Turn your paper into a digital version ... quick & easy!

WEBSITE ↬ no website
AUDIENCE ↬ teachers

CONTENT ↬ any/all

GRADE LEVELS ↬ all

This blog is focused on sharing out resources for teachers to preview and then investigate further if it fits. This share is slightly different ...

Today, quite a number of teachers are finding themselves OUT of the classroom and expected to teach, at least in part, digitally. Many teachers are not prepared for this. For some of us, this closure happened FAST. For many teachers, teaching digitally is a very new concept, and for the vast majority of us, teaching remotely is brand spanking new!

If you are one of these teachers, you might not have had the opportunity to print out & copy packets for your kiddos to take home. And now you might be in a place where you can't go back to school and do this.

I'm here to help. First, take a deep breath. Some of our kids need to worry about bigger things right now. Let's focus on staying heathy and take stock in what is truly important. Let's remember that for some of our kiddos, WE are the stabilizing force. And for some of our students, the work we provide can do this in a small way. But this is ALL expected when we are not physically present.

Ok. So here's the scenario. You need to share out work that you have on paper. You need to do this digitally. 

CREATE A GOOGLE FOLDER WHERE YOU CAN HOUSE ALL OF THIS WORK:

Step 1: Go to your Google Drive. Create a FOLDER - click on the "New" button & choose folder.

Step 2: Give it a simple name. Something that easily indicates you &/or your content. I might choose to call mine "Mrs. Kiefer Digital Learning Opportunities".

Step 3: Change the Share settings. Right click (or on your trackpad, 2-finger tap) on the folder to bring up the more options menu & select the "Share Person".

Step 4: Click "Advanced" in the lower right corner.

Step 5: Choose "Public on the Web" - this will default to "view only".

Step 6: Click "Done".

LOCATE YOUR DIGITAL VERSION OF WORKSHEETS/ACTIVITIES:

Step 1: Find a worksheet/activity you already have digitally and right-click (or 2-finger tap on it).

Step 2: Choose the "Move to" option and use the back arrow until you find your newly created folder.

Step 3: Once you save it in your distance learning folder, it will automatically grab the 'Public on the Web - view only' setting.

Step 4: Repeat as needed. Keep in mind the names you give to the documents. Keep them simple. If you need additional folders to help with organization, go for it. Create it INside the main folder. If you want students to complete work in a specific order, number them (or use dates) to help guide them. Remember you won't be THERE with them ..... names on files can go a long way to help. KEEP IT SIMPLE.

COLLECT YOUR PAPER WORK:

Step 1: Take your paper worksheets/activities and make them digital. A good webcam on your computer will do this. So will your phone. If you have a document camera, this will work, too.

OR ... if you have access to a copier you might be able to scan the papers and email them to yourself as a PDF. Keep in mind, if you scan 20 papers at one time, it very well might give you ONE PDF that is 20 pages long and make it tough to split up. 

Step 2: Upload these pictures to your Drive. 

** If you used your webcam or document camera, click on the "New" button in Drive and choose "File upload". Find your images and upload. Rename the image files ... don't expect students & their parents to "figure it out".

** If you used your phone, I'd suggest loading the Drive app on your phone & then uploading the images to the Drive app. You can add them directly to your digital learning opportunities folder when you upload.

SHARE OUT YOUR FOLDER:

You may also want to think about having a "READ THIS FIRST" document that provides your "words" & instructions to those who are looking in your folder. Write simple and straight forward. If you choose to lay things out daily or weekly, a guiding doc might be helpful to clearly indicate your expectations.

Now that you have your items in your folder, grab the shareable link and email to your students &/or their parents ... post it on a website ... once you do this, you can add to the folder over and over and give students & parents ONE spot to keep coming back to. If you have to adjust things, it will adjusted right away. 

HOW DO STUDENTS COMPLETE THE WORK?:

You may think this is going to be tough. How can we expect parents to print all of this? The answer is easy. YOU DON'T. These are different times. Not normal. We aren't used to this. We have to adjust and pivot. 

Here's my suggestion ... it's not "pretty". It's not the cutest. BUT IT WILL WORK. I imagine every home has a notebook laying around. Maybe not brand new ... maybe not with a cute cover. And maybe not multiple ones. Maybe it's a collection of single sheets of paper. IT WILL WORK.

As part of your "READ THIS FIRST" doc, instruct your students to simply write any of their work down in the notebook or on single sheets of paper. They can write the title of the file at the top. Easy. Don't stress about it. THIS WILL WORK.

Promise.

As always, if you have questions or comments or if you need help ... PLEASE reach out. As my quote this week reminds me, "Today we make it a habit to do the impossible." (via Sticker Mule). 

Twitter: @kiefersj

Email: sarah@techyoucando.com

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