9/27 -- Technology in the classroom has been good.  I haven't tried anything new recently except continuing to have my notes readily available for my students in google drive.  One issues I have encountered is that I have my folders shared for public, so all parents can have access, but when the kids are signed in to google, all of my google slides aren't showing up. . .some do and some don't.  Specifically my most recent slides.  I have checked all of my shared settings for each individual slides and folders, and they all say public.  I have to ask about that.  

9/14 -- Sorry for the long time between posts!  Things have been going very well.  My students are now in the habit of having their Chromebook out and they are in google slides following along.  I find this has been helpful for students who maybe sit in the back, or behind someone taller, or are just a slower reader.  That being said, I still have to say close your Chromebooks sometimes if I want them to work together without the "barrier" of the Chromebook.  

It is nice to have the Chromebooks in case a lesson finishes earlier than I thought or like today I have some students catching up/fixing MathXL and some working on worksheets so it was nice to not have to go to the lab or try and get a cart and they can work how they feel fit.  I am going to try and use other tools (maybe Gizmo's) for Unit 2!

9/7 -- One issue that we had and resolved was people not being able to see all of my shared google folders.   A student figured out that if they had to be signed in to google in order to see everything!  Good to know!

Internet issue. . . some students were having trouble just getting to different websites (single sign on, pearson, whatever...) and a student noted that if you open a new tab and go to a website (any website) where the school server asks you to log in for the internet. . .then their internet issues went away!  

This year is all about troubleshooting!  Can't get frustrated because this is what it will be like next year, this is what our schools are going to. . .might as well jump on the wagon instead of fighting it!  

9/7 - Yesterday during lunch and prep I recorded a slide in SmartNote using the record feature and then using Screencastify I recorded my voice working over the problem.  This process took me longer than I would have liked it to take, but it was also my first time trying this so now that I know the errors that I will encounter, I think it will go much faster this time.

So trying the screencastify today (in only one class so far, 3 more to try it out) it went really well. Students got to work at their own pace.  I saw some students writing things down and pausing my video and very engaged.  They were then instructed to try additional problems that I had in google slides and then start their mathXL.  I thought for sure many students would be in mathXL right away, but they all worked on the problems that I had for them first before going to MathXL.  I was very impressed.  I can't wait to see how my next three classes go with this flipping of the classroom!

I should note that the reason I flipped today because this was not a new concept, solving systems algebraically.  I was confident that they just needed to have an example before doing the problems themselves.

9/6 - Today I tried having my SmartNote Slides also in google slides for students to follow along and to have if they want to look back.  I like the idea that it is a live document if I need to update it then I can do that and it is instantly updated for my students.  Most students seemed to follow along.  And liked it so they could see pictures and information on the screen in front of them instead of having to strain to see the information or if I changed slides then they could still be on a previous slide.

Extra work for me. . .a little bit. . .but I feel very prepared for class.  I am going to try having google slides available for my students for this whole Unit and see how they like it.   As I walked around all students were where they were supposed to be (in Google Slides) and no one was off task.

All in all, I liked it!  Tomorrow I am trying a flip the classroom with a screencastify!

9/2 - So I had this idea about using google slides for the students to follow along with my smart note lessons.  It wasn't easy to transfer the smart slides over to google slides, but it also didn't take me long to copy pictures/images for the students that were in my slides, or even to re-type.  My thought process here is that how many times do students say they can't see the board or I go to fast in my slides.  Now I know that these slides won't have my notes on them, but I plan on saving my notes later/at the end of the day for any students who want to go back and revisit my work.  But this way, it will give students the opportunity to follow along with my slide and then they have a blank copy of the notes as well as a filled out copy of the notes.  

Yes this is adding a little extra work for me -- but I am thinking on the positive side of things. .. This way I am forcing myself to re-look at my notes prior to class starting and I can make my notes better. I will also be asking my students for feed back on the topic and see what they think about having the google slides in front of them.  

For my second day of this lesson, I was going to flip the classroom and have students listen to a lesson via screen castify and then work on their mathXL. This lesson is a lesson that I think they all have seen before -- solving systems of equations using elimination and substitution.  Again, we'll see how it goes!

9/2 - As I am finishing giving my first assessment of the year for my Algebra 2 Trig kids, I automatically said when you are done you can take out your chromebook afterward if you would like?  And now I am wondering. . .. is the chromebook the same as the phone?  Technology after an assessment?  Now today was a partner assessment so everyone is chatting (with their partner) anyway. . .so I don't think it is that much of a distraction, but would it be a distraction during an individual test?  Is there a cheating potential with the chromebooks being out when an individual student is completed?  

I do want to try a paperless test with the chromebooks.  I went to a training in January 2015 for Mastery Manager for a  half of a day about this, but I am going to have to re-look in to it, but I would like to try it and see how it goes.  Maybe on my next group assessment?  We give one a chapter so I think I am going to make that my goal for this year.. . .We'll see if I can figure it out before then.  

8/29 -- We used the chromebooks for the first time.  We logged in to the SSO -- there were no issues.  I showed the students where to go to for MathXL (Pearson Easy Bridge).  Most students had no problems and got the acceptance screen.  Some students got an error messages.   I set up students in 4th and 5th with their bookmarks bar for easy access to my google sites page.  

For the rest of the classes it will be smart to book mark our webpages or different class materials that we will use frequently.

One thing I concluded in my afternoon classes, is that my PC is different than the chromebooks. Our 'settings' are different. The chromebooks do not have a desk top, so they have to add any apps to their task bar from the apps store (a student showed me that on the chromebooks all you have to do is press the magnifying glass). Once I realized that my computer settings etc. were different than the kids, It was a little frustrating to try and tell the students how to get do certain things, but hopefully this will be easier over time once all the kids have the chromebooks because then they can really help each other.

8/26 -- Took my kids to get their chromebooks in the library.  Students must hand their signed agreement to the librarians -- DO NOT COLLECT THEIR AGREEMENTS.  Most of the chromebooks had little to no charge, so do not plan on doing anything the day the kids get their chromebook.