using this Google Slides Template

Student led conference can be a stressful time trying to get student work together in one place, providing a structure for presenting the work as well as making it look reasonable. That's why I set up this very simple Google Slides template. These are the main advantages that I see for using a system like this:

• Works on all platforms (iPad, Mac, PC)
• All the work can be embedded or linked into the slides
• The slides are easily embedded in Blogger or a Google Site
• It provides a clear and simple structure for students to follow when sharing with parents
• It's a one stop shop, managing text, images and videos.

If you'd like your own copy of the template click here.

Leave a comment if you think I've forgotten something or for any advice you have.

Publishing Books Using Google Slides

There are many ways to publish digitally, and recently I have been looking for a method that uses common tools students are familiar with, is easy to embed in a blog, and looks great. The solution that I settled on…

Google Slides

There’s nothing too revolutionary about using slides to publish books, however it is good to remember some of the great advantages it has, and think about some new options you may not have considered.

Great advantages:

Easy layout - No problems with wrapping

Hyperlinking the contents page is easy

You can edit on the iPad (embedding from the iPad is a problem)

Adding captions, or creating labelled diagrams is quite easy.

Other Options - Create Portrait Books

To make a portrait book in slides, it’s as simple as finding “Page Setup” section in the file menu. Using the custom size option, you can put in the measurements for an A4 page for instance (21cm x 30cm).

Use animated Gif images

There are lots of bad examples of Gifs online, equally balanced with amazing examples as well. In fact it is possible to use a free iOS app like “PicPlayPost” to make your own animated Gifs from videos on your camera roll. These can then be put in student books and will play automatically when embedded in their blog.

Below are examples of books that I have published using this method, as well as links that will create copies of these presentations if you want to use them for your own purposes.

Click here to make a copy of the Landscape book.

Click here to make a copy of the Portrait book

Adding multiple events to Google Calendar using a spreadsheet

Adding individual events to a Google Calendar can be annoying and time consuming. But there's a super easy way!

Using a simple spreadsheet in the form of a CSV file you can upload as many events at one time into any of the calendars that you manage. 

There is one big warning! Be careful when you set it up as there are only two ways to delete the events you put in, either delete the whole calendar or delete the events one at a time. In that regard I'd advise adding a new calendar to house all of your new events, or at least test the file in a temporary "Test Calendar".

Click here to download a copy of the CSV file

These are the basic instructions, there is also a step by step YouTube instruction video below.

1. create a spreadsheet with the correct headers (as per example)
2. export as a .csv file
3. Go into calendar and click on the arrow next to My Calendars and click on Settings
4. at the end of the list of your own calendars, click on 'Import Calendar'
5. Choose the .csv file you created and choose the calendar it goes into and 'Import'

There is a second video at the bottom of this post that shows you how to set up the spreadsheet to accommodate multi day timetables (like a 6 day cycle) that don't stick to the days of the week. 

Hopefully this will save you quite a lot of time!

The Awesome Fast Report Starter Spreadsheet!

It's that time of year again when teachers need to write reports. When I was in the classroom I always had trouble getting started, so I created the "Awesome Fast Report Starter Spreadsheet"

Click here to get a copy of the "Awesome Fast Report Starter Spreadsheet"

It uses just a few basic functions to compile together, the Vlookup function which searches for information in another table based on a value existing, Concatenate which joins text together, and Substitute which swaps out the wildcard ### for the student's name.

This is a great way to get started on your reports, and a practical way to use spreadsheets to get started with your reports. As a disclaimer putting in high, medium and low comments is not the end of my report writing. Once I have my spreadsheet start I then go and edit the prepared comment, adding personal examples, next steps, pronouns and other individual feedback.

If you find this useful I'd love to hear back from you either on this blog or via twitter where you can find me @shaunyk .

Streaming School Events - How Google Hangouts saved the day!

Today we had a great story telling performance at school, but it almost didn't happen because we couldn't have all of the classes attend. So by using some Google Magic, we set up a Google Hangout on Air. Hooray for a Google Win!

Google Hangouts on Air allow you to live stream a google hangout conversation or vision from your webcam, live to an audience that you send a simple youtube link to. And it's FREE!

You will need to have a Google + account set up to run a google Hangout, but that's it. When you're in your Google plus account, go to the hangouts section of the menu, and select, Start a Hangout On Air. A hangout will open and you press start broadcast. You can find detailed instructions on this link to Google Hangouts instructions.

Once the broadcast is finished it is saved in your YouTube videos for sharing out later which is a great advantage too.

Using Google Hangouts on Air was a great experience for us, and I hope that it works well at your school too. There are so many ways it could be used, enjoy and stay Googley!

Moving from Pilot to Air Traffic Controller - The future of teaching?

As part of my Google Teacher Academy, we got to thinking about what may be the role of the teacher in the coming years, how that might change, and what we would like to see. As I sat and thought about it these were the major themes that stood out for me.

Going from the Pilot to the Air Traffic Controller

If we were to think about our students as planes approaching an airport, we can see student aircraft:

• approach your Grade Level Airport from different directions, at different speeds and altitudes.
  
• They will leave your grade level airport again at different speeds, altitudes and directions.

Often in traditional classroom the teacher is basically the pilot of jet full of students. As the pilot we have a system where:

All students are going to the same place at the same time.

All students move on to the next destination at the same time.

Higher achieving students are often put into a holding pattern while the teacher helps the struggling students to achieve Grade level expectations.

Rather than being the Pilot and taking all the responsibility for all the learning, teachers should aim to be "Air Traffic Controllers". In this model teachers then begin to:

• Help students to decide on their next destination based on their skills and strengths
• Give them a destination, but allow them to get there by themselves. You can always support them from the tower, but not fly the plane for them.
• For those students whose flights are delayed (behind in their academic skills) as the Air Traffic Controller, you can help those students to develop their skills, and perhaps give them some intermediate destinations to build their confidence and ability.
  

The move from ultimate decision maker, to advisor and project manager will help students become more autonomous and hopefully intrinsic learners.