I was observing an English class recently where the teacher was discussing a piece of text with students. He was telling the students what the text was about while the students listened. Student engagement was at a minimum, with the students at the front of the class occasionally engaging with the teacher while the students in the back seemed to be counting the minutes until class was over.
It must be said that this is a one to one classroom, where each student has their own Chromebook. Never mind that engagement was at a minimum, but the students had technology that could have made the whole process easier for the teacher to check for student engagement while being more engaging for the students!
Three apps that can help engage your students when discussing a text passage in the classroom are:
Google Slides: Students can use Google Slides to summarize information and keep it nice and orderly. Simply title each slide by chapter or even paragraph. Each slide can contain a summary, a wondering, or even discussion questions that pertain to a particular part of the text.
Kami: Kami is a fantastic pdf online annotation app that works great with Chromebooks. Students can upload the document into Kami then annotate with text and highlights. Or, if the teacher has a pre-made note sheet, they can upload the document as a pdf where students can then upload the note sheet to Kami, complete the sheet, then upload it to an LMS such as Google Classroom
Google Keep: Google Keep is an indispensable notes app that ties neatly into the Google ecosystem. It's on the students Chromebooks, making it ready to use. And, one of the cool things about Google Keep is that it goes everywhere there's an internet connection. Students can access their notes from virtually any device with an internet connection. And, when the teacher wants to check student notes, students simply share them with the teacher via the share button. No paper collected or returned.
Nearpod: Nearpod is a very good interactive presentation app that works well with both iPads and Chromebooks. Use the open ended question option in Nearpod and attach the document for reference. Ask students to summarize a chapter or paragraph per slide. As the teacher, you get instant feedback on your own device as students submit their responses.
Google Sheets: Did you know that a spreadsheet could be used to take notes? Well, it can. Fill column A with chapter or paragraph numbers. Then, title the rows as necessary with such things as summary or with questions.
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