Friday, February 12, 2016

Gamify Your PD: Jeopardy

You know what can make your pd session fun?  A game of Jeopardy!  I've always loved watching this game on TV, brought it into my classroom as a teacher, and now am bringing it into pd as a TOSA.

Here's an example of my latest Jeopardy game- designed for each grade level in my school district. This game is made in google slides.  The amounts on the gameboard amounts are linked to the question slides.  To get from the question slide back to the gameboard, click on the girl.  Check it out here...click 'present' to get the full effect!


Here are the rules I play by with students AND adults...which is different from the Jeopardy you see on TV. These are the rules I used for district-wide grade level meetings.
  1. You will work with a team of teachers from other sites.
  2. Each group will have the opportunity to choose a category and question amount from the board.
  3. We (facilitators) will read the question and give every team time to discuss the answer(s).
  4. Every team will have the opportunity to share their answer(s) with the entire group.
  5. Every team will have the opportunity to earn points for each question.

Talk about collaboration!  You can take a look at how the questions were formatted in the example (above) to encourage (and really, force) collaboration!  This game was a BIG HIT at our last grade level meetings- it totally gamified collaboration!!!!

So...are you ready to make a Jeopardy game for your next pd session or staff meeting?
Here you go...a copy of the Jeopardy game for you to edit and use when you click the link it will automatically prompt you to make a copy): https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1DIkeXeFi2BULqRmYzfPlngldOXqehLuvcdxn5hHtAmY/copy


To edit:
1. Add your title to the title page.
2. Add questions to the question slides.  Don't rearrange slides as that will mess up the links on the gameboard page.
3.  When you're ready to play, explain the rules (above), click 'Present' and have some fun!

Lead with Technology...Enjoy!


Thursday, February 4, 2016

ShareD YouTube Playlists- Create a playlist with multiple collaborators

One shared video on Facebook got me thinking...my sister-in-law shared this super fun video today, mostly (I think) because the guy with the glasses has a hilarious dinosaur dance move: https://youtu.be/Imhi98dHa5w?list=PLLRi5Ghj26dCHEmCAj4-7P8rK6q620OMq

That video led me to think about how perfect and fun these videos would be for brain breaks in the classroom...

which led to making a YouTube playlist so I could keep them in one spot...

which got me thinking...why keep them to myself?  What if my teaching partner wants to add a video she/he found...

...which led me to wonder about shared YouTube playlists where different people can add to the same list!!!

So...how awesome would it be to lead through technology and START a shared playlist for:

  • grade level teams (Brain Breaks, videos for science content, etc.)
  • Entire sites (motivating/inspiring videos, Kid President snippets for morning announcements)
  • An entire District (Teaching strategies, district-wide grade level lists- talk about collaboration across sites!!!)
Here's how you do it!  (It's so easy...)

1. Sign in to YouTube.
2. On the left hand side, click Library.
 


3. In the upper left hand corner click 'New playlist.'

4.  Give your playlist a title and add videos by clicking 'Add videos.'

5.  Once you have your videos, select 'Playlist settings.'

6.  Now choose the 'Collaborate' tab.  Turn on collaboration by clicking the button so the blue check mark appears.  A button will appear that says 'Get Link.'  Click for the link; copy and paste so you can invite collaborators!!!

Now you have a shared playlist that anyone can add to, as long as they have the link!!!  You are still the 'owner' so you can monitor additions as needed.

Enjoy!