Self-Grading Homework and Tests

Two easy and great ways to automatically grade your students' homework, quizzes and tests are an add-on in Google called Flubaroo and a separate 2.0 tool called Socrative.

Flubaroo is an add-on in google drive that you can install to correct all your google forms automatically, get grades for students and then email students their grades.  The add-ons are in the top menu on drive.


If you click on this Flubaroo link, you will be directed to easy, detailed directions with screen shots from the author of the add-on.


Socrative has a more sophisticated look and allows you to easily create tests, quizzes and homework that students can take online. These will automatically be graded for you.

Here are some of the choices when creating assignments.  And here are detailed instructions for using this online application

Both Flubaroo and Socrative are easy to use and will make grading assignments, tests and quizzes more time efficient.  If you have any questions or would like help with either of these, send me an email at toni.carlson@watertown.k12.ma.us.

Pinterest and Twitter Cheat Sheets

Leandra Elion, Watertown High School reading teacher, found these excellent resources for using Twitter and Pinterest in your class.   These cheat sheets for Twitter and Pinterest help you use these apps in your classroom and with your students.  Here are a few samples of what you will find:
Twitter Cheat Sheet
Twitter 101—Key Terms
 Twitter—an online social networking platform that allows users to send and receive text-based message, or “tweets.”
 Tweets—text-based messages of up to 140 characters (letters, symbols, words, spaces, & p...
For more click:  Twitter Cheat Sheet

Tips, Tricks, & Words to the Wise*

Pinterest—a social media site that allows users to create and share virtual bulletin boards, or pinboards

Pin—an image added to a pinboard. A pin can be “pinned” from a website using the “Pin It” button or uploaded from images on a computer.

RePin—adding a pin from someone else’s board to one of your boards....
For more click:  Pineterest Cheat Sheet

Google updates Classroom

Last May, Google published Classroom, the easy way for teachers to share assignments and resources with students.  This was a Beta version with only volunteer teachers having access.  In September, Google launched Classroom to everyone using Google Apps for Education.  Now Google has updated Classroom with more easy to use features.  I know that several teachers in Watertown are using Classroom already, and more may want to try it out.

The five updates are:

• the ability to use Google Groups to invite students to Classroom, 
• sort students by first or last name, 
• mark assignments not submitted online as done, 
• export grades. 
• The update also adds additional control over discussion threads.