Learning new tricks! New Faves!

OK ... so if old dogs can learn new tricks, this older than most teachers can learn them too!  This week I've learned two new tricks that I already love!  

The first new trick is creating online quizzes using Google forms.  I know - we all use Google forms to collect information ... but did you know that Flubaroo, a script, will grade those quizzes for you?  It's so awesome!  Simply create your quiz (and yes you can embed pictures like graphs and tables).  Choose a new spreadsheet as your response destination.  Take your quiz yourself.  When you are ready to grade, open the spreadsheet, and select Tools ... Script Gallery.  Search for Flubaroo.  Install it.  (It installs in just that one spreadsheet).  You have to have more than 2 responses to your quiz to test it out.  Flubaroo will ask questions ... what key do you want to use (you'll choose your answers) and how many points to give each question.  When you hit your next button, you'll have graded quizzes!  It's really quite simple!

The second trick I learned this week is how to make my own instructional videos using my laptop and document camera.  I uploaded my first and only today to Youtube ... my own channel, woohoo!  This first video is very basic - just defining a function using the Frayer model.  In the coming days, I plan to work classwork and homework problems - typically just one per video.  That keeps the videos short, and to the point.  Near the end of a unit, I'll work a set of review problems.  Students will be able to hear my voice, see me working out problems and writing notes.  And it was soooo easy!  I used movie maker because it is installed on my school computer.  I used my document camera.  The only extra cord I needed was a USB cord that went from my laptop to the camera.  After making choosing only a couple of pertinent settings, I was ready to record.  I like that this method simply captures my hands and the paper on which I am working.

These are my new faves!