Lemon Tech Tidbits

Many teachers have made the switch to Google Forms when giving tests or quizzes. After all, everyone loves not having to grade something by hand. But what happens if a student needs to retake a quiz or test using the same Google Form? Well, Alice Keeler shows you some simple tricks you will want to use. First - You can make sure to reshuffle the answers and questions but the problem, according to Alice Keeler, is the questions will still be the same. So to help, she recommends three different approaches: Create a Big Form - one quiz with many different sections. Each section is a different test retake. Create a New Form - copy the quiz form and change a few of the questions. Import Questions - create a new Google Form in which you import a few questions from the previous test and add in a few others. Do you want all of the results to be on the same spreadsheet? Well, Alice shares the steps required to do just that. In addition, she provides one more tip on how you can use a passwo

It is so important for students to be given appropriate feedback when they turn in assignments. Yet, typing individual comments can be a challenge and time-consuming. So why not use something else? With the new changes to Screencastify, it is easier than ever to create video feedback and share it with students. Here are the steps: Step 1: Install the Screencastify Chrome Extension Step 2: Click on the extension and follow the steps to sign in with your Google account. Step 3: Open up an assignment in Google Classroom and click on a student’s assignment to grade. Step 5: Click on the Screencastify extension and start recording. If you are new to using it, watch this short video. Step 6: When you are finished, click Screencastify again to stop recording. It will then provide you with a link you can share with the student as a private comment. Want more information? Watch this short video from Lance Yoder .

Recently, Screencastify announced a few updates that are sure to excite you! Starting today, THERE ARE NO LONGER ANY PAID PLANS. IT’S ALL FREE! Yep, you read that correctly. Screencastify is announcing that everyone, including students, can now r ecord an unlimited number of videos, trim and edit the videos, export them as a GIF and record with no watermark. The only difference from before is each recording will only allow you to record for five minutes. But that is not all, Screencastify has added more sharing options as well including Share to Google Classroom, Copy embed code, send in email, or create a QR code. This on top of saving directly into your Google Drive. Other changes include improving the Video Recording and Editing Tools making it easier to use. How can you and your students use Screencastify? Take a look at the Classroom Resource page for ideas as well as how to get started using Screencastify in your own classroom. Already using Screencastify, take a look at

An article from Digital Administration written by Matthew X. Joseph , explains how “teaching online safety strategies is key to ensuring that educators and students leave positive digital footprints.” The author explains a way to nurture responsible digital citizenship is to use the R.E.A.D.Y. strategy : R = Remind. Remind students to be mindful of the information and opinions they make public. A good rule to remember - “If you don’t want it on a billboard, than don’t post it online.” E = Encourage. Encourage students to step away from cell phones and digital screens to pursue other activities such as spending time with friends and family. A = Accountability. Teach students how to properly take care of their Chromebooks. Teach them how to be accountable for the proper use of the internet. D = Demonstrate. Demonstrate important digital citizenship ourselves. If we do not practice what we teach, they will notice. Y = Yes. Be a culture of “yes” when it comes to trying new technology

There are two new updates to Google Slides that I wanted to share with you. In a rapid release, users will now be able to copy individual slides instead of the entire deck. In another new change, you will be able to remove speaker notes when making a copy. Think about all of the time this will save when you share presentations with each other. For more information, click here: http://bit.ly/2QW1T2F

Alice Keeler shares a way you can use the power of machine grading without the hassle of having to retype the questions. An example she gives is when students need to answer the questions at the end of the chapter of a textbook. No one wants to spend the time to retype questions for each chapter nor has the time to grade them too. So her solution is to take an idea from the old Scan cards & use a default Google Form to do the work for her. First, you will need to create a new Google Form. Using the multiple-choice questions, title the first one Question 1 and in the answer section, simply put A, B, C, D, etc. (Google will even help you do so). Then, it is as simple as clicking on the duplicate button to make question 2 and 3 and so on. Finally, you do need to set the answer key but this can be done quickly for the chapter. For the next chapter test, you can simply make a copy of the Default form, change the answer key and you are ready to go again. Make sure to check out her post

With the prevalence of cell phones, most people rely on apps every day to get the information they need. So why not create your own app to share information with others? In the past, creating an app took a lot of time and coding experience. Now with Glide Apps , creating one can take less than 5 minutes as long as you already have the information in a Google Sheet. Watch this short video to learn how easy it is to use Glide Apps: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=53JDUBwYW9s As I explored this site, I found it was easy to create an app if you already have a Google Spreadsheet of the information you want to share. Once the information is on a Sheet, creating an app and sharing it with others can be a big game changer for schools. Richard Byrne provides a few examples in this blog post such as creating a mobile study guide for students or mobile behavior reporting system for teachers as well as a few others. Glide Apps is so easy to use, students can create one to share information

Lately, there have been many websites that allows a teacher to easily create educational games for students to help them learn new concepts or study for an upcoming test or quiz. Educandy is another one to share with all of you. This one seems to be geared more toward elementary than middle or high school students. It is free to use and doesn’t take much time at all to get set up. As a teacher, you can add a data set such as a list of vocabulary words or a list of questions. There are 8 different game formats to choose: word search, anagrams, noughts and crosses, crossword, match up, multiple choice, memory and hangman. To get started, you will need to create an account. Educandy will then send you an email to confirm. Once you are logged into the site, you are prompted to enter either a list of words or questions. Finally, based on your list, you can pick one of the game formats recommended for you to use. Once you create an activity, Educandy will provide you with a unique code