Tag: HyperDocs

#Hyperdocs Bootcamp – My FIRST Hyperdoc

Micah (he/him) Carlin-Goldberg4 Comments

Well, I finally did it. I completed writing my first Hyperdoc. I have wanted to for over a year since I first learned about them at the Sonoma GAFE Summit in April 2016. I had planned to write one before but never managed to get anywhere with it. Last month, in June, I jumped at the opportunity to take the Hyperdoc Bootcamp put on by the Hyperdocs Ladies (Lisa, Sarah, and Kelly).

Our final project was to write a new hyperdoc to use this year. After scrapping a few ideas I settled on one that I think worked out well. I designed a hyperdoc to both serve as a beginning of the year get to know you activity as well as to teach my students about Google Slides and Google Docs. I set the level of skill needed very low because my students last year had zero experience creating with computers. This is probably a good fit for 5th grade and above.

The base of the hyperdoc is built into a Google Site. The Engage and Explore phases are done on the site and can be used for reference. The Explain, Apply Share are done in individual documents. After the students Explore they click a link to make their own copy of a slide deck or a doc. The first thing they do is rename and share the document to the teacher. I set up the instructions to allow the hyperdoc to be used with or without Google Classroom (but honestly much easier with).

As a part of the Explore phase I created a Slides and a Docs cheatsheet to teach about the icon bar. They are available here: Slides Cheatsheet | Docs Cheatsheet
Feel free to share them separately from the hyperdoc.

Please find the Welcome to G Suite hyperdoc at:

bit.ly/WelcomeToGSuite

Please use it with your students and I would love your feedback. There is a feedback form on the teacher instructions page of the website.

Hyperdocs: Managing Multiple Classes with Different Collaborative Documents

Micah (he/him) Carlin-Goldberg2 Comments

The Background:

Today I finally got caught up on over a month’s worth of Voxes in the #ConnectedTL Voxer group. One conversation during that time was about how to manage Hyperdoc game boards that have collaborative elements when using it with multiple classes or periods.

The Problem:

The issue that was put forward was how to manage having multiple classes get the same game board with each student getting their own copy while still having linked collaborative documents that are unique for each group of students.

The Solution:

The solution that I came up with is to have an intermediary document that serves as a launch pad for those different collaborative documents. The solution I found also restricts access to those documents to the group of students that I want to have it.

Visually:    Each individual student’s game board -> Launch document -> All different collaborative documents with access restrictions enabled.

Because describing this is words is difficult to make clear, please watch my screencast of how to make this work.

I would love any feedback about the process and how to make it clearer!

Happy Hyperdocing!

EdCamp East Bay – Done Is Better Than Perfect.

Micah (he/him) Carlin-Goldberg5 Comments

Note: I wrote most of this a few weeks after the EdCamp. It is now more than two months later. I definitely need to subscribe to the habit of writing a post in one sitting and posting it right away.

I have been distracted from writing this for a couple of weeks now and I just need to pound it out and get it done or I won’t ever get to it. Because as Kevin Brookhouser said in his book The 20 Time Project:Done is better than perfect!.png

Why EdCamp?

When I went to EdCamp East Bay earlier this month it was my first EdCamp. I went only vaguely knowing what I was letting myself in for. Earlier this year I went to a Google for Education Summit put on by EdTechTeam (@edtechteam) and it rocked my socks off. Because of the Summit I became active on Twitter as an educator (@mcarlingoldberg) and I noticed that many of the educators who I follow who are excited about learning new things and improving their practice were talking about going to EdCampEB. I looked into it and found that while a GAFE Summit is most definitely a conference, EdCamps were an un-conference and this intrigued me.

EdCamp is a free conference where educators decide on the day of the conference what the discussion sessions would be. Anyone could suggest a topic and everyone would vote on which they would like to have a discussion. It is often touted as an “un-conferecence”. I definitely loved having a say in what we talked about. For that matter every topic I suggested was picked as a session (others also suggested the same topics too). It was actually a conundrum when I had to pick between two of the sessions I suggested as they were scheduled in the same time slot.

Note: everything written before this was the first sitting. Everything after is from the second sitting. One sitting and post has to be my new habit. A post shouldn’t sit in drafts for two months.

Making Connections

I had a great time making connections at EdCamp. I think the opportunity to chat with complete strangers feeling safe in the fact that everyone there was an educator who was coding to give up their Saturday and were likely of a similar mindset. During breaks and over lunch I had great conversations about Bullet Journaling, and making connections at events. Most of those connections have continued over Twitter through conversations and sharing of resources.

I also got the great opportunity to meet up with several Twitter acquaintences face to face. I had the chance to chat with Mark Loundy (@MarkLoundy), Craig Yien (@craigyen), and some of the #Hyperdocs crew Lisa Highfill (@lhighfill ), Sarah Landis (@SARAHLANDIS), Kelly Hilton (@kellyihilton), and Karly Moura (@KarlyMoura). It was really a pleasure to meet them face to face after having interacted over Twitter. The genuine enthusiasm everyone showed when we managed to stick a face to the Twitter handle was just awesome!

Personalized PD – PD To Fit My Needs

What I really liked about EdCamp besides its energy was that it is all about educators having the time and space to talk about what matters to us in a relaxed atmosphere. I got to have really great conversations about topics that were important to me and self direct my learning.

One of the best parts of EdCamp is that after the day is over all of the shared notes from the different sessions are shared so that you can refer back to them and also take a look at the information from the sessions that you didn’t attend. Take a look at EdCamp East Bay’s Schedule.

Two sessions that I attended really stood out. The first was the Hyperdocs session (Notes) which was packed and included all three authors of The Hyperdocs Handbook. Talking with everyone about what a Hyperdoc is (a pedagogically strong way of thinking and designing lessons) and isn’t (a set of strict instructions or formats that you have to follow). The second was Engaging Staff In Change (Notes) a session on a topic that I suggested because I wanted to connect with others around the challenges in being a Tech TOSA and engaging teachers in accepting technology into their teaching in a strong, pedagogically sound way. There were only six of us in the session but we all came away with the support of a group of like minded educators who were having similar struggles. We also came away with a bunch of ideas, tools, and strategies to use in engaging our staff in positive change.

To Close

I would definitely recommend an EdCamp to any educator who is looking for a little support or a little inspiration for their teaching. It was a mellow, laid back experience with lots of great givaways and prizes. It was worth the hour drive from Petaluma to Concord to participate, and that says a lot.

And remember, DONE is better than PERFECT. Always, every time. Because done allows you to learn and grow and build on what you have completed. Perfect can’t be reached and if it is your goal it may very well prevent done from happening.

(Crosspost) Digital Citizenship – Strong, Memorable Passwords

Micah (he/him) Carlin-GoldbergLeave a comment

(Crossposted from my EdTechTeam Teacher Leader Certificate Portfolio  https://mcarlingoldbergtlcportfolio.wordpress.com)

It is 2016, as educators it is no longer enough to teach our kids how to keep themselves safe on the streets because so much of all of our lives takes place on the internet. Internet safety is one aspect of Digital Citizenship in which we must make sure that our students and children are fully fluent. One aspect of internet safety that I think is incredibly important for everyone, child or adult, to get behind and understand is the need for strong, memorable passwords.

Strong, memorable passwords that are unique to every situation are an absolute necessity in today’s world. Having weak passwords, especially if you reuse them in different places, is like asking someone to steal your identity, your money, even your safety as they get access to all of your personal data and accounts online.

Generally, most people do passwords very badly. Even those who actually try to have good passwords. One aspect of this is illustrated by the XKCD comic.

password_strength Source: https://xkcd.com/936/ (CC BY-NC 2.5)Read More »