Google Drive

As a teacher you are doing a million things everyday.  You have lesson plans that have countless worksheets, rubrics, and handouts that you somehow need to keep track of.  Imagine loosing all of your resources and having to start from scratch?  Luckily you don't have to if you use google drive.  This program acts like iCloud in the regard that it can be used to save all of your files.  This solves the issue of your computer breaking, thus, loosing all your files.  Knowing that everything you work on will always be there for you to use is a great feeling to have.  To ensure that you can have this feeling too lets talk about how you use google drive.

To use google drive on a PC you want to first type in Google Drive on your internet browser and click on the first link.  You will then want to login to your google account.  If you don't have one then follow the simple steps they list on their website to create one.  Once you login you want to go to my Google Drive.  On the left side of the screen next to the create button you can actually upload documents that you already have on your computer to your google drive.  Once you have a document on your Google Drive you might want to share it with someone. You can do this by first checking the little box next to the name of your document.  Next, you click on the icon with the person and the plus sign in order to bring up the options to share your document.  You can change the settings from private to public or to anyone with the link.  This is important to know as a teacher so you can send documents to a fellow colleague or you can tell students about this feature so they can share their documents with you as well.

Ultimately, I would go to the left side of the Google Drive web page you're on and download it to your computer by clicking download Google Drive.  Once you do this it creates a folder on your computer called google drive.  This way the files in the folder are synchronized with what goes in the cloud.  This makes it easy to get to your files no matter what device you are on.  I will post a video below that gives a more detailed account on how Google Drive works and will walk you through it if you have issues.

The great thing about Google Drive is that you get 15 GB of storage free so you can store files on there for years with no issues.  The best part about Google Drive is the fact that you can download google drive on any of your devices so you can always have access to your documents.  Being able to change things in the lesson plan quickly as a teacher is critical for making sure the day runs smoothly.

As a teacher you can have your students use Google Drive as well.  This way students can't lose their work like they always seem to do.  With everything being online today Google Drive is the perfect tool to use and encourage your students to use because they will be able to have one place where they can see years of their hard work and growth.  It will allow them to create a portfolio of their work from the year and show how much they have improved.

When you talk about Google Drive it's hard to not talk about Google Docs, Slides, and Sheets because those are the programs you will be using in order to save them onto your Google Drive.  These programs are great for collaboration with your peers because everyone can work on them as long as you share the document to them through email.  Also, students can take advantage of them too through group projects.  They can all work on the same thing while they sit next to each other on their own devices.

Google Drive should be used by all teachers in order to help them manage their classroom.  The best teachers are well prepared ones and this program aligns perfectly with that statement.  Make sure to give Google Drive a download and enjoy never loosing another paper ever again!

References
Google Drive logo [Online image] Retrieved October 2nd, 2018 from https://www.process.st/checklist/how-to-backup-your-external-hard-drives-using-google-drive-checklist/

Google Drive Basic Tutorial Video [Online video] Retrieved October 2nd, 2018 from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cCZj5ojxRAA

Why Kahoot?

Kahoot is a great program to use as a teacher to get your students excited for what you're teaching them.  It's a great way to teach content in any subject and instantly makes students engaged because of the fun game component it has.  As a teacher you can use Kahoot as your secret weapon for getting students to enjoy going to your class while at the same time learning new information that will stick with them.

As a teacher you need to know how Kahoot works if you're going to be able to use it effectively in your classroom.  You want to first search Kahoot in your web browser to get to their website.  You want to sign up for an account and click the option of creating an account as a teacher.  This will allow you to have a free account so you can start to make a Kahoot for your class.  Another option that Kahoot is coming out with is Kahoot! Pro which is just $1 a month and is aimed at teachers as well.  By paying for their services Kahoot allows you to co-create games with your fellow teachers, share and view advanced reports from the games, and create Kahoot's 3x as fast with their extensive image library.  Of course this is just something to consider once you have actually used Kahoot so lets get into how you would do that.

To create a Kahoot you start by clicking the create button on the top right side of your screen.  You will have 4 options to select from for creating your Kahoot and they are:

• Quiz
• Jumble
• Discussion
• Survey

     When you create a quiz for your Kahoot you have many options right off the start.  You have to give a title and a description for what your Kahoot will be about.  Then you get to upload an image that will be used for the cover image of your Kahoot.  You have options to determine who can play your Kahoot, the language being used, and you can even add an intro video for when students are waiting for the Kahoot to begin. You then can hit next to start creating questions you want to add.  You can type in any question and then add in four possible answers. Keep adding questions until you're done and then you can save it so you have it ready for your next class!

When you finally do play the Kahoot you just go to your account and click on the Kahoot to start it.  You can pick the classic option where everyone answers on their own device or the team mode where students share a device and answer questions collectively.  Once you pick an option the game will begin and you will hear the unforgettable Kahoot music start playing.  There will then be a game pin that pops up that students can type into their device to join the game.  Let the fun begin!

All of the options follow the same initial creating steps that I mentioned in the quiz option.  The only difference is how they are played. For the jumble option on Kahoot, instead of coming up with 4 multiple choice answers you put your answers in the correct order.  For example, for a history kahoot the question might be order these events from earliest in history to latest and as the student you'd have to put the jumbled up places from which occurred earliest in history to latest.  This is a cool way to practice dates and numbers when it comes to learning new information.

The third option is called discussion.  This tool is meant to spark a debate through the use of coming up with a question and displaying it on Kahoot.  Students should be told to discuss with someone near them or it can be turned into a whole classroom discussion.  Then when everyone is done talking students vote on the one answer out of four that they believe to be correct.  This can be an interactive way to start the class by talking about a big idea that relates to the topic you are teaching in class.

Lastly, there is the survey option which is very similar to the quiz option as well.  You create a question and then come up with four possible answers.  This is helpful as a teacher for figuring out what your classroom likes or what they think about a certain topic.  It gives you quick results which can be helpful in getting to know your students on a more personal level.

The reason students love Kahoot is because it's a competitive game where students get to see how well they are doing compared to their peers.  After each question the top five student's names are shown on the leader board and kids love to be the winner at the end.  Points are based off how fast you answer the question as well as if you get it right or not.  Students can use any mobile device or laptop to play the game.  The game is able to create a family game night type of feel and it's great to see kids come out of their shells when they get to do something they enjoy.  To see what I mean take a look at the video below.

From a teacher's perspective Kahoot allows students to learn new information in a quick and interesting way.  The quickness of the game makes students think quick on their feet and informs them how well they really know the material.  If it's taking them too long to answer the questions they probably need a refresher on the material.  At the end of each game you also get to see the results of the students that played and see who is struggling.  This game allows you to create any type of question for any subject material which makes it a versatile program that every teacher should know how to use. 

References
Kahoot logo [Online image]. Retrieved October 2nd, 2018 from https://www.nationalgeographic.org/bee/study/play-kahoot/

Kahoot video [Online video]. Retrieved October 2nd, 2018 from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JhK6sOQcPQ8