Reinventing the Reading Journal

 Recently I learned of a way to create a journal which would support teachers pushing out content to the journal pages in real time.  In order to do this, teachers must set up a teacher copy and student copy of the journal.  I have modeled the steps in the short clips below while creating this reading journal to use with a student interest book group who will be  reading The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan.  

Step 1:  Create a teacher template.

• Create a Google Slideshow with a name to indicate this is your “teacher copy”
• Format your Slideshow.  I prefer to use the custom setting to make the journal to look like a piece of paper (8.5 x 11)
• Add multiple BLANK slides . Your slideshow should have enough slides for the entire novel study

Step 2:  Create your student template

• Create a Google Slideshow with a name to indicate this is your “student copy”
• Format your Slideshow.  I prefer to use the custom setting to make the journal to look like a piece of paper (8.5 x 11)

Step 3:  Link your slideshows

• In your teacher copy, highlight ALL slides and click file→ copy
• Paste all slides into your student copy
• When prompted, LINK to the slides

Step 4:  Assign to students

• Before assigning in Google Classroom, you will need to “share” the TEACHER copy with your students.  This assures that your slides will be linked when the ownership changes in Classroom. Students will not open this shared copy.

• Assign in Google Classroom, choosing make a copy for each student
• Each student will need their own copy of your slideshow

Step 5:  Update

• When you are ready to "push out" new content, update the appropriate slide in your teacher copy

• Students will see an UPDATE button on their copy of the slideshow on the slide that you updated in your teacher copy

Full Video Below

Google Meet Difficulties?

 

Google Meet Difficulties?

Have you been noticing that your Google Meet view has not been functioning consistently lately?  You’re not alone! 

As Google develops new features in the Google Meet app, some extensions, such as the popular Grid View Extension, can experience disruptions due to incompatibilities with newer versions of the native Google Meet.  In fact, the developer of the Grid View extension has basically retired the extensions and removed it from the webstore.  He has indicated that it is unlikely that the app will be maintained going forward.

The recommendation is for users to uninstall the Grid View Extension. 

Here are some recommendations for using the native Google Meet features to see all of your participants:

1. Use the tile layout by clicking the three dots on the lower right and selecting the tile view option.

2. Joining the meeting twice in order to see what you are presenting. Just remember to mute yourself as the second participant.

3. Use the Ctrl+ and Ctrl- keyboard shortcuts to increase/decrease the tiles on your grid.

If you are longing for features like the ability to cohost google classroom meets or to schedule breakout rooms in advance, then rest assured Google is listening.  Here are some google meet features scheduled for 2021. The road might be bumpy while they develop and role out some of these features, but hopefully it will be worth the wait.

If you will miss the ability to alpha sort your meet participants, feel free to upvote that feature request here.