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Hi Nicola, I think using Google forms to capture data such as the ‘My Thoughts on School Checklist’ is a great idea. We often do this at the beginning of the school year using paper forms, however I think using Google forms would be much better as the data is more secure and easier to retrieve and analyse. It would also be very interesting to view how these change over time and to see if there are any trends in the data. It is also a great source of information for the teacher, particularly at the beginning of the year with a new class as it can help the teacher to better support the students with any areas they may identify as finding difficult etc.
The area of focus I have chosen for SSE is the writing genre process. I think using tools like Google classroom and Google docs to capture examples of student’s writing across the various writing genres is a great way to monitor and track progress over time. As the student’s digital portfolio is available throughout their time in primary school, progress across the various writing genres can be easily reviewed over the years and it is a good way for the teacher to see where the student is at on their learning journey and identify what areas need to focus on in order to help them progress. These records can also be viewed by parents at home which could be very beneficial in helping parents and teachers to work together. Google forms could also be used to gather student feedback on areas relevant to the writing genres such as which genre they enjoy the most, which one they find the most difficult etc.
Hi Carol, I really like your idea of using gems to help generate ideas for teaching maths to 6th class. I also teach 6th class and it can sometimes be tricky to come up with fun and engaging activities for certain topics. I think this is a great resource to help generate ideas to make topics which can sometimes be very pen and paper focused more engaging and fun.
I used the brainstorm gem to generate practical ideas for assisting with the teaching of percentages to 6<sup>th</sup> class in line with the new maths curriculum. The gem provided three suggested hands on activities, I rejected two of the activities as I thought they might be too complicated in terms of working out percentages, one such activity was to organise an event and to determine percentages of seating which I felt was a bit too broad and would need more clearly defined parameters. The suggested idea I chose was to work in groups to take on the role of match analysts and analyse the data from a recent match to work out percentages such as shots converted etc. I adapted the idea by simplifying and clearly specifying the data to be used to allow the children to work out the percentages at their level. As a safeguarding measure, I made sure not to include any student data or personal information. I really like this idea and think it would be a fun and engaging way to develop the class understanding of the topic. The brainstorm gem is very useful for generating ideas to help enhance teaching of various topics.
Hi Nicola, I agree that Google forms is a great way to gather and analyse data. I really like your idea of using Google forms to conduct surveys as part of wellbeing. I think this is a really good way of gathering student feedback as they can express their opinions in a less public manner and the data is much easier to store and analyse compared to paper surveys. This could also be a great way to obtain parent feedback on various topics.
For this activity, I used Google Classroom to help with a writing genre lesson. The lesson is a report writing activity for 6<sup>th</sup> class. I created an assignment in Google Classroom and attached a Google doc with a template to help the children to format their ideas. The writing genre is report writing so the Google doc would have a template with headings such as title, description etc. This would help guide the children to structure their writing in the report writing format. Before beginning the activity I would show the children the template and demonstrate the tools available in Google docs such as spell checker and voice to text. I find these tools are a great way to make the activity more inclusive for those who may struggle with spelling and writing. I can then monitor the children’s progress in real time, providing structured feedback both orally and through the live editing features in Google Classroom. This also links in to the writing process as the children can draft and edit their work. I think that activities such as this could really encourage reluctant writers or those who may have difficulties with writing to enjoy writing in an engaging and inclusive way through using the tools available in Google Classroom to remove the barriers that some experience when attempting a writing task with pen and paper. Once the children have finished their work using the template, the next steps would be to write their final piece on a blank Google doc which would be added to the assignment in Google Classroom.
I really like the idea of using Google Classroom for topics like data. I used this to conduct a survey for a Science project the class were working on last year. I created an assignment in Google Cassroom and attached a shared Google sheet with the survey questions that we had previously agreed on. The class were then split up into groups and each group went to a different classroom to survey their assigned class. The children used a chromebook to capture the data and entered it onto the shared google sheet which we could view being updated in real time. We then created graphs and charts based on the results. This led to very interesting discussions on what type of graph, e.g. bar chart, pie chart etc. would be best to represent our data. The children really enjoyed this activity and it was a great way to integrate maths and science as part of the overall project.
For this assignment, I used Google Classroom for a class Geography project on France. I currently teach 6<sup>th</sup> class. For clarity, I created a topic and an assignment in Google Classroom titled France Project. In the assignment information section I outlined the criteria for the project, such as at least 10 facts, include the flag, capital city, population etc. The idea is that following a series of lessons on France, the children will collate what they have learned in class and add in some extra facts that they find through their own research. The children could gather their facts and images in the Google Doc provided in the assignment. The children would then use Google slides to make a mini presentation on France, including text and pictures, taking these from the Google Doc. One adjustment I would make is to add a link to a website such as Kids Britannica or a similar appropriate website and include this link in the assignment to give the children a suitable resource to conduct their own research. This will help with clarity also. A possible link to reflection or SSE is that using Google Classroom for projects like this creates a digital portfolio linked to the student so that their progress can be reviewed and reflected on and the topics covered over time are easily available and accessible as part of their digital record.
Hi Carol, I really like the idea of using Gemini to help with local history lessons. One suggestion could be to ask Gemini to create an image of what life was like at a certain point in the past. This could then be used as a discussion prompt and to help generate ideas for further project work.
I asked Gemini to create some suitable activities for 6th class based on the novel Holes by Louis Sachar. It came up with writing prompts for different writing genres such as creative writing, narrative writing and persuasive writing. It also asked if I would like a set of reading comprehension questions based on each chapter. Another useful suggestion was a vocabulary matching activity for some of the trickier words in the book. I also asked Gemini to export the comprehension and vocabulary matching activities to document form, which it created a very nicely laid out document that could be used in the classroom. One adaptation I made was to differentiate the comprehension activity to cater for a range of abilities. Similarly I asked it to simplify the definition of some of the tricky words in the vocabulary matching section. In doing this I made sure to include a boundary where no pupil names or personal information were included.
I asked Gemini to create some suitable activities for 6th class based on the novel Holes by Louis Sachar. It came up with writing prompts for different writing genres such as creative writing, narrative writing and persuasive writing. It also asked if I would like a set of reading comprehension questions based on each chapter. Another useful suggestion was a vocabulary matching activity for some of the trickier words in the book. I also asked Gemini to export the comprehension and vocabulary matching activities to document form, it created a very nicely laid out document that could be used in the classroom. One adaptation I made was to differentiate the comprehension activity to cater for a range of abilities. Similarly I asked it to simplify the definition of some of the tricky words in the vocabulary matching section. In doing this I made sure to include a boundary where no pupil names or personal information were included.