Back to School

As the school year begins there is one thing all teachers are going to need to do. Placement testing to see where our students are. As a teacher this is both the best information I will be able to get from my students to understand them more, so I know how to help them learn AND the hardest because this testing is LOOOONG and arduous. I wanted to find something which would help me increase engagement in my students to allow them to truly show me what they know. After this hard summer, I was able to find something to help! I want you all to know there are programs I have already suggested which allow you to do some of this testing such as Frontrow and Read Theory. These are great, but for those of you who either don't want to use them or want something different: here it is!

Product Information:
Formative is a website where teachers can create, assign, and visualize student growth. This website allows the user to create different types of assessments from basic choose the answer to interactive assessments where the students need to move items around to create the answers. (Just like the spring testing!)

Glitchy Review:
I have recently been playing with this program and it is difficult for users to create assessments, however, the benefits really out weigh the difficulties. The interface when you are making the assessments is easy enough and getting started is simple, but it really seems to stop there. On the plus side, you really do have a lot of options to choose from. From embedding information to adding basic questions (multiple choice, short answer, etc.) to advanced questions where the students can orally give responses or interactive answers such as moving parts around. Like I said there is a lot to do and can be both a great thing and bad at the same time. There is one downside to the advanced questions, like most programs are only if you pay. While the price is not bad ($12 per month), I just like things that are free. Don't you? Anyway, there are benefits to the monthly subscription especially for those of you reading this and going "I don't think I could do this...." For example, you have access to formatives made by others. (My colleague has access to this and if you are nervous about making your own this would be your best bet because some are really good!) In the end, I am excited about trying this in my room this year! I will be able to get rid of more paper in my classroom! I will be able to grade and return to students even with the free version! By the way, when you sign up regardless of which plan you choose it will automatically sync to your Google Classroom!!!!

User Rating:
I would give this program a user level of 3 because you do need a decent amount of tech savviness to really be able to use this program especially if you are using the free program.

Glitchy Review:
I would give this program a 3 out of 5 because it is hard to use and can get confusing.

Sutori

Product Description:
This month I will be talking about Sutori. Sutori is a website were teachers, students, writers, professors, etc.; can go and make interactive articles. The website allows people to create their own from scratch and share them on the website or print.

Glitchy Review:
I have to admit I was skeptical of this website when I started poking around. I saw some beautiful articles (I guess this would be the best word) created by Sutori and a few members; however, this left me wondering would this be something I as a teacher could use?

The sign-up process is a breeze particularly if you sign up with Google. Once you get in there is a tutorial for you to get acclimated to the different parts of your dashboard as well as when you start your article. (Don’t skip this if you are a level 1 user, even some level 2 users should check it out.) This makes the adjustment to the program easier.

I have to admit as a teacher I could see while putting my first article together there are A LOT of ways for students to get distracted with the different things you can put in the article. Unless the teacher put requirements in this could go one of two ways. One the students pick and choose and do so minimally like so:

The article is clean and to the point, but not too interactive.
Then there is option 2 where students get so overwhelmed they don’t do anything.

I would like to let you know these are 2 students of the same technological ability as well as academic ability so you can really see how drastic the differences can be. In addition, I let my students have at it with Sutori to see what they would do. After all if we don’t let them play we can’t get a really good idea of what they can do to start off.

With this in mind, I was able to see some potential here. If I was to give them something to write about and gave them requirements to add; I could see students being successful. This would be a perfect website for students to use to show their knowledge in a different way. I could see my students (of all levels) being able to use this website fluently (with time and practice of course!)

With the new NGSS standards (which are inquiry based) this would be the best way for students to show their knowledge with writing as well as with models. Additionally, this allows students hands on experience with parts of informative text! Students really can’t understand this without using it themselves and this program allows them to do this. Finally, the website makes sure the students or user creates a bibliography or citation list. This is great for upper grades where students really need to do this. The only downfall here is the set-up is the same for a 5th grader as much as a 12th grader. I would suggest this change for grade levels to aid students in learning how to do this. For example, type of fill in the blank for the lower grades to allow them to learn and a blank box for upper grades.

Overall, the website is a great tool for teachers to use and have their students use. While it does have some work to aid teachers with their students it certainly has potential.

User Rating: This is a level 2 website where you do need some experience to get all the perks out of the program but it is not out of reach of level 1s either.

Glitchy Rating: I would give this website 4 out of 5 because students DO need an email to access and I know there are teachers out there whose students don’t have them. Definitely something I would fix to allow more classes onto the website.

Oh No Fractions App

Product Description:
This is an app from Curious Hat. The app is designed to visually and numerically teach students about fractions. This app allows students to compare, add, subtract, multiply, and divide fractions. The app walks students through the process to allow them to learn each step as they go. While going through these steps students are encouraged to calculate the information on their own, but does offer help if students struggle with the calculations.

Glitchy Review:
I have used this app sporadically in my classroom mainly focusing on my RSP and low performing students when we learn about dividing fractions. This app allows these students to visually see this information when most of them have auditory processing issues or retention issues. The app has allowed me to access their strengths to really allow them to learn the information. I am able to go back to 4th and 5th-grade skills within the app. The students were able to become successful with this where if I did this a different way would have been longer and harder on me and the students. While this app is very basic in its set-up it works for these students. There are no crazy bells and whistles for the students to get distracted and keeps them focused enough with just the right amount of interaction. Hands down the best part of this app would have to be the visuals for the students. They are able to see the fraction in pieces and bars; which when you get to ratios REALLY helps to transfer the skill sets. I cannot express how happy my students were to be able to FINALLY understand fractions and how to use the steps correctly. They were able to master on the app and feel confident enough to do it on their own. This app is best for lower grades introducing fractions as well as low performing students in the upper grades, not so much for students outside of this group. (Trust me I have tried.) All of this is great for teachers; on top of that, it is FREE! Enjoy!

User Rating:
This app would be a level 1 since figuring out how to use this is basic and the set-up is the same no matter what you are doing in the app.

Glitchy Rating:
I give this app a 5 for the ease of use as well as the drastic amounts of help for the students.

Feel free to leave comments or suggestions below!

Spiral UPDATES!

I know I have done a review on Spiral already; however, they have made some changes that I must talk about. I want to make sure my readers know all of the things I have learned so here are some of the new things going on with Spiral.

Let’s start with the Quickfires:
First, they have added the ability to create planned Quickfires where you can pre-write the questions in (which they had before) but now you can also opt for quick. Quick Quickfires are where your students are still able to answer your questions, but you DO NOT have to pre-plan them. You can verbally state them and the students can type their answers just as with a traditional Quickfire. The program does require you still title your Quickfire (which is not bad) but gives you the ability to get students to answer questions ACTIVELY in class without having to stop the class to create this. Yeay!

Second, the Quickfire now offers a canvas answer feature! I really didn’t know how to use these Quickfires for math and now I can! The drawing features are the same as Paint or Google Drawing just in smaller and not as many bells and whistles. All you need to as the teacher is change the answer format next to your question! Great update for Spiral!

If these changes weren’t good enough then let me introduce you to Clip.

Clip is a different type of discussion or quickfire (whichever you wish to use). With clip you just start the clip and you are taken to a screen where you can automatically search Youtube videos to show your students to spark debates or discussions. Now I do know as teachers we will still need to pre-watch these videos to make sure they are school appropriate, but it does produce a still of the video so you can go directly to the one you want. You can add multiple videos to your clip as well. Once you have set this up you will be given the option of an open-ended question or a multiple choice question. While in the actual Clip you can choose to hide or show answers. My students preferred to have the answers hidden because it made the clip take up the whole screen and easier for them to see it. Clip does have an extension you can add to chrome. I have not tried it because I prefer to access this from their website it does sound promising.

Finally, they have added a teacher only buying option! You no longer have to try to convince your admin to purchase this product! You can buy it for your classroom for $29 a year! While this is still in the beginning stages it is exciting!

As a teacher, I am really happy with these changes and additions. I can now use Spiral in numerous new ways in my classroom. While I do know some of you teachers do not have a 1-to-1 classroom, but please remember the students can use their phones or tablets as well. I have used this product whole class as well as in small groups with the same benefits.

If you have any comments or ideas please feel free to leave them in the comments below! Enjoy!

TimeMap

Product Description:
This website allows the reader to visually see the world history. The website contains "TimeMaps" which are a combination of an encyclopedia and atlas. This allows students to see all the different historic events happening at the same time around the world.

Glitchy Review:
I stumbled on this website a few months ago and to be honest I don't remember how. I remember thinking this is a great resource! As time went on I would teach a part of history and then go "Oh! I forgot to use this!" Oh how I wish I would have remembered. When I finally did remember and show my students this website you should have heard the "OHS!" coming through the room! You know that amazing teacher moment when the students finally get the clear understanding and everything finally makes sense! That amazing moment that we as teachers strive for! I was so happy to have done this; I kick myself for not doing this sooner. The best part of this website is the thought, research, and dedication put into this website is astounding. Reading about the history of this website and how each of the maps are made is interesting within itself. There really was thought put into how this will and does benefit the student. How this can work for the teacher in their classroom and what they can do to make it better.

This website offers so much more to the user than any book or activity could. It has lessons for the teachers as well as articles for the students on topics pertaining to each map. While most of these great features are free, there are things you would have to pay for. For example, there are interactive maps which you can buy and download to your iPhone or iPad which allow for even more detail that what is available on the website. I could go on and on, however I believe you should go check it out for yourself. Click here to go check this out.

User Rating:
This is easily a level 1 website for any user. While adding the apps will take using of an iPad or iPhone into play, but the actual app is very user friendly.

Glitchy Rating:
I give this website a 4 out of 5 simply because finding the lessons and apps can get a bit confusing but easy for even a novice tech user to figure out.

Just a few pictures to show you what I am talking about!

Read Thoery

Product Description:
This is a website where it will assess student reading levels, comprehension level, and standard achievement.

Glitchy Review:
I found this website via a colleague of mine. I was intrigued at first and decided to try it out with my students. Might I say I am HAPPY to have done it! This website allows teachers to assess student reading and comprehension level; along with standard achievement! Who could argue with that?

This website is super easy to use for both teacher and students to use. All you really need to do is set up your class and then have them go! I signed my class up last week and it began with an initial assessment and results begin. Now to really see information about your students you really want them to take about 2-3 quizzes. As the students take more quizzes the more information the teacher gets. I was able to see grade level performance, Lexile levels, and mastery of ELA standards. You are able to see this overall for your class as well as for individual students. (Hello RTI/SST data!)

The graphs the teacher is able to see are easy to see and read. In addition, should you wonder about something on the graph you can always hover over the information and it will tell you! The graphs are broken down into pre-test results with current quiz results incorporated. All these graphs are great, but when you get to the individual student information THEY GET BETTER! Didn’t think this could happen, but it did!

When you choose a student you are able to see the grade level, Lexile level progression, and the ELA standard performance. The best part is at the bottom of the page where you are able to see the results of each individual quiz the student takes. This is where the product gets better. The breakdown of the quizzes allows you to see the percent and if their reading level changed based on it. PLUS as the teacher you are able to click on the quiz to see the passage given, questions asked with the student’s answer and an explanation of the answers. This allows me so much insight into what my student’s know; don’t know, if they have a skill they are lacking, or if they are struggling with reading and comprehending questions in and of themselves.

Since using this program I have coupled this with Newsela and Front Row to really allow me to alter reading, reading comprehension and lessons to each individual student. I am able to make my small groups and individual work even more effective to aid my students. Needless to say, I am a happy teacher! By the way, did I happen to mention this website is FREE?! Excited yet?

User Rating:
I give this website a level 1 since it is so easy to use. Should you get confused there are multiple help sections and pop-ups. There is no need to watch any videos to use this; which is great for teachers!

Glitchy Rating:
I give this website 4 out of 5. I only give this because I believe there is so much more this website could do.

Go check out Read Theory here.

Easel.ly

Product Description:

Easel.ly is an online program where you can make “presentations.” These presentations are more like digital posters you or your students can make.  https://www.easel.ly/

Glitchy Review:

After playing around with Easel.ly I was able to see the benefit of the program for teachers and students alike. For example, AVID schools this is great to create different types of one pagers or notes pages for students. However there were some reservations I had about the program.

First, the program is difficult to use and understand, so if you are a teacher with not so good technology skills STEER CLEAR of Easel.ly. As an experienced technology user I struggled with the program. With that being said I did have a couple of my students work on Easel.ly to see if they could do it. I did not give them directions, videos, or anything beyond what I wanted them to make. Here are the results: (left picture is start, right is after 1 hour.)

Student A start 

Student A after 1 hour

Student B before

Student B after 1 hour

As you can see the students were able to get something but the amount of time they need to acclimate to the program as well as learn how to do the different things was very time consuming. This is what they were able to do in 1 hour. While I am able to see the benefits of this program the amount of work which needs to go into it is not conducive to a classroom. For teachers it does offer them the ability to make unique posters for their classroom, you still run into the issue of printing them. When I asked the students what they thought of the program both stated it was "kinda easy to figure out, but it was still hard to use." Might I make a note that the students I gave this too are my "technology proficient" students in my class. I can only imagine how confused my other students would have been. This is the other factor to think about when using this program; each student's exposure and experience with technology.

Second, this program does not allow for the teacher to add students to their class. Each student will have to individually sign-up for the program. As a teacher this is difficult because while my district has Google accounts for all students, most do not. This begs the question of how should the students sign up?

Overall, this program has a great start for teachers, but after seeing everything it really is best for businesses. This program has not adapted enough to allow teachers to really use this in their classroom.

User Rating:

This program is a solid level 3 with even some of the most experienced users having issues the first couple of times out. This is not to say you couldn’t figure it out; it would just take you some time to do that. Let’s face it as teachers we do not have a lot of time left for things like this.

Glitchy Rating:

I would give this program a 2 because of the difficulty in use as well as the lack of real use for a teacher.

Kahoot

Product Description:
This is an online quiz or testing system for teachers. Teachers have the ability to create or use quizzes or tests on the program. Students engage by using a laptop, tablet, or smartphone to submit their answers.

Glitchy Review:
I have used Kahoot in my classroom for YEARS! I love it because I am able to test or quiz my students on anything I have taught them in the classroom in the most engaging way possible. They have made tests and quizzes into a game. When my students know they are going to do a Kahoot they get so excited and engaged that their behavior is perfect, they are excited, and are following the classroom rules and procedures better than any other time. This program takes the stress away of testing and replaces it with excitement and fun.

The program allows the teacher to decide if the students should work individually or with a partner (team). The teacher then displays the Kahoot to the class and it will automatically generate an access code for the students to use to log in. Once in the students can choose a nickname for themselves; sometimes I have the students use their name when I know this will be part of their grade the rest of the time they can choose nicknames. "But what if a student chooses a name that is not appropriate for school?" Teachers have the ability to kick a participant out before the game starts and the student can re-log in with a proper name. Once the game has started the students are given 5 seconds to read the question before the timer starts. When the timer starts the students are given multiple answers to choose from and on their device (laptop, tablet, phone, etc) must choose the corresponding color or shape with their chosen answer. When time is up for the question students are shown the answer and where they are in the standings. Please note students get points for clicking the correct answer and how quickly they click that answer in. After the Kahoot is done with all questions you and the class will see "the final results" (the top 5 students in the class.) As the teacher you will have the option to download ALL student answers with a breakdown of correct and wrong answers (I will attach a result to the bottom of this blog) for you to download. The students will also get the chance to rate the Kahoot! I always have my students do this because someone (or you) did spend time on it and would like to see how other students are enjoying it.

I would absolutely recommend this program to every teacher. The best part....it is 100% FREE! That's right you heard me FREE!

Glitchy Rating:
I give this a 5 because you can use it with any grade 1-12th. Student engagement is astronomically high and really shows students how using technology can be a great learning tool!

User Rating:
I give this a level 1 user rating. This program is super easy to sign up and start your first Kahoot. Creating, downloading, and all the perks of this program are user friendly and easy to figure out.

Newsela

Product Description:

Newsela is a website which houses numerous different non-fiction articles for different grade levels. Teachers can either assign articles, quizzes, or writing based on these articles.

Glitchy Review:

Newsela is a decent program. I use the free version with my class and can still do many different things. While with all programs the paid version does give you more information there is still much to do with the free version. When you sign up you get a month of the paid program to check it out. The only flaw with this would be if you like the program you HAVE to be a school or district to get the paid program. There is not option on the site to order for the individual teacher. I am currently looking to find out if you can get Newsela for individual teachers. I will update when an answer is received.

For this review it will be a compare and contrast the free version to the paid.

First, with the free version you have access to all the articles available on Newsela as well as the quizzes and writing assignments. The only difference between the paid and free version is you can assign these to the students online while the free version you do not have that option. For me I just read the questions on type them up for my students. (Paper and pencil is still good!) The only thing you can do with the questions on the paid version and not on the free is customize the prompts.

Second, with the free and paid version you have the ability to change the Lexile level of the article to allow all students to read the same article at their level! (Hello access to the information!) Now students and teachers do not have to worry about students not being able to follow along or not have access to the information! (This is my FAVORITE feature! Yes, even more than the quizzes.)

Third, with the paid version you have access to all articles in SPANISH. Yes, you read that correctly, SPANISH. All quizzes, writing, and articles will be in Spanish as well. No other languages are available, but I am sure they are in the works.

Fourth, is a couple of things. With the paid version you will also have access to a report for each student with a breakdown of the concepts. This breakdown also allows you to see the class average, annotations made by students, organize the questions by CC Strand, view student progress, and compare your students to other students on Newsela. This works great for any teacher’s, schools, or districts looking for RTI information or small group information.

Glitchy Rating: I give this website a 4 simply because you have so much you can do as teacher on the free version. I really wish they would have a way for us to buy the program as the individual teacher and more language options available.

User Rating: This website is a level 1. You can go in there and begin working right away. It will take some “playing around” to figure out where everything is, but still highly user friendly for any of the user.

Here is the website for you: https://newsela.com/

Nearpod

Product Description:
This product is to allow teachers to create interactive lessons for their classroom. Teachers can create or use previously made lessons in their classroom. The product has a free account (which I always suggest); however, there are multiple different accounts available. (Refer to picture below) For this review, I will be using the free account or Silver account.

Glitchy Review:
When I found this website I thought it was just a different version of Spiral. After playing around with it I noticed it was not. I am happy I was wrong! This website allows teachers to create interactive slide shows or "lessons" for their class. You can either create your own or user created one. This allows teachers to check for understanding throughout their lesson. (As a teacher a different way of CFU is great!) There are multiple things I like about this website and a few I am not too keen on. Like always I will start with the good things.

The best part of Nearpod is the ease of use. This is SUPER easy for everyone to use (teachers and students alike). The dashboard, creating lessons, adding slides, adding activities, or adding web content is simple. Using the website is great for every level of technology user. Second, this website allows teachers to check for understanding in different and more engaging ways. Being able to check student knowledge in a way they are familiar with and more engaging overall increases student learning. The learning process has now become a game for students. Third goes along with checking for understanding; aside from being able to engage with technology are the different types offered by the website. Nearpod has 6 different ways (open-ended questions, poll, quiz, fill in the blank, draw it, and memory test) which students can answer in real time. These different types of activities allow the teacher to gain access to multiple learning styles within one lesson! Fourth, students are able to use their own devices! Any of those schools with BYOD policies, rejoice! Your students are able to learn how

• students can use their own device to respond (BYOD)
• SUPER easy for students and teachers to use
• add multiple slides with ease

One great benefit to signing up for Nearpod is you are able to access many interactive lessons created by other teachers. You have the option to create your own or use other ones. Either one you choose is going to be easy for you to use. The only catch is if you have the free account you have a limited presentation size but is still workable. In the end, the benefits to teachers and students are immeasurable (granted you can measure results, but you get what I mean.). The ability to create even more interactive lessons, beyond what we already do, is amazing! I can't wait to have classes start to get going on this program! I will have to see how this works in my classroom before I will decide to buy the Gold level. However, I am optimistic and should this do what I hope, I will buy it ASAP.

Glitchy Rating: I give this website a 5 because of the ease of use, student access abilities, and the multitude of lessons available to the teachers.

User Rating: I give this a level 1 rating; the ease of use on both teacher and student ends is outstanding. You don't need any videos to know how to use this, however, you can watch videos to get ideas of different ways to use Nearpod in your classroom.

If you would like more information on Nearpod please click the following link from the Nearpod blog. Enjoy!
https://blog.nearpod.com/improvement-to-the-live-session-experience/

Hapara

Product Description: 
Hapara is an online system which allows you to assign, monitor, and grade student work. This system work with Google Drive to allow students to work on and submit files to you the teacher. Teachers can actively see a student's computer screen and what tabs they have open on their computer in real time. Teachers also have the ability to lock or focus individual students, groups of students, or the whole class onto a particular website or websites for a set amount of time. This program allows students to work in groups or individually to complete assignments. Now this is a PAID program which is bought through districts or schools themselves.

Glitchy Teacher Review:
 I have used this program for about 3 months in my classroom. I have been able to assign projects to my students, monitor their progress through the project, monitor their work to make sure they working on the assignment. I can have students focus on a particular website. I can create or borrow workspaces other teachers have created on Hapara. You are able to create a Workspace where you can create online projects, assessments, or whatever you can think of. The workspace allows you to do so much I would not be able to put it all down here (I would run out of room), please check out the videos and links below. Perhaps the best part of Workspace is it already makes a folder in your Google drive for your students to submit work to you to make grading easier (or any RTI or SST evidence)! If you are not sure about creating a Workspace you can also choose from the thousands of Workspaces already created by other teachers! This program offers so much I could go on and on. What I love best is the ability to take assignments, projects, etc and make them 100% digital. Since this works with a student's Google Drive they are able to work on this a home as well! The only negative to this program is each student will need a Google Drive to access the program and will need to download the extension to make sure the teacher ONLY parts work.

Glitchy Rating: I give this program a 5; I love this program. This program is constantly looking for feedback from teachers and students to improve and make the program better. While it takes time to get used to all that Hapara has available; once you do the benefits to you and your students is so great it is worth it!

User Rating: Level 3
You will need to watch videos to be able to utilize all the great things this product offers and it does take some time to get used to. There are many videos available for you to learn about how to use Hapara. I have attached a couple here for you.

Product Information:
Hapara website- https://hapara.com/
Here is a link to a video to explain what Hapara can do for you!
Everything you will need is on this website including videos of all the wonderful things this product does.

For those of you who have Hapara here are some links to videos to aid you in learning how to use Hapara or a quick review for you! Enjoy!

Welcome!

Welcome to The Glitchy Teacher! This blog is going to be for teachers. My goal is to aid teachers in discovering all the outstanding apps, websites, and technology available to them. As a teacher myself I know how hard it is to find time to do all you need to do for your classroom, let alone find time to research technology. With a huge push from CCSS to integrate technology in the classroom, teachers like myself, sometimes struggle to decipher what is good for the classroom and what is bad. This is where this blog comes in. I plan on being able to share with you any and all apps, websites, and technology I believe would and could work in the classroom. I will do the research for you! All you need to do is read about it, look at the rating, description, and watch the video to see if this is something that could work for you. I will include student work as well if I can.

Please feel free to leave comments with apps or websites you would like me to check out or what you think about the post. Thank-you!