Showing posts with label Other Apps. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Other Apps. Show all posts

Thursday, March 12, 2026

Kahoot Alternative with Gynzy

 

Gynzy the Kahoot Alternative

Nice tool to replace Kahoot


Created by Scott Aten, March 12, 2026
As you should be aware of by now, SB 29 prevents schools from using any application that requires students to sign in if the vendor will not sign the State of Ohio Student Data Privacy Agreement.  Despite numerous attempts by our Tech Team and requests from other districts in Ohio, Kahoot continues to refuse to sign the necessary agreements.  But fear not, we have found an alternative to Kahoot that looks and functions the same way.

Enter the Gynzy app.  This app was introduced to teachers in the new buildings at the beginning of the year.  The app has many interactive whiteboard tools, but one called "Classroom Quiz" should give you Kahoot vibes when you use it.


Quick Start Guide
Here are some instructions to follow if you are unfamiliar with Gynzy.
  • Go to the Gynzy site and create an account.

  • Once on the site, you will see some tools at the bottom of the screen.  You are actually looking for the "tools" button.  


  • Click the "tools" button, and you will be taken to a menu of interactive whiteboard tools you can use.  Switch the menu from "Classroom Management" to "Games and Activities".

  • Now you are looking for the "Classroom Quiz" tool.  Click it.


  • From here, you have two options: Find a Quiz OR Create a Quiz.  The library of created quizzes is not nearly as expansive as Kahoot's, but you can take a look and see what has been created.  Your best option will be to create a Quiz, click "get started."

  • You are now in the Quiz creation area.  Simply supply the quiz with the question, an image (if you like), and the answer options.  Once finished, click the "+Add Question" button to add additional questions.

  • Once you are finished, click "Save"

  • This will take you to a screen that allows you to preview or start.  I would recommend saving the slides next.  To do that, simply click the save icon and give it a name.  This will allow you to pull it up again when you are ready to use it. 


Getting the students into the game
Once you are ready to use the quiz with your class, you can load it following these steps:
  • Teacher logs in to the Gynzy site.

  • Click the folder icon in the tools (this is where all of your creations will be saved).

  • Double-click on the quiz you want to use.

  • Choose "open new lesson".

  • Click "Start"

  • Much like Kahoot, you are given a QR code or a link to provide your students to play the game.  Allow all your students to join and then click "continue" followed by "Start."

  • The game will start, and they will be able to participate in the quiz.
Once in the game, you will get the Kahoot vibes with a timed questions, background music, and even a leaderboard.

Hopefully, you will find some uses for this Kahoot alternative.  Remember, you can see all the district-approved apps at this link.

If you would like me to come and help you, please feel free to schedule me to come and assist you.  I am always ready to come help.  


For more helpful information and the archive of previous posts, look for items in the menu to the left.


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Green Local Schools

Tech Integration Team

Monday, November 18, 2024

Getting Started with ParentSquare

 

Getting Started with ParentSquare

Your one stop shop for everyting you need to start using your PS account.


Created by Scott Aten, November 26, 2024
As you all are aware of by now, we will be transitioning from Remind to ParentSquare.  We believe you will find this tool user friendly and provide you with more accurate parent contact information.  With any new tool there will be a little bit of a learning curve, but I have tried to break down the tasks into manageable parts that will make this transition smooth for you.

Introduction
ParentSquare has created a short 5 minute video that provides a "Navigation Basics Overview".  This is a great place to start and will get you familiar with the overall interface of Parent Square.

Quick Start Guide
The tasks listed below are common things you will do in ParentSquare.  This list can serve as a reference for you in the event you forget how to do something.
  • Login to your ParentSquare account. (click "Sign In with Google") - if you are unable to sign in please complete a technology help desk ticket.

  • Renaming Classes in ParentSquare - the names given to classes in ParentSquare come from ProgressBook, but you can change the display name making it easier to know which class is which in your lists.

  • Creating posts. - useful for sending a message to your entire class.  Posts will show up in a parent's feed making it easy for them to find the info again when they need it.

  • Create a direct message -  send messages to individual parents or groups of parents. 

  • Add a co-teacher or aide to your class  - note it also talks about how to add room parents, but check with your building principal before you do it.  The directions work the same for adding another staff member.

  • Create a group - You will already have your classes in ParentSquare, but groups give you the ability to create a subset of students.  Groups can also be helpful for after school groups or clubs.  Note we believe we can get athletic teams created automatically for coaches (more info to come on this).

  • Training Resources for Teachers - ParentSquare has created a self-paced training module that provides opportunities for hands on practice if you feel you need additional support.  Note you will need to sign-in to Parent Square before you can view this article.
When to use a Direct Message Vs a Post?
Below is some guidance and best practice for teachers and group managers on when to use direct messages versus a post. 

Think of direct messages (DM) as as the message app on your phone.  It is meant for short conversational back-and-forth chats.  Think of posts as emails meant for informational messages that allow formatting options such as bold, underline, tables, bullets and more.  Both DMs and Posts allow private replies.

So how do you decide to use Posts vs DMs? Answer these questions and look at suggested use cases.
  1. Is this an informational message for the entire class?  -- use a Post
    Example "I hope everyone had a restful week off! We’ll be going on our field trip this Wednesday! If you have not turned in your permission slip, please do so by tomorrow."
     
  2. Is this an ask for the entire class? -- use a Post
    Example "We will be having a hot chocolate and holiday cookies party on Thursday. Please sign up or comment to let me know if you can donate an item."

  3. Is this a conversational message to your class where you'd like to start an individual (bcc) or group conversation with everyone?  -- use a Direct Message
    Example "Hi, I would like to know how I can support your child best when it comes to learning math.  Any ideas or suggestions or things I should know that work best with your child?"

  4. Is this a message that is not meant for the entire class but for individual delivery to each recipient?  -- use a Direct Message (recipients will not know that the message was sent to others.) - Example "If you are receiving this message your child is receiving an award at Friday's assembly" 

  5. If this message is meant for just one person or a family? -- use a Direct Message
    Example "
    Charlie is a star of the week! This means that we get to highlight him this week and learn new things about him."

  6. Do you think new families and users added to the class or group after you have sent the message would benefit from seeing the message? -- use a  Post and not a DM. With Posts, new families will have access to their student’s class post feed for the entire school year, even before they joined the class.

Customizing your account
Below are a few things you can do to your account.

Hopefully the information above will get you started using ParentSquare as your communication tool with families.  Note that Canvas is still appropriate for communicating assignment and grade information to families.  At this time there is no ParentSquare connection to Canvas like there was for Remind, but we are hoping that is added soon.

If you would like me to come and help you please feel free to schedule me to come and assist you.  I am always ready to come help.  


For more helpful information and the archive of previous posts, look for items in the menu to the left.


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Green Local Schools

Tech Integration Team

Wednesday, May 1, 2024

May the 4th ~ Fun Star Wars Themed Activities

 

May the 4th

Fun Star Wars themed activities to do post testing



Created by Scott Aten, May 1, 2024
With testing winding down, I thought you and your students could use some fun and educational activities that can be integrated into your content area.  I ran across this article from Tech & Learning that has a lot of activities for May the 4th.  What is May the 4th?  It is the day Star Wars fans celebrate the Star Wars franchise (May the 4th be with you - get it?).  Below are a list of some activities suggested in the article that you may be able to use or tweek to use with your students. You may want to have a student try the links to be sure nothing is blocked before you do it with the class. 

Here we go...

Award-winning English teacher Katherine Mulrooney offers great ideas for relating Star Wars to classroom subjects, including engineering, social studies, music, math, and literature. Each standards-aligned digital teaching resource is shareable via Google Classroom (get the links and you can use them in Canvas)  and forms the basis for a complete lesson.  

Create Star Wars Art
As an art or graphic design assignment, have your students focus on an aspect of Star Wars they find meaningful, such as good vs. evil, relationships and community, or mythic heroism. Then ask them to illustrate this theme, either by creating their own artwork or developing a specific prompt for AI-generated artwork (some of these may be blocked) . To complete the assignment, students write an essay (but not AI-generated!) explaining how their art exemplifies their chosen motif.

Starwarigami
What does origami, the ancient Japanese art of paper folding, have to do with Star Wars? Strictly speaking, nothing at all. But that’s where the novelty (and fun!) lies. Combine the intricate paper engineering of origami with the futuristic spacecraft design of Star Wars and you will have a lesson that appeals to your entire class. The brainchild of software engineer Martin Hunt, Starwarigami provides 18 printable fold-and-crease patterns in addition to a gallery of finished artwork and links to other patterns. 

One of the most iconic features of the Star Wars movie franchise, the inclined scrolling text lends an air of historic importance to any words. Users simply replace the existing text with their own, and share the generated URL. Let your students show off their creative vision with this free, fun and easy-to-use Star Wars movie introduction generator. 

Star Wars Trivia
Test your knowledge of Star Wars—and yourself—with these online quizzes and polls. Whether matching the quote with the correct movie or pondering which Star Wars device you can’t live without, rest assured that any result is a good result. The greatest teacher, failure is.

A high-energy, feel-good exercise program that asks kids to choose between two Star Wars choices, then perform the indicated activity. 

Ashley Eckstein, who voices Ahsoka Tano on Star Wars: The Clone Wars, leads youngsters in a brief guided mindfulness lesson. Just as Luke Skywalker faced his fears in the dark cave, so must everyone explore their own dark spaces, illuminating them with calm acceptance rather than anger.

What do Star Wars, NASA's Dawn spacecraft, and Newton's Laws of Motion have in common? From the renowned Jet Propulsion Laboratory at the California Institute of Technology, this Star Wars-inspired, standards-aligned lesson about ion-propulsion includes background, student activities, example spreadsheets, and more. Want to go deeper into the physics? Check out the fine collection of force and acceleration lessons here. 

Transform your students’ Star Wars enthusiasm into genuine learning with this extensive collection of STEM-teaching resources for K-12 and beyond. Included are lesson plans, educator guides, interactive multimedia learning modules, contests, challenges, and much more. Searchable by grade level, subject, and type of activity. 

A lesson about latitude and longitude based on Star Wars fictional planetary locations and their Earthly analogues. Students learn how filmmakers used various extreme Earth landscapes as the basis for other-worldly Star Wars scenes, then map latitude and longitude of the real-world locations. Includes follow-up questions.

A wealth of Star Wars STEM activities can be found here, from creating colorful lightsaber greeting cards to building robots from junk. Many of these excellent resources are aligned with the Next Generation Science Standards. 

In the Star Wars saga, the most valuable lessons extend beyond technological advancements. Rather, they explore life’s problems and solutions, whether in a distant galaxy or right here on Earth. Star Wars authority and educator Dan Zehr thoughtfully delves into timeless themes such as dedication, resilience and effective leadership.  

Teaching ‘Star Wars’ With The New York Times
The Times takes Star Wars lessons to a level above Cloud City with its Shakespeare, history, physics, science, math, and yes, economics, Star Wars-themed lessons. An exceptionally strong resource, especially for middle schoolers and above.

This Yodish speak translator just for fun, try. Even better, use it as the foundation for an English grammar lesson.  For computer science classes and advanced students, the Yoda translator API allows users to integrate the Yoda speak translator right into their website or application.  

John Williams’ Star Wars score is one of the best known movie themes of all time. But what about other avenues to combine Star Wars and music in a single, thought-provoking lesson? Teacher Jessie Powell, the force behind the popular YouTube channel Music and Motivate, provides a detailed narration of her favorite Star Wars music lessons, as well as a link to her blog, where the interactive lesson can be accessed for free. 

Hopefully you can find something useful in this list.  Have a happy May the 4th day and "may the force be with you aways."


For more helpful information and the archive of previous posts, look for items in the menu to the left.


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Green Local Schools

Tech Integration Team

Tuesday, August 29, 2023

UPDATED - Classroom by Lightspeed

 

Classroom by Lightspeed

Monitor student Chromebooks while students are in your classroom

Created by Scott Aten, August 29, 2023
You will see an older post in this Blog where I introduced Lightspeed Classroom.  The website has been updated since that post, so I wanted to update my Blog with this new information.

One of the biggest issues staff have faced since going 1-1, is keeping students on task when in the classroom.  The lure of games, internet searches, and videos is too much for some of our students.  As a classroom teacher it is challenging to keep these tech savvy students focused on the learning at hand while still making use of the great tool the Chromebooks have become.  We now have a tool available to you that should help tip the advantage back into your favor.  Lightspeed Classroom is a tool to monitor your students while using their Chromebooks in your classroom during your class period.

Getting started using Lightspeed Classroom
You will want to bookmark this site: https://classroom.relay.school/
Login with Google to access your account and classes.  Your classes have been added for you already.  If you have any students that are missing or misplaced, please put in a help desk ticket to have this resolved for you.

Helpful Instructions
I have broken down all the parts of this application to make it easy for you to get this up and running in your classroom.

Recommendations for staff who have been using it
Make sure you unlock the class before they leave your room. You don’t want them to be blocked from cites they may need to access in their next period’s class. (GIS, GPS, GWD)
If something is not working the way you want, don't panic. Just set web rules to none and have students refresh.

Allow Lists
As you will see, you restrict students to an "allowed" list of sites.  The teachers that helped pilot this application have started a list of URLs to include in allow lists based on content area as well as by building.  You can access this list here and add URLs that are helpful for everyone.  Please only add URLs to your building and sites that are beneficial to everyone.  Also remember this is a document for the whole district and any changes you make are visible to everyone - not just you.

If you would like me to come and assist you during a TBT or department meeting or even one on one please feel free to schedule me to come and assist you.  I am always ready to come help.  

For more helpful information and the archive of previous posts, look for items in the menu to the left.

Thursday, April 28, 2022

Virtual Field Trips with Expeditions Pro

 

Expeditions Pro

Taking virtual field trips with Expeditions Pro



Created by Scott Aten, April 28, 2022
Many of you may remember Google Expeditions.  This was a great tool that allowed students to travel virtually to locations all over the globe.  Teachers could expose students to sights they may never have an opportunity to see or experience.  Unfortunately Google elected to stop supporting this tool, much to the disappointment of teachers everywhere.  Expeditions Pro is filling the void left by the retired Google Expeditions.  

Expeditions Pro is a free download from the app store and is available for both IOS and Android devices.  Teachers can then choose from hundreds of existing tours from around the world.  Here are a few examples that are available now:
  • American Revolution - Massachusetts
  • Ancient Rome
  • Flight 93 Memorial
  • Lincoln Assassination
  • US Federal Government
  • The War of 1812
  • African Safari
  • Artic Regions
  • Rainforest Rambler
  • Under the Sea
  • Machu Picchu
  • Exothermic Reactions
  • Photosynthesis 
  • Solar System
  • 7 Wonders of the World
  • New tours are constantly being added
The teacher downloads the tour with the app on their phone.  Once downloaded the teacher selects "Class" in the menu at the bottom and choose "Lead".  Students install the app on their phone, choose "Class" and then "Follow".  The teacher's tour is then available for the students to follow.  

Both the teacher and students need to be on the same network, so if you would like to run a virtual tour with your students you should start by putting in a help desk ticket and choose "tech integration" as the category.  Be sure to allow a few days for the tech department to set things up.  

We have a set of View Master Views that you can schedule to use.  Students will need their own cell phone to participate (we have 3 loaners but not enough for a full class).


If you would like me to come and help you please feel free to schedule me to come and assist you.  I am always ready to come help.  

For more helpful information and the archive of previous posts, look for items in the menu to the left.


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Green Local Schools

Tech Integration Team

Tuesday, April 12, 2022

Monitor Student Chromebooks with Classroom by Lightspeed

 

Classroom by Lightspeed

Monitor student Chromebooks while students are in your classroom

Created by Scott Aten, April 12, 2022
One of the biggest issues staff have faced since going 1-1, is keeping students on task when in the classroom.  The lure of games, internet searches, and videos is too much for some of our students.  As a classroom teacher it is challenging to keep these tech savvy students focused on the learning at hand while still making use of the great tool the Chromebooks have become.  We now have a tool available to you that should help tip the advantage back into your favor.  Lightspeed Classroom is a tool to monitor your students while using their Chromebooks in your classroom during your class period.

Getting started using Lightspeed Classroom
You will want to bookmark this site: https://classroom.relay.school/
Login with Google to access your account and classes.  Your classes have been added for you already.  If you have any students that are missing or misplaced, please put in a help desk ticket to have this resolved for you.

Helpful Instructions
I have broken down all the parts of this application to make it easy for you to get this up and running in your classroom.
NOTE - There are two different "Getting Started" videos.  One is for GMS and GHS, the other is for the rest of the district.

Recommendations for staff who have been using it
Make sure you unlock the class before they leave your room. You don’t want them to be blocked from cites they may need to access in their next period’s class. (GIS, GPS, GWD)
If something is not working the way you want, don't panic. Just set web rules to none and have students refresh.

Allow Lists
As you will see, you restrict students to an "allowed" list of sites.  The teachers that helped pilot this application have started a list of URLs to include in allow lists based on content area as well as by building.  You can access this list here and add URLs that are helpful for everyone.  Please only add URLs to your building and sites that are beneficial to everyone.  Also remember this is a document for the whole district and any changes you make are visible to everyone - not just you.

If you would like me to come and assist you during a TBT or department meeting or even one on one please feel free to schedule me to come and assist you.  I am always ready to come help.  

For more helpful information and the archive of previous posts, look for items in the menu to the left.


bulldogstrong.jpg

Green Local Schools

Tech Integration Team

Tuesday, March 8, 2022

Manage Classroom Noise with Bouncy Balls

 

Bouncy Balls

Manage Classroom Noise



Created by Scott Aten, March 8, 2022
A quiet classroom does not necessarily mean optimal learning is happening.  Students can learn a lot by collaborating, discussing solutions together, and exchanging viewpoints on what they are learning.  There can be a fine line, however,  between productive classroom noise and disruptive classroom noise.   As teachers we can train our students on how to keep classroom discussions and collaboration at a volume that can be productive.  Joe Grigas shared this site with the staff at GMS recently and after looking at it myself,  I thought it was worth sharing with all of you.  The site is called "Bouncy Balls" and it can be used to measure the noise in a room.  

Here is how it works.  The teacher launches the free Bouncy Balls website. In the upper right corner of the site you will see a microphone with a line through it.  Clicking on this icon will turn on your microphone (you need to have a microphone connected to the computer). 

Next the teacher has the ability to set the sensitivity of the microphone.  This may takes some practice to determine what is the best setting for your classroom and microphone placement.  This also helps determines what noise level is too much.


The "Total" area allows you to determine the number of "balls" or other items appear on the screen.  Sliding the control to the right adds more and to the left reduces the number of elements on the screen. 


Bouncy Balls comes with more options than just balls.  You can choose different "themes" to bounce Emojis, Bubble, or Eyeballs.  Plastic is the default and represents the "bouncy balls".


The training part occurs when the "Noise Alert" is turned on.  The site will make a noise and display a message when the max noise level is reached.  This can be an audible clue to the class that things have gotten too noisy for productive learning.  There are two options for the noise alert - Beep and "Shush".  This alert can be turned off as well by clicking the "checkmark".


Overall this is a simple site to use and creates a visual interpretation of the noise in the classroom.  Give it a try next time students are working in groups.

Please feel free to schedule me to come and assist you with your next project that has at technology piece included.  I am always ready to come help.  

For more helpful information and the archive of previous posts, look for items in the menu to the left.


bulldogstrong.jpg

Green Local Schools

Tech Integration Team